text:
Discussion Starter • #1 •
I started my 94 STS for the first time in a year and pulled it out of the garage after it idled for a few minutes it started to steam a bit around 130 degrees in another few minutes it was bilowing huge amounts of steam and by the time I got it back in the garage it wa up to about 190 degrees and I shut it off. On the way into the garage it dripped coolant in two lines 18 inches inboard of both sides of the car. Never any steam under the hood and really still ran pretty good. Is this a head gasket or is there something else that causes this? I hadn't had serious overheating problems before. It always ran at 205 on the highway and up to 225-230 in town sometimes, although I've only really used it on the highway. It has about 95,000 miles on it the coolant was changed a 2 years ago at the stealership when they recharged the A/C.


text:
I may spend my days getting hollered at and hung up on by lawyers and politicians, but occasionally I get to spend my evenings drinking free booze at promotional parties. Last night I followed a Scotsman in a kilt into the Sixth Floor Museum and got loaded up on premium whisky, courtesy of Chivas. I don't give a lot of love to promo people, but these guys win the award for weirdest party location ever.
Thing is, I'm just not sure it's the best idea to get a bunch of people drunk and stumbling around the Sixth Floor. Booze lowers our inhibitions and opens our mind to new, exciting concepts; remember the thing with the whisk and the squirrel that seemed like such a great idea at the Kappa Kappa Kappa party back in college? But the friendly Scottish folk behind Chivas don't care if, after three sour apple whisky martinis, we start to believe there may have been darker forces behind JFK's death than just the sick mind of a killer. They just want us to drink more overpriced Scotch and listen to their kilted host tell jokes like, "Wearing pants is like checking into a cheap motel: no ballroom!"
We Believe Local Journalism is Critical to the Life of a City
Engaging with our readers is essential to the Observer's mission. Make a financial contribution or sign up for a newsletter, and help us keep telling Dallas's stories with no paywalls.
Support Our Journalism
The moral of the story is this, however: Bad jokes do not a tasty whisky make, even if it's free and accompanied by well-preserved doctor's coats from '60s-era Parkland Hospital. Maybe I'm just a Jack Daniel's girl, but I'll take my sour mash over frou-frou Chivas any day. Unless it's free. --Andrea Grimes

subset: commoncrawl


text:
British voters have made a choice that defies logic. The reasons for this are more complex than they appear. And they are very worrying
|The Full English. With beans
The answer is something very dangerous – post-factual politics. It's a phrase that has been flying around in the US with regard to the Trump campaign, but the idea has been around for a while. As writer and former Sanders aide David Sirota wrote in the Huffington Post back in 2007 (Welcome to the Post-Factual Era): "Why is politics the only arena where those who turned out to be right still get flayed as outcasts, while those who are known to be utterly wrong get rewarded as visionaries? In business, if you make the wrong calls, you lose money and, most often, lose your job. ...In politics, it generally works the opposite way. The people who make the right call ... are punished with elite vitriol, and those who repeatedly make the wrong calls are vaulted into the highest echelons of the Establishment. ...Nowhere was this more obvious than in the Iraq War." Sirota says this is "to do with where the money and power is." He is part-right. But there is something else here. Politics has moved online and few people now engage politically face-to-face.
Yes, we must.
The disputed view
We have lost the facility to argue, debate and reach consensus; we see only those arguments that accord with our own. This is true of me as much as almost everyone else; virtually none of my friends backed Brexit – yet the fact is, many other people on the Left did. But because they do not belong to the same social circles as me, I am not hearing their arguments. Had I been to a bunch of Labour Party meetings over the last six months, I would have done. Nearly 40 years ago, as chairman of my university Liberal party, I travelled to Blackpool for a special party conference, to debate the arrangement the party then had with Callaghan's Labour administration (not a coalition; it was basically confidence and supply). Several of our delegation were determined to end this arrangement. Halfway through a speech by the then Liberal Leader David Steel, a friend turned to me and said, "He's right. I've changed my mind." And so did I.
|Social engagement: Central London, 1983
But although TV may have kept people at home, historically, in Britain at least, it recreated the space for dispute and discussion. The BBC has always been required to reflect "balance" in its news coverage, and ITV also inherited this obligation when it started broadcasting in 1955. At that time there were only two TV channels; a third (BBC2) arrived in 1964 and a fourth (Channel 4) in 1982, but they were bound by the same strictures. Moreover the fact that there were few viewing options meant that there was a national conversation.


text:
Western Digital goes big on NAS with ShareSpace
2 and 4TB capacities available
Western Digital has just unveiled its new ShareSpace line of storage solutions, marketed towards the business/corporate sector where centralized mass storage is the key to a smoother operation.
The ShareSpace allows for up to four HDDs and is available in either 2 or 4TB configurations. It can be connected either by USB 2.0 or Gigabit ethernet and its residing GreenPower series hard disks can be set to operate in either RAID 0 or 1, with the 4TB version also allowing for a RAID 5 config.
The unit comes bundled with WDs own automatic backup and remote accessing software and also features support for Microsoft Active Directory. It is now available for purchase at select retailers and WDs online store at an MSRP of $699.99 USD for the 2TB model and $999.99 USD to shift up to 4TB.
To learn more about the ShareSpace NAS lineup, you can read the press release here. Furthermore, RegHardware has published a review of the 4TB model here folks.
LAKE FOREST, Calif. - Sept. 30, 2008 - WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world's leader in external storage solutions, today introduced its new WD ShareSpace high-speed network storage systems that provide cost-effective, centralized storage for small office and home networks. WD ShareSpace represents WD's first entry into the small-office network storage market, where it plans to bring to a new class of users the ease-of-use, design and value enjoyed by millions of WD My Book® and My Passport customers.
Last updated: Apr 6, 2020 at 09:08 pm CDT
Similar News
- > NEXT STORY: Toshiba Updates HD-DVD Firmware - Enter 4.0
- < PREVIOUS STORY: NVIDIA shifts to 40nm GPUs in Q2 2009


text:
Coventry University, UK
Dr James Shippen
On graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Leeds, James was employed by Marconi Underwater Systems Ltd in Portsmouth from 1982 – 1984 where he analysed the design of torpedoes. This introduced him to the application of mathematical modelling and simulation in which he has been involved ever since. Following an unexpected occurrence of conscience, James moved from the defence industry to the automotive industry where worked in the Design Analysis department of the Austin Rover Group specialising in dynamic finite element analysis. Shortly afterwards Austin Rover identified a need for an acoustic analysis capability of its vehicles however this was not available in any commercially available package. Therefore James was tasked with writing the code to perform the coupled structural/acoustic analysis for which he was awarded a PhD by the University of Birmingham and offered a lectureship in 1988 in the Mechanical Engineering department.
Whilst at the University of Birmingham James was the Director of the Biomedical Engineering course and researched the application of engineering analytical theory to biological systems specialising in motion analysis. In 2001 James was subsequently offered the position of Technical Direction by Marlbrook Ltd, a motion analysis company, where he worked for 7 years before returning to academia to undertake research and develop biomechanical software at Coventry University. James was introduced to Brian and Robin through a mutual acquaintance at Brunel University where he first encountered the challenges and possibilities of FES rowing as an application of biomechanical analysis to help re-address the dramatic loss of bone in the lower limbs after SCI.


text:
April 27, 2006
"Personal" of Personal Productivity…
Personal Productivity. Only two words here; however, the concepts and scope are quite large. At its simplest, are the two words in the phrase: Personal… and Productivity. 😉 (Sorry, I know we're not in elementary school here.) Let's simplify here for a moment… For me, often the most important issue, in terms of improvement begins with the "Personal." This is where growth and psychology meet the world of personal productivity.
As mentioned below in the blog, I've read a *bit* of M. Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled. While this is *not* a productivity book, it is a personal growth book. To me, becoming productive can only be successful when one follows general basic psychology and self-improvement practices. To highlight this for you, let's look at your New Year's Resolutions. How many of us have made resolutions, only to never keep them? This is a prime example of how successful self-motivated changes to your productivity will be- or not so much. 😉 Unfortunately, most of us are very unsuccessful.
Steve Pavlina's blog discussions on Self-Discipline merged with Peck for me in numerous ways. At the heart of these types of discussions is personal truthfulness, or accountability, and change in our own personal action based on these truths. This is critical to moving oneself forward. If we can't be truthful with ourselves about our ability to accomplish the tasks we set for ourselves, we will always find ourselves losing the personal productivity battle. I don't care how many productivity systems or packets or 3×5 cards you shove in your back-pocket… unless you are truthful and mindful of your actions in these areas, you're bound to have a rough time of things.
Recently, I've begun a small little list of the day's accomplishments. What I am trying to do is highlight what's been done on any particular day so that I can be honest with myself about what is not getting done, and if I'm falling short in my time spent on particular work. I don't know how successful this will be, but I feel that if I can shed some sort of light upon my work ethic, instead of fooling myself internally, I will be forced to be honest with myself about how I'm falling short and where I'm falling short. Then, when I can see the dirty grubby underneath of things, I'll be able to properly motivate myself into action. Truth will only help to motivate ourselves.
For me, this step is personal. Don't share it with the boss, or with anyone else… it may hurt your truthfulness level. Share it only with yourself. You are the one micro-managing yourself… no one else is. To be a proper self-manager, you must properly evaluate yourself and your abilities here. Once you highlight areas that are problems, then you can move forward with goals which are reasonably achievable, and then reward yourself when you accomplish them. [This reward step is very critical.] For some of us, the procrastinators, this may be as simple as the (10+2)*5 hack or the dash… essentially, you want to ultra-focus on one task on your to-do-list, for 10 or 20 minutes. No other distractions, no e-mails replied to, no phone-calls accepted. You're there to accomplish your task. [Set a timer.] Then, when you've worked 10/20 minutes, and the buzzer goes off, chill out… take 5 (or 2), and surf away to a cute website or run down the hall to grab a pop, or a bit of a nice pipe and tobacco.* The point is essentially to know you're going to get a break. It's not the 10 hours of work you know you need to get done this very second… it's the 10 or 20 minutes of starting the work with a predetermined break close at hand, that will help remove the scary frustration of how much you have to get done. So, when that timer hits, take a small break. [If you don't feel like breaking, that's ok… but be honest with yourself… if the task at hand is extremely frustrating, it might be better to take a break before you burn out… then you'll be able to keep going for longer periods of time…]
So, start with honesty. Be honest with yourself. Where are you in your work? How well are you doing at staying on task, and hashing out the plans you've set for yourself? "To Do" lists will only be lists until you actually use them! [To improve your success with ToDo's and day to day ability to accomplish your tasks, I highly recommend David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD).- more on this in future posts] A small aside: Stephen Covey's mission-statements are really an attempt for you to highlight where you want your life to be headed… and in a not so obvious way, to be honest with yourself about where you're headed. Reviewing your goals will help you to keep your mind on task, and help you to be honest about whether or not you're doing what you wish you were doing. – You do wish you were doing it, right? Then why hasn't it been crossed off your list recently?
Wishing you all a productive week's end!
[*- May I recommend Russ Oulette's Louisanna Red? Or, if you're an English/Balkan smoker, try some of Russ's Namasté, a bit like Dunhill EMP (Murray's version), but crossed with a wonderful balkan for some citrusy, light and sweet overtones. It truly is a fantastic all-day blend.]
April 19, 2006
Noodler's Fox Red Ink…
A quick update:
- The comments section should be working now… sorry to everyone who would have told me I was insane for thinking the way I did earlier… you should now be able to tell me that I am insane… right in my own blog. 😉
- It appears that Tardiff has released yet another couple colors of his Bullet Proof inks! [And the villagers rejoiced.] So, now I can grade in "Fox Red" and have it stay forever… 🙂 My grading will now be permanent on my student's work… Can't wait to try it out!
- Somehow for some crazy reasons… people are actually reading these posts. [Don't you guys have something better to do than read my insane ramblings? 😉 ] I welcome everyone who's found this little blog, and please don't hesitate to get in touch. Speaking of which, a friend from 43folders mentioned that it was painful to try and get in touch. So, now, in my little GTD inbox sits the item: "Figure out how to add e-mail address to blog without making myself a sitting duck for "member enlargement" e-mails…" Of course, I entered it in via the Quicksilver Inbox script. God, I love Quicksilver…
- I actually have to *walk* to the library, folks. Yes, it's insane, I know… but I can't find some very old journal articles, and so I will have to do something I haven't done in like 3 years.. [Except when I wanted to snag an old 1913 copy of My Lady Nicotine and A Window in Thrums, by J. M. Barrie from the Stacks- Oh, how I love the stacks…] But, I take with me high-technology… a portable Canon scanner and my well-loved HighRes 15" Powerbook [ppc]. No more crappy Xerox copies for me! 😉
- Blotters- I will soon know what they're good for, thanks to Pendemonium. The guys and gals at Pendemonium are always a joy to do business with. I love their Legal Lapis from Noodler's, and have purchased a few blotters and some stationary from them as well this go-around. [You don't want to know what happened to the last bottle of Legal Lapis- it's best not to ask… I still laugh a bit and shake my head…]
Ok, thanks again for the kind messages from those on 43folders. I've learned a ton from everyone there. I hope to write more important content for you guys soon. My best!
April 14, 2006
Speed of replies…
Have you noticed that our lives are now so sped up and connectivity is so great that most people require replies within a half-day if not faster? If they don't receive one, they assume either (1) you're dead or (2) you don't care about them at all and are ignoring them. Thank God we don't live in the fountain-pen and parchment days of old, eh? Hell, it took months to get replies back and forth across the ocean. Today, we can control a robot in Austrailia in less than 30 seconds. So, every communication becomes critical. "Why didn't you write yesterday afternoon?" [Perhaps because I was fulfilling other duties which were required? Not everything needs to be about *you* (or *me* for that matter).]
Interestingly, we now no longer worry about proper grammar, handwriting, or appropriate discourse. We have lost the homage paid to the reader and the politeness which used to prevail in the handwritten note days. I'm the first to admit that I can type way way faster than I can write. As well, I am constantly bereated for my poor script. I hope to correct this in the coming years. We'll see how that goes. 😉 But, today's world thrives with notes back and forth over e-mail that can be lost in the blink of an eye, and trust placed in systems which constantly loose our data. [Just yesterday I had to explain to a prof. how a slew of grades inputted into the "fandangled" new online grade-book system got lost over the course of 24 hours. Thank God for backups kept by yourself in safe places, eh?] Now, I don't want to go backwards, but perhaps a mixture of both would be appropriate? What would happen if a pinch went off in our towns? That's one reason that the internet world has been the focus of so much attack in the recent past. Don't kid yourself, if we don't strengthen our networks and have backups, we'll have trouble. Ham Radio operators (I am one) have been for years relaying messages back and forth for various reasons (contests, or communications from our troops home) by word of mouth across the country; as well many operate on emergency power for fun. We have a huge network of communication which can be tapped at any moment the alarm is called… all built on the backbone of amateur radio operators who do this just for fun. Many of them realize that they may easily become a critical path for communication in emergencies; in towns that are storm-ravaged, they often do.
So, my point? Life sometimes is slow. Things take time. Today's world is hell-bent on making things faster. In many industries, time=money. But, often, in the pursuit of speed, we loose quality[2][3]. We no longer expend our time to write to our friends in our own hand (certainly not with a pen you had to fill with ink yourself), or communicate with them via old-world means (voice communications over land-line). I've found that in general, with each stage of disconnection in communication (Face to face, voice to voice, letter to letter, e-mail to e-mail), there is an increase in possible misunderstanding and frustration which can arise from the lack of inflection in the voice, or lack of pen-speed on the paper, etc. This is why emoticons are so prevalent in our online writing. It's our only way of smiling these days.
As a pipe-smoker, I'm quite familiar with those who want it fast and now. They're my cigarette smoking brothers and sisters. They need their fix, and their only interest is that. A pipe-smoker on the other hand may take up to 1 hour to finish a pipe (and sometimes longer). The selection of the tobacco (and drink/coffee/tea on the side) to suit your current taste, the selection of the pipe to suit the tobacco, the packing and lighting to ensure a good smoke through the bowl and finally the slow and relaxed deliberate enjoyment of the flavor of the fine tobacco during the enjoyment of a good book, or contemplation of those great men who have influenced your life. That is the way of the epicurean; not the fixated now-focused person. Those who doubt me, pick up a pipe (every-day last-forever pipes are generally in the $100 range… those who have money to blow, you can spend $3,000…), learn about the types and regions of tobacco manufacture and their extreme variation of flavor (cigar smokers, you are missing out here), and learn about the pursuit and art of pipe-smoking. [To my brothers and sisters who enjoy their tobacco in any form, I offer my hand in the fight against those who would remove our liberties for the pursuit of extreme protectionism built on the backs of pure fabrication.]
Things seem to take 5x as long for me, as for someone else. Whether it's researching some minutea in my research work that I didn't learn because I switched fields, or doing something abnormal with my data because it's the more appropriate way to analyze it (2D -v- 3D fitting functions), I seem to take longer with everything. This generally comes back to bite me in the butt later on. Fun, eh? 🙂 Oh well. I fear this is my fate. Couple this with severe procrastination (ADD?) and you have a mix of problems. So, I'll watch over my focus, try to speed myself up to cope with the interest in fast -v- good, and we'll see if we can't pump out some serious work this month. [Don't let the above fool you, often my work is just good enough, and should be better. The horror is that it would take much longer!]
My thought to summarize- ask yourself if perhaps a written letter to a friend or loved-one may not be a nice thing to do for them in this day and age of easily deleted emoticon-laden e-mails. Oh, don't worry it may take a bit of time. Hell, write it twice to make sure you know what you want to say. I guarantee you it will make a big impression. My Love just informed me that my little notes I sometimes slip into her lunch-bag often get left there on purpose for days and days because they make her smile. 🙂
Oh, and those who haven't tried out a fountain-pen: please get one and create a bit of joy in your writing by hand again… you'll thank me for it. [The frugal should look into the Lamy Safari and it's siblings for an excellent bang-for-the-buck pen. Be sure you get the converter so you can fill it with your own ink. Of which I strongly suggest you try Noodler's– Tardiff's inks are pushing the envelope on fountain-pen ink in a world gone mad with the lack of touching the pen to the page… archival quality, pH neutral inks, hell, he even makes an invisible ink…] (BTW, isn't paper a renewable resource? A few of my students kill me, because they attempt to write on a single side of a single sheet of paper… then they claim they're doing it for the ecosystem. Well, my liberal use of red-ink is for the advancement of your internal ecosystem. 😉 )
Earworm: "This Place Is A Prison" performed by The Postal Service from the album Give Up
Just found this post by Jason, a kind fellow who liked some of my insane ramblings… don't lump him into guilt by association here, friends. He has an excellent post put up a few days ago entitled: "The Professionalism of Communication" which touches a bit on the subject matter above. Excellent thoughts, Jason!
Precise, or Accurate? – wording
Here's a wikipedia post regarding the use of the word "Precise" and the word "Accurate" and the difference between the two. A number of my students seem to use them interchangeably. The difference can be very important…
All's well, and it's 2am… still grading. 😦 ugh.
April 13, 2006
Roomba update….
Man am I loving my little Roomba. Of course I may have to call him "Marvin" from now on… we'll see. [I know I would be sad if all I did was clean up all day long.] Update: He keeps finding dust where I can't see it. I've had him running 3 days in a row now, and I still end up emptying his little bagless dustbin. Shocked. I'll keep going until most of it is picked up me thinks. Crazy, I know. But then, most would agree with you. 😉
Poor Marvin ended up down the steps again today. [This is now twice he's fallen.] This time I forgot to turn on the virtual wall. Woops. I kinda cracked up the first time, as I heard pound, pound, pound poundpoundpound… and then a sort of Bee bbooooop which kept repeating at a slow interval. Guess that's what happens when Marvin finds himself upside down at the bottom of the steps with the bagless bin shaken off him… I just righted him, pressed the button, and he's off again. 🙂 This thing is definitely well made. I was sure after a few times down the steps it'd never work again. Michele came over for the first time in a while yesterday, and she just laughed out loud. She asked: "Do you live here?" My reply: "Hunh?" She said: "I seriously don't think you live here. That thing is definitely helping you be cleaner." – Goal Accomplished, Friends! To top it off, I have more interest in doing things like actually washing the kitchen floor (now that I don't have to worry about it being swept up before hand).
I should have bought one of these a long time ago.
Earworm: "Not About Love" performed by Fiona Apple from the album Extraordinary Machine
Brainworm: How to accomplish 2 things at once… [Grading and Research]
April 10, 2006
Roomba = Awesome!
So, here's the essence of my wacked weekend. I'm sitting on the phone, talking with my GF and then briefly my pal Steve… I'm getting ready to refill my Pelikan m100 fountain-pen (love the thing), and my elbow hits the opened ink-jar, and I'm freakin' toast. Yes, Blue-black ink everywhere. Everywhere. UGH! I'm shocked. So, instead of having a productive evening working half on work and half with my pal Steve and my GF, I'm stuck going between all three faucets in the apt. soaking up ink, and rinsing out old towels. That took some serious time. I'm still hurting from all the work. And it's *mostly* up. Thank goodness I told my apt. guys not to worry about replacing the carpet before I moved in! <whew>
So, in the midst of my pain, my GF finally understands just how much ink I'm talking about… and I tell her to go check out how much the Bissels cost at Khol's. She finds them for a good price, and we talk about it a bit- she goes ahead and buys the "Spot Bot". So, we spend another 4 hours cleaning the carpet with this thing (pretty much just a glorified Little Green Clean Machine). Fun. So, with most of it finally up, we start to use the Bot feature. Drop the thing centered on a spot, and the brushes and vacuum does the job for you. No bending over, no dorkin with the thing for hours on end, it just works. 🙂 I'm talking with my pal Steve in the other room (explaining why I couldn't come out) and cleaning the carpet at the same darned time. Amazed. I do it like 20 more times… fully realizing that my bending over and back-pain can be avoided. 🙂 <yeah!>
So, that gets me thinking. If I enjoy pressing a button and cleaning my spots of my carpet so darned much, why the heck don't I check out other automated things. [In the back of my mind always loving those darned vacuum-robots I remember from a long time ago.] It hits me- no more freakin' vacuuming. [Which I'm only sporadically good at doing anyway.] On top of it, if it actually saves me time and keeps my apt. cleaner, my GF is all the more happy. <And the villagers rejoiced.>
Granted, that this might be the silliest use of my money (when I could be buying say a Dunhill Bruyere that has georgeous grain for the same price – yes grain, I know, it's not supposed to have good grain)… but, well, I took the plunge. Picked up the Roomba Discovery and headed to leave. Ontop of this, we get to the checkout and bammo- 20% off with a little scratch card at Kohl's. Too bad we didn't get the 30% off, but that 20% pretty much cinched the deal for me, with the thing already being like 30% off.
We tried the thing out at Chel's- worked like a charm (and she's a clean freak). The cats were a bit weirded out by it, but really didn't mind much… it moves slowly, and is low to the ground. I think they realized it wasn't doing anything sneaky but bumping into walls and furniture, and that seemed to help them chill a bit. Then, this morning, I dragged it over to my place (it's real home), and just got done cleaning up my apartment while I was finishing up various bathroom duties. Lordy does this thing save me time and effort! My floor looks excellent. I plan on using it for a few days straight here, as my apartment could really really use it.
Just between you and me, I tended to not care too much about cleaning etc. I mean, hell, I'm mostly just at home to sleep anyway. To top it off I have 2x the normal load of work, and I'm so behind I'm fearing for my degree. Very scary. So, when something like the Roomba comes along and helps me to save time and clean up for me, hell, it's amazing!!
Three Cheers for the Roomba!!
To me, this post is a bit Lifehacky and GTD… I all of a sudden have more time, 'cause the darned robot is doing the work for me! Woo hoo!! 🙂
April 3, 2006
OpenDX comes through…
Well, finally. I finally get DXHDF5 working with my version of OpenDX. Turns out if I just tell DXHD5 to shut up about not having the same libraries as my version of HDF5, it still does a fine and dandy job of working. 🙂 Yipee. So, now I'm getting some interesting images finally. Now, I just need to figure out how to add a color legend, and I'll finally have some kick-butt data visualized! Yipee. 🙂 Then I have to figure out how to use the DXfont tools… grr…
A productive evening. Too bad that grading is going no where. 😦 Perhaps I'll set this data down for a while, and pick up my damned red-pen finally. GRRr… I wish I could just quit it. Oh well.
For those of you looking for ZenAlarm application, I'm sorry, work has swamped me completely. I'll do my best at getting that done soon. My apologies!
Smash Go my wafers!!
So, I'm getting into the office today, trying to do things quickly. I have like an hour and a half here, tops… and the worst of the worst things happen… my sample box slides off the edge of my desk and hits the floor… SMASH… all my semiconductor samples go to pieces… I have a very few bicrystals left – actually.. none are left unscathed… so, I must now regrow some. And use the pieces as best as possible. This will set me back a month in my growth. Horrors of horrors. If this is the omen for the week, this is not going to be fun…
A very sad day…
Oh, did I mention about a full box of AFM tips also got smashed up? That's like 15 each, times 10. That's like $150 down the toiilet. Not to mention each semiconductor wafer is like $70/3… so that's at least another $140 worth of just substrates smashed… not to mention my damned films.
Fun fun fun. Well, hopefully we have finalized the NSF fund, and can start purchasing replacements. 😦 Sad sad day. 😦
Oh, and why the hell isn't the NCSA ftp server up and running? grrr!


text:
Logo Designs
Here is a selection of logo designs. From left to right, top row to bottom: White Brothers 25th Anniversary, Capulet Clothing Company, 2015 Long Beach Air Show, Gary Jones Motorsports, Salt Media Ventures, Paul Mitchell National Educator, EpicStyle Magazine, OOTS Art Collective, Shoe Queen, Talon Engineering Ltd, White Brothers Mountain Bike Division, Blend In Productions, and Kozlowski Rotondi.
Tasks performed: concepts, designs


text:
I sat in the park, clutching my knees and listening to the woodpeckers squabble in the oaks. It was Friday morning, and I'd promised Phoenix I'd come over today.
All my friends had been telling me to let him go, to just cut him loose and move on with my life. It was good advice, the same advice that little voice in my head was giving me. That voice was pretty effective at keeping me out of trouble, when I listened to it. Your life would be a whole lot less complicated if you just ditched the schizo kid, it said. Why are you hanging out with him anyway? The whole thing is just ridiculous. Everyone thinks you're a creepy weirdo.
But I didn't want to ditch Phoenix. I wasn't really sure what I did want – my emotions were like an angry bear snarling around in my chest – but it wasn't that. I couldn't stand the thought of not seeing him while at the same time feeling ashamed and awkward about going over to his house. I'd just be bugging him. Our relationship has gotten too complicated, and I'd just make him feel bad. I messed it up.
I had a new trick for when I felt like this: I closed my eyes, tried to let go of my ego, and went to talk to Invisible Friend Jesus.
He was leaning back on his elbows in the grass, the cuffs of his slacks pulled up around his skinny ankles, the sun reflecting off the scuffed lenses of his turquoise-framed sunglasses. "Hey, Tink," he said.
A warm peace spread through me, and my shoulders relaxed. "Hey," I said.
He leaned back to let the sun into his shirt collar, closing his eyes. "You promised Phoenix you'd go see him today. So, go see him."
I stared at him, my brow furrowing. "You're not supposed to tell me that. You're supposed to tell me to go home."
He cracked an eyelid and cocked an eyebrow. "If you already supposedly know what I'm going to say, why bother to talk to me?"
"It makes no sense for you to tell me to go see Phoenix. You're supposed to clear out all my selfishness and angst, and make me at peace with not hanging out with him anymore."
"All your bad feelings and confusion come from you worrying about what other people think of your relationship with Phoenix," he said. "You don't really have any conflict about seeing him. It's a healthy relationship, for the most part. A bit complex, maybe, but I think it's good for both of you, if you're careful."
I thought about it. "You're right," I said. "But still, this doesn't really make sense."
"Why not?"
"God is supposed to make you do things you don't want to do. You know, like give up your weekends to boring, pointless volunteer work, or get nailed to a cross and die slowly in the blistering desert sun. He doesn't tell people to spend sunny afternoons climbing trees and picking wildflowers. That's my own brain speaking, telling me to do that stuff."
Invisible Friend Jesus smiled in that little way he has. "That's not how it is, Tink. God doesn't want us to be miserable. God wants us to make beauty and peace in this world, and we all have our own ways of doing that." He pulled his sunglasses down his nose, looking at me over the rims. "But, for God's sake, stop with the drinking and smoking cigarettes. Watch yourself, and be good, and above all step carefully."
I opened my eyes, blinking. Before my doubts could pour in again, I stood up and stalked off towards Phoenix's house.
I'd feared knocking on the door, having to talk to his mom or Whisper, but I found him lying on the gravel shoulder of the road in front of his house. He watched me as I walked up, and I thought he looked surprised; maybe he hadn't expected me to show.
I sat down next to him. "What are you doing? Just lying here in the dirt?"
He closed his eyes and pretended he hadn't heard me.
We didn't talk. I could tell he was upset, but I felt better just being around him. A car passed, its tires a scant foot from Phoenix' head, and I saw the passenger peering down at us curiously.
I started dragging my fingers through the gravel, arranging it into patterns. He opened his eyes, propped his head on his hand and watched me. "What are you doing?"
"Making pictures," I said.
"For artistic reasons."
He laughed. "Artistic reasons." He sat up and started helping me. We drew circles and piled the rocks up in the shapes of twining vines. Then his hands went still, and he looked up, locking me in his intense gaze. "I thought I was happy for the first time in my life."
"What, when?"
He pressed his lips together, then dropped his eyes to squint distantly at the ground. "But I don't really know what happiness is, so."
I wrapped my arms around myself. "Phoenix, I want you to be happy."
His fingers fidgeted with the pebbles. "What, what do you mean?"
"Just that. Only that. That I want you to be happy."
He glanced up, a goofy grin flitting across his face. "Huh," he said. He threw a rock into my lap and made an explosion noise. I giggled and made guns with my fingers, pointing them at him.
"Pew pew!" I said.
He clutched his hands over his heart. "Argh, you got me, you killed me." He fell down on his back. "I'm totally dead now. That was so mean, you shot me dead."
"You were exploding me with cannons, I'm not supposed to retaliate?"
"I'm really mad at you, actually," he said, smirking.
Then I heard the dogs bark, and looked up to see Whisper coming out of the house. She leaned on the picket fence, smiling. "Hey, Liz."
"Hi, Whisper."
"Why are you all, like, in the dirt, Phoenix?"
Phoenix sat back up. "For artistic reasons, and because Liz shot me."
"Oh." She fished in the pocket of her tight, studded jeans. "You wanna cigarette, Liz?"
Phoenix's spine went rigid, and he scowled. "What are you offering her cigarettes for? Liz doesn't smoke."
Whisper raised her eyebrows. "I was just being nice."
"Spreading all your unhealthy bullshit," he said. "Get off and leave her alone."
"Don't get all pissy on me, brother."
"She doesn't smoke!" he bellowed. "Leave her alone!"
"Phoenix," I said, but he didn't look at me. I still hadn't figured out anything that calmed him down when he got like this.
"Are we gonna go again, Phoenix?" Whisper asked, her hands on her hips. "Are we gonna go? Come on, come break my nose again, like last night."
Phoenix looked away from her, muttering. I squinted at Whisper. Her nose didn't look broken to me; there wasn't a mark on her anywhere.
She stood looking at him for a few more moments, then hopped the fence and came over to pull him into a rough hug.
"Let's not fight, brother," she said. "I love you."
Phoenix sat stiffly in her arms and muttered something else, staring at his hands. Whisper let him go and strode back towards the house, lighting her cigarette and yelling through the doorway for her boyfriend.
"What does she mean you broke her nose?" I asked.
He pointed at his eye. "See my black eye? We got in a fight last night." He punched the air, laughing. "It was super fun."
"Oh, my God." His right eye was indeed swollen; he had cuts around it and across his nose. I hadn't really paid much attention before, because he was always covered in boo boos from climbing trees and doing backflips or whatever. "What were you guys fighting about?"
He shrugged, curling into himself and picking at his cuticles. "I don't even remember. Some bullshit. We were both drunk."
"You shouldn't drink, Phoenix. You're a mean drunk."
He glanced up at me. "I am?"
"Fighting with your sister and stuff, and yelling at your mom. I'm afraid you'll hit me someday, too."
His eyes went wide. "No, not at all. No way. I wouldn't hit you. I don't hit girls and stuff. Whisper just came at me. I was defending myself." He curled up again, frowning and fidgeting with the pebbles. "Being all bitchy at me, giving me a black eye."
We worked more on our gravel artwork until his family and Whisper's boyfriend came out a few minutes later. "We're going into town to see your grandma," his mom said.
"Okay, have a good time," Phoenix said.
"You don't want to go with them?" I asked, as they all climbed into the Jag.
"I do, actually, but there isn't room for us in the car."
"You could probably fit," I said. "Go ahead and go, if you want. Don't stay here because of me."
"No, to tell you the truth, I was just joking, I don't want to go," he said.
I stared at him as his family drove off, but he didn't look at me. After the car turned the corner, he stood up. "Do you think you could put cheese in eggs?"
"Yes," I said. "Cheese in eggs is really good."
"How about chicken?"
He spun on his heels and went through the gate, into the house. I stood up and followed him.
He was rummaging in the fridge. "There's not anything that adds up to food, actually," he said. "WHY can't we ever have anything that's FOOD?"
I glanced over his shoulder at the half-eaten cups of Jell-O and sticks of margarine that looked like someone had squished them between their fingers. "What's in the cupboards?" I asked. "Do you have onions?"
"Yeah, there's onions."
We chopped up onions and chicken, and he put a pan on the stove. "You need some oil in that," I said.
"I don't like oil in my food," he said. "All we have is dollar store oil." He scattered the chopped chicken into the pan. "There's good oil in the chicken, that works for oil."
He went to wash his hands, and I put the onions in, then searched for a spatula in the drawers. I found one, but he yelped at me when I went to stir the food around.
"Don't use that one!" he said. "My mom is all, meh meh, I'm gonna use that spatula, gonna get all up in your food with it." He opened a cupboard and searched around behind the plates, coming out with another, almost identical, spatula.
"You have a secret stash," I said.
He flipped the chicken and onions. "I'm not sure I can eat this food now, actually. I don't like people touching my food, or even getting near it or looking at it."
I saw him smirking, and I snorted. "Shut up."
When the omelets were done, we went out onto the porch to eat them, listening to Modest Mouse on my phone. The house sparrows twittered in the willow branches and Shiva begged for scraps at our feet.
"You literally saved my life today," Phoenix said, feeding his dog a piece of chicken. "I was going to lie in the road until a car came and crushed my head." He gave me a shy glance, then held my eyes and smiled. It was a real smile, boyish and happy, and I seldom saw it on him.
I smiled back. "I'm glad I came over, then," I said.


text:
Jose V. "Zito" Sartarelli, Ph.D., a former pharmaceutical executive who now serves as chief global officer and dean of the College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University, has been elected chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington by the Board of Governors of the 17-campus University of North Carolina. UNC President Tom Ross placed Sartarelli's name in nomination today (April 10) during the board's regular April meeting, held on the campus of East Carolina University in Greenville. Sartarelli, 65, will assume his new duties July 1, succeeding Interim Chancellor William A. Sederburg, who has led the institution since Gary Miller stepped down last summer to become president of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
In recommending Sartarelli to the Board of Governors, Ross said: "Zito Sartarelli brings to the role of chancellor a rare combination of corporate and academic leadership experience, strategic thinking, and a truly global perspective. In senior positions with major international companies and as an academic administrator, he has proven himself to be resourceful, collaborative leader who raises the bar, expects nothing short of excellence, and leads by example. He also has earned a reputation for great integrity, sound judgment, and a strong commitment to student success and community engagement. I am convinced that Zito Sartarelli has the expertise, skills, experience and vision needed to be a truly great chancellor for UNC Wilmington."
Located in Morgantown, WV, West Virginia University is a public land-grant research institution that enrolls roughly 32,000 students from every U.S. state and more than 110 other countries. Its 15 colleges and schools offer more than 190 undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in fields including agriculture, natural resources, the arts and sciences, business and economics, education, engineering, journalism, law, public health, and medicine, nursing, and pharmacy.
Sartarelli has been the Milan Puskar Dean of the College of Business and Economics at WVU since 2010 and was named the university's first chief global officer in 2013. As dean, he leads a college that enrolls more than 2,700 students and has been ranked by Businessweek as one of the top 100 undergraduate business programs in the country. Sartarelli is credited with improving the academic profile of the college's students, faculty and staff, while setting all-time records in enrollment and fundraising. Under his watch, the college has partnered with other WVU units to create six joint degree programs; launched a Ph.D. program in business administration and a fully online executive master of business administration (EMBA); established three new centers; and expanded its community, state and global engagement. In its rankings of online MBA programs, U.S. News & World Report ranks the EMBA 25th nationally.
As WVU's chief global officer, Sartarelli is charged with expanding the university's global footprint. In that role, he has strategically focused international recruiting efforts and achieved double-digit increases in international undergraduate applications. Under this leadership, WVU also has forged new partnerships and signed student exchange agreements with top universities and colleges in Germany, China, Israel, and Brazil, among others.
A native of Brazil, Sartarelli received a bachelor of business administration in marketing (1973) from the São Paulo School of Business Administration (Fundação Getulio Vargas) in São Paulo, Brazil. He then attended Michigan State University as a Fulbright Scholar, earning an MBA in marketing (1975) and a doctorate in business administration (1979).
Before transitioning into higher education, Sartarelli spent three decades in marketing and management for the international pharmaceutical industry. He began his career with Eli Lilly and Co. (1980-1997), where he held senior positions with increasing levels of responsibility for company operations in the United States, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific. Over the course of his tenure with Lilly, he managed pharmaceutical operations in Brazil and Chile, directed international market planning activities, and oversaw Asia-Pacific operations, based in Singapore.
Sartarellli joined Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. in 1997 as senior vice president of franchise management, business analysis and planning and was later named president of two international medicines groups (1998-2001).
From 2001-2010, Sartarelli worked for Johnson & Johnson as pharmaceutical group chairman for Asia-Pacific, Japan and Latin America. In that role, he oversaw a business with $3 billion in annual sales and more than 9,000 employees spread over more than 50 countries. Upon leaving the company in 2010, he became dean at WVU.
Sartarelli is a former board member of the Council of the Americas. In addition, he has held leadership positions in professional organizations in numerous countries and is a past chair of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America International Steering Committee. He currently serves on the board of the West Virginia United Health System and sits on its Finance Committee.
Sartarelli and his wife, Katherine Ann "Kathy" Sartarelli, met as graduate students at Michigan State, where she earned a master's degree in biophysics. She has been an active volunteer in civic and community organizations.
The University of North Carolina
The oldest public university in the nation, the University of North Carolina enrolls more than 220,000 students and encompasses all 16 of North Carolina's public institutions that grant baccalaureate degrees, as well as the NC School of Science and Mathematics, the nation's first public residential high school for gifted students. UNC campuses support a broad array of distinguished liberal-arts programs, two medical schools and one teaching hospital, two law schools, a veterinary school, a school of pharmacy, 11 nursing programs, 15 schools of education, five schools of engineering, and a specialized school for performing artists. The UNC Center for Public Television, with its 11-station statewide broadcast network, is also under the University umbrella.
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
The University of North Carolina Wilmington, the state's coastal university, is dedicated to learning through the integration of teaching and mentoring with research and service. A public institution with over 14,000 students, the university is known for its superb faculty and staff and powerful academic experience. With an array of high-quality programs at the baccalaureate and master's levels, and doctoral programs in marine biology and educational leadership, UNCW is consistently recognized at a national level for academic excellence and affordability by publications like U.S. News & World Report, Kiplinger's Personal Finance and The Business Journals. UNCW also recently earned the 2015 Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, bestowed to higher education institutions dedicated to community involvement.
UNC WILMINGTON MEDIA CONTACT: Janine Iamunno, Executive Director of University Relations, (910) 962-2445.
Learn more about Dr. Sartarelli.


text:
Lead Performer:
- Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) – Oak Ridge, TN
- Jacksonville State University – Jacksonville, AL
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville – Knoxville, TN
- Karpay Associations – Potomac, MD
- DOE Office of Weatherization and Intergovernmental Programs (OWIP)
- DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)
- PAE Design and Facility Management – Arlington, VA
- The University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa, AL
DOE Funding: $175,000 in FY15; $1,014,000 to date
Cost Share: Over 2 million hours of simulation time on ORNL leadership supercomputers
Project Term: 2012 – 2014
Funding Opportunity: Emerging Technologies and Commercial Buildings Integration core funding
A significant challenge in creating and effectively using energy models for existing buildings — for retrofit planning, retro-commissioning, or measurement-and-verification (M&V) of efficiency-measures — is deriving difficult to obtain model inputs like air infiltration rates, actual occupancies and plug loads, degraded equipment efficiencies, internal thermal mass, etc. This is done by "calibration" against measured data like monthly utility bills, interval meter or sub-meter data (e.g. GreenButton), zone temperatures, or other sensor data streams. During calibration, uncertain inputs are iteratively varied until simulation outputs are deemed sufficiently close to measurements. Traditional manual calibration is extremely labor intensive and more art and experience than science and process. Although graphical techniques help — OpenStudio uses a parallel dimension plot widget to facilitate manual calibration — the human element places practical limits on the amount of data used to calibrate and the "accuracy" that manual calibration can achieve. This is one of the reasons that traditional calibration standards like ASHRAE Guideline 14 are relatively lax.
The Autotune project aims to replace art with science and expensive human time with cheap computing time. Autotune uses evolutionary computation to calibrate model inputs using any sources of measured data which can map to simulation engine output. An initial population of candidate buildings seeds the first generation by intelligently sampling the parametric space defined for all inputs to be tuned while obeying any mathematical constraints placed on combinations of those parameters (e.g. cooling setpoint should be higher than heating setpoint by 1 degree Celsius). Machine learning agents — trained on large simulation datasets to learn correlations between simulation inputs and outputs — serve as hinting mechanisms to intelligently manipulate the parameters of the most promising members of the population to generate the next generation of candidate input models. This process proceeds iteratively to reduce error until a tuning accuracy or a time limit criterion is reached.
An important aspect of the Autotune project is a Trinity Test framework and web service for quantitatively evaluating any calibration algorithm. The service randomly generates a "secret" building and then uses simulation to generate virtual measured data for that building. Candidate calibration algorithms (manual, semi-automatic, or fully automated) can receive this simulated measured data, an example input file, and information on the tuning characteristics (potentially including range, distribution, and mathematical constraints for any parameter in the input file); when complete, a tuned model is submitted to the system. Algorithms are judged not only by how closely they match the simulated outputs, but by how closely the calibrated model's tuned inputs match the secret model.
The Autotune algorithms have been tested using both this Trinity Test mechanism for all DOE reference buildings, in addition to calibration of real-world facilities including heavily instrumented residential buildings, small commercial building test facilities, and traditional office buildings. Autotune will be available via the OpenStudio platform in mid-2015.
Retrofitting existing buildings is the primary way to achieve significant short-term energy reduction in the building sector and having calibrated models of the buildings is necessary in order to plan and optimize retrofits for cost-effective energy-savings. Unfortunately, energy modeling is employed only in the largest projects due to the significant overhead required to create a calibrated model and even calibrated models often diverge from measurement by 30% and more. Developed and tested using DOE supercomputing resources and highly submetered and instrumented demonstration facilities, Autotune has already demonstrated the ability to outperform manual calibration and exceed ASHRAE Guideline 14 calibration requirements in several minutes.
A generalized automated building energy model calibration methodology would significantly reduce the costs to develop building energy retrofit projects, enhance the cost-effectiveness of retrofit projects, and expand their reach into smaller buildings. It would also significantly improve the state of the art in energy savings measurement and verification (M&V) for performance contracting and other purposes. Assuming Autotune is successful enough to enhance cost-effectiveness of current retrofit initiatives while expanding reach into smaller buildings such that there is a 1% uptake in the retrofit market, this would amount to a cumulative energy savings of 27.4TBtus/yr according to a Rockefeller Foundation study on energy-efficiency building retrofits.
Recent Publications and Presentations
- Sanyal, Jibonananda, New, Joshua R., Edwards, Richard E., and Parker, Lynne E. (2014). "Calibrating Building Energy Models Using Supercomputer Trained Machine Learning Agents." In Journal on Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, March, 2014.
- Ostrouchov, George, New, Joshua R., Sanyal, Jibonananda, and Patel, Pragnesh (2014). "Uncertainty Analysis of a Heavily Instrumented Building at Different Scales of Simulation." In Proceedings of the 3rd International High Performance Buildings Conference, Purdue, West Lafayette, IN, July 14-17, 2014.
- Edwards, Richard E. (2013). "Automating Large-Scale Simulation Calibration to Real-World Sensor Data". A Dissertation presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in the Archives of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, May 2013. 178 pages [PDF] [PPT]
- New, Joshua R., Sanyal, Jibonananda, Bhandari, Mahabir S., Shrestha, Som S. (2012). "Autotune E+ Building Energy Models." In Proceedings of the 5th National SimBuild of IBPSA-USA, International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA), August 1-3, 2012. [PDF] [PPT] [IBPSA]
- Sanyal, Jibonananda, Al-Wadei, Yusof H., Bhandari, Mahabir S., Shrestha, Som S., Karpay, Buzz, Garret, Aaron L., Edwards, Richard E., Parker, Lynne E., and New, Joshua R. (2012). "Autotune: Building Energy Model Calibration using EnergyPlus, Machine Learning, and Supercomputing." In Proceedings of the 5th National SimBuild of IBPSA-USA, International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA), August 1-3, 2012. [Poster]
- Edwards, Richard E., New, Joshua R., and Parker, Lynne E. (2012). "Predicting Future Hourly Residential Electrical Consumption: A Machine Learning Case Study." In Journal of Energy and Buildings, volume 49, issue 0, pp. 591-603, June 2012. [PDF]
- Garrett, Aaron, New, Joshua R., and Chandler, Theodore (2013). "Evolutionary Tuning of Building Models to Monthly Electrical Consumption." Technical paper DE-13-008. In Proceedings of the ASHRAE Annual Conference, Denver, CO, June 22-26, 2013. [PDF] [PPT]
- Garret, Aaron and New, Joshua R. (2013). "Trinity Test: Effectiveness of Automatic Tuning for Commercial Building Models." ORNL internal report ORNL/TM-2013/130, March 7, 2013, 24 pages.
- New, Joshua R. (2013). "Autotune Building Energy Models." DOE Building Technology Office (BTO) Peer Review, Washington DC, April 2, 2013. [PPT]
- DOE Technology Manager: Amir Roth
- Lead Performer: Joshua New, Oak Ridge National Laboratory


text:
'I never expected my stint on Jhalak Dhikhhla Jaa to be so short'
'I am not saying I am the best dancer but I could have fared better if I had a good choreographer.'
Andy lists reasons for his elimination in Jhalak Dhikhhla Jaa 7.
VJ Andy is the first contestant to be eliminated from the latest edition of Jhalak Dhikhhla Jaa.
Andy claims he isn't disappointed but quite surprised by the turn of events.
"Someone has to be the first to get eliminated from the show and it was me. I am surprised because I never expected my stint to be so short," Andy explains. "I had reservations from the start because my dance partner Bhavini was new with no experience of reality shows.
"She is an excellent choreographer but she didn't know the format of the show," he adds.
Please click Next to see more.
Image: VJ Andy
'There was so much pressure'
Andy says that another reason was that their dance, costumes and theme were changed just two days before the performance.
He had to rehearse almost 18 hours a day but to put up a whole new dance with a new choreographer wasn't easy.
"There was so much pressure. It was quite a task to learn the dance in 48 hours. Experienced choreographers will guide you through new concepts and make you a better performer. Obviously, they have an upper hand over inexperienced choreographers. To top that, my performance was bad and I scored low."
Image: Andy with Bhavini
'I believe I can dance'
Andy says he took up the show because he wanted to give back the love the audience gave him (in Bigg Boss), and also because they wanted to see him once again on television.
"I had given up dancing 10-12 years back due to a back injury. But when I got the offer to participate in the dance show, I took it up thinking that I need to give back to the people, who gave me love. I made a conscious decision to take this up because I believe I can dance," Andy says.
Image: Andy with Bhavini
'It's hard to believe that I didn't get too many votes'
"People expected too much from me since I had danced before but I could not fulfill it because both my performances lacked concepts. I am proud of my achievement," Andy says.
Soon after his elimination, Andy headed out to Goa to relax with friends.
"It's hard to believe that I didn't get too many votes. It's shocking because I have a huge following on social media. I know people have voted for me," he adds.
Image: Andy
'I could have fared better if I had a good choreographer'
Andy competed with Sophie Choudry in the Face Off round.
"Competition between a previous winner (Sophie's choreographer Deepak Singh had won Jhalak in the past) and a first-timer isn't fair. I am not saying I am the best dancer but I could have fared better if I had a good choreographer," Andy says.
"My second performance was better than the first. Maksim Chmerkovskiy, the new judge on the panel, said I should have never been in the bottom two with an act like that. It was quite a compliment," he says.
Image: Andy
'Shakti Mohan is phenomenal'
Would he like to come back as a wild card?
"I don't think that will happen. If it does, I will come back only if the audience wants me, and with an experienced choreographer," Andy answers.
Who does he think will win?
"Shakti Mohan is phenomenal. She's the most experienced and a beautiful dancer. But if it's about the growth of a performer then everyone has a chance of winning the show. Sophie and Ashish Sharma are also very good," he says.
As Andy looks ahead, he says Bollywood is beckoning him.
"But I am in no rush," he says. "I'm sitting on some scripts and want to be sure of the film I take up. I am looking at hosting some shows in July. I want to bring my show Dare To Date back, or something on those lines. I am also developing a chat show concept. I am here to stay on television," he concludes with a smile.
Image: Andy


text:
W: Watson - Welford
Wrestling Heritage A-Z
Whipper Billy Watson
Many fans of the 1960s will remember reading of the exploits of Whipper Watson in those American magazines that arrived in our shops weeks after their publication. He was another of those larger than life characters that existed in the same distant world as other greats such as Lou Thesz, Bruno Sammartino, Freddie Blassie and Gene Kiniski. Most of us were probably ignorant of the fact that this American superstar had spent his formative professional wrestling years learning his trade in the All-In rings of Great Britain.
Canadian by birth as William Potts, born in Toronto, he was brought to Britain in July 1936 by Harry Joyce (father of Doug and Ken), and during his first week faced Tony Baer, Tony Mancelli and Al Korman. His specialism Irish Whip move quickly led to Billy Watson becoming Whipper Watson. Billy wrestled his way around Britain for four years until shortly after war was declared in September, 1939. He returned to Canada to become one of North America's most popular wrestlers and National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion. Whipper Watson retired in 1971, and died at his home in Florida on 4th February, 1990.
Billy Watson Jr
Nearly forty years after his famous wrestling dad, Whipper Billy Watson, had toured Britain, twenty one year old Billy Watson Jr came to Britain during the winter of 1970-71. Billy Jr was born Phil Potts, but the family had long ago changed legally changed their name to Watson.
He was much lighter than his father, barely a middleweight, facing newcomers such as Steve Young and Tony St Clair as well as more experienced opponents that included Jackie Pallo and Colin Joynson. Tagged with fellow Canadian Red Pollard who visited Britain around the same time. His tour ended suddenly at the end of January, resulting in his planned main event contest against Mick McManus at the Royal Albert Hall being cancelled.
Tommy Watts (London)
See the reference to Anaconda
Tommy Watts (Portsmouth)
See the reference to Barry Jones,
Tommy Watts (Yorkshire)
See the reference to Mal Kirk
Leo Wax
Leo Wax was an Australian boxer with around 130 professional fights to his credit, having boxed in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Denmark and Sweden before arriving in Britain as a boxer in 1929. It clearly suited him because he stayed here. With 67 boxing matches in Britain alone he was a well known name to British wrestling fans. As he neared his thirtieth birthday and wresting booming in Britain Leo became interested in the sport and by 1934 was mostly familiar to wrestling fans, with Jack Dale and Mario Magisti regular opponents. Along with more famous wrestling personalities Jack Pye, Bob Gregory, and King Curtis he appeared in the 1936 film "All In. After finishing with wrestling we have been told Leo managed a night club in London. In 1938, fourteen years after leaving his home in New South Wales, Leo returned for one last boxing match. One match too far as he was knocked out in the first round by Jack Wilson. Following the Second World War Leo settled in Sweden.
Mark Wayne
Present day fans simply could not believe what it was like back in the 1960s and 1970s. In Greater Manchester alone there could be as many as half a dozen shows taking place on the same night, wrestlers often jumping in a car to work on two or three shows a night.
Not all shows were in the big venues like Belle Vue, the Free Trades Hall and the Houldsworth Hall, but in just about every working man's club, social club, even school hall.
One of those busy, and popular wrestlers from those days was young Mark Wayne of Eccles, a trainee from the Hollywood AWC and contemporary of Eddie Rose,Pete Lindbergh, Ian Wilson and Bob Francini.
When the Hollywood Club closed down Mark's career almost came to a premature end, until he was taken on by Jack Atherton for training at the Wryton Stadium. The Sunday morning sessions at Wryton Stadium, with old timers like Alf Cadman showing him the ropes led a progression from the independent halls to Joint Promotions in the summer of 1969, and regular work from Jack Atherton and Best Wryton Promotions.
Mark was a very popular welterweight, nicknamed Prince Charming by his colleagues. He gained a lot of work in the early 1970,s but his promising career was cut short by injuries sustained in a road accident. He left wrestling to concentrate on a singing career on the club circuit.
Dave Webb
Another of those skilful workers who were enjoyed in the independent rings of the 1960s and 1970s yet never hit the national limelight. Dave Webb was trained by Stockton's Jimmy Devlin. Away from the ring he was a mechanic at his own garage in Sedgefield.
Arpi Weber
Arpi Weber (known elsewhere as Arpad Weber) made just the one visit to Britain, in 1971. He accompanied the already familiar Josef Molnar as one half of the Hungarian Horsemen tag team, defeating the Black Diamonds at the Royal Albert Hall. On television Weber drew with both Tony Charles and Barry Douglas, the latter result suggesting the promoters were willing to give little away to the Budapest born heavyweight. Arpi wrestled in Europe, Mexico, the Unted States and Japan. Following his retirement he promoted in Germany and later, Hungary. Born on 9th September, 1942, Arpi Weber died of a heart attack on 2nd August, 2010.
Gil Wehrle
French wrestler Gil Wehrle visited the United Kingdom in April 1971 to face, and lose to, Tony Charles at the Royal Albert Hall.
Bruce Welch
With a background in judo and karate Scotland's Bruce Welch turned to wrestling and made his professional debut aged twenty-four. He dropped his family name of Bryden in favour of one of his musical heroes, Bruce Welch of the Shadows. He began his career as a middleweight, debuting against Salford's Fred Woolley, and increased to light heavyweight as time passed. The highlight of his career was a bout against his other hero Andy Robin in Ayr, at a Charity Fund Raiser for a child who required treatment abroad. He lost 2 to 1! Being an ex-miner Bruce was a strong as a ox, with a muscular, well trimmed body. He helped run Spartan Promotions for a number of years and trained a stable of young, up and coming stars, at a Gym run in conjunction with Dale Storm. It produced some of the best grapplers in all weight divisions to come out of Scotland! Most of his time now is spent in his beloved garden. Sadly, the years have taken their toll, and bad knees are his curse of all the bumps he took whilst giving the enjoyment value to many, over twenty year career. He was not known for a speciality move or
hold but had a varied knowledge of the a wide range of moves. He worked mostly for the Independent Promoters but did have spells with Joint Promotions under both Max Crabtree and Jack Atherton.
Colin Welford
Fast and clever 1970s Tyneside wrestler working for the independent promoters in his trademark white gown and trunks. Wrestled with Ken Williams or Brian Walker as The Vulcans. tag team.
Page revised 26/10/2019: Addition of Dave Webb


text:
Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive
There is less than a month to go until the Giants can use their 12 picks in the upcoming NFL draft. Here's a look at how those picks might go:
First round (6th overall) - LB Devin White, LSU
A first-round linebacker for the first time in 35 years? It's possible. The Giants would love it if Ohio State DE Nick Bosa, Kentucky LB Josh Allen or Alabama DT Quinnen Williams fell to them. That might take two quarterbacks going in the Top 5 (possible) and another surprise pick to happen. If it doesn't, White could be the best defensive player on the board. One team source said the Giants' defensive coaches love him, and pairing him inside with Alec Ogletree could make them a force in the middle. He's got great sideline-to-sideline speed (a 4.4 in the 40), he's smart, he's solid in coverage. He could be this generation's Antonio Pierce.
First round (17th overall) - QB Daniel Jones, Duke
I mean, they have to take a quarterback in the first round this year, right? They can't wait until 2020, can they? Right now I'd guess it's 50-50 whether they take a quarterback or not, but it seems like they'd be more likely to do it with their second first-round pick. That's really risky, given the importance of the position. If you find the guy to be the face of your franchise for the next 15 years, why not take him at 6? It's a good question that has no answer at the moment. There are indications, though, that the Giants think highly of Jones, and they certainly value the coaching (and the recommendation) of Duke coach David Cutcliffe, who was Eli Manning's old coach at Ole Miss. They prefer that comparison, by the way, to the one that compares Jones to the last quarterback the Giants took from Duke 27 years ago.
Second round (37th overall) - WR N'Keal Harry, Arizona State
Giants coach Pat Shurmur may like the weapons he has, but he knows that his receivers have something in common - something small. Golden Tate is 5-10, 197. Sterling Shepard is 5-10, 203. Corey Coleman is 5-11, 185. They need, and they want, a big receiver. Harry is 6-2, 228 with 4.5 speed and is a terrific positional receiver. In other words, in tight coverage he finds a way to get in position for the ball. He could be the big, outside target the Giants have been looking for since Plaxico Burress left town.
Third round (95th overall) - CB Jamel Dean, Auburn
The Giants have high hopes for Sam Beal, their supplemental third-round pick from last year, but they know Janoris Jenkins is likely gone after this year. They need to replenish this group after trading away Eli Apple. That makes LSU's Greedy Williams a sleeper at 17, but more likely he'll be gone by then, leaving the Giants to take a corner later. Dean has had knee issues, so this pick would require the Giants doctors to clear him. If they do, they'll love his size (6-1, 206) and speed (4.3) and potential.
Fourth round (108th overall) - OT Mitch Hyatt, Clemson
This feels a little long for Dave Gettleman to wait to find his first Hog Molly, but he does believe those players can be developed. The 6-5, 303-pound Hyatt might not need a lot of developing, though. He was a four-year starter and if he was a little stronger and his technique was a little better he might be a Day 2 pick. He could be anyway, but the Giants will like his potential here. He could immediately play right tackle, switch to left in the future. Some even project him at guard.
Fourth round (132nd overall) - OT Isaiah Prince, Ohio State
Yes, back-to-back offensive linemen in the fourth. Gettleman would go three in a row, if he could. Prince might be more of a developmental project, but he certainly has tantalizing size at 6-6, 305. He projects as a right tackle, but he's a little raw. He could stand a year sitting behind a veteran - perhaps Mike Remmers, who visited the Giants a few weeks ago and remains on their radar as he continues to rehab from back surgery.
Fifth round (142nd overall) - S Will Harris, Boston College
They got Jabrill Peppers to replace the departed Landon Collins, and veteran Antoine Bethea will be plugged into the lineup for at least a year. But the 6-1, 207-pound Harris could be the perfect complement to Peppers over the next few years. He's got great speed (4.4) and is good in coverage. He's particularly good at something the Giants have stunk at for years - covering tight ends.
Fifth round (143rd overall) - DE Shareef Miller, Penn State
The Giants believe they have the makings of a good pass rush with a healthy Markus Golden and an improved Lorenzo Carter. But they do need more than that, especially if either of those two don't pan out. Miller is 6-4 and 254 and little bit slow (4.7). He might be more suited to defensive end than edge rusher if he puts on a little weight. But this late in the draft, there's value there.
Fifth round (171st overall) - CB Kendall Sheffield, Ohio State
They won't find an immediate starter this low, but they can find a corner with blazing speed and inconsistent skills. He's only 5-11, 193, but he can keep up with the faster receivers in the game. And as he's working on his technique, he can be a huge addition for special teams.
Sixth round (180th overall) - DT Chris Slayton, Syracuse
He's got the size (6-4, 307) and strength and scouts even like his technique, but his production at college never really matched. Some team is going to see his potential and some coach is going to believe he can push his buttons. In the meantime he can be a big body for depth in the middle of the defensive line.
Seventh round (232nd overall) - LB Gary Johnson, Texas
The Giants will like that he's an aggressive player and was known as a leader. He even has terrific speed (4.4). But he's a bit undersized (6-foot, 226) and needs to get stronger (he did 16 reps on the bench press at the combine). His speed will make him a fine special teamer while he's developing his body to play more on defense.
Seventh round (245th overall) - QB Kyle Shurmur, Vanderbilt
OK, look, the chances of the 12th of 12 picks sticking around into September is remote anyway. Plus, if the Giants do draft a first-round quarterback and keep Alex Tanney around as a veteran backup, then Kyle Lauletta's days are numbered. The Giants were pretty down on him last year, both for his arrest and lack of development. The Giants could deal Lauletta late in the summer and stash the coach's son on the practice squad. Then the kid could stick around in 2020 as the third quarterback when (if?) Manning is gone. Hey, it could happen!


text:
Pyxis Tankers Announces Date for the Release of Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 Results and Related Conference Call and Webcast
Pyxis Tankers Announces Date for the Release of Three Months Ended March 31, 2018 Results
and Related Conference Call and Webcast
MAROUSSI, GREECE - May 10, 2018 - Pyxis Tankers Inc. (NASDAQ Cap Mkts: PXS), an emerging growth pure play product tanker company, today announced the following:
Date of Earnings Release. We will issue our unaudited results for the three months ended March 31, 2018 before the market opens in New York on Monday, May 14, 2018. We will host a conference call to discuss the results at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time that same day.
Conference Call details:
Participants should dial into the call 10 minutes before the scheduled time using the following numbers: 1 (866) 819-7111 (from the US), 0(800) 953-0329 (from the UK) or (+44) (0) 1452 542 301 (Standard International Dial In). Please quote "Pyxis Tankers."
A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available until Monday, May 21, 2018. The United States replay number is
1 (866) 247-4222; from the UK 0(800) 953-1533; the standard international replay number is (+44) (0) 1452 550 000 and the access code required for the replay is: 5478965#.
A live webcast of the conference call will be available through our website (http://www.pyxistankers.com) under our Events & Presentations page.
Webcast participants of the live conference call should register on the website approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the webcast and can also access it through the following link:
An archived version of the webcast will be available on the website within approximately two hours of the completion of the call.
About Pyxis Tankers Inc.
We own a modern fleet of six tankers engaged in seaborne transportation of refined petroleum products and other bulk liquids. We are focused on growing our fleet of medium range product tankers, which provide operational flexibility and enhanced earnings potential due to their "eco" features and modifications. We are positioned to opportunistically expand and maximize our fleet due to competitive cost structure, strong customer relationships and an experienced management team whose interests are aligned with those of its shareholders. For more information, visit: http://www.pyxistankers.com.
Pyxis Tankers Inc.
59 K. Karamanli Street
Maroussi 15125 Greece
Visit our website at www.pyxistankers.com
Company Contact
Henry Williams
Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +30 (210) 638 0200 / +1 (516) 455-0106
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Source: Pyxis Tankers Inc.


text:
Home > News
Posted on: Tuesday, 2 October 2018
Late last week, CablePrice'
Whangarei team "All Torque, All Noise" flew to Kuala Lumpur to complete in the
Scania Top Team regional final. In
addition to the stiff competition from the other 7 teams, the boys worked
in some testing conditions, having to complete a range of challenging tasks, in
the oppressive heat and humidity.
Despite it all, the Whangarei team fought hard and came out on top, winning the regional competition and qualifying them as one of 12 teams to attend the Top Team World Final, held in Sweden in December this year. This is an excellent result for CablePrice, with the Top Team World Final being yet another opportunity for its service technicians to show their stuff on the big stage.
A massive congratulations to "All Torque, All Noise" and the Whangarei branch, CablePrice are looking forward to a big effort at the Top Team World Final!
Sitemap - Contact Us - Privacy Policy - Website Disclaimer - Terms & Conditions
Freephone - 0800 555 456, Email - email@example.com
Copyright © CablePrice NZ Ltd. Web Design by Enlighten Designs and Vadmin 3.0


text:
The lady I buy eggs from told me, as she grabbed a boxful from her kitchen cupboard and handed them over, that she had two new tups in the field next to the pigs.
"They're quite tame," she said. "They used to belong to some children up the road. You should go and say hello to them. You can go right up and stroke them."
When I reached the gate, I was confused by what I saw. Tups are rams, but these animals are twice the size of the other sheep around here, with distinctly goat-looking patterning.
I spoke to them gently as I approached. The smaller one hung back, but the larger one sat placidly until I reached him, and leaned into my hand when I stroked his head and neck. I knelt in the grass beside him, enjoying his friendliness. I recalled something the Pig Man had said back in April.
"We're getting some llamas next."
"Are you serious?" I had goggled.
"No," he'd chuckled. "We might get a couple of goats, though, to eat all these weeds."
Whether these tups be goats or sheep, the pigs are fascinated by them, and followed them up and down the fence, grunting with enthusiasm. The sheepgoats seemed to make a point of grazing right up close to them.
A clue to their identity lay beside the stable door: freshly-shorn fleece – two animals' worth. But then, some goats have fleece. Angoras, for example.
Suddenly, I clocked the lovely long dangly tails the tups were sporting.
"The difference between a goat and a sheep," our friend Shaunette had once informed me, "is that goats have tails that stick up, and sheep have tails that hang down".


text:
Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi
I received the book Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi: My Humble Quest to Heal my Colitis, Calm my ADD, and Find the Key to Happiness, by Brian Leaf. He is the author of eleven well known books, and currently teaches everything that he learned in the holistic tutoring center in Massachusetts. The book takes you through his detailed adventure of how yoga, meditation, Ayurveda and holistic health became a part of his life, and helped cure all his physical and mental ailments. There are many funny, inspiring and enlightening experiences along the way that make this book enjoyable. It's a hilarious male version of
Eat, Pray, Love that's quite entertaining.
Throughout his journey, he found eight ways to be happy:
- Do yoga, and if you already do yoga, do more yoga.
- Follow your heart.
- Cultivate and follow your intuition.
- Apply at least three pieces of Ayurvedic wisdom to your daily schedule.
- Meditate.
- Connect with your heart, and interact with others from that place.
- Speak and act from your true self.
- Become most real.
Here is a great excerpt from the book Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi that I found quite interesting on cultivating abundance with meditation:
Cultivating Abundance
We've all experienced it. In our most pathetic, clingy, desperate hour of need, the Universe delivers... absolutely nothing.
It seems a sick joke, but, in fact, whatever force or God runs the show seems not to respond to disempowered displays of self-pity. She seems, instead, to respond generously to empowered non-attachment (which reminds me quite a bit of dating in my twenties - I always seemed to do best when I was already feeling attractive and confident.)
So why? Why does God (and dating) reward confidence? Why is it that when I am freaking out, feeling that I will just die if I don't hear from my agent, that I hear only crickets? But that when I get to my cushion to meditate, and when I let go, releasing to faith, that I return to my inbox with a fresh book deal awaiting me?
Here's the answer. This place where we live is a gymnasium where our souls do soul push-ups, and since self-pity does nothing to build these spiritual muscles, it is discouraged. It is our path to find our true selves while here on Earth. To drop into our hearts and souls. To experience that we, ourselves, are each part of God. Claiming the opposite, that we are helpless and alone, is incorrect and ineffective.
When we are lost in clinging and self-pity, we're like toddlers tantruming for chewing gum. And God, like a loving parent, won't give in to something that isn't healthy or safe for us.
Nice idea, right? But how do you get confident and become grounded in the seat of your true self? The answer: meditation, of course. Meditation is the practice, over time, of switching from indentifying with our thoughts and transient emotional states, to identifying instead with our deeper selves. And when we are connected to our deeper selves, if even for only moments, we can see more clearly and choose the path that works out our Karma and brings us toward freedom.
When we get grounded, resting in the true seat of our selves, in our authentic nature, seeing clearly and choosing that path of vitality and freedom, energy flows unbidden, the world falls at our feet, and God unlocks the arc.
Brian Leaf, M.A. is the author of Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi. He draws upon twenty-one years of intensive study, practice, and teaching of yoga, meditation, and holistic health.
Based on the new book Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi @2012 by Brian Leaf.
Related Links
- See more Reviews.
- Yoga for Sleep
- Yoga for Fertility
- Yoga for Runners
- Yoga for Immunity
- Yoga for Taxi Drivers
- Yoga for Detoxification
- Yoga to Improve Posture
- Improve Balance with Yoga
- Yoga for Hormonal Balance
- Can Yoga Make you Taller?
- Put on your Walking Shoes
- Yoga: A Remedy for Back Pain
- Yoga to Speed up Metabolism
- Yoga Postures to Ease Pregnancy
- Lose the Weight and not Yourself


text:
"Friend" is an odd word.
During my teaching English as a Second Language days, my students often expressed frustration with American usage of that word.
"You use that word all the time! EVERYONE is a friend. But that means no one really is."
"It doesn't appear that Americans have friends. At least not in the way we use the word in my country."
Of course I have friends. I have several cherished long time friends. I have friends I can not speak to for years and then reconnect with and immediately it feels as if we were never apart. I know a lot of Americans who say that very same thing.
But that example only serves to make my students' point. The kind of friends they're talking about are the kind that would never go years without speaking to each other. To them, a "friend" is a person that makes up an integral part of their daily life in their thoughts, emotions and activities. To them a friend is like an appendage; when you leave it behind it causes deep pain. The type of friends they are talking about are the type of friends that would play heavily into a decision to move or not. Mostly not.
I have to admit that I don't really have those kinds of friends.
Most of my friends have been situational. By that I mean we were thrust into the same location by chance.Our close proximity caused us to reach out to serve a basic human need of belonging and likeness and so we became "friends." But once the situation was over, we all went our separate ways and the friendship essentially ended except for nostalgic reunions on Facebook and occasional messages of "Congratulations" for a new job or "Happy Birthday." You know, Christmas card friends.
I do have friends who have stuck their necks out for me in shockingly unselfish ways and for whom I'd give the shirt off my back. I'm so fortunate in that regard. These are the ones who you can look to in a time of need… and who you hope feel the same about you. As special as these friends are, they are not intimately involved in my day-to-day life and that's what sets them apart from the friends my students described.
I have high school and college "friends" I cherish dearly but I can't call any of them up right now to go have a drink with me. They don't live nearby. I have work "friends" I've collected at various jobs on my diverse resume, but we only stay in touch on Facebook. I have many international "friends" from my time in Brazil, Japan and while teaching but none of us are planning to meet anytime soon. I have gay friends, ex-Mormon friends and every combination in between but they are more close community members with some things in common.
My mission companions are like that. For 2-4 short months we were paired up and involved in some pretty intense day to day activities with a lot of emotional investment and vulnerability. Like friends, we encouraged one another, laughed a lot and cried some. Then, when a transfer came we hugged and walked away to do it again with someone else. I liked most of my companions and got along swimmingly with each one of them except for the first one. Funny that he's the only one who has reached out to me on Facebook! The others I've interacted little to none with despite my attempts. Two of them were at BYU with me afterwards but showed no interest in getting together. The others are in Brazil somewhere with common names that return hundreds of results on Facebook friend searches.
Whether it be school friends, work colleagues, or travel encounters these situational friendships are a lifeline and something I cherish in my life, but once the situation ends the close friendship wanes. I don't mean to disparage those relationships in my life at all. Some of them continue thanks to Facebook and telephones, but at a distance. My American tendency for residential mobility means that I'm only in one place long enough to start friendships. I'm rarely in one neighborhood, town, state or even country long enough to follow through with the kind of long-term friendships that my students described and for which I sometimes feel at a loss.
All my intimate relationships have been something I call friendships but even those have deteriorated into something stilted and casual once the partnership ended. The friendship portion was entirely dependent on our intimate pillar to hold it up (which is probably why they didn't endure).
I just had a career defining event happen to me last week and I while I have lots of "friends" I could share that information with who would cheer and celebrate with me, I don't have anyone who would come over and bust out in tears of joy with me because they know how hard I've worked for it, how much I needed this. THAT'S the kind of friend my students are talking about and the kind of friends I'm missing.
Today is Father's Day and I'm alone all day. By prior arrangement, my kids are on an international trip with their mother and I likely won't even get a call today. We celebrated early, but my point is that I don't have a close enough friend that knows this about me … someone who would know how much it sucks and acknowledge it or try to abate the suckiness of it.
I don't think I'm alone in this desert of friendship either. I look around and I don't see the kind of relationships my students described. We Americans are an independent and transient bunch. Our friendships tend to fall victim to other priorities and values. My European students placed their intimate friendships higher on the value chain than we would and had the close lifelong friends to show for it. Some of them would even top family, career, independence and money with their dearest, most intimate friendships.
My only experience with that involved using something like that sort of friendship as a tool (which of course means that it probably really wasn't that kind of relationship).
At one point in my "trying to be straight" past, I read a lot of reparative therapy and ex-gay material (I also went to some counseling along those lines). The theory was that same-sex attracted (gay) men just needed to find healthy non-sexual bonding friendships with other men and that that would help "cure" them. I tried it and the timing seemed to be perfect because a very hetero friendship was sparked between me and another single guy at church. We did everything together almost every day and even became roommates at one point. I wasn't attracted to him at all, so the theory was working! It worked so well that I also got close to his sister and ended up marrying her. Today this friend, my former brother-in-law, won't even speak to me or look me in the eye if family events bring us together in the same room.
Even in my most longing moments, like right now, I'm not sure I'd be able to find that, or even want that friend again. I know especially that I wouldn't even know how to nurture that in my life. But I'm open to learning.
I'm proud and bewildered to say that I believe my son has that with his friends. He has a closeness with a small circle of friends that I believe will last a lifetime. There's a flip side to that as well. He'll probably make life choices that will put those friendships higher on his chain of values than I wish he would. I'm confident that that will keep him Mormon unless one of them leaves. I worry that he'll make education and career choices based on proximity to these friendships rather than based on his own strengths and ambitions. But then, those kind of sacrifices are exactly what my students were telling me that they've made for their friends, the choices that make their friendships stand above what they've witnesses on their travels here in America.
Friendship is an odd thing I haven't quite figured out yet.
Also See Previous Father's Day posts:
Happy Father's Day! Ignore The Comediennes and Douche Bags
Mother's Day
12 Summer Highlights…so far


text:
Buy Ashfield House Hotel vouchers for deals on Co. Wexford: 1 or 2 Nights with Dining Credit. Show availability Set in a historical building dating back to 1730s, Ashfield House Hotel makes for a relaxing haven for those exploring Ireland's Sunny South East and Irelands Ancient East. The hotel is located just a short drive away from sandy beaches and Wexford town boasting cobbled streets and various boutiques. Guests can unwind in the en suite rooms which come complete with bathrooms, TVs, and hot drink-making facilities. Popular with guests and locals alike, the on-site Fig Restaurant offers bar menu dishes alongside some light options. After a meal, guests can relax in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine in hand. Bordered by Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow and Wicklow, County Wexford is the largest of Leinster's 12 counties in size, and fourth largest in terms of population. Named after the town of Wexford, the county is situated in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. Local landmarks include the scenic Bannow Drive, a signposted route through four Wexford villages – Duncormick, Cullenstown, Bannow and Wellingtonbridge, popular amongst tourists. The Dunbrody Famine Ship Experience is an interactive experience featuring an authentic reproduction of an 1840s emigrant vessel alongside a popular interpretation of the Irish famine emigrant experience. The Irish National Heritage Park is an open-air museum which recreates the key stages in Ireland's cultural evolution. Travellers may also visit Ballyteigue Burrow, located near Duncormick, one of the finest protected sand dune systems in Ireland. Rich in wildflowers, wildlife and butterflies, this 9km coastal stretch is a protected nature reserve. The Hook Peninsula, featuring the medieval Hook Lighthouse and the historic townland of Loftus Hall, is noted for its many beaches and spectacular scenery. Beachgoers may head to one of the popular beaches located in Courtown, Curracloe, Carnsore Point, Duncannon or Rosslare Strand.
Click Buy to Get Deal
Click buy button to see use by date. Limited number of vouchers available for sale. Deal subject to closure without notice when sells out.
Terms & Conditions Apply
Valid: 13/12/2017 to 04/01/2018


text: We are young, organized, educated and experienced in this field, but most of all strongly motivated to generate genuine social change into the art of volunteering. We have all in been apart of and experienced the Nepali volunteer industry. In that time we have seen what works and what does not. We have all dedicated our lives to changing and altering the current model so that it works not to make ourselves rich but to help the people of Nepal.


text:
It would appear that the fire department of Daran, Isfahan, Iran, has at least one operational fire apparatus, but not a single firefighter on staff who knows how to fucking run it without needlessly putting themselves in extreme danger.
I broke down some of the basic techniques firefighters learn regarding car fires when I went to my first auto-incendiary simulation.
But the jokers in this video couldn't have done worse if they'd slept through even the most basic car-fire briefing. Hell, they're not even being safe for someone who's had no fire training whatsoever.
Let's break the idiocy down from start to finish:
1. No scene security whatsoever... nobody even makes an attempt at directing/alerting traffic, but plenty of the "firemen" have time to run around like zoo animals. About thirty seconds in a damn gas-carrying semi-truck saunters by.
2. No protective gear... it looks like these dudes are wearing dress shirts.
3. Sittin', waitin', wishin'... The apparatus is parked, with dudes out of it, as the video opens. By the time they get suppressant on it, the entire cabin of the car is a raging fireball.
4. What the hell is this extinguisher technique? Dude starts spraying about a mile away, and proceeds to hopelessly blast what looks like a dry-chemical powder into the air. Then at the ground. Then at the wheel, which is not on fire.
4a. That type of powder is a viable extinguisher for a car fire... but it's a dumb choice here. By the time the guy wielding it gets the can (extinguisher) out, the fire's way too far along for even make a dent. Besides, that stuff's mighty expensive compared to the logical alternative... water... and based on this team's attire I'd guess whatever municipality they're working for is not fond of stretching the budget.
5. You better still be watching at two minutes in, because that's when somebody charges (turns on) the line (hose) with nobody on the nozzle. Because that's just not exciting enough, they went ahead and left the bail (trigger) open turning what's normally an instrument of lifesaving into a high-pressured uncontrollable death-wand.
6. They start taking selfies. That is what the guy in the white shirt's doing around 4:45, isn't it?
7. After a quick photoshoot, the fire truck breaks loose and starts running forward and back as though it's trying to play Whack-A-Mole with the crew on the ground. Just... why?
8. By the end all hell has broken loose... there are dudes playing in traffic, cars driving within feet of the fire, and "firemen" wandering like zombies.
Now that I've lampooned these individuals to my satisfaction, I offer some disclaimers: maybe the real firefighters in this town became incapacitated, and the guys in this video were randos who stepped up and took the rig to the scene. Maybe they're actors in an action-comedy where the Iranian equivalent of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker fight fires while exchanging "witty" repartee.
I'm sure you'll help me come up with some more excuses for these maniacs... but please, if you see your local fire department behaving like this, MOVE.


text:
Terms & Conditions:
|This promotion is valid with purchase of any TWO (2) movie tickets at GSC Mid Valley Megamall, GSC IOI City Mall, GSC Pavilion KL & GSC 1 Utama.
|This promotion is valid for tickets purchased over GSC Box Office, GSC Website & GSC Mobile App.
|For purchase via GSC Website & GSC Mobile App, kindly redeem the bounce back card at GSC Box Office counters. Your movie tickets will be printed upon redemption.
|Redemption must be made at the cinema where movie ticket is purchased. For example, redemption must be made at GSC 1 Utama if your movie tickets are purchased for GSC 1 Utama.
|This promotion is on a first-come, first served basis while stocks last.
|Bounce back card are not exchangeable for cash or other items.
|All information stipulated correct at of print and is subject to change without prior notice.
|GSC reserves the right to change these terms and conditions at any time without prior notice.
Source: Golden Screen Cinemas :: Promotions – Clinique Free 3-Step System Samples