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Got nothing much to show this week so will just put up a random rose picture I took when we were in Canada this summer. I love deep yellow roses with pink/orange undertones, so I should really just buy myself one and enjoy it. I would also like a Mexicana climbing rose.
In sewing news, I finished a couple of plain pillowcases and a tablecloth, all white and boring, and am now finishing up a few UFOs. My sewing machine table, which is tucked into a corner of my bedroom, is an old typing table. I made a kind of saddlebag that hangs off the lefthand side and I tuck my UFOs into that neatly sealed in ziplock bags. When the saddlebag gets so full that it interferes with my sewing, I finish off a few things. Today I am making a top cut from vintage doubleknit in lavender. I have one of these tops made from a gifted piece of somewhat hideous but interesting doubleknit, and it never wrinkles, always looks good, and skims a person's figure irregularities. So, in opposition to the prevailing fabric snobbery, I watch out for lengths of vintage doubleknit to make this top pattern from. Hopefully not too hideous.
Of course, sewing on the old doubleknit requires experience and a good presscloth. I found a package of 5 dishtowels (plain white, Mainstays) for only around $5 at the Walmart, and discovered that they make excellent presscloths. You can dampen them and really steam a seam into submission.
Now I need to get my new presscloths and finish up the hems on my almost-finished top.


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Tutor profile: Joshua H.
Joshua H.
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About Joshua
About Joshua
Living in the diverse suburbs of Atlanta, I marvel at the sound of Spanish, English, Korean, Bosnian, Hindi, Urdu Russian, Arabic, Romanian and Vietnamese all being spoken along the same sidewalks, in the same shopping centers and in the same restaurants. I'm often absorbed into the conversations of those around me, continuously honing in on all the various languages being spoken around me. I'm simply astounded by the multitude and complexity of human language. Understanding how others communicate is an essential part of life and...
Teaching Experience
Teaching Experience
After learning Spanish, and dabbling in many other languages, I reached a point where I wanted to share what I've learned with others in hopes that they, too, would learn to see and love the world through different eyes and a different language. So,I began giving impromptu language lessons to anyone who would ask at the beginning and end of classes. Any books I was no longer using, I gave them away to anyone who wanted to learn from them.Then, in my junior year of high school, I began tutoring in Spanish via the National Spanish Honor...
Georgia State University
Spanish Language and Literature
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2014 - 2018
Georgia State University
2014 - 2018
Georgia Institute of Technology
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2014 - 2016
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English for a Lifetime Language Institute, Spanish/English Instructor, Student Services Coordinator
2014 - Present
I continue to work here as a substitute teacher.
One Foundation, ESOL Instructor
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Victory World Church, Romanian/Spanish Interpreter
2014 - 2014
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Mean Green is a unique blend of non-toxic, biodegradable detergents that form a powerful, non-flammable, extra heavy-duty cleaner and degreaser. Is gentle enough for cleaning clothes, upholstery, and carpet, but strong enough for heavy duty projects like cleaning engines and construction equipment. 1 gallon.


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Planemos, the reigniton of semantics arguments June 5, 2006Posted by dr. gonzo in Space.
There is a number of things I could say, Pennsylvania was excellent, Iraq is screwed, Bush is an idiot but instead I think I will talk about planets.
The recent discovery of planetary-like systems not bound to stars has further blurred the definition of planet. The International Astronomical Union promises to work on a definition in August at their 26th General Assembly in Prague. It should be published in September.
In the meantime the debate heats up. What astronomers are calling "planemos" exist on their own, have clouds of dust and gas around them likely to form planets or moons and range in size from 5 to 15 times the mass of Jupiter.
Are they planets? Are they stars? What is going on here?
Personally, I believe any defintion will be arbitrary at best. Our knowledge of the Cosmos is extremely limited, new discoveries change the shape and extent of our knowledge and theories regularly.
If we choose to define planet by mass or size that could end up leaving out a number of objects that are planet like (such as the array of newly discovered Kupier Belt objects).
A simple way to define planet would be: "any object that orbits a star." Of course, that would make the thousands of asteroids and comets in our star system planets. Far too many to know through pneumonic devices and other memorization techniques. But it seems, again, to be arbitrary because people will always see the Sun's system as having the nine planets they grew up knowing.
Instead, if the IAU is smart they will lay down certain requirements for planetary status instead of publishing a binding and static definition.
Requirements such as:
1) Must orbit a star
2) Must have enough mass to acrete into a spherical shape under its own gravity
3) Must not orbit another planet which orbits a star
4) Must not exist as a member of a larger group of very similar objects (i.e. asteroid belt or Kupier belt)
Requirements such as those above would leave the defintion up in the air for objects such as "planemos" but it would narrow down the realm of what constitutes a planet in the scientific community. It would also eliminate Trans Neptunian Object 2003 UB313 from consideration as the 10th planet in our system.
While this may irk the discovery team of 2003 UB313 it would not reduce the scientific value of such discoveries only the glamour attached to them. And instead of arguing incessantly over semantics scientists could get down to science.
- 1. Matt - June 7, 2006
I like your requirements.
One of the things I love about science (of which astronomy is a branch of) is its constant ability to change with new discoveries. Then there are the seemingly endless possibilities still out there to discover and learn from.
Fascinating stuff. And good post.


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Images are representative of facilities onboard. Actual configurations and interiors may vary.
*Amenities are not combinable with other special offers and may not apply to all fares shown. Additional restrictions apply.
Note: Receive an additional $50 per Couple Shipboard Credit for bookings named and deposited more than six months prior to departure and booked with the Groups Standard Rate.
|Friday, Oct 23, 2020
|Friday, Oct 23, 2020
|A great climate which makes it a great vacation spot all year round, exciting attractions, professional sports teams, art, history, museums, and all of the nature parks and education you could ask for. Miami has many local activities & attractions, including Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, and South Beach. Amusement parks, deep-sea fishing, boat rides, sightseeing, fine dining, professional football, dolphin watching, marine museums. A visitor can spend hours, days, or weeks entertaining themselves and family without having to travel more than a few minutes in any direction. Nighttime entertainment includes: music and dance clubs with music ranging from smooth sounding jazz to lively disco, comedy clubs, concerts, theater, opera, symphony and movies. Virtually no one comes to Miami without taking a stroll along the Beach.
|Perfect Day at CocoCay
|Saturday, Oct 24, 2020
|Saturday, Oct 24, 2020
|Coco Cay is a tropical island reserved exclusively for Royal Caribbean guests. Pristine beaches and turquoise waters are available to enjoy snorkeling, scuba diving or just soaking up the rays. Parasail over Coco Cay and experience breathtaking views from 400 feet.
This isn't vacation days spent. This is bragging rights earned. With one-of-a-kind ways to thrill and chill, all in the same day. Like conquering the tallest waterslide in North America, and snapping a shot from 450 feet up in a helium balloon. A drink at the swim-up bar in the Bahamas' largest freshwater pool. Or a taste of Bora Bora in the only private overwater cabanas in the Bahamas. This is Perfect Day at CocoCay — only on Royal Caribbean®.
There's no such thing as a 'one-size-fits-all' vacation — especially on Perfect Day at CocoCay. Whether your ideal beach getaway involves larger-than-life thrills or unwinding at a peaceful waterfront chill spot, you'll find there's no right or wrong way to make the most out of your adventure.
This isn't vacation days spent — it's bragging rights earned. Zip line across the island at lightening-speed. Conquer the tallest waterslide in North America — Daredevil's Peak? — and brave the largest wave pool in the Caribbean. At Thrill Waterpark, there are countless new ways to test your threshold for adrenaline.
Switch onto relaxation mode at Chill Island, home to crystal clear tropical waters, powdery white sands, and endless opportunities to kick back and recharge. Or soak up a slice of Bora Bora in the first overwater cabanas in The Bahamas.
You don't have to choose one way to spend your time on Perfect Day at CocoCay. Turn up the thrills at Thrill Waterpark, then get on island time at Chill Island or at Oasis Lagoon — the possibilities are endless.
|Sunday, Oct 25, 2020
|Sunday, Oct 25, 2020
|You'll recall sunning and strolling on a seemingly endless white sand beach. Or relaxing in the shade of coconut palms. You'll remember the crystal-clear water and the multicolored tropical fish. And you'll certainly recollect the graceful gestures of the uniformed "bobbies" directing traffic in the bustling downtown. Nassau will delight you in many ways. With its colorful Colonial architecture. With the warmth of its people. And with the infectious music of steel drums. It's very likely you'll leave this happy place with lots of duty-free gifts and mementos and at least one straw hat.
|Monday, Oct 26, 2020
|Monday, Oct 26, 2020
|A great climate which makes it a great vacation spot all year round, exciting attractions, professional sports teams, art, history, museums, and all of the nature parks and education you could ask for. Miami has many local activities & attractions, including Coconut Grove, Miami Beach, and South Beach. Amusement parks, deep-sea fishing, boat rides, sightseeing, fine dining, professional football, dolphin watching, marine museums. A visitor can spend hours, days, or weeks entertaining themselves and family without having to travel more than a few minutes in any direction. Nighttime entertainment includes: music and dance clubs with music ranging from smooth sounding jazz to lively disco, comedy clubs, concerts, theater, opera, symphony and movies. Virtually no one comes to Miami without taking a stroll along the Beach.
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$ 399
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$ 409
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There is wireless internet access in selected areas onboard. Wi-Fi service provides internet access 24 hours a day through guests' own Internet Service Provider. The service is available fleetwide at a nominal charge. More information available onboard.
Should a guest become sick or injured while onboard, they should visit the medical facility immediately. The doctor will diagnose the illness/injury and advise accordingly.
Royal Caribbean International cannot accept guests who will have entered their 24th week of pregnancy by the beginning of, or at any time during the cruise or cruisetour. A physician's "Fit to Travel" note is required prior to sailing, stating how far along (in weeks) the pregnancy will be at the beginning of the cruise and confirming that the guest is in good health and not experiencing a high-risk pregnancy. The "Fit to Travel" note should be faxed to the Access Department at 1-954-628-9622. Guests should contact Royal Caribbean at 1-866-592-7225 or at email@example.com if they have already booked a cruise or cruisetour and do not meet this requirement.
For the comfort and enjoyment of all guests, Royal Caribbean ships are designated as non-smoking. However, there are certain public and private areas where smoking is allowed.
Smoking in public areas is only permitted in designated smoking sections, which vary by ship. Generally, smoking is permitted outdoors on only one side of the ship, and on all private oceanfront balconies, including Loft Suite balconies. To assist in locating areas where smoking is permitted,you will find visible signage posted within all smoking areas and ashtrays that are provided for your use.
For safety reasons smoking is NOT permitted inside any stateroom or on private balconies that overlook The Boardwalk or Central Park. Smoking is NOT permitted in any dining venues, food outlet, theater, hallway, corridor, Central Park, The Boardwalk or the Jogging Track.
Pipe or cigar smoking is only permitted within the Cigar Lounge on applicable ships.
Royal Caribbean will make every effort to accommodate guests' dietary requirements whenever possible. They can accommodate dietary needs such as:
Vegetarian Meals (including Indian-style vegetarian) are available on all menus in the Dining Room and Windjammer Cafe every day. Guests do not need to make a special request for these meals.
Lactose-free/soy milk, Ensure, and kosher meals are available at no extra charge. Guests will need to notify RCCL at least 45 days prior to sailing (90 days for European/South American Itineraries).
Kosher for Passover meal requests MUST be received 90 days in advance in order to be accommodated.
Guests should contact their travel agent and request that special meal requests be noted in their reservation details. Special meal requests that are received less than 45 days prior to sailing (90 days for European/South American itineraries) are dependent on the ship's product availability. Royal Caribbean will try to accommodate requests to the best of their ability.
Please note: Baby food is available via the Gifts and Gear page via the Babies To Go program and infant formula is not provided on board.
Guests may not bring on board any food items other than baby food and/or dry, nonperishable snack items (cookies, crackers, chips, energy bars, etc).
While guests are not required to provide information about the extent of their disability, the more information they can share with Royal Caribbean about specific needs, they better they will be able to accommodate those needs.
Guests are encouraged to notify Royal Caribbean of special needs at the time of booking, in order to guarantee availability of specific equipment or services. Please provide:
Guests must provide 72 hours advance notice if they are traveling with a group of 10 or more passengers with disabilities.
Equipment and Services Requiring Advance Notice:
Each Royal Caribbean is equipped with a medical facility. At least one licensed physician and two nurses are normally in attendance on all Royal Caribbean cruises. Guests will be charged for medical services and medications are available onboard for a fee. The types of medications kept onboard are limited and guests must bring an adequate supply of any specific medications they need. Royal Caribbean is not responsible for the diagnosis, treatment or services furnished by shipboard medical personnel.
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Cruise reviews reflect the opnions of travel editors and cruisers / readers and may not represent those of our company.Submit Your Own Review!
Everyone was wonderful from checking in to room service
Pros: Everyone was wonderful from checking in to room service
Cons: Don't bring your Steamers they will take it away
Review: There's several people on staff whose names I have to mention Wilson who cleaned our room twice a day. Geovany and Smi were amazing and went above and beyond from getting to know us to offering coffee and conversation as well as giving us some important information and recommendations. I had my first real facial with Lucia who managed to put me to sleep, it was the most relaxing experience as well as very informative. There's so much to do, it's impossible to get around to everything. From Arcade games to Laser tag, ice skating, shows, water slides and so much more. I look forward to more Sailings with Royal Caribbean. It was worth every penny! Thank you Navigator of the Seas!
Beautiful ship, stateroom comfortable, amazing staff in all departments, beverage package included everything.
Pros: Beautiful ship, stateroom comfortable, amazing staff in all departments, beverage package included everything.
Cons: Food in main dining room was OK. Everything tasted overly salted.
Review: It was an incredible experience and venue to celebrate our friend's milestone birthday. The crew is incredible. The entertainment was fun! Coco Cay exceeded my expectations. Thank you.
Great atmosphere, amazing people, and lots to do
Pros: Great atmosphere, amazing people, and lots to do
Cons: We don't have any
Review: The only somewhat issue is the elevator systems take forever and dont make any sense. Occasionally you would be waiting and one would go right past you, but there is always stairs so it didnt even put a damper on our vacation
Clean ship, fabulous service, and excellent food and drinks!
Pros: Clean ship, fabulous service, and excellent food and drinks!
Cons: No cons...wouldn't change a thing!
Review: Loved our birthday cruise!
Ship was amazing,
Pros: Ship was amazing,
Cons: The virtual balcony had no sound, 1 plug in our room.
Flow Rider, waterslides, fantastic live shows! Great service and great food
Pros: Flow Rider, waterslides, fantastic live shows! Great service and great food
Cons: Felt a bit of pressure to make reservations at the ship's restaurants
Ports of call. Dining. Drinks. Staff.
Pros: Ports of call. Dining. Drinks. Staff.
Cons: Miami cruise port. Promenade. Shops. Late night dining selections
Review: Multiple issues prior to getting on ship and issues at port trying to get off the ship. The promenade was tiny and not used properly in my opinion. Shops should be located somewhere else to better use that area. Only one area for late night dining. Food was great but need more options.
Great Rehab, New Rooms on deck 11 and 12 are awesome, Ice Show, Solarium
Pros: Great Rehab, New Rooms on deck 11 and 12 are awesome, Ice Show, Solarium
Cons: Miami Terminal was horrible, Smokey Casino, Limited Gluten Free foods.
Food, customer service, friendly workers, activities
Pros: Food, customer service, friendly workers, activities
Cons: Slow elevators
Review: Overall great expierence, no complaints.
Always something to do. Always something to eat and drink. Friendly staff.
Pros: Always something to do. Always something to eat and drink. Friendly staff.
Cons: Not enough time in the day to do everything!
Pros: LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!
Cons: NONE!
Review: This was our first cruise and you didn't disappoint! Everything was just as we had imagined!
Professional services-room, dinner room-Sapphire staff, Windjammer staff, pool staff, the entertainment-Ice show, live band---awesome!
Pros: Professional services-room, dinner room-Sapphire staff, Windjammer staff, pool staff, the entertainment-Ice show, live band---awesome!
Cons: The Voice-singer-awful- don't you listen to the performer before you hire them? The fish-salmon, tilapia, and ___ in Sapphire dinning room- disappointing-overcooked.... Internet cost---robbery!
Review: Friendly staff EVERYWHERE!!! Had a lovely time!
Excellent service, friendly staff, and terrific weather!
Pros: Excellent service, friendly staff, and terrific weather!
Cons: none
Review: We had a wonderful experience on the Navigator of the Seas. Boarding and exiting the ship were both smooth. It was a great vacation.
Pros: No Pros
Cons: No Cons
Review: Loved all the Islands.......As for the ship, did not like some of the entertainment they had. During the days at sea not much to do for our age group. Food was good.
Professional Photographers did an awesome job!
Pros: Professional Photographers did an awesome job!
Cons: Could use more Vegetarian food choices.
Review: My daughter and I had an absolutely great time on our very first cruise! Thank you to all staff for making us feel special ~ We booked for our 2nd cruise to Alaska 2019 before leaving the ship on our last day of our PERFECT 1st Cruise Vacation! Nancy and Mariah
Fun celebrations of new year. good dining room service and food generally good
Pros: Fun celebrations of new year. good dining room service and food generally good
Cons: Chops a disappointment as well as diamond breakfasts
Review: Overall an enjoyable cruise
Our waiters-Nick and Luyao did all they could to please us. My room steward, N.D. was wonderful. The Diamond Club was great.
Pros: Our waiters-Nick and Luyao did all they could to please us. My room steward, N.D. was wonderful. The Diamond Club was great.
Cons: Not enough activities- like game shows during the day.
Review: The shows on the first 3 nights were good. The last 2 nights of talent weren't as good.
nice ship
Pros: nice ship
Cons: food was average
Review: Christmas cruise for family of 4. 17 and 14 year old daughters had a good time.
Excellent staff
Pros: Excellent staff
Cons: Lax on use of hand sanitizers, especially when reboarding after being ashore
Review: With the exception of the hand sanitizers, it was very good.
State room attendant good. Ship pretty
Pros: State room attendant good. Ship pretty
Cons: Didn't get dinner time that we wanted
Review: Main people in dinning room weren't very accommodating.
Good staff and ports.
Pros: Good staff and ports.
Cons: Good food, not great. We think it has gone downhill since specialty restaurants.
Review: We still are royal fans. Have more cruises booked.
Good weather, pleasant crew and great food.
Pros: Good weather, pleasant crew and great food.
Cons: Some days extremely windy ashore.
Review: During the At-Sea days, I would have liked to see additional activities indoor, such as a nice movie, as the Pool Side large movie screen was compromised by being too windy and noisy and confused by Close-Captioning. That was not compatible with a late evening movie activity and comfort. There were available Indoor lounges, large enough to house one or two separate movies. Their Schooner Bar could have had a Pool Table and perhaps a Table Tennis Table. Just a thought !!!!!!
Food - Crew Service - Dining Staff
Pros: Food - Crew Service - Dining Staff
Cons: Ship Needs updating - Entertaining needs to be updated
Review: We made four ports, I would only recommend two of the ports. Bonaire and Haiti was not good for me. I loved Aruba and Curacao was pretty good. I had a bad experience with Chops on the ship. This is a restaurant where you have to pay and it was the worse. I also did not like the solicitors for the Mexican restaurant. I was really disappointed in the activities offered. Was the worse that I had seen. There needs to be a lot of improvement with the activities. Getting off the ship on Sunday morning was awful. Someone need to develop a new system. It is hurry up and wait. You are asked to leave your stateroom room and go stand. If you have a standing problem, or a back problem, it is not good. Also when you have paid your gratuity in advance, Why are the housekeepers leaving you and envelope for tips. I think they should be notified that you have already paid.
Good food, friendly and helpful crew, beautiful ship!
Pros: Good food, friendly and helpful crew, beautiful ship!
Cons: No coffee in room
Review: First cruise and look forward to another!!
Fantastic WARM holiday!!
Pros: Fantastic WARM holiday!!
Cons: Cut-backs?
Review: We enjoyed the cruise with the exception of the formal dining food. There was nothing special about it. Be aware that the Windjammer serves equal if not better food. While we ran into a fellow cruiser talking about the wonderful steak dinner with asparagus quiche we missed....sorry to tell him....we had that same thing in the Windjammer. We were disappointed to learn that RCC no longer serves afternoon tea at 3pm which included guacamole, tacos etc. The shows on the ship weren't all that great with exception of comedians they brought on board. Many people were walking out on a variety of the shows after about the first 15 minutes. The ship's staff always friendly and helpful. The ship clean which was very impressive considering all the people on board. Ships policy is no reserving/holding seats or loungers; they were held/reserved all the time but we found there were plenty to be hand without issue. The last day was a mess getting off of the ship with no organization. We were to line up in The Sapphire Room which is full of dining chairs/tables (a challenge to wheel luggage around) to get in the "so-called" line up. It turned out that those on first ended up LAST as they took folks off from other end of the line as they ended up closest to the exit door. The line should have started opposite way so those first could be first! This may sound like whining but for those having planes to catch was a tad stressful.
great staff, great ship great food
Pros: great staff, great ship great food
Cons: very poor embarkment process,50 of us were sent to miami Bayside on a bus because of delay to get on ship
Review: promises were made to be brought back . never happened. no buses. we had to pay someone to get us back to port. on St Marteen we were left on a beach with no way to get back to port.Also promises were made to bring us back to port at an appointed time.
Ship great - usual Royal great service. Most of ports wonderful, tours good.
Pros: Ship great - usual Royal great service. Most of ports wonderful, tours good.
Cons: would never go back to Morocco but it was interesting.
Review: Our first time using Air 2 Sea from Royal and was very pleased. Someone met us at Heathrow and drove us to hotel which was very convenient and the bus took us to and from ship.
Great dining room service and food. Loved being at sea.
Pros: Great dining room service and food. Loved being at sea.
Cons: Huge lines coming back to the ship from the Azores
Review: The stateroom was kept clean and tidy at all times. Food was very good and the dining staff were very attentive. Long lines moved very slowly at times.
Pros: No Pros
Cons: No Cons
Review: Large ship, need more help.
Love this cruise line
Pros: Love this cruise line
Cons: None
Review: Had a wonderful time with extended family.
Staff and condition of ship
Pros: Staff and condition of ship
Cons: Internet service
Review: Overall a fantastic experience. Royal Caribbean really tries.
Pros: No Pros
Cons: No Cons
Review: We had a wonderful time on our honeymoon the ship is beautiful and the crew was friendly and helpful. I will definitely book this ship again and again
Loved Dining, Attendant and bartender staff. Very courteous and did a fantastic job. Our needs were attended to and loved that people remembered our names.
Pros: Loved Dining, Attendant and bartender staff. Very courteous and did a fantastic job. Our needs were attended to and loved that people remembered our names.
Cons: None
Review: Our group had a wonderful time. We had personal treatment and I was especially impressed when the crew could call each of our names. We had such an enjoyable time.
Great Ship
Pros: Great Ship
Cons: No Cons
Review: We enjoyed our very first ocean cruise on a wonderful ship, "Navigator of the Seas". Staff, food, entertainment & ports of call were all very good. We booked two more trips whilst aboard so I guess, that says it all!
Great attentive service, many activities and great weather
Pros: Great attentive service, many activities and great weather
Cons: only one night club
Review: This was our first family cruise. Would definitely plan another one for my husband and I.
Beautiful and clean with tons of activities
Pros: Beautiful and clean with tons of activities
Cons: the pool area was not kid friendly, lots of music with explicit lyrics
Review: Overall the experience was good. Dining, excursions and on board activites were great.However, the pools are salt water (no splashing) and the music being played had lyrics that I certainly didn't enjoy and didn't want my kids exposed to. I realize many people want a "party" vibe while on their cruise, but I contend there are plenty of songs that convey that vibe without explicit lyrics.
Pros: Value
Cons: Too short
Review: Really enjoyed our cruise. Staff was great.
Great size ship
Pros: Great size ship
Cons: None
Review: Love the ship. Lots to do
Timing of events and
Pros: Timing of events and
Cons: Expected more variety of foods for dinner and more entertainment from the waiters and the staff
Review: Had a great time looking forward to the next trip
Many things to do
Pros: Many things to do
Cons: Only one day at each port
Review: Loved it!!!!
the best
Pros: the best
Cons: none
Review: As always a fantastic vacation
the ship is beautiful, great staff, great ice show, nice rooms, great speciality restaurants
Pros: the ship is beautiful, great staff, great ice show, nice rooms, great speciality restaurants
Cons: Windjammer is VERY crowded and hard to navigate, average food quality in MDR
Review: I'm somewhat spoiled since I now usually cruise on Celebrity which tends to be a step up from RCCL. The bathroom is very small and if you drop something in the shower its hard to bend down without hitting the side of the walls in the shower.
Food in main dining room and specialty restaurant was excellent.
Pros: Food in main dining room and specialty restaurant was excellent.
Cons: Not enough rest room capacity by the pool and restaurants.
Review: Shows were just average. Service was outstanding in the main dining room. We had a vegetarian in our group and the head waiter stopped at our table each night to review the next days menu with her and assure that the offerings were sufficient.
was perfect for food and no problems, staff was very good
Pros: was perfect for food and no problems, staff was very good
Cons: after dinner show not so great
Review: very good ship and staff was excellent
Good food, good service throughout the ship, good entertainment
Pros: Good food, good service throughout the ship, good entertainment
Cons: The bed in our room, superstructure surrounding aft facing cabins
Review: Good cruise, we'd go again, but would not book an aft facing cabin. The bed in our room was worn out and needs replacing.
This was the most beautiful ship we have been on and we especially enjoyed the professional Ice Dancing show. Our room was very spacious and very comfortable. Everyone on the ship was very friendly and helpful. I would go on this ship again.
Pros: This was the most beautiful ship we have been on and we especially enjoyed the professional Ice Dancing show. Our room was very spacious and very comfortable. Everyone on the ship was very friendly and helpful. I would go on this ship again.
Cons: Couldn't think of any.
Review: The ship personnel took care of the problem we had with the on board credit and pre paid gratuities not showing up on our account. They said they were having some computer problems and it should be taken care of in about 24 hours. They were very helpful and took care of the problem.
Pros: No Pros
Cons: No Cons
Review: Even with the rainy start we enjoyed our first Royal Caribbean cruise. The ship was clean, very beautiful stateroom and the food and service was excellent. Made new friends and enjoyed all the extras ship had to offer. Theresa & Patrick Prather
Pros: EXCELLENT SERVICE
Cons: NOT ENOUGH SUNSHINE!! RAINED TO MUCH
Review: The NAVIGATOR OF THE SEAS EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS. IT WAS AN AMAZING TRIP!!
Good shows n programs,nice place to relaxe
Pros: Good shows n programs,nice place to relaxe
Cons: Needed more things for kids, water slides
Crew very helpful and friendly. Never saw crew upset.
Pros: Crew very helpful and friendly. Never saw crew upset.
Cons: Long lines when dis-embarking, Long wait to go to Cayman Island. To short of a time on the islands.
Review: Never have we had such a wonderful experience with our dinning room staff. Jean Paul, Conroy were wonderful, 10+, always smiling, explaining menus, explaining next day's activities. Our Room 8572, stateroom attendant also rates 10+, always available when we needed something, never having to ask twice for anything or just to greet us every morning.
Ship decor, dining room staff
Pros: Ship decor, dining room staff
Cons: Poor customer service
Review: We just returned from a week on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas, stopping in Honduras, Belize and Mexico. The ship itself was beautiful, and the food was good. However, I have to say that I would probably not choose Royal Caribbean again for a family vacation as their staff was not friendly or helpful. They were professional and polite, but not fun. The teen club was disappointing for my teens, as the activities provided did not entice many kids to stay and join in. Overall, nice trip for an older couple that wouldn't require any assistance.
Excellent dining room service, excellent room steward, Texas tenors and Motown
Pros: Excellent dining room service, excellent room steward, Texas tenors and Motown
Cons: Occasional rudeness from other staff, guest services made mistakes, spa charged more than they quoted
Review: I made arrangements at guest services for all charges that my 12 and 13 year old granddaughters made to be on my account, yet we were turned back as we exited the gangway at the end of the cruise because the gratuity charges for the three of us were entered to my 12 year old granddaughter which made it impossible for us to make our connections by the time we returned to guest services to straighten it out.
Cost, over all experience
Pros: Cost, over all experience
Cons: Crowds
All fares are quoted in US Dollars.
Information and pricing is subject to change without notice. While we do our very best to ensure that information and pricing appearing in this website is complete and accurate, we cannot be responsible for incomplete and inaccurate representations, which may or may not be under our control. In the event of a pricing error, misrepresentation or omission, we reserve the right to adjust the pricing or make any other corrections.


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By William Fisher
Human Rights groups are turning to an obscure, virtually invisible government agency to investigate allegations that medical professionals on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) helped the agency to perform experiments on detainees in U.S. custody following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in an effort to make "enhanced interrogation techniques" more efficient and provide it with legal cover.
The organizations called a telephonic press conference Wednesday to announce that they are asking The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, to initiate an official investigation into experimentation by the CIA on detainees in its custody. Their complaint contends that the CIA's Office of Medical Services (OMS) "conducted research and experimentation on detainees in U.S. custody and, in the process, likely violated federal regulations governing human subject research carried out by United States Government entities. These regulations are known as The Common Rule (45 CFR 46)."
Their complaint notes that the CIA is one of seventeen federal agencies required by law to adhere to The Common Rule when conducting federally funded research on human beings.
Led by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), which disclosed the human experimentation suspicions in a new report earlier this week, the other organizations joining the complaint and participating in the press conference are Amnesty International USA, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Victims of Torture, Human Rights Watch, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and Psychologists for Social Responsibility.
"OHRP has a legal responsibility to investigate these disturbing new allegations about the CIA and possible illegal human experimentation on detainees, despite the refusal by Langely( CIA headquarters) and the White House to do so," stated Nathaniel Raymond, lead author of the Physicians for Human Rights report, "Experiments in Torture: Evidence of Human Subject Research and Experimentation in the 'Enhanced' Interrogation Program."
"OHRP has a reputation for enforcing strict adherence to human research protections, which it must bring to bear against any CIA malfeasance that it uncovers."
Tom Parker, Amnesty International USA's Policy Director for Terrorism, Counterterrorism and Human Rights, told IPS, "PHR's report makes it clear that if nothing else mental health professionals on the U.S. government payroll provided 'material support' to torture. We are calling on the relevant authorities to conduct a full investigation into these activities as they are required to do by law."
And Dr. Steve Miles, board member of the Center for Victims of Torture, professor at the Center for Bioethics of the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School and author of "Oath Betrayed: America's Torture Doctors", agreed.
He said, "As an organization committed to healing torture survivors and ending the practice of torture, the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) is appalled by the implications of this report, and renews its call for an independent non-partisan commission to examine and report publicly on torture and cruel treatment of prisoners since September 11, 2001. Such a commission should be adequately funded and given subpoena power and a mandate to fully examine the facts and circumstances of such abuses and to recommend measures to prevent future abuses. "
The groups say their complaint is based upon the evidence of wrongdoing detailed in declassified government documents, including:
The collection by OMS health professionals of data from detainees in order to derive generalizable knowledge of the effects on detainee subjects of "enhanced interrogation" techniques.
These techniques, which have serious potential to cause harm, included sleep deprivation, waterboarding, sensory deprivation and overload. It appears that data also was collected on the impact of techniques both when used individually and when applied in combination;
The collection of data from detainees subjected to the technique of the waterboard in order to develop new methods and procedures for its application, including the experimental use of potable saline in place of water to reduce the risk of hyponatremia;
The CIA's apparent failure to comply with The Common Rule's regulations (a) requiring all human research subjects to provide informed consent, (b) assuring that subjects of research have the right and ability to stop their participation in the research at any time, and (c) requiring the conduct of prior review of the proposed human subject research by an Institutional Review Board.
If the OHRP concludes that OMS research on detainees subjected to "enhanced interrogation" techniques commonly viewed as torture violated The Common Rule and internationally accepted standards of health professional ethics, the CIA must be immediately sanctioned by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Any personnel found to have violated the law should be referred to the
Department of Justice for prosecution. Professionals determined to be in violation of their ethically mandated responsibilities should be referred to state licensing bodies and professional associations for appropriate professional sanctions.
The OHRP, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, is responsible for ensuring that federally funded research by federal agencies including the CIA involving human subjects complies with regulations collectively known as the Common Rule. The CIA cannot obstruct an OHRP investigation on the basis that evidence may be classified. OHRP has previously taken actions to suspend research activities at major research universities for violation of the Common Rule. Since the Obama administration has not responded to the request to investigate possible incidents of human experimentation on detainees, the groups are seeking an official investigation by the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP)
OHRP also provides leadership in the protection of the rights, welfare, and well-being of subjects involved in research conducted or supported by HHS.
There have been numerous human experiments performed in the United States, which have been considered unethical, and were often performed illegally, without the knowledge, consent, or informed consent of the test subjects.
Many types of experiments were performed including the deliberately infecting people with deadly or debilitating diseases, exposing people to biological and chemical weapons, human radiation experiments, injecting people with toxic and radioactive chemicals, surgical experiments, interrogation/torture experiments, tests involving mind-altering substances, and a wide variety of others.
Many of these experiments were funded by the United States government, especially the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States military.
Public outcry over the discovery of government experiments on human subjects led to numerous congressional investigations and hearings, including the Church Committee, Rockefeller Commission, and the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments.
But as of 2010, not a single U.S. government researcher has been prosecuted for human experimentation, and many of the victims of U.S. government experiments have not received retribution, or in many cases, even acknowledgement of what was done to them.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Who's Going to Investigate the CIA?
Posted by Unknown at Thursday, June 10, 2010
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Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922 / Grenfell, New South Wales)
» Click to list general statistics » OR, select a date :
Callaghan's Hotel
There's the same old coaching stable that was used by Cobb and Co.,
And the yard the coaches stood in more than sixty years ago;
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CHARLOTTE DUALÉPièce Nº 5, 2014
Glazed ceramic.
17 x 50 x 41 cm.
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
For the installation "Tableau de chasse", shown in Berlin in March 2014, a long winding table recalls a factory conveyor belt. It serves as a display for a series of anatomical ceramic sculptures that all present faults and show the failure of serial production. The ceramic objects have been made in haste, driven by the deadline of an exhibition - the artist literally chased by the pressure to perform. The deformed, warped, and slightly distorted material seems to suggest bodies, or rather corpses, while its color evokes flesh. The pieces from n°1 to n°13 are accumulated one after another, mounted on a high, longitudinal table that has the features of a production line. Although defective products are typically sent back for repair or, if irreparable, thrown away, the artist lets her numerous trials and errors go on the market. Delicate and blemished they lie in a supplicatory and stretched out pose.
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Office Phone Hours for the Main Phone Number (Monday through Friday):
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Marque 3: Si gustaria información sobre donde mandar la correspondencia o pagos en español, por favor marque el numero tres ahora. Press 4: If your call is regarding the Closing of a case. Press 5: If your call is regarding a Proof of Claim or Confirmation of a Case Press 6: If your call is regarding a Modification of Plan, Payment Delinquency, Interlocutory Order, Dismissal of a case, TRCC Hearing, Wage Order (Post-Confirmation) or Debtor's Objection to Claim Hearing Press 7: If your call is regarding an ACH, ePay IRS refund, debtor refund or disbursement check Press 8: If you would like information on internet access to the Trustee's Office Press 9: If you would like to reach our company directory
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On Musical Knighthoods…
It was quite a momentous day on Saturday 13 June when the Queen's Birthday Honours List was announced, not because of various celebrities and sports stars getting this or that honour before their 30th birthday, but because for the first time in quite a while the sphere of 'classical' music, and more importantly, contemporary music, was represented in a substantial and meaningful way (not that you would have known this from the BBC, or other leading news outlets…but that's a different story). What made it momentous was that one of our leading and most feted composers, James MacMillan was awarded a Knighthood 'for services to music'- whether you like his music or not, the recognition that a 'contemporary' composer (i.e. not a film, 'crossover' or pop composer) could achieve one of the country's leading honours was an edifying thing (presuming such honours mean something to you) and perhaps gave some hope for a future where contemporary music, and its practitioners received more widespread recognition for their art. I had a warm feeling inside. Then I saw that a second 'contemporary' composer had also been awarded a Knighthood…
The awarding of a Knighthood to the Welsh composer Karl Jenkins ruffled more than a few feathers in the contemporary music world (if social media is anything to go by…) and provided an interesting if inflammatory counterpoint to MacMillan's honour. Jenkins's Knighthood was awarded for 'services to composing and crossing musical genres', and if ever there was a nuanced statement, this was such. That these two composers got the same honour at the same time really highlights the place of 'classical' music in the country's artistic life, its understanding of the arts and issues regarding 'high' and 'low' art, and whether this is even important.
Karl Jenkins, you would imagine, is a composer cut from a very different cloth to James MacMillan – his music is designed for a different audience, comes from a different aesthetic and is written to fulfil a different objective to MacMillan's. You won't often find their works programmed together, and the sort of performers who might tackle Jenkins's work would rarely find themselves faced with a MacMillan piece (though, to be fair, it does occasionally happen in the choral world). But they are both still composers, still making a living from writing music and both representing the United Kingdom in the arts at a wider level.
So why is it an issue that they both received honours at the same time? In many ways, it isn't – both men are being recognised for success in their relative fields: MacMillan as a prolific composer and visible figurehead for contemporary composition, Jenkins for the huge and worldwide success of his choral works Armed Man and Adiemus. The problem, perhaps, lies in the fact that to the uninitiated both are being recognised as composers, there is a suggestion that there is as much 'worth' in the Armed Man as there is in Seven Last Words from the Cross – to many people this does not sit well. Maybe the problem lies in that statement – 'services to composing and crossing musical genres' – is crossing musical genres a good thing? Do genres need crossing? Is Jenkins being recognised purely for the commercial success of his works (which definitely garner much more commercial success than MacMillan's) or is there a quality judgement? Does there need to be a quality judgement here? Does the awarding of the honour to Jenkins devalue MacMillan's and thus the whole sphere of contemporary music making?
I'm not sure it really matters – I'm certainly no fan of Jenkins's music (The Armed Man is my bête noire) but I'm not sure it is the worst thing ever that he got the award, though the timing certainly could have been better. I like to think of it this way: if Karl Jenkins was a shoemaker rather than a composer (bear with me here…) and his shoes were being worn around the world by millions of people, and they had the stamp 'Made in Britain', would anyone mind him getting a Knighthood? Would the world of artisan shoemaking be up in arms? Maybe they would.


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I'd like to welcome B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree Ginger Bensman today to talk with me about her award winning book, To Swim Beneath the Earth. Ginger is a life-long student of the human condition with a deep interest in philosophy and ecology. She holds a Ph.D. in Human Development/Child and Family Studies from the University of Maine in Orono and has spent more than 25 years working in family support and child abuse prevention programs.
She lives with her husband in Salem, Oregon. This is her first novel.
Hello, Ginger! Thank you for talking with me today. Please tell me how you discovered indiebrag?
A couple years ago, I discovered a wonderful book, After the Sucker Punch by Lorraine Devon Wilke. Wilke's book was a recipient of the Indiebrag award, and after I read her book, I began to notice and appreciate that little gold medallion as an indicator of quality. Two years later, when I published my own book, I knew I wanted to submit it to the Indiebrag process. The possibility of winning a medallion was an exciting but secondary motivation, mostly, I wanted a straight up evaluation of my novel. Indiebrag is a gift to readers and independent authors, helping readers find high caliber indie books, and supporting writers to produce their best work.
Tell me about your book, To Swim Beneath the Earth.
To Swim Beneath the Earth is a literary novel about the possibility of reincarnation. Megan Kimsey, my protagonist, is a young emergency room physician from a small town in South Western Colorado. Since early childhood, she has been haunted by premonitions and dreams that, in the context of her life, make no sense. Her mother sees these experiences as evidence of a psychological disorder and brings in a psychiatrist to cure Megan of her hallucinations. But her father, with whom she shares a close and loving relationship, tries to help her understand and explore what's happening to her. When he is killed in a hit-and-run accident, Megan is devastated, but the memory of his love and his belief in her, and the belated birthday gift she finds from him after his death, give her the courage to embark on an expedition to Colombia and Ecuador, determined to face her phantoms and piece together the riddles in her dreams.
Describe the La Plata Mountains.
I spent my growing-up years practically in the shadow of the La Plata Mountains. Geographically, the La Platas are a range of mountains in Southwestern Colorado, about a 14 mile drive from Durango, the setting for the first half of my novel, and the town where I was born. When I think of the La Platas, I think of snow-fed rivers, forests of aspen and evergreens, cool mornings, and clean pine-scented air. I spent a lot of time in those mountains. My grandfather was a hunting guide, my uncle was a forest service trapper, and my dad was an avid fly fisherman. My family spent several weeks every summer hiking and camping in the La Platas, and sometimes packing into remote areas on horseback. I learned at an early age to love and respect the Colorado mountains in a very intimate way.
Will you tell me one of the images that Megan is haunted by?
Throughout the book, Megan is haunted by sightings of the puma in both her waking and dreamlife. The puma is at once fearsome and comforting, and the she-cat often appears when Megan is stressed or at a transition point. The puma is a vestige from Megan's former life and self (her power animal) meant to urge Megan toward some necessary but unknown (to her) future. In native mythology, the puma, the condor, and the snake make up the Incan trinity, and I give each of them their moment in the book. For the Incas, the condor represented sky—capable of taking messages to the gods and a being that does not hunt but feeds only on the dead; the snake travels to the underworld to shed its skin and be reborn; the puma represents earth and signifies patience and strength, characteristics Megan will need if she's going to find what she's looking for.
Talk about the courage and strength of Megan—and possibly the isolation she may feel with these attributes.
Because of Megan's innate sense of what she knows to be true, the memories she has that are foreign to her own lifetime and culture, and her visions (past and future) that, if known, could make her seem strange and even dangerous, she has to be courageous and strong just to be herself. She has to keep secrets and tell lies, or else suffer assaults from the people (her mother, her friends, everyone but her father) and institutions (her church, medical community, etc.) that are supposed to protect and take care of her. She's in a true double bind, and that makes her reluctant to trust or get close to other people.
I find your premise really fascinating. What inspired you to write this story?
To Swim Beneath the Earth really came about as an accumulation of ideas and images. For years, I was haunted by two different news stories. One, a newspaper article I'd read about a little girl from the American Midwest who died on the front porch of her family's home during a snowstorm; the other, a feature with glossy photographs in the National Geographic about an Incan child that archeologists found sacrificed near the summit of El Plomo in Chile. The two children lived centuries and worlds apart, yet, in my mind, they kept converging. Those two images became foundational when I began to pull together ideas to write a book about a young woman who has experiences that put her in conflict with the concrete "realities" of her life. At one point in the novel, Megan's father says to her, "Just because something's crazy doesn't mean it isn't true," and, at least for me, that statement is the fulcrum of the novel.
Where can a reader buy your book?
It's available as an e-book from Amazon, and from both Amazon and Barnes and Noble in paperback.
What are your personal motivations in story-telling?
I think, like most writers, my aim is to write the kind of story that I enjoy reading. I want the story I'm telling to be able to be experienced and understood on many levels. I'm an avid reader and I have author heroes whose work thrills and inspires me; I'd like to offer that same kind of reading experience to my readers.
Define your writing style.
I would say my writing is character driven and descriptive. I give my characters a lot of latitude to do what they will, and language is important to me. I love to parse words and create images.
What's up next for you?
I'm working on a novel about two aging sisters coming to terms with each other and the indignities of growing older. I hope to have it published next spring.
Thank you, Ginger!
A message from indieBRAG:
We are delighted that Stephanie has chosen to Ginger Bensman who is the author of, To Swim Beneath the Earth, our medallion honoree at indieBRAG. To be awarded a B.R.A.G. Medallion ®, a book must receive unanimous approval by a group of our readers. It is a daunting hurdle and it serves to reaffirm that a book such as, To Swim Beneath the Earth, merits the investment of a reader's time and money.


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Microsoft hasn't actually announced a Surface 5, but the rumor mill is very active. BGR reports that a Surface Pro 5 would likely be a viable alternative to the MacBook Pro. Some of the rumored upgrades include more RAM, faster processor, more storage space, upgraded stylus, wireless charging, USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 support and fingerprint sensor. We'll have to see, but perhaps you should hold off on your Surface purchase this Christmas season and wait for the Surface 5.
E-mail: email@example.com Phone: 703.359.0700
Digital Forensics/Information Security/Information Technology


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The advantage of an existence training examination is it will give you a chance to reflect on your life and also be honest on your own. Additionally, it allows you time to determine which targets you are planning to receive and what outcomes will mean probably the most to you personally. This examination gives a foundation for the first few teaching periods when you and the mentor can look much deeper into your solutions and concentrate with a handful of measures that will bring you nearer to your ultimate goal. It also helps give your mentor useful knowledge to you.
One of the many advantages of a substantial mentoring examination set of questions is it presents a lot of information to your mentor. Generally you will want the help of the mentor to target a few subjects, so that you will not get overwhelmed.
Many individuals have a look at their accomplished coaching assessment and recognize that they want help in multiple parts of life. This could be with a romantic relationship, career, effective time management, budget, and many others. For you together with the mentor to quickly choose the initial goal you want to attain, you should take your time and consider what end result you wish to get first.
For your trainer, it's necessary for me to comprehend the method that you perspective on your own especially, and the world on the whole. We all know that every particular person for this the planet features a special strategy for contemplating and a unique strategy for getting together with individuals around them. The coaching list of questions will help your trainer comprehend you should.
Response each of the questions as very clear and thoughtfully as possible, articulating the very best of who you are. Virtually all questions in the lifespan examination are meant to be "thinking about" sort queries made to activate your considering within a certain way. This may let your work together with the mentor to become a lot more fruitful. For your coach, I would recommend that you simply take a couple of days to create your responses to such inquiries.
You must know that employing a lifestyle trainer requires hard work, time, as well as to have success. efficient. Additionally, you will view the important positive aspects that you can get from undertaking life outcomes coaching.
Whenever we acquire about life achievement planning with regards to daily life results coaching we need to stay focused about the goals along with the results necessary for the client. Existence coaching is focused on the present and also the long term, so it will be not concerning the previous. About to increase your lifestyle through coaching is located upon the partnership formed between the mentor along with the customer. No target is too modest or big for that teaching method. If you handle a sizable target you only break it down into workable parts.
Setting goals is a vital element for any individual to reach your goals from the teaching method. Goal setting means that you can obtain contributes to an arranged manner and throughout the essential time frame. For that reason, it is vital that daily life preparing targets are positioned cautiously.
Suitable lifestyle accomplishment preparation is necessary for goal setting or else you can drop their focus and get area monitored. In case you have set your desired goals, you should sense assured in regards to the operate you are carrying out, and you ought to also put in priority those items should be fulfilled initially. These boost your enthusiasm and self-esteem and you will have a positive outlook towards mentoring procedure and the operate that you are doing.
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OKLAHOMA CITY - A land dispute in Nevada between rancher Cliven Bundy and the federal government began decades ago.
The Bureau of Land Management says Bundy was allowing his cattle to graze illegally which triggered a round-up of about 400 head of cattle last week.
Bundy claims his family's cattle have grazed on the land since 1870 without interference from the government.
However, the Bureau of Land Management says Bundy hadn't paid his grazing fees since 1993.
Over time, officials say those fees have amounted to more than $1 million.
As authorities herded the cattle, a standoff was sparked with members of the militia.
Organizers with the Oklahoma Militia say they have members in Nevada who claim Bundy's cattle were unlawfully herded by the bureau.
The Oklahoma Militia says it is made up of nearly 50,000 volunteers.
Members say they are taking Bundy's side and fear this practice could spread to the Sooner State.
Scott Shaw said, "Evidently in America we don't actually own the property anymore if you ever did."
Shaw says Oklahoma Militia members are ready to take up arms against the federal government if needed.
He said, "It's up to the feds. The ball's in their court! You can do this legally or if you want to try to do a land grab violently, you can do that. We're going to resist you!"
Shaw says the militia has not had to defend Oklahoma from the government yet but members are becoming concerned.
Shaw said, "Just look around the country, they are doing it everywhere. If they can do it in Nevada, they can do it in Colorado, Texas. I mean, what's to stop them from coming to Oklahoma? The only thing to stop them is 'We the People'."
However, not everyone agrees.
Sen. Jim Inhofe said, "You've got a bunch of people there trying to take the law into their own hands and they shouldn't be doing that. And the Bureau of Land Management is not government-owned, it's publicly owned. There's a big difference there. I blame both sides."
The Bureau of Land Management released the cattle after confiscating them.


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"So cheat your landlord if you must, but do not try to shortchange the muse. It cannot be done. You can't fake quality." ~ William Burroughs
Finding Your Muse
Muses are those things and people who excite and inspire you. They turn you on and motivate you to reach further down into your creative soul and bring your deep desires out into real life. They help you to do whatever it is that you truly love doing. Sometimes people can be their own greatest muse; they can find it within, others find it in other people and creations, watching and playing.. a muse can be anything from a thought, an object, a person, place or even a spirit. You may have met your muse when you were a child or you may still be looking for it (her or him).
A muse is the thing that makes you most happy, that is the biggest clue to finding her.
What makes you happiest.. where in the world do you most want to be, what do you most want to do, who would you most like to do it with.. follow this lead..
& when you find your muse, get active.. do the things that make you the most happy, create to enlarge your dreams and bring them to life ..this will enhance your muse, your life.. you are on an upward enlarging spiral of happiness and creative action. Keep flowing and expanding.. it's the way of the Universe.
"Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements." ~ Napoleon Hill
Mentors are important to have ...and there are different types of mentors. Some mentors are the type that you personally know & who give you advice and information to help you.
Other mentors are people who inspire you in some way, they can be either living, your contemporaries, or people who lived before you.. many people are inspired by people from history.
If you pay attention to how they lived and acted, you can take on the qualities that impress you most, that that person has or had. Think of what that person would do in a certain situation and it can influence you to act that way and you will start to take on those attributes which you most admire.
Tonya Kay's Fire Reel
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Mentors and Muses
Posted by Robin 'Keiko' Gregory at 11:11 PM
2 comments:
- Candice Davis said...
Great post. The older I get, and the more of life I experience, the more I appreciate my mentors.
I'm a special and unique individual, yet there is nothing special or unique about me. Cool thing, because I can use my mentors' maps to find my own path. No need to reinvent the wheel, just have to shape it to fit my vehicle. (I'm sounding kind of woo-woo. Let me just say "great post!")
- Robin 'Keiko' Gregory said...
Thanks Candace! & very true observation!! ..just checked out your blog also - love it, nice to met you!
: )
..& great work getting Kids fit - really important work you are doing! Congrats!!
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2016 Nissan Rogue
Frank Washington | 11/9/2016, 3:50 p.m.
DETROIT – Nissan continues to make incremental improvements to its second bestselling model, the Nissan Rogue.
The Rogue is now endowed with forward emergency braking and NissanConnect℠ Services powered by SiriusXM®. And it is the first model in Nissan's lineup to offer Siri® Eyes Free, which allows drivers to interact with Siri® on their compatible Apple iPhone®.
Our test vehicle had much of the same equipment that we found on a luxury crossover that cost a lot more than its $29,815 sticker. It had heated front seats, a power liftgate, LED daytime running lights, heated sideview mirrors with LED turn signals, blind side alert, voice controls, satellite radio, surround view and moving object detection.
We had the SV premium all-wheel-drive package. That meant there was a third row of seats, giving this Rogue the capability of carrying seven people. The interior was black cloth and there was 70 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats folded.
The front bucket seats were branded zero gravity that provided continuous support from the pelvis to the chest. We don't know about all that but they were comfortable. Not once were we stiff or tired after driving the Nissan Rogue.
The driver's seat was six-way power adjustable while the passenger seat was four-way adjustable. The power window of the driver was full automatic but the rest of the windows were old fashion, we had to hold the button for them to go all the way down or up.
The center stack was easy to reach and easy to see. The infotainment system had a touchscreen. Auxiliary and USB jacks were at the base of the center stack. There was a 12 volt plug alongside them and there was one in the center console. The Rogue also had a rearview camera and a smart key with push button start stop.
The Rogue was really compactly styled, thus, it was surprising that it had three rows of seats. But there was plenty of interior space in the first and second row. That third row was the dominion of kids but that's fine; they've got to ride and so do their friends.
Of course, the crossover featured Nissan's floating V grille. The lines were smooth, the edges had been rounded and the crossover's stance had been pushed forward just enough that the Rogue looked like it was in motion while still.
The Rogue had wide opening rear doors, 77 degrees. It had a long wheelbase, short front and rear overhangs and large wheel-wells. Nissan said that the Rogue's rather slippery 0.33 coefficient of drag was created by optimizing the A-pillar section and outside mirror shape and that also reduced wind noise.
Our only quibble had to do with those side mirrors. When making a right angle turn at night into something tight like our driveway there was a blind spot, we could not see the entrance to the drive for the mirror and its housing. But it wasn't too bad.
Nissan used all sorts of engineering moves to increase mileage and reduce interior noise. They adjusted the rear spoiler, rear side spoiler and rear combination lights. Underbody aerodynamics like a rear bumper closing panel, fuel tank deflector, rear suspension cover, engine under cover and front tire deflectors were used.


text: Heavyweight 2h+ soul alert: Oonops teams up with collector and DJ Satenga (Studio 45/Bronco's) to deliver you the finest in new and rare old soul tunes. Oonops' first part is full of soul sampled beats shaolin- and retro soul before Satenga drops a 45 minutes love tale of old'n'dusty 45s. It's one for the heart – strictly vinyl – hear it crackling – feel it.


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What a crazy fast, crazy busy, crazy exciting year it has been. Wow 2009 - you really brought it! But now - we are all excited and happy to have you behind us and we look forward to 2010 with positive enthusiasm for what she may bring us.
For the third year in a row now we hung out with some of our very bestest friends in the world. These guys are like family - and though we were down a few from a full house (The Graham Fam was sick - we missed you guys!) we still managed to have a great time.
So long 2009! It's time to go...
Man... what a difference a year makes! Check out our girls from this same gathering last year!
- Homemain page
- Aboutcamp hoffman
- Contact ussay hello
- Brighton Their Worldour foundation
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Thursday, December 31, 2009
Catch Ya Later 2009!
What a crazy fast, crazy busy, crazy exciting year it has been. Wow 2009 - you really brought it! But now - we are all excited and happy to have you behind us and we look forward to 2010 with positive enthusiasm for what she may bring us.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Mean Muggin' Meron
Who taught the girl to mean mug? We had Meron in her Santa hat for some last minute pics before we tear all the decorations down and I asked her to "make a funny face."
So what does she do?
Tilts her head back, purses her lips and proceeds to mean mug the ceiling fan, me, mommy and anything else in her field of vision!
She's a goofball...
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
A Princess on Our Hands...
Meron got some official princess dress up gear for Christmas. Feels like the title of "princess" is becoming more and more legit...
Monday, December 28, 2009
Happy Birthday Jesus!
Meron woke us up on Christmas morning singing this tune over the monitors at the top of her lungs. Loved it...
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Four Generations
Meron managed to wiggle her way into 2 separate pictures making up 4 generations of her family! Pretty cool...
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Joyful Cousins
Meron got a chance to hang out with her cousin Maddie today - and even though they don't get the chance to see each other that often - I think the picture speaks for itself...
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Christmas Eve Blast From the Past...
Tonight was the first Christmas Eve we spent in GA as a family. As long as I have known Laura we have always packed up and headed to NC a day or two before Christmas - but this year we wanted to start some Camp Hoffman traditions of our own.
This would also be the first time we got to experience Christmas Eve service at our church. And though it was great and God definitely showed up - the real gem came afterwards when we were picking Meron up from the nursery.
Some of you might remember this post - when we met an awesome Ethiopian woman that lived near us. Or you might be familiar with this post - when we met her and her beautiful family at their church and attended a service with them.
That was almost 2 years ago - we had gone back by the restaurant where we met Masresha - but were told she no longer worked there. We were bummed.
Well - tonight as we were exiting the nursery amidst like 7 billion other people I hear someone say to me "Is that Meron?" and I looked up to see Masresha, her husband Challa and their 3 kids.
What?!?! Yep - they had come to our church for Christmas Eve service! To make a long sappy story short - we were thrilled to be reunited with our friends and to meet their newest addition! We made sure we had contact info this time around and I for one plan on staying in a little better touch!
Once again - God stuck us where we needed to be when we needed to be there. Thanks God - for the joy of reunited friends on Christmas Eve!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Gift from the Government
Yeah - they don't happen that much, do they? I mean those guys are typically more on the receiving end of things...
So imagine our surprise when tucked in between the Christmas cards in the mailbox today we found our coveted 171-H form from our friends at the USCIS! Only 6 days after they had received everything at their office!
For those not in the world of adoption - this is definitely a gift - these things typically take upwards of 2-3 months. And it's an important one too - it is basically the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service giving us the go-ahead to bring our child home!
We sat in the garage in the car a little stunned and then tried to call somebody - anybody - who would understand! We couldn't get anybody...
But then when Meron got home from school and we told her - well - see below... she summed up how we all felt! Hold on little Hoffman - we'll be there soon!
Labels: Adoption, paperchase
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Merry Trunk-mas
Last night we all got to meet up with some of our (and Meron's) best buddies - Scott and Kelli (and their niece and nephew too!).
Any night that involves Scott, Kelli and Stevie B's is a good night indeed for Meron... but then they upped the ante by taking her out to their car and spoiling her with some Christmas presents. Meron was having a blast!
Afterwards we all traveled to check out some Christmas lights and Meron was snoozing hard before we were halfway home. Thanks a ton Scott and Kelli! We love you guys!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Cookie for the Teachers
Mommy made some goodies for all of Meron's teachers at school tonight and Meron even got to get in on a little bit of the action.
I think she enjoyed the "receiving" part of this one more than the "giving."
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Comfy Jammies
Meron's Granny sent her a little package with the most comfy pajamas ever. If only I could squeeze into a 3T - I would be rocking those bad boys right now...
Friday, December 18, 2009
Round II Update
Well - we are officially "Gladney Approved" now. Feels good. Feels like we reached a milestone of some sort. All this time our homestudy was being completed we were also able to be preparing our dossier in tandem - so we are actually doing pretty good.
Next up? Waiting on the good ole US Government - we need to get our USCIS approval and then we're off to the races. Circumstances are a lot different this time around and we've taken a much more faithful and laid back approach (we've already learned about all we could about control).
We know God has long ago chosen our daughter - Meron's sister - and we are trying to be patient - to be still and know He is God while praying daily for her safety and that even now, at her young age, that she can be making an impact for God wherever He has her at the moment.
We can't wait to bring you home girl - we got lots of love up here in Camp Hoffman just stored up and waiting for ya!
Labels: Adoption
Thursday, December 17, 2009
School Pictures
Meron got her first set of school pics taken (these are pictures of the pictures - I know, I know - I'm a tech guy with no scanner). And we love them!
But I gotta say - after her last bath I did a full body inspection looking for the "grow up" knob.
Cuz hers is obviously stuck on WAY TOO FAST...
Labels: Adoption, photography, school
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Partying For Our King
I am digging this age right now with Meron. It's a ton of fun to watch her experience all these new things - and whats even more fun is getting to make new traditions with her and our friends and family.
Last week - some of our coolest friends - strike that - these guys are family to us - had us over to celebrate the birth of our king. It was a giant birthday party for Jesus complete with food, crafts, toys and little baby Jesus cupcakes! Meron had a great time AND she got to start understanding early on in her life what this season is all about.
Thanks you guys for an awesome night and I really hope this ends up being one of those cool traditions we carry on!
"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." - Luke 2:11
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
This Time of Year...
This time of year is just magical with kids. I am not sure I ever really got it until this year - and it has nothing to do with Santa or gifts or any of that. There's just something magical about it - and I am loving watch Meron just soak it in.
If I could bottle up what she is feeling in these pictures - I would drink it every morning and shower in it every night.
Thank you God for giving us this little reminder of how good life really is...
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Blog Archive
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- Catch Ya Later 2009!
- Mean Muggin' Meron
- A Princess on Our Hands...
- Happy Birthday Jesus!
- Four Generations
- Joyful Cousins
- Merry Christmas!
- Christmas Eve Blast From the Past...
- Gift from the Government
- Merry Trunk-mas
- Nice Shoes!
- Cookie for the Teachers
- Comfy Jammies
- Round II Update
- School Pictures
- Partying For Our King
- Our Little Chef
- Three Amigos
- This Time of Year...
- Santa's Little Helper
- Thank God For Crazy Friends...
- Top Stack
- What Doin'?
- Meron and Daddy
- Judged By Santa...
- "No Man" Dress From Granny
- Get Out Your Seat and Jump Around!
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Swing with JRuby: Developing a Desktop Application with the JRuby and Java Swing APIs
by Teera Kanokkanjanarat
Tutorial Requirements
Before you proceed, make sure you review the requirements in this section.
This tutorial assumes that you have some basic knowledge of, or programming experience with, the following technologies.
- Java Swing API
- Basic knowledge of Web service and WSDL
- Basic Ruby programming
Software Needed for This Tutorial
Before you begin, install the following software on your computer:
- NetBeans IDE 6 (Milestone 10 or Beta) with Ruby
- Swing Layout Extension (swing-layout-1.0.2.jar). You can find a JAR file of the Swing Layout Extensions library in the following location on your system: <NETBEANS_HOME>/<Netbeans platform version>/modules/ext/swing-layout-<installed_version>.jar or you can download from project home page on java.net website
- JRuby 1.0.1 release. Version 1.0.1 is bundled with Netbeans 6 beta 1, or you can download from project home page
Notations Used in This Tutorial
- <NETBEANS_HOME> - The NetBeans IDE installation directory
- <PROJECT_HOME> - The directory that contains the project you create
- <JRUBY_HOME> - The directory that contain extracted JRuby jar files
Setting up Your Environment
The first step is to make sure that you have JRuby installed correctly on your machine.
Pointing NetBeans to nan installed JRuby interpreter
1. By default, Netbeans 6.0 beta 1 ships with JRuby interpreter version 1.0.1. If you want to use another version of JRuby, you will have to point the IDE to the downloaded JRuby binary location.
2. Start the Netbeans IDE.
3. Go to the Ruby configuration setup panel.
* On Windows, go to the main menu and choose Window > Options. This will open the Options dialog box. Select Ruby. * On Mac OS X, go to the main menu and choose Netbeans > Preferences. This will open the Options dialog box. Select Ruby.
Figure 1: Pointing Netbeans to an installed JRuby interpreter
4. On the Ruby Options panel, make sure that Ruby interpreter points to the correct location of the installed JRuby binary executable.
5. For more detailed information on how to setup the JRuby and Ruby plugins on Netbeans, click here.
Checking out the CurrencyConverter Web Service
Inspecting CurrencyConverter web service and its WSDL
1. On your favorite web browser, navigate to the url http://www.webservicex.com/CurrencyConvertor.asmx.
2. You will see that this service offera one operation which is ConversionRate and also a list of valid currency codes.
3. Next, you can navigate to http://www.webservicex.com/CurrencyConvertor.asmx?WSDL to inspect the WSDL description of this web service. We will later create a Ruby web service client based on this WSDL file.
Creating a Ruby NetBeans Project and a SOAP Web Service Client
Creating a new Ruby project
1. In the main menu, choose File > New Project> Ruby > Ruby Application.
Figure 2: Creating Netbeans Ruby project 'JRubyCurrencyConverter'
2. Explore the project structure. In the project panel, create the following folders under 'Source Files' folder: service, view, module, model, java, action, log.
3. Under the 'service' folder, create new ruby class. Name the class 'CurrencyConverterService' and name the file 'currency_conversion_service.rb'. This class will be used as client component consuming the web service.
Figure 3: Setting up the source folder structure and creating the CurrencyConverterService Ruby class
4. Open the currency_conversion_service.rb file, add the code "require 'soap/wsdlDriver'" at the top. We need SOAP WSDL module from Ruby standard library to make SOAP web service call.
5. Optional: add the code "attr_accessor :wsdl, :from_currency, :to_currency" to this service class to provide access to service's attributes.
6. In the constructor of CurrencyConverterService class, add two parameters that take in the converting currency code and desired currency code. We will also initialize the web service proxy and SOAP message log file location .
Code Example 1: CurrencyConverterService class constructor
require 'soap/wsdlDriver' #loading SOAP/WSDL Ruby standard library module class CurrencyConversionService attr_accessor :wsdl, :from_currency, :to_currency #optional variable accessors #constructor def initialize(from_currency, to_currency) @wsdl = 'http://www.webservicex.com/CurrencyConvertor.asmx?WSDL' @from_currency = from_currency @to_currency = to_currency @driver = SOAP::WSDLDriverFactory.new(@wsdl).create_rpc_driver #initialize the call @driver.wiredump_file_base = './log/currency_conversion_service_log' #set the log file location end ... end
7. Next, create another method that makes a call to the web service operation via the proxy we have created in the constructor.
Code Example 2: Making the SOAP web service call
require 'soap/wsdlDriver' #loading SOAP/WSDL Ruby standard library module class CurrencyConversionService ... #calling 'ConversionRate' web service operation def call parameters = {:FromCurrency => @from_currency, :ToCurrency => @to_currency} result = @driver.ConversionRate(parameters) #make the call puts "result = #{result[ConversionRateResult]}" return Float(result[ConversionRateResult].to_s) end end
Note: 'ConversionRate' operation takes two parameters and returns the value of type double
Creating Ruby Modules for Java API
Including Swing Layout Extension Java library (.jar files) in Ruby project
1. There are two ways to include Java libraries in a Netbeans Ruby project.
* Under the project properties panel > Java, you can specify which Java libraries are to be included in the project during compile time. Once you specify the library here, it will be accessible from anywhere in the project
Figure 4: Including Java libraries in Netbeans Ruby project
* Another option is to include the jar files in the project source folder. Simply copy swing-layout-<version-number>.jar and paste it somewhere in your project source code. If you choose this option, you will have to include the file directory when you want to use it. In this tutorial I use swing-layout-1.0.2.jar and I put it under 'Java' folder created earlier.
Note #1: Where should I put jar files in my Ruby project ?
You can actually put the .jar files anywhere in the project. When you want to access it, you just have to the relative path from the root directory to that jar file. For example, if you put Foo.jar under "<NETBEANS_PROJECT>/lib/folder1/", when you want to refer to this class libraries in ruby code, you'll have to add require 'java' require 'folder1/Foo.jar' I usually put all class libraries and everything related to java in one place ('java' folder) for easy access
Creating Ruby modules for the Java API
1. Under the 'module' folder, create a new Ruby module called 'Swing' with file name 'swing.rb'.
2. Including Java packages and classes for Java Swing API that we will use.
Code Example 3: Swing Module
require 'java' require 'java/swing-layout-1.0.2.jar' module Swing include_package 'javax.swing' include_package 'javax.swing.event' include_class 'org.jdesktop.layout.GroupLayout' include_class 'org.jdesktop.layout.LayoutStyle' JOptionPane = javax.swing.JOptionPane end
3. Under the'module' folder, create a new Ruby module called 'Awt' with file name 'awt.rb'. Include java.awt and java.awt.event packages in this module.
Code Example 4: AWT Module
require 'java' module Awt include_package 'java.awt' include_package 'java.awt.event' end
4. Under 'module' folder, create a new Ruby module called 'Lang' with file name 'lang.rb'. Include java.lang package in this module.
Code Example 5: Lang Module
require 'java' module Lang include_package 'java.lang' end
Note #2: Do I need to create module for all Java APIs ?
You don't have to create Ruby module to wrap around a Java API. With JRuby, you can access Ja ava class directly from the Ruby code. For example, you can do frame = javax.swing.JFrame.new directly. I found that Java package names are often very long! Creating a wrap around module can help you make the call easier. As you will see in the next section, wrapping javax.swing in Swing module allows me to create a JFrame object with shorter and cleaner code, frame = Swing::JFrame.new.
Creating a Currency Object
Since we will be displaying a list of currencies with names of countries, it would be convenient to have a Currency object to encapsulate that information.
1. In the 'model' folder we created earlier, create a new Ruby class called 'Currency', file name 'currency.rb'.
Figure 5: Creating Currency object
2. This Currency class will hold the currency code and country name.
Code Example 6: Ruby Currency object class
class Currency attr_accessor :code, :name #constructor def initialize(code, name) @code = code @name = name end #called by combobox model to display country name to user def to_s return @name.to_s end end
Creating the application UI with Swing
We will go ahead and implement the user interface in Ruby with Swing API.
1. In the 'view' folder we created, create a new Ruby class called ConverterView, file name 'converter_view.rb'.
2. At the top of the class file, we need to explicitly specify the required module for swing. We also would like our ConverterView class to subclass Swing's JFrame.
Code Example 7: Including Swing module in the view and subclassing JFrame
require 'java' require 'module/swing' require 'module/awt' require 'module/lang' require 'model/currency' class ConverterView < Swing::JFrame
3. Next we will add the implementation detail of the view class. Some details are omitted here for brevity. For the full code listing please refer to the source file.
Code Example 8: View implementation
#constructor def initialize(title) super(title) initComponents end #control the display of this UI def display(is_visible) self.setVisible(is_visible) end def get_user_input return {'value' => @txtConvertingValue.getText, 'from' => @ddlFromCurrency.getSelectedItem().code, 'to' => @ddlToCurrency.getSelectedItem().code} end #display conversion result def show_converting_result result @lblResult.setText("#{result} #{@ddlToCurrency.getSelectedItem()}") end private def initComponents ...... # detail omitted here for brevity end #Adding currency we would like to convert def create_currency_code_model model = Swing::DefaultComboBoxModel.new model.addElement Currency.new('USD', 'US $') model.addElement Currency.new('CAD', 'Canadian $') model.addElement Currency.new('CNY', 'Chinese Yuan') model.addElement Currency.new('EUR', 'Euro') model.addElement Currency.new('JYP', 'Japanese Yen') model.addElement Currency.new('KRW', 'Korean Won') model.addElement Currency.new('THB', 'Thai Baht') model.addElement Currency.new('AUD', 'Australian $') return model end
4. And that's it! Now we would like to test the UI. We can do this by modifying main.rb to construct the ConverterView object and pop it up.
Code Example 9: Modify main.rb to test our UI
require 'view/converter_view' puts "Swing with JRuby!" view = ConverterView.new 'JRuby Currency Converter' view.display(true)
5. If you run the main.rb source file attached with this tutorial, this will show up.
Figure 6: Running the JFrame UI
Note #3: Creating a great looking GUI without having a headache
Developers who are not familiar with Swing may find it quite a challenge taking on Swing (especilly from Ruby!). I myself am not Swing expert by any measures. Fortunately, JRuby allows developers to port much of Java code to the Ruby side by simply changing the syntax and style. The APIs most often remain the same. Netbeans IDE ships with Matisse GUI Builder. So, why not leverage the tool we have? In this example, I create a simple Java GUI project, create the converter UI using Matisse, and simply port the code directly to JRuby!
Putting the Pieces Together!
So, now we have our logic (web service call), model (Currency), and view (ConverterView). It's time to add the last piece of the puzzle, the button action!
1. Under the folder 'action' we created earlier, create a new class call "CurrencyConverterAction_ConvertButton_Clicked", file name "currency_converter_action.rb".
2. This action class will be fired when the user clicks the 'Convert' button.
3. This action class will subclass ActionListener and override its actionPerformed method.
Code Example 10: CurrencyConverterAction_ConvertButton_Clicked
class CurrencyConverterAction_ConvertButton_Clicked include Awt::ActionListener #constructor def initialize(view) @view = view end #Overriding this class def actionPerformed(event) user_input = @view.get_user_input converting_value = user_input[value] #assigning empty value to zero if converting_value.to_s.strip == '' converting_value = 0 end #validate begin converting_value = Float(converting_value) rescue ArgumentError Swing::JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(@view, "Error: #{converting_value} is not a valid numerical value.", 'Error: Invalid input', Swing::JOptionPane::ERROR_MESSAGE) return end converting_from = user_input[from] converting_to = user_input[to] puts "value = #{converting_value}, currency = #{converting_from}, to = #{converting_to}" #same currency, don't even bother making web service call! if converting_from == converting_to @view.show_converting_result converting_value.to_s return end #Calling the service and send result back to the view @view.show_converting_result round(CurrencyConversionService.new(converting_from, converting_to).call.to_f * converting_value, 3) end private #Rounding float value to specific decimal digit def round(float, num_of_decimal_places) exponent = num_of_decimal_places + 2 float = float*(10**exponent) float = float.round float = float / (10.0**exponent) end end
4. As you can see, when a user clicks the 'Convert' button, the actionPerformed method is fired. The code will proceed to validate user input, call a web service for conversion, and send the result back to the view for display.
5. In this last step, we hook up this event to the button in the view.
Code Example 11: Wiring action event to the view's initComponents method
def initComponents ..... @btnConvert.setText 'Convert' @btnConvert.addActionListener CurrencyConverterAction_ConvertButton_Clicked.new(self) .... end
6. And that's it!
Figure 7: JRuby Currency Converter in action
This tutorial walks you though how you can leverage JRuby, Swing API, and Netbeans IDE to create a desktop application with the Ruby programming language. Developing desktop applications with JRuby run on the Java Virtual Machine. So I strongly believe that JRuby will help Ruby make the transition from web (on Rails framework) to take advantage of the desktop platform.