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Download A Book of Memories Study Guide
A Book of Memories
(Critical Survey of Contemporary Fiction)
A BOOK OF MEMORIES is Hungarian novelist Peter Nadas's debut novel in English translation. It has already been lauded as a great work by significant American critics such as Susan Sontag after receiving an extraordinary reception in Europe. The novel is encyclopedic and autobiographical, combining probing explorations of politics and society with erotic scenes of riveting intensity. Some familiarity with contemporary history—especially with the Hungarian uprising of 1956 against the Communist government and the role of Berlin as the battle ground of the Soviet and western sides in the Cold War—would be helpful in threading through the novel's multiple narratives.
The first narrative concerns a young Hungarian poet and his intense love for a German poet. The Hungarian poet is also writing a second narrative, a novel about an aesthete whose refined, anti-bourgeois sentiments seems a reflection of the poet's own struggle to deal with his Communist family. Yet a third narrative is told from the viewpoint of the poet/narrator's childhood friend in Budapest.
This complex layering of narrative and history make A BOOK OF MEMORIES about the writer's role in history and how the role gets written and imagined. Nadas makes few concessions to the reader. The first one hundred pages are difficult going, for the reader has to become painstakingly accustomed to the intense, all absorbing language of the writer as he confronts and reshapes his world.
Nadas's work bears favorable comparison with Marcel Proust and Thomas Mann, both of whom used the novel as art and history, and who saw in it a capacious form capable to tackling any subject. If Nadas's work has been hailed in extravagant terms, it is because he has reawakened an ambition for the novel that few contemporary writers continue to pursue.


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You know how I'm always going on about creativity & empowerment and how we are all creative beings? Well, it's true and the thing I've come to realize is that the more I create, the more I want to create, and the more I want to create the more my creativity is ramped up and waiting for me -- it's infinitely available to me and NEVER runs out. So that's what's been happening over here at Giving Hands Creative. I've been creating almost daily since last year this time when I participated in Art Every Day Month.
It was also last year this time when I participated in a day-long workshop with Jennifer Lee, award winning author of The Right Brain Business Plan. The workshop was called the Product Development Playground and it was life changing for me. I met some amazing folks: Amy Egenberger, Tammi Dager Spruill, and a host of other super creative and talented people, learned a ton, and started laying the foundation for my new Mixed Media Inspiration Deck. So, DRUM ROLL PLEASE............
The way the deck works is really up to you. There are infinite possibilities for how you can use it to enhance your creative practice. You can shuffle the deck, deal yourself a set number of cards, then use the prompts on the cards to guide your inner creative as you play, journal and make art.
I promise you, the possibilities are endless. And just to let you see how seasoned art journalers and mixed media mavens use the deck, I've got some amazing creative cohorts who are going to join me in December for a 9 day BLOG HOP!!!! EXCITING...
- Roben-Marie Smith (be sure to grab some ArtPops from her)
- Sarah Stevenson (check out her 100 Wednesdays series)
- Carolyn Dube (her Gelli Print Party is fantabulous)
- Mystele Kirkeeng (co-host of the Soul Food 6-Month Program)
- Stephanie Ackerman (a doodling, designing, creating maverick)
- Lorrie Jonas (a super joyful and supportive creative cohort)
- Maria McGuire (the "do it all" woman behind the woman over at my fav StencilGirl Products)
Oh, wait!!! Did I mention there's a give-a-way with the blog hop???? But of course there is. What hop would be complete without one?
- 10 (yes TEN) Mixed Media Inspiration Decks
- 1 Limited Edition 8" Round Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate
- 1 Seat in the 6-Month Online Creative Adventure SOUL FOOD -- with Mystele and her crew over at Community Thrive
- A seat in Roben-Marie's February/March Workshop -- She's an amazing teacher!!!
- 1 Seat in the New Online Class "Stencil Play" with Carolyn Dube
- 1 Signed Copy of The Book, Stencil Girl: Mixed Media Techniques for Making and Using Stencils by Mary Beth Shaw (http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com) & It Comes With An Exclusive Stencil!
- 1 Seat in The Online Class "A Whole New Doodle" with Stephanie Ackerman
- 1 Seat in My 2014 Online Class "One Page Wonders" (you'll learn to make 6 different books)
- 1 December Art Journaling Kit (full of collage items, art journal ephemera & tools, and a variety of papers)
- 1 Handmade Giving Hands Creative Art Journal (for art journaling and mixed media)
Are you ready to join us in the fun???? Make sure you're in all the right places so you get entered into the giveaway. Here's what you should/could do...
- Visit the blogs of the hoppers (listed above)
- Order a Mixed Media Inspiration Deck today
- Sign up for my blog (see the sidebar for options)
- Like my facebook page
- Follow me on twitter and instagram
- Sign up for my newsletter
- SAVE THE DATE -- DECEMBER 2nd -- The Blog Hop Begins

subset: commoncrawl


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The middles teachers will be holding goal setting check-ins on three specific dates in February and March: all day Friday, February 13; late afternoons to early evening on Tuesday, March 3rd and Thursday, March 5th.
Clink on the link below to sign-up for a goal sharing conference.
Check out what we are doing for our January book reports under assignments.
November 24th 10:15-11:00
Tuesday November 25 at 11:30
Check under assignments for all the details
Read on to find out what's going on in room 204!
Read any fiction chapter book of your choice and make a flip book!
Check under assignments to see what the expectations are for this month.
It officially feels like schools back in full swing! Fall is here, the leaves are changing colors and we are starting new projects and wrapping up the old. Read on to learn about all the other cool things going on in room 204!
Conference sign-up is here!
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Telephone: 612.668.3580 | Fax:612.668.3590
School Hours: 8:40 a.m.-3:10 p.m.
Office Hours: 8:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.


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These undead motorheads will stop at nothing to get your wheels!
Don't let the zombies get their decaying hands on your bike!
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Download Free Games All types and all genres of racing games are gathered at Funny Car Games. We're building the leading site to play funny games. All the car games on our site are free to play, with no spyware and annoyances to access these great free online games. If you want to play games with cheats, please visit our dedicated hacked games website.


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Skills for Care have produced a leaflet to support employers to understand the Apprenticeship funding available from the Skills Funding Agency. As an employer generally pays for the salary of the apprentice (some help is available from Skills for Care's Workforce Development Fund (WDF), the Skills Funding Agency funds the training provision. The leaflet explains where the funding comes from, further help that is available when taking on an employer and other incentives available for employers.
A Level A Level Psychology Anne Watson assessment authors Back to school Ben Crystal book list Books for teens brain children's authors children's books children's dictionaries children's fiction classroom comprehension concepts/language confirmation bias CPD critical thinking curriculum david crystal definitions depression Dictionaries dictionary Digital drama ed-tech Education english English Literature ethics Exam insights exams false friends funny books GCSE guided reading history History teacher home learning human sciences implications independent reading Jill Carter knowledge questions KS1 KS2 KS3 language learning literacy literature Mastery mathematics maths maths education maths mastery media memory methodology MFL natural sciences non-fiction Ofsted Ofsted Education Inspection Framework 2019 perspectives Phonics post-sats primary primary maths psychology reading reading for pleasure reading list Rebecca Priest remote learning research revision Sam Holyman SATs science secondary shakespeare Shakespeare400 shared knowledge teaching technology TOK emotion TOK intuition TOK language TOK reason TOK sense perception truth Vocabulary Word Gap words world book day writing


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RLAM's fixed income team has developed a reputation as one of the UK's leading managers of sovereign and corporate bonds, offering a range of pension products and OEICs. The team adopt a collegiate process focused on identifying valuation opportunities by using their in-depth market knowledge to explore a wider range of investments than many of their peers. It is the experience and skill of our fund management team that set us apart, giving us an edge in a highly competitive market.
Quite simply, by using our experience and exploring parts of the market that others overlook, we aim to add value for our clients.
The quality of our team is the key driver of our success. Our 32 Fund managers and Analysts have an average of 18 years' investment experience and this brings the confidence to maintain non-consensus positions where we have strong opinions. We have a tradition of independent thinking, using our own analysis to uncover the best investment opportunities.
Our processes have proved to be robust in a wide variety of economic and market situations. We manage around £71.7bn of fixed interest assets (as at 30.06.2020). We target multiple sources of outperformance (such as yield curve positioning, duration management and stock selection) for our clients.
We believe that government bond markets are relatively efficient, but as active fund managers we can exploit valuation anomalies as they occur, particularly in light of the unprecedented conditions we have seen under Quantitative Easing. Our managers look widely for their government bond opportunities and are active in using global bonds (currency hedged) in sterling portfolios. We believe that risk control is central to government bond management and, therefore, we run a range of investment strategies, rather than relying upon one significant investment position. Investors looking for a more global orientation are catered for by our global government bond funds (both conventional and index linked) which employ the same management processes as our sterling funds.
We offer a range of government strategies: UK gilts, UK index linked gilts, cash plus, overseas government, overseas index linked and bespoke LDI.
In comparison, the credit market is less efficient. By considering a wider investment universe than many of our competitors – including unrated and asset backed bonds and loans – we can uncover value in many, often overlooked, areas. In both the investment grade and high yield markets we are value investors. In practice this means that we emphasise our own research and that we prefer companies with sound long term business models and bonds which offer strong covenant protection and asset backing. We believe that credit ratings are a lagging indicator and that bond investment is about assessing the probability of default and the recovery rate; we firmly believe that the credit markets are inefficient because too little emphasis is placed on the latter.
We now offer a range of credit strategies: sterling investment grade, sterling ethical bond, duration hedged sterling credit, European investment grade, investment grade Buy & Maintain, bespoke cashflow matching, sterling higher yield (through our award winning Sterling Extra Yield Bond Fund) and global high yield.
© 2020 Royal London Asset Management.All Rights Reserved.


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Berlin's Best Burger: #4
Burgers & Hip Hop happened at Prince Charles last Saturday and it was a hot mess. Literally.
While it started out a little slower than usual, the place filled quickly in the early evening with loads of burger lovers (sorry we had to close the door for a short time). Not only the grills were burning but the whole club – thanks to the sun, but also thanks to a hot competition. All vendors were eager to beat two-time-winner District Mot and their experimental steamed bun burger, and one of them put the stakes even higher: much acclaimed newcomer Tommi's Burger came to the party with their classic, clean cheeseburger that many fans already call the best burger in Berlin.
As always, the public has voted – over 340 votes were handed in and we had fun counting them (see some samples here). And you might not believe, what they decided:
Here are all contesters and the top three:
Serving a chic burger in real Italian style was Pettirossi, calling it Chicks, Cash & Mortadella and combining beef meat with rucola, tomato and a home made special red pesto that was a big hit with voters.
Juicy Lucy's was in with their Deep Flow Burger: 100% Beef, delicious cheese, spicy Kimchi, intense bacon, yellow radish & Korean BBQ sauce – an almost classic combo with the Burgers & Hip Hop event that was professionally prepared and had a surprise that many voters loved: cheese in the beef patty!
Eddilicious' Machete burger served by Pablo was a true Mexican: grilled Duroc pork, avocado, tomato, pineapple (!), feta cheese, refried beans, salad & Mexican sweet chilli sauce – the plethora of ingredients made this one a little hard to eat, yet the voters loved the deliciousness of the beans. And the pineapple (who would've thought?!)
The most surprising burger ingredient this time was certainly the pineapple, especially since two contesters used it – all-time-potato-favorit Bixels served up a Beef Marley – bedded in a Turkish pita bread with pineapple, guacamole chili, onions and parsley. Garnished with their famous potatoes. This unusual mix scored quite high, and just barely failed to make the top three.
A very well earned third place goes to Mr Susan's No Sleep Till Brooklyn burger, made with local beef, a deliciously crunchy cheddar & bacon cheese crisp, their own special preserved lemon mayonnaise, and "Brooklyn" caramelized red onions (preserved in all kinds of alcohol) & finished with fresh baby spinach. The caramelized onions and the crispy cheese bacon invention won them a glorious 4,17 of 5 total points!
Tommi's Burger Joint's very classic burger was a long-awaited big hit with the audience. Many called it an "honest burger", delivering "just what it takes": medium rare Black Angus Patty, freshly grilled and topped with melting cheese that "goes great with a beer". Which is why they received a dazzling 4,38 of 5 possible points and when I left the party after our tasting happened I was sure they'd win, but…
…that wasn't enough to beat what is now a three-time winner. Yes, you read that right, District Mot has done it again. Not only by serving their two burgers from last time, the De La Sauce with beef or tofu, but by adding a chicken burger: Lil Bao Wow. A steamed yeast-rice cake bun hugged a patty made of minced chicken drumstick deep fried in a crispy green rice batter, combined with vietnamese pickled vegetables, pickled red onions, fresh coriander, fresh mango, two house made sauces (egg yolk garlic mayo & lime-chilli-tomato sauce).
What might have been a risk, proved to be the best bet: District Mot received 4,56 of 5 possible votes and also was able to collect the most votes of all vendors (100! and 72 of them were 5 star ratings!) Congratulations!
See you next time!
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Commentsalso leave a comment
You have to try the "Blutwurst-Burger" at the Herz & Niere (Fichtestraße, Berlin-Kreuzberg)! They make their own black pudding.
My List :)
1. Mr.Susan's No sleep till Brooklyn burger
WHAT a great compilation! Loved the crispy cheese together with the caramelized red onions. And the Patty was the best one I've ever had! Just perfect.
Easy Nr.1 for my burger taste! ;)
2: Tommis burger Joint
I really thought this would be my Nr.1, regardless of any other burgers served this day.
But they just had the buns and Pattys a little too long on the grill. My friend said it needs to be like this….manly and such. ^^
But the Brooklyn burger simply owned them all, so no Chance for Tommis this time. But still, an excellent, if not, THE best Cheesburger in Berlin.
3: Chicks, Cash & Mortadella
I only bit one time (already full from Tommis and Susans burger) but I really liked the Italien flovour in that burger.
4: District Mot
Havent tried it this time. But I had it on the last B&HH
It tastes surprisingly well, but not how I imagine a burger. Still, well deserved and great Job from the Crew.
Congrats to the Hattrick :)
5: All the rest
I havent tried the others, so I wont judge them too much.
But for me, there were some NO-GOs!
For example, the BeefMarley wasnt a burger at all. I'm sure it tasted good, but propably more like some kind of wrap!?
And I'm no Kimchi fan at all, or pulled pork as replacement for a Patty!?
But thats just me and my taste. :)
Anyways, thanks everyone for the best Burger & Hip Hop yet!
Till next time, Michael
Does District Mot also serve this burger at their restaurant?


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A population of 120 million makes Mexico the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. Its geographically strategic position provides a link between North and South America, and together with the USA, Mexico leads development in the region. It also benefits from free trade agreements with 44 countries, which is more than any other nation in the world.
Economic liberalisation
Since the end of the 1980s, economic liberalisation has been a major development strategy for Mexico. The government has managed to implement several tax and structural reforms in the energy and telecom sectors, and this is expected to stimulate competitiveness and increase growth.
Mexico is Sweden's second largest export market in Latin America and the free trade agreement between the EU and Mexico has improved trade balance significantly. Being a member of NAFTA has also made the country more attractive from an investment perspective. Already today, many companies manufacture products in Mexico that are sold across the Americas.
Possibilities for Swedish companies
Mexico offers great potential in several sectors where Sweden is an industry leader, including automotive, mining, energy, IT and telecoms. There is also a growing need for solutions within security and the environmental sector as well as health care and medicine. Foreign investments have surged in the past ten years, especially in the automotive industry. Today the direct average cost of production is 4 percent lower than China. Most major automotive companies and key suppliers have manufacturing facilities in Mexico, which means potential business for Swedish subcontractors.
Potential challenges
Possible obstacles for Swedish companies include corruption and fraud, and it is important to always ask for professional advice if there is any uncertainty. As our Trade & Invest commissioner Nicolas León explains below, it is also a good idea to consider how to ensure fair working conditions while maintaining a good level of productivity.
How we can help
Business Sweden has been active in Mexico since 2003. The office is also responsible for markets in Central America and the Caribbean, where the recent development in Cuba holds a promise for the future. We can help you prepare for market entry by producing tailor-made market analyses, giving advice on issues related to corruption and security, finding suitable business partners and much more.
Nicolas LeónTrade & Invest Commissioner Mexico
What are the main advantages for expansion in Mexico?
Mexico's size, stable economy, significant natural resources and attractive production conditions have much to offer Swedish companies. In general terms, the main advantages are access to the large domestic market as well as the proximity to the USA. There is potential in virtually all sectors connected to Swedish industry strengths. A few examples are the energy sector, a result of Mexico's ambition to become self-sufficient in the long-term, the automotive industry and major infrastructure projects as well as fintech and e-commerce.
What are the risks and challenges companies may face in Mexico?
Mexico, like most of Latin America, is a complex market. The biggest risks for Swedish companies are linked to corruption, fraud and personal security. In addition, we see challenges regarding ensuring productivity and fair working conditions for employees. As a global comparison, the Mexican worker has low wages and low productivity despite long working hours. We recommend that Swedish companies are well prepared and do their homework before they establish themselves or initiate sales in the Mexican market.
Are there any cultural aspects to consider?
It is important to know the basic characteristics of Mexico's business culture in order to be successful. Mexico is a hierarchical society where both large and small decisions are made by people in senior positions. However, there is a lack of formal processes where business is done among friends. Local presence and personal meetings are therefore very important. Be prepared for long lunches and have patience in order to reach success.


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Imagine if our world had a diary and on the interesting days, someone pulled out a big book and wrote about it.
Day 83 was such a day.
460 million years ago, ocean plant life on the margins begin to colonize the land edges. Mosses, ferns evolve on dry land adapting to take moisture from rain.
The presence of plant life and oxygen create the required conditions for the first fire in our solar system.
Plants aren't the only things that started out in the photosynthesis business. While the first molecule and the first stirrings of life were a long time ago, early on, the cyanobacteria was on this gig, turning sunlight into energy and pooping out the excess oxygen. This is bad news indeed for the other bacteria that were swimming around in the oceanic soup, because oxygen is poisonous if you are anaerobic, which was everyone really.
All this oxygen also dissolved the iron in the water, which naturally sank to the bottom, forming the foundations for the iron ore business making a few Australians very rich indeed.
Dating this iron and the rock in which it lies, gives a pretty good indication of when the first organisms started photosynthesizing, as there was no oxygen to dissolve the iron before that. The answer is about 580 million years ago.
It also puts a date on something was going to come in handy for future humans, the ultraviolet light reacting with the oxygen making ozone in the stratosphere, a sort of souped up oxygen creating our own sunblock.
A lot of these cyanobacteria lived together happily pumping out oxygen in Western Australia and haven't left home. (Western Australia is the largest state in Australia at a handy 2.6 million square kilometres or about one million square miles) They reside in a less-than-glamorous grey lump called a Stromatolite, a sort of low rise apartment block about the size of a small car, in the salty waters of Shark Bay in WA.
Evolution worked its magic and some cyanobacteria formed partnerships with other organisms which eventually led to more sophisticated life in the form of green algae.
Obviously being soft, they did not produce much by way of fossils but there is plenty of sturdier stuff further down the tree to be able to work backwards to the first plants, that were rather delicate.
By the time we get to the half billion mark, 500 million years ago, complex life had evolved into millions of different shapes and sizes according to their environment. The first creature with a spine evolved and fish were taking advantage of all the new oxygen that was dissolved in the oceans.
Ten millions years later, while all this evolving was going on, Canada was hit by large asteroid leaving behind a 24 kilometre wide crater, quite a modest impact on the scale of asteroids. No doubt this was not a good day for those creatures living in the immediate area but that didn't stop groups of photo reactor cells becoming primitive 'eyes' in many species.
(The first 'eyes' were just cells that react to light. When several or lots happened to be in the same area, they served as a signal that something large was blocking the light. 'Something large' often meant 'something hungry' and those that took the hint to make a hasty retreat, were the ones that survived to pass on this trait.)
In fact, lots of interesting things were happening. Reef-builders were abundant, as were worms, sponges and numerous other animals. The invertebrates diversified into many new types, including trilobites, starfish, long straight-shelled cephalopods bivalves, nautiloids, and many other types.
Fungi and algae did so well they continue to the present day and while oxygen was in full production, carbon dioxide was hugely more than it is now, something like 25 times as much, but then the earth didn't have to worry about sea levels and mega storms.
All this synthesizing came on the back of the evolution of complex life, some 180 million years before green algae was the main act. Even so, there were no land plants until 475 million years ago. Bear in mind the earth had been around for most of its life to date. If you imagine the earth time line as a single year, at this point when land plants first got going, it was late November. Put another way, if the earth was like the life of a person, it was already 90 years old before the first plant sprung up. And you thought 460 million years was a long time. It's just the last 10 years.
We are pretty safe in assuming that the first land plants, which were mostly ferns and mosses had 15 million years to spread out and we know the atmosphere also had oxygen. Now it's true that matches had not been invented yet, but it's a fair guess that lightning was pretty common.
Lightening, oxygen and dead plants equals fire. These were probably pretty tame affairs as trees were still another 40 million years in the future.
While the first smoke was wafting across the planet, back in the oceans the first eyes had evolved from the light sensitive cells that were part of the makeup of many creatures.
While the first fires were burning up the dead bacterial and algal mats, these primitive plants were industriously creating the first recognizable soils. They also harboured some arthropods like mites and scorpions but they didn't have roots or leaves and probably didn't grow very tall, however, they grew, they survived, they thrived in fact.
By the time a few more million years had passed, the pioneers had developed true roots and leaves and some were getting quite tall, some of the giant versions had developed wood and are the first, the oldest known trees that formed the first forests. It was not long before fire was a part of the natural environment and plants and trees adapted.
References and more subjects
How To Make a Galaxy
The First Molecule
Western Australia
AND this is just a one line entry in what I believe is a truly great scientific poster. Maybe it would make a great gift. But that's just my opinion.
(You can see ALL the interesting 'days' in the magnificent science poster which you can download and print. See what it looks like here.)
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Clouds associated with a coastal area of low pressure will continue to filter across the region Tuesday as an easterly component to our wind continues to kick in some Atlantic moisture. We'll see a few breaks of sunshine before the sun sets, but it will be unseasonably cool and mostly dry with temps only reaching into the upper 50s to near 60 degrees for the afternoon high.
We'll get come clearing overnight as low temps dip down into the low 40s for yet another chilly night. Be sure to grab the jacket if you are going to be headed out Tuesday night.
Clouds will continue to stick around on Wednesday, but most of the day will actually stay dry– and warm! High temps for Wednesday are forecast to reach into the mid 70s! Finally, a break from the cold.
Our next storm system will then move in from west to east–the same one that has caused significant flooding in the Midwest. No flooding is anticipated for us, but we will see impacts in the form of rain, a possible late evening thunderstorm and extra cloud cover. Precipitation estimates are forecast to be between 0.1-0.25 inches.
Timing-wise, here's how things will play out Wednesday: rain will start to push in from west to east between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. for western Maryland and then overspread the region between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Wednesday night. Winds will also pick up as this system approaches.
The good news is that this system is expected to move out fairly quick, leaving our Thursday plenty dry and setting us up for a beautiful day on Friday with sunshine returning and highs in the mid and upper 60s!


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Now before I get a slew of angry e-mails from Capitol Hill, let me explain what I mean. Your congressmen and senators are working hard. In fact, they put in incredibly long hours that often stretch into the weekends. It's just that most of their work at the moment is on their own behalf not yours. Congressional elections are still seven months away, when one-third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives will face voters, but already incumbents and challengers are campaigning with gusto.
That means the people's business what you pay these men and women to do has to get wedged among fundraisers, political speeches and campaigning back home. And not much of the people's business is being fit in at the moment. In any given week now, the House and Senate don't spend more than two days voting on bills. The members don't fly into town until Tuesday afternoon and the first votes usually aren't held until Tuesday evening, if at all that day. Wednesday they put in a full day's work with votes, but they try to get out of town by Thursday evening with the last vote scheduled no later than around 6 p.m. And you can forget Friday for any constructive work; walk around the Capitol and it's a virtual ghost town.
Yes, I know that most of the legislative activity the bill drafting and vote trading occurs off the Senate and House floors in committees. But bills ultimately have to be voted on by the full chamber. And the only thing definite a congressman or senator has to do on your behalf is cast his or her vote. But they don't do much of that these days. Last week I was talking to a Republican congressman and I asked him about legislative priorities his party had for this session. "Gee, I don't know," he said, half joking. "We're hardly ever around here to do much." Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has even begun complaining publicly about how difficult it is to get anything done simply because his senators are hardly ever around to vote. To get legislation passed, Daschle and House Speaker Dennis Hastert often have to pull all-nighters Wednesday keeping their chambers in session non-stop through Thursday.
You'd be shocked at how many bills that spend billions of your tax dollars get approved by groggy members after midnight. It's not the best way to legislate. But Daschle and Hastert would be tarred and feathered by both Republicans and Democrats if they had their chambers working a five-day week.
Congressmen and senators will get their backs up when you confront them with the fact that they spend so little time in Washington tending to official business. "We're doing the public's business when we're meeting with constituents, answering our mail or traveling back to our states," they'll insist. Actually, that's not the case. Most of a member's time is spent getting reelected. Congressional staffers tell me privately that as much as three-fourths of their day is spent ensuring that their boss keeps his job. The mail the congressman sends out, the district newsletters, the trips back home, they're all part of the campaign to keep that politician exposed to local folks so come election time they'll vote for him. "What about the public interest?" I remember asking an aide once. He looked at me like I was from Mars, then retorted: "The public looks after its interest. My job is to look after my senator."


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Apps may have started out as mere instruments of consumption – simple programs or casual games for tablets and smartphones. But, of late, these offerings have grown rather complex, and to such an extent that the music industry, for one, swears by them.
In fact, Bjork, an artist who has always pushed the envelope when it comes to her oeuvre, has released her latest music album 'Biophilia' in the form of an 'appbox'. "It's a fusion of nature, songs and an app suite for the iPad," she says.
The Biophilia 'appbox' comprises ten individual apps. In addition to the songs, each app also includes animation, games, scrolls of lyric sheets and an academic essay about each composition written by musicologist Nikki Dibben. Here are some popular music apps I am aware of not to be rated since each one of them are good in there own ways. If you have some intresting apps to share post them in the comments section I will definitely review them..
Made by Apple, the GarageBand app packs together a virtual piano, guitar, bass guitar and drums into an easy-touse music suite for recording songs. The app is so good that it is actually capable of replacing a lowend music studio for new musicians.
Price: $5 (Rs 250 approx)
The History of Jazz
This ipad application is used to make a timeline of history for jazz in ipad. With this app the ipad looks more attractive for audio and video interfaces. With this app you can traverse the history of jazz with a art form and traverse through different genres very easily. The navigation in ipad is very easy and fun. You can have fun with multiple touches at a time.
The cost of the app is $9.99 (Rs 500) and its size is 69.4 MB,
Bebot is a voice synthesizer that can create and tweak different sounds. It lets users play around on the screen with a tiny robot to create music. The app includes nine 'instruments' to choose from.
Price: $2 (Rs 100 approx)
Sound Cells
Sound Cells is an interactive music app that turns sound into visuals on a matrix. It lets users tap to create moving 'cells' that create sounds when they hit a wall in the grid.
Price: $1 (Rs 50 approx)
Peterson Strobe Tuners
These apps offer a great degree of precision as instrument tuners; the company claims it is a mobile equivalent to the long line of respected Peterson hardware tuners. The tuner also comes with built-in input boost and noise cancellation technology to ensure that your instruments are always tuned to the right note.
Price: $10 (Rs 500 approx)
Meant for artists/composers, this app lets users draw a star-shaped envelope that carries information about the song. Each star is a combination of painting, animation, art, science, and gaming. As users touch the screen, they can draw simulated stars of information with things like lyrics, videos, etc. Touching the edge of the screen, musicians can change parameters including gravity and number of stars that reveal different information every time they hit the screen.
Price: $1.99 (Rs 100 approx)
iElectribe KORG
The hip-hop group Gorillaz created an entire album on iPads using this app. It acts as a virtual beat-box system with controls that work like a vintage analogue synthesizer.
Price: $10 (Rs 500 approx)
Bubble Harp
Bubble Harp draws bubbles around songs, recording and replaying your movements while creating music. It's a combination of drawing, animation, music, art, geometry, and gaming.
Price: $1.99 (Rs 100 approx)
This app is a content and media management system for musicians that lets them add interactivity to songs. Songpier lets musicians create a web-based app for both Apple iOS and Android. But instead of being restricted to just tablets, these can be accessed from any web browser. Musicians can add song information, including pictures, events, merchandise as well as a link to the artist's web site using SongPier.
Price: Free
DJ Rivals
This cool app is from US startup Booyah who had success with its facebook game called the Nightclub city and My Town iphone app. This application is up to reclaim the music. We can use rhythmic tapping moves, Flangers, Mashups, Rolls and other features to put an end to the Bland Corp in our own real town, this is really one of its kind RPG.And its Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and ix.Mac.MarketingName. Requires iOS 4.0 or later. The size of the app is around 42.5 MB and its completely free of cost.


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We offer a wide range of skincare from popular brands including Filorga, WiQo, and Jalupro and many more.
All our skincare products are 100% authentic and come from within the EU community.
We offer wholesale discounts for larger volumes and ship worldwide.
Please note: we recommend all our products are used by licensed professionals with the appropriate training.
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Collaborative Solutions for transformational leadership
Michele Risa, Expert in Leadership,
and Crisis Management Post COVID-19
Michele Risa, Expert in Leadership,
and Crisis Management Post COVID-19
NEWS! Michele has been recognized as an "EXPERT" by The Mayshad Group and Ellevate Network, two organizations committed to Women Leadership.
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By Appointment
Copyright © 2018 Collaborative Solutions - All Rights Reserved.


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85: Strawberry-Citrus Salad
I came across a recipe for Strawberry-Citrus Salad when I was looking at recipes for Easter dinner. I happened to have fresh mint, and strawberries, and tangerines. It's also been unseasonably warm here. The summer-like weather, and the heat in my office since the building hasn't switched over to air conditioning, has made me want cool things to eat. This sounded incredibly refreshing.
I used dark brown sugar instead of light in this, and tangerines for the citrus. As I expected, this was very refreshing. I liked the mint in it, which I didn't expect to do since I generally don't like mint flavor. Fresh mint, however, isn't 'minty' – it rather gives a fresh, herbal flavor to this dish. I don't think this needs all of the brown sugar, so whenever I make it again, I'll use less. I really enjoyed this, and I'll make it again.


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So last night I spent it with the twins. Cant wait to introduce them to Yu officially.. and finally she is going to come home! Man do I sure miss her, so this is me trying to seduce her..ish. Haha.
But this song seems perfect, I have the woman I love and the kids. What else can I be missing? Dog maybe 😮
or that pet dragon from MAW <.<
Introducing new tattoo from -Public Enemy- by mellic
New hair from Burley
and awesome prop/pose from Exposeur, check out her new poses @ Zodic (theme of the month is.. of course, nothing better then LEO >:D) it just open using the awesome build from FANATIK
Skin: the body co. Hunter II
Hair:[BURLEY]_Nayuta_Blacks >> NEW
Tattoo:– Public Enemy – Lost Paradise Tattooby – mellic. >>NEW
Jeans:~Tableau Vivant~ Low-rise jeans 5
Shades:[CheerNo] Glasses . MARLEY*Black
Chain:[Z3] GoodWood Mishka Sb Chain >>NEW
Chair:{.:exposeur:.} Men Sitting In Chairs
La la la la, take me Home
Baby, I'm coming Home
I'll follow you into the park,
through the jungle, through the dark
Girl, I've never loved one like you
Moats & boats & waterfalls,
alley ways & pay phone calls
I've been everywhere with you
That's true


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From Karen Selick on The Justice Report:
"On December 5, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued a press release announcing that charges had been laid against CCF clients Montana Jones and Michael Schmidt in relation to the disappearance of sheep from Montana's quarantined farm. Here's a link to the release.
Among other things, the CFIA states that it has "the full support of the Canadian sheep industry" to administer Canada's Scrapie Eradication Program. This is false.
In a meeting between Montana Jones and four CFIA representatives held on November 15, 2011 (tape-recorded by Montana with the consent of everyone present), CFIA veterinarian Noel Harrington volunteered the information that whenever there is a highly publicized spike in scrapie cases, "…the next two years nobody wants to report a case because of the bad economics of that so all of a sudden you have two years of very few cases."
In other words, farmers prefer to "shoot, shovel and shut up" rather than submit to the draconian requirements of the CFIA's program after witnessing the program's destructive effects on fellow farmers. Does that sound to you like the program has the "full support of the sheep industry"?
The CFIA's repeated claim that it has the "full support of the sheep industry" has irked me ever since I first became involved in this case as Montana Jones' lawyer, because I was hearing from farmers across the country who were saying the opposite. Therefore, in August, 2012, I sent an Access to Information request asking the CFIA to provide all documents in its possession indicating how it ascertained that it has such support. I also asked for documents that might indicate any dissension among sheep farmers…."


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Boris Pash
Boris Theodore Pash (born Boris Fedorovich Pashkovsky; Russian: Борис Фёдорович Пашковский) 20 June 1900 – 11 May 1995) was a United States Army military intelligence officer. He commanded the Alsos Mission during World War II and retired with the rank of colonel.
Boris Pash
Colonel Boris T. Pash
|Birth name
|Boris Theodore Pashkovsky
|20 June 1900
San Francisco, California
|11 May 1995 (aged 94)
Greenbrae, California
Colma, California
|United States of America
|United States Army
|Years of service
|Commands held
|Alsos Mission
|World War II:
|Legion of Merit
Distinguished Service Medal
Early lifeEdit
Boris Theodore Pashkovsky was born in San Francisco, California, on 20 June 1900.[1] His father was Reverend Theodore Pashkovsky (would become Most Reverend Metropolitan Theophilus from 1934 to 1950), a Russian Orthodox priest who had been sent to California by the Church in 1894. His father was recalled to Russia in 1906,[2] and the entire family returned to Russia in 1912.[3]
During the Russian Revolution, he served in the White movement navy in the Black Sea from 1918 to 1920.[1] Because he could speak English, he served as a translator in meetings with the British. For his services he was awarded the Cross of St. George.[3]
On 1 July 1920, he married Lydia Vladimirovna Ivanova, and chose to return to the United States when the Bolshevik consolidation of power became apparent. He was able to secure employment with the YMCA in Berlin, where his son Edgar Constantine Boris Pashkovsky was born on 14 June 1921.
Upon returning to the United States with his family in 1923, he attended Springfield College, in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Physical Education.[1] It was during this time that he changed the family name from Pashkovsky to Pash.
Pash taught at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles from 1924 until 1940. During this time he continued his education, receiving a Master of Science from the University of Southern California in 1939.[1] He also joined the United States Army Reserve, and was assigned to the Infantry Intelligence Branch. As part of his training, he qualified for certification by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[3]
World War IIEdit
Pash was called to active duty with the Army in 1940, and became chief of counter-intelligence at the IX Corps Area headquarters at the Presidio of San Francisco.[3] In that role he became involved with the 1942 Baja Peninsula mission that investigated the possibility of the Japanese establishing a base in Mexico during World War II.[1]
Pash was also called upon to investigate suspected Soviet espionage at the Radiation Laboratory at the University of California. He interrogated staff, including Robert Oppenheimer, whom he concluded "may still be connected with the Communist Party".[4] Pash did not believe that Oppenheimer was a spy. He felt that Oppenheimer's personal honor and concern for his reputation would deter him from such action. Pash therefore did not recommend Oppenheimer's removal from the Manhattan Project, merely that Oppenheimer be accompanied by counter-intelligence agents.[5]
He was also the military leader of the Alsos Mission, an Allied operation established in late 1943 to determine how far the Axis had progressed toward developing nuclear weapons by seizing facilities, materiel, and scientists related to the German nuclear energy project.
Post warEdit
After the war, Pash served in various military intelligence positions. He served under General Douglas MacArthur in Japan in 1946 and 1947. Thanks to his efforts, the Soviet attempt to gain a foothold in Japan through a local Orthodox Church failed. Instead, Pash organized for the Bishop Benjamin (Basalyga) to arrive in early January 1947 to take the reins, and thus the American Metropoly, rather than the Moscow Patriarchate, secured influence in the region. As a result of this combination, Pash had had a public clash with the Soviet General Kuzma Derevyanko.[6] From 1948 to 1951, he served as a military representative to the Central Intelligence Agency.[3] During this time, he was in charge of a controversial CIA program called PB-7, which had been formed to handle "wet affairs" like kidnappings and assassinations. There is no evidence that he ever carried out any, and denied that he had in testimony before the Church Committee in 1975.[7] He served as Special Forces planning officer with the U.S. forces in Austria from 1952 to 1953. His final postings were back in the United States, as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the Sixth Army from 1953 to 1956), and in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Guided Missiles in Washington, D.C., from 1956 until his retirement from the Army in 1957.[3] In 1954, he testified in the Oppenheimer security hearing, recounting the misgivings that he had about Oppenheimer in 1943.[8]
On leaving the Army, Pash became chief of the Eastern European and USSR Division of the Quartermaster Technological Intelligence Agency. In 1961 he transferred to the United States Army Foreign Science and Technology Center. He retired from the civil service in June 1963.[9]
In retirement, Pash published The Alsos Mission, a book recounting his wartime experiences in Europe, in 1980. He was inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame in 1988.[10] His decorations included the Army Distinguished Service Medal,[10] the Legion of Merit, the Order of the British Empire and the Order of St. George.[11]
Pash died on 11 May 1995 in Greenbrae, California, and was buried in the Serbian Cemetery in Colma, California. He was survived by his wife Gladys and son Edgar.[10] His papers are in the Hoover Institute at Stanford University.[1]
- ^ a b c d e f "Register of the Boris T. Pash Papers". Stanford University. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ "Metropolitan Theophilus". Saint Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f "Portrait of Boris Pash by Prof. W. H. Allison". Stadt Haigerloch. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ Jones 1985, p. 261.
- ^ Jones 1985, pp. 261–262.
- ^ "«За веру и бомбу»: удивительная жизнь полковника Бориса Пашковского-Пэша". НЛО (in Russian). Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- ^ Thomas 1995, p. 85.
- ^ Stern 1969, p. 348.
- ^ "Masters of the Intelligence Art – Boris Pash" (PDF). United States Army. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ a b c Schwartz, Stephen (13 May 1995). "Colonel Boris T. Pash". SFgate. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ "The National War Memorial Shrine of the Russian Orthodox Church of America – Dedication" (PDF). 19 May 1963. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- Jones, Vincent (1985). Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb (PDF). Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. OCLC 10913875. Retrieved 25 August 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Stern, Philip M. (1969). The Oppenheimer Case. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0 246 64035 9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Thomas, Evan (1995). The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the CIA. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780684810256. OCLC 32697874.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Further readingEdit
- Goudsmit, Samuel A. (1947). Alsos : The failure in German science. New York: H. Schuman. ISBN 978-1-56396-415-2.
- Groves, Leslie R. (1962). Now It Can Be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-80189-1.
- Mahoney, Leo J. (1981). A History of the War Department Scientific Intelligence Mission (ALSOS), 1943–1945. Ph.D. Dissertation, Kent State University.
- Pash, Boris T. (1980). The Alsos Mission. New York: Charter Books. ISBN 978-0-441-01790-4.
- http://asachitose.com/page7.htm


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This small guest house is located within the walls of Ichan-Kala Fortress, at the edge of the old quarter of Khiva. The clay revetment of the hotel's fasade makes it virtually identical to neighboring dwelling houses.
There is only 200 meters to the central street of the Old Town, where most of the monuments of Khiva are located.
The hotel "Meros" inlcudes 6 standard rooms that probably do not have distinguish design, but equipped with necessary facilities for relaxation after long day, including shower, "winter-summer" air conditioning system, and, of course, soft beds.
- Breakfast: from 7:30 to 10:30
- Rooms: 6
- Floors: 1
- Hotel Services:
- 24 hour room service
- Mail delivery
- Laundry service
- In-house doctor
- Luggage service
- Airport/Train station transfer: extra charge
- Breakfast in the room: free
- Extra bed: extra charge
- Internet: free
Rooms: Wi-Fi
Lobby: Wi-Fi
Hotel: Wi-Fi
- Food order
|Distance from
|by car, min
|by foot, min
|Railway station
- Property Amenities:
- Restaurant
- Business center
- Non-smoking rooms
- Outside Parking
- Hotel safe
- Gift shop
- Convertible armchair
Most friendly hotel. Very tasteful decoration by artists.Stayed October 2016, traveled on holiday or leisure
Best roof top terrace.Stayed October 2016, traveled on holiday or leisure
Bed is very noisy when you move, but terraces are wonderful.Stayed August 2016, traveled on business
Easy location; pleasant staff; bathroom could use some updating. Nice and homey feel.Stayed April 2015, traveled on holiday or leisure
Not the best hotel in the trip, bad mattress. Poor room conditions with dusty balcony.Stayed July 2013, traveled on holiday or leisure


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Hover over the image to see more details.
Bangle (kada)
57.105/2 (a-b)
57.105/2 (a-b)
Bangle (kada)
Varanasi, 19th century
Gold, diamonds, rubies, enamel
Acc. No. 57.105/2 (a-b)
The pair of bangles (kada) with elephant-head terminals and tusks entwined and set with diamonds the outer surface of the hoop is set with table-cut diamonds in foiled foliate surrounds on a green enamel ground and the inner surface is decorated with painted pink enamel flowers. The pair of opposing elephant heads with diamond set details is decorated with painted pink and white enamel or gulabi mina.


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A deer crashed into a store and is caught on video as it runs around wildly, causing chaos while workers scramble for cover.
According to The Associated Press, it was a otherwise normal day at Stout Carpeting when the deer crashes into the store. Jill Horvatic, an employee at the store, said she ran for cover as the deer crashed into displays and damaged items in the store.
"I was shaking," Horvatic told WPXI-TV. "I haven't felt like that ever in my life. For 20 minutes all I heard was banging and glass shattering. It was horrifying."
The deer crashed into different parts of the store, banging and crashing its way around as it tried to find a way out. The deer was reportedly stuck inside for close to 30 minutes in total before it was able to escape. Police had to set up barricades and guide the animal to safety.
The entire incident was caught on video from the moment the deer crashes into the store. A news report on the incidents noted that it appeared as if vandals had broken into the store, trashing displays and breaking glass, but it was really the work of an increasingly frightened deer. At one point in the video, a customer comes to the door to enter but quickly runs away when he sees the deer crashing its way through the store.
Though employees were startled and the displays a bit messy when the deer crashes into the store, police said no one was hurt.


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- It's about damn time. All of our agencies are floating on a sea of political corruption.
- The FBI goes ape shit if you rob a gas station of $200 and cross state lines. But nothing happens if Wall Street Oligarchs destroy the economy with trillions in phony home loans or the Clintons pocket hundreds of millions in "donations".
- It is way past time to sweep out the entire corrupt bunch in the FBI, NSA and CIA and hire new people.
(AP) -- President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday, dramatically ousting the nation's top law enforcement official. . . .
In a letter to Comey, Trump said the firing was necessary to restore "public trust and confidence" in the FBI. Comey has come under intense scrutiny in recent months for his public comments on an investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton's email practices, including a pair of letters he sent to Congress on the matter in the closing days of last year's campaign.


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The GEMA brings together insights gained from working with thousands of global clients – both through their successes and learning from their failures. Our Consult includes three types of services depending on your needs:
Professionally managed deployments– that's what The GEMA delivers. We ensure that your resource -intensive device configurations, migrations and logistics are handled without stressing your internal IT resources. Our state of the art facilities and processes enable us to offer the capacity to procure, provision and deploy devices globally with speed and precision.
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Manage services take significant demand off your IT plate, while ensuring your assets are maintained according to corporate specifications and policies. You'll have around the clock resource and security monitoring, while we ensure your mobile operations are at the forefront of technology updates. No doubt, top-level infrastructure support while lowering overall mobility costs and overhead is a compelling proposition for organizations of all sizes.
As mobility becomes more sophisticated, end user expectations look more like that of a consumer. User support has become more complex, tedious and mission critical. Most users just expect mobile to work. Most IT organizations are not equipped to provide the level of expected user support around the clock. With Assist, you can pass the burden on to us. Our 24/7 global, technical support provides the best user experience in the industry with a 98% first-contact resolution rate.
We support mobile apps, carrier issues, usage questions, device failures, policy compliance and more. Backed by our Encompass technology platform, our highly trained support team is armed with the insights at the point-of-action in order to solve problems fast – typically on the first call. Our team can help your mobile workforce no matter the device, software or mobile platform. This level of capability and responsiveness ensures user connectivity and keeps productivity going.


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Inside Insight
As we head into 2018, ethanol producers have plenty to think about and likely have predictions for how the year will play out. This month, Ethanol Producer Magazine rounded up a few experts to discuss five main industry topics: exports, policy, technology, production and finance. They look ahead, compare 2018 with 2017 and provide a roadmap for the new year. Here's what they have to say.
Thomas Sleight
President and CEO
U.S. Grains Council
Q. What are the most promising export markets for ethanol producers in 2018, and how do they differ from 2017's top prospects?
A. Our ethanol export market development program is truly global, with the chief difference between 2017 and 2018 being the broadening scope of activities across more markets as we build partnerships with countries developing their own ethanol policies. That said, we have a priority list that currently includes markets with major potential and, sometimes, major challenges: Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan and Mexico. The commonality among these players is shifting policies with regard to biofuel mandates and a need for information and policy development related to the role trade plays in meeting those mandates in tandem with local production.
Q. Why do these markets hold promise and what is being done to develop them?
A. Our partner markets are generally countries looking to enhance their use of biofuels to meet policy goals that include greenhouse gas emissions reductions to achieve Paris Agreement commitments (Canada, Brazil and Japan) or countries with large and growing populations and serious air quality issues also seeking to boost rural economic benefits (Mexico, China and India). Like with our corn and DDGS market development work, each country has its own plan of action, including a mix of technical assistance, bringing trade teams to the U.S. for tours of our own industry's set-up, and working directly with policy makers, industry, local media and others. While ethanol market development is more policy focused than grains market development, the same principles apply.
Q. The ethanol industry saw changes to some major markets (China and Brazil) in 2017 because of new tariffs. Is there any talk of similar moves in other major export destinations for this year?
A. The policy landscape for ethanol exports is dynamic in ways that both enhance and hinder our efforts to build demand globally. China and Brazil both presented unexpected challenges to existing markets. We are actively and creatively working on both of these issues with our industry partners, our own government and with those in these countries who recognize the important role imports have in meeting national mandates. We know from experience that this work requires extreme diligence in following potential policy-based threats as part of larger strategies customized for the needs and conditions of each individual potential export partner. At the same time, we are expanding our activities into new markets to head off changes in policy that restrict market access.
Q. Are there any expected changes to transportation infrastructure that could impact, positively or negatively, export markets or access to them?
A. Increasing ethanol exports from the U.S. will require strong infrastructure in both our own supply chain and at destination locations. We know from promoting grains for more than 60 years that well-functioning infrastructure—fast, reliable, maintains quality of the product—is critical to meeting our customers' expectations and keeping them buying from us. The U.S. industry sees exports as the future growth opportunity and is making investments accordingly. We also work with our domestic partners to ensure the ethanol industry's needs make it into the federal prioritization process. Like building demand, improving infrastructure requires intensive planning and long-term engagement.
Bob Dinneen
President, CEO
Renewable Fuels Association
Q. What would you consider the biggest federal policy wins of 2017, and why? What do they mean going into 2018?
A. Without a doubt, the biggest policy wins included EPA finalizing the 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard renewable volume obligations on time and maintaining the statutory 15 billion-gallon requirement for conventional renewable fuels like corn ethanol. Maintaining the 15 billion-gallon conventional biofuel requirement will accelerate investments in the infrastructure necessary to distribute mid-level ethanol blends like E15 and E30, and flex fuels like E85. For 2018, that means EPA continues to help promote and support the domestic biofuels industry.
Q. What were the largest federal policy challenges or disappointments of 2017, and why? What can be done to mitigate their negative effects?
A. Among the continued disappointments is that consumers are still being denied year-round access to E15. Due to an outdated EPA regulation, retail gas stations are essentially prohibited from selling E15 in more than two-thirds of the nation's gasoline market during the summer ozone-control season, from June 1 to Sept. 15. EPA's nonsensical and disparate Reid vapor pressure regulation of allowing E10, but not E15, during the summer months offers no consumer or environmental benefit whatsoever. Whether through legislative or administrative action, securing equal RVP treatment for all ethanol blends remains our top priority.
Q. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt says he has directed the EPA to explore whether it has the legal authority to issue a nationwide Reid vapor pressure waiver for E15. Do you think this signals meaningful progress toward a waiver in 2018? Why or why not?
A. Yes. Again, EPA has the authority to extend RVP parity with E15. We want to make sure all consumers have access to E15, whether it's February, July or December. Nearly 90 percent of new 2018 model year vehicles are explicitly approved by the manufacturer to use E15 and likewise, more than 90 percent of the vehicles on the road were built in 2001 or later, meaning they are legally approved by EPA to use E15. We want to ensure year-round consumer access to E15.
Q. What other far-reaching changes could be implemented in 2018?
A. Another high-priority issue for RFA in 2018 is to ensure there is free trade of ethanol around the world, ending nonsensical tariff and nontariff barriers to trade, such as those imposed by China and Brazil, and continuing to grow the production and use of conventional and cellulosic biofuels. Ethanol provides tremendous economic, environmental and energy-security benefits and we want consumers around the globe to have access to the lowest-cost, cleanest and highest-octane fuel. Additionally, we will continue to push for higher-level ethanol blends as auto manufacturers move toward higher-octane fuels. A high-octane, low-carbon ethanol blend in optimized engines would be the lowest-cost means of achieving compliance with fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards in the future.
Q. What are RFA's biggest federal policy goals for 2018?
A. Maintaining a strong RFS, ensuring year-round access to E15, growth of high-octane, mid-level ethanol blends to meet future fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards, and growing production and use of conventional and cellulosic biofuels.
Matt Haakenstad
Vice President of Advisory Services
Kinect Energy Group
Q. What technologies were ethanol plants most interested in in 2017?
A. • Combined-heat-and-power (CHP) technologies. Conventional CHP inquiries increased due to increasing electric costs combined with concerns about electric reliability. Plants also have an interest in reducing emissions and reducing the cost of compliance, and this has driven interest in exploring emerging CHP technologies with the potential for reduced emissions.
• Renewable energy projects, including solar and wind. Solar received the most inquiries due to continued price declines improving project economics.
Q. What drove those investments, and did they work?
A. Boosting plant efficiency is high priority for plants that have been operating for five to 10 years, or more. There are opportunities to replace aging equipment and potentially remove constraints with more efficient technologies, at an acceptable return on investment.
Lowering emissions is also a driver, especially for plants that are using the Efficient Producer petition process to increase volumes that can generate renewable identification numbers (RINs).
Reducing operating cost is a priority for plants—and, indeed, many of the renewable energy or CHP projects being considered reduce costs.
Q. Financial advisers often suggest diversification. What are some of the common ways ethanol plants are doing that through new technologies?
A. Onsite power generation can be a diversification play, in addition to being an economic or financial investment. Diversity of electric supply means beyond the grid—whether from solar, wind, or natural gas-fired CHP. Many plants are now considering microgrids for at least a portion of their electric load in order to avoid a catastrophic loss of production due to a power outage. A microgrid permits the plant to "island" all or a portion of its process loads, to help protect and insulate it from disturbances on the power grid due to weather events, maintenance issues or other external factors.
Q. What do you expect will be the driving force behind technology investments on the part of ethanol plants in 2018?
A. Key technology investment drivers will likely include:
• Cost reduction: Plants are paying increased attention to the bottom line as the industry has matured and become more cost competitive.
• Resiliency: Facilities are taking steps to be able to stay online even when the grid is down, through some form of onsite power production.
• Value maximization: Plants are exploring ways to increase the value of their ethanol product, through improved efficiency and lower carbon intensity (CI). Lower CI lets plants produce RINs for volumes above the grandfathered level.
• Increased production: Many plants are seeking capital-efficient ways to produce more ethanol. CHP, in particular, is a potential vehicle.
Q. What kinds of new technologies are being developed that you think could be widely used this year?
A. Renewable energy technologies are advancing at a phenomenal pace, especially for solar energy systems. Not only are costs dropping rapidly, but panel power density is improving each year, resulting in less acreage and capital needed for the same watt output per square foot.
Battery costs are also falling precipitously, providing plants with the option to make greater use of renewable energy generated from solar or wind.
Finally, some plants are investigating in emerging CHP technologies to help destroy volatile organic compound emissions much more efficiently than through the classic approach of thermal oxidation.
Ron Alverson
Board Member, Dakota Ethanol LLC
Chairman of the Board, American Coalition for Ethanol
Q. What was the biggest challenge producers faced in 2017, and what do you anticipate could be the biggest challenge of 2018?
A. Ethanol producers enjoyed low-cost corn in 2017, but ethanol sales prices were also low. Compared to many preceding years, the volatility of input costs and selling values were very low, resulting in steady but modest net income per month.
Looking forward to 2018, corn supplies look to be low priced again and other input costs look to be flat. 2017 is on track to set a new record for ethanol exports, and we are cautiously optimistic that China may provide new ethanol export opportunities in the coming years. However, the Brazilian tariff on ethanol imports is a great concern and may negatively impact ethanol demand.
Q. What were some of the main strategies producers implemented to increase efficiency or revenues in 2017? Will those strategies change at all in 2018?
A. Ethanol companies have always strived to increase efficiency, and 2017 was no different. Several new production technologies that improve efficiency have been developed that reduce energy, enzyme, yeast, and other chemical use at plants, improve yields and result in new coproducts. Corn that grows its own enzymes (Enogen), dry fractionation, cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber (ACE), and energy use efficiency (municipal-solid-waste energy recovery) are examples. These efficiency improvements are incentivized in part by the California LCFS and Federal RFS provisions that reward producers for lowering carbon intensity. I don't see any of this slowing or changing in 2018.
Q. What efforts can be taken by producers and trade organizations to help increase demand for ethanol, further grow domestic markets and encourage higher blends?
A. Each trade organization has and will continue to make unique contributions to those efforts. Programs and private businesses that install blender pumps deserve much support. These are critical infrastructure investments that have to be made.
On the political side, work with the EPA on RFS issues are ongoing. We also continue to work with low-carbon fuel market administrators in California and Oregon to ensure that corn ethanol has a fit in their transportation fuel greenhouse gas reduction programs.
Q. Is Dakota Ethanol planning any expansions or diversifications? If so, what are those plans?
A. At Dakota Ethanol, as is the case in most ethanol plants, debottlenecking, efficiency and new energy-reduction technologies are almost constantly being evaluated and deployed. Several plans are being evaluated currently at Dakota Ethanol, but it's too soon to say if they will be feasible.
Q. What are the main goals ACE will work toward for the ethanol industry in 2018?
A. Efforts to educate potential ethanol fuel blenders and retailers are a priority. Ethanol exports have rapidly increased the past few years, so efforts in this area are ramping up. On the regulatory side, we continue to push for Reid vapor pressure relief, and defend the RFS legislation. And because ethanol fuel has unique attributes (low life-cycle GHGs, high octane and oxygen content) that provide transportation sector GHG and toxic emission reductions, we actively support strong federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, low carbon fuel programs, and other transportation fuel emission reduction efforts.
John Christianson
Managing Partner
Christianson PLLP
Q. Overall, how were margins for ethanol producers in 2017? What are your predictions for 2018?
A. Margins in 2017 were comparable to those seen in the two previous years. EBITDA (average earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) is down about 4 cents per production gallon over 2016, but is virtually identical to the 2015 average. The most profitable 25 percent of plants in our survey reached over 20 cents per gallon, and even the least profitable 25 percent were able to deliver some earnings on average. The marketplace has concerns about overproduction for 2018, creating some downward pressure on prices. We are optimistic that continued interest from the global market, and increased availability of higher-blend products like E15, will help keep margins relatively stable in the year ahead.
Q. In general, was a lot of debt paid off in 2017? Will 2018 allow more debt payment and why/why not?
A. About a quarter of plants have held essentially no long-term debt for the past several years. 2017 held to this pattern, with even more plants able to completely pay off debt obligations. On average, long-term liabilities for an average ethanol plant were about 13 cents per production gallon in 2017, a number that has decreased steadily over the past few years. Even plants with substantially higher debt levels were able to pay them down in 2017. If margins hold steady as expected in 2018, debt repayment will likely continue at a similar pace. But some plants are opting to make investments or dividends a priority over further debt reduction.
Q. What types of projects are ethanol plants investing in (bolt-on coproduct systems, efficiency improvements, emissions control, debottlenecking, etc.)? Why?
A. While we're still seeing projects that focus on production increases and debottlenecking, we're starting to see increased investment in value-added coproducts to diversify revenue streams. Energy efficiency investments are also on the rise, as plants seek to reduce cost and the carbon impact. And many plants are approaching or beyond the 10-year age mark, so they are starting to look at replacing large capex items.
Q. How can smaller plants stay competitive?
A. Identifying their more meaningful advantage—low corn prices, superior logistics or quality operations teams—will help. Openness to innovation is another way a small plant can stay competitive—new technology always involves risk, but there is no question that new processes, enzymes or technologies can pay off bigger for early adopters. Some successful smaller plants are also finding that local initiatives such as E30 campaigns, or partnerships with fuel stations to place and brand more E15 pumps, are meeting with success.
Q. Do you foresee any changes to financing programs of use to ethanol producers, or any completely new programs in 2018?
A. Program funding through the USDA and DOE are always in question during budget cycles. Most of the programs are focused to provide an incentive to improve energy efficiency, plant efficiency, and plant production. Two common federal grant programs include the Value Added Producer Grant and the Rural Energy for America Program, and each state offers unique funding sources, as well.
Q. What tips do you have for producers to get through the up and down cycles the ethanol industry faces?
A. First, focus on feedstock: good relationships with elevators and farmers are critical. Make sure storage is adequate. Next, hire the best managers and operators you can find, and make sure you keep them. Finally, maintaining excellent communication between the board and investors is critical, during up cycles and down cycles.
Author: Lisa Gibson
Managing Editor, Ethanol Producer Magazine


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|Blooming in the Cacti Patch
How discouraging at times when, after years since that healing, I slip back into a negative pattern. It begins with thoughts like, "How stupid can I be," and "Me and my big mouth messed up again, or "I can't do anything right."
Jesus is our example. He counteracted temptation with God's Word, so yesterday, I began quoting such things as:
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works. Psalm 139:14 NKJV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
|Blooming in the Valley
My hubby and I and good friends took our travel trailers to the Texas hill country this month. The bluebonnets were prettier than I'd seen them in many years. Because of this, I was reminded today of a quote I heard somewhere.
"Bloom wherever you're planted."
|Blooming by the Roadside
Where are you planted at this moment?
By the roadside?
In the cacti patch?
In the valley?
A sweet online friend, Gail Kittleson, uses a tagline for her writing that I love.
Dare to Bloom
Just as God planted these bluebonnets in unlikely places along a lonely road, God in us makes something beautiful.
Are you blooming where God has placed you right now? I'm working on it.


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Don't Just Slam Dunk Your Junk!
For the last three years Recycle Week has been taking place to encourage us all to not just Slam Dunk our Junk but to consider its alternative use. Psychology indicates that given our complex relationship between beliefs, attitudes and behaviour, customers will come to believe in the issue shortly after they realise they're already embodying sustainable behaviour with their consumption and waste disposal habits. It is the job of Waste Management companies like RTS Waste to bring help about constructive change, then they may have to lead the way in deciding how responsible we ALL can be.
Recycle Week 2013 is due to begin June 17, is set to turn its focus to 'recycling at home and away' in 2013, with emphasis on recycling packaging, metals, plastics, textiles and food waste collections.
Ethical Choices to Reduce Waste at Source
Progress has been made over the last three years that this campaign has been running. Dealing with waste and recycling properly not only makes environmental sense but also good business sense. The public and businesses have made great strides in recycling and over the next decade we can look forward to doing much more to reduce waste in the first place. The source of waste issues still lies very much with the production, manufacturers and distributors with packaging that could and should be more environmentally friendly. Do we honestly consciously analyse a purchase decision on researching the manufacturing process of certain goods. NO, of course not, it is far too onerous on our time, we believe in trusting the brands we buy from. Some of use like to take into account local sourcing or social values of brand appeal. The promotion of Recycle Week is to push the attention to everyone globally that there is a risk if the waste is not reduced at source.
Buffet the Storm of Negative Influence
Reusing and Recycling products and materials will also open up new avenues for UK Business in growing domestic and export markets. The UK Recycling sector now generates more than £13 million a year in sales or recycled materials, employs more than 40,000 people and contributes around £3 billion of additional value each year to the UK Economy. Whilst Waste Management companies buffet the storm of negative influences as reported by University of Southampton on 14th May 2013 "Public opinion of waste management facilities can influence where sites are located and how waste management services are delivered. Obtaining the support of communities around municipal solid waste (MSW) facilities is an important part of the successful operation of these services"
Visit Us During Recycle Week
As part of Recycle Week 2013 RTS Waste would like to invite the local communities to visit our Waste Transfer Station in Dartford Kent to enlighten and increase knowledge of how waste is treated; reused and recycled materials collected. Learn more about our Material Recovery Facility (MRF). Please make an appointment in advance by calling 0207 232 1711


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EVENT DATE: Thursday 23 November 2017
Poetry@Chrissy Hills is a bi-monthly poetry event where local and non local poets share their poems in a friendly, non-threatening environment. There is a featured reader and open mic. We don't take ourselves too seriously, though we value the role creativity plays in our lives. It's a night of ideas, poetry and fun. Sometimes we have music provided by local musicians. This is the last poetry event for 2017.
Date: Thursday 23 November 2017
Venue: Christmas Hills Mechanics' Institute Hall
Address: 787 Ridge Road, Christmas Hills
Time: 7.30 – 9.30pm
Entry: $5
The Christmas Hills Mechanics' Institute Hall first built in the 1877. In 1984 the hall was redeveloped by the local community, students from Box Hill TAFE and the Shire of Healesville. In 2013, with money from the bushfire appeal after the devastating Black Saturday Bushfires, a further redevelopment was project managed by the Hall Committee. The hall is in a pleasant rural setting and is often used as a wedding venue. It is a focus for local events and is also home to the Christmas Hills Orchestral Players (CHOPS) where they rehearse and perform concerts. The Christmas Hills Mechanics' Institute Hall is the cultural capital of the universe!


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You're Invited!
In collaboration with the Valley Air District, Valley CAN is holding a Tune In & Tune Up smog repair event in Turlock on Saturday, April 9th at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds. As a valued member of the community, we wanted to extend you a special invitation.
Your office/organization is welcome to host a booth at the event, which is a great way to meet some of the 500 families, mainly low-income residents of disadvantaged communities, who have come to the event seeking help with a variety of issues.
Info about the Free "Tune In & Tune Up" Smog Repair Event
Tune In & Tune Up is an award-winning vehicle emissions reduction program that helps repair the older, out-of-tune vehicles that are a major impact on air quality throughout the San Joaquin Valley. At Tune In & Tune Up events, Valley drivers who have had their car for at least six months receive a free vehicle emissions test. If the vehicle doesn't pass the test, the driver receives a voucher for up to $850 in emission-related testing and repairs at a participating STAR-certified smog check station. Vehicles 1999 or older may also be eligible for up to $9,500 for a down payment on a newer, cleaner car. In addition to the emissions testing, there will be local community booths as well as free food and beverages starting at 8 a.m. while supplies last.
There will also be a vehicle test driving station hosted by Charge Across Town. Residents can get behind the wheel of hybrid electric vehicles and go for a test drive! Vehicles will be provided by Rose Motor Cars.
San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District serves eight counties including San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and the valley portion of Kern. For assistance with any air quality issue, contact the nearest District office in Modesto at (209) 557-6440, Fresno at (559) 230-6000 or Bakersfield at (661) 326-6900, or visit www.valleyair.org. Valley Clean Air Now (Valley CAN) is a non-profit organization committed to improving air quality in communities throughout California's San Joaquin Valley. For future Tune In & Tune Up event information visit valleycan.org or call 1-800-806-2004.
The Valley CAN Staff will perform an emissions test on the first 525 cars that attend the event. Cars that fail emissions testing will be given a voucher for $500 in free repairs!
Vehicles that are 1999 or older and fail emissions can be retired and replaced with a newer, cleaner car. Residents can get an incentive check for up to $9,500 for their down payment.


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About REST : An introduction to REST
Hypermedia is not constrained to be text-based. It can include other media, e.g., graphics, images, and especially the continuous media - sound and video.
Ted Nelson used these terms in 1965.
How hypermedia works
Information is distributed into units, called nodes. Nodes can contain text, graphics, videos, and sound. One unit per window is displayed. Units are linked by links. Clients navigate hypermedia database by selecting links and traverse from one unit to another. In shared hypermedia systems, multiple users may simultaneously access the hypermedia database. Shared systems may be implemented as distributed systems, in which portions of the database are distributed across multiple workstations and file servers on a network.
Below is an example of documents distributed across network and linked to each other -
We can also say hypermedia is a way to transition from one Web page to another.
The use of hypermedia controls, or links, to enable the identification of forward paths in our exploration of the information space is called structural hypermedia.
Information is loaded as lazily as possible, and the user is encouraged to browse pages – traverse a hypermedia structure – to access information. Breaking information into hypermedia-linked structures decreases the load on a service by reducing the amount of data that has to be served. Instead of downloading the entire information model, the application transfers only the parts pertinent to the user. Not only does this laziness reduce the load on Web servers, the partitioning of data across pages on the Web allows the network infrastructure itself to cache information.
Structured Hypermedia
A hypermedia system is characterized by participants transferring resource representations that contain links according to an application protocol. Links advertise other resources participating in the application protocol. Links are often enhanced with semantic markup to give domain-specific meanings to the resources they identify. For example, in a consumer-service interaction, the consumer submits an initial request to the entry point of the service. The service handles the request and responds with a resource representation populated with links. The consumer chooses one of these links and interacts with the resource identified by the link in order to transition to the next step in the
interaction, whereupon the process repeats. Over the course of several such interactions, the consumer progresses towards its goal. In other words, the distributed application's state changes.
Resource Representation
Transformation of application state is the result of the systemic behavior of the whole: the service, the consumer, the exchange of hypermedia–friendly resource representations, and the acts of advertising and selecting links. Access to a resource is always mediated by way of its representations.Resource representation is a view of resource's state at an instant in time encoded in one or more transferable formats like xhtml, xml, atom, json, etc. Access to a resource is always mediated by way of its representations. That is, Web services exchange representations of their resources with consumers. They never provide access to the actual state of the underlying resources directly – the Web does not support pointers! URIs are used to relate, connect, and associate representations with their resources on the Web.
Distributed Hypermedia & REST-
REST was described in the Roy Thomas Fielding's PhD dissertation "Architectural Styles and the Design of Network-based Software Architectures".
Fielding also coined the phrase ―Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State - to describe a core tenet of the REST architectural style
He mentioned -"Hypermedia is defined by the presence of application control information embedded within, or as a layer above, the presentation of information. Distributed hypermedia allows the presentation and control information to be stored at remote locations. By its nature, user actions within a distributed hypermedia system require the transfer of large amounts of data from where the data is stored to where it is used. Thus, the Web architecture must be designed for large-grain data transfer.
The usability of hypermedia interaction is highly sensitive to user-perceived latency: the time between selecting a link and the rendering of a usable result. Since the Web's information sources are distributed across the global Internet, the architecture needs to minimize network interactions (round-trips within the data transfer protocols).".
Roy Fielding mentioned, there are two ways to design or start on application -
more than one process provide the same service)
$ - cache (replication of the result of an individual request such that it may be reused by later requests)
U - uniform
CS - client server
LS - layered system
VM - virtual machine
COD - code on demand
LCS - layered client server
CSS - client stateless server
C$SS - client cache stateless server
LC$SS - layered client cache stateless server
LCODC$SS - layered code on demand client cache stateless server
Above figure by Roy Fielding shows how REST architecture style is derived from several architecture style.
If it's too complex, below is the simple one from book - "REST: From Research to Practice"
1. Client - server : Client initiates the request and server responds
2. Statelessness : Server should not be responsible for remembering every client, Server should be able to forget a client instantly
3. Caching : If every client has to cpeak directly to the server everytime then they wont be able to scale.
4. Uniform interface : Everyone on the web has to use exact same API
5. Layered System : We can add or remove hardware anytime without any downtime. The Web has to up 24/7, it has to be ready to grow along the way. We can hardware even after 10 years
6. Code-on-demand : We send the code to the client and let code run on client. Originally this idea was applied to Applets, ActiveX but now more common is JavaScript.
WHAT is REST
What are components? We can identify lots of components: databases; file systems; message queues; transaction-manager tools; all your source code. These are components.
Fielding wanted to constrain the way things connect to each other, not the way they(components) operate.
components. I dont care what database you use, how often you change, and how it works.
What are Connectors? Connectors include Web servers, browser agents like your typical browser, proxy servers, caching servers, etc.. These connectors are the things that understand how that one API works. And, on the Web, that one API is most often the HTTP protocol.
When we build application, we dont build connector, we use them. We decide on what programming language to use, and language has HTTP connectors and caching connectors in libraries.
While creating application, how do I make connector model work, i.e. generic connectors - I use Uniform Interface
I was reading the REST magazine from InfoQ, and they have explained REST in simple terms and also explained the Roy Fielding's paper in simple.
What we have understood till and what we can say is REST is about maximizing the full potential of web, and it starts with -
Give everything an ID - yes like Amazon has to give an ID to every product they sell. Now according to REST id should be URI, so that we have consistent scheme and no one comes up his or her own naming scheme. Thing is a resource but can be far more abstract - a database entry like order item or combination of database items like order (multiple order items form one order). Optionally URI's should be human readable.
Links things together - HATEOAS - A link can follow more links - Client calls link to obtain resource and also more links to obtain more information. Server (or service provider) provides a set of links to the client (the service consumer) enables the client to move the application from one state to the next by following a link.
Use standard methods - We type URI in browser and browser knows what to do with it, and so every resource should share same interface and same methods (operations) : GET, POST, PUT, HEAD, etc. In Java terms we can assume that every resource extends a Resource interface, and same interface is used by every resource -
In REST, we have to come up with generic interface and don't provide different set of operations for different set of resources like OrderService with createOrder operation AND CustomerService with addCustomer operation, instead it should be like -
So fix set of operations but indeed universe of resources (sadly).
Resource with multiple representations - how does client how to deal with data it receives ? Simple solution is the client asks for a representation in particular format -
Communicate Statelessly - Server should not maintain communication state. Obvious reason is scalability - number of clients interacting will seriously impact server footprint. Statelessness also means two requests from same client can land to two different servers.


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Lifeguard training offered at OCCC
Students wanting to receive lifeguard training now have the opportunity to do so. The OCCC Aquatic Center is offering Lifeguard Training classes from Nov. 29 through Dec. 8.
The training class will take place from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Thursday and Fridays and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. There is a $130 registration fee for the class.
Health and Fitness Specialist Carole Valentine said lifeguard training teaches the certification needed to be a pool lifeguard in Oklahoma and most other states.
Participants will learn the skills and knowledge needed to prevent and respond to aquatic emergencies. The course also will include first aid and CPR for the professional rescuer.
Valentine said she is confident the training certification will apply to most.
"This course will certify pretty much anywhere," Valentine said. "The YMCA has their own training but we use the Red Cross lifeguard training which most use."
Valentine said the main prerequisites of the training is to be 15 years old and pass a swimming skills test. The training skills test includes a 300- yard continuous swim, swimming to the bottom of the pool to recover a brick in under a minute and 40 seconds, and treading water without the use of hands.
Students can register for the course, visit the Recreation and Fitness desk in the Wellness Center, or visit www. occc.edu/rf to register as well, Valentine said.
Psychology major Eriq Robertson said he is excited about the training course and believes it is a good development program.
"Honestly, I didn't even know about it before but I think it is a good idea for people to apply for the class," Robertson said. "If you are somebody like me who is looking for a second job, lifeguarding at OCCC could be a possibility."
Valentine said she welcomes those who have or are willing to take the lifeguard training course to apply for job opportunities at the Aquatic Center.
"We are always looking for lifeguards, so if anyone is interested, they can go to the OCCC jobs website and apply there," she said.
For more information, contact Recreation and Fitness at 405-682-7860.
To contact Brandon Willis, email email@example.com.