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One shipping container has two speakers and an "all in one" SACD/receiver combo unit. The receiver has an extra PC board that adds network capabilities and Internet radio, iPod connectivity, the ability to read audio data from a USB stick, and satellite radio connectivity (Sirius and XM). As with all equipment of this type, it is best to get a money-back guarantee with no restocking fee from the vendor to ensure the unit works with your hardware and software before committing to it.
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Combined receiver and Super Audio CD with inputs for the Internet connection, USB, iPod, and Satellite radio (XC-Z9)
Elite product line: $1799 complete system
Music sources:
From the user manual: "Some formats are not available for playback although they may be listed as playable file formats, Also the compatibility of file formats varies on the type of server." For complete information on extensions, stream types sampling rate, quantization, bit-rate and VBR and CBR support, see the instruction manual. The manual also covers potential playback behavior problems over the network and troubleshooting network problems.
Pioneer Electronics X-Z9 official web page
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XC-Z9 Single Box Electronics
The XC-79 has a high-tech look with touch controls for the SACD player on the top of the unit. A nicely finished metal top covers the rest of the unit. High-quality plastic replaces what formerly were wood side panels on Pioneer's flagship Elite units. High-efficiency amplifier and power supplies obviate the need for vent holes around the unit, with the sole exception of one at the bottom of the right panel to vent the power supply's fan. For those who enjoy tinkering, I caution you not to take the unit apart without the service manual, lest you find yourself unscrewing PC boards and breaking plastic clamps on the side panels.
The X-Z9 might be the ultimate executive stereo system, a sentiment not lost on the Japanese website, which dutifully portrays this application. The Japanese site holds far more information on the unit than other countries' websites. There's no English to be found, though, on the Japanese site. I got by with the instruction manual, the service manual, and the Babel Fish Translation program of the Japanese website. Unfortunately, Babel Fish only translates text characters at a rudimentary level. Much of the Japanese web- site has characters that cannot be read as text, which is the only thing Babel Fish can translate; I was able to translate only about half the pages. Many times the exercise left more questions than answers.
Skipping the networking functions for the moment, the key feature is the all- digital path from the SACD/CD player direct to the one-bit digital switching amplifier, which functions as the digital- to-analog converter in the signal chain. Op amps, bypass capacitors, switches, and potentiometers in the signal path are all gone. Hurray! Not only is the signal path cleaner (assuming the DSP code is done correctly), but it is also more reliable than most two-channel equipment.
Traditionally, mechanical switches and potentiometers are at the bottom of the reliability league tables for audio electronics, although these won't take the unit down like a problem in the power supply. Mechanical controls and switches have long been banished from AV receivers, where CMOS switches have replaced them. Lower down on the evolutionary chain, most two-channel units, however, still have them.
Any control knob on stereo equipment with physical stopping points is routing your audio signal through metal touching carbon. In contrast, the rotational sensors common to AV receivers and used on the XC-Z9 only convey information to a microprocessor.
Tone and balance controls on two- channel equipment have stops and are potentiometers. Beyond reliability, you pay in channel separation and tracking errors between channels. Ugh! AV receivers use digital cables (S/PDIF and HDMI) to connect or source to the receiver, putting stereo equipment in the Dark Ages given the analog connection from the SACD player to the receiver:
The DAC in the SACD player box connects via cable to the analog input of the stereo receiver. Analog electronics must drive the cable in the SACD player, mute the output on, turn on and turn off, and protect the electronics from damage were someone to mistakenly connect a line output from the receiver to the SACD player's output. At the input of the receiver, it is necessary to buffer and protect. While cables are transparent, dirty plugs and jacks can degrade signals.
To determine how the unit sounds with respect to the digital path (excluding the analog switching electronics that drive the speaker), I sourced signal out of the headphone jack (which has its analog signal derived from the same one-bit switched signal that drives the speaker's power amp) and connected it into my $6000 NHT Xd DSP active loudspeakers. I heard no difference compared to my reference electronics.
The analog electronics in the power amp for converting the one-bit switched signal into analog are a different kettle of fish. The XC-Z9 electronics are designed to drive the S-Z9 speakers. That gives the designers knowledge of the speaker load, and the power needed to drive the speakers to their limits. The 4 S-Z9 speakers allow for maximum power transfer from an amplifier with the low power supply voltage rail of 21V used in the XC-Z9. The output of the XC-Z9 electronics is balanced, so the peak-to- peak voltage across the speaker terminal is 42V, ignoring losses in the switching transistors. Assuming a 2V loss in the switching transistors, the XC-Z9 would deliver 45W average power.
Pioneer specs the unit at 40W at 1% THD. The power transistors and drivers can handle a larger supply voltage and produce more power, but thermal is sues in the power supply and the power amp—when placed in a small enclosed area with only a tiny fan—limit the maxi mum power supply voltage. The power supply would grow in size were the sup ply rails to increase, as the power supply would be required to sink more current as the voltage at the speaker terminals increases. The incumbent fits snugly in the box. Clearly this is an element where the aesthetics of the XC-Z9 took priority to maintain the box's compactness and hide the ventilation.
The limits on the maximum power the speaker can handle also come into play. The S-Z9 speaker has been tuned to 45Hz despite its 5" woofer. I could easily drive the speaker to 20% distortion at 50Hz without clipping the amp in the XC-Z9. I heard lots of port noise as well. Hoffman's (the H in KLH) iron law states that if you want low bass in a small box, you pay with an inefficient design. The little 5" driver can handle only so much. Above 150Hz the amp places the limit on the SPL.
Because the power amplifier is a switching amp, all sorts of design issues limit distortion performance. For the XC-Z9 THD at full power, Pioneer specs it at 1% from 20Hz - 20kHz. Because the XC-Z9 is customized for the S-Z9 speaker, I did not audition the XC-Z9 with other speakers. With an estimated 20W into 8 you would not need double-blind conditions to hear trouble approaching. Even if power levels were un constrained, the mismatch of the internal passive analog output filter (required to prevent the digital switching noise from exceeding FCC limits when connected to the speaker cable, which would act like an antenna) into an 8 load would result in a rising frequency response at high frequencies. This is a problem with all switching power amps that lack feed back around the output stage.
A class D amplifier from D2Audio (not used in the XC-Z9) actually does a pre calibration, measuring the frequency response at the output terminal and correcting the errors in its DSP engine. Hence, I have unlocked the justification for squeezing the XC-Z9 and the S-Z9 into the same box: impedance matching.
Switching to ergonomics, there is no need to fret about universal remote controls with all the electronics in one box. Do not lose the remote, which has over 50 buttons (all but one the same color and most the same size and shape). All you can control from the front panel is the SACD player and switching the inputs.
As a stereo unit, there is no television to display complex graphic user interfaces. To display the information needed for such complex functions as Internet or satellite radio, Pioneer has co-opted the display technology from its automotive division and supplied a Full Dot White OEL (Organic Electroluminescence) design. The design is so well structured you can get more information out of it than from the high-tech GUI of an expensive AVR on your TV screen. For instance, with XM satellite radio, you get the channel number, channel name, what the piece is, and who's playing. Classical music information is limited, but I think that may be a function of XM.
A button click on the remote shows the signal strength of both the satellite and terrestrial feeds. Now you can orient the satellite radio antenna correctly. I did not have a Sirius radio front end, so I do not know what is displayed when using that service.
Strangely, the title and track information for a CD or SACD are not displayed. I thought I had the unit in some special display mode, but I found no way to get out of it. Maddeningly, the instruction manual has not a single picture of the front panel display. This sometimes leaves one to self-discovery by hunt and peck on the remote control and watching the display, even though most key press sequences are discussed in the text. Given the complexity of this unit and its $ 1000+ price, a 45-page instruction book with minimal graphics is unacceptable.
The networking functions in the Yamaha 2700 networked AV receiver I tested a couple of years ago consumed lots of ICs, board space, and money. Pioneer takes advantage of the next-generation Bridge Co DM85OE Media Networking Processor and its associated software. On board are a media processor, an ARM microprocessor, Ethernet Media Access Controller, memory controller, USB2 interface, digital audio interface, and something called a Security Engine. The missing elements are some FLASH ROM, an SRAM, and an Ethernet chip that does the processing to interface the Ethernet cable to the Media Access Controller on the Bridge company chip. The hardware would be useless without the software and firmware supplied by Bridge. Some of the Bridge software can interface DM85OE with the iPod.
One worry here is technical support from Pioneer. Suppose the roadblock is the Bridge code when interfacing your peripherals to the XC-Z9. You can envision much hand-wringing as the tech support person at Pioneer blames your peripherals when the problem is deep inside the networking card. That said, I had no need to call tech support.
I had no problem getting the Ethernet to attach to my simple network running the Internet radio. I must be the only person in the country without an iPod (compressed audio over cheap headphones is not my thing), so I have no idea how well the digital interface works. Because many different iPods exist, definitely test your iPod functionality at the store with the unit. Also bring along a USB drive to make sure the XC-Z9 reads your data. (As an aside, the iPod audio is transferred as an analog signal to the XC-79. The bridge chip only interfaces to the digital control signals of the iPod. Some recent products bring iPod audio in digitally, but it is not clear whether Apple supports the feature.)
You cannot test how well your computer's hard drive networks to the XC-Z9 to download music files in a store, which is why you need to have plan B in your back pocket to return the unit. I did not test the download functionality because I do not have any music files on my computer. Can you imagine how much room on your computer it would take to store the complete works of Mozart as an uncompressed file? With so many classical uncompressed CDs free of digital rights management at Berkshire Record Outlet priced equivalently close to a download, I am hard-pressed to find a reason to start downloading. I'm interested to learn how many readers (not your children) are downloading files to a computer.
The Internet radio uses the Vtuner server. The Vtuner website describes what is streamed. Navigation with the high- resolution display of the S-Z9 is a breeze within the limitations of the six-button navigation system on the remote control (up, down, left, right, enter, return) and Vtuner's configuration of the stations.
The analog tuner is a simple design. Good tuners in automobile front-ends and table radios with HD radio digital signal processing receivers will pick up many more stations cleanly. That said, the XC-Z9 was more sensitive than tuners I have tested in AVRs with price tags above $2000 (in general, the same tuner module that goes in the $200 AVR goes in the $4000 one). I connected a big indoor antenna with directional control (AudioPrism 8100) and found more stations coming in cleanly than I would have expected. You can force mono but cannot defeat the stereo blend function. I suspect the blend may be aggressive, which accounts for the low background noise on what I think are signals with marginal levels going into the tuner.
Despite the high-tech display, there is no signal strength indicator for FM. A little antenna does appear with three curved bars around it, reminiscent of the signal strength indicator on your cell phone. At first I thought it was a signal strength indicator, but the number of bars never changes, and the user's manual is silent on this issue.
If you use the piece of wire supplied with the unit that they call an FM antenna (they do not even supply a dipole antenna), then all bets are off regarding your reception. Accordingly, you may find yourself using the Internet radio for all but local signals. Note that all the stations you want may not be available from the Vtuner service, or the station may send only a low bit rate signal. In that case, buy an external tuner. HD tuners with remarkable performance start at $99, and some, such as the Sony XDR-F1 HD have very small form factors.
The XC-Z9 has something called Sound Retriever to enhance the sound of a source recorded or streamed at a low data rate. It is implemented in a DSP chip in the digital signal path of the XC-Z9. The instruction manual de votes fewer than 50 words to this function and when to use it. The Japanese website is more informative if you can read Japanese. A graph on the site which needs no translation shows that the system generates higher energy spectra at the higher end of the audible band. I found it effective for very low bit rate signals (less than 64kbits/sec). It also worked for higher bit rate signals that had been badly encoded—a common problem with Internet radio stations. The stations that do a good job of encoding and streaming a signal do not need the processing.
XM satellite radio signals could benefit since the XM PC board in the SV-Z9 supplies a digital signal directly to the digital signal bus connected to the DSP processor. The first DSP processer stores the code for the Sound Retriever. XM appears to use a significant amount of companding on some stations, so the Sound Retriever did improve the sound quality on many channels.
My impression of the enhancer when dealing with low bit rate signals is that the high-end is extended, but the bass is also pushed for reasons I do not understand. Engaging the enhancer may increase the absolute level of the signal. A number of signal-processing algorithms can enhance compressed digital data. I do not know which method Pioneer adopted.
Strangely, you can enable the enhancer with analog inputs such as a tuner and even CDs. With analog signals it must be a totally different animal, and not one I found I would want to invite into the house, as it never improved any analog signal. In analog mode the frequency response was within 1 dB of the response I got by setting the bass and treble controls to maximum be low 10kHz. Above 10kHz the Sound Retriever returned to 0dB. I thought the Sound Retriever response would change with signal level or signal spectrum, but changes in input gain made no difference in the shape.
Going from making measurements by sweeping a sine wave to using an MLS noise as the input signal did not change the frequency response of the Sound Retriever. I assume the enhancer in analog mode is totally different from the digital enhancer. Remember that the iPod and Sirius radio signal come in analog. A DSP enhancer cannot enhance anything without seeing the compounded bits. The DSP needs to be part of the process of converting the compacted data back to PCM, implying the signal is truly "enhanced" through improved decoding algorithms.
The unit's "Sound Modes" are called "vivid" (producing a lively sharp sound is what the instruction manual says it does), "exciting" (dynamic, stimulating sound), and "relaxing" (laid back sound). This appears to be similar to the options in some car stereos. I can under stand the function with road noise and cheap speakers placed sub-optimally in a car, but the X-Z9 design touches the state-of-the-art. The only sound mode you want is Off!
The loudness contour did not change with volume position; it is the same as the Exciting Sound mode to 1 kHz. They can be activated together bringing the bottom end up 14dB! At least the unit is smart enough not to allow the bass control to push this up any further.
Inside, the unit is stuffed with electronics. The dominant item is the switching power supply encased in a metal shield to reduce RFI. The shield is 8.5" x 5.5" x 2". The power supply dominates the weight of the unit and requires a fan to cool it. The main PC board, containing most of the analog and digital electronics, is on top of the power supply and is almost as big as the top of the power supply. This board is double-sided with through-holes, as are the other PC boards in the box.
On the side of the power supply is the 2,5" x 4" network board. The satellite radio board is about as large as the back right side of the unit. The power amp is on a 4" x 7" board toward the left rear. More than half the board holds the analog LC filters that remove the high-frequency noise from a switching power amplifier.
Because the inductors must pass the entire signal to the speaker, nonlinearity effects such as saturation of the inductor under large current flows could result in distortion. The inductor looked like a standard component, but the Japanese website appeared to highlight the design. Unfortunately, I could not figure out what they were talking about using the translation software. Because the outputs signal is balanced, two inductors are required for each channel. Pioneer winds the two inductors on one ferrite, forming a transformer that increases the effective inductance and may reduce even order distortion from the inductor.
The heatsink for the power amp is microscopic at 2" x 2" x 4". The dominant heat producer is the switching power supply, not the power amp. As I said be fore, the power supply has a fan.
The SACD player lies ahead of the power amp board and to the right of the power supply. The electronics for the SACD player lie under the mechanicals for the player. Dwarfed in size is an all-analog 1980s technology tuner. It is all of 2" x 2" x 1". I assume a DSP-based HD tuner would add about $50-s 75 to the price of the unit, so Pioneer probably figured this could not be justified with all the network, iPod, USB, and satellite radio capabilities.
The switching power supply has a similar design to your desktop PC. The design details of a switching power sup ply are beyond the scope of this review; the basics are on the web and details of making one work properly are voluminous enough to consume complete textbooks. See the sidebar for a quick executive summary.
Housing all the electronics in one box allows for a unique signal flow. The primary flow is purely digital audio up to the switching transistors of the power amp. The SACD player's digital out put (converted to PCM from the DSD stream), along with the digital output of the digital media board, and the XM radio module are selected and sent to a Freescale DSP processor (DSP56374), which may just do no more than the "Sound Retriever" function (I do not have any details about the code in the Freescale DSP), although it is likely a part of the digital volume control. The Digital Noise Reduction function must also be done here. The DSP56374 is a fixed-point 24-bit processor with the ability to perform 150 million multiple accumulates per second.
The signal then enters another DSP processor associated with the switch power amp. It converts the PCM audio signal into the one-bit switching signal that will eventually drive the speakers. The integrated circuit is the TI TAS55O4A. In addition to the computations to develop the one-bit switching stream, the DSP section provides seven orders of bi-quadratic filters, with two operative for the tone controls in the XC-Z9. The sound mode and loudness function may use some of the other bi-quadratic filters sections; I assume most are not used and could be saved for room correction (discussed further). The TI chip also provides functionality for the digital volume control.
The TI TAS5504A drives a pair of TAS5142 chips (left and right). The TAS5142 steps up the low-level digital signal voltage from the TAS5504A to a level that can drive the power transistors' gate. The power transistor's switch lies between the power supplies (21V or ground) and the speaker terminals. The power transistors are in a balanced bridge configuration to reduce distortion and are included as part of the TA55142.
As discussed, the output of the power transistors drives the second order LC filter connected to the speaker terminals. One TAS5142 chip contains four channels of switchers, which would allow for a balanced stereo pair in one chip. The XC-Z9 uses one TAS5142 for each channel. They parallel two channels of the TAS5142 to reduce voltage drop across the switching transistors when high cur rent is flowing to the speaker.
Class D amplifiers are distinguished by the fact that the output signal switches, in most cases, between two levels. Class D amplifiers can be classified into many sub classes. The most significant difference is the nature of the output signal. Because the output can have only two levels it is the amount of time that the amplifier stays at one level that determines the analog output voltage after filtering.
In the oldest form of Class D amplifiers the time that the amplifier can hold the output at one level can take on any value. After filtering, this type of class D amplifier can produce an output voltage of any level. It should thus produce a time varying waveform without distortion ignoring distortion from real semiconductor switches. One limitation of real switches is the finite rise and fall time. These set the minimum time a level can be held.
In another embodiment of a class D amplifier the switching time may only be allowed on a clock edge of a digital clock signal derived from a crystal. In this case the time that the amplifier can hold a single value is quantized. The smallest time a value can be held at is one clock cycle and each larger time interval is a multiple of the clock cycles. The time that one level can be held is thus quantized. This leads to distortion of the recovered analog signal even with an ideal back end.
If a class D amplifier is designed to accept a PCM digital input directly and has a quantized in time output then it can be designed using just digital cir cults. The TI TAS5504A is an example of this type of class D amplifier. The TA S5504A also includes an internal digital signal processor that anticipates the distortion at the output from the time quantization and tries to correct it by pre-distorting the signal before it is sent to the all digital Class D amplifier, The most significant issue with this de sign is its lack of feedback from the analog output to the processor. This means the amplifier has no power supply rejection and cannot reduce distortion caused by the non-ideal switching of the power transistors. This explains the unit's high full power THD in comparison to class AB amps. Without feedback, the amp's frequency response is sensitive to the speaker's load. The fact that the X-Z9 includes speakers resolves this problem.
The TAS55O4A family was released in first-quarter 2006 and has innovative nonlinear signal processing to work around some fundamental problems when crafting an all-digital switching power amp without feedback. The innovations enabled a reduction in the near baseband high-frequency noise associated with the square-wave switching signal while simultaneously dealing with the issue of limiting the number of times the output signal switches state.
Energy is used every time a switch occurs to move the filter connected to the speaker terminal from 0V to 21V.
In addition, energy is lost when the two switches are on momentarily at the same time causing current to flow from the 21V supply into ground.
While the TI chips perform well, the newer D2Audio chips have less distortion than the TI feedback-free designs.
This is accomplished with digital feed back from the speaker terminal. The D2Audio design also has a digital power supply feed-forward correction sys tern that allows the chip to reject some noise on the power supply rails. I do not know the relative costs of the D2Audio chip and the TI TAS55O4A. Using a dedicated speaker for the XC-Z9 as part of the X-Z9 complex mitigates some of the problems associated with a feedback-free digital switching amp.
In a switching power supply, the 60Hz incoming AC is rectified to DC and filtered lightly. A switching transistor is connected between one side of the rectifiers output and one side of the primary of a transformer. The other side primary is connected to the other DC voltage at the full-wave rectifier output. The switch is opened or closed at a high frequency.
The circuit that controls the switching transistor gets feedback from the power sup ply's output voltage developed on the secondary s of the transformer. The time the switch is activated depends on the current draw at the supply's output. The switching action results in a time-varying voltage with a typical average frequency of 50-200kHz. Large transformers are required to efficiently pass power from the 60Hz power line to the secondary in a linear power supply. In a switching supply the transformers can be very small and more efficient with the primary frequency at 50kHz.
In a switcher, some electronics live on the AC line prior to the transformers. Optical couplers will feed back information about the voltages on the secondary supply of the transformer to the circuitry on the AC line side. For safety, the secondary side is totally isolated from the power cord as in linear power supplies. The XC-Z9 has two separate switching supplies and two transformers. One is dedicated for the power amplifier's output transistors. On the secondary side the 12V analog rail is reduced to 5V for the digital components by another switching regulator.
Efficiency and size reduction are not cheap. The power supply has three analog LSI circuits to oversee the operation. Five feedback loops require five optocouplers. To sup port all this are 100 discrete transistors, diodes, and passive components. All the switching produces noise on the power supply's output and the feedback can interact with the load at the output of the switching supply. This is why most designers of switching power amps (the unit that amplifies the music signal that drives the speaker) consider the design of the switching power supply (the unit that takes the AC line voltage and produces the DC voltage for the power amp) to be an integral part of the design of a 1 switching power amp (the unit that amplifies the audio signal and drives the speaker).
To sum up: it's not easy being green.
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Pioneer has chosen the Bang & Olufsen ICEpower ASH high-efficiency amplifiers for its high-end audio-video receivers. ICEpower provides modules in stead of chips. The modules combine the switching power amp and the switching power supply, preventing noise and distortion that results when a mix and match approach is used. The ICEpower design uses analog feedback loops, an analog input, and the requisite digital-to-analog converter. The measured performance presented on the ICEpower website is significantly better with respect to out put noise and distortion than the digital- based amps. The ICEpower is a more ex pensive solution that may have increased the price of the XC-Z9 significantly.
The headphone outputs also start as digital one-bit signals from the TI TAS5504A. They are filtered with an RC low-pass network and then converted to analog. An NJM2068 buffers the filter and drives the headphone. This is a surprising choice because it is rated to drive 2k-Ohm loads. I was expecting the traditional NJM4556 that can drive 150 ohm loads. The NJM2068 is not a cheaper chip and is often found in many audio products during a variety of internal functions.
The NJM2068 has twice the gain bandwidth and slew rate compared to the 4556. These differences should not be an issue when driving a headphone with an analog signal, but it must have been with the filtered one-bit switched signal. I cannot understand why the output of the 2068 is not buffered by an additional 4556. The fact that the headphone jack is a mini plug in this unit indicates that only wimpy headphones can be connected here. For a unit with such high-end protections, wimping out on the headphone section is a major disappointment.
Analog signals must be fit on top of the digital integrated amplifier architecture. A CMOS switch lets you choose from the analog (two-line) inputs, iPod, Sirius satellite radio, AM/FM tuner, and the output of the phono preamp. These analog signals are converted to digital by an AKM5358 chip, which has a worst case, A-weighted, signal-to-noise ratio of equivalent 15.5 bits and a THD equivalent to 13.5 bits. While this is good enough for the internal analog signals that flow in the XC-Z9 (tuner, iPod, and so on), quality may be sacrificed depending on the performance of the analog device connected to the line inputs.
Given that the SACD player is internal to the XC-Z9, it is unlikely the analog components connected to the XC-Z9 will require higher performance ADC to ensure that significant distortion and noise is added to the incoming signal. The ADC is a good match for the internal phono stage.
The analog line output for a tape recorder requires its own DAC to convert the direct digital input signals back to analog. A TI PCM 1742 performs this function. It has a worst case, A-weighted, signal-to- noise ratio equivalent to 16.5 bits and a worst-case THD equivalent to 14 bits.
Note that this unit strangely has no S/PDIF inputs or outputs. Given the digital nature of the signal path, these would have been a natural addition. Those would be used for a CD or mini disk recorder with S/PDIF connection. With the S/PDIF connection you could achieve better performance by removing the ADCs and DACs from the signal chain if the XC-Z9 had the appropriate connections. Some HD radios and external phono pre amps also have S/PDIF outputs.
The phono stage is a single op amp design typical of a stereo receiver priced below $500. The distinctive feature of the chosen BA4560 op amp is its large low-frequency gain, which is required to accurately trace the RIAA curve at low frequencies. The phono stage is ad equate for use with a turntable in the $200-$300 range, which is likely the case for a secondary system in which the X-Z9 is employed. Use of a higher end turntable and cartridge with an external phono preamp might not be ideal given the performance limitations of the AKM 5358 analog-to-digital converter.
Overall, the XC-Z9 is a lot of technology for the money. Usability is improved with the wealth of functionality shoe-horned into one box. The associated display and remote control conveniently enable high-tech features. Fitting all this performance into a compact space required much creativity on the part of the design team's electrical engineers.
This is a highly original and compact design of a true three-way speaker from Pioneer's central engineering staff. It is finished in a fine piano black enclosure. They supply a cleaning cloth, which you had better not lose because it costs $40.95 to replace, before shipping and handling. Yikes. Pioneer also supplies the speaker cable (a replacement costs $37.95). The speakers are marked left and right, but for the life of me I could not find or measure a difference. Pioneer could not shed any light on this.
The midrange and tweeter are in a coaxial configuration. The back of the speaker indicates that it uses technology from KEF and GP Acoustics, which owns KEF. At a minimum, this could be rights to KEF's patented compound loudspeaker drive unit alignment method ( US patent 5,548,657) of the tweeter and midrange. A KEF representative indicated they did not have any direct design input.
The midrange has a stiff concave surround to terminate energy at the end of the cone to the cast frame of the driver. The woofer, which is the same size as the midrange, has a traditional loose convex surround. The cone moves easily when the woofer is pushed, but not so when the midrange is depressed.
The three-way design is important, given the 45Hz tuning of the box and the small size of the woofer. At 50Hz, the cone moves visibly at an SPL of 85dB in a small room. This would cause intermodulation distortion were the driver to run out to 3kHz, but it is crossed over at 800Hz. From appearance, the S-Z9 is a less expensive re make of the unique Pioneer S-2EX from the Pioneer TAD group, though Pioneer indicated to me that TAD was not involved. The driver configurations are the same, though S-2EX is slightly larger with its 7" woofer.
The small woofer can bottom out when playing frequencies below 150Hz in a large room at a SPL of 80dB. I band- limited an amp to 150Hz that could per form 200W into 4 and applied the last five minutes of Mahler's 2nd symphony. The results were as clean as a full-size three-way tower speaker costing $1000 - 2000 per pair. Clearly, distortion is not an issue when the XC-Z9 drives the unit in a smaller room. A two-way mini monitor or tower speaker could not compete with respect to dynamics or clarity in the midrange between 500Hz and 3kHz. A true midrange is vital when high-end sound is the objective.
In a smaller room, the unit delivers honest bass response down to 45Hz. There was no sign of the unit's having been tuned to push up in the bass like the $10,000 mini monitors at CES, which are accompanied by marketers who talk up the pace and rhythm of the bass. The S-Z9 speakers are amiable as long as the SPLs are kept to reasonable levels. Use of the bass control, loudness, and "exciting" Sound Mode obliterate the speaker's clean low-end and potentially damage the signal when the volume control is pushed.


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Local Clubs
LOCO - Louisiana Off-Road Cycling Organization - Louisiana Off-Road Cycling Organization - Dedicated to mountain biking. Every year they host LOCOFEST, a 2-day mountain bike festival.
Shreveport Bicycle Club - Dating back all the way to 1979, this great club has regular rides on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Sunrise Tri Club - We are very lucky to have a healthy triathlon community in the area, and this club offers triathletes of all ages and abilities the opportunity to get together, train, and race.
Team LaS'port - Founded in 1983, Team LaS'port is the 2nd oldest USCF club in Louisiana. They race.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tropical Storm Lee is dumping on our state and the stock market isn't looking too sunny either. August was not particularly kind with the Dow Jones down about 4.5% for the month. As I mentioned previously, I moved over 80% of my clients assets to my Low Volatility portfolio a few months ago. It lost 0.60% in August. I'll take it.
There are three basic investment principles to which I adhere and one realization. The three principles are:
- Seek to minimize losses;
- Seek to minimize fees;
- Diversify.
Diversification can mean different things to different people. To me, it is not a blind "spread it across all asset categories" approach. Although this is what I was taught in the early days of my career, I hold to a modified version of this. I choose to invest in the categories that I believe hold a better-than-average chance of yielding a positive return. I also measure diversification mathematically. In other words, I quantify the degree to which a portfolio is diversified. Therefore, it's not an abstract belief, but a definitive result.
I mentioned the word, "realization." Here's what I mean. I invest in many different categories, but cannot possibly keep up with every nuance in every category. Therefore, I attempt to identify managers who have demonstrated excellence in their particular area. For example, let's take the currency markets. To properly understand what currencies to hold long and which to short, it would require a full time, highly trained analyst. Though I believe I have a good understanding of what affects the fluctuation of a country's currency, I do not possess the expertise, nor do I have the time, to stay abreast of this dynamic market. Therefore, I choose to use a manager who follows this 24/7. It's the argument of the "Generalist" versus the "Specialist." In a face off, the Specialist should win every time.
Another part of the realization is that I realize I don't know it all. Often, advisors feel like they are expected to have all the answers. This correlates well with the axiom, "The more you learn, the less you realize you know." When an advisor reaches that place in his life when he understands what he does best as well as his own limitations, the advisor is in a much better position to serve those who have entrusted their life savings to him.
Let's continue to earn trust, no matter what the cost to us personally! Put the interests of the client first!
Thanks for reading and have a great week!


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I can't believe it. Another year has flown by and here we are again in holidays. While this time of year is full of the joy of family and friends, it can also be a season devoid of vegetables and full of sugar. Here are some fun ways to get all of the holiday cheer, while still giving your child healthy food to meet their nutrition needs.
Prioritize Special Holiday Treats
Sugary treats are a traditional part of the holidays for most of us. The good news is that we don't have to eat absolutely zero treats to be healthy. But you do want to avoid going overboard. Determine which traditions have the most significance for you. Keep those ones. Which traditions really don't hold much meaning for you? Get rid of them. Or, substitute with non-sugary alternatives (read on for more of these swaps). For example, if you don't really enjoy making a gingerbread house – skip it. Or, swap out the chocolate advent calendar for an advent calendar that holds toys.
Fewer Non-Holiday Treats
Make room for some holiday treats by removing other sugary foods. This way you're still getting the maximum holiday fun out of your child's sugar intake, without going overboard. Sugar is often hiding in kids' breakfast cereals, granola bars, drinks, that popular chocolate-hazelnut spread, even many peanut butters. Swap these foods for options with no added sugar and you've made room for holiday treats without your child eating any extra sugar.
Plan Healthy Meals and Snacks
Kids need the routine of regular meals and snacks, and the healthy foods served at them, to help them not get over-excited during the holidays. Break out your calendar and plan for meals and snacks around exciting holiday activities. For example, we adults may be okay with barely eating all Christmas Day in anticipation of the huge dinner, but kids can't. Plan a healthy breakfast, morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack for little ones. This way, it's not as big a deal when they barely eat anything at dinner because of all the excitement because you know that they've met their nutrition needs at the other meals and snacks that day
Include Healthy Holiday Fun
There are countless ways to celebrate the holidays without sugary treats. Family outdoor physical activity, carol singing, and holiday crafts can be full of holiday fun. Often we think of baking with kids but kids love cooking too. Looking for ideas? Pinterest is my go-to place for inspiration. For example, Leah and the Love Child Organics folks have fun holiday craft ideas on their Pinterest board and I have fun, healthy holiday food ideas on my Pinterest board. My 5 year old niece and I had a great time making the kiwi Christmas tree fruit platter together last year. I haven't yet decided what we'll make this year – perhaps the kiwi wreath and Christmas tree veggie platter.
Looking for more ideas on how to help little ones behave well during holiday meals? Check out this post that I wrote previously for tips on enjoying holiday meals with toddlers.
Kristen Yarker, MSc, RD helps moms and dads support your picky kids to get good nutrition today…and instill a life-long love of healthy eating. Find out more:
Instagram: @KristenYarker
Twitter: @KristenYarker
Pinterest: KristenYarker


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We may think that different forms of animation have followed suit with social change as it has affected society. Such "progress" or infusion of reality seems oblique. The audience's demographics can be vague, and its intent and standards, both static and constantly changing. Finally, animation can take so many forms (in addition to genre): claymation, paper cutouts, flip books, stop motion, and the ever-changing hand-illustrated cel/frame and computer-generated cartoons that have dominated the industry of animation.
Of course, I have omitted puppetry or "Supermarionation" as labeled by the British "tellie" program's stylists and creators. For many "Thunderbird" fans, such use of marionettes always seemed campy and often satirical, maintaining its watchability almost five decades later. True, some episodes were filmed on location or involved elaborate sets.
I think what tripped whatever trigger I sported in 1966 were: the melodramatic and romantic storylines, the degree of dysfunction depicted between the lines and below the belt, and the many, many ludicrous, batty, and over-the-top details. Yes, there was a veritable library of over 700 costumes and countless wigs. The male puppets always seemed rather proud of their graphic and bulging boxes, healthy libido, and ability to wear plaids with prints.
Recently, one of the more obscure cable networks aired several "Thunderbirds" episodes which, for some reason, captivated both Henry and me. Before then, I had never recalled the variety and extent of issues that molded Jeff Tracy, his five adult sons, and the TV program that became Britain's first filmed in color. The sons were based on likenesses of Sean Connery, Robert Reed, Anthony Perkins, and Charlton Heston. Henry confessed that it was the electric blanket that "held" his attention.


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Suzie's Dwelling Education Ideas
As a starting point, compare international locations by per capita GDP and what share of the grownup inhabitants has at the least an upper secondary education. These challenges have been recognized in the midst of a number of rounds of discussions with the National Undertaking Staff, technical meetings with Peru's main consultants and enter from over a hundred stakeholders equivalent to employers, commerce unions, education providers and consultants gathered during two interactive workshops held in November 2015 and May 2016 in Lima.
Bruce, your use of the term socialist is a transparent example of lack of fundamental education and fundamental important thinking abilities or utility. Politicians don't perceive or care in regards to the personal sector, and so they live in a world where the federal government can not fail by definition. Having a leg up from educational programs like Brainetics signifies that your little one will get one of the best chance attainable to succeed proper from the get-go. Bringing education leaders together from across the aisle and across states, our gatherings provide alternatives to interact, be taught and collaborate. Education remains to be trying to grind kids down to the scale that will match the wants of the industrial revolution. Past my vocabulary, to express the powerful message presented in your educational writ.
There are various state and metropolis businesses that may help by means of a public well being and wellness heart for assist in paying for medical prices and therapy. When debate opened within the House on June 5, 1866 a couple of national channel of communication amongst college officers of various states and the federal government, there was neither point out nor want to make the most of the federal treasury to fund any educational applications. Consequently, it is my view, this easy logic cries out for making education a national safety subject; to me it's a no-brainer. A quality preschool education could be one of many greatest gifts you can provide to your baby. Betsy DeVos ' love of private college vouchers didn't disqualify her for the position of U.S. Education secretary, even though vouchers are a foul thought.
Her mother and father, each extremely educated professionals, warned her against marrying the postal clerk with the 9th grade education. These thrilling opportunities are FREE to the general public and supply commentary, education and inspiration in our surrounding natural areas. The FINRA Investor Education Basis conducts periodic studies of the financial IQ of American adults.
America's education woes are brought on by inconsistent teacher quality, dangerous curricula, dangerous textbooks, and dangerous teaching strategies and concepts. What did render her unacceptable was her abysmal performance at her confirmation hearing Tuesday, throughout which she displayed an astonishing ignorance about primary education issues, an extraordinary lack of thoughtfulness about ongoing debates in the field and an unwillingness to reply to necessary questions. I'm hopeful that sometime, a four-year degree will probably be a part of public education for those who qualify, okay-sixteen. Lacking out on this may shut down a variety of doorways and later, one may really feel repentence, I have seen these sort of college students, so would genuinely recommendation to proceed education within the field of your curiosity. Model colleges are set up in each state to develop good replicable practices in inclusive education.


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This is a cute half size breadboard, good for small projects. It's 2.2" x 3.4" (5.5 cm x 8.5 cm) with a standard double-strip in the middle and two power rails on both sides. You can pull the power rails off easily to make the breadboard as thin as 1.4" (3.5cm) and stick it onto an Arduino protoshield. You can also cut these in half with a saw to create 2 tiny breadboards, or "snap" these breadboards together either way to make longer and/or wider breadboards.
We have the tools to help you turn the idea bouncing around in your head into something real. MELD Workshop is a place with the tools and equipment, classes, and materials that you need to make it happen. Membership includes access to things like:
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"It's the workshop you wish you had! With tools and equipment like 3D printers, laser cutter, electronics tools, and a members-only hang-out room, it's the place to go to turn your ideas, inventions, and weekend aspirations into the real deal."
Founder, John Schneider
Custom 3D printing in either ABS or PLA plastic, in sizes up to 10 in^3. Are you an inventor that wants a physical prototype of your design? An artist who wants to try a new medium? A hobbiest who wants to 3D print a unique part unavailable anywhere else? Our 3D printers can do that.
Get a 3D scan of yourself, or have a high resolution scan done of an object up to 7.5" in diameter and 9.75" tall! Great for modelers who want to get a head start on modifying an existing object


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Welcome to the Glenelg Shire Council
Community members are invited to help celebrate the contributions and achievements of people with disability as part of the local celebrations for International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD).
The Glenelg Shire Council will host a free public event on Wednesday 28 November at the Portland Civic Hall to recognise the United Nations (UN) sanctioned day, which also raises awareness of the importance of inclusion and accessibility.
Glenelg Shire Mayor Cr Anita Rank encouraged residents to attend the IDPwD event, which will be one of the thousands of events held across Australia.
"International Day of People with Disability is an empowering concept and one that council is proud to support. It's a great opportunity to bring together individuals, schools, businesses and community organisations to celebrate and acknowledge the contributions, skills and achievements of people with disability," Cr Rank said.
"To celebrate the day we have a whole range of free events, activities and entertainment on offer. There will be laughter yoga, bubble blowing, wheelchair basketball and percussion workshops just to name a few.
"Local guitarist Shaun Spencer will also perform on stage throughout the day and a range of food and beverage options will be on hand during lunchtime.
"I encourage all individuals and organisations to attend our IDPwD event and help celebrate this important day, we all have a role to play in creating a welcoming, accessible and inclusive community to people of all backgrounds and abilities."
The Glenelg Shire IDPwD event will take place from 10am -2:30pm at the Portland Civic Hall. For further information on the IDPwD celebrations please visit the event listing via council's Facebook page.
Further information on IDPwD can be accessed via the official website at www.idpwd.com.au.


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We inform you that our shops will be opened in compliance with the measures put in place by the government of each country in order to ensure your own security.
Our priority is above anything else to take part in the shared effort to protect the health of all citizens across the globe.
All our staff remain at your disposal to answer any question you may have. Our customer service is dedicated to you.
Take care of yourself and your beloved ones."
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What a bunch of bull. 25% failure rate in business? I'd love to know where he gets that stat. i never had a work force where 25% of my employees failed at their job. This LEO has some serious anger issues. He couldn't keep a job at Burger King with that behavior. Look at that video again. this isn't some guy having a bad day. This is an accomplished lunatic. People don't go that far over the edge just once. This is part of his personality. He needs help.As a benefit to the firearms forum community, I took it upon myself to contact a police officer I know regarding the Canton, OH CCW stop. He is a training officer for regular officers and SWAT for over a dozen years, and also currently teaches the CCW class in Ohio. He gave me permission to quote him on his response when I told him I wished to get an official answer back to the readers of the forum.
First off, my officer's response about the Canton, OH officer's behavior: "He's an a$$hole. However, law enforcement has a failure rate of 2-3% (officers like the one in the video) and corporate America has a failure rate of 25%, so police recruiting is doing about 10 times better than the business average. The problem is we hire humans, and there will always be some failures that slip through all the screening that we do. The good news is that they will eventually do something like the officer in the video and be fired for it."
Next, as far as immediate notification of CCW: "The first words out of your mouth should be "I have a CCW" as you hand BOTH your CCW and your license to the officer. Keep your CCW with your license so you can draw them as one and hand them with the CCW on TOP. Do not start with, 'Officer' or 'Hello' as this gives a chance for the officer to interrupt you. If you are still told to shut up, you should keep your license and CCW held out towards the officer and comply with his instructions. You can only do the best you can under the circumstances."
Final notes from my officer: "I hope everyone will remember that this is a training problem with the officers and 97-98% of the time will NOT happen! I am adding this video to my officer training set as an example of how not to handle a CCW stop and the perfect way to get fired. If you are unlucky enough to be stopped by someone like this officer, do exactly what the driver in the video did - stay cool, agree with the officer, follow his commands, and settle it the next day with attorneys and his superiors."
On my phone call to my officer, he said that the communication center in Ohio should always inform the officer that the tag they are pulling over is attached to a person who has a CCW, so in Ohio, the officer should already know. But this doesn't relieve your duty to inform. When you inform, you basically show the officer that you know the law and intend to comply, which means you are law-abiding and are probably not going to pull the weapon on him. It's a courtesy for the safety of the officer. However, in my officer's own words: "We are trained police officers. We are supposed to treat every stop as if the driver and passengers are armed. It should not surprise an officer that you are carrying and he definitely shouldn't over-react like the officer in the video."
I hope this clarifies it for some people and puts some answers to the grey areas. If you have any questions that still exist, especially for Ohio CCW carriers, post them in response to this and I'll pass them along to my training officer for his comment.


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The Somali Project begins with pirates capturing the merchant vessel Royal Grace and holding its crew for ransom. As the Grace's hostages – and those from dozens of other ships – languish under unspeakable conditions, a Persian Gulf state quietly bankrolls a paramilitary force to raid pirate havens and free the captives. The controversial force faces mutiny, murder, runs afoul of the U.N. and eventually comes face-to-face with elusive pirates in an extraordinary battle captured on film.
Shawn Efran is the founder of Efran Films. He is an award-winning producer and director. Before starting Efran Films, Shawn was a staff producer/writer at CBS's 60 Minutes, where he covered stories ranging from the war in Iraq to a woman who swam to Antarctica wearing just a bathing suit. His first job was as a cameraman for a televangelist. Adam Ciralsky's account of filming in Somalia gives the term 'passion project' a whole new meaning. The Emmy award winning filmmaker began his career as an attorney at the CIA and Pentagon before transitioning into the media where he spent a decade writing and producing for CBS' "60 Minutes," a variety of NBC platforms as well as Vanity Fair magazine.
Order Now:
- Director: Shawn Efran, Adam Ciralsky
- Writer: Shawn Efran, Adam Ciralsky


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Honda Brv For Rent In Islamabad | Rent A Car isb
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When packing for an upcoming trip, I always keep the nature of the place in mind with each piece I choose. Whether consciously or not, my travel style is heavily influenced by its destination. Like wearing Spanish-dancing inspired ruffles and bright red fedoras in Madrid, or blending in with the architecture of Siena. I always try to get a feel of a place (that goes beyond the weather forecast), and plan my outfits accordingly. For our trip to Morocco, I envisioned intricate Moorish patterns, jewel-tone colours and expansive desserts.
I found the perfect piece that automatically made me think of Marrakech. Although dubbed 'Art Deco', this sequin tank felt more tribal to me, and paired with an army-green vest and sand-colour accessories, felt perfectly Moroccan to me. I absolutely loved exploring the The Ben Youssef Madrasa in the Medina, followed drinks upon my favourite Riad, El Fenn, at sunset!
Shop this Look:


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12 Years a Slave has won the Best Picture Oscar at this year's Academy Awards.
Steve McQueen's slavery drama about Solomon Northup, which was up for nine prizes in total, held off competition from Gravity to take home the coveted gong.
Producer and star Brad Pitt said of the prize: "Thank you for this incredible honour you've bestowed on our film tonight. I know I speak for everyone when I say it's been a privilege to work on Solomon's story, and we all stand here because of the indomitable Steve McQueen."
Added director McQueen: "Thank you so much to the Academy, to Brad Pitt, without him, this film would not have been made. To all the women in my life, they're all women and they're so powerful - my mother obviously.
"I'd like to thank the amazing historian, Sue Aiken, who gave her life's work to preserving Solomon's book.
"And everyone deserves not just to survive but to live. This is the most important legacy of Solomon Northup. I dedicate this award to all who have endured slavery and to the 21 million people who still suffer slavery today. Thank you."
The Wolf of Wall Street, Philomena, Dallas Buyers Club, Nebraska, Captain Phillips, Her and American Hustle were the other films nominated for Best Picture.
Oscars 2014: Academy Awards winners list in full
Oscars 2014: 86th Academy Awards - live blog
Oscars red carpet pictures:
Oscars 2014: Red carpet pictures


text: Summer is here! Which for us means sports, sports and more sports. And with each game brings concern with keeping our kiddos well hydrated. This time of year is easy for kiddos and even adults to not realize just how much water they really need. Typically you need to drink 8 glasses of water each day, but throw in the heat of the summer and some serious sweating from a good game of ball, you'll need more! Here are some ways we keep our kiddos well hydrated on hot summer days while playing sports!


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Zebit relieves the #1 cause of employee stress, saving employers up to $2,000 per employee annually. Our robust financial wellness benefit increases engagement, productivity, and retention in leading organizations. Zebit is free to employers, requires no personally identifiable information (PII), and can be set up in 24 hours.
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June 01, 2016
Categories:GoBe Healbe hydration hydrationlevel
Stay hydrated with Healbe GoBe, get happy and healthy
Being healthy is not only fashionable, but reasonable and smart. If you want to improve your performance at work and sport, feel better or get rid of headaches and tiredness, try to not forget about hydration level - drink water regularly. Make smart investments in your future health with Healbe GoBe.Continue Reading


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The responsiveness report allows you to analyse in greater detail different key indicators when using iAdvize. Data such as response time for the first visitor message, average response time and handling time have an impact on global visitor satisfaction.
1/ Accessing the responsiveness report
To access a responsiveness report, go to "Reports" then choose the "Contact responsiveness" report.
2/ Consulting responsiveness data
The operator responsiveness report allows you to monitor times linked to different key indicators.
The page you see consists of 4 elements:
(1) The filter selection:
Filter data based on results desired. You can apply a filter by channel, project, type of view (agent, skill, contact topic, targeting rule, page type) and date.
(2) The indicators:
Here is the list of indicators shown on this page and what they correspond to:
|Average handling time
|Average duration for all contacts, the duration of a contact being defined as the difference between the end time (close) and start time.
|Average time between first visitor message and closing of the conversation by the agent.
|Contacts initiated with no response
|Number of contacts initiated by the visitor with no response from the agent.
|Sum of initiated contacts with no response
|Response time
|Average response time between a client request and the agent's response.
|Average of time taken between a visitor message and agent response.
|First message response time
Average response time between the first client question and the agent's response.
The automatic message configured when starting a discussion is not taken into account in this indicator.
|Average of time taken between a visitor's first message and the agent response.
|Last message to chat closing time
|Average time between the visitor's last message and the chat being closed on the discussion panel.
|Number of contacts handled / Duration of production (smoothed, in hours)
(3) The graphics:
These show the evolution of indicators as well as the percentage distribution according to the selected view at a glance (agent, targeting rule, etc.)
(4) The data table:
This presents detailed numerical data in the form of a table. You can check the details of each line by clicking on "pen" icon or export the table in CSV format using this icon .


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Magda Markosyan, founder and CEO of Marog Creative Agency, talks about how her involvement in the FLEX high school exchange program and time spent in the U.S. helped her start her own marketing firm. And she shares her "Three P's of Success:" passion, patience, and pro-activeness.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download


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Other pages
Oscillating chemical reactionsMany chemical reactions are known in which the concentrations of two different species increase and decrease alternately in a periodic manner before reaching equilibrium. These reactions are called "oscillating reactions". The Belousov- Zhabotinsky reaction and the Briggs-Rauscher reaction are examples. A dramatic visual effect can be created by making the changes in concentrations visible using indicators.
When the reaction mixture is continuously stirred, the concentrations and therefore the color of the solution changes periodically with time. This is called "oscillations in time". But if the reaction mixture is left undisturbed, different regions within the solution may acquire different concentrations of the species, giving rise to beautiful ripple-like patterns. This is called "oscillations in space".
Watch this interesting video showing the Belousov- Zhabotinsky reaction in a stirred solution. The actual oscillations usually are very slow with a period of about two to four minutes, but the video is made to run a bit faster, so you don't get bored watching the reaction.
Watch the same Belousov- Zhabotinsky reaction taking place in a petri dish undisturbed, giving rise to colorful visual patterns. This video runs at eight times the normal speed of the reaction, so that you do not become bored watching it.
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Been in 'planning-ish' mode.
Not as much planning as I've done before. But feel ready to start properly again in a couple of days insha'Allah.
Thought I'd share what academic planning I've kind of decided for the children insha'Allah.
R who is now 8 years old:
Quran – she has started her new hifdh program with the goal to complete her hifdh in 2 years time inshaAllah. A lot of the time in the week is being devoted to this inshaAllah.
Arabic – Carrying on with the Madinah Arabic books for children, plus a new program called 'Understand The Quran – children's course'. Am hoping this will aid her in her hifdh. Masha'Allah she can understand some ayat here and there and sometimes translates to me but I would really like her to really understand the Qur'an a lot more. We're taking a break from Studio Arabiya for now but may return to it later on insha'Allah.
Islamic Studies – very much a part of life – lots of practical elements, discussion and application. I feel this is the best way to learn the deen. As she's growing, I want to focus a lot on taharah insha'Allah.
Math – MEP Year 3 and I've just registered her on Conquer Math
English – Galore Park, new Spelling book series, First Language Lessons for grammar and handwriting. Really want to push her in her creative writing so got a few resources for that plus insha'Allah my two years of Creative Writing components for my degree will hopefully come in handy.
Everything else will be as and when she wants to do it.
Activities – Pottery for one term, Swimming, Archery (just starting down the road from me alhamdulillah and quite cheap!), Kickboxing and Cubs (she's too old for Beavers now)
Zuzu who is now 4.5 years old and Y who is 2.5 years old (although they're 2 years apart, Y seems to know as much if not more than Zuzu so thinking of doing light stuff with them together):
Quran – basic small surahs
Arabic – learning the alphabet
English – phonics and reading loads to them
Math – MEP Reception and Conquer Math Reception
Lots and lots of fun preschool unit studies based on what they enjoy/interested in.
Activities for Zuzu – Swimming, Jujitsu and Beavers (when he turns 5 insha'Allah)
Maybe I'm overdoing it on the activities front but I'm trying to squeeze in as much as possible between now and when baby is born insha'Allah as I have a feeling no.4 is not going to be easy from what I've heard from others – so might be out of action for a while!
That's about it – oh and all subject to change depending on where this year takes us! Can't believe I said that – so different to how I first started as a home edder!


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Four Leaf Clover
3D Models
Wicked Snow »Gallery | More 3D Models |
Added 6 years ago
A simple four leaf clover. If you use my work send me a link, I would love to see what you do with it. If you like my models, please make a donation.
Format: Cinema 4D (.c4d), OBJ (.obj)
Categories: High Poly Model, Nature, Objects, Plants, Other
Usage Rights: Commercial renders OK, contents not for redistribution
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|Post a Comment
|carollee (3 years ago)
|Thanks for sharing=)
|Toneee (6 years ago)
|Cheers!! :)
|Skelch (6 years ago)
|Thank you, and I will share a St Patty's Day joke for your good will. Why do Leprechauns carry Shame rocks? Answer: Cause real rocks are too heavy! :D


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The first ever Weymouth Windsurfing and Kitesurfing festival, held over the
weekend of 7-8 April, turned out to be a great success. The opportunity to see
the latest goodies on display in a large hangar (ex Portland Naval Base), and
then try them out on the water meant a steady stream of visitors throughout
the weekend, with the added attraction of some Formula Windsurfing racing going
on and a very impressive kitesurfing contest too. The chilly NW winds were a
little less than ideal, but on the whole the event was considered a great success,
and will almost certainly become part of the annual calendar.


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"No country has reversed the obesity epidemic, in part because widely-recommended healthy food policies have not been fully implemented," says Boyd Swinburn, Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health from the University of Auckland.
"Researchers have documented the increasing obesity problem for several decades and it is long overdue to start documenting how well the agreed solutions are being applied and what effect policies are having on the food landscape."
Experts agree that the main driver of high obesity rates is the widespread availability of cheap, tasty, unhealthy food that is heavily marketed, he says.
"The surprising thing is that very few countries are able to describe what the food landscape looks like in their country," says Professor Swinburn. "We currently can't answer basic questions like, 'What foods are for sale in which areas?', 'What is the nutrition content of those foods?', 'Which food are advertised the most?', and 'How does the price of unhealthy foods compare to the price of healthy foods?".
The new group of nine university groups and five global non-government organisations, called INFORMAS, plans to monitor food environments all around the world so that these important questions can be answered.
This week, the INFORMAS group launched their plans at the International Congress of Nutrition in Granada, Spain, accompanied by the publication of a series of papers in the journal Obesity Reviews that outlines the group's approach to monitoring all the important aspects of the food landscape.
The INFORMAS monitoring program will commence next year in several pilot countries, including New Zealand. The researchers will also identify those countries which have the healthiest food policies and use them as international benchmarks against which to assess national progress towards best practice.
"Some countries have made good progress in getting policies like healthy school food implemented, but many other recommended policies such as restricting unhealthy food marketing to children are just not happening," said Professor Swinburn.
All countries have signed up to a World Health Organization target of reducing premature death from non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, by 25 percent by the year 2025.
"The target is to achieve no further increase in obesity rates, and this will be one of the most challenging targets to reach since countries are almost all heading in the wrong direction," according to Professor Swinburn. "Changes in food environments will respond quite quickly to healthy food policies, and we hope to detect early changes in reducing the drivers of obesity. This will be critical in monitoring progress towards the WHO targets."
The INFORMAS work is under the auspices of the International Obesity Taskforce, and is being coordinated at the University of Auckland.
The University of Auckland


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Job Information
Deloitte Salesforce Technical Architect - Specialist Master in Parsippany, New Jersey
Salesforce Technical Architect - Specialist Master
Customer & Marketing is creating a new model for a new age-we re an agency and a consultancy. Understanding the digital space and preparing for what s next is at our core. We help clients reimagine how profits are made, how relationships are created and led; we reshape the landscape of work and rewire the high-reaching fabric of entire industries. That s the power of driving disruption. That s Deloitte Digital.
Work you ll do
A Specialist Master at Deloitte has deep expertise in a subject area and works within an engagement team to identify the organization s needs, defines the business or technology architecture, plans how large projects will be delivered, oversees the solution design and implementation, manages the progress of the team and activities, and confirms work products meet our firm s and the client s quality standards. Additionally, Specialist Masters are expected to mentor/coach staff, contribute to sales activities, and develop eminence through writing papers and/or presenting at conferences. A summary of the expectations is provided below:
Client Service: Advise client on leading practices and technology/industry trends, application/integration architecture, solution design, and implementation leading practices. Build lasting relationships through day to day interactions with key client managers and staff.
Delivery: Bring the functional/technical experience and knowledge to deliver solutions which allow clients to achieve their business strategy. Present technical alternatives and supporting recommendations aligned with the client s business and technology requirements. Contribute to project estimating, planning, contracting and staffing activities. Manage technical and/or functional teams to design, build, test and implement enterprise applications. Anticipate, raise, and resolve issues which pose risk to the project. Monitor progress and quality. Track and report status.
Business Development: Participate in sales pursuits as a pursuit team member or subject matter advisor. Participate in the oral presentation of the proposal to highlight relevant experiences that position Deloitte as the preferred supplier. Develop and maintain relationships with client stakeholders to establish and maintain our status as a trusted advisor.
People Development: Perform role of mentor and coach to help others achieve their career objectives. Actively participate in recruiting and onboarding activities. Develop staffing plans and screen candidates for positions on projects. Provide leadership and support for staff on projects and in local offices. Perform regular check-ins with team members and people for which you coach as a part of the performance management process.
Eminence: Contribute to go-to-market and internal initiatives which drive growth of the practice, drive efficiency and profitability, improve quality, and increase the knowledge of our staff. Co-author articles, whitepapers, or presentations. Speak at conferences, universities, or other forums to promote Deloitte s brand.
The team
Digital Customer
Our Digital Customer team focuses on designing and implementing sales and service experiences, capabilities, and architectures to bring customer strategies to life. Our ambition is to be the best in the world at driving customer transformation through the development of clever commercial strategies, distinctive experiences, and the application of digital technologies. We help make the creative digital consultancy real and in doing so, make new markets.
Professionals will serve our clients through the following types of work:
Sales Excellence & Service Excellence | delivers sales and service strategies and plans, operating model definition, incentive design and implementation, and operations support for digitally-enabled sales, channel, and customer service capabilities
Digital Experience | creates engaging omni-channel digital experiences across web, mobile, AR/VR, voice, gesture, IoT, and video
Flexible Consumption | the commercial strategy, operating model definition, and capability delivery of subscription/flexible consumption business models
Digital Foundry | a flexible, end-to-end delivery model emphasizing innovation and disruption
DigitalMix | an integrated set of platforms to enable business re-platforming
Eight years of consulting and/or CRM implementation experience
Four full life-cycle Salesforce implementations with strong expertise in two of the following modules: Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Community Cloud, App Cloud
Experience managing at least two large-scale full-life cycle implementations of CRM solutions
Strong understanding of SDLC methodologies (Agile, SCRUM, RUP, other)
Limited immigration sponsorship may be available
Travel up to 80% (While 80% of travel is a requirement of the role, due to COVID-19, non-essential travel has been suspended until further notice.)
Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, or other technology-related field or equivalent number of years of experience
Previous Big 4 experience
Salesforce Certifications
Experience with Wave Analytics, Lightning, AI, Blockchain Eloqua, Exact Target or Marketo
Strong oral and written communication skills, including presentation skills in MS PowerPoint and Visio
Strong problem solving and troubleshooting skills with the ability to exercise mature judgment
Experience presenting to clients or other decision makers to present and sell ideas to various audiences (technical and non-technical)
Expertise in other technology domains (Data, Cloud storage, integrations, etc.)
How you ll grow
At Deloitte, our professional development plan focuses on helping people at every level of their career to identify and use their strengths to do their best work every day. From entry-level employees to senior leaders, we believe there s always room to learn. We offer opportunities to help sharpen skills in addition to hands-on experience in the global, fast-changing business world. From on-the-job learning experiences to formal development programs at Deloitte University, our professionals have a variety of opportunities to continue to grow throughout their career. Explore Deloitte University, The Leadership Center. at https://zoomforth.com/s/deloitte/du#home
At Deloitte, we know that great people make a great organization. We value our people and offer employees a broad range of benefits. Learn more about what working at Deloitte can mean for you.
Deloitte s culture
Our positive and supportive culture encourages our people to do their best work every day. We celebrate individuals by recognizing their uniqueness and offering them the flexibility to make daily choices that can help them to be healthy, centered, confident, and aware. We offer well-being programs and are continuously looking for new ways to maintain a culture where our people excel and lead healthy, happy lives. Learn more about Life at Deloitte.
Corporate citizenship
Deloitte is led by a purpose: to make an impact that matters. This purpose defines who we are and extends to relationships with our clients, our people and our communities. We believe that business has the power to inspire and transform. We focus on education, giving, skill-based volunteerism, and leadership to help drive positive social impact in our communities. Learn more about Deloitte s impact on the world. at http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/deloitte-corporate-citizenship.html
Recruiter tips
We want job seekers exploring opportunities at Deloitte to feel prepared and confident. To help you with your interview, we suggest that you do your research: know some background about the organization and the business area you re applying to. Check out recruiting tips from Deloitte professionals. at http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/careers/topics/recruiting-tips.html
Category: Customer Relationship Management
About Deloitte
As used in this document, Deloitte means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or protected veteran status, or any other legally protected basis, in accordance with applicable law.
- Deloitte Jobs


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Thursday, October 3, 2019
Indian Burying Grond Essay Example for Free
Indian Burying Grond Essay The Indian Burying Ground In Freneaus poem The Indian Burying Ground, the reader is presented with the two different views on life after death. One of the perspectives is from the Christian religion. The other is from the perspective of an Indian religion. The Christian religion thinks that just because you are buried lying down that you will be in an eternal sleep. The Indian religion is just the opposite of this. The religion believes that when you die your soul still lives on and you are reunited with all things that have passed on before you. Through many poetic devices, Freneau contrasts the Indian religion view of life after death and his own. The Indian religion, mentioned in the poem The Indian Burying Ground, and the Christian religion are very different in the belief of an afterlife. The following is from the perspective of Freneau. The lines in the first stanza The posture that we give the dead, points out the souls eternal sleep. tells that the lying down posture that Christians are buried in suggests that they will be in an eternal sleep. The Indian religion in the poem says that your soul lives on forever after you die. The second stanza talks about when a person dies he is once again seated with his friends and joins them in a feast. The following quotes from the third stanza nature of the soul and knows no rest suggests that when a person dies the soul of that person doesnt die with him, but just moves on to another form. In the fourth stanza the quotes life is spent and not the old ideas gone suggests that after you have died your ideas and you as a person are not forgotten but remembered forever. There is a place where all the souls gather and sit. In the fifth stanza there is talk of a stranger observing the place where all the souls have come to sit. This person is obviously influenced by the Christian view of life after death. The person is shown that the souls are not all lying down like he has though but all are in the sitting position. An Indian is showing this person around the place where all the souls have gathered, showing him that people live on after life. One of the things the person is showed is aà tree with kids playing in its shade. Another thing he is shown is an ancient Indian queen. There are many other things that man sees to make him believe that what he is seeing is real. People in the world are too closed minded and only put things into reason. It is hard for people to actually believe in what the Indian religion says about life after death because it is too complicated for them to believe in such a thing. When a person is showed to the actual gathering of souls and participating in a feast it is hard for him to deny what is actually happening. A person has no choice but to believe in what is actually occurring. Although the Christian view of an after life differs from the Indian view, the many poetic devices in the poem helps the readers understand the two different perspectives even if they are not normal.
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Sean Doolittle secured the final three outs Saturday night and joined his teammates in their customary, post-victory, high-five line. That's a sight A's fans have come to expect and enjoy this season.
Doolittle then retreated to the clubhouse, where trainers put him through a series of tests after he felt pain in his right side and back. That's an unsettling sight for the A's as they head into the last five weeks of the regular season.
First, the essentials: Oakland took advantage of a late wild pitch to snatch a 2-1 victory over the Angels before a capacity crowd of 36,067 at the Coliseum. Jon Lester pitched masterfully for seven innings, Luke Gregerson sailed through the eighth and Doolittle navigated the ninth as the A's climbed back into a first-place tie.
They and the Angels both have 34 games left, including eight against each other. Needless to say, the A's hope Doolittle stays healthy for this dash to the finish.
He felt a "grab" in his lower back on a pitch to Angels shortstop Erick Aybar. The pain returned on Doolittle's next pitch, but it subsided soon after Aybar grounded out to end the game.
Doolittle completed the mobility tests – mostly twisting and moving side to side – without trouble, which left him optimistic. He still had the area wrapped in ice as he spoke to reporters.
"It might have been a cramp or something," Doolittle said. "By the time I got off the field and got back up here (into the clubhouse), it had relaxed."
Asked if he were worried about the injury, he replied, "Not really. If I wasn't able to do what the trainers asked me to do, I wouldn't be as encouraged."
The A's obviously need Doolittle as they try to outlast the Angels and avoid the dreaded wild-card game. Saturday night's save was his 20th of the season; for another measure of his dominance, consider he now has five walks and 80 strikeouts.
Doolittle entered the game after the A's snapped a 1-1 tie in the eighth. Coco Crisp singled, moved to third on two groundouts and raced home when Angels reliever Joe Smith uncorked a wild pitch with pinch hitter Brandon Moss at the plate.
That showed the razor-thin margin for error as the A's and Angels tussle for American League West supremacy. And make no mistake: A's players take little solace in knowing the team that doesn't win the division will probably still make the playoffs.
"Nobody wants to be in that wild-card game," Moss said. "You'll take it over not having a chance, but so much can happen in one game. The priority is definitely to win the division."
Lester validated his big-game reputation, blanking the Angels through six innings. He deftly mixed his pitches – howling, 92-mph fastball at one end and hypnotizing, 74-mph curveball at the other – to frustrate the Angels, including Mike Trout (three strikeouts).
But the A's managed only one run against C.J. Wilson, who escaped the sixth unscathed when Josh Donaldson was thrown out at the plate. The Angels then broke through against Lester in the seventh, tying the game on Aybar's RBI single.


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On Ohio mornings on the farm, I can see three hundred and sixty degrees of the horizon, broken only by barns, clumps of trees, and a bulb of yellow-pink sunrise. My grandmother says she can't live anywhere but this prairie now—if mountains or buildings close in her view of the horizon, she tenses, scanning the skyline for a way the sunrise or sunset can break through. This horizon has been the background for every morning run and bike ride at my mother's house since I was twelve. Outside in the driveway, I pause to stretch overhead, then begin to shuffle, eventually run down the driveway. Farm trucks and tractors on their way to irrigate tomatoes or pick sweetcorn swerve aside, waving. A big silver or cream Dodge Ram indicates my grandfather is coming. "How's my little girl?" he asks from the inside of the truck, tugging on his Santa Claus beard. Once I start teaching college, then go to grad school for a PhD, the greeting changes to "How's my little professor?" We never talk long: grades, high school track meets, where I've been, when I am leaving again. The brief interlude comes to feel like a blessing, especially the more infrequent my visits home.
The prairie stretches for miles in Indiana too, but where I live, I'm surrounded by fences and other houses. At the most western edge of Eastern Standard Time, our mornings are dark. When at 5:00 a.m. on May 2nd I see the text message from my mom saying, "call me," I can see to Ohio and know what has happened. My grandfather is due to have a surgery to remove blockages in his arteries that day. He has been on oxygen for a month. The gamble with his heart stretches back to the early 1980s when, like his own father, he suffered a heart attack at age fifty. But unlike his father, he has lived for another thirty-some years. Today he has died.
I know this but don't immediately call her back. I have been fearing his death since his open heart surgery when I was sixteen. I get up from the couch where I'd be dozing during an all-night grading session, brush my teeth and take out my contacts. I take a deep breath.
When I hang up the phone and go to bed for the first time in thirty-six hours, I don't cry. I rehearse the details in my head—he had gotten up to go to the bathroom, had fallen, Grandma and Uncle Ben were there with him. My mother is sad; my sisters are overcome grief. But all I feel is a tight, hollow space in my chest, like the contents of rib cage had been vacuumed out and replaced with lead. My husband, sleepy from his own grading all-nighter, wraps his arms around me as I stare at the wall for a long time, wondering at the strange emptiness around my heart.
This is a story I keep trying to write in past tense—ran, lived, drove, died—and cannot. It is also a story I have tried to write all summer—first for his funeral, then for June and his strawberries, then in July for his birthday. Now it is August, the month of perpetual sky and hot blades of grass and dry riverbeds and the always-present-tense task of keeping the last things alive. All I can do in the face of oncoming September is to write like this is perpetual too.
One of my first memories is flying to Washington DC to watch Grandpa and my father run the Marine Corps marathon. I fly with my Raggedy Anne doll and my parents, while my toddler of a brother, Levi, drives with my grandparents in the motorhome. Throughout the flight I stare out the window, convinced I see them on a highway below us. I don't remember the marathon, but I do remember driving up a dark lane where scarecrows flanked the car. Is this real? Does it make sense? Does it matter? Later, when I start running marathons, Grandpa tells me he hadn't liked that marathon because a section at the end is cut off from spectators, meaning he had to run alone in the last and hardest miles. My grandfather didn't like crowds, my uncle says at the funeral as a way of explaining Grandpa's absence from church, but I know he didn't like running marathons without them.
My other earliest memory is a photo of six-year-old, pink-shorted me running flower to flower in Grandma's flowerbed, sniffing each one. She's standing somewhere behind me, hands on her hips, her hair dark, like it still is today. My grandfather isn't in the picture. Maybe he took it. Maybe he was sitting on his recliner in the living room, wagging his feet as he watched the news or a tennis match or painted his first watercolors. It doesn't matter. This photo is thirty years old, and my grandparents will always be here, pulling weeds, watching TV, surveying the fields, mid-fifties and unstoppable.
I grew up a mile and a half from this house, and as soon as we could walk or ride a bike we were commuting back and forth through the fields. As soon as we could reliably use our hands, we were pushing quarts of strawberries out towards the grasping hands of customers in the market. In early June, pushing the quarts of berries, cleaning squashed fruits off the floor, and making cardboard boxes for customers to carry their purchases in was a full time job, and small children were perfect for it. We all loved strawberries in late May when the first pink berries turned scarlet. We hated them by the end of June when our fingernails and bottoms of our shoes were stained red.
Grandpa was everywhere. He coasted around the market in his truck, observing how many quarts were left. Later in corn season, he'd watch the wagons of corn from his truck, estimating when we would need another wagon. He'd yell at the stockboy to push the corn out of the middle of the wagon and empty the buckets of corn husks, and then head to the café for a chocolate ice cream cone or a shake. When I was old enough to work in the U-Pic strawberry fields, I'd hear conversations between him and farmhands on the radio. He'd simultaneously give orders, get updates on irrigation, and yell at someone for messing up his job. Then he would drive off and say nothing for hours. He might replicate this pattern in a friendlier way at birthday parties and weddings. He could talk nimbly with strangers and old friends, then suddenly have to walk away. Words came at a cost.
No wonder, for he had so many other things to love—sports (archery, cycling, wrestling, football, basketball, running, track and field, tennis), his grandchildren, his grandchildren's sports, Grandma (he used to enlist me or one of my sisters to help him buy her Christmas presents), painting, farming, PBS broadcasts of Riverdance ("You girls would be good at that" he told my sisters and I when we were high school ballerinas), Ohio State, traveling, and eating. An athlete through high school, he coached my brother and cousins in wrestling, growling if they showed any slack. On his afternoon nap breaks he watched whatever sport was in season. He ran two marathons and multiple half marathons. Many years he ran the Strawberry Festival 10K (a festival he helped co-found) and feasted on his own strawberries and watermelons at the finish line. On summer evenings he played tennis in the park in Tipp City or Troy.
On winter evenings he would sit in his office in the two-story white farmhouse on route 202, and paint watercolors. He surrounded himself with stacks of papers, weight equipment, seed packages, a treadmill, and his watercolors. He painted photos of my sister astride a donkey, my brother in a kilt, waterfalls in Jamaica, the farm against the backdrop of summer, and me, age six, picking daisies in a field.
In 2011 my grandfather gets weaker and in 2013 I get divorced. Our frailness begins to show. Several weeks after I leave my now-ex husband, I drive through the winter-killed Indiana-Ohio horizon to my conservative family. It is a mild January weekend and everyone is gentle with me. I sit for a long time at the kitchen table with my grandmother while she asks questions and feeds me. "Well, I knew something was wrong," she says. "Every time you came over to see me you looked like you had been crying." She never suggests I go back even though the faith we grew up espousing would have. Towards the end of my visit, I walk into the living room to see Grandpa in his recliner. For years I've been watching him; the eternally fifty year old man is now in his late seventies, and has a heart that frustrates him. He spends a lot more time in his recliner than in his silver Dodge Ram. "I'm worried about you little girl," he says. "Should I be?"
"I think I'm OK," I say, holding his large speckled hand in both of mine.
"You know what you're doing?"
"I think so."
My grandmother walks up behind us. "She's just spreading her wings," she says. "She's about to do great things."
Have I lived up to my grandmother's fortune telling? Only if happiness equals greatness. In May 2015 I marry a man who loves farms, and running, and me. "If you want your grandparents there," my mom says, "you're going to have to have the wedding in Ohio." We had the reception in the farm market where I'd pushed quarts of berries and buckets of corn stalks as a child and teenager. My grandfather stayed for the whole wedding and reception, talking to my new in-laws, grinning at all these people admiring his farm. Our wedding photos were set against a backdrop of fields and endless Ohio horizon, my grandparents' house a blink of white in the background.
The morning of his funeral, my husband and I lace up our running shoes and head down the lane for a run in the sunrise. At the end of the driveway when we turn out on to the road, I feel like something is missing. It isn't until we are running back up the truckless driveway that I remember again, and again, what is finally gone.


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The paste papers dried nicely, almost their best property being how nice they feel.
I wanted them to use for the spine cover of the two books I intended to make from the For Sale board.
I have to show the sewing cradle as usual just to prove to my son that his efforts in making it were worthwhile. By looking at some other sites showing paste papers I moved on to draw into some of them, and on one that I didn't like particularly I used a string block to make an additional pattern. It improved so much that I put a piece on the front of my sketchbook. Another thing that came to me this week was to use a stamp pad with a string block; it works well. No doubt some of you think this is a pretty obvious idea anyway.