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Warning: rant, no futures insights enclosed.
Last night, we went for a very pleasant meal with friends. The restaurant was in a lovely location, the service was excellent, the food was excellent. The only irritating thing was a pesky fly. However, for some reason, the menu was written on nice paper in 6 point text with about 15mm line spacing. Each line went about 2/3 of the way across the page. I hadn't brought my reading glasses so was forced to read small text at arm's length where it was still blurred.
My poor vision is not the restaurant's fault. But I do have to ask why there is such a desire across seemingly every organisation now to print everything possible with the tiniest font they can manage? Even when there is lots of space available, fonts are typically tiny. Serial numbers are the worst culprits. My desktop PC is normal tower size and has its serial number printed on a tiny label in 1mm font. Why? Even my hated dishwasher uses a 2mm font size and that stretches my vision to its limits.
Yes, I am ageing, but that isn't a crime. When I was a school-kid, I took great pride in irritating my teachers by writing with the finest tipped ball-pen I could get (Bic extra-fine) in the smallest writing I could manage. I rarely submitted a homework without getting some comment back on my writing size. But then I grew up.
It makes me wonder whether increased printer capability is a problem rather than an asset. Yes, you can now print at 2000 dpi or more, and a character only needs a small grid so you can print small enough that a magnifying glass is needed for anyone to be able to read the text. But being physically able to print that small doesn't actually make it compulsory. So why does it make it irresistible to many people?
When I do conference presentations, if I use text at all, I make sure it is at least 16pt, preferably bigger. If it won't fit, I re-do the wording until it does. Some conferences that employ 'designers' come up with slide designs that contain a massive conference logo, bars on the side and bottom, title half way down the page, and any actual material has to be shrunk to fit in a small region of the slide with eye-straining font sizes on any key data. I generally refuse to comply when a conference employs such an idiot, but they are breeding fast. If someone can't easily read text from the back row, it is too small. It isn't actually the pinnacle of cool design to make it illegible.
Mobiles have small displays and small type is sometimes unavoidable, but even so, why design a wireless access login page with a minuscule login box that takes up a tiny fraction of the page? If there is nothing else on the page of any consequence apart from that login details box, why not fill the display with it? Why make it a millimetre high, and have loads of empty space and some branding crap, so that a user has to spend ages stretching it to make it the important bit usable? What is the point?
To me, good design isn't about making something that is pretty, that can eventually be used after a great deal of effort. It is about making something that does the job perfectly and simply and is pretty. A good designer can achieve form, simplicity of use and function. Only poor designers have to pick one and ignore the others.
The current trend to make text smaller and smaller is pointless and counter-productive. It will cause eye problems for younger people later in their lives. It certainly discriminates against a large proportion of the population that needs glasses. Worse, it does so without no clear benefit. Reading tiny text isn't especially pleasurable compared to larger text. It reduces quality of life for many without increasing it for anyone else.
It is time to end this stupid trend and send designers back to school if they are somehow convinced that illegibility is some sort of artistic goal.
The primary purpose of text is to communicate. If people can't easily read the text on your design, the communication is impeded, and your design is therefore crap. If you think you know better, and that tiny text is more attractive and that is what really counts, you should go back to school. Or find a better school and go to that one.


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The primary objective of Seolinkvine is placing one-way back links to exceedingly reputable websites with content related to what you have. This is done by adding the back links directly to the articles or even the resource boxes whichever is applicable. This software has a spinning feature that you will use to come up with your articles fast enough. The content has to be of high quality otherwise it might fail to recognize the links you add. In simple, you will have no shortcuts when dealing with Seolinkvine. Everything has to be gotten right and you will have your back linking turning to a success.
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Most of the back linking services is subscribed so your articles will disappear in case you choose to unsubscribe.
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subset: commoncrawl


text: My entire days climbing was over after 6 minutes - felt brilliant! I first tried this route in January with Brian Hall and Reece. The psyche was high but on arriving to the crag the top half of the route was soaking - theres a puddle at the top of the crag that holds water and pine needles and created a kind of biomass soup that runs down the route. Rather than abandon our goal i abbed down the line and with J-cloths in hand i tried to dry off the obvious holds and check the gear. Once on the ground we tied in and began trying the route ground (in the lads case) up above pads. I figured out the lower crux and placed the gear but by the time i got the hooks in i couldn't feel my hands due to the cold, wet crimps. The next crucial sidepull was covered in slime and i came off onto the hooks. Seven weeks later it went first go. Beautiful line and amazing rock. Brian has it int he bag too but due to holding the record for the most consecutive days climbing ever for any Irish person his skin was paper thin and got demolished by the rough gabbro before he could send the thing. Next time :)


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Social Security Disability Frequently Asked Questions
- I have been disabled from all work and my doctor tells me I will not be able to return to work for at least a year. Am I eligible for Social Security disability benefits? Probably, as long as you have worked at least five years in the ten years before you became disabled. Depending upon your age, you will need to be able to prove at the very least that you are unable to return to past relevant work (work you have done in the last 14 years) and perhaps you will need to be able to prove you cannot return to any work that is available in the national economy.
- My doctor has recommended that I apply for Social Security disability and has promised to assist me in getting benefits. Do I also need a lawyer to help me? Your doctor's opinion is a crucial piece of getting you benefits. Unfortunately, however, the Social Security Administration is more interested in your doctor's opinion about what your impairment is than whether the doctor believes you are capable of returning to work. Here at Moore & Jensen, we can work with your doctor to get the appropriate information from the doctor to the Social Security Administration to assist you in getting benefits.
- I have just applied for Social Security benefits. How long will it take for me to get an answer? The initial determination by the Social Security Administration will probably take three to four months. If you are turned down, you will receive a document entitled "Notice of Disapproved Claim." You can request reconsideration of this notice and that will take another three to four months. If you are turned down again, you will receive a document entitled "Notice of Reconsideration." At this point, you can request hearing and that may take as long as 18 months to get the hearing scheduled. The Social Security Administration is currently working very hard by sending judges in from all over the country to assist the Eugene Social Security office in dealing with these claims so that they can be decided on a more expedited basis. We will do everything we can to get the case prepared to make sure that there are no delays after the hearing date is set.
- I am disabled from work and I have no money and I have barely enough money to survive. How can afford to pay a lawyer? Here at Moore & Jensen, we, like all lawyers who represent claimants in Social Security disability cases, work on a contingency fee basis. We get paid out of your past due benefits, which means that we have to win in order to get those benefits for you and get only a portion of those benefits. You should feel free to contact us so that we can discuss that in more detail.


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For the second year in a row I have been invited to attend the Alicante University comic convention, 'Unicomic' on the east coast of Spain. Last year it clashed with our previously booked vacation at Center Parcs and I had to pass, but this year I was able to accept. It takes place at the end of the month and this will be my first professional appearance at a Spanish show. Planeta DeAgostini have already published all three Strangehaven volumes in Spanish.
The crucial dates are Thursday March 29th to Saturday 31st, and I am supposed to be taking part in some kind of 'conference' or 'talk' on the Friday afternoon.
I have no idea what to expect (you now know as much as I do), but the list of last year's guests was rather impressive; Stuart Immonen, Eduardo Risso and Michael Kaluta among them. Their website is still promoting last year's event, but I expect it will be updated sooner or later.
Alicante University Unicomic website
Friday, 9 March 2007
i'm taking the costa brava plane
Posted by Anonymous at 21:44
Labels: Comics Events
4 comments:
- smoky man said...
Great news, International Gary ;)
a big ciao from Sardinia
- 12 March 2007 at 09:29
- Francisco J. Ortiz said...
We're waiting for you in Spain! :-)
By the way: www.unicomic.es is already updated.
- 28 March 2007 at 08:09
- smoky man said...
give us news, Gary. Pliz ;)
- 22 June 2007 at 08:32
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- 29 January 2008 at 18:11
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Bethalto woman dies in single-car crash
SHIPMAN — A Bethalto woman died Tuesday in a single-car crash on Illinois Route 16.
According to an Illinois State Police report, 63-year-old Sandra Slezinger was going west near Walker Road at about 12:37 p.m. when her car went off the road and she over-corrected and lost control of the vehicle. Her 2008 Kia passenger car crossed the eastbound lane and went off the road again, hitting an embankment and rolling over.
Slezinger was pronounced dead at the scene by the Macoupin County coroner, state police said.
A passenger in the car, 83-year-old Thelma Branch of East Alton, was flown to St. Louis University Hospital. Her condition was unavailable.
The crash, which remains under investigation, resulted in the road being closed for about three hours.


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photo by Gene Monterastelli
As you may or may not know, since 1996 I have traveled the US and Canada speaking and performing as part of APeX Ministries. APeX is a Catholic Christian performance ministry that works with teens and because of this I am frequently asked about tapping from a Christian point of view.
Here are my thoughts on the topic. Please be warned that I am not speaking for Christians, Catholics, or any specific denomination. These are my thoughts and my thoughts alone. I would love your feedback in the comment section below.
Instead of tackling the topic all at once here are the four most common questions I am asked about the topic.
Is EFT evil and/or does it come from an evil place?
EFT is a mechanical process. If you follow the steps it will work. Much like an aspirin it will work even if you don't believe in it. There have been over 50 peer reviewed studies for using EFT with stress, PTSD, and physical issues and it is probable that in the next 12 months EFT will be considered an evidence based technique (check out summaries of the studies).
Often the problem isn't with EFT itself, but when it is combined with things that are not evidence based. Here is my favorite way to explain this concept:
We know that vitamin C is good for our health. Let's pretend that because it is good for our health people decide to start using it for other things. They start adding it to their shampoo to deal with dandruff, they add it to lotion to improve their skin, they sprinkle it in the garden to help their crops grow, and they make earrings out of it to keep evil spirits away.
Just because people are doing wacky things with vitamin C it doesn't stop it from keeping us healthy during cold and flu season, but it becomes much easier to dismiss its usefulness when it when it is surrounded by things that are less grounded.
I love the fact that EFT is something that is so easy to access and share, but it comes with the drawback that everyone who presents EFT becomes a spokesperson for EFT. Some people do this in a highly credible way, while others are less successful. I find it so frustrating when EFT websites have things like dragonflies and butterflies on them. Yes, they are cute, but they don't present this powerful healing tool in a very professional light.
When working with EFT it is important that you work with people you trust and learn from sources that share your world view to ensure you are getting what you need and what is the best fit for you.
Can EFT be useful for my spiritual journey?
I have found EFT to be an extremely powerful tool in my personal growth. Many of the ways it has been helpful has been with my spiritual journey and spiritual life, which is easiest to illustrate through an example:
I believe that I have been created worthy of God's unconditional love. It is not something that I have to earn in any way and it is always there. My problem isn't in believing in God's unconditional love, but the fact that I prevent myself from fully acknowledging and receiving it.
I will hear someone say "God loves you unconditionally" and the little voice in my head will pipe up, "That is true for others but not you," or "It would be true if you didn't do those horribly selfish things!" or "Maybe someday, but you are too much of a screw-up to be loved in that way right now."
Even though it is true that I am loved unconditionally by God, I end up living as if that isn't true.
EFT has been a powerful tool in my life in uprooting the beliefs around feeling unworthy of God's love. As I remove these beliefs it makes it easier and easier for me to see myself as God sees me.
EFT is no replacement for spiritual practices, an active prayer life, or participating in a supportive loving community of fellow believers who encourage us and keep us accountable. It is one more tool that we can add to our regular practice to keep us healthy and facilitate our growth and healing in conjunction with many other tools.
What is the deal with "We are all energy"?
In my mind this a case of a little information being dangerous. The statement itself is accurate. Everything in the universe is energy. Einstein's theory of relativity concerns this fact. E = m c ^2 says that an amount of matter (m) multiplied by a really big number (c ^ 2 is the speed of light squared) is equal to the amount of energy of which it is made.
In layman's terms that means if we were able to turn the coffee cup on your desk into its pure energy form, it would be enough energy to blow the state of Kansas off the face of the earth. (Just because that is true, doesn't mean it is easy. If it were easy we wouldn't need oil to provide power, but that is another issue.)
The place that people start to go astray is how they apply what this means for us in an EFT sense. There are ramifications for this fact on a quantum level, but I am not smart enough to explain them (also at this point most of our quantum understanding is theoretical).
Most of the people who speak in this way are doing it terms of the "Law of Attraction" (LOA). If you would like my opinion specifically about LOA check out this conversation I had with Carol Look.
Just know that you can use EFT for physical and emotional issues without having to concern yourself with this approach or these issues. If someone is speaking in LOA terms and it makes you uncomfortable, then steer clear of their resources. It means they are not the right fit for you. It doesn't mean that EFT is bad.
What about when people talk about that we are co-creators?
Often times Christians have trouble with the term co-creator. It can feel like by making a statement like this we are putting ourselves on the same level as God. I don't believe this is the case. I use this term in two ways.
First, I am a creature who has been given free will. My life does not unfold unless I am exercising my free will by making choices. I create my own experience, but I am not doing this on my own. My experience is also created by the choices that are made by those around me, in both positive and negative ways. Someone in my life can choose to give me a new job opportunity or someone can hit me with a car. In both instances their choices are impacting the life I am creating for myself and in that sense we are co-creating, i.e. creating together, my experience. We don't have an equal sense of how much we are contributing to this reality, but both parts are creating it together.
Second, I believe part of my calling from God is to exercise my free will and to create a meaningful life. I can only do this because I have been given life, gifts, talents, and opportunities from God. Again, in that sense my experience is created in a combination of what God has given me and the choices I make, in other words a co-creation. This does not imply an equivalence between me and God, simply a working together.
I hope you find my reflections helpful. I am still on my own learning journey and don't claim to have all (or any) of the answers. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please add your thoughts or questions below so others can benefit from them, or drop me a note to let me know what is on your mind on the contact page.


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Roulette Explained
This game is generally played in all online and brick & mortar casinos of Europe and USA. Roulette is so named because it is played by rotating a large disc with 37 / 38 pockets with various colors and each with a different number.
When a bet is placed by a player, a small ball is placed on the tilted track on the circumference of the disc and rotated speedily on the opposite direction of the wheel. When both parts of the disc are turned round by croupier of the casino, subsequently the ball falls off in one of the pockets of the base disc. If the number or color of the pocket where the ball drops in, matches that of the bet placed, the player wins.
Rules of Roulette
The players have some choices in betting, they can either bet inside i.e. tell the exact number of the pocket or a small series of pockets in the disc; or they can bet outside i.e. select a specific set of colors of the pockets or according to odd or even numbering of the pockets. Any player can go on betting when the ball is still spinning on the wheel, till the game is called off by the dealer of the table in Roulette game.
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|Texas Holdem
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Slipping a small run of CD-Rs through the cracks as we find the appropriate time to indulge in words and abstract meaning, taking the time to partner up with a long-running favourite, now fully two-headed and packed with bonus dada data, at the intersection of words-losing-meaning and sounds-becoming-something-else, we go headlamp first into the scenic wilds and foliage-like discordant fray.
The royal we is really just two, myself and Joe Murray, who records as Posset, and we have a split album for your listening pleasure.
Where his side embraces the free moaning blues hum and sustain of voice-as-instrument, claustrophic and multiplying, his wordplay relevant and illuminated rightly to hear the words enunciated to lessen their blow, my side journeys through a voice-in-the-woods atmosphere that eventually hits an elevating shore and field of grazing goats, if I were to put an image to it.
The words lose traction throughout despite our combining efforts at storytelling, forms triangulating to shake free, slipping through the speakers and microphone holds, gathering loose like under the barber's broom, to be recycled yet again once found.
Placement, and editing: where we both end up isn't where we tend to start from, layers of sonic nothingness, be it everyday rituals or outside playing-around, in coordinated stabs at concept, ideas taped and typed over to start again, misused slices of life that alternate the reality we're after – sculpting with nihilist tools our being left alone can backfire, our willingness to try it all out forever carries it under the recording lights. Everything's a moment to record when those perfect playback results don't necessarily matter. Pitch and direction and cover-up then, piling on, magnetic timeframes collecting disparate dust like a series of stones getting re-wet, continuous splashes, touching and moving past the same spots, lengths of time the dust that moves from one segment to the next in recorded-over legacy, what remains remains, winner take all then. This is the sound of the water right before it hits rock, if I were to put an image to it.
CD-Rs were burned in a small run of 20 copies, and each home-prepared package includes the disc itself, two black-and-white photo prints by myself and three text art pieces by Joe, and a small zine 'Dry Air in Voice' that I collaborated on with my good friend Ryan Waldron. I wrote a longer poem and he illustrated it, randomized it, turned it into a chance collage, and put it all together. The 20 envelopes include all of this, each part only available as part of this total package, and I think priced fairly cheaply. I hope you are interested in grabbing one. Digital files are free, available to stream and download at Bandcamp and on Free Music Archive.
From the both of us, we hope you dig it and can pass it on.
Bonus, if interested in future new release info and general riff raff blather, please sign up to the Power Moves Library / Excavation Series Tinyletter I've just fired up.


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About The Shaft by Scott Delaney
It is December 2017 and a sweeping religious movement is gaining traction in the United States. As spiritual leaders diligently work to spread the Word of God to the people, liberal factions in the world of pharmaceutical and scientific development create a secret society with a dark mission: to thwart the group's conservative impact on what society considers to be morally acceptable. As a string of church-related murders plague the nation, the FBI and local authorities race to locate the assassin responsible.
When the members of the secret society realize that the murders are not stopping or slowing the threat, they resort to kidnapping. One of their abductees is Andrew Morrison, a key leader of "The Call" ministry. After he manages to escape from his captors in Texas, he must identify and locate his family as well as the killer of many of his friends that were fellow leaders in this ministry. But as angelic hosts enter the scene to protect and intervene, now only time will tell who will win this compelling battle of good versus evil as a church movement attempts to make a meaningful impact on the world.
In this riveting supernatural thriller, a chilling murder spree places a church leader in the crosshairs of a killer determined to stop a religious movement.
This Thriller book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print


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An amazing truth which we might not think of is that we have only two options available and they are time and money, we can choose either of them but we can't have both of them, there are exceptions to this as well but I am talking about the general/average/normal/next door people like me. Think about the days and nights that you consumed in your dreams and idle sitting … off course you got time to do that because you don't have incoming money…. And when you have incoming money when you have worked you cannot have days and nights of dreaming and watching TV.
We can decide to do a full time job, can also pick up a part time job to go with full time job , can go to gym, can blog, can get entertained on weekends, can have a life or we can make excuses that we need time to analyze things in a better way, a better word would be soul searching, want to become businessmen with less than a year experience about the business, thinking of shortcuts to make huge money, thinking about all the other people you know who are rich or lucky, cursing God that we did not got any luck, money or girl, justifying the irrational thoughts and ideas which keeps popping in your idle brain to whoever asks why are you not doing something with your life and they would only be your parents, close friends or girl friend( assuming she is still with you even when you are unemployed, you got to be as sexy as Bradley cooper ;), times are changing … WAKE UP). Start working, start running, start full time, start part time……….. Let's just KICK START…..
Image courtesy : http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1499


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The brightest star at the court of King Charles II, John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647-80), lived a life of reckless debauchery and sexual adventuring that led to his death at the age of thirty-three - described by Samuel Johnson as having 'blazed out his youth and health in lavish voluptuousness'. Rochester was also one of the wittiest and most complex poets of the seventeenth century, writing comic verse, scurrilous satires and highly explicit erotica - from the bawdy self-portrait in 'The Maimed Debauchee' and the tender passion of 'Absent from thee I languish still' to the comic world-weariness of 'Upon Nothing' and 'A Satyr against Mankind', which mocks human follies. With endless literary disguises, rhymes and alliteration, humour and humanity, Rochester's poems hold up a mirror to the extravagances and absurdities of his age.
Epub (Kobo), Epub (Adobe) Publication Date: 07/10/2004


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Attainium's Business Continuity NewsBriefs
- Subscribe to our NewsBriefs & Blog, which provide current information on topics related to business continuity, emergency response, disaster recovery, and crisis management.
- Unsubscribe from the NewsBriefs & Blog.
January 31, 2018 - According to many recent surveys, ransomware is expected to be a (if not THE) leading cyber threat of 2018. Some report that 63% of businesses have experienced attempted ransomware attacks. Everything is vulnerable to these attacks; even our cars and home appliances can be at risk. The newest predictions say that ransomware will hit the cloud this year. Given all of this, it's time to learn all we can about this threat and how we might protect ourselves.
Risk Management & Business Continuity
January 24, 2018 - Teddy Roosevelt said "Risk is like fire: If controlled it will help you; if uncontrolled it will rise up and destroy you." His words are indicative of his understanding of the benefits and dangers of risk. He was himself a risk taker, but he knew the importance of controlling risk. In this issue we are looking at assessing/managing risk – whether it benefits us, how it benefits us, and what are the best approaches. What are your thoughts?
Business Continuity and the Cloud
January 17, 2018 - Have you migrated to the cloud or are you thinking of doing so? There are lots of legitimate concerns about such a move, but there are also lots of ways to make the migration easier and safer. You should have a good business continuity plan that addresses some of your concerns (like what do you do if your cloud provider goes belly up?) so you can act if problems arise. You may find some helpful information in this issue.
Crisis Management
January 10, 2018 - There are so many terms that are used (and misused) for crisis management... among them disaster recovery, incident management, and business continuity. They are all unique, yet all interrelated. This issue attempts to clarify exactly what crisis management is as compared to the other terms and to provide some guidance on preparing your organization for managing a crisis.
Business Continuity Trends & Challenges in 2018
January 3, 2018 - Many experts (IT, Cybersecurity, etc.) have been making their predictions for what business continuity challenges we will face in 2018. In this issue, we bring some of these predictions to you... will they change the way you're handling business continuity today? Take a look and see if there are some things you need to change for 2018.
Safety at Home
December 13, 2017 - Although we are concerned with safety throughout the year, at the holidays we are especially diligent that our families are safe. For this reason, we offer these articles to guide you and your family safely through the season. And remember that many of these tips can apply to the workplace as well.
Testing and Training Your Business Continuity Plan
December 6, 2017 - Some say the most valuable outcome of a test is failure, because from failure you can learn where the faults are and you can make corrections. At the very least you should be able to run the test and identify any weaknesses. These articles address the need for testing and for training your people what's required to their roles.
Winter Weather
November 29, 2017 - You just never know what weather surprises Mother Nature has in store for the winter, so it's best to be as prepared as possible for whatever challenges arise. We all are familiar with some of the problems... blizzards that prevent employees from getting to work (or getting home); power losses that can span days; frozen pipes, flooding or other building damages; and more. If you haven't thought about what you might be facing this winter, these articles can help you figure out where your planning runs short and what you can do about it.
Flu and Business Continuity
November 15, 2017 - Flu season is creeping up on us and that means employees home sick or slowed down at the office by flu symptoms. There does not seem to be any flu pandemic on the near horizon, so at least we don't have that to worry about this year, but experts seem to think that a pandemic is coming (It is about 100 years since the Spanish flu epidemic killed millions worldwide). We need to ensure that we have plans in place to help prevent the spread of flu in the workplace. But we also need to be thinking long-term and look at how we should update our business continuity plans to help us deal with whatever is ahead.
Holiday Parties
November 8, 2017 - With Christmas less than 50 days away, many employers' thoughts turn to holiday parties. At first glance, you might say, "What do holiday parties have to do with business continuity?" But think about it... many of the holiday activities both in the workplace and outside it can create risky situations (food poisoning, sexual harassment, drunken driving) that might end in liability for your company. And liabilities can endanger your bottom line. These articles were chosen to help you avoid potentially litigious and unsafe situations.
After a Disaster...
November 1, 2017 - Most of us have planned carefully for all the things that can go wrong and have plans in place to mitigate the effects of various disasters. But have you thought about the period after the disaster is over? Do you know what you are going to do to overcome the challenge of insufficient funding while the business gets back on its feet? What about recovering records? And getting employees back to work if the workplace is gone? These articles might help you consider what must be done right after the disruption but before things are back to whatever passes for normal at that point.
More Articles ...
- Business Continuity Planning - 10-25-2017 - Business Continuity NewsBriefs
- Risk Management - 10-18-2017 - Business Continuity NewsBriefs
- Crisis Response & Communication - 10-11-2017 - Business Continuity NewsBriefs
- Cyber Security Awareness - 10-04-2017 - Business Continuity NewsBriefs
- Fire Preparedness - 09-27-2017 - Business Continuity NewsBriefs
- Emergency Notification Systems (ENS) - 09-20-2017 - Business Continuity NewsBriefs


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Construction Law
For assistance with your construction law enquiry, please contact Janeen Davis at email@example.com or 613-544-0211, x8017.
The Construction Law Group has broad litigation experience ranging from multi-million dollar commercial and infrastructure projects to residential and retail construction disputes. Our lawyers understand the implications of problems in a build and can provide our clients with the tools needed to control the financial and cost exposures that result from construction disputes.
We are pleased to provide strategic, tactical and litigation services across all aspects of the construction industry, including:
- Construction Liens – whether an owner, lender, general contractor or subcontractors down the payment chain, we can provide practical advice and immediate action to get construction liens registered or move quickly to discharge and defend against liens that threaten project financing and timely completion;
- Lien Litigation – we have successfully represented both plaintiff and defendant clients in lien related litigation across a broad range of projects;
- Institutional and Commercial Construction Projects – our lawyers have acted for a variety of private and public sector clients on projects ranging from the construction of condominium/commercial spaces to large retail facility builds to new municipal infrastructure development;
- Residential Builds and Refurbishment Projects – we have acted for both owners and contractors in disputes involving allegations of breach of contract and negligence;
- Tarion Warranty Corporation – we have the experience necessary to fight back against Tarion prosecutions and deal with all forms of litigation and arbitration arising from out of the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act and new residential builds;
- Contract Drafting and Advice – we are consulted frequently to review standard form contracts or to draft specialized contracts as may be required;
- Professional Negligence – we have acted for professionals who find themselves as defendants facing allegations of breach of trust, breach of contract and negligence;
- Debt Enforcement – after achieving Judgment we have pursued debtors to seize property and other assets arising from construction litigation.


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Walmart Exceeds Wall Street's Expectations; Oil Prices Fall Below $75 a Barrel
Stocks end the day slightly up after experiencing a roller coaster of a day. The Dow also managed to squeak out another record close while the S&P 500 fell short. Stocks can thank Walmart (WMT) for ending slightly higher as the nation's largest retailer released a better-than-expected expected earnings report. Crude oil prices continue to fall, plunging below $75 a barrel for the first time in 4 years. Crude oil fell 4%, or $2.97, to end at $74.21 today; oil is currently down 31% since late June and hit its lowest level since September of 2010.
Word on the Street
- Do we have a tech bubble 2.0 on our hands?
- Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) up 30% since joining the NYSE.
- Hachette and Amazon (AMZN) settle pricing dispute.
- Apple (AAPL) delays 12.9-inch iPad.
- Tesla (TSLA) experiencing a shortage of skilled labor in Nevada.
- DreamWorks (DWA) in acquisition talks with Hasbro.
Interesting Tidbits
- The best personal finance tools to help manage your money.
- InvestorGuide's CEO on the difference between investing & gambling.
Published on Nov 13, 2014By InvestorGuide Staff
Posted in ...Market Commentary Daily Market Commentary


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Cole Kayser and his father admire Coles' 2012 Wyoming mule deer. Cole is an avid shooter and learned much of his shooting skills through 4-H Shooting Sports.
Cole Kayser tries his hand at lever action rifle shooting at the NRA Whittington Center
Metal silhouettes are the norm for most of the rifle ranges at the Whittington Center.
Silhouette targets at the NRA Whittington Center
Cole Kayser plinking at the NRA Whittington Center
Cole testing his AR at the NRA Whittington Center.
Cole tackles long-range targets.
COle checking his firearm inventory before leaving to the NRA Whittington Center
Cole packs up the car for the 4-H Shooting Stars competition.
Horses, hogs, cats, cattle, cakes and crafts oftentimes pop into your mind with the mention of 4-H. Dig a little deeper into the nationwide youth organization and you'll discover a shooting program that encompasses urban and rural youth with a full lineup of shooting disciplines to satisfy any young shooter.
The 4-H Shooting Sports program provides firearm safety and instruction in a supervised setting. After the youth become familiar and comfortable with the firearms of their choosing, the organization offers scheduled practice with the chance for competitive challenges. Youth from ages eight to 18 learn firearm safety and then are introduced to shooting disciplines, including air rifle, air pistol, .22 rifle, .22 pistol, muzzleloader, shotgun sports and archery. If your family doesn't have access to firearms or archery equipment, many of the clubs own different firearms for club use, and others partner with local sportsmen's associations to use their facilities and firearms.
County and state competitions allow qualified shooters to advance to national shooting matches. In addition to competition, 4-H Shooting Sports members learn about hunting principles, archery strategies and conservation ethics. This education creates self-worth and satisfaction, plus the chance to achieve marksmanship goals.
Trip To Whittington
Wyoming takes the program one step further by partnering with the NRA's Whittington Center, a premier shooting range facility located in the mountains 10 miles southwest of Raton, New Mexico. To applaud the efforts of top point winners at the Wyoming State 4-H Shoot, 14 members are selected each year to attend an awards trip to the Whittington Center. Twelve youth winners receive the award solely based on their shooting skills during the state competition, and two additional winners receive the award based on the review of submitted portfolios. If these portfolios emphasize an outstanding passion for shooting sports, they'll also be invited along for the honor. Youth only receive the invitation once, and if you decline the opportunity, you will not have the opportunity to take part in the event again. Last year my son, Cole, was awarded this honor, and with it, our first visit to the shooting facilities at the NRA's Whittington Center.
During the tour, you immediately begin to experience the immense size of the facility—33,000 acres—plus the numerous ranges nestled in the valleys and canyons throughout. In 2013, the center celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Many ranges are covered for weather shelter, and shooting tables and seats are provided. The shotgun area includes skeet, sporting clays, trap and a clubhouse facility for dining or social events. The welcome center also encompasses the Frank Brownell Museum of the Southwest. Historic firearms of the region and pioneer era highlight displays, but you'll also discover historic exhibits on warfare firearms and Native American history of the region.
A multi-day visit is necessary to fully appreciate the offerings at the center, and there are housing accommodations on site. RVers will appreciate the full hookups at the campground. Tent campers are also welcome. Competitors and visitors have access to the competitor housing units that can accommodate 90 guests. If you like it more rustic, the center has an area set aside with 11 log cabins. This is where the Wyoming 4-H delegation set up base camp for the weekend shoot.
Gearing Up
After Cole discovered that he had won the coveted trip to the Whittington Center hosted by the Wyoming 4-H Shooting Sports' volunteers, his local instructors advised him to take along plenty of ammunition and firearms to shoot. It didn't take him long to inventory our ammunition resources and ask me to contact my friends at Hornady for a boost. Neil Davies, a good friend of mine and the sales and marketing manager at Hornady, was happy to set us up with some additional cartridges for the trip. I also tapped into my contacts at Nikon and Thompson/Center to round out our arsenal.
Before our departure we had the truck loaded with more than enough rubber totes filled to the brim with ammunition to cater to any shooting discipline. The bulk of Cole's ammunition stockpile consisted of .22 LR, but he also padded the container with ample reserves of .223 Remington and .30 TC. His favorite firearm to shoot is his Smith & Wesson M&P15 customized with a variety of Magpul accessories. With hunting season just around the corner, he also realized the trip would be the perfect opportunity to check the zero on his T/C Icon .30 TC, his main hunting rifle. I also brought along my T/C Dimension and Venture, both in .300 Winchester Magnum, to confirm zeros and ready for my months of hunting ahead.
Holy Grail
Arriving late on a Wednesday in early September gave us three solid days of shooting before a Sunday departure. The group of 14 included boys and girls from across Wyoming eager to hit the different ranges, and a daily plan was set so everyone would get a taste of all that the Whittington Center has to offer.
Metal silhouettes are the norm for most of the rifle ranges, and for Cole and I, the high-power rifle silhouette range was a favorite. Targets ranged from the 200-meter chicken silhouettes to the rams sitting solidly at 500 meters. Pigs were stationed at 300 meters, and turkeys at 400 meters.
After pounding our way through the foursome of metal targets, we eyed the far hillside behind the range for a true challenge. The white buffalo metal silhouette, a 6-foot-by-10-foot target, sits a distant 1,025 meters (or 1,123 yards) from the shooting bench. It's the holy grail of targets everyone hopes to ding during a visit to the high-power silhouette range.
Cole was up first with the .30 T/C rifle, and I commanded spotter duties through my Nikon EDG spotting scope. It took six shots for Cole to begin pounding bison like Wyoming's iconic frontier character, Buffalo Bill Cody. In a rare performance of topping my son, I had my T/C Venture dialed into the buffalo after four shots.
If your local shooting sports program doesn't offer a similar awards trip, then simply contact the Whittington Center directly and inquire about their Adventure program. Instructors teach youth about firearm safety, shooting skills, wilderness skills, hunting tactics, tracking knowledge and backcountry camping. When you finish the program, you'll leave a well-rounded outdoor person and have hunter safety certification from the state of New Mexico.
By the time we packed to leave on Sunday, our ammunition totes were pounds lighter and our rifle barrels a bit more worn. Nevertheless, the shooting experience for us and for the other Wyoming youth involved cemented a foundation for a future of shooting enjoyment ahead. The trip to the Whittington Center certainly won't be our last.
For more information, check out these helpful sites: nrawc.org. and 4-hshootingsports.org. Both are worth the trip!
This article originally published in THE NEW PIONEER® Fall 2014 issue. Print and Digital Subscriptions to THE NEW PIONEER magazine are available here
Related Stories: Family Hiking the Appalachian Trail
Caring For Crosscut Saws
Be your own saw doctor! Learn how to sharpen your hand-powered saw for reliable...
by Jim Dickson / Oct 10, 2014


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Project information
DisciplinesProject Management
ClientTU Delft FMVG
Project size30.000 m2 GFA
Start of project2017
Consulting servicesComplete Project management
The TN Building is an iconic building of the University of Delft along the Mekel Park, next to the Auditorium. The TN Building is outdated in terms of installations and facilities. The building consists now of 43,000 m2 GFA in a ' rake shaped ' map. After demolition of a part of the building and the addition of a new part with vibration-free floors (VC-E), modern educational facilities and labs, a compact building is created that meets the modern requirements.
Various departments of the Faculty of Applied Sciences will be housed in the building, including education and general services, and also the QuTech center, the National Icon that seeks to develop the quantum computer and quantum internet.
Partly on Aronsohn's initiative the decision was made to renovate the building in 1 phase. The part that is not renovated will first be made suitable for the accommodation of all laboratories. After the redevelopment is completed the new building will put into use and the remaining parts of the building will be demolished. Aronsohn Management provides the project management of both the redevelopment as the temporary housing.


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Mahershala Ali plays, get this, a man haunted by his past
After the beautifully-shot trainwreck that was True Detective season two — a TV show about Colin Farrell fat-shaming his son while Vince Vaughn scowled — it looks like HBO's crime anthology series is back on track with this latest trailer for season three. And you know what? It looks great.
Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali will play Wayne Hays, a detective haunted by a past case in which two children disappeared in the Ozarks. The storyline will take place "across three decades," with Ali playing Hays as the detective on the case, the detective ten years later re-examining the case, and a retired cop, reflecting on the still-unsolved disappearance.
The first season, written by Nic Pizzolatto and directed by Cary Fukunaga, was a masterclass in dueling timelines storytelling, and the trailer for the show's third installment points to a return for the darker, more streamlined storytelling of the first. Ali will be joined in the cast by Stephen Dorff, Scoot McNairy, and Carmen Ejogo.
True Detective season three will begin airing 13 January, 2019
Now read:
See inside U2 bassist Adam Clayton's amazing watch collection
The Little Drummer Girl shows that modern anti-Semitism is stuck in the Seventies
What news from Westeros? Everything we know about Game Of Thrones season 8


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Bunny, Derek and Andy pop pro plus pills and talk about this weeks episode in a vain attempt to stay awake… forever! And the near exhausted Nic tells all about the recent Doctor Who Festival before passing out through exhaustion.
Mark Gatiss
Episode 70 – Off with off with his head!
Bunny, Derek, Andy and Alan get together to see if 'Robot of Sherwood' makes them all merry men. But just what has been chopped out of this weeks episode? Amid the laughter and hijinks there is a deep sense of loss as Andy reveals some disappointing news about the 50th Special Blu-ray box set.
Episode 69 – Just how into the Dalek are we?
Bunny Galore picks a suitably risque episode number to join the podcast team. This week the patter non stop gang talk about Into the Dalek, Danny Pink, Peter Capaldi, Clara, sound mixes, Mark Gatiss, Stephen Moffat, and much, much more. (Everything except the kitchen sink and missing episodes). Just what do they think of this strange new Doctor with the attack eyebrows?
Episode 43 – The Crimson Hurrah!
Andy, Derek and Alan investigate whether lightning has struck twice for Mark Gatiss or if the crimson in this weeks episode is from red cheeks of embarrassment.
And Eddie drops in with a couple of spoilers for this weeks episode: "Nightmare in Silver". Catch them before the spoiler ninja's catch him.
Warning: Contains some minor spoilers (but the podcast does warn before they start)
Things That Go Bump In The Night
While trying out a new intro for the podcast, Derek is joined by Andy and Kyle to discuss episode 8 of series 6: Night Terrors. With the Outpost Skaro staff previously being lukewarm on episodes from Mark Gatiss, will this one turn things around?


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Archie quite likes to pose for shots these days - he has to look all mean and moody though!
Looks like my 'A' for Archie has gone AWOL! Why do I not notice these things before uploading?!!
::All Designer Digitals::
Studio DD (elements from)
Layer Works No. 296
Maybe Not Kit
Away We Go Brushes and Stamps Value Pack
Away We Go Kit
Spring Twists No. 01
Maplebrook Studios
Just Linens Paper Pack No. 50
Thankyou for looking


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There was a lot of talk about how big of a risk Guardians of the Galaxy was for Marvel Studios, and on some level it was. But after the film's massive box office success (it's currently the highest grossing film of the year stateside), it became clear that the Marvel brand has now somewhat overshadowed the studio's actual content—audiences trust that a Marvel movie will be fun, humorous, and entertaining, and so there's a certain amount of built-in audience Marvel can expect for the properties that the studio chooses to develop. When Chris Pratt hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend, the variety series opted to poke some fun at this notion by putting together a trailer for some of Marvel's other upcoming projects. Personally, I would buy a ticket for Pam 2: The Winter Pam in a heartbeat.
Watch the Marvel SNL parody video after the jump, and prepare yourself for Fancy Ghosts.


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RFQ - Mobile Tensaw Delta Watershed Management Planning
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS: The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program seeks a qualified environmental planning, engineering, natural resource planning, or other similar firm to prepare a Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan for the Mobile Tensaw Delta complex of watersheds in Mobile and Baldwin counties, Alabama.
A Request for Qualifications process is being used to select a firm who can develop such a conceptual engineering master plan based on new and available data. A mandatory pre-submittal conference will be conducted at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday, August 7th, 2019 at the International Trade Center located at 250 N. Water Street, Mobile, AL 36602.
Statements must be received no later than 3:00 p.m. CDT, Friday, August 23rd, 2019. Inquiries should be directed to: Christian Miller, firstname.lastname@example.com 251-459-8871. The most recent RFQ from MBNEP's Website.


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You've heard of drunk driving, but what about drunk droning? That's what's on track to become a new crime in the state of New Jersey after lawmakers voted to approve the new bill. Reuters reported last week that this proposed law, Senate Bill S-3370, is part of a movement among ...Read More »
Daily Archives: January 10, 2018
Rare 'Fake Leica' Sculpture Shows Up on eBay for $100,000
A famous and rare stainless steel "fake Leica" camera sculpture has popped up on eBay. The asking price: $99,995 with $350 economy shipping. We first reported on this sculpture back in 2011. It was created by Chinese artist Liao Yibai, who made three 772lb (350kg) sculptures that were subsequently displayed ...Read More »
Couple Sends Wedding Photographer 30-Page Critique of Their Photos
Ah, the joys of dealing with difficult clients as a wedding photographer. A dissatisfied newlywed couple in Hong Kong recently sent their wedding photographer a giant 30-page document to point out flaws in bad photos they had received. DCFever reports that the couple spent an incredible amount of time meticulously ...Read More »
How to Do a Photo Shoot from Start to Finish, From Planning to Editing
Photographers Rachel and Daniel of Mango Street have released a 5-part video tutorial series that teaches how to plan a shoot, find a suitable location, secure the ideal model, conduct the shoot, and edit the results. The shoot was conducted using a Canon 5D Mark IV and a Hasselblad x1D. Thoughts on ...Read More »
Photographers, We Are Better Than That
It was a classic NCAA Championship game. Perennial powerhouse Alabama comes back to tie the game in regulation and then win it in overtime. The game-winning play was a 2nd down, 41-yard heave-ho into the end zone that broke a lot of Georgia fan's hearts. It was a play that ...Read More »
Google Unveils Two Point-and-Shoot VR Cameras by Lenovo and Yi
Google has just unveiled two new VR point-and-shoot cameras that are capable of harnessing YouTube's VR180 format. The two cameras, the Lenovo Mirage and the Yi Horizon VR180, were announced at CES 2018. The VR180 format is not a complete 360-degree viewpoint but instead allows for an extremely large field of view ...Read More »
Kodak Stock Shoots Up 300%+ Thanks to Cryptomania
Kodak made waves yesterday when it announced that it will be joining the cryptocurrency craze by launching a new cryptocurrency of its own, called KodakCoin. And because it's 2018, Kodak's once-hopeless stock price was up over 300% when the market opened today. Prior to yesterday's midday announcement, Kodak's stock price ...Read More »


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Eli Ridder | @EliRidder
A survey completed in April found that 47 per cent of inclined South Africans who have never previously owned cryptocurrency are planning to invest via direct purchases or through other means in 2018.
"Of the survey respondents who do not own or who have never owned cryptocurrency, almost 50 per cent said they plan to invest in an aspect of cryptocurrency or crypto mining in 2018," the MyBroadband 2018 Cryptocurrency Survey reported.
South Africa has the strongest economy on the African continent, and despite recent actions by the country's Revenue Authority to impose taxes on cryptocurrencies", digital finances such as Bitcoin are booming nationally, according to local media.
Twenty-five per cent said they will invest in crypto, 15 per cent said both the digital money and mining and 7 per cent said just mining in their responses to the survey.
However, MyBroadband does note that the survey was taken by over 1,000 of its readers and represents the opinions of largely "tech-savvy South Africans" towards digital money, with 78 pre cent of the respondents saying they already owned or had owned cryptocurrency.
Africa, Crypto
Many analysts say that the continent of Africa is an attractive environment for cryptocurrencies to take root as its residents aim to avoid expensive and outdated banking systems utilized by sometimes corrupt governments.
Weighed down by third world economic infrastructure across many of the African nations, many have utilized the smartphone as a tool for a means of payment, and thus tapped into currencies such as Bitcoin.
The continental crypto community in February launched Nuru Coin, a multinational currency aimed a facilitating trade and providing financial services to those that would otherwise never open a traditional bank account.
An analysis produced by the Coin Telegraph details the approach to crypto by many African governments, but makes clear that the region is far from any unity on the topic.
In the developed world, most governments are allowing crypto to continue without a ban, but other administrations. such as India, have banned digital money, sometimes in favour of a regulated currency.


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Tiffani Thiessen
163 Fans
Jan. 23rd, 1974
Born in
Long Beach, California, USA
5' 5
Tiffani Thiessen's Main TV Roles
Main Movie Roles
Guest TV Roles[none found]
Tiffani Thiessen (born Tiffani Amber Thiessen January 23, 1974) is an American actress. She played Kelly Kapowski on Saved by the Bell and Valerie Malone on Beverly Hills, 90210. She also starred in Fastlane as Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers. Her most recent recurring role is as Elizabeth Burke in the USA Network television series White Collar.
Born in Long Beach, California, USA, to Frank Thiessen, a park designer, and Robyn Ernest, a homemaker. She grew up in Long Beach with her parents and her brothers, professional cyclist Todd (b. 1968) and Schuyler (b. 1977). When Thiessen was 8, her uncle, Roger Ernest, suggested that she try acting and modeling. Soon afterward, she appeared in her first TV commercial, for Peaches and Cream Barbie. From there she started competing in several beauty pageants and, in 1987, she won the Miss Junior America pageant.
She got her big-screen break when she was cast as the popular cheerleader Kelly Kapowski on the NBC series Saved by the Bell (1989), which lasted for five years. But this was not at all the end of her career. Coinciding with the cancellation of the short-lived Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993), she was cast as the bitchy, conniving vixen Valerie Malone on Aaron Spelling long-running hit series Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990). Here, she played the constant enemy of Kelly Taylor, played by 'Jennie Garth, although in real life, the two are actually best friends.
In early 1992, Thiessen started dating Brian Austin Green, introduced by mutual friend David Faustino; they moved in together in July 1994, but they broke up in the fall of the next year. She stayed with the show until 1998 and then left to pursue her movie career. The result was two independent movies, followed by two comedies and then Hollywood Ending (2002), in which she starred alongside Woody Allen.
In 1999, she went through a difficult period in her personal life, when David Strickland, also an actor, whom she had begun dating, committed suicide. From 2001 to the spring of 2003, she was engaged to actor Richard Ruccolo, whom she had met during the Two Guys and a Girl run. She married actor Brady Smith (July 9, 2005), and gave birth to their daughter, Harper Renn Smith, (June 15, 2010).
Thiessen served as maid of honor at 90210 co-star and best friend Jennie Garth's wedding to actor Peter Facinelli (Twilight Saga), with whom she co-starred on Fastlane. Garth and Thiessen's friendship has since come to an end. Her friendship with fellow 90210 star Tori Spelling also broke up, after Spelling's split from her first husband.
In 2013, she participated in the One Bag party for April for Earth Month, in which Glad promoted "clean, green living".
- Made Cover Girl Magazine's Model of the Year [1989]
- Admitted an ongoing struggle to fit Hollywood's waifish beauty ideal.
- Broke off engagement with actor 'Richard Ruccolo' (qv) in April 2003.
- Attended Valley Professional High School in Studio City, California; named class valedictorian in 1992.
- Ranked #43 in _"100 Greatest Teen Stars" (2006)_ (qv).
- Her middle name Amber, was chosen by her grandmother. She initially dropped it from her name professionally, in order to be taken more seriously as an actress.
- Early on into production, was considered for the role of Corley James in her movie _Just Pray (2005)_ (qv) before becoming director of the film.
- Won the CLCA Green Image Award presented by the "Green Expo/Green Image Awards" for her contributions to help residents learn sustainable living techniques and support the California Green Movement [2009].
Related sites for this celeb
» BuddyTV
» TVGuide
» AceShowbiz
» Celebrity-Mania
» Zap2it.com
» BuddyTV
» TVGuide
» AceShowbiz
» Celebrity-Mania
» Zap2it.com


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Friday, April 26, 2013
How to Buy a Boxy Colonial in 143 Easy Steps
Up until December 2011, we had no plans to move at all. I mean, we thought about it from time to time, but for the most part we figured we'd just have to stay put. The housing market was no good for selling, our house was....fine, and the payments were cheap. It was close to Dave's job. While all of these were very practical reasons for staying where we were, we still didn't really want to. We were close to Dave's job, but not to anything else. I spent tons of time driving kids all over the place. The house was not tiny by any means (just under 1900 square feet), but with the kids getting older we were realizing we wouldn't mind a little more space to stretch out in. But still....housing market! Moving is hard! Etc.!
But then, in December, we were jarred out of our complacency by a sort of wild hope that we might be able to buy my late grandparents' house. Long story short: that didn't work out. But the more we thought about really and truly moving, the more reasonable it seemed. Sure, we'd lose money on that house, but we'd get a great deal on the next one and interest rates were crazy low. We called a realtor, starting working frantically to get our house ready to sell, and began exploring the fairly small area that was close to friends and kid activities but not too much longer of a commute for Dave (he's since transferred to a closer school, but we had no idea that would happen at the time).
I'll save the house selling story for another time. To sum up: it was a lot of hard, stressful work; we had TWO offers fall through before one finally stuck; we did indeed lose money; and we wound up with two mortgages for a few months (which was only possible thanks to the very creative financing our mortgage holders--who, it just so happens, are my in-laws--helped us out with).
We looked at far more houses before buying the Boxy Colonial than in either of our other house buying experiences. Our first house, in Boston, we actually saw as an open house before we were ready to really start looking, then fell in love with it and scrambled to make it happen.
(I snagged a picture of it off of google maps street view. Isn't it cute? The picture makes it look kind of weird. But look how close the neighbors were! I am not really cut out for the city, it turns out. Or landlording. ANOTHER story)
And then with the next house, we were moving from Boston, so we only had a couple of days while we were down here for Christmas to look. We looked at half a dozen houses or so and then picked the best one.
But this time we had forever to look while we were waiting on our house to sell.
Our first day of house hunting was pretty encouraging. We looked at three houses in our price range, and all of them were varying degrees of acceptable.
The first one was our favorite for a long time, and would have been strong competition for the Boxy Colonial had it not sold before we were ready to make an offer:
It was HUGE (the only one we looked at over 3,000 square feet, I think), and it had 5 bedrooms, which was the hardest to find thing on our wish list. It had an absolutely enormous great room with hardwood floors that Dave and I were both in love with. And the part the kids liked the best was that there was this deeply bizarre SECRET ROOM halfway up the stairs....it had this little door sort of floating halfway up the wall in the stairway. It was a challenge to get into it, but then it opened up into this groovy secret hideout sort of place. I really wanted to give the kids a house with a secret room. But I also was worried about them jumping around in it at all hours immediately above the dining room. The main drawbacks of this house were that it had no basement and it backed up to a busy road. Oh, and it had this seriously quirky floor plan. Which most people would see as a drawback, but I thought it was awesome. Aside from the strange hobbit room, the whole first floor went in this odd circle. You walked into the foyer and then, going around to the left, you'd come to the formal living room, then the dining room, then the big great room, then the kitchen, then the master and the other downstairs bedroom, then back around to the foyer. There was no way to cut through the middle (well, once you got to the dining room, you could bypass the great room and cut through the kitchen instead). Probably the feng shui was terrible, but I love a house that keeps you guessing.
Then, in the same neighborhood, we looked at this house:
The kids loved those columns out front (pretty much every house we looked at was built in the 80's....we had to go back that far to find the size yards (I wouldn't look at anything under a third of an acre and I preferred at least half an acre) and houses we wanted in our price range. Not much was built in this area before the late 70's/early 80's....so, all of that to say, if the houses look older and a bit dated, it's because they were). This was a ranch on a finished basement. From the pictures, I thought I was going to love it, but once we got inside it felt kind of cramped. It had a great yard, though, with a row of little baby peach trees. It went under contract very quickly after we looked at it.
House #3 that day was the first colonial!
The main thing this house had going for it was that it was cheap. It also had a HUGE backyard--a full acre. But it was oh.so.boxy. Four rooms downstairs and four up, all nearly exactly the same size. Someone had bought it to flip, but they'd done the bare minimum--kitchen upgrades that were supposed to look fancy, but looked cheap to me. There was carpet everywhere except the kitchen, and it smelled like smoke. The master bedroom was indistinguishable from the others except for the tiny, outdated bathroom attached to it. it had a finished basement, but it was laid out kind of weirdly and unpleasantly. It was also a little farther from Dave's school than we preferred. But still. Cheap! And bigger than our old house, although it didn't really feel like it.
So then, in the following weeks, we looked at a LOT of boxy colonials:
There's a sampling. Colonials were incredibly popular around here in the 80's, it seems. They all have very similar layouts, so you pretty much know what you're getting before you go inside. Here is what we learned about buying a boxy colonial in our price range:
*There are three basic things to set boxy colonials apart from each other: size, degree of updating, and presence or absence of a basement. If you need to stay under $250,000 or so, you can have a big colonial, or you can have an updated colonial, or you can have a colonial with a basement. If you can find two of those things, snatch it up!
*Colonials need to be at least 2,500 square feet before they start to feel a little less boxy. Under that and you have 8 or 9 very cozy rooms. As I mentioned, our old house was not quite 1,900, but it used space much more efficiently than your typical colonial, so it felt bigger. It had only 7 rooms in those 1900 square feet, for one thing, and just one narrow hallway. Most of the colonials we looked at had 9 rooms and a center hallway + foyer downstairs in addition to a long (and often wide) one upstairs.
So I won't pretend that a colonial was my favorite style. There is much to disapprove of, with all that wasted space and relentless repetition. We got kind of excited when a non-colonial popped up for us to look at.
But I was also excited when I found our house. Here is my first recorded reaction to it, when I sent a message to my realtor after spotting it online:
Location is perfect, and it's huge. A foreclosure, right? If you have time, maybe we could run by this one this weekend, too?
It IS huge....just under 2900 square feet. And the location IS perfect....it's in a neighborhood 2 minutes away from two very good friends and about a mile from the place where Gus does plays and Milo takes guitar....and a very reasonable commute for Dave (both at his old school and even more so at his current one). We can even walk to TWO different frozen yogurt/ice cream places!
And it was a foreclosure and well within our budget--much cheaper than most of the houses we'd looked at.
So we went to see it. I would like to say that I immediately knew it was the house for us. But I didn't. I liked it a lot. It had a lot of things wrong with it. Our realtor met us at the door with the greeting, "come see the indoor water feature!" and proceeded to show us a massive leak in the sunroom. It needed two new furnaces. There was stained carpet in all the bedrooms, non-functioning toilets, a deck that needed a lot of help...the list was and still is long. It had been sitting empty for nearly 2 years. But it also had a lot of updates/nice features that we hadn't seen much of in our price range like granite in the kitchen and hardwood floors everywhere except the bedrooms. And most of the things that you can't change were right: location, neighborhood (a small subdivision with no HOA, in a town that allows chickens, even!), a big lot (1/2 an acre), a full basement.
I think the main thing holding me back from fully embracing the Boxy Colonial at first sight was this not-a-colonial:
....we went to see it a few days later. I loved it, I really did. It had a beautiful yard. It had 5 bedrooms (TINY, except for the master). It had a basement. It was a rambly story and a half house with a giant screened porch. It was too far away from Dave's job. It was way too expensive. It sold nearly immediately for much more than we could have paid.
And THAT was when I fell in love. Suddenly we really, really wanted the Boxy Colonial. We wanted it so much and were so worried that we'd lose it (because it really was an AMAZING deal; I still can't believe we got it. I think the giant sunroom leak scared people off) that we put in an offer before we sold our old house, something we'd never intended to do.
But, after some frustrating dealings with Bank of America (who owned the house and neglected it utterly and completely--there were two liens on it by the time we put in an offer: one for unpaid water bills and one for never, ever mowing the lawn) and some nail biting about the house selling end of things, it was all worth it: we really do LOVE this house. Dave spent months just randomly bringing it up out of nowhere: "I really love this house."
So Happy Houseiversary to us and the Boxy Colonial....and many returns (because we're never moving again!)
11 comments:
Happy Housiversary!!!!ReplyDelete
Happy housiversary! I love house stories and I love the way colonials look. We looked at a TON of them before we bought. Congrats on living in a home within a glowing aura of perfection!ReplyDelete
Happy houseiversary! We've been at our house a year and a half and Matt JUST started saying "I really love this house".... because maybe I bought it while he was at work one day. And maybe it was positively disgusting until I got my hands on it. haha.ReplyDelete
Glad you found the perfect abode!
As I've told you before, we looked at your Boxy Colonial when it was on the market too. The location IS perfect. We were scared away with the amount of fixit projects it needed, but you clearly were meant for it-- look at what a difference you have made to that house!ReplyDelete
Happy houseiversary to you! What a riveting story. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time to see if you indeed did get the boxy colonial at the end. Phew... :) :) :)ReplyDelete
So happy you LOVE it! And that the indoor water feature has been fixed :)
Happy housiversary. I LOVE your house. It is beautiful and has the best classic curb appeal. You made a great choice. I'm also digging the new blog header :)ReplyDelete
Like all human bloggers, I love comments! I make a valiant effort to respond to as many as I can and to hop over and check out your blog if you have one. So let me know you're here, if you have a bit of extra time on your hands :)


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Caitlin Rose
Caitlin Rose's inspirations, from Gram Parsons to Bonnie Raitt to Linda Ronstadt, belied her late-'80s birth. The offbeat Nashville, Tennessee-based singer/songwriter and guitarist debuted in February 2008 on the Theory 8 label with the Dead Flowers EP, its title track a Rolling Stones cover with a pleading touch, laced with pedal steel guitar. Five months later, the limited Gorilla Man, pressed on 300 copies of 7" vinyl, featured re-recordings. Her debut album, Own Side Now, followed in August 2010. It was issued on Names, the label that had issued Dead Flowers in the U.K., and reissued in 2011 following her decision to sign with ATO. The assured and impressive The Stand-In appeared early in 2013.
via All Music
Own Side
Caitlin Rose on iTunes


text: Is President Trump to blame for a rise in hate crimes? The Southern Poverty Law Center says there has been a spike in hate crimes in the US since last year's election. 22 Sep 2017 19:06 GMT United States, Racism The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC celebrates its first anniversary this week. It took a century to get it built - a salute to the history, culture and achievements of America's almost 40 million black people. Fittingly, it was the Obamas who opened it along with George W Bush, who had signed off on the project. Its opening could have heralded a new era, a departure from the racism of the past. But it hasn't. In the past 12 months, the US has had perhaps its most divisive election, there's a new man in the White House and racist violence and hate crimes are on the rise. So, what's behind this spike in hate crimes? Presenter: Martine Dennis Guests: Daryl Johnson - Author, Rightwing Resurgence Day Gardener - President, National Black Pro-Life Union Corey Saylor - Director, Department to Monitor & Combat Islamophobia, Council on American-Islamic RelationsSource: Al Jazeera News Tell us what you think


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Stuff it obama! You will soon be history right there with stalian and hitler!
As for the leftests I can't see how they are for abortion and against the death penalty!
Like my brother said:
Ya the left says its ok to use death squads to kill normal healthy (and most likely) Christian people but heaven forbid you use the death penalty to get rid of some mass murderer child rapist psychopath on death row. WTF is wrong with these AHs?
The verdict is out and I doubt a twisted lefty mind can be untwisted like the ACLU


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"Shichiken" – sake brewed by using exquisite waters for 300 years
Founded in 1750. In Hakushu – a location of excellent waters, we have been using underground water from the Minami-Alps and Mt. Kaikomagatake for more than 260 years. We brew sake following traditions that have been passed down over 12 generations since KITAHARA Iheemitsuyosi founded the brewery, and also based on the concept of "local production for local consumption" deeply rooted within the community.
We produce sparkling sake and delicious foods, such as "salt koji" (salt malt) and "Koji-to" (sweetener) as well as new brews of sake.
Yamanashi Meijo Co., Ltd.
■Open: 9:00 ~ 17:00


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Today is the new moon in Scorpio. I have been feeling the energy of this moon, as it falls in my third house of communication, ideas, travel, and the environment. I am reflecting on these themes as I am here in Caye Caulker, looking out at the sea and absorbing the watery wisdom of Scorpio, thinking about how the power of thoughts and ideas has brought me to live here in Belize, to actualize that dream and manifest my purpose, one day at a time.
It hasn't been easy, and this I contemplate as I rest my awareness on all that has brought me to this moment, to this place of beauty and magic. How difficult it has been at times to stay connected to my purpose amid so much change and transition. How, in my moments of fear and insecurity, I have given my power away by allowing a wounded narrative and the pain of past disappointments and failures to shape my current experience.
Scorpio reminds me that plunging into the depths and seeing what is there is necessary for healing and transformation. That the old must be destroyed to make space for the new. That in order to love and embrace another in their shadow and light, I must first love and embrace my own.
This morning began with rain, wind, and heavy grey clouds. Slowly, the sun began to peek out from behind and shift the bottomless midnight sea into a clear turquoise. I swam out into the waves and dove deep, the water enveloping me in cold and then back to warm again as I ascended to the surface. I thanked Yemaya for the blessing of her waters, for her nurturing, for always letting me in to release my suffering and find joy in being bathed in her light. I thanked Olokun for opening me to the deep, dark ocean of myself and not keeping me there, for infusing me with strength and resilience in my diving below, for always returning me into Yemaya's grace. I thanked my ancestors for bringing me here and holding me in love.
At 11:47 a.m., the moment of the new moon here in Belize, I jumped off the dock and into the sea, the embodiment of my commitment to the journey, of my willingness to dive into the unknown and trust the waters of my intuition to guide me.