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"The Gull Dam Challenge" Contest
Sponsor: Gull Dam Brewing ("Sponsor") is the sponsor of this contest.
Sponsor may be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.com
Create your own "I need a Gull Dam Beer" video and tell us why you think you have the best Gull Dam video! Then, upload the video to Gull Dam Brewing's page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gulldambrewing. Three submissions with the best image and story, as selected by a panel of Sponsor judges, will be awarded prizes. The grand prize winner will receive a trip for two to Las Vegas*, and the first and second place prize winners each will receive one (1) $100 Gull Dam gift card.
* Trip will be for 2 nights, three days, leaving from Minneapolis. It will include two nights of hotel stay and $250 for meals.
Official Rules
Eligibility and General Terms:
The Gull Dam Brewing "I need a Gull Dam Beer" Challenge Contest (the Contest) is open to residents of the U.S. 21 years of age or older. Contest is void where prohibited by law. Employees of Sponsor, its distributors, dealers, and their families are not eligible to participate in the Contest. All applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply. By participating, you agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, which are binding and final in all matters relating to this Contest. This Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. By entering, you are providing your information to Sponsor and not to Facebook.
Contest Entry Period:
The Contest begins Monday, June 18th, 2018 at 12:01 p.m. CT and ends at 11:59 p.m. CT on Friday, August 31st, 2018 (the Contest Period). All entries must be submitted by the entry deadline.
How to Enter:
Internet access is necessary to enter. Your entry or entries may be submitted via the following method:
- During the Contest Period, submit your video to Gull Dam Brewing's page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gulldambrewing/.
Your entry must…
- Tell us why your video of "I need a Gull Dam Beer" is better than any other video.
- Be creative!
Manipulated or computer-enhanced images (e.g. Videoshop) ARE allowed.
Sponsor product(s) may be depicted in the video but are not mandatory.
Entry Limit:
There is no limit to the number of entries that can be submitted by an individual. Sponsor will not be held responsible for incomplete, incorrect, or late entries. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules.
Entries may not contain, as determined by the Sponsor, in its sole discretion, any content that…
- is sexually explicit or suggestive; unnecessarily violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group; profane or pornographic; contains nudity;
- promotes illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing); promotes any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous; promotes any particular political agenda or message;
- is obscene or offensive; endorses any form of hate or hate group;
- appears to duplicate any other submitted entries;
- defames, misrepresents or contains disparaging remarks about other people or companies;
- contains trademarks, logos, or trade dress (such as distinctive packaging or building exteriors/interiors) other than Sponsor's;
- contains any personal identification, such as license plate numbers, personal names, e-mail addresses or street addresses;
- contains copyrighted materials owned by others (including videographs, sculptures, paintings, and other works of art or images published on or in websites, television, movies or other media), without permission;
- contains materials embodying the names, likeliness, or other indicia identifying any person, including, without limitation, celebrities and/or other public figures, living or dead, without permission;
- contains look-alikes of celebrities or other public or private characters, living or dead;
- communicates messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or good will which Sponsor wishes to encourage and convey;
- violates any law.
Entries must be original (created by entrant) and must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity. If the entry contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant, and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the entry, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the entry by Sponsor in the manner set forth in these Official Rules, including, without limitation, name or likeness permissions from any person who appears in or is identifiable in the entry. Sponsor reserves the right to request proof of these permissions in a form acceptable to Sponsor from any entrant at any time. Failure to provide such proof if requested may render the entry null and void. Entries must comply with Facebook video guidelines. By submitting an entry, entrant warrants and represents that he/she and any persons appearing or who are identifiable in the entry consent to the submission and use of the entry in the Contest and to its use as otherwise set forth herein. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to verify any element of any entry or related materials and to disqualify any entrant whose participation may subject the Contest, Sponsor, or Sponsor's advertisers, clients, or customers to controversy, negative publicity, scorn, or ridicule.
By submitting an entry, each entrant…
- Irrevocably grants Sponsor the royalty-free right throughout the world to use, re-use, copy, publish, republish in whole or in part, edit, add to, modify, and rearrange the contents of the entry in all media, including without limitation, to edit, rearrange, and/or copy the entry for use in the promotion of Sponsor's products and services without further permission, consideration or payment to the entrant, except where prohibited. The contents of the entry may include the entrant's Twitter or Instagram handle (name) and entrant expressly consents to their use by Sponsor as provided in these official rules.
- Warrants and represents that the entrant is the sole creator and copyright owner of the entry and that use by Sponsor of the entry as described in these rules will not violate any law or infringe upon any right or interest of any third party;
- Certifies that entrant has obtained from anyone identified or depicted in the entry all permission necessary to submit the entry and to grant Sponsor the right to use the entry as described in these rules;
- Agrees to all the terms and conditions of these Official Rules, to be bound by the decisions of Sponsor and the Contest judges, and consents to the use of his or her name and other information by Sponsor for purposes of direct mail or similar solicitations; and
- Releases Sponsor and its affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, advertising and promotional agencies and their respective officers, directors and employees from any and all liability with respect to or arising out of participation in the Contest, or the acceptance, use, misuse or possession of any prize or the loss or misdirection of any prize.
All individuals appearing in the entry must be at least 21 years of age. Only the person identified as the entrant will be eligible for any prize offered in this Contest. Any other
individual shown or identified in an entry will not be considered the entrant and will not be eligible to receive any prize offered in this Contest. Entries will not be acknowledged or returned. No submitted videos will be returned. Sponsor reserves the right to reject any or all entries that, in Sponsor's sole discretion, depict use of a product in an unsafe or irresponsible manner or are otherwise inappropriate.
Entrants' information will not be sold or rented to third parties. Entrants must fully complete and submit all non-optional data requested on the entry form to be eligible. Incomplete entries are void.
Three prizes will be awarded. The grand prize winner will receive two round trip tickets to Las Vegas, and two nights stay at the Las Vegas Hilton (retail value $2000), and the first and second place prize winners each will receive one (1) $100 Gull Dam gift card.
Selection of Winners:
Entries will be judged on the following factors:
- Image quality
- Creativity
- Entertainment value of story
- The Contest judges, comprised of Sponsor representatives, will select one grand prize winner, a first place prize winner, and a second place prize winner.
- Winners will be notified via email and/or phone of their winning status.
- Sponsor may identify winners by first name, city, and state on Sponsor's social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Information on the winning entries also can be obtained by writing Gull Dam Brewing re: Gull Dam Challenge, 23836 Smiley Road, Nisswa, MN 56468.
Claiming Prizes:
The winners will be notified by Sponsor via email and/or phone by Monday August 10th 2018. To claim a prize, the winner must respond within 14 days of notification of winning status by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com. Winners will be required to execute an affidavit of eligibility and release and a W-9 taxpayer form. If the selected winner forfeits the prize or is otherwise unable or unwilling to accept the prize according to the terms of these Official Rules, Sponsor may, but is not obligated to, select another winner.
By accepting the prize, the winner consents, where allowable, to promotional use of his or her first name, city, state, Twitter or Instagram handle and likeness for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation, and releases Sponsor, its distributors and dealers from liability resulting from participation in the Contest or acceptance or use of a prize. Failure to timely claim a prize and comply with the acceptance requirements will result in forfeiture of the prize. All federal, state and local taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winner. Prizes may not be substituted and are not refundable, transferable or redeemable for cash, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor.
Odds of Winning:
Depend on the number of qualifying entries received.
Gull Dam Brewing, Inc.
23836 Smiley Road
Nisswa, MN 56468
Sponsor reserves the right to revoke or cancel the Contest at any time if Contest materials contain errors or other mistakes. Sponsor is not liable for any technical or computer malfunctions related to the Contest or any Contest entries. Sponsor reserves the right to terminate the Contest for technical reasons such as a computer virus. Sponsor's decisions regarding all issues related to the Contest will be final.
Sponsor is not responsible for lost, incomplete, damaged, inaccurate, stolen, undelivered, garbled or misdirected entries, videos, captions, "likes," votes and/or emails; or for lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration in the Contest, the processing of entries, videos, captions or emails, the announcement of prizes, the tabulation of votes, or in any Contest-related materials. Sponsor is also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest. Sponsor is not responsible for injury or damage to entrants' or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating in the Contest or downloading materials from or use of any website. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process, the operation of the contest or otherwise in violation of these Official Rules. In the event of cancellation or termination, Sponsor reserves the right to determine winners from among the eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to the date of cancellation or termination using the judging criteria and process detailed herein. In the event of a dispute regarding online entry, the entry will be deemed as made by the authorized account holder of the Facebook user associated with the entry and he/she must comply with these Official Rules. The authorized account holder is the natural person who is assigned the user account by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), online-service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning user accounts. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONTEST OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS, AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR WILL DISQUALIFY ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL AND RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEY'S FEES) AND OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.


text:
Hi Everyone and thanks so much for dropping by!
I'm a Software manager, father of four (two boys and two girls ages 19, 21, 23 & 29) and I've been married for 30 years! I love to write — opening worlds through fiction, clarifying truth & reality in politics, encouraging hope & joy in life, unraveling the mysteries of our faith, and refining culture & values in business. These are the five categories I write on and I pray I can be a little like Daniel bringing light, understanding and wisdom in order to help people see the truth — real clear. May the words I write give clarity and understanding, but even more, may they give hope and faith.
Please take the time to add a comment or say hi. I would love to hear from you!
Here's a picture of my wife and I at a hotel in Hawaii (the Moana Surfrider) celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary:
God bless, Dean (Tucson, AZ)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Fully lined lug sole shearling boot with leather toe, heel cap and back tab. 5" tall shaft. Slightly wider than our bestselling Mid Heel shearling boots, this style is perfect for cold weather and can even be worn without socks. Lacquered black base. Pulls on. Ink Aviator is a taupe shearling fur with a crackled, black leather-esque exterior.
Domestic clog orders will arrive within 10 business days via UPS Ground.
Need it faster? Please call (212) 226-5759 to discuss options and pricing.
Water repellant sheepskin and cow leather upper. Wood base with polyurethane sole.
2.75" heel with 1.5" front platform.
Handmade in the United States.
Ideal for regular to wide widths. Will start out feeling slightly snug; shearling will mat down with wear.
Simply select your true US shoe size in the dropdown menu and you will receive the corresponding No.6 size for this particular style. No.6 sizes are not equivalent to EU sizing. Please view our online fit guide for further assistance.


text:
Monthly Archives: August 2011
Sampling and Samples
Day 001 – July 23, 2011
Landing in and starting to live in a foreign country where one does not know the language or culture can be a rather stressful affair.
(If you would like to read more profound declarations by the author, please sample "The sun rises in the east" and "China is a large country located in Asia")
Thankfully, my wife's work has a program in her office where a co-worker is designated as the Work Sponsor to help the new arrival and family become acclimated to the area and to ensure a smooth (or, at the least, "relatively smooth") transition to the new locale. Our Work Sponsors were the O'Ryans, Marcus and Elizabeth, and they took time out of their free Saturday to help us go shopping so that we could stock up our new house and to show us the ropes about how one shops in Lima.
However, before that grand shopping adventure could commence, lunch was on the menu.
Being an atypical American, I wanted to sample some food of a local flavor. Being a typical American, I didn't want to stray too far from my edible comfort zone. Luckily, near the market we were going to visit was a happy compromise…Peruvian hamburgers courtesy of Bembos.
(ASIDE: For those in the States who think that this Peruvian chain sounds like the slang name for a ditzy and attractive woman, that name is already taken by a Mexican bakery conglomerate.)
Bembos appears like any other fast-food hamburger establishment (brightly lit, menus above eye level, counters, staff wearing loud colors), but the selections are of a local flavor. The Mexican hamburger comes with tortilla chips between the buns. The Bembos Huachana contains eggs, potatoes, mayonnaise, huacho sausage, hamburger and lettuce.
Yes, an egg. Poached, I believe.
I went with the Bembos Criolla which has fried sliced potatoes, Creole sauce, lettuce and mayonnaise.
It was not my choice of burger that introduced me to a new taste sensation. Instead, it was a tiny packet of sauce that I took for my papas fritas (French fries) suggested to me by the O'Ryans.
This type of sauce is called aji and it is a tangy, spicy, orange-colored sauce. It is more flavorful than ketchup and more robust than mustard, yet less spicy that jalapeno. This is exactly the type of new food flavor that I was looking for in this whole Peruvian adventure – and thankfully, it would not be the last.
My other new find is Inca Kola…but my reaction to it can wait for another post.
With lunch done, it was time to shop and our place to go was a local shopping market. Again, just like the thought I had when entering the terminal at Jorge Chavez International Airport, I wasn't quite sure what I expected when I entered this suburban Lima grocery store, but it was similar to any Kroger's, Ralph's, Shopper's Food Warehouse, or [insert your local supermarket here] to be found in the States.
Bright, clean aisles filled with a wide variety of foodstuffs, cleaning products, and produce greeted us and the O'Ryans and us began our quest for all the things we would need for the house.
Despite the similarities, I would like to point out one difference between this local shopping establishment and any up north in the Lower 48 (I can't speak for Hawaii and Alaska). Back home, at Costco for example, people would give out samples (and anything with cheese on it was my favorite) but they would be standing behind a small counter. Here, the women (and they are all young women) would be standing in the aisles holding trays of their promoted products. They would come up to you and ask if you would like to sample their wares. Even when we were checking out, the Scotch-Brite woman kept asking us to feel her sponge. A further difference to mentally take note of is that these women are wearing an outfit that has the logo and color scheme of their advertised samples, which sort of made them look like tiny NASCAR drivers.
We sent the kids at staggered intervals to the Splenda woman because my wife loves her coffee sweetener and free always tastes better.
END NOTE: To finish off our dining experience for our first full day in Peru, we had dinner at Pizza Hut. Baby steps, people, baby steps.
Not in Hot Water
Day 001 – July 23, 2011
As promised at the end of this post (previously on Sin Polaris), here is the story of our first shower in Lima, Peru.
NOTE: The following story is rated "G" for all audience members
When preparing to get our three children ready for their morning wash, I inspected the showers and using the little Spanish I do have at my command, I grabbed the knob labelled "C" and turned it clockwise.
For you see, dear reader, I was using my smarts and I knew that "C" stood for caliente, which is Spanish for "hot". A few minutes later, I was not feeling as smart as the water that issued forth from the shower nozzle was still as cold as a polar bear's nose.
'Twas only then that I noticed that the other knob in the shower in my boys' bathroom was labelled "H". Sigh!
Yes, even though I was in a Spanish-speaking country, the faucet knobs were still labelled using the English "H" for "hot" and "C" for "cold". A quick counter-clockswise turn of the "C" handle and a similarly quick clockwise turn of the "H" knob…
…still provided absolutely no hot water even after five minutes of wishing really hard to the Agua Fairy.
Liquid of an Arctic origin was likewise only issuing forth from my daughter's showerhead and all seemed destined for a frigid showery morning until we quickly discovered that the shower in the master bathroom provided water that registered above 20 degrees (and in honor of our host country, I am using the metric temperature scale named for Anders Celsius…for a conversion, go here).
One shower…five people…this promised to be a long stay in Peru if this matter was not resolved soon. Sigh redux!
Since we are on the subjects of bathrooms and because I am an American living abroad, please let me be the 3,336,126th person to joke about the type of water closet hardware found in most parts of the world, but not in the USA…the bidet.
Trust me folks, the jokes don't get any better.
Raving About Dishes
Day 001 – July 23, 2011
I wish I could tell you that our first night in Lima was a restful one, but that would be a lie. If you've read the About section in this yonder blog, you already know that I will only lie about two things: my name and the fact that the monkey does not make across the gap.
The glorious reason why the wife and I did not sleep well on our inaugural noche is because one of our neighbors (I was never sure which one because sound waves echo and bounce around like pachinko balls with all the brick and concrete that make up the houses around here) was holding a dance party / rave / sound system demonstration that lasted until (I kid thee not) 6:00am.
Let me now read to you from page 16 of the Housing Handbook given to us by my wife's employer…
Lima is a noisy place…Noise abatement laws vary slightly depending on the part of the city, but all are extremely weak. At night, there are established quiet hours after which there is supposed to be no noise, but fines are reportedly so light that organizers are happy to pay them in order to continue the party.
If this is what every weekend (or Heaven forbid…every night) holds for us, this is going to be a long (and tiring) ### years.
Now perhaps you are wondering, like I was at about 3:36am, why couldn't I simply shut the windows and drown out some if not all of the trilling melodies assaulting our eardrums. The simple reason was that I couldn't because in our new dwelling, the windows cannot close. Through an amazing architectural and design decision made by someone, all of the windows are either…
…simple vertical slats that do not, when placed in the closed position, form a complete seal, or;
…hinged planes of glass that also, when "closed", do not form a complete seal.
Here…look for yourself (and marvel at my ability to post an image into a blog…tremble, darn it!).
These panes of glass are, to me, malfunctioning windows [insert your own Bill Gates / Microsoft joke here]. These "holes in the wall covered by glass" would never work in the climes of Northern Virginia (from whence the family and I came) because it gets cold in the winter, hot in the summer, and these types of ventanas would let all the good temperature out and the wrong climate in. However, here in Peru, where the mercury rarely dips below 60 or travels north of 80, the concept of insulation is not known to the Peruvian home-builder (and here I invoke Disclaimer No. 1).
When the music finally stopped and we are able to grab a few hours of sleep, we awoke on Saturday and tackled our first decision of the day…what to have for breakfast. Now, if this was some foodie-and-travel blog, I would tell you what we had, how to prepare it, and even post some FAB photos of it complete with creative lighting and maybe even a well-placed fork.
This is not that type of blog so I am moving on to the post-meal activity and my first shocking discovery about the life that awaits me in Peru. After the meal, I begin my task of clearing the table and carting the dirty dishes and silverware to the sink to begin the process of lightly dusting them water and placing them in the dishwasher.
I said…"placing them in the dishwasher"…but THERE IS NO DISHWASHER!
Yes, the dishes would have to be done the old-fashioned way. It has been a long time since I have washed dishes by hand. In fact, the time frame I'm speaking of is "never". I have always had a dishwasher in the kitchen, even in the run-down building posing as an apartment I rented when I was a senior in college, so I had no idea how to do this.
This is where television saves the day. I thought back to all the times I saw Barbara Billingsley, Ann B. Davis, Marla Gibbs, or some housewife in a commercial wash dishes. I imagined how they filled up one side of the sink with hot soapy water and the other with cold. A dish would go into the hot suds and have all of the foodstuffs sponged off followed by a dunking in the cold H2O to rinse off all the soap. Once the rhythm is established, it becomes sort of a Zen-like state…
…which quickly is broken when it dawns on me, as the flotsam and jetsam of our breakfast piles up in the sink, that THERE IS NO GARBAGE DISPOSAL (my second shocking discovery)! What the Sam-Dickens am I going to do with the pile of garbage that is slowly accumulating in the sink? It seems quite inefficient to haul the garbage can over to the sink every time I do the dishes but I stand perplexed and paralyzed by my dilemma until my wife steps in with a solution from her past. Her family had a maid when she was growing up and she saw that the maid would place a small plastic bag by the faucet and she would drop all the detritus from the meal into that bag, like so…
Learn something new every day, I do.
With that situation resolved, it was time to go from washing the dishes to washing ourselves with a refreshing shower, but that's a story I can dish out later.
The Circle of Death
Day 000 – July 22, 2011
After leaving the airport, we drive to our house through the heart of Lima. While my watch reads 22:30, my body clock, courtesy of the travel and stress, has reached its limit. While one of my wife's co-workers is chatting about this street or that building or this tidbit of life in Lima, my mind is fuzzy.
However, upon hearing the word "death", the circuit breakers in my brain spark to life and ask the woman riding shotgun to repeat what she said.
We were in a roundabout and she said that while the official name of this parcel of road is "Ovalo Monitor", the unofficial name is "The Circle of Death".
With a circle of asphalt spanning four lanes and entry and exit points at the cardinal directions, the cars fly through this roundabout fast and furious…and there are no traffic signals so it becomes a free-for-all when the roads are full.
As we drive through Ovalo Monitor late on a Friday night, the traffic is light and this seems more like a "Circle of Mild-Grade Fever" than its more morbid moniker.
Once our mini-van arrives in a month or two, I know I will be forced into this roundabout soon to drive around Lima on various errands and we'll see if the nickname lives up to the hype. Until then, I am content to let someone else do the driving because there is a house I have never viewed, a bed I have never seen, and a fuzzy future I can dimly view all waiting for me.
A seasoned world traveller I met at a lunch last week told me that every major city has its version of the "Circle of Death" and that Lima's version in the Monterrico neighborhood is nothing out of the ordinary.
I have it on my "List of Things to Research" to find out who is the Monitor this roundabout is named for.
For the time being, I have only been driven through Ovalo Monitor in taxi cabs by drivers who either have nerves of ice water or an extrasensory perception of what all the other drivers on this road because for all the chaos and confusion of cars speeding by and weaving through each other, I still have yet to see an accident.
May the saints smile on me when I take the plunge in our own car on this oval as I am not so much worried about hitting someone, but I know it will take all my willpower to drive that road and NOT say, "Look kids, Big Ben…Parliament!"
Scenes From an Airport
Day 000 – July 22, 2011
At 9:09pm local time (or 2109 for those, like me, who enjoy their time using the 24-hour clock), our plane touched the tarmac at Jorge Chavez International Airport and we were now semiofficially in the country in Peru.
It was oddly comforting to know that even though the family and I were in foreign country, some customs appear to be universal for as soon as the plane parked at the jetway, the "Wejusts" appeared.
The "Wejusts" are the name I give to the people who, as soon as the plane stops, whip out their cellular phones, call up their buddies, and say "We just arrived…" or "We just landed…" or "We just got here…".
We de-planed and walked down the jetway and I entered…almost every other airport terminal for a major city I have been to in life. I'm really not sure what I was expected (llamas? alpacas? chickens? Please see Disclaimer No. 1), but I really should not have been surprised by this modern terminal that serves a city of almost 9 million people.
I did have my first taste of what living in Spanish-speaking country would mean for me for when I walked around the terminal to find the baggage area, a large majority of the billboards were in Spanish. This did not affect me that much as I have lived in Southern California for a large part of my youth and am used to this experience. However, I could feel the tranlsation-engine in my brain begin to clear out the cobwebs and prime its engine. It would soon be getting a large workout.
Coming out of the jetway, our family was greeted by two co-workers of my wife who were to greet us, meet us, and drive us to our house. The gentleman was holding up a sign that had our last name on it, but it was misspelled as an "A" was in place of the "E".
More on this in a later posting, but that vowel switching would be the least of our problems concerning our last name.
Digression: The funniest "waiting" sign I ever saw was when I came off of a plane in Boise, Idaho (which probably was the type of terminal I was expecting when de-planing in Lima). As I came through the jetway's door and into the terminal, I saw a cardboard cutout of a chauffeur with white gloves and driver's cap. He was holding a sign that simply said….
It still makes me chuckle.
Back in Lima, we stopped at the baggage carousel and did the "wait-and-pray", but it was not needed as yet another of my wife's airline-elite-status perks kicked in and all of our eleven bags were given "Priority" stickers and were some of the first ones off the plane. We had all our bags in under fifteen minutes.
After a wait in line, we presented our passports to the kind-looking and smiling immigration agent. All our papers were in order, our books were stamped, and we were given a quiet "Bienvenidos" by the agent.
We were now officially in Peru.
The Joys of Travel
Day 000 – July 22, 2011
As opposed to my cynical answer to the title of my previous post, there were actually some joys to the 9+ hour trip from Reagan National Airport to Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chavez.
This was a revelation to me because I despise flying. From the hopping around to take off my shoes at the scanner (the Richard Reid Memorial Dance), to the cattle-call of passengers to the gate when the flight is called, to the stagnant recycled air in the cabin, to the turbulence, and to the waiting and praying as you stand at the luggage carousel hoping that beige bag is yours, I hate flying.
Add to all that the fact that I am not sure why Bernoulli's Principle works and so I often think that my flight will be the one where Nature decides, "Yeah, I think today I'll cancel the laws of that principle just to screw with people" and you can see why flying fills me with dread.
However, with that all said, there were some high points to today's flight. In no particular order…
One) We did not have to pay extra for the extra suitcase we brought on the flight with us. That was a nice bonus and it shows why it helps to have a spouse who is a member of the airline's elite club so we can enjoy perks like that.
Two) The plane had video screens with movies-on-demand and video games to entertain our three children. We had come loaded for bear on the flight with two DVD players, over half a dozen new movies, and a spare battery to get us through the flight. So you can sense that our relief was palpable when we saw the screens. Our boys watched the first Transformers movie while our seven-year-old watched reruns of Disney Channel shows. My middle child shows an above-normal interest in the video casino and especially for craps – mainly because I think he liked to say the name without getting into trouble.
I watched the movie Paul. The constant references to Steven Spielberg were cute (how many noticed the movie theater in the town was showing Duel?), but not enough to make a movie. Just my $0.02.
Three) Walking outside the airport in Lima and basking in the 65-degree night. Considered we came from a place where the mercury was over 100 degrees (and Dulles Airport even recorded a high temp of 105 for July 22), it was absolute sheer bliss to walk into a cooler clime. (Yes, technically, this third item was not a joy of travel itself, but sometimes the destination can be joy itself)
Bienvenidos a Peru. Let the adventure begin.
The Joys of Moving
Day 000 – July 22, 2011
The short reply to my choice of title is that there are no joys of moving. Moving can only be described as one of four settings: "Hell", "quasi-Hell", "Purgatory", and "southern Utah" (Mental Note: Share that story for another post).
Your mileage may differ, but my recent moving experiences have all been complicated by "The Last Five Percent". The last few weeks have seen this phenomenon come to bite me in the tuchus yet again. Here's how it works…
When we first received the schedule from our moving company for when they would come to pack all our belongings for our sojourn to Peru, we found out we would have to sort our stuff into four piles:
1) Items to be stored in a warehouse in the States. These are items that we would not need for the next ### years we are in Lima. This was known as Storage.
2) Items that we would like in Lima, but did not need for 2-3 months. This was known as the Boat Shipment (BoSh).
3) Items that we would like in Lima and would need in 2-3 weeks. This was known as the Air Shipment (AiSh)
4) Items that we would like in Lima and that we would need upon arrival. This was known as Luggage.
During sorting, we quickly saw the rise of a fifth pile: CWNLN, which is not a very handy acronym for Crap We No Longer Needed, so we shortened our word for it and simply called it "Trash".
After piles were made, yard sales were had, donations were given to charity, and boxes were readied, Day One (of three) of the Pack-Out arrived and 70% of our belongings went into either the Storage pile or the Trash pile.
(Aside: It was astounding to me to see just HOW MUCH stuff one can accumulate and how much of it, when push comes to shove, can be so casually tossed out.)
Days Two and Three saw the packing and carting away of the AiSh and BoSh piles which constituted 20% of our belongings.
The day before our flight left was spent packing away our Luggage pile into ten suitcases and five carry-on pieces of luggage. That accounted for 5% of the stuff we owned.
For those of you who have been playing along with a calculator realize that I have only accounted for 95% of the stuff in our house. As my wife and I surveyed our home, there was a variety of items strewn about the rooms, closets, drawers, nooks, and crannies of our abode that we had forgotten to pack in Storage, BoSh, AiSh, but these were items that could not be thrown away.
Since we were renting out our house, we couldn't leave the items there so we had 24 hours to remove that Last Five Percent. Not the way I wanted to spend my last days in the States.
In the end, it was done through a variety of means including having my wife's sister come and take all the cleaning supplies away, storing items with my wife's parents, giving items away to neighbors, and decided (reluctantly) that some items just needed to be thrown out. All in all, and like I said, dealing with the stress of the Last Five Percent was a pain in the nalgitas (Spanish for tuchus).
We also reserved a small corner of our unfinished basement for a few items that fit none of the above categories in the paragraph above and we told our tenants about it. Hope they understand, but I simply could not part with my framed Seurat poster from the Art Institute of Chicago which I had forgotten was in the garage.
With our life in (not-so-) tiny little boxes, we boarded a plane to Newark and then to Lima.
Why The Title
Day xxx – Introduction (Part 3)
As you have no doubt noticed, the title of this here blog is "Sin Polaris".
Why that title?
Sin Polaris means "without the Pole Star" and in the literal sense this is true for me because as I now live south of the Equator (in Lima, Peru), I can no longer see the North Star that I have known for the forty-two years I have been around. Early mariners of the Northern Hemisphere always knew where north was during their nighttime voyages, so they knew how to find the other cardinal directions, and thus home. Once a ship sailed south of the Equator, those on board could no longer see Polaris and were capable of being lost.
In a metaphorical sense, I am like those navigators of old as I have travelled and lost my pole star.
The family and I have moved to Lima (nickname: The City of Kings) in late July to help my wife pursue a fabulous opporunity for her career and to give our three children the amazing chance to experince a new culture.
As for me, I left my job of seven years and my career of sixteen to help make this dream true. For the first time since 1992, I am without a job.
I am unemployed. I'm in a country I have never been before. I don't speak the language. I'm the primary care-giver for our kids.
I am wondering what the next few years will bring.
I am looking for a purpose. I am looking for a new pole star to guide me.
I am sin Polaris.
Disclaimer No. 2
Day xxx – Introduction (Part 2)
This is the second of two disclaimers (the first of which can be found here).
While discussing and writing life in Peru, I will, at times, use the local language, which happens to be Spanish, in my writings.
You should be aware that my Spanish is not great, it's not good, and it's not even mediocre. It's miserable so please take any translation I make with a grain of salt. I will write about the attempts I make to engage people using my horrible Spanish and I will make note of items I have read in the local newspapers. Please forgive me if my translation is not on the mark as my command of the language (and my ability to use Google Translate) is limited.


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Real conversation with an 8-year-old boy:
Hank: "Mom, I think I know why we have wieners and butts. 'Cause when you drink, the drink takes bad chemicals and it makes it go out (makes pee gesture). And when you eat, it carries on and it takes bad chunks and it carries it out of your butt (makes pooping gesture)."
Me: "What made you think of this?"
Hank: "Our teacher. It's about what we're learning about water, like how it goes up in the air and how it goes back down. I already knew the whole thing."
As usual, thanks public school!


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Must Love Pekes is a blog for those who love Pekingese, their looks, their antics, their personalities. It is written by me, Linda, and I have been rescuing Pekingese for over 15 years. Lots of them have gone through our home. We have loved them all.
Friday, May 13, 2011
4 comments:
- Karin said...
Precious sure was a pretty little peke. My sympathy to her loving family.
One of my poms is bossy too and doesn't hesitate to go after my daughter's corgi. He once lost a few wobbly front teeth while nipping her.
- May 13, 2011 at 3:37 PM
- Paladin2010 said...
Kathy and I share in the pain of the loss of your "precious" peke. You can tell they were loved and that they loved you, what more can one want out of life.
With deepest sympathies.
- May 13, 2011 at 5:40 PM
- lady jicky said...
I am so sad for her family.
- May 13, 2011 at 6:20 PM
- Nicky said...
Precious is an adorable little girl. I am sure she was extremely precious to her family, as our Peke kids are to all of us. We share your pain. There is nothing like Peke love! Deepest sympathies to you. Kim, Nicky and GeeGee
- May 14, 2011 at 10:33 AM


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The fireplace on the main level of our house should be a beautiful focal point of the living area, but it was…. You can paint or stain a wood mantel to match the décor of your room. Carol Agee is the vice president of Agee Woodworks, which has been handcrafting wood fireplace mantels of impeccable style and quality for almost 10 years. We pulled out all the metal drywall corner joints and then removed the drywall which revealed the wood frame for the mantle.
The pieces are cut and fitted to the inside of the recess. Paintable mantels use finger-jointed moldings and less-decorative wood or MDF (i.e. Medium Density Fiberboard) because the wood won't be visible. Brick paint or fireplace paint that's specially-formulated to withstand the demands of a fireplace can wash over the drab, old brick – even if it's been painted before – and completely revitalize your fireplace and your room.
Also, the designs of outdoor fireplaces have certain distinct characteristics, such as an open and outdoorsy feel. Carol Agee is the vice president of Agee Woodworks which has been handcrafting wood fireplace mantels of impeccable style and quality for almost 10 years.
It is the same mortar used for applying the stone to the wall, except that I colored it using Quikret Cement Color It is a little un-nerving to pour some neon orange colored water into your cement mix and expect it to come out brown… but it did. The window jamb pieces are cut to size.
Decorate them with wall hangings, paint them with warli design or use vinyl wall graphics. Wall fireplace is an economical option for you that you can purchase in different designs, styles and models. If your living room style is understated and elegant, polished brass pieces always look smart.


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Okay...so not that Number 2. But it's still funny.
In our last instalment – we talked about CREDIT.
Today's tidbit is about Employment/Income.
While Credit is the pinnacle to the Big 4 Criteria that does not mean that the other 3 are to be under estimated.
For instance…Employment/Income is an enormous component that may seem superficial on the surface…but as you will learn momentarily – we look at it from an entirely different perspective.
You have a job. Great! Are you Permanent Full Time? Permanent Part Time? Casual? On Contract? Self Employed? Retired? Are you paid a Salary? Are you paid Hourly Wage? Do you have Over Time Earnings? Do you get Annual Bonuses? Are you on Disability? Are you on Maternity/Paternity Leave? Do you have 3 years of Industry Experience? Are you on Work Probation? Are your earnings derived from a Pension plan? Do you claim Tips as Income?
Every one of the above items has it's own unique set of rules for us Mortgage guys to follow. Some lenders want letter's of employment and pay stubs…other's will also want 2 years of Notices of Assessment, another may also want your T1 Generals…and on and on it goes.
Typically our clients are Permanent Full Time with either an Hourly Wage or Annual Salary. And it's simple enough for us to prove their earnings. However, from time to time we get a client who earns a boatload of Over Time pay…and we may not be able to use it.
Things are getting complicated now…fret not.
When it comes down to it, most income a person makes is legitimate, but the requirement for Brokers to enforce "Prudent Underwriting" demands that we show Consistency in said earnings.
What is Consistency from our viewpoint? 2 Years Average.
"But I don't have 2 years average and I really need a house."…well, we empathize with your situation – don't be surprised if we ask for a Co-Borrower.
If you are Self-Employed…the demands on proving your income is a bit more of a pain in the ass (Yes…I said it), especially if your business is Incorporated or a Limited Liability Company.
If this is you – be prepared! You will be asked to provide your Income Tax and Financial Statements for at least 2 complete tax years…and they of course have to be the 2 most recent tax years.
And if you owe any personal income tax…it has to be paid in full before we can provide a mortgage to you. Each Self Employed professional is different – it's best to speak to your broker directly about your situation…you may have a lot of expenses to write off against your income and it looks poor on paper at the end of the day…you are probably still okay under the CMHC Self Employed program.
Confused at all this? Don't sweat it. We'll assess your situation properly and let you know EXACTLY what you need to provide in order to prove your income.
Our next installment will be about your Down Payment! It's great you have one…but we want to know where it came from!
That's all for today!
Happy Friday Everyone!


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"Congratulations! It worked!"
First thoughts: "Huh? What is she talking about????"
So I had my niece to explain what she was talking about because I didn't got it. And she remind me about how I helped her put up a special course, just for her, in the awesome tool Didactor. And as you know by now, a neat little tool which provides 14 edu games in one platform.
Before using my way of learning, this test was one of them she had been stressing about as one of the most boring and difficult ones. According to her I had succeed making her not even understanding the subject, master the test but also made learning fun. In fact, I managed to make the learning so fun she admitted she had learned more than needed.
Taste the words: "more than needed"...
But still, congratz to me?
All I did was to provide another way to learn, which turned out to be a funnier way to learn. She also told me even though many scored very good on the test, she was one of the few with full points. And that surprised her, because she had been practicing the opposite way than her classmates. She had have fun while she was studying, she didn't felt she had done any practicing.
Instead of practice drawing pictures of a muscle, she had drag-drop text to a picture. The day before the test she (and her mother) had got anxious of this solution, my way of gamificate her learning, therefor she had started to practice the traditional way just to be safe. And she started with the hard ones, to draw pictures of something. She was very surprised she could do it without cheating! And that it actually been working!
So here's my view of the course, sorry about the Swedish but you get the clue.
And if I choose to look at one student (she has agreed to became an example) I've a lot of information like "average time per task", "times performed" and "total time spent".
What comes to the memory, the last task, with a zero percent score it has to be something within the program itself, how it counts. When I click on one of her tries I can see she has been trying (and managed to solve the task) with 53 tries.


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- Product Details
- 70% polyester, 30% acrylic heavy duty upholstery fabric, Steel legs.
- Dimensions: 29" W x 34" D x 30" H.
- Seat Height: 19", Seat Width: 24", Seat Depth: 21".
- Arm Height: 23", Arm Width: 2.5".
- Benchmade in North Carolina.
- Care Instructions: Cleaning code WS, spot clean with shampoo, foam or dry cleaning solvents, do not saturate with any liquid, pile fabrics may require brushing to restore appearance.
- Cushion covers should not be removed and laundered or commercially dry cleaned.
- Professional cleaning recommended.
- 15,000 rub count.
- Features slim boxed arms and black steel legs.
- See Product Specifications Sheet.
- Shipping Information
- We offer unlimited flat rate shipping on furniture, more information: www.unisonhome.com/shipping.
- Oversized in stock furniture items ship within 5 business days unless otherwise noted.
- Returns accepted within 30 days.
- Customers are required to contact Unison customer service before returning furniture items in order to coordinate receipt with our warehouse.


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Jordan Attestation Service
Documents for Jordan require both the UK apostille and Jordan embassy attestation.
The Jordan embassy operate two different services depending on whether your document is a 'personal' document or a 'corporate' document.
Attesting Personal Documents?
Experts in processing personal documents with the Jordan embassy in London. We undertake the correct steps to ensure your documents are legally recognised in Jordan.
If your document has a recognised government signature, stamp or seal, or has already been signed by a solicitor then it will not require our solicitor certification service.
Most academic documents and other professional qualifications will need to be checked by our solicitor, certified and signed.
We are happy to provide advice on your documents. Do not hesitate to contact us to confirm which service you need.
Processing time 7-8 days for most orders.
Jordan Attestation Service Only £85Order Online
- Your document must
- have the apostille
- attached already!
- Personal Documents only
Apostille & Jordan Embassy Attestation £139Order Online
- Birth & Marriage Certs
- HMRC Letters, No impediments
- Criminal Record Checks
- Other Personal Documents
Apostille, Solicitor Certification & Jordan Embassy Attestation£151Order Online
- Degrees, Masters etc.
- Professional Qualifications
- School, College, Uni Letters
- Passports, Driving Licence
Attesting Business or Corporate Documents?
Dealing with commercial matters in Jordan often necessitates the attestation of your company documentation.
Using our Jordan legalisation service makes the process simple. We include the apostille, embassy attestation and administration fees in our charges. We offer a 'one stop' solution for businesses working in the Jordan.
Company documents normally need to be certified by a solicitor before we can submit them for attestation. When possible, we arrange for your documents to be checked and certified by one of our solicitors to save you time and money.
Processing time 7-8 days for most orders.
Jordan Attestation Only £185Order Online
- Your document must
- have the apostille
- attached already!
- Business Documents only.
Apostille, Solicitor Certification & Jordan Embassy Attestation£251Order Online
- Companies House Documents.
- Certificate of Incorporation
- Certificate of Good Standing
- Free Sale Docs, HMRC letters
What does Jordan attestation look like?
Any UK document being legalised for use in Jordan will need to be legalised by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office as well as the Jordan embassy.
The apostille certificate is normally added to the back of documents. It is glued down one side and embossed. The embassy will then add a sticker and ink stamps to either the document itself or they will attach this to the apostille.
Occasionally the embassy changes the stamps slightly, but the process remains the same


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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Live Wires will not be meeting at the Parish. The information below is for future reference.
Seniors of St. Michael Parish – are you looking for a way to meet other seniors? Consider joining the parish senior group, The Livewires. The Livewires meet on the second Tuesday of every month from 12 pm-2 pm in Marian Hall. You bring a brown bag lunch, and we'll provide drinks (coffee/juice/water) and dessert. We spend those two hours getting to know each other and making friends. Sometimes there is a speaker or a special theme.
Everyone is welcome, and no dues are required, but a $1.00 donation to cover dessert/game prizes is graciously accepted.
Some activities The Livewires have done in the past include:
- Mystery lunches;
- Short trips (we carpool or bus rental); and
- Games with prizes after lunch.
Trips taken include:
- Marion Theater (Marion, Ohio)
- Malabar Farm
- The Wilds
- Buckeye Lake
- Alum Creek (Christmas lights)
- Utica "Velvet Ice Cream"
- Casino (Hollywood/ Racino)
Watch the church bulletin for information when these events are planned and look for the sign-up sheets that are on The Livewires bulletin board in Marian Hall about 2 weeks prior to the event. These are usually very popular events, and space is sometimes limited.
Also, we have two special luncheons each year that include a wonderful catered meal, decorations, and live entertainment provided by the St. Michael School children. The dates are announced in the bulletin.
To "Rise Up Now!" and join The Livewires, please contact: George and Patty Doyle or contact the parish office at (614) 885-7814.


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Michael Cassidy
Hey! My name's Michael. I'm a FOCUS missionary.
Hey! My name's Michael. I'm a FOCUS missionary.
God has called me to serve on a team at the University of Maryland #goterps! I'm very excited to leave the hustle and bustle of New York and travel south to College Park to help bring students to Christ and grow in relationship with Him. You'll typically find me cheering on my favorite New York sports teams, reading theology and fiction, or going to the movies.
The picture above shows the missionaries I'll be serving with at the University of Maryland.
I grew up in Long Island, NY with my parents and one sister. My grandparents were profoundly influential in teaching me the faith and how to pray. After graduating from Kellenberg, I went to St. John's University to study philosophy and theology. I loved studying the riches of the Catholic Church's philosophical and theological traditions. Through studying more and more about God I came to love God more and more.
During my third year at SJU I went to the Student Leadership Summit run by FOCUS. It was there that I fell in love with FOCUS' call to save souls on college campuses across the United States. The next year I still felt God's call to be a missionary. I accepted God's call to be a FOCUS missionary and radically altered my life plans that I envisioned after college.
I am enthusiastic at the opportunity to bring the joy of the Gospel to college students and lead them closer to His Word. In Christ's earthly ministry he repeatedly humbled Himself and took upon our likeness in all things but sin. Christ left a model for us to follow by investing in a few apostles with deep authentic friendships. He also taught the apostles how to pray and draw from the graces of divine intimacy. In my work as a missionary, I look to Jesus' own example to find the best method of radically changing college culture today.
When I answered the call to join FOCUS, I made the decision to rely on the spiritual and financial support of mission partners to help me through this mission. I've been blessed with the most amazing people who have journeyed with me as I serve on campus. If you are interested in partnering with me, please let me know of the best way to reach you and I will schedule an appointment. I'd be honored to share this mission with you.
We encounter God in an intimate relationship through daily prayer, the sacraments and the Scriptures.
By building genuine friendships, we meet students on a deeper level.
We teach students how to share the gospel, who in turn teach other students how to pass it on …


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S3.3 Gender and socioeconomic differences in social relations in contemporary Nordic populations
S3.3 Gender and socioeconomic differences in social relations in contemporary Nordic populations
Chair: Rikke Lund
Poor social relations and loneliness are associated with adverse health outcomes among middle-aged and older people across gender and socioeconomic groups. Less is known about how aspects of social relations including the negative aspects are associated with gender and social class in contemporary middle-aged and older Nordic populations. The objective of this symposium is to provide knowledge about this in several Nordic countries as well as on the association with all-cause mortality based on large population based studies. Overall, we conclude that there is evidence of gender and social differences in poor social relations in Nordic countries.
S3.3.1 Gender and social class differences in social relations in middle-aged Danes
Rikke Lund
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Background: Little is known about social class and gender differences in social relations among the middle-aged especially regarding the negative aspects of social relations. Methods: In Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (N~7.000) we investigated the association of gender and occupational social class combined on social relations. Results: Compared to women in high social class, women in low social class had poorer scores on all aspects of social relations (i.e. living alone, less contact frequency, less emotional support, and more worries and conflicts with close social relations). Compared to women in high social class, men in high social class significantly more often reported low emotional support from family and friends, but less often to have low support from partner and less often to experience serious worries and conflicts with children, family and friends. Compared to women in high social class, men in low social class were significantly more often living alone, having less contact with family and friends, more often to have low levels of emotional support from family and friends, and more frequent to have worries and conflicts with partner. In contrast, they were less often worried about children family and friends. Conclusion: Both gender and social differences in social relations are evident in this middle-aged cohort.
S3.3.2 Loneliness, social isolation, and all-cause mortality in older Swedish women and
Carin Lennartsson
Aging Research Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Background: Socially isolated and lonely individuals have higher mortality risks, and the effects are comparable with well-established risk factors such as smoking and sedentary lifestyle. Social isolation and loneliness are less often analysed concurrently, which means that there is a lack of direct comparisons. Existing studies show mixed results and seldom have a gender perspective. We examine the relative effects of social isolation and loneliness as well as their combined effects on short- and long-term mortality in a representative national sample of older women and men. Finally, we examine if the mortality risk of loneliness and social isolation is linear, or if there is a threshold at which mortality risk becomes pronounced. Methods: Baseline data derive from Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old (SWEOLD), a nationally representative sample of persons aged 70 years and older living in Sweden in 2004, (n=1 180). Mortality information (date of occurrence) was obtained from the Swedish National Cause of Deaths Registry. We use Cox-regression to estimate the relative effects of social isolation and loneliness on two, four and 10-year mortality. Results: Our results show the importance of social isolation and/or loneliness for short- and long- term mortality for women and men and the findings will be discussed from a gender perspective.
S3.3.3 The social pattern of conflicting and low quality social relations
Marja Aartsen
NOVA, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
Background: Recent research found that people with high socio-economic positions (SEP) had larger networks with higher quality relationships compared to people with low SEP, which partly explains the well-known inequalities in health. Whether also low quality of relations or even conflicting relations differ across gender and SEP is less well known. Method: A logistic regression analysis of the quality of social relations (conflicts with partner, conflict with family, low quality with neighbors) on four exposure groups (high and low educated female, and high and ow educated men), controlling for age, was conducted in 834 women and 755 men living with a partner. All participated in the second wave of the Norwegian Life-course, Ageing and Generation (NorLAG) study. The age ranged between 67 and 84 years (Median age= 72). Results: Compared to higher educated women, higher and lower educated men had two to three times more often a conflicting relation with the partner, and more often low quality relations with neighbors. Lower educated women had more often low quality relations with neighbors than the higher educated women. Conclusion: Conflicting relations in the social network are patterned according to SEP and gender which may partly explain inequalities in health.
S3.3.4 Are old-age gender-differences in social relations modified by education in the
Nordic countries?
Charlotte Juul Nilsson
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Background: Variations across countries in the social relations of older people have been suggested in older studies, also within the Nordic countries, The aim of this study was to describe differences by educational level in the association between gender and social relations in older age in three Nordic countries. Methods: Men and women aged 67-84 from the 2012/13-survey from the Danish Longitudinal Study of Aging (N=4289), the 2007/08-survey from the Norwegian Study on Life Course, Ageing and Generation (N=1937), and the 2014-survey from the Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old (N=862) were included. In country-specific logistic regression the association between gender and education combined and social relations were studied. Results: Women with more than basic education were the reference group. In all countries, living alone and feeling lonely were less common among men, especially with high education. Low contact with children was less common among Danish and Swedish women with basic education, and more common for highly educated Danish men. Danish men and women and Norwegian women with basic education were more likely to lack emotional support. Conclusions: With some variation across countries, we found gender differences in social relations, which only appeared to be slightly moderated by education.
S3.3.5 Gender and educational differences in social relations among 60 to 69 years old
Finnish men and women
Johanna Surakka
University of Tampere, Finland
Background: People in their 60's are between work and retirement and intergenerational relationships are important part of their life. We investigated 60 to 69 year old adult's social relations by gender and educational class. Methods: Randomly picked, 60 to 69 year old Tampere residents answered a survey through mail or internet in 2017 (N=1495). Response rate was 70%, and 40% were male. Results: Almost all participants had children and/or grandchildren and friends. Taking part in children's and grandchildren's lives by supporting them economically was more usual among highly educated participants than among the less educated. Women (regardless of education class) spent more time with their children or grandchildren than men and highly educated men spent more time with children than lower educated men. Lower educated women discussed personal matters more often with their children than higher educated women. There was no such difference among men. Women shared their life with friends more often than men did and the proportion of men who had no one to tell personal matters (16%) was higher than among women (4%). Both women and men with higher education discuss personal matters with friends more often than those with lower education. Conclusions. Both education and gender make a difference in the social relations of older adults.


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It's not "high performance" if it's only supplying 30 watts...and certainly not if it's just taking analog audio out from the cheap DAC the Dot has. Not to mention you are letting Amazon essentially spy on all of your conversations around it. Hard pass.
In-Wall Amp/Dock Supercharges Amazon's Echo Dot
Designed for the third-generation Echo Dot, the Vail Amp 3 is a discreet, in-wall docking assembly with a snap-on cover and built-in 2 x 30-watt amplifier that holds the little speaker in place while providing access to its controls. A separate single-gang "wall-plate" box that can be located up to 100 feet away from the speaker provides connections for a local audio source.
Switchable between 4 and 8 ohms, the amp is designed to power and provide voice and keypad control for up to two pairs of speakers, whether mounted in a ceiling, wall, or cabinet. The two-piece system provides power to the Echo Dot, which connects to the mounting assembly via a 3.5mm minjack, and has a line-level input for an additional audio source plus a subwoofer output.
For more information, visit vanguarddynamics.com.


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The FDA finalized a rule(s3.amazonaws.com) Dec. 20 that it first proposed in 2015, finding that triclosan and 23 other active ingredients aren't generally recognized as safe and effective (GRASE) for use in OTC health care antiseptic products. These include health care personnel hand washes and rubs, surgical hand scrubs and rubs, and patient antiseptic skin preparations.
No other safety and effectiveness data were provided to the FDA to support monograph conditions for these 24 active ingredients.
This means that products containing these active ingredients that are intended for use in OTC health care antiseptics by health care professionals -- in a hospital setting or other health care situations -- may no longer be marketed without undergoing premarket review.
Of the 24 active ingredients that the FDA found to be non-GRASE, triclosan is the only one currently being used in any marketed health care antiseptic products, the FDA said, so most currently marketed health care antiseptics will not be impacted by this final rule.
"Ensuring the safety and effectiveness of OTC health care antiseptics has been a priority for the FDA, not only because these products are an important component of infection control strategies in health care settings, but also because of the role these products may play in contributing to antimicrobial resistance if they're not manufactured or used appropriately," said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., in a news release. (www.fda.gov)
"Health care providers are on the front lines of care. They need and deserve to have safe and effective means for preventing the spread of infection. That's why the FDA has been vigilant in seeking the data to support the continued use of 30 active ingredients used in OTC health care antiseptics."
Gottlieb said the FDA's decision was based on a lack of sufficient safety and efficacy data supporting use of these ingredients.
"However, it's important to note that this action does not impact all health care antiseptic ingredients," he said. "Rather, given the public health importance of these products, the FDA is deferring final rulemaking on the six most commonly used ingredients while manufacturers collect the data needed to properly weigh their safety and efficacy."
In response to industry requests, the FDA has deferred final rulemaking for one year, subject to renewal, on these six active ingredients that are the most commonly used in currently marketed OTC health care antiseptic products:
- alcohol (ethanol),
- isopropyl alcohol,
- povidone-iodine,
- benzalkonium chloride,
- benzethonium chloride, and
- chloroxylenol (PCMX).
The FDA said this move is intended to provide manufacturers more time to complete the scientific studies necessary to fill data gaps and allow the agency to make a determination about the safety and efficacy of these ingredients.
"Importantly, this doesn't mean that products containing these six ingredients are ineffective or unsafe," Gottlieb said in the release. "These antiseptic products remain an important resource in health care settings. Personnel should continue to use these products consistent with infection control guidelines while the additional data are gathered."
Additionally, the final rule doesn't affect health care antiseptics that are currently marketed under new drug applications and abbreviated new drug applications.
Health care antiseptic drug products containing one or more of the non-GRASE active ingredients will be considered new drugs for which marketing will require approved new drug applications.
Manufacturers will have one year to comply with this final rule by reformulating these products or removing them from the market. Based on the proposed rule, the FDA said manufacturers have already started removing these ingredients from their products.
This final rule is part of the FDA's continued comprehensive review of OTC antiseptic active ingredients to ensure safety and efficacy. The agency previously issued final rulemaking on consumer antiseptic washes(www.federalregister.gov) in September 2016 and a proposed rule on consumer antiseptic rubs(www.fda.gov) in June 2016.
Related AAFP News Coverage
Proposed Rule
FDA Requiring Manufacturers to Show OTC Antibacterial Products Are Safe, Effective
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The department of health have produced physical activity guidelines for Under Fives for both children who are and are not yet walking.They outline the benefits of being active and give examples of ways to encourage physical activity.
For further information please see the website:
www.nhs.uk/livewell where you can download a copy of the guidelines.
We have come across a great video on You Tube called Babies Balance and Brainshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7lPaZodAkE
.It is in three short videos and explains the importance of movement in babies. It explains the connection between physical and brain development and gives great tips on how to promote physical movement in babies. We will be giving some of the tips on the video on our facebook page so keep a look out for that.
Babywalkers 'hinder first steps'
They are designed to give babies a head start in finding their feet.
But far from speeding up the transition from crawling to walking, babywalkers can actually slow it down, scientists now believe.
The first study into how the devices affect the time taken to reach the normal milestones of sitting, crawling, standing and walking has found they can set a child back by as much as a month.
Dr Mary Garrett, director of the University College Dublin School of Physiotherapy, said: 'Most babies start using them around the age of six months and the effect is very sudden - the more they use the babywalker, the greater the delay in reaching significant milestones.
'We don't know how the effect works. It could be that the child's muscles take longer to strengthen because they are not crawling around the floor as much, or it may be a delaying effect on the maturation of the central nervous system which is crucial to these skills.'
Previous research has shown that babywalkers - framed harnesses on wheels which allow children to use their feet to propel themselves - increase the risk of injury.
The latest study looked at 190 healthy infants attending day care centres registered with the Foyle Health and Social Service Trust, Northern Ireland.
The researchers asked parents to record the age at which their child reached developmental milestones including rolling over, sitting alone, crawling, standing and walking unaided.
The study, published today in the British Medical Journal, found significant links between the amount of time spent in a babywalker and the extent of developmental delay.
Altogether 102 children using babywalkers from the age of six months started crawling, standing alone and walking unaided later than other children.
For every 24 hours of babywalker use, there was a delay of 3.3 days in walking independently and a delay of 3.7 days in standing independently.
On average, children who did not use a babywalker started crawling at seven months, a month earlier than those using babywalkers.
There was a delay of three weeks for babywalker children standing unaided or walking alone.
However, the use of a babywalker did not delay infants sitting and it did not affect the time taken to stand and walk with support.
Dr Garrett said: 'We have not looked at the effect of continuing to use babywalkers after the baby has learned to walk. It would be interesting to see if they are more sedentary in later life.'
Although all babies catch up eventually, she said parents were under the mistaken impression that babywalkers helped children become independent faster.
'This is clearly not the case and we know that babywalkers increase the risk of injuries in infancy, even serious injuries caused by falling down the stairs.
'The use of babywalkers should be discouraged,' she said. 'But if parents are going to use them, they should buy safety apparatus such as stairgates at the same time and minimise the amount of time babies spend in them.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-124329/Babywalkers-hinder-steps.html#ixzz3Q7xxvk5I
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook


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The Nativity image is from Cricut "Inspired Heart" cartridge. This cart is amazing! I also made another Christmas card from this cart but I'll have to show you when it's finished (it's still a work in progress, lol).The cartridge has some great cuts especially for sympathy. I have a lot of ideas for those.
I also added a gold card stock star but can't remember which cart I cut that one from. (guess I'm going senile!). I wanted a somewhat primitive look so that's why I chose the brown background paper but it needed to be dressed up a bit. I happen to have a lot of this textured ribbon so it just finished it off nicely.


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Look how long, a woman can and will hold her grudges, from the Front Page Sections, translated…
A woman, Wang, believed that she was unjustly dumped by her two former boyfriends, several times, in the depth of the nights, she'd broken the windows of their cars, and had committed arson, set their cars on fire, as a way, of taking revenge on them for dumping her; the victims suspected that Wang was responsible for their cars being set ablaze, they'd installed surveillance cameras, and the cameras captured Wang, dressing up as someone else, and setting their cars on fire. The police arrested the mildly emotional and physically handicapped woman, she was very emotional, stressed, "I just felt uneven!", that, was why she'd committed arson, on her former boyfriends' cars, the D.A. asked the judge to allow for her incarceration based off of public endangerment, the judge allowed.
The police investigated and found, that Wang had been divorced for several years, a little over a decade ago, started dating a man named Tsai, three years ago after they broke up, she'd met Cheng, last year, she and Cheng broke up too, although, Wang is now, with her third boyfriend, however, she felt that she was abandoned by both of her previous exes, she felt that it was unfair.
This January, in the middle of the nights, Wang was suspected of breaking the windows of Tsai and Cheng's sedans, and, they'd instinctively believed, that the incidents were related to Wang, but, they'd kept it quiet. Late one night in March, Wang went to the parking lot across from the community where Tsai lived, set his truck on fire, then, went to Tsai's resident, and, set the sedan and motorcycle that Tsai parked by the side of the road on fire too, the fire almost burned to the residential areas, the firefighters were able to make it to both spots, to prevent further damages.
Later on, Cheng had installed surveillance cameras where he lived, and at around two in the morning on May 12th, he'd captured footage of how Wang rode her motorcycle to Cheng's residence, she'd even gotten dressed up, with a big sombrero on, wearing rain boots, and, she'd managed, to wrap the headlights on her motorcycle up as well.
Wang broken Cheng's car window, poured gasoline into the car, then, set the fire, but because the fire wasn't big enough, she'd gone back, to set it ablaze one more time, and, the third time she'd lit it up, the fire got too out of control, she'd gotten burned herself. Afterwards, Wang went to Tsai's residence, set a motorcycle and his front doors on fire, the fire got to his living room, gladly, it was put out quickly, before anybody got hurt.
The police found that it was Wang, based off of the surveillance footage, made an arrest yesterday.
Tsai and Cheng refused to talk about their ex further, they'd both stated, "She doesn't have any money, it's no use to sue her anyway."
Because this woman felt unjustly dumped, that, was why she'd taken revenge over her ex-boyfriends, and, maybe, she felt bad about herself, and just, projected her angers onto how the boyfriends had broken up with her, which was what caused her, to commit arson.


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A unique activity that has been designed to calm and reassure.
We have designed a range of Sensory products that have been designed in a creative way of using multiple senses. Stimulate personal memories with people in the later point of their dementia journey and spark conversation that would otherwise have been impossible to reach.


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Kim Kardashian has shared a sentimental video full of previously unseen family moments on social media.
The reality TV star and her husband Kanye West had a tumultuous 2016, with Kim being robbed at gunpoint in October while visiting France for Paris Fashion Week and the rapper hospitalized after reportedly suffering with exhaustion and sleep deprivation in November.
But following Kanye's return to Twitter last Tuesday, where he posted a rare family photo with Kim, 36, and their two children, North, three, and Saint, one, his wife has followed suit by sharing an intimate video of her family life on her personal website.
The video, which is accompanied by a version of Jeremih's song Paradise as the soundtrack, opens with footage of Kanye, 39, embracing his wife and kissing her on the cheek. A montage of moments from the previous year follows, including a clip of Kim and her younger sister Khloe Kardashian appearing at Kanye's Yeezy Season 3 fashion show at New York's Madison Square Garden in February and a video of the Stronger singer and the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star dancing together at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in August.
A variety of family moments at home are also captured, including a clip of Kanye holding Saint as he's learning to stand on his own and footage of the toddler taking some of his first steps.
The video concludes with a video of the reality star tearing up as she watches footage of herself and older sister Kourtney Kardashian as children, before it ends with a shot of Kim embracing Kanye in a warm hug.
While the video appears to imply that the famous couple are in a good place following their rough year, the sharing of the footage may also indicate that Kim is readying herself for a full-time return to social media in 2017 after taking time out from posting on Instagram and Twitter while she recovered from her ordeal in Paris. She hasn't shared any news with her 89 million plus fans since October.0


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The intelligent SuperTrak track system is now also available in a variant designed for vertical mounting. This helps to optimize the output per square meter of floor space. It also makes it much easier to access the electronics.
In the vertical orientation, the shuttles have a much higher payload capacity. If products are only transported on the upper side of the SuperTrak, the weight is not supported magnetically. Instead the load is transferred directly to the rollers. In addition, a vertical track orientation simplifies assembly and provides maximum stability.
- Easier access to power electronics
- Easier installation
- Higher payload
- Optimized output per square meter of floor space


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Quote of the Day:
"Hey, I signed out of your youtube account earlier and signed into mine. Please remember to sign me out and use your own account before you go commenting on anymore dudes twirking." ~ Master Betty
I can explain! Really!
So…when twirking first became a thing, I was all like, "Wtf is twirking?" So I looked it up on youtube. Somehow or another I came across a video of this young guy twirking his heart out, and when I scanned down through the comments people were being really mean and calling him names…I guess because he's a guy doing a stereotypical chick dance. So since my account is anonymous and I have a chick picture, I commented on the video in a technical way about how his skills were impressive and he had to have a lot of leg strength to pull that off. 'Good job' kinda thing. I tried to make it sound not-creeper-ish, but anyone that knows me knows how I often times fail at sounding not-creeper-ish. Anyway…it wouldn't have been so bad except that a year or so later Master Betty hops on his youtube account and sees his activities and notices the last thing he commented on was some dude twirking. Apparently no manor of tact can make one guy commenting on another guy twirking effectively sound cool.
Sorry, Master Betty…


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In which the author ponders the question, "If you admit that you are a hypocrite, are you really a hypocrite?" He then provides his honest commentary on a number of fascinating topics. He insists, however, that his readers form their own opinions.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Mission space games run Windows and crash
One of the games in the Mission Space area at Epcot crashed and needed to be rebooted.
They run windows.
Butterfly at Epcot
Most wouldn't stay still for photographs, but thus one did. I just had to find the plants they liked. This was taken with my iPhone 5S, surprisingly good!
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Learning curling
There was a session for learning curling at the Slating Club of Wilmington last night. It was fun and interesting. Throwing the stone is much harder than it looks. This is a still for a video of the first time I didn't fall down trying it.
It was surprisingly hard for me to push enough to get the stone into the house. I always felt like I was overdoing it but it didn't reach.
I felt I was a little better at sweeping, but you need to be able to do everything on a curling team. There was nice emphasis on how curling is a very polite sport, I liked that. I will admit I have aches in my push off leg and from sweeping, but I would try this again.
They are trying to see if there is interest enough in a league. You can find them on Facebook at curlwilmington.
Clever anti-tailgating suggestion?
I did in fact literally laughter out loud when I read this. And was breaking spirit of it when I was too close at the stoplight when I quickly, yet safely took the picture.
Monday, April 20, 2015
You know it is raining a lot when a duck swims across your driveway!
He seems nonplussed by the rain and didn't care when I backed out of the driveway. He just moved to one side politely.
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text: Innovation and investment keeps Hi-Tech at the cutting edge of technology and helps maintain our position as an industry leader. Our state of the art 33,000 sq. ft. electronic assembly facility contains an impressive list of equipment including over 5000 sq. ft. of medical clean room . Our equipment, however, isn?t the only factor that makes our facility state of the art. One look and you?ll see that Hi-Tech isn?t your average assembly house.


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AxxonSoft WebinarsLearn more
Book a personal demo to get your questions answered in real time by AxxonSoft.Book a demo
Book a live demo webinar
Recently a production plant Sibgidromehstroy located in Novosibirsk , Russia was equipped with an integrated Video7 system by Axxon (former ITV). The project was carried out by the installation team of Axxon (former ITV) partner Grumant of Novosibirsk.
Sibgidromehstroy plant specializes in hydromechanical earthworks that is associated with building navigation facilities, irrigation canals, pond purification and shoreline restoration, mines reclamation, etc. Production plant of the Sibgidromehstroy occupies huge territories with located warehouses, access railroad, servicing facilities for making repair works on specialized large-sized machinery. Management group of the plant wanted to install a video surveillance system that would enable them to keep closer control of the operation process. They needed an instrument that would allow them to watch over employee's work and its efficiency and quality, archive retrieval for identification entering and leaving plant territories, detect unauthorized intrusion and movements at the territories during night hours. Video7 system, by Axxon (former ITV), with remote monitoring features was recommended for the task.
Grutman specialists have installed 6 stationary cameras in manufacturing workshops and across the plant territories with frame rate of each camera 8 fps. In addition Dynacolor D7722 high speed dome camera was installed at the strategic point to provide complete coverage of the territory. For the control Pelco-D protocol with USB<->RS485 converter is used. Dome and one of the stationary cameras are located not far away from server (35 – 40 meters ) an were connected via coaxial cable. Due to the huge territories occupies by the object other cameras are distanced for upto 350 meters from the server. Due to the presence of various noise sources at the object, such as signal cables, hoisting cranes, etc, Grumant installation specialist used specialized cables with line-balance converters. That allowed to eliminate influence of low-frequency noise thus improving quality of the transmitted video, and protected expensive equipment from static electricity that accumulates by the extensive lines.
Video footage from surveillance cameras is transferred to operator guarding the plant. From the remote workplace located 200 meters away from the plant operator can watch closely real-time situation at the production plant, retrieve archived data to resolve controversial situations. Video archive is stored for 2 weeks period.
Thus customer received compact and efficient video surveillance system at a reasonable price. With the deployed security system that covers huge territories of the production plant Sibgidromehstroy is armed with a new universal tool that promotes both safety and productivity. If required, customer can expand the system and upgrade modules by incorporating new features into installed system.
Implemented system has been running at the object for two months already. According the management group installed system boosted safety at the plant and improved productivity.


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Whats my rank on Google
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The answer on whats my rank on Google question
Do you want to get the TOP Google position?
Oh yeah, you are. It's the right answer. Suppose that the question "Whats my rank on Google" is the main goal. But, let's start with the beginning. Answer the questions:
Why do you want to be on TOP position?
Do you know how to do that?
Actually, everything is simple. All the time you have the internet, you were a customer. When you wanted to buy some product or order the service, you asked someone to help with choosing it very rarely. You have more reliable information source – Google. It's the best and popular search engine all over the world. And now you are on the other side. You are the seller, investor, the company's owner or innovator of a product. You have to increase your sales, to introduce people your product, to have credibility among your targeted audience. Word-of-mouth is a good try, but you don't know how long you need to wait for first real client. So, what's next?
Do you know what ranking Google position is?
Creating a new site or landing page is the best way to get new clients but only if the rules will be supported. The right method of creation and further support and updates can help you to get the TOP positions in Google. The ranking checker is a tool that defines value and relevance of your page by special keywords among other websites. There are so many factors that influence on this mechanism but nobody knows them all exactly.
SEO professionals explore the search engine every day to summarize the most influential elements which can help you to achieve the TOP results. The most important factors are well optimized keywords, high speed and correct structure of your resource, incoming links etc. These changes aren't constant, but timely conclusions, tracking errors, watching the rivals and improving high quality indicators of your pages can do the unbelievable progress. There are many secrets concerning selection of keywords that accelerate the process of improving Google analytics results.
Tips for improving ranking position
Professionals always consider that the TOP links in the first Google page are more reliable, because the owners of the site don't save the money on such extended promotion. Such reputation can't be spoiled by bad quality indicators so their products or services have international standards on attribute characteristics. Do you want to be one of the sites in TOP results?
Here some typical tips to improve your ranking results:
Unique content with specific keywords. It's the first indispensable step to create your site or blog. The SERP machines prefer quality and unique texts with perfect well optimized keywords which must be updated regularly. The statistics show that if you see the decrease of your ranking position, you need to update your content and number of keywords at least once a month. Don't forget to share your news or articles in networks.
Inbound links for your site. The references need to be relevant and valuable including the SEO optimized keywords. Try to find the sites with higher page rank position, than links from here to you will be more "important". You can also leave your website address in forums, popular blogs and influential people's pages, but try to avoid the inscription like "Click here". Right keywords give the cue to target audience about your website.
If you have the commercial website, you still need the blog with useful exciting comprehensive articles. People shouldn't leave you without getting the full answer. But think – how can they find you? Right, through to well optimized keywords. If you can attract potential customers with useful tips, they start to believe you on a subconscious level and they will be induced to buy something.
And don't forget that the answer for "Where do I rank on Google search for a keyword" is possible only if you use well optimized heading tags and keywords. You need to take care about H1, H2, H3 heading tags, placement and density of the keywords. Such permalink structure helps to achieve you the best results in SERP. How to find the needed keywords?
How to choose right tool
If you want to get usability, comfort and extensive Google keyword rank checker, you need to find the professional tool that helps to understand all the nuances of ranking operations, fix the semantic core and determine the competitors' advantages. The perfect example is RankActive.
This tool allows you to compare all databases for selected period, see the percentage of TOP 3,5,10,100 keywords to other keywords, see its popularity in a chosen region, analyze CPC and PPC data from Google Adwords, remark the dynamic changes of keyword positions over a fixed time. Extra adds from SERP like blogs, maps, discussions, images, videos, news, shopping, places also can help you to get well ranking results. Note that this is not even the whole list of benefits. RankActive is easy to use for huge companies and small start-up projects, the owners of the online shops and professional SEO experts.
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Don't get me wrong, I love all puppies. I mean, aren't ALL puppies cute? But there are some dog breeds that have that extra "you mean, me?" look on their faces that make them even more irresistible. Here are my top 10 puppy breeds that will guarantee to make you smile. 1. English Bulldog 2. Golden Retriever 3. Labrador Retriever 4. Corgi 5. French Bulldog 6. … [Read more...]
20 Most Awkward Cat Sleeping Position
Cats are inherently laid back and lazy creatures - they can fall asleep any time. More than anything, cats are flexible and limber and thus have the ability to fall asleep anywhere and in any position. Here are 20 of the most awkward cat sleeping positions - you decide if they're cute or dangerous. 1. The Hammock Snuggled up in the comfort of a bamboo basket, made just for … [Read more...]
18 Dog Posts on Tumblr That Will Brighten Your Day Immediately
Simply put, dogs are awesome. Whether they're begging for your food, barking at their leash to convince you to take them on a walk, or simply greeting you when you get home, dogs do all of the little things that put smiles on faces around the world. Most of us don't need reminders but the below tumblr posts will they'll remind you why dogs are forever going to be mankind's best … [Read more...]


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11 Dec. New York Times - Military's Information War Is Vast and Often Secretive.
The media center in Fayetteville, N.C., would be the envy of any global communications company.
In state of the art studios, producers prepare the daily mix of music and news for the group's radio stations or spots for friendly television outlets. Writers putting out newspapers and magazines in Baghdad and Kabul converse via teleconferences. Mobile trailers with high-tech gear are parked outside, ready for the next crisis.
The center is not part of a news organization, but a military operation, and those writers and producers are soldiers. The 1,200-strong psychological operations unit based at Fort Bragg turns out what its officers call "truthful messages" to support the United States government's objectives, though its commander acknowledges that those stories are one-sided and their American sponsorship is hidden...


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Transcripts - What, Why, Where, and How do I Send a Transcript?
How do I request an unofficial and official copy of my transcript?
What is on a student's transcript?
What is NOT on a student's transcript?
Where do I send my student's transcript?
- Unofficial: Parents or students may request an unofficial copy of their transcript from Mrs. di Carlo or Mrs. Loftin in Currin. Unofficial transcripts do not have our school seal and cannot be submitted with college or scholarship applications. They are to be referenced for informational purposes only.
- Official (Grades 9-11): Students and parents must request official transcripts through this WCPSS link .
- Official (Grades 12-13): Seniors, please reference these transcript instructions for complete instructions and details on how to request transcripts from SAU and WYWLA.
What is on a student's transcript?
- History of final grades in high school and college courses
- Weighted and unweighted grade point average (GPA)
- Class Rank (based on weighted GPA)
- EOG & EOC scores
- Basic student contact information
What is NOT on a student's transcript?
- Extracurricular activities and athletic participation
- Service hours
- PSAT, PLAN, ACT & SAT scores - must be requested through the appropriate testing agency to officially send these score reports to colleges.
Where do I send my student's transcript?
- To any colleges, including community colleges, that students apply to
- Summer opportunities and scholarships may require a transcript.
- Final transcripts must be submitted to the college that a senior eventually decides to attend.