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That is why it's important to invest in a few things like a movable therapeutic massage table or a chair, a kind of double-sided board to advertise your services and prices, a pile of towels, massage oils and a large umbrella or two to protect your self and your prospects from the solar.
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You need to be aware of advertising and marketing techniques, and here marketing merely means transferring possession of a product, in this case an image from a buyer to vendor. Is a network of main firms in the world of diversified media, news, and information companies.
Usually, only with a private lender can a small business proprietor expect to obtain a business money advance with very bad credit. Accounting is the measurement, processing and communication of economic details about financial entities sixteen 17 comparable to businesses and firms The trendy area was established by the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli in 1494.
And you need to know that any rules that apply to the big manufacturing companies can even pertain to your starting a producing company from dwelling. For those who're planning any form of manufacturing at dwelling, you could have a license to do so. In many neighborhoods, at home businesses of any kind simply aren't allowed.… Read More..
The Mildura Chocolate Company is a social enterprise run as a department of the Christie Centre, a neighborhood primarily based organisation that gives companies and opportunities to folks with disabilities. We have suggestions direct from the ATO to help you prepare for tax time, and be sure to don't miss any deductions your business can still make within the last weeks of the monetary yr. This is outlined as the net income of the business added to the owner salary, any perks, depreciation and interest much less any quantity that you just might have to put apart for capital tasks assessed.
And it is best to know that any rules that apply to the big manufacturing companies can even pertain to your beginning a manufacturing firm from house. When you're planning any type of manufacturing at home, you have to have a license to do so. In many neighborhoods, at residence businesses of any type just aren't allowed.
24 New technologies, like wearable security units 25 and out there on-line safety training, continue to be developed to encourage employers to put money into safety beyond the " canary in the coalmine " and reduce the fee to businesses of defending their staff.
It is rather vital to determine the type of providers you intend to supply and business you want to focus on. Survey and research the market for your companies and key operational areas you might be contemplating for business. Inside decorators, beauticians, hairstylists, make-up artists, tanning salons, laundromats, dry cleaners, and pest controllers are service businesses.
Instead, it uses magazines, business newspapers, and direct mails to concerned purchaser companies or organizations. Our reviewers have spent hundreds of hours reviewing greater than a hundred categories of products and services you should run and develop your business.
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text:
Q: php retrieve all nested replies in one object without using recursion (laravel) I have nested replies like the following:
comment
-reply1
--reply3
---reply4
----reply5
-reply2
--reply6

I have this function in my model
return $this->hasMany(self::class, 'parentid', 'postid')
        ->visible()
        ->with('replies');

and I wrote this code to get all replies
 foreach($replies as $reply){
        if(!empty($reply->replies)){
            foreach($reply->replies as $re){
                $replies->push($re);
            }
        }
    }

  return $replies;

this code can get the following replies:{reply1,reply2,reply3,reply6}
How can I retrieve all the replies even if there are deeper replies without using recursion???

A: You can use Queue instead of recursion.

*

*Push all your replies to queue.

*Dequeue a reply from the queue.

*If there are deeper replies from it, then you push deeper replies in the queue.

*You repeat step 2 and step 3. Until the queue is empty.

Edit:
I am not familiar with php, but it should tell you how to use queue.
$queue = $replies;
$allReplies = array();
while($queue) {
    $reply = array_shift($queue);
    $allReplies[] = $reply;
    if(!empty($reply->replies)){
        foreach($reply->replies as $re){
            $queue[] = $re;
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Solution to binding errors thrown by setting Image.Source to a binding to null. (suppression?) I've got a scenario where I have Image Sources set to null which are resolved later and then displayed.  Any good way to prevent my code from throwing binding errors?
An example:

System.Windows.Data Error: 23 : Cannot convert '' from type '' to type 'System.Windows.Media.ImageSource' for 'en-US' culture with default conversions; consider using Converter property of Binding. NotSupportedException:'System.NotSupportedException: ImageSourceConverter cannot convert from (null).
     at System.ComponentModel.TypeConverter.GetConvertFromException(Object value)
     at System.Windows.Media.ImageSourceConverter.ConvertFrom(ITypeDescriptorContext context, CultureInfo culture, Object value)
     at MS.Internal.Data.DefaultValueConverter.ConvertHelper(Object o, Type destinationType, DependencyObject targetElement, CultureInfo culture, Boolean isForward)'

XAML
<Image x:Name="image" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" Opacity="0">
    <Image.Effect>
        <DropShadowEffect/>
    </Image.Effect>
    <Image.Source>
        <Binding Path="ImageStream">
            <Binding.ValidationRules>
                <validationRules:NotNullStreamValidationRule/>
            </Binding.ValidationRules>
        </Binding>
    </Image.Source>
</Image>

C#
namespace FlickrDemo.ViewModel
{
    public class FlickrPhotoViewModel : ViewModelBase
    {
        public const string ImageStreamPropertyName = "ImageStream";

        private Stream _imageStream = null;

        public Stream ImageStream
        {
            get
            {
                return _imageStream;
            }

            set
            {
                if (_imageStream == value)
                {
                    return;
                }
                _imageStream = value;

                RaisePropertyChanged(ImageStreamPropertyName);
            }
        }

        public const string IsLoadingPropertyName = "IsLoading";

        private bool _isLoading = false;

        public bool IsLoading
        {
            get
            {
                return _isLoading;
            }

            set
            {
                if (_isLoading == value)
                {
                    return;
                }

                _isLoading = value;

                RaisePropertyChanged(IsLoadingPropertyName);
            }
        }

        public const string PhotoIDPropertyName = "PhotoID";

        private string _photoID = String.Empty;

        public string PhotoID
        {
            get
            {
                return _photoID;
            }

            set
            {
                if (_photoID == value)
                {
                    return;
                }

                var oldValue = _photoID;
                _photoID = value;

                RaisePropertyChanged(PhotoIDPropertyName);
            }
        }

        public FlickrPhotoViewModel(string photoID)
        {
            this.PropertyChanged += async (s, e) =>
            {
                if (e.PropertyName == ImageStreamPropertyName)
                {
                    if (!(ImageStream == null || ImageStream == Stream.Null))
                    {
                        IsLoading = false;
                    }
                }
            };
            IsLoading = true;
            PhotoID = photoID;
        }
    }
}

A: I ran into the same problem trying to use a string URI (rather than a Stream).  I resolved the issue by setting up a property on my view model of type ImageSource, which is the type of the Source property on Image, and binding Source to that property.  This gets any automatic conversion out of the mix.  Within the new property, handle the null case, then defer to the standard ImageSourceConverter.  In your case, I think this would look something like this:
Code:
public const string ImageStreamPropertyName = "ImageStream";

private Stream _imageStream = null;

public Stream ImageStream
{
    get
    {
        return _imageStream;
    }

    set
    {
        if (_imageStream == value)
        {
            return;
        }
        _imageStream = value;

        RaisePropertyChanged(ImageStreamPropertyName);
        // Raise for ImageSource too since it changes with ImageStream
        RaisePropertyChanged("ImageSource");
    }
}

public ImageSource ImageSource
{
    get
    {
        if (ImageStream == null)
            return null;

        return (ImageSource)new ImageSourceConverter().ConvertFrom(ImageStream);
    }
}

XAML:
    <Image.Source>
        <Binding Path="ImageSource" />
    </Image.Source>

A: The problem is the datatype of your ImageStream property. There is no converter that knows how to handle the null-situation:
System.Windows.Data Error: 23 : Cannot convert '' from type '' to type 'System.Windows.Media.ImageSource' for 'en-US' culture with default conversions; consider using Converter property of Binding
One possibility to solve this problem is to make your own IValueConverter implementation. If the input value is a stream, return it. If not, return null. If this does not work, return an empty dummy ImageSource.
Something like:
public class ImageStreamForwardConverter : IValueConverter{
    public object Convert(object value, Type targetType, object parameter, CultureInfo    culture){
      if(null == value){
         return null;
      }else if(value is Stream){
         return value;
      }else{
         throw new InvalidOperationException("Unsupported type");
      }
      ....

A: Pat's answer at the below link worked great for me, it involves a simple value converter that instead returns DependencyProperty.UnsetValue in the case of a null.
ImageSourceConverter error for Source=null


Chartres's incomparable Gothic cathedral—the first to use flying buttresses and the third largest after Rome's St. Peter's and the Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, England—is known for its unrivaled stained-glass windows and the sculptures that decorate it inside and out.
The magnificent stained glass, covering an expanse of more than 27,000 square feet, is an almost incomprehensible achievement. The stirring jewel-like windows created by 12th- and 13th-century master glass artists were saved from destruction in both world wars by being removed piece by piece and hidden for safekeeping.
The kaleidoscopic colors—ruby reds, emerald greens, "Chartres blue," and rich golds —are once again brilliant and vibrant, as the windows undergo a lengthy, painstaking, and expensive restoration. For the illiterate masses they served as illuminated pages from the Bible, familiar narratives that could be read bottom to top—earth to heaven—and left to right.
Chartres Cathedral is a showcase of Gothic architecture and continues to stagger even the most blasé modern-day observer. The sixth church built on this spot, it houses a tunic worn by the Virgin Mary. The nave, the widest in Europe, barely accommodated the hordes of pilgrims who came during the Middle Ages. Things are no different today.


text:
Maranda Holtsclaw named Regional Director of Michigan Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC)
Maranda Holtsclaw is the newly appointed Director for the Michigan Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC) . Prior to joining HERC, Maranda worked for the Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Department at Michigan State University, where she coordinated preventive maintenance work for skilled trades crews. Maranda holds a bachelor's degree in Global and Area Studies and a master's degree in Public Health from Michigan State University.
"I love working in higher education, and the prospect of bringing more people into this workforce is thrilling. Our institutions are good employers that need diverse, skilled workforces. I look forward to bringing these two pieces together and making Michigan higher ed a sought-after career option," says Holtsclaw.
HERC is a non-profit coalition of colleges, universities, hospitals, research labs, government agencies, and related non-profit and for-profit organizations, committed to diversifying the pipeline of faculty, staff, and executives in academia. Regional HERC member institutions work together to strategically address top recruitment priorities. HERC has developed leading regional and national higher education job websites, diverse job seeker pools, and a network of colleagues at nearby campuses who collaborate on dual-career hiring issues and convene regularly for professional development opportunities.
Holtsclaw's duties as the regional director include: building and maintaining a network of regional institutions and individual members; providing training opportunities and support within MSU and across other HERC member institutions; and assisting colleges within the university with diverse and/or dual-career hiring.
Holtsclaw is situated inside the MSU WorkLife Office in Linton Hall. Her role with the university expands to Academic Human Resources and connects to colleges requesting assistance with reaching a diverse pipeline of candidates or support with dual-career hires. The WorkLife Office provides an additional level of assistance for both incoming dual-career faculty and non-faculty academic staff/support staff partners with information about the community and other career opportunities/job market information. Consultations with the WorkLife Office team, as part of the hiring process, provide applicants the ability to ask questions about the community, surrounding areas, and activities that they would be unlikely to ask in an interview. This could help candidates formulate a decision to relocate to MSU.
"HERC is a great asset not only to MSU but statewide, as member institutions collaborate to present career opportunities in higher education. We can all benefit from each other's job postings, enhancing recruitment potential. HERC also augments training for member institutions in ways that help us better serve our faculty and staff in their career development," says Barbara Roberts, director of the WorkLife Office. "We are pleased to have Maranda join our team."
Holtsclaw was born and raised in Michigan's Greater Lansing Area where she lives with her husband and two young children. She enjoys traveling and spending time with her family. Feel free to contact Maranda at mholtscl@msu.edu.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Francis MacManus 2019: hear the second prize winning story
Updated / Tuesday, 17 Sep 2019 17:16
From Monday 16th to Friday 27th September, you can hear one story every weeknight at 11.20pm on RTÉ Radio 1 from the shortlist of this year's Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.
Vena Amoris by Niall McArdle, took second prize - listen to Vena Amoris, read by Eamon Morrissey, above, and read Niall's short story below.
A widowed man, surrounded by the clutter and detritus of his life, loses a precious companion...
I leave him on a dreary, blowy Tuesday afternoon, a little while after lunch, when he is solid asleep in the armchair. Three ticks of the second hand on the clock on the mantelpiece. I am with him and then I am not.
That night he has three dreams. In the first he is a child of six, flying a kite with his brother in a storm. In the second a woman he doesn't recognise insists she's his wife. The dream wakes him up unnerved and needing to pee. He drifts back to sleep, and in the third dream he realises something isn't right. He groans awake.
He turns on the lamp and looks at his hands. His ring finger has a slightly pale mark. He rubs at it and shivers. He remains in bed for several more minutes, then gets up and pads the carpet carefully. He bends down, looks under the bed, on the nightstand. He goes into the bathroom. Many of the tiles are cracked and the grout is blackened and mouldy in spots. The black and white pattern was her choice. He always thinks it's too hectic in spite of its geometry. He'd prefer bigger tiles. Standing in the bathroom feels like being lost in an infinite set of chessboards.
He returns to the bedroom and sits on the bed. His trousers are hanging as usual on the back of a chair by the window. He checks the pockets. There's some change, a crumpled hankie and the stub of a train ticket to Skerries.
His wife's voice is a slumbering grunt.
"Come back to bed."
The lights in the kitchen are too dim to see the floor properly. He gets a torch from the pantry and spends fifteen minutes pacing the room. There is nothing except dirt in the corners and on top of the skirting board. He is surprised at how filthy it is. Honestly, what's going on? The bathroom tiles, now this. He'll clean it tomorrow, and give the floor a good mop.
He looks on the kitchen counter. He looks by the sink and by the cooker and in the presses. He checks all the drawers, even the bottom one which hasn't been opened in so long he has to wrench and jiggle it. It's stuffed with appliance manuals, batteries, a pair of dull scissors and bits of twine.
She's up now.
"Why do you keep all that junk? We haven't had an electric carving knife in years, remember? We finally threw it out when it stopped working and you couldn't fix it."
"I still think we should've got a new one covered by the guarantee."
Her laugh sounds like a motor struggling to turn over.
"We had the blessed thing fifteen years. The guarantee was long gone."
She's sitting at the kitchen table in her yellow nightie, her mouth curved in either a grimace or a smile. Her hair is a bird's nest, thatched and crumpled. There are liver spots on her arms and her toenails are yellowed and curled.
"Do you want a cuppa?" he asks.
"It's the middle of the night. I want to go back to sleep. We'll find it in the morning."
He spends most of the next morning searching. He looks again in the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen. He checks the basket of dirty clothes, then the dryer. He tries not to use it too much, it eats the electricity, but she was sick of hanging up the washing outside.
He tackles the living room. He pulls up cushions. His mouth fills with the grey taste of dust. He reaches down the back of the couch. Coins. Buttons. Mouldy sweets. Postage stamps, of all things.
He moves the furniture around the room and stares at the carpet. The colour, a sort of speckled eggshell, was her choice. There's a large reddish stain. He can't remember if it's wine or curry. The carpet's frayed in spots and he can see the path he's worn in his daily trudge to and from the kitchen.
Dancing in the ballroom on New Year's Eve a thousand years ago. Her long red hair was swept up. She wore a green silk dress and matching shoes, a costume brooch that could maybe pass for sapphire in the right light. She was looking up at him. He could smell her perfume, the sharp sweetness of it. His suit was too tight; he'd piled on a few pounds since he last wore it, that was at his brother's wedding. He was careful not to step on her toes.
You're a grand dancer."You're not so bad, yourself." She laughed – a guffaw disguised as a titter. He fell first for her laughter, for its coarse promise hiding behind grace.
On Thursday he looks in Sophie's room. Their daughter's bed is neatly made. There are pillows propped up and Sophie's collection of stuffed toys on the windowsill. There are posters of pop stars and film actors. He sits on the bed and looks at the nightstand. There are books in a neat pile and a reading lamp and Sophie's keys. He likes to think he can still smell her perfume.
By Friday he has searched for me in almost every corner of the house, and has taken to looking again in places he's already been, hoping as people often do that lost things will suddenly reappear. He can't find me because when I slipped from him I rolled under the drinks cabinet and came to rest leaning behind a caster.
He goes out to the garden. The lawn is choked with weeds. He looks at the slick of green on the surface of the pond. He should drain it and fill it in. The bird feeder has toppled over. Dandelion spores scatter and dance in his wake as he tramples to the shed.
The rank fart smell of engine oil. There is a rusty saw hanging off a nail. A coiled and buckled hose in the corner. Wobbly shears and a scythe that couldn't cut paper. Three lawnmowers. A petrol model that spews blue smoke and struggles when he pushes it up the slope at the back of the garden. An electric one that hasn't worked in years. And a proper old-fashioned push mower, the blades dull but it still does the job, doesn't it? The guts of an old wireless spill out on the counter. A faded, tatty parasol is propped up in the corner next to deckchairs that haven't been unfolded in years.
He rubs at his ring finger. He thinks he might find me here? Is he mad? He's trying to remember when he last noticed me. He thinks maybe it was Skerries. I've been with him for so long that even after letting me go, I can sense when his mood ticks over from joy to fury.
He feels her watching him as he pokes through the toolbox and opens drawers filled with bolts and lightbulbs.
"Do you remember you promised to build me a gazebo?"
"It's always bloody raining in this country."
"Would've been nice."
"I'd have had to varnish it every other year."
It was lashing down the day that they chose me and my partner. They stood under the awning for a minute before coming in, both of them making a single puddle. He shook out his umbrella and fanned his gabardine. She took off her scarf and gloves. The old jeweller's glasses were smudged but he had a plump, kind face. Holding her hand, his own was thick and stumpy like a butcher's.
"Why is it always this finger, do you know?" she asked.
"The Vena Amoris."
"The which?"
"Vein of Love." He tapped her ring finger. "Runs from there right to your heart."
Her ring was narrow and bright. I am rather plain, broad and quite thick, and my shine has always been dull. He likes that, and he likes the clunky weight of me.
She placed me on him on a rainy Saturday afternoon in October. He used to look at me quite often, then less and less, than got out of the habit completely. He catches glimpses of me now only by mistake. He never took me off, not even that time he went on a business trip and had it away with a prostitute.
He absently rubbed me the few times they argued. He absently rubbed me when the Guards came to break the news to them about Sophie. He absently rubbed me looking at their daughter on the slab, and years later when he sat in the same hospital, listening to a gruff and distracted consultant tell them that the tumour was malignant and there was nothing could be done. He rubbed me when he sat by her bedside, when he watched her get thinner, when he helped her make it to the toilet, when he watched her heaving for breath, when he watched her struggling to tell him something just before she died, when they covered her with a sheet, when people lined up to shake his hand and say 'I'm sorry for your loss', when she was trolleyed into the crematorium. He absently rubbed me when they handed him her urn.
Later he went to Skerries at low tide and walked to the water's edge. He took off his shoes and socks, rolled up the bottom of his trousers, stepped into the sea and tipped her in an ashen fall into the water. He stood there watching her greyness spread upon the rolling surface, the sound of gull's cries overhead and the rumble of the waves.
He let me slip almost two years later.
Ten days after losing me, he's in the armchair, snotty with tears.
"Bloody woman, I've grieved enough for you. Why can't this end?"
She's on the couch, her eyes barrelling into him.
"Why didn't you cry when Sophie died?"
"Not a single bloody tear."
"I'm crying now. Look at me."
"Nothing dries as fast as tears, my mother always said."
"I go to Skerries once a month, you know, hoping the water will take you away forever. But you're still here."
It doesn't seem right to leave him there in that chair, blubbing like a child who's lost his toy. I am right here still, glinting behind the front right caster of the cabinet. Seven months, ten days and three and half hours from this moment, he will finally find me. You're happy to hear this, I trust, but you mightn't be thrilled when I tell you what happens.
He falls, you see. Not just falls. Collapses like a demolished building. Lying on the carpet, dust swirling around him, trying to suck in air, he thinks, Typical, I'm dying in the living room. Then he spots me winking at him. He drags himself across the floor and reaches out to touch me.
Later, when they find us, he is sprawled like a sprinter, one leg bent upward, one stretched longward, a look of gruesome bliss on his face, and something golden in his grasp.
Vena Amoris, which was awarded second prize in this year's RTÉ Radio 1 Short Story Competition in honour of Francis MacManus, will be broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 at 11.20pm on Tuesday 17 September 2019, read by Eamon Morrissey and produced by Sarah Binchy. The three judges of this year's awards were writer Liz Nugent, RTÉ's arts and media correspondent Sinéad Crowley, and Declan Meade, publisher of The Stinging Fly.
Eamon Morrissey
Francis MacManus Short Story Competition
Francis MacManus 2019 - hear the winning story Francis MacManus Short Story Competition


Strava Running and Cycling GPS is one of the most amazing apps for runners and cyclists for recording their activities, compete with their community, comparing their performances over time, and sharing the stories, photos, and highlights of their activities with friends. There are millions of individuals that are using this robust app for tracking their rides and runs for free. Strava Running and Cycling GPS delivers an activity tracking that lets you get key stats as calories burned, elevation gained, pace, speed, and distances along with an instructive map of your activity. You can participate in monthly challenges to impulse yourself further. You can easily connect with your friends, fellow athletes, and social trainers to view each other progress, and activities or encourage them with comments and kudos. This app lets you showcase the best moments of your ride or run, shoot and dig deep for a top time, get heart rate monitor, and share activity details on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Strava Running and Cycling GPS enable some of its passionate trainers to go premium and use some extraordinary and ultimate features for overcoming their health motives.


If wine is your thing, or that of somebody you love, then you need a beautiful wine box. No more brown paper bags or silly bows when you gift a special bottle of wine. Put it inside one of our wine boxes and they will that that bottle of two buck chuck is some fancy bottle from France. Plus we can engrave them to make them even more special.


text:
Sherwood Mayor Bill Middleton's reform agenda put him at odds with council, staff
Updated Jan 10, 2019; Posted Jul 09, 2013
By Fenit Nirappil | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Bill Middleton and Gall.jpg
Sherwood's top municipal leaders had a work session where a psychologist taught them strategies to better communicate. Mayor Bill Middleton is seated on the far right while City Manager Joe Gall, who recently got into a feud with the mayor, sits second from left.
(Fenit Nirappil)
-- Mayor Bill Middleton took office in January
promising to make this town more responsive
to residents' concerns and to whip finances into order.
Key to these goals, he said, was establishing a good relationship with the City Council and ensuring the city manager had greater influence.
But seven months into his term, the 63-year-old
former Sherwood police chief
has found himself at odds with city staff and councilors in decisions ranging from next year's budget to relaying police complaints.
Sherwood Mayor Bill Middleton
Middleton and his supporters, however, say he's following a mandate to shake things up in the city given him last fall when he
defeated Mayor Keith Mays with 56 percent
of the vote.
Last month, tensions exploded between the mayor and
City Manager Joe Gall
with a
terse email exchange
, in which the manager reminded him "You were elected to be mayor, not king." Middleton responded that residents would be better off if Gall moved on, criticizing him for not responding promptly to citizens' problems.
The argument, sparked by Middleton's instruction not to share a complaint against a police officer, reflected a larger issue of mayoral overreach, Gall said. Early on, Middleton offered to become a
point-person for residents' problems
, providing his personal email address and phone number.
But Gall says Middleton's been crossing the line by making demands of staff, increasing stress already aggravated by community
backlash over the pending arrival of Walmart in Sherwood
"Residents should always feel welcome to call the mayor," Gall said. "But he shouldn't be the one to take the complaints and try to fix them. He can't fix them."
Middleton says he knows it's the staff's job to solve problems, but he wants timely responses. "My frustration is, what I am I supposed to do, let it go?" Middleton said of unanswered complaints.
Multiple residents, including Lori Randel, praised Middleton's approach.
"Before Bill was elected, the favorite phrase of staff to every question was 'I don't know, I'll get back to you'," Randel said.
Mayor Bill Middleton
Cutting budget, city accountability
Prior experience:
Sherwood Police Chief 1995-2006
Middleton struggled to exert influence over the city's 2013-14 budget, where he wanted to see greater cuts. He cast the sole vote against
passing the almost $41 million budget
At the first budget committee meeting, Middleton grilled department heads about spending and later lamented the lack of answers. At the next, and final, committee meeting, he stayed silent until casting a no vote.
"His manner of communicating his ideas, it doesn't come out in a way that produces conversations or dialogue," said Ivonne Pflaum, chairwoman of the committee.
When the budget came for a City Council vote in June, he surprised councilors with an unexpected motion to push the vote to a later date. No one seconded his motion, despite support from dozens of residents who wanted more information on the budget.
"For someone who's been such a strong leader in the world as a military person and in our community as chief of police, it's hard when you have to build a coalition," said Councilor Robyn Folsom, who has served since 2009.
Middleton, who served as an Army reservist in Iraq, isn't afraid to take his disagreements public, as he did when he emailed a resident saying Gall is under no oversight because "council could care less what's going on." The email spread around Sherwood.
"It's painful, it's hurtful and if I didn't care, I don't know why I would be doing this for eight years," said Council President Linda Henderson. "I want Bill to be successful, but I can't read his mind, and I want the council to continue working together."
"I don't care," Middleton said when asked about Henderson's concerns about the email. "I speak my mind. If it hurts feelings, so be it. It's the job the public demanded."
Some supporters agree.
"He is trying as best he can within who he is," said 17-year resident Nancy Taylor, referring to Middleton's command background.
She added that residents "may be causing more problems than anyone, because we are going to him, and we are expecting him to solve problems."
Last week, a psychologist helped Sherwood city officials identify ways to communicate better at a council work session. Middleton took a more conciliatory approach.
"It's true sometimes I may be, what's the word, abrupt?" Middleton said in the session. The council president and city manager agreed.
"People say I don't have feelings, but it's never bothered me," he said. "But I should let it."
--Fenit Nirappil: 503-294-4029
You can read Sherwood news posted immediately online at www.oregonlive.com/Sherwood. Stories also appear in The Oregonian and the Wednesday Southwest Community News section.
For news on social media, follow me on


Warm hospitality. Great food. Cleanest room I have ever seen. I strongly recommend this hotel.
Great property, plenty of space. Very quiet. Built on 3 story is very convenient with parking in front. Looks further remote than it is. Only 15 minutes from ski Massif and 15 minutes from village.
Le Massif de Charlevoix is located in an area of Petite-Riviere-Saint-Francois that travelers like for its restaurants. Petite-Riviere-Saint-Francois is home to 12 hotels and other accommodations, so you can find something with the amenities you're looking for.
Auberge La Courtepointe: This 4-star bed & breakfast features free breakfast, a restaurant, and free WiFi. It's a favorite with Expedia travelers for its breakfast and beach locale.
Auberge Le Four à Pain: This 3.5-star inn features free breakfast, a restaurant, and free WiFi. It's a favorite with Expedia travelers for its convenient parking and helpful staff.


It all started in the summer when my colleagues from Hungary told us about the cake contest in Budapest. We thought we could do something similar and decided to donate the money to the Kids and Youth Village Seckach, home to 180 kids in need from three to 18 years in age. We called the head of the social institution, shared our ideas and already started some planning. By that time we did not dream of how big this project would become.
Then I started to walk around our Sulzbach office and ask for bakers. The feedback was great! In total, 120 colleagues baked, decorated or tinkered. Everything was sold on Thursday afternoons in the Sulzbach office building. We came up with the ideas of autumn decoration, Halloween, beach party and Christmas. A colleague from our engineered materials business also organized spatulas made out of Vectra® and we had one Cake Day with the new engineered materials design oven. All these efforts made our cake donations even more successful.
We heard there were real cake baking parties at some colleague's homes that had really tasty cakes every week. I remember the first time I organized a cake baking party I was so excited and a bit afraid that we would not attract many people. But then every Thursday in the cantina we would hear: "Hey, meet you at the cake bake party later," and communicator messages increased with the same message. We had nice afternoons to meet and exchange with Sulzbach colleagues and all for a good cause.
With the core team we started to think about the activity day. We found so many helpful hands in the whole organization and the Christmas Day we spent there was beyond all expectations.
We arrived with two vans and cars with 16 employees to spend the day with a full Christmas celebration. We folded Origami with the kids, made scoubidoo bracelets, learned about our colleagues trip to the Arctic, practiced to become a tennis star, felt excitement by playing Bingo, did a webcache, experienced engineering skills via Lego technic, created T-shirts and bags, made beautiful magazine files with table napkins, decorated candle holders and enjoyed the beautiful painted faces and self-made cookies.
Then Santa came and the kids looked starry-eyed at the 120 presents we prepared. One little boy told us that this was one of the best days in his life. The atmosphere with the happy children was inspiring. We have never seen so many kids helping each other; they were role models for collaboration. We could feel the good result of professional and caring education in the Seckach Kids and Youth Village.
Enthusiastically, we finished the day with a party when our Celanese Band "Crossroads" played a live concert and we danced with the kids!
Nearly all colleagues from Sulzbach were involved in donating cakes, toys, time and money.
Danke … Thank you all in Sulzbach and Seckach!
Nicole Lagemann is EU Scheduling lead for the engineered materials business. She passionately drove this project and likes to play Bingo.
Thanks a lot for sharing this Nicole. It was amazing to see how this project became bigger and bigger because so many people wanted to help. I also have been in Seckach that day, it was very special. Merry Christmas everyone!
What an amazing and inspiring story to remind us all of what the holidays are truly about! Hugs to everyone who was a part of this and thank you so much for sharing! My mother in law grew up in a situation such as this children"s home and has told me many times about wishing for a day like this. You are all truly inspiring!!! Merry Christmas and God bless!
Just want to add my thanks to all the colleagues who bought my handmade cards, stars, little bags and boxes during the Thursday afternoons which made 10 % of the above mentioned 2000 € for the Cake Baking Project.
The day at the Seckach Kids & Youth Village was an experience and a lot of fun.
Nicole, what a great story.
I was traveling a lot the last months and was only able to go to one of the Thursday "Bake Sales" in the Sulzbach building. I enjoyed buying some snacks, a Vectra spatula (they really are fantastic!) and talking to colleagues. However, until I read your blog, I had no idea that this was part of a MUCH bigger project.
WOW! Hats off to you and the team.
I can imagine the impact you all had on the kids. "Totally awesome".
for your time…fuer ihren Arbeit.
This is such a lovely story to tell. Congratulations to all of you!


Union Electric Company is the largest electric utility in the state of Missouri. Also serving parts of Illinois and Iowa, the company supplies electricity to roughly one million customers and is a distributor of natural gas, steam, and water. Union Electric's territory is strong in the metal, chemical, and petroleum-refining industries. A major member of regional power pools and electric reliability councils, the company participates in planning, operating, and maintaining reserve supplies of energy for the states of Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Through its 100% ownership of Union Colliery Company, the company owns coal reserves and industrial properties in Illinois. Coal is Union Electric's major fuel, but at a number of sites, many constructed during the late 1960s and early 1970s, it has various hydroelectric, steam, and diesel plants. In late 1984 the Callaway nuclear plant came on line, contributing one-fourth of the company's energy supply.
Union Electric was incorporated in Missouri in 1922 as Union Electric Light and Power Company, a successor to a company of the same name incorporated in May 1902 as a result of the merger of Imperial Electric Light, Heat and Power Company; Citizens Electric Lighting and Power Company; and Missouri Edison Electric Company. An early task for Union Electric Light and Power was providing power for the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904. Through its Ashley Street Plant, the company controlled 12 megawatts of power, enough to light the fair and make clear that electricity was readily available.
In the early 1930s, the Great Depression notwithstanding, Union Electric Light and Power completed construction of Bagnell dam in Missouri's Ozark mountains and organized Lakeside Light & Power Company in 1931 for residents in the surrounding area. In 1937 the company changed its name to Union Electric Company of Missouri. Its Illinois operations became a subsidiary, Union Electric Company of Illinois, with subsidiaries in Iowa renamed Iowa Union Electric Company. In 1940 the company proceeded with further corporate simplification, merging several Missouri subsidiaries into the parent. By 1945 surrounding Illinois and Iowa properties were merged into one subsidiary, Union Electric Power Company. In March 1945 Union Electric made the significant acquisition of Laclede Power & Light Company, a former competitor controling 15% of the electric business in St. Louis.
Union Electric constructed the Merramec plant, with a capacity of 900 megawatts, in 1961, while launching construction for a plant at Taum Sauk, 90 miles southwest of St. Louis. The Taum Sauk plant was the world's first and largest pumped storage facility, more powerful than any yet built. The system was designed to pump up to five million tons of unused water from a lower to an upper reservoir. The water would then flow downhill during peak periods, funneled into two water wheels that would in turn drive turbines and other equipment to produce electricity. Major advantages of the plant were its automation—it requiring only 15 maintenance employees and its cost, $50 million, in contrast to $67 million for a comparable steam facility. Completed in 1963, the plant drew visiting engineers from the United States and Europe.
Approximately 75 % of Union's business was providing electricity to St. Louis. The company benefited from the modernization of the metropolitian area; in the 1960s the city was adding a new expressway, civic center, sports stadium, riverfront memorial park, and a number of office and apartment complexes as well as industrial plants. In the early 1960s the company negotiated a contract with the city to redesign the street lighting. Using all mercury vapor fixtures, Union Electric in 1964 installed in St. Louis the brightest business district lighting of any city in the United States.
Another boon to the electric utility business in general came with the reduction of natural gas rates in 1964. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Federal Power Commission to extend the benefits of lower wholesale costs to the customers in the form of rate reductions, but due to the difference in federal and state regulations, not all rate cuts were mandatory. For those utilities whose earnings were below the allowed rate of return— and Union Electric was one of these—savings did not have to be passed along to the customers.
Union Electric continued building its own plants as well as joining power pools. The first section of its Sioux Plant in St. Charles County, near St. Louis, went into operation in 1967 and the second in 1968. The two units' combined capacity was 1,000 megawatts. The company added three smaller plants in Missouri in 1967. The Venice, Kirksville, and Viaduct combustion-turbine plants had a combined net capability of 62,000 kilowatts. The four-unit Labadie plant was launched in 1970, with one unit added each year. Labadie was by far the company's largest generating plant, with a total capacity of 2.22 million kilowatts. In July 1973 Union Electric announced its intention to build Missouri's first nuclear plant in Callaway County, approximately 100 miles west of St. Louis.
The decision to discontinue the trash recycling plan coincided with Union Electric's plan to delay construction on its nuclear plant. Charles Dougherty, president, attributed the delay of its nuclear plant to a reaction to a 1976 referendum prohibiting Union Electric from including anticipated construction costs in its current utility rates.
Another event contributing to a delay in Union Electric's nuclear plant plans was the March 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Due to failure of valves in the water cooling system, water levels in the reactor temporarily fell, unshielding nuclear radiation. The accident spurred public opposition to the construction and operation of nuclear plants. Union Electric waited for further information to apply to its own design and personnel training for the Callaway plant.
In August 1979 the Missouri Public Service Commission advised suspension of the company's nuclear plant construction permit. As a condition of a rate increase granted in 1978, the commission had been investigating Union Electric's generation-facility expansion program and found the company's load forecasts beyond peak demand levels. Union Electric held that its generation amounts had been leveling off, but the company also anticipated demand for electric power to increase, since other sources such as oil and natural gas were less available.
Investment-rating services lowered ratings on Union Electric bonds and preferred stock as a result of the utility's August 1982 announcment of a further delay in the Callaway nuclear plant. Originally scheduled for completion in April 1983, the plant operation was set for late 1984 or early 1985. The estimated cost increased to $2.85 billion. Union Electric cited continuing design changes required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and additional skilled labor costs as the major factors for the increase. Union Electric received a rate increase of 9% from Missouri regulators to help defray expenses, but the amount was not enough to keep industry investors from considering the company financially weakened. Union Electric requested a 16.8% rate increase for its 70,000 Illinois customers, a proposal that the Illinois attorney general opposed. The company offered 6.5 million common shares of stock in December 1982, and sold a total of $220 million in various bond issues to help offset the short-term debt caused by the nuclear plant construction delay.
In October 1984 the Callaway nuclear plant finally went online, producing enough power for one million customers. In November the company was granted a full-power operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Full commercial operation commenced at the Callaway plant on December 19, 1984. The plant produced more electricity in its first year of operation than any other U.S. nuclear power plant.
In the spring of 1985 the Missouri commission significantly cut the amount that Union Electric attempted to charge its customers in rate increases to pay for Callaway-related expenses. The commission called the rate increase request a result of inefficiency and unreasonable or unexplained costs. The commission okayed a six-year phased-in rate increase designed to gain Union Electric a total of $455 million. Union Electric denied the commission's charges, commenting that the Callaway plant cost one-fifth less than nuclear plants under construction during the same time period. The company planned to appeal the Missouri decision and pursue further rate increases in Iowa and Illinois to recover costs.
By the end of April it was clear that the Missouri commission opposed Union Electric's appeal to include all Callaway-related construction costs in rate increases. Outstanding costs amounted to $384 million; after taxes, the amount was $250 million, which the company would post as a one-time loss. Utilities, formerly able to list construction costs expected to be regained in rate increases as profit, were under review by the financial accounting standards boards. Union Electric stated, however, that its 1985 net income would be reduced by only $50 million. Also during 1985, Illinois and Iowa granted phased-in rate increases, similar to the Missouri plan.
The year 1986 provided good news; sales of electricity to commercial and residential customers increased, while Union Electric's fuel costs decreased as a result of reduced generation. During 1987 and 1988, Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Corporation upgraded Union Electric's credit ratings, as the company regained its solid financial footing. The unusually hot summer of 1988 prompted extra use of electricity for air conditioning, boosting Union Electric sales to double the normal level.
While much attention had been centered on the company's Callaway nuclear plant, coal continued to be Union Electric's chief source of fuel. Burning coal transforms water to steam, the steam powers generators, which in turn produce more than 70% of the utility's electric energy needs. The advantage of using coal is that the supply is plentiful and relatively inexpensive; a disadvantage is that the use of coal causes noxious emissions. Union Electric, however, reduced emissions by 33% from the mid-1970s to 1989. The company's Keokuk and Osage hydroelectric plants, while dependent on weather conditions, continued to provide power dependably and at low cost.
Union Electric faces the 1990s a streamlined company. The work force in the early 1990s was decreasing at the rate of 100 people per year. The Callaway nuclear plant's performance had been consistently superior. Production costs were half that of the company's coal-based plants, and refueling took half the time comparable nuclear plants need. An agreement with the Missouri Public Service Commission to reduce rates and not seek an increase until 1993 freed both parties from rate-related disputes. The ensuing rate reductions, while reducing company revenue by $30 million a year, will likely spur commercial and industrial development. While implementation of the requirements of the Clean Air Act may cost up to $300 million through the 1990s, fuel prices likely will decrease by a similar amount. Union Electric, with no apparent need for new construction necessary, seemed financially fit for the future.
Union Electric Company: Service to People, St. Louis, Missouri, Union Electric Company, 1986.
"Union Electric Company." International Directory of Company Histories. . Encyclopedia.com. 19 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.


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5 Nov South African band, Bright Blue released the anti-apartheid song "Weeping" in Censorship in those days was fierce and song-writers had. 30 Mar The other is from Dan Heymann's band, Bright Blue. – Josh Groban's Performance of "Weeping" on the David Letterman Show. Complete your Bright Blue record collection. Discover Their track "Weeping" is widely regarded as one of the finest songs ever to emerge from South Africa. This is the original uncensored music video for Bright Blue's seminal South African song `Weeping'. It was filmed by Nic Hofmeyr on the Cape Flats in the late . WEEPING LYRICS by BRIGHT BLUE: I knew a man who lived in fear. / It was huge, it was angry it wa.
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Do you offer ring sizing?
Sizing is available for gold or platinum rings—provided that the setting does not prevent it from being altered. Unfortunately, we do not offer sizing for silver, vermeil, or overlay (i.e. platinum over gold) pieces at this time.
If sizing is available for online product, it will appear as a Product Option on the Product Information page (directly below the Quantity option). From the Custom Sizing drop box you may select the available ring size you wish to order before clicking Add to Cart. Once the item is your cart, you have the option to deselect or reselect the custom sizing option before placing your order. For broadcast items, simply notify the operator that you would like to have the item sized. Please note: Sizing will add approximately two weeks to the ship time and rings that have been sized by JTV are eligible for returns but rings sized by another jeweler are non-returnable.
Sizing is billed according to the size and type of metal. Gold items are charged two times the requested size. Platinum is billed at six times the requested size. Prices are subject to change without notice.
When will you have this item back in stock?
When a product is out of stock, you will notice a "Want to know when this item is back in stock" box at the top of the item's product details page. Simply click on the box to enter your name, phone number and email address to receive email notification if/when the product becomes available.
When will I receive my appraisal?
Your appraisal should arrive within five (5) business days after receipt of your item. Your appraisal will arrive separately from your item.
Can I order an appraisal for products that do not mention appraisal?
You can order an appraisal for products for an additional fee. This will add at least 14 days to your order processing. For questions or inquiries, call our Customer Experience Team at 800-550-8393.
What is a pre-owned item?
Pre-owned products are gently used items resold at sensible prices. Each item is inspected before selling and comes with JTV's satisfaction guarantee.
What is reconditioned, not worn?
These watches have not been previously sold or worn. All watches were put through a comprehensive certification program to ensure the watch operates at manufacturer's specifications. Only new manufacturer parts were utilized if any replacement was required. Service Jewelry Repair, Inc. provides a 1 year limited warranty with each watch purchase.
Bench test for 48 hours; the watch will sit idle for a period of 48 hours to insure that it is keeping the proper time and that all functions are working properly for this period of time.
"MSRP" is an abbreviation for manufacturer's suggested retail price, the price at which the manufacturer recommends retailers sell the item. This price doesn't represent our past or current price. We provide the MSRP to give you an approximate reference to the customary price charged by national, non-discount retailers. To the best of our knowledge, the MSRP does not materially exceed the highest retail prices at which national non-discount retailers are typically selling each item. The MSRP doesn't show the prevailing price in each market at any specific time, including during the previous ninety days. Such prices may vary from time to time.
JTV has even more ways for you to save with "Clearance Pricing". We are clearing out product to make room for new merchandise that we have arriving daily. Take advantage of these discounts to save on our product that was already value priced. Items offered at the clearance price are while supplies last.
What is a Try Me Item?
A "try me" item is the perfect way to get a taste of our various assortments of product in a very affordable way. We are convinced that once you experience our products and services – you will be back for more!
Must Have Items are proven to be very popular with our new customers and friends. If you have never made your first purchase from JTV – take the advice of your jewelry and gemstone loving friends and try these styles today!
What is a "Customer Love" Item?
A JTV "Customer Love" item is a style that has received top rankings from our customers. Your jewelry and gemstone loving friends absolutely love the design, quality and value of these items.
What is a Shop Spot?
Shop Spot is a popular item you and your friends love to shop and we are happy to bring back. We are excited to continually offer highly sought after affordable items that are famous with our JTV friends. When you spot, shop it today!
What is an Opportunity Buy?
Our buyers search the globe for jewelry and gemstone liquidations, overstocks and discounted manufacturing opportunities. The ability to buy these types of items directly from miners, manufacturers and wholesalers at deep discounts allows us to pass extraordinary values on to our customers. Seize the opportunity to get more of what you love today at prices even better than our amazing, everyday values!
What is a Debut Item?
At JTV, debut items are sought out by our team of expert buyers to bring our friends the most innovative and stylish designs in the jewelry and gemstone market. Debut items have never been seen at JTV before and represent the latest and best products in value and selection. Make your own debut every time you select one of the newest items at JTV!
JTV has even more ways for you to save with "SALE" pricing. Discover the savings on selected items from your favorite brands, collections and our customer favorites. You must act quickly – these special prices are good for a limited time. "Sale" pricing is only valid for a limited time, it is not clearance. See Clearance Pricing. The "sale" pricing period is only valid for the pre-determined length of time and the item returns to its regular JTV price when done.
What is the JTV Price?
The JTV Price offers tremendous value and competes favorably anywhere in the market. We want our customer to trust that they do not have to shop any further to find a better value.
What is a Dare to Compare?
A Dare to Compare highlights the value pricing JTV offers our customers by comparing a JTV item's regular price and/or sale price to another jewelry retailer's regular price and/or sale price for a similar or identical item. These comparable items will have similar or identical metal content, gemstone carat total weight, and design. The information contained in a Dare to Compare must be re-certified every six months for the comparison to remain in use.
What merchandise is excluded from promotions?
Merchandise excluded from shipping promotions includes oversized package surcharge items and DiamondDesignGallery.com.
Merchandise excluded from promotions and coupons are clearance merchandise, temporary sale price, web exclusives, memo jewelry, JTV Vault Collections, JTV President's Collections and Jewel School.
Below is a list of brands and collections that are excluded from any special offers or promotions. These exclusions are subject to change. We reserve the right to change or modify these exclusions at any time.
What does If Sold Separately mean?
JTV has even more ways for you to save with "If Sold Separately" pricing. An "If Sold Separately" (ISS) item is an item that is a combination of two or more separate sku's that have been combined into one distinct "kit" sku. The ISS pricing will reflect a discount from the total retail of all the separate items. The ISS price is the total P1 retail of the related items.
What is the Estimated Appraised Value?
JTV offers you tremendous values due to their immense global buying power, sourcing expertise, and direct manufacturing partners. One way we demonstrate that value is through an "Estimated Appraised Value." An "EAV" provides the customer with a statement of "market value" for the item being sold. An EAV is completed by in independent, third party consultant who is educated and certified to complete the appraisal. An EAV is meant to demonstrate the "market value" of the item based upon both intrinsic value and market conditions for precious metals and stones.
How precise are the carat total weights you list for your color gemstones and color gemstone jewelry?
JTV sells colored gemstones, including both loose gemstones and gemstones in jewelry, and often advertises the stones' weights. The advertising normally specifies whether the colored gemstone item sold is a minimum weight, an average weight, or a specific weight. Unlike diamonds, colored gemstone cutting is not precise and weights therefore vary even for cut colored gemstones with the same dimensions. There are many other reasons why colored gemstone weights are not always precise. Accordingly, there may be minor variations between advertised weights and actual weights, and any weight advertised by JTV for a colored gemstone is approximate (meaning there could be minor variations), whether sold as a specified minimum weight, a specified average weight, or a specified weight for that particular item.
For gemstones, what's the difference between minimum weight and average weight?
Gemstone weights may be represented in one of two ways: as a minimum or an average. An average is an approximate weight; a stone may weigh more or less than the stated weight. A minimum weight will be equal to or greater than the stated weight.
Why does the product I received look different than the product I ordered online?
Please note that online images of products and product packaging are graphical representations only and may not reflect the final product that you receive. Representative gemstone images are chosen at random from sample inventory, and since no two gemstones are exactly the same, variations with each gemstone are normal and will almost always be present in your purchase. Jewelry images give a balanced representation of the inventory available. The purchased product may vary slightly from what is shown. If you are unhappy with your purchase please see our returns section.
Why don't you provide clarity grades for colored gemstones?
Typically, clarity grades are meant to categorize diamonds, while colored gemstones use various other methods to evaluate their quality. Unlike diamonds, there is no universally accepted grading system for colored gemstones.
Type I colored stones include Aquamarine, Morganite, Smoky Quartz, Topaz (blue, yellow, orange, pink, red), Zircon (blue), and Tanzanite.
In the marketplace these gemstones are often virtually inclusion-free.
Type II colored stones include Corundum (all colors), Garnets (all species), Iolite, Peridot, Quartz (Amethyst, Citrine, Ametrine), Spinel (all colors), Tourmaline (blue, orange, yellow, parti-colored), and Zircon (green, orange, red, yellow).
In the marketplace these gemstones are usually included.
Type III colored stones include Emerald, and Tourmaline (red, watermelon).
In the marketplace these gemstones are almost always included.
Why don't you provide the 4 Cs grades on most of your diamond jewelry?
One of our goals at JTV is to open the world of jewelry and gemstones to everyone but we have to make it affordable. In order to provide grades for all diamond products it would become too costly and JTV would no longer be able to pass our savings on to our customers. From time to time we will have a certified product to offer our customers that has the grading information along with the certification that will always be noted in the product description. Always remember – at JTV, we want you to be satisfied with your purchase. If you don't think it's beautiful, just return it to us for a full refund within our stated return period.
What's unique about buying colored diamonds?
JTV is dedicated to bringing its customers industry leading gemstone education and information about products we sell. We take great pride in our efforts to accurately identify gemstone treatments and educate our customers on the many ways gemstones can be enhanced to improve their appearance. Recent developments in colored diamond treatments have proven difficult, if not impossible, to detect using existing technology. Specifically, high pressure high temperature ("HPHT") treatment of colored diamonds cannot be detected reliably with available equipment or through outside certified laboratory testing.
For that reason, JTV, must out of necessity, depend upon the certifications it receives from our valued and trusted suppliers with respect to treatment, particularly HPHT treatment, of colored diamonds. JTV requires not only certifications from its suppliers but also the process followed by the supplier to be able to make any certification that the product is untreated. In the unlikely event that the information supplied about treatment of colored diamonds proves to be incorrect, JTV will replace, at its expense, any treated colored diamond with an untreated one.
How precise are the descriptions for bead material?
JTV attempts to accurately describe the nature and the composition of the bead material we offer our customers. However, our descriptions in large part are based upon the certified descriptions supplied by our vendors, as it is impractical to test a sufficient quantity of beads so as to independently verify bead composition. Due to the way the bead industry employs the use of "trade names" and other nomenclature to describe bead material, and for other reasons, bead material may not be described so as to accurately disclose the gemological composition. More specifically, there may be variances between the description certified as accurate by our vendors and the precise gemological composition of the bead material or the treatment it has undergone. Accordingly, JTV offers no warranties as to the nature or composition of bead material except that we describe it to the best of our knowledge. As always, JTV offers exceptional products at exceptional values. If for any reason any customer is dissatisfied with his/her bead purchase from JTV, he/she may return the unused item in its as-shipped condition within thirty (30) days of receipt of the product for a full refund of the purchase price.