You care deeply about building secure products in secure ways that simplify the lives of millions of people through automation.
You have web application and infrastructure security experience. Keeping the core Zapier web application secure is at the heart of this role. Zapier is a SaaS product, so experience building software and managing infrastructure under a similar model is a big plus.
You know what makes browsers and sites secure. The web browser is practically the operating system of the internet; these days nearly everything that happens online, happens in a browser. You'll help us continue to keep customer data safe by ensuring the "first mile" is trouble-free.
You love writing software and building infrastructure. Most of what you'll do each day is guiding, building and maintaining Zapier's infrastructure and product. You'll focus on high value, high risk portions of Zapier. You'll use code to automate and improve the more mundane parts of auditing and monitoring of internal processes, as well as in the product.
You love doing things efficiently. At Zapier, the work you do will have a disproportionate impact on the business. We believe in systems and processes that let us scale our impact to be larger than ourselves. You'll be in a unique position to find and eliminate "insecure and painful" experiences and replace them with "secure and joyful" experiences.
You love to set your own direction. At Zapier, we have one team meeting each week and one-on-one meetings every month. Between those we chat in Slack and then go make things happen.
Identify where we can add more layers of defense in depth and implement them.
Periodically embed with product teams with to help with security sensitive projects.
Build internal tooling to ensure safe data access patterns for Zapier employees.
Review code across Zapier's product and infrastructure.
Locating weak points across Zapier and strengthening them.
Ship code to millions of users every week.


text:
Vochysia tomentosa är en tvåhjärtbladig växtart som först beskrevs av Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer, och fick sitt nu gällande namn av Dc.. Vochysia tomentosa ingår i släktet Vochysia och familjen Vochysiaceae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Externa länkar

Myrtenordningen
tomentosa

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Layah Hollandsworth, Cal State Fullerton US Bank branch manager, educated students on how to budget their housing, transportation and weekly costs to stay out of debt and avoid stress. She recommended that housing and transportation costs should not exceed 45 percent of a student's gross income.
The WoMen's Center hosted a money-saving workshop led by Cal State Fullerton's US Bank Branch Manager Layah Hollandsworth for students Wednesday.
The workshop addressed the difficulty of housing and transportation costs that students face in college. Students were given various handouts with information, such as spending plans based on monthly income their outside expenses.
"There's a large opportunity for education around credit, around finances, around budgeting," Hollandsworth said.
Rent should not be more than 30 percent of a person's gross income and transportation should not be more than 15 percent, Hollandsworth said. Housing and transportation combined should not exceed 45 percent, she said.
Hollandsworth also discussed credit cards and which ones were best for college students, especially for those who have never had one before.
US Bank credit card gives college students a limit between $300 and $1,000 for their first credit card, said Hollandsworth.
"It's a practice card. It's learning how to use credit, how to budget a payment, making sure it's affordable," she said.
Hollandsworth created two different scenarios where students calculated if they could adequately afford their standard of living.
Students should pay attention to what they can pay back, Hollandsworth said.
She advised them to plan weekly their monthly spending.
College students tend to have a more difficult time in organizing their monthly spending, Hollandsworth said.
Jesus Calderon, 19, attended the workshop to learn more about money management. Calderon lives on his own and said he has a lot of expenses.
Rosalina Camacho, coordinator for the WoMen's and Adult Reentry Center, said the center tries to host these events each semester because of the impact they have on students. She hopes these workshops inform students on how they are spending their money and how they can stay out of debt.
"We want to try to help students as much as we can, because if you are anxious about your finances, you are not going to be thinking about studying," Camacho said.
US Bank has a free resource page for students that talks about credit, budgeting and free financial modules. Students can go to http://www.usbank.com/student for more information.


text:
Want a National Sales Tax? Repeal the 16th Amendment
I was almost persuaded by Fred Bergsten and Greg Mankiw on tonight's show that raising the federal gas tax and instituting a carbon tax might be good ideas if they were accompanied by significantly lower income tax rates.
But not quite.
Because I don't believe this Congress would ever cut marginal tax rates.
And because I believe that Congres would spend this honeypot of new money once they got their paws on it.
And then Congress would become addicted to all that new energy sales tax money, and keep raising the sales tax rate, just like Old Europe has for so many generations. To the detriment of their welfarist stagnant economies.
Greg Mankiw is the brilliant Harvard economist who is now advising Gov. Romney in his presidential campaign. Greg is pushing hard for a $1 hike in the gas tax to reduce consumption and slow carbon emissions. So far Romney has said no.
Fred Bergsten has been influential on the Washington scene for many years after serving in the Carter treasury department. Fred wants a sales tax to promote more saving and reduce our dependence on foreign capital (and energy). I think we save plenty through wealth-creating investment, with family net worth in stocks, bonds, real estate, and family-owned businesses now at a record high $54 trillion. But I'd love to end the multiple taxes on saving and investment caused by our thoroughly screwed-up income tax system.
Apparently Kevin Hasset, another bright Washington guy from the American Enterprise Institute who is advising Sen. McCain, would like a carbon tax to reduce fossil fuel emissions. The revenues would be used to fund elimination of the corporate income tax.
However,I still believe that free enterprise technological advances and market sustitution effects will work, without any government intervention, regulation or subsidies. Actually, gasoline consumption over the past three years has already fallen 8% in the wake of higher pump prices. Markets work. Free prices regulate supply and demand much more efficiently that government planners.
But, there is merit in the notion of eliminating the income tax and replacing it with a consumption tax. Saving and investment would no longer be taxed. Capital deepening would spur more productivity, higher wages and greater entreprenneurship.
The economy's potential to grow would be enlarged. More business start-ups, more employment, etc, etc.
Crucially,the trick for a successful national consumption tax scheme is to abolish the income tax altogether. Including the corporate income tax. This way there won't be more taxes (on sales) on top of existing taxes (on income).
Of course Sen. Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the corporate income tax -- by confiscating corporate profits. That's her energy plan. But that's a different idea. It's called state socialism. It's been tried before, and failed. Karl Marx is both dead and wrong.
However,if the numbers and collection systems could ever be worked out satisfactorily, there is a way to avoid the European disease and put together some kind of national sales tax in the U.S.
Abolish the 16th amendment.
You remember, that's the one that legalized the income tax way back in 1916, under Woodrow Wilson.It was passed by Congress in 1913, and then ratified by three-fourths of the states three years later. If I remember correctly, the original top marginal tax- rate was something like 2%. Think of that.
So, if the 16th amendment were repealed, I'm ready to deal on a consumption tax. But that's the only way I'd go there.
China Story "Overblown"
Rudy Praises Free Markets
Dueling Fed Chairs
Bye-Bye Phillips Curve?
A Troubling Immigration Development
"No Rightful Heir"
Jack Welch on Kudlow & Company Tonight
A Shot Across the Bow
Catfightin' Dems
The Rising Investor Class
America Wants to Win
Americans Want to Win
An Excellent President
Where's the Respect?
White House Official Sets the Record Straight on ...
Tax Savvy Rock Stars
Bernanke's Goldilocks
Free Market Capitalism is Still the Best Path to P...
Color Me Skeptical
"Business Seeks to Defeat Bill on Unions"
REVENUE GUSHER
Lefty Royal
No Surprise There
Show Them the Door
When You Tax Profits, You Tax People
Driving Companies Offshore
Governor Romney on Kudlow & Company Tonight
The Real Two Americas
Happy Birthday, Mr. President
Moving Sharply Left
"Hugo Chavez in a Pantsuit"
"I Want to Take Those Profits..."
Footnote to Today's Strong Jobs Report
Why Tax Profits?
A Hard Government...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Behind Enemy Lines: Minnesota
Gopher Nation of The Daily Gopher joins us to preview Illinois' Week 9 matchup against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
By Jim Vainisi and GopherNation Oct 23, 2014, 11:54am CDT
Share All sharing options for: Behind Enemy Lines: Minnesota
We made it through the bye week. The Illinois Fighting Illini are back at Memorial Stadium for Homecoming as they're set to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Let's give a warm welcome to GopherNation of The Daily Gopher as he joins us to answer our questions.
1. With a record of 6-1 (3-0), #24 Minnesota currently sits atop the Big Ten West standings. Has the team's performance thus far come as a surprise, or did you expect to have a good season? Also, do you think the Gophers can make it to Indy?
I don't really think this is a huge shock to people who have been paying attention to the program. The Michigan win would have been largely unexpected in August, but the rest of the schedule was fairly predictable. The three non-conference wins were expected as were the wins over Purdue and Northwestern at home. I think everyone expected this team to be a little better than last year's version. Did we expect to be alone in first place atop the Big Ten West? I don't think so. And the road to the Big Ten Title game is still rather difficult and we have a long ways to go. After our trip to Illinois we host Iowa and OSU. Then we take trips to Nebraska and Wisconsin. Can they do it? I do think it is possible to get the necessary wins but they have a number of much more challenging hurdles to get over, I wouldn't call them the favorite and I'm not booking my Indy hotels.
2. I was shocked to see that Minnesota only opened as a 6.5 point favorite for Saturday. In your opinion, what does Illinois need to do to get the W on Saturday?
I don't really know cause it will be a strength on strength match-up when the Illini offense is on the field. Minnesota's pass defense is actually quite good, do not believe the pass yards allowed per game to fool you. On the flip side Minnesota's rushing offense should be able to rack up a lot of yards against a weak Illinois rush defense. I think if the Gophers play their ball-control offense plus winning field position plus making teams execute long offensive drives if they want to score...they will win. Illinois is going to have to create turnovers and take advantage of them.
3. Who are Minnesota's offensive weapons?
Running back David Cobb and tight end Maxx Williams are the primary offensive weapons. Mitch Leidner has become much more dependable at quarterback and has made a number of big plays in the three Big Ten games we have played but the two guys you should be most worried about are Cobb and Williams. Cobb is a very tough runner and though he doesn't quite get the publicity of Gordon/Abdullah/Coleman he isn't very far behind them in terms of talent and production. You will see him a LOT on Saturday and then you will see some play-action to Williams down the sideline or up the seem.
4. Do the Gophers have any players on the defensive side that Illini fans should worry about?
Damien Wilson at MLB and Eric Murray at corner stand out but this defense is really one that is very good as a complete unit. Wilson leads the Big Ten in tackles and he is rarely cheated on getting a good a nice hit on ball-carriers. He is always around the ball and is the best linebacker you've never heard of. Eric Murray is a very good, cover-corner (Mel Kiper recently ranked as the #5 CB for the upcoming NFL Draft). These guys are the ones the defense counts on the most but the entire secondary is actually pretty talented and is the strength of this D.
5. What's your opinion of Illinois heading into this game? Which players on our side do you view as the biggest threat?
I really don't see anybody on the offensive side that screams we must stop this guy if we want to win the game. After watching the Purdue game, the only thing that really concerns me is if Illinois can get into a rhythm on offense that keeps the Gopher defense on their heels and a little confused. But even then it was the Boiler rushing attack to the edges that really gashed the Gopher D not their passing game which still struggled to make any big plays.
6. What's your prediction for Saturday's matchup?
My prediction is a Gopher win. They will control the clock with a lot of runs followed by more runs and then maybe a play-action sprinkled in on occasion. I think most people who are unfamiliar with this current squad think this is the same old Gopher team, but this team is actually pretty good. They are not elite and they are capable of losing to anybody. But so far they have consistently done the things necessary to win. They have been able to execute their game plan and it has been successful in every game except the trip to TCU. I don't foresee Illinois being the second team to force the Gophers to do uncharacteristic things and force them out of their game plan.
Thanks again to GopherNation for taking the time to answer our questions! Make sure to check out The Daily Gopher for more coverage as we approach Saturday's game.
Follow The Champaign Room on Twitter at @Champaign_Room and Like us on Facebook. You can follow Jim Vainisi on Twitter at @JVainisi005.
Complete Coverage: Illinois Football Week 9
Justin DuVernois named B1G Special Teams Player of the Week
Weekly Links - 10/22/14


text:
America's Cup challenger series: U.S. team capsizes
Hallmark's 'In the Key of Love' Takes Place on Piedmont Island, but Where Was It Filmed?
In line with the film's official synopsis, "Photographer Maggie learns her ex-boyfriend/ex-singing accomplice is within the marriage ceremony she is working."
Tensions and awkwardness run excessive till the 2 sing collectively and bear in mind how good they have been as a duo. Romance inevitably ensues.
"I by no means sounded nearly as good alone as we did collectively," Jake, performed by Scott Michael Foster, tells Broadway star Laura Osnes's character, Maggie.
Maintain studying whereas we go behind the scenes to be taught extra in regards to the film and see the place Within the Key of Love was filmed.
What's 'Within the Key of Love' about?
Within the Key of Love begins when Maggie, a marriage photographer, is employed to shoot the marriage of her ex's sister. Maggie has taken up images after giving up her actual ardour of singing, which occurred when she and her ex-boyfriend, who was additionally her musical accomplice, "had a falling out and went their separate methods," as actress Laura Osnes explains.
So now, the 2 need to spend a clumsy weekend collectively, an unenviable state of affairs for anybody to seek out themselves in, and but the chemistry between the 2 is simple.
From Jake's finish, he is all for spending the weekend with Maggie, who's a bit extra reluctant, for her half, and shortly the 2 uncover they've extra in frequent than that they had initially imagined after they ended their relationship.
Supply: Hallmark
The place is 'Within the Key of Love' filmed?
"I believe certainly one of my favourite issues about taking pictures has been the places," Laura says, including that "they're spot-on." Whereas the film takes place on "Piedmont Island," the movie was truly shot in British Columbia's Vancouver, which is a frequent filming location for Hallmark.
Particularly, the workforce spent 4 days taking pictures on Bowen Island for the marriage scenes. "It is likely one of the most breathtaking locations to shoot. There's mountains, and islands, and lakes," Scott says in a behind-the-scenes clip.
"It is simply beautiful. It actually feels prefer it's gonna be one other character within the story that we're telling," Laura provides.
Bowen Island is definitely accessible from Vancouver for a day journey or stress-free weekend getaway, based on the island's tourism web site. Just like the actors mentioned, the idyllic island has all the pieces an individual may need or want, from a vibrant meals scene, to temperate rainforests and lakes.
"Bowen is a four-season vacation spot," the location reads, "a peaceable respite anytime of yr, providing autumn-colour walks, cozy fireplace stays within the winter, and early blossoms within the spring."
"Discovered a lot being on set for my first film," Laura gushed in an Instagram put up about her time spend on set. "What higher solution to spend an evening in with @scottmfoster and me strummin' some tunes," she says in one other. "We had the most effective time making this magnificence."
Watch Within the Key of Love on Hallmark, July 5.
TagsFilmed Hallmarks Island Key Love Piedmont Place Takes
Confederate Flag Banned at NASCAR Races — Twitter Reactions to the News
Country Trio Lady Antebellum Changes Its Name to Remove Slavery Association


Lovely Shower Head Set Of Rainfall Chrome Plated Digital Brass Body Rain | Challengesofaging lowes shower head sets. shower head set home depot. shower head set cheap.
Spacious Shower Head Set Of Multi Color LED With Rainfall And Handheld. Alluring Shower Head Set At SHOWER HEAD SET UNIVERSAL MULTI FUNCTION CHROME ANTI LIMESCALE BATH. Best Choice Of Shower Head Set In Chrome Finish Ceiling Mount With 6 Body Massage. Eye Catching Shower Head Set At Gravitti 5 Function Canada. Enchanting Shower Head Set Of New Design Ultra Thin Water Saving Rainfall 8inch. Impressing Shower Head Set On KASUNY High Pressure Handheld Suit For Low Water. Adorable Shower Head Set At Florence Wall Mount Waterfall Rainfall Chrome Finish. Marvelous Shower Head Set Of Single To Dual Control Bathroom Rain Double Faucet Grand. Elegant Shower Head Set Of Lifting Bathing Handheld W Soap Box Silver Cyan. Entranching Shower Head Set On Sets For Bathroom Amazon Com. Lovely Shower Head Set Of Rainfall Chrome Plated Digital Brass Body Rain. Sophisticated Shower Head Set At Deliao Bathroom Extra Large Panel Handheld 3. Modern Shower Head Set On SS510 Luxury Double 5 Functions Handheld. Amazing Shower Head Set Of Deliao Handheld With 79 Inch Hose Home Care 2. Minimalist Shower Head Set Of Auralum Bathroom Mixer With Square 8 And. Captivating Shower Head Set At Modern Design Hand Held Xl With. Glamorous Shower Head Set At Led Rain With Hand Held. Beautiful Shower Head Set On Buy Kraus M6110 At Bathselect Lowest Price Guaranteed. Endearing Shower Head Set On Bath Bliss 6 Function Combination Walmart Com. Vanity Shower Head Set At Rainfall Chrome Plated Digital Brass Body Rain. Picturesque Shower Head Set Of 100 Solid Metal Hand Held With Hose Holder 2 5. Enchanting Shower Head Set On New Tempesta 100 III 3 Sprays GRONE Online Showers. Exquisite Shower Head Set Of Luxury Embeded Ceiling Led Rain Sets Multi. Alluring Shower Head Set Of Alfi Brand Sliding Rail Hand Held Reviews Wayfair Ca. Traditional Shower Head Set At Ceiling Body Jets.


text:
"Come See Exciting Delaware" by Emily Franklin
"Come See Exciting Delaware" was first published in Juked.
Come See Exciting Delaware
If it was true that: a person could wake up in Box Elder, Montana and greet some of the other 786 residents on the way to Big Sandy airport, board a plane, switch at ICA or ORD and eighteen hours later have a foot massage while staring at the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok and also true that Phil had been given an IV, slept in a sterile operating room, and awoken with one less kidney so that the other could be deposited into his brother Stan's abdomen, the tissues sewn and checked against host-body issues, and if it was true that a migratory shorebird could fly more than 400,000 miles appearing in Delaware of all places, then it was also true that Dottie's vagina could be guarded by two knuckle-sized dragons and a knight the size of a cashew.
Under the floral comforter, Dottie and Phil had their legs overlapping like Lincoln Logs they'd long packed away, his leg, hers, his on her knee, hers atop that. She knew, of course, where his hand would wind up and looked forward to it but when they'd unstacked their limbs her body wasn't as receptive as her mind. It took effort these days to get ready, to find the desire and lock it down before it wisped away, the aroma of a dish unserved.
"Don't you want to?" Phil asked with his eyes so close to her face her focus blurred, making her husband a momentary Cyclops.
"I do, I do," Dottie kissed him, guiding his hand between her legs. She tried to connect the mental picture of Phil sliding into her with the physical sensation.
"You're all closed up." He touched her left breast, slightly larger than the right, the areola pink and rippled, the nipple winking up at him.
The chimneys needed to be relined. Her college boyfriend had disliked going down on her. Phil jacked off in the shower. Why hadn't they repaired the ripped screen on the side porch? Was she getting looser? Phil jacked off in the shower, his hand tossing up and down like a good mixed drink. Yes, that was working. The way his mouth slacked like an unused rubber band before orgasm.
"There you go," he whispered in her ear.
His breath was initially sweet but then muddied with turnip stench. The shower scene evaporated with no warning, boxes in the attic needed to be packed, donated, organized. Dottie was determined not to be the kind of older person who left a bunch of crap on the shelves, life's detritus and mementos compacted for her adult children to sort through.
"I'm terribly warm," Dottie said. Phil pulled the sheet down, exposed Dottie's body.
Phil sighed, patient but disappointed. He kicked off the comforter, too. "Want me to take a look?" Once in a while Phil would rest his face on her bare belly as though listening for a fetal heartbeat, allowing his fingers to roam her pubic hair, soft upper thighs.
"Sure – take a look under the hood." She'd had a thing for mechanics, gasoline station attendants in their coveralls, a little dirty but with confident thumbs.
Phil swung his body around. "My God! I've never seen anything like it!"
Dottie was unmoved so Phil pointed. "You've got to see this, Dot."
Sure enough, it was a sight: two tiny dragons flanking either side of a – my, she reminded herself – drawbridge vagina, the whole crew fronted by the cashew-sized knight.
Dottie hunched over herself, staring. "What can I tell you? I felt a little rustling a few days ago but I didn't think to look."
Phil rubbed his hands together, thinking about reaching for the telephone. What was the protocol? Was he meant to phone for help? "Does it hurt? And how long has it been like this?"
Dottie propped herself up and moved her tongue like a metronome across her teeth. "I just don't have a clue," she said. How had they gotten there? Did they flee when she urinated or showered? She studied Phil's face. "Have you known about this?"
"Me? Don't look at me," he told Dottie, "How would I have known?"
Phil's head was perfectly bald, not a hair on top or on the sides, his eyebrows bushy and furrowed.
"It's not your fault," she said even though she thought it might be. Maybe Phil had invited the guests to warm up when he wasn't in her. Hadn't he entertained the idea of vacationing in a castle at some point? "Who on God's green earth has seen this before? I mean, maybe I noticed something moving around but…I don't think so." Had she grown immune to her own body? "One minute we're pulling the comforter back so you can position yourself comfortably – not too much strain on your back and the next thing…well, how the hell am I supposed to explain that?" She sucked air in through her nose even though the whistling annoyed Phil. "To think – we'd talked about a bike trip this summer!"
Dot and Phil waited a week – they were not alarmists – but still no change so Phil made the appointment for Dottie while she maneuvered into an elastic-waist skirt just for ease, maybe the visitors – or did they live there now? – needed space, air.
Now, at Dr. Lichter's office, they were the oldest ones in the waiting room, regarded, Dottie thought, with a mixture of pity and confusion as though they couldn't possibly need anything from here.
"It's a terrible name for a gynecologist," Dottie said. "Dr. Lichter. But there you go – you can't choose everything in this life."
"That's for damn sure," Phil said.
Were they basically contented people? Yes. And yet they'd managed to raise two children who lived in a state of mild dissatisfaction year-round. When the daughter visited she looked as though she had a hair in her mouth she could never quite remove and the son tugged a rolling suitcase of woes he couldn't unload even on his partner, a man named Brian whom Dot and Phil secretly preferred to their own kids and not-so-secretly hoped Brian felt the same way about them versus his own parents. Would Dottie and Phil share this new predicament with their grown children? Phil guessed not.
Dottie paged through Women's Wear Daily as though actively searching for a mushroom soup substitute for her next casserole. What if they did a story about her? Or what if they wouldn't because it was just too odd, made people too upset? Which would be worse?
"You're up," Phil said and cupped her shoulder. "Should I…"
"It's okay, I'll go in first…you can take a walk if you want." She didn't need him any more involved than he already was.
It was the same office Dottie had driven to when she she'd been pregnant. The same room where they'd rolled gel onto her belly and found signs of life all those years ago when Dr. Lichter had just been in training. Now he was in charge, the white egret wings of his doctor coat flapping as he entered the room clapping his hands. What have we here? Spontaneous triplets? Seen it. Stage 5 uterine cancer undetected until right now? Seen that, too. Cystic teratomas, growths with eyes and hair and even teeth, adhered to an ovary? Many times.
He pressed on Dot's loose abdomen, checked her breasts for what she didn't know, and then settled onto the stool between Dottie's knees. She waited for the shock, a gasp from the nurse who stood to the side watching.
Dr. Lichter motioned for the nurse to bring Phil in. Here we go, Dot thought, this is it. Terminal dragons. Emergent knight removal.
Phil helped his wife sit up, stood close to hear the news.
"Huh," Dr. Lichter said. "They're certainly present." He'd seen one twin consume another overnight, a twenty-three weeker survive after a motor vehicle accident, and – a few times – animals of unknown origin appear without warning. These last usually resolved themselves over a matter of weeks or months.
"I suggest," Dr. Lichter said, "just going about your business. "
"I'm retired," Phil said.
"I mean," the doctor said to Dottie as he removed his rubber gloves with a snap, his mind on the next patient and the roast turkey sandwich he'd ordered from Sully's, one with thick sliced Italian loaf and mayo flecked with basil. "You should think of your vagina like Delaware."
"Because it has no sales tax?" Phil asked.
"Because it has a small population?" Dot said. As far as she knew no one was meant to live in a vagina.
The doctor shook his head. "No. Delaware's a small state, right? Geographically." Dr. Lichter turned off the Broadway light shining on her genitals. "So it might surprise you to learn that Delaware actually straddles two climate regions: humid sub-tropical and continental."
The paper Johnny robe crinkled at her hips as she swung her legs over the side of the examination table. "I think I understand," she said.
"Do you?" The doctor addressed them both at the door. "Delaware still has surprises. Just when you thought there was nothing new, here comes Delaware all exciting."
"Calidruis canutus rufus," Dot told her husband while she stroked his penis that night. She and Phil were in bed, following their new routine, waiting to see if the tiny reptiles – that's what dragons would be, right? – would let him in. Her husband propped his head on his hand, his body next to hers in bed. "That's the Latin name. I like Moonbird better, though, don't you?"
"Sure," he said, making her hand stop. It felt good, too good, and he didn't want it to be over so fast.
"Twenty-six years they've been tracking it – since we got married! Imagine that – maybe on our wedding day this bird got a band on its ankle."
"Imagine that," Phil said, flicking one of Dottie's nipples. He pictured a red band on his wife's ankle. All along he'd been sure he knew her movements, her habits and routes. What statistics and migratory stories didn't he know about her? "Anyway, it's reassuring, isn't it?"
Dottie nodded. "Moonbird B95. So many names for just one thing. And it's tough besides – can you imagine being that small and going that far?" She looked at Phil's face – was that frustration? Disappointment? "Don't worry," she told him.
Phil had asked her if she controlled the knight, the door's opening, the dragons backing off, and she'd assured him she didn't. True, they allowed her access whenever she liked. Really, the knight seemed to know what she wanted better than her own mind did.
"We're in this together, that's the main thing," she said to Phil now. But it was anxiety producing, waiting to see if the mini-knight would give the signal. Let the drawbridge down, he might say if they'd had strong enough hearing. Phil licked her neck, slowly moved one hand under her ass.
"Oh – yes," she sighed. "Can't you feel it?" She luxuriated in the warmth. The dragons were small but fire-breathing, and their exhales felt good on her thighs. She tried to let the floodgates open in her mind, just like the meditation articles suggested. "All that worry about this bird surviving his annual ten thousand mile migration and year after year – oh, this is good."
"They're letting me in!" her husband cried. It was a good night. The bed firm but not too hard, his penis the same, the doorway to the magic land opening. Narnia. His wife's pussy was Narnia. Honalee.
Afterwards, he reached for a few M and M candies, studying each one briefly before consuming it. He thought they were beautiful, those colorful discs. "Each one's supposedly the same," he said to her, his breath still ragged from sex. "But see here? This one's got a dent."
She nodded but didn't like chocolate, which was good for their marriage because he never had to worry about her taking his bedside nibbles.
Dot scooted her bottom up so she could pull her nightgown down. Should she say goodnight to the dragons and knight? Was there etiquette for such things? She fell asleep thinking of the plump Moonbird, imagined flying from the Canadian Arctic to Tierra del Fuego. "Now that's exotic," she whispered. "But Delaware?"
A while later, Dot and Phil had a system, which was how all things developed in their marriage. Coping with their son's dyslexia and coming out, their daughter's uninteresting first two decades followed by a year of radiation for a tumor that prevented biological children. The pissing away of Phil's pension by an unscrupulous boss. Sometimes they tried for a full hour, kissing, fondling, openly wishing. They tired of yelling, pleading, begging the knight so other times ignored the whole lot.
Now Dot and Phil they had a system of languor, just sitting on the double bed waiting to see if the drawbridge door would open. At first the waiting was just fine because Dottie was hooked on the next Vampire in the Desert Mystery and Phil liked to listen to sports on the radio. The fake clack of mallet onto wood in baseball and the overt cheer from the announcers made green appear underneath Phil's closing eyelids along with the comforting sensation of recalling his father's mitt-sized hand around his at the park as they'd watched games together, the topography of his dad's veins a map of this person he could only know so much of.
But now Dot was finished with Blood and Sand and had to wait two months until the next mass market was released and Phil's indigestion kept him from being flat, the twisting ache worse with his eyes shut.
She'd taken to rubbing one foot over the other, which he'd try to silence by touching her toes with his own. Sometimes this worked and the room grew still with the silence of waiting.
But other times before they could both enjoy the quiet thrum of someone else's noise outside the window, Phil would reach for a handful of those M and Ms.
He kept a steady supply of candies in a ceramic bowl their son had made in sixth grade. Dottie thought he had the bowl to prove how okay he was with his son's artistic side but in fact Phil had only chosen it because everything was dirty and he didn't like washing dishes as it irritated his cuticles, a part of his body that was so feminine-sounding he was ashamed to have it associated with his own.
"Do you have to crunch so loudly?" she asked. She did not like to reread novels but eyed the worn stack in case she changed her mind.
He had a bit of blue candy on his upper lip. "I'm not trying to."
"But you are."
"I didn't know the chewing bothered you." He'd been eating M and Ms every night for five years, just a few while he listened to her turning pages or in between cutting his toenails over the side of the bed.
"Actually," Dottie admitted, "It's not the sound. It's that you leave them in there just collecting dust."
She picked up a small frame, the two kids when their forearms still resembled doughy hot dog buns. "See how much dust this has on it? And I clean it every week! And you never clean the candy."
"You want me to dust the M and Ms?" Phil picked at a bit of dry elbow skin. They would have to figure out a system for this.
A sheet tented her knees but it was warm in the room and she could feel the dragons waking up, an uncoiling on her upper thigh. Unexpected. Their nostrils flared fire that she'd worried would burn her eventually but the heat was gentle again, like sitting by the lake as a kid waiting until she was good and ready to fling herself all at once into the morning-cool water.
"It's just gross," she said, "All the stuff that floats down on them and then you don't wipe the bowl you just add more after you get the next bag."
She knew she contributed to his cycle by ripping coupons from the Sunday circular and carefully handing over her customer care card to accumulate points so he'd get another oversized bag nearly free of charge which he'd then pour into the bedside bowl dropping a few on the floor which remained there until she collected them.
"Why didn't you say something before about them?"
"I don't know," she said, "there was never a good time." One of the dragons had a lame leg – had he tripped over her? – and she felt its awkward drag on her skin. "And I didn't want to hurt your feelings."
He looked at her and sighed. It made him sad that Dottie hadn't spoken up. He reached for her hand, his body parallel to hers.
Ahem, a small cough.
It wasn't Dottie making noise and it wasn't Phil.
She pointed to her sheet-covered knees and her husband slowly tugged the sheet off, the fabric slipping over her thighs. She liked the feel of it.
There, between her legs. She looked and saw everything upside down – the dragons, the mini knight with his thumbtack-sized helmet. They'd grown accustomed to the odd trio seeking shelter in her labial folds, so much so that they'd barely glanced at them in weeks. She only knew the dragon was lame because she felt an interruption in the pattern of footsteps.
Phil cocked his head, staring. "He looks bored," Phil said.
She nodded. Up until now she hadn't thought to address the knight directly, when they'd shouted and begged it was just in general, into the bedroom air, but now it seemed the polite thing to do.
"Are you…do you need anything?" She asked, cupping her words in her hands like a megaphone.
Phil went close to her right thigh and then, to get a better look, moved under it so one leg lopped onto his shoulder. The knight's outfit was navy and dark gray metal, his eyes not quite visible through the helmet slats.
The dragons were peaceful though fiery, one with its spiked tail high, the other with it curled under him. The knight sighed.
"It's possible he can't talk," Phil said.
"Or that we can't hear him," Dottie added.
"Maybe," Phil said as he thought of something. He let his wife's leg flop onto the bed and shimmied up the mattress on his belly to reach for a couple of M and Ms. One red, one yellow.
First Phil pinched one candy between his thumb and index finger. Then, fearing the disc was too large, he bit it in half.
"Here," he offered the knight the smaller piece.
Hesitant or maybe just too tiny to seem confidant, the knight gripped the candy in one hand, the other hand still holding the guard spear. Was it made from a cocktail toothpick and colored in gray marker?
One night Dottie had been sleeping and Phil had put his hand near her vagina only to have the knight spear his palm. It was a small puncture wound but a mark nonetheless so the Phil was careful now, gentle with the offering.
"I hear him chewing!" Dottie said, delighted. She recognized the same tone in her voice that she'd had when their daughter had finally learned to nurse. What a fussy baby with colic and constipation, prune juice dropped in her mouth even when she was only a few weeks old, and it took days filled with shrieking and another woman handling her breast to get the baby to latch on. And now, the same relief and thrill.
"Yes," Phil husband said, "he seems satisfied. Are you happy, Mr. Knight? Sir?"
"Oh – the doors!" She felt them opening and Phil saw the cranking circular motion, the knight turning and lowering the drawbridge and the dragons backing away.
Finally, a system! Each night at first and then maybe once or twice a week, they had the pattern. Even when the next book in her series came out, Teeth and Mirages, they kept going. Spring training all the way through the World Series. The knight preferred yellow M and Ms so Phil took to sorting them, which also meant cleaning them with a dry cloth. Was it silly to polish M and Ms one at a time, getting them ready for a tiny knight in order to connect to his wife and gain access to her guarded vagina?
No sillier than the Rufus Red Knots that once numbered close to 100,000 on Delaware Bay, the birds whose population declined to a fraction of that due to over-harvesting of horseshoe crabs which left the birds terribly hungry and unable to survive. There was talk in the ornithology world about the bird's song; had the cries had changed over time? One fellow thought it was the same cherreep-cherreep-twoo but the head of Delaware's Wildlife Commission believed there was a subtle juun-di! added between the cherreeps.
They fed the knight and had sex and the radio announcer told of a three run homer while Dottie used her pointer finger to hold a place in the pages as she closed her eyes to hear –the knight or the migratory Moonbird or just the rustling of sheets or candies?
"No," she said sitting up so suddenly the tiny knight and dragons stumbled away from her and she and Phil were stunned. "Do we put them back?" she asked.
"What do you want?" Phil asked.
Did it matter? Maybe she could push them back inside. Or maybe her vagina was seasonal, like coastal properties. There they were, slinking across the mattress off to wherever they had to go, dragon tail scratching the bed sheets, the knight's spear clinking on his metal helmet with each step.
Dottie could hear it all. She was sure the bird was coming back after all of those winged miles and was sure she could hear it singing, the song unchanged, there is more there is more there is more.
Emily Franklin is the author of a novel, Liner Notes, and a story collection, The Girls' Almanac, as well as seventeen novels for young adults. Her work has been published in The New York Times and The Boston Globe and numerous literary magazines as well as featured and read aloud on National Public Radio, named notable by the Association of Jewish Libraries, and long-listed for the London Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award.
Image: Flickr / Antonino SCIMECA
"The Lost Children" by Cynthia Zhang
Excerpt from THE RUSHING OF THE BROOK by Kansas Bradbury
MARY TOFT; or, THE RABBIT QUEEN by Dexter Palmer
"First Souls" by Cameron Suey
"Ghosts" by Melissa Fraterrigo
Excerpt from CHIMERICA by Anita Felicelli


text:
xoridane
mimetizade
strangers : walltown
The Roumirizar hybax yelokiner
( imperial / metric )
roumiri
/ɹuˈmɪrɪzɑɹ/
I.Q.
ext. temp.
int. temp.
the Banners
baronet
temper, sub
division, ▞▟▘
▖▖▖▖▟▟▟▟
With its flowing body and socky-feline paws, the roumirizar is believed to have been an aerial stranger with either a limited, or insubstantial effect upon its physical environment. Certainly, there is no mention of it in regional logs, and only a handful of sentences culled from a fragmented Module 2 entry exist to describe the strain.
It was seemingly aggressive with other strangers who shared its space, including those members of its own strain, although social behaviours are otherwise undocumented. If three marginal words (scarcely legible in isolation) are to be believed, the roumirizar was, in fact, a source of danger to sensitives, and haunted its prey with its persistent mesmeric l'appel du vide. Following the death of its victim, the roumirizar descended to feast upon the remains. Its gut expanded as the meat simmered off within its bulge until vanished in full, at which point the roumirizar returned to its flight.
With the strain appearing mostly in the south-sea walltowns, it basked in the drying sun. On the tops of flat-roofed buildings, and hidden from all view, its gaze took soar over the sea. When the flood hit, the stranger drifted to the air, and circled for a perch now lost among the swell. It splashed down in the waves when it could no longer stay aloft, and so it, too, joined the ranks lost beneath the red.
total generated
direct sub-strains
sensitives encountered
sensitives killed
total killed in flood
Oh, wow...I'm surprised to see that the entry for this one is still out there. It was a real fight to include this one in the first place. There was actually another strain, an earlier design, but...the subject seems apprehensive to elaborate further, and looks down at the table in front of them. Well, let's just say that it was an issue with the way that the feet were stylized. So this was sort of a compromise, after quite a number of meetings with the programming council and the financial department and whatnot.
At that time, we weren't able to talk about it publicly. But the internal difficulties were getting nasty. Just vicious. Not only between the departments, but in terms of how the higher-ups were starting to treat us, too...on top of the emotional strain we were all going through, having to watch the news every day...
And we started to take it out on each other. In terms of the strains, we were getting really possessive of each one, how it was going to be used, what kind of reproduction licenses we might give out – I think we were trying to get out a lot of our negative energy on something we could just...control, you know?
This one was released the day before they shot Alex Muto...that was only five blocks away. And, once that happened, we started trying to get them out as fast as we could – because we knew the flood was gonna' hit. So that's why you end up with a lot of these kinds of deviations, in terms of design. We fought over it, we each resisted the other for as long as possible, but each of us managed to slip in a few weird ones, too.
the subject waits patiently, still under the drug's effect.
⤉


text:
Is Forgiveness the Bible's Most Controversial Teaching?
Shuddering In Silence
'Spit Hit the Fan': Pastor Mike Todd Apologizes for His Viral Sermon Illustration
Remembering Anne Rice's Long, Complicated, Ultimately Triumphant Spiritual Struggle
A Man's Rape Conviction Was Cleared After a Netflix Producer Noted Flaws While Making a Movie About the Case
Check Out the New Music Video for Switchfoot's Gorgeous 'beloved'
Two Cops Were Fired For Ignoring a Robbery to Chase a Snorlax in Pokemon Go
Trailer: 'We Need to Talk About Cosby' Unpacks the Fall of an American Icon
Cinematic Angels Ranked by How Much They Look Like Biblical Angels
A Couple Says a Christian Adoption Agency Refused to Work With Them Because They're Jewish
Hundreds of Rikers Detainees Are Protesting Horrifying Conditions
Billie Eilish Spoke About How Her Addiction to Porn 'Really Destroyed My Brain'
An Interview with Jeremy Courtney
Maybe it started with the "sweatshop-free" pitch of American Apparel. Maybe those ubiquitous yellow LIVESTRONG wristbands brought it on, or the white ONE Campaign wristbands, or the rainbow of bracelets that followed. But once Wal-Mart started stocking eco-friendly organic cotton tees, it became clear: Socially conscious fashion was more than a fad. These days, what you wear has meaning beyond looking good.
A year-old footwear company called Buy Shoes. Save Lives. hopes to capitalize on this trend. Founded by Jeremy Courtney and Cody Fisher—Americans living in Northern Iraq—BSSL sells traditional hand-stitched Kurdish shoes called klash. The money they make from shoe sales pays for heart surgeries for Iraqi children whose parents couldn't otherwise afford them. RELEVANT sat down with Courtney when he was last stateside to discuss the coolness of klash, the sustainability of their business model and the transforming power of loving your enemies.
First, tell me about the shoes. What are klash?
The full name is klashi kurdi. They're made locally [in Northern Iraq] by Kurds. By one shoemaker's account, they've been around since 600 B.C. Whether you believe that or not, they're definitely legendary in this part of the world. It takes at least 35 hours to make one pair.
I'm assuming my Skechers probably didn't take that long to make.
No way. Klash are entirely handmade—I don't own another pair of handmade shoes, and neither do you. Most shoes in our closets are created in less than 30 minutes in a factory in China, but klash are made by families. In fact, we can introduce you by name to the people who make our shoes. I love the idea of seeing families apprenticed in this trade. It's beautiful.
You started as a grad student at Baylor University and ended up a humanitarian worker in Northern Iraq. How did that happen?
We joined a church in Waco that placed a lot of emphasis on community, on getting involved in the lives of other people and making that a primary outlet for worship and service. The deeper we went, the more convinced we were that we didn't want to spend the rest of our days among Americans who already understood the basic things about the Way of Jesus. We moved to Turkey to do business, but also so we could live around people for whom the Gospel—the Good News—was really something new.
So that pursuit of community was a big factor in the decision to move to Turkey?
It was the factor. Had we been left alone to do it by ourselves, I don't think we would have ended up in Turkey, let alone Iraq. The knowledge that you're not alone is a huge safety net when venturing out into the world.
But our businesses in Turkey never took off. Our frustration led to a lot of prayer, and we just asked God to make something good out of our mess. That's when we got invited to get involved in projects in Iraq, and it made a lot of sense, for a number of reasons. We were better suited to do charitable work than we were to run a for-profit business in Turkey.
At what point did you begin to grasp the needs among the people in Iraq?
From an intellectual level—a reporting level—it only takes minutes in the country to start seeing their need. We worked with Millennium Relief & Development Services [a Houston-based network of long-term field workers and development centers]. One of the things we did there was a heart-screening program. We kept running into families with these congenital heart problems, especially kids.
For example, we just completed the funding for Aras' surgery. Aras is a 12-year-old kid from the city of Halabja. Halabja is famous because it was the site of Saddam's most significant 1988 gas attack, where 5,000 people died in one day and another 20,000 suffered deformations and abnormalities. We're pretty sure that the gases used that day are linked to these heart problems, which makes Aras a human rights victim, not just a medical case.
How did you get from "These kids need heart surgery" to "Let's sell klash to fund heart surgeries?"
It's the idea of sustainability. We wanted to help these kids, but I was sick of begging for money from the usual financial outlets. I think others were sick of hearing me beg. I wanted to find a way to get money without asking for it—a way to generate our own funds, to help people buy in without feeling like they were being manipulated. Ultimately, it was my own fondness for these shoes that made me wonder whether other people might think they were as great as I did. So we put up a website and a six-minute documentary to see what happened. It didn't cost a penny. When we sold almost $5,000 in three weeks we thought we were on to something! People were hungering for good news coming from Iraq.
So much of what we hear from Iraq is bad news. As an American living in Northern Iraq, do you have a different perspective?
The news makes it sound like Iraqis want Americans to go home, but that's a little too broad a statement. Certainly, there are many Iraqis who feel this way—some Arabs, some Kurds. But I have also met both Arabs and Kurds who beg us to advocate on their behalf: "Don't take the troops away! We need you here!"
Do you view BSSL as a ministry or a business?
A business. I read a comment today on a Facebook group related to BSSL that said we're just a front for missionary activity, and that's simply not true. We are a legit business that sells real products to fund real heart surgeries for real children facing very real death. Every person in the organization loves Jesus more than our own lives—otherwise, we wouldn't live in Iraq. We point to Jesus every time people ask us why we're doing this.
But BSSL is a business. There's nothing fake or ulterior about what we're doing. We just wouldn't create a business as a front for converting people. Both Christianity and Islam have terrible, shameful, bloody histories of trying to convert others. That's an erroneous notion of what it means to follow Jesus, I think. We believe what the Proverbs say about the king's heart. His heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord and the Lord turns it wherever He will. It's not our job.
So your goal really is to make a
profit …
Yes, because if we aren't profitable, we don't exist. Shoes are expensive, importing and exporting is expensive, traveling to events to advocate on behalf of "the least of these" in Iraq—it all costs money. So we have to operate with sound business principles. What makes us different is that our goal isn't to keep our profits or distribute them to shareholders. We turn our profits into heart surgeries. All of our staff are volunteers.
Five Money Mistakes to Avoid During the Holiday Season
To be honest, I think these shoes could stand on their own in retail and make us very comfortable financially. But we're not doing this for
financial gain.
At $100 a pair, your shoes cost a lot more than TOMS shoes, to make an obvious comparison. Has price been an issue for you?
Most people have $100; it just requires a bit of shifting of priorities. In my opinion, when I'm staring an Iraqi family in the face, knowing how much anti-American sentiment they've heard in recent years, 20 trips to Starbucks over the next month seems far less important to me than serving a poor family in hopes that they get healed. It brings a message of peace to the region—klash are a symbol of national pride, like a flag, and when Americans wear them, we do the Kurds a great honor. What if our collective acts of love keep would-be terrorists from ever developing? Is $100 worth that?
By the way, we're big fans of TOMS! If you don't buy our shoes, buy some TOMS. But our shoes cost more because of the production process. TOMS shoes are mostly mass-produced in East Asian factories. Our shoes are handmade one pair at a time, by families. It's not going to change the world, but the economic implications of what we are doing in Iraq is more direct than what
TOMS does.
There's one more thing I wanted to ask about—the heart surgeries on these Muslim kids are actually performed by Jewish doctors. How did that happen?
It's a pretty unique partnership. We work with a medical organization in Israel known as Shevet Achim, which means "brothers together." The people of Shevet believe it's beautiful for the broken children of Isaac and Ishmael to live together in peace, so everything they do is geared toward peacemaking between Israelis and Palestinians, Israelis and Iraqis, Jews
and Muslims.
In practice, they've sought out Jewish doctors—some of the best in the world—who are humble enough to literally "love their enemies" and serve the children of Palestinians and Iraqis. This means BSSL can fund surgeries at a fraction of the market price. So what happens is children get life-saving surgeries, governments end up working together and a bunch of politics and religious differences go out the window through the generous, loving actions of Christians and Jews working together.
It's especially dear to my heart because I think the key to peace in the Middle East lies in lives transformed by Jesus—who would be pleased if we started loving our enemies, stopped retaliating and truly allowed all "vengeance" to belong to God alone.
RELEVANT June 13, 2008
From the Mag: 9 Months to Get Your Life Together
Current Current, World
Fake Plastic World
Life Features, Life
Jennie Allen: When God Calls You Off the Beaten Path
Life Life, New You
God Gave Us Emotions For a Reason
Five Ways to Be Generous Even If You're Broke
How to Talk to Your Coworkers About Christ Without Being a Jerk
New You Life, New You
5 Ways to Take Care of Your Mental Health Today
Life Life, Relationships
What We Get Wrong About Dating
Are You in a Toxic Friendship?
Eight Hobbies to Pick Up in 2022


text:
Q: pyodbc database connection and number format I'm connecting a Python algorithm to an Oracle database using pypyodbc library.
I'm using the following:
def connectToServer(DSN,Server,Password):
    connString = "DSN="+DSN+";Uid="+Server+";Pwd="+Password
    connObject = odbc.connect(connString)

    return connObject

connObject = connectToServer('xxx','xxx','xxx')

Connection works well, i can pass commands to the server (create, drop tables, execute procedure etc...)
However i cannot extract data via the following:
# print top lines of a given table
def selectTopFromTable(connObject,tableName,numberRow=100):
    cur = connObject.cursor()
    command = '''SELECT * FROM ''' + tableName +''' WHERE ROWNUM <= ''' + str(numberRow) + '''; '''
    cur.execute(command)

    for row in cur.fetchall():
        print(row)

selectTopFromTable(connObject,'xxx')

Getting the following error:

ValueError: could not convert string to float: b'5,3'

I think the issue lies in the format number FR versus EN (i'm working on a FR based server) - the server provides values in FR format number (i.e. 5,3 instead of 5.3) and Python is confused when trying to convert a supposedly NUMBER SQL type into a double.
Is it possible to configure the pypyodbc connection to retrieve value in EN number format? (the same way a client such as SQL Developer or Toad is set up to do so)?

A: Here's how you can convert your locale to be France in Python:
import locale

locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'fr_FR.UTF-8')
locale.atof('1000,53')

This converts the string to a floating point number, with the settings for the locale of France. I'm not sure exactly how to tie that in with Oracle (I haven't used Oracle since the 1990s), but hopefully this puts you on the right path. You could cast it as a string and then convert using this method, but there may be a better way at the DB level.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


"I loved it all,the cut and thrust, all the larking about at the end, i love all that, when the gloves are off at the end i love it, when everyones kicking bits out of each other, moves are going in, in a crit it happens straight away, in a road race you have to be patient. Thats what i get a buzz out of, at the end of a race, the last lap, everyone starts racing, love it!
Dave Williams story could so easily have been different, the product of a 1970s comprehensive education, with no interest in lessons it was easier to stare out of the window, there were plenty of distractions for a teenager growing up on Merseyside. Southport offered few opportunities,to say the bike saved him would be melodramatic but it did offer him another way to make his mark.
."I always used to go out on my bike after school, you know, cow horns, insulation tape, just mucking around, i did enjoy bikes. i started racing when i was a schoolboy, just a few pals really, one pal in particular, he was into his bikes and stuff i bought a bike off him a proper dropped handlebar bike, i was always mechanically interested and just starting racing on the back of that. I bought the bike myself, I lived with me mam, she was not as interested as i was, she probably though it was just a phase. I was that hooked on it the last few years in school i would go in, get my mark then go out cycling. The teachers may have cared but i certainly didn't I failed all my exams, went to college and failed them all again, i was very consistent but i had really got the cycling bug then".
Williams forged a career racing as an amateur, a professional and back to amateur again through the British boom times of the mid eighties to the doldrums of the nineties. Prize money was good but the lottery funded, supported British Cycling pathway was not even a blueprint, you had to find your own way back then..
"Merseyside was very strong, i was rubbish to start with, very mediocre, i starting doing a few club 10s, deep down i hated them but i was actually quite good at them. I quickly progressed and was doing some reasonable times and road racing at weekends. we used to ride out and back it was the only way we could get to races, that and scrounge lifts. I started knocking around with Nigel Simpson as a second year junior, Nigel was very good, riding the Peter Buckley races, which I did not do, we travelled to the National championships together and there were all these names you had read in the comic, Chris Lillywhite, Peter Georgi, Bobby Holden.... Nigel won the race and i won the sprint for third place, i was absolutely over the moon, wow all these people i had been reading about and i had just snotted them all in the finish."
Certainly no scholar but definitely a quick learner..
" I got my first win at Blackpool, it was a hotdog circuit, up and down the cones on the seafront, probably not a fantastic field, i hate coming out of dead turns so i took my chance, so, "he who dares Rodney", i finished up winning. once you realise that sometimes taking a chance pays off you are more inclined to do it. I was pretty strong i had a reasonable finish, who cares if you lose, you have to be prepared to lose to win."
Claiming his dole money "£48 quid a fortnight signing on on a Thursday." Williams turned senior in 1984 and was starting to get noticed. Talking to Dave at the Primera Cycle Expo in Bournemouth was a trip into 1980s cycling history, the timeline, like the memory maybe a little hazy but that just adds to the nostalgia. Endless anecdotes liberally sprinkled with familiar names, all delivered in that pulling a fast one, soft scouse lilt made for an engaging, entertaining couple of hours, although it was hard to get a word in!
"I had raced a lot in "85, the Kirby CC was very strong, myself, Nigel, Doug Dailey & John Cavannah went to Ireland and rode the Guinness 800, i think it was a week long race, i rode ok, stage racing really brought my form on and after that i won the Divisional champs, Merseyside was a really strong Division, that was a big win and one of my heroes, Mark Bell was watching. My first Star trophy race was over the North York moors, it finished on Redcar seafront, i forget the name of the race, Paul Curran and me ended up coming into the finish together, Paul i am sure would agree, is a cunning track rider and i was a bit gullible senior rider although on Merseyside we pride ourselves on winning at all costs even if it made you unpopular. i remember cussing Paul all the way on the run in to the finish, i tried jumping him but could not get rid of him, the writing was on the wall, so i though the threat of violence was my only option left, i explained to him if he even though about doing what he was thinking about doing he would have to suffer the consequences, of course he beat me in the sprint, it was a very valuable lesson. At the finish i remember jumping on top of him, probably Albert Hitchen, who was a national selector & Jim Hendry pulled me off him, i did not know who the hell they were. Once they had pulled me off Paul they said " You've done a really good ride and would i ride for Great Britain at a stage race the following week". I went from wanting to kill Paul to riding for GB.
I would never say i was a talented bike rider because i am not but what i did do was work hard and would get back what i put in, i was more of a grafter, i put a lot into my training back then, what i lacked in talent i made up for in enthusiasm. Cyclists tend to fall into two categories; naturals & grafters, and grafters are not necessarily riders who graft during the race but graft during the week in training. I raced in Germany at the Rhineland-Pfalz, a stage race i remember, it was a tough race with Olaf Ludwig, the world amateur champion, eleven stages, Stephen Farrell was there, he was a good lad Steve, on one stage a break had gone up the road, i said to Steve " i gonna take a chance, do you fancy chipping across he said no but i went for it, we had a good lead on the finishing circuit and some of the guys were riding for the overall, no one knew who i was so i took off, no one followed and i won the stage. The guys who had just pulled me off Paul Curran then gave me the chance to go to Belgium for a four day race, to see if i could repeat the process. I had come out of nowhere now there was talk of me going to the amateur worlds, i had had no career as a junior, no real carer as a senior really. In Belgium it was the nucleus of what could be the Worlds team, me Dave Mann, Paul Watson......it was pouring with rain, i hate the rain, i see the Belgium national champion go up the road (Johan Capiot) so i chipped across to him, we were swapping turns on the finishing circuit, i was sat behind him and i could see the lights from the cars behind on the back of his calves, they were really close so i jumped him and won the stage, they had to take me to the worlds, i was 19, wasn't real that assed about going! I was the youngest, me, Dave Mann, Tim Stevens & Pete Longbottom, we did ok in the team time trial, i cant remember where we finished but we finished respectably, 1.57 or something for 100km."
"I had a message to ride the Tour of Normandy for GB, Chris Walker, Chris Lillywhite, Simon Cope, Cayn Theakston, i cant remember who else, i have seen a picture of us in these crazy old tracksuits, it pissed down i hated it. One good thing did come out of it though, the lads encouraged me to come back to the UK and ride for the Paragon team, with a view to turning pro the following year. The team was the most elite amateur team in the country at the time, we got a retainer, really good kit, Campag super record, Gazelle bikes, Santini clothing, a proper race programme.
Some of the guys i was riding with were making a living at it, Dave Llloyd, Keith Reynolds,Alan Gornall, i was capable of doing it to, it was what i wanted to do, one hundred percent."
Did he think of himself as a professional cyclist?
"I was full time but definitely an amateur, i was racing mostly against professionals, there was not much support, some tubs, maybe a Jersey from GB, that had to be given back but never did! but there was a really healthy amount of prize money, even an evening race it would be fifty,hundred quid for a win, primes, 20, 30, 50 quid, you could come away with 150 quid in your arse pocket on a Tuesday night, nice to top up your dole money. We did all the races in 1986, Kellogs tour of Britain, we were pretty wet behind the ears, we just did what we always did. I did not have a great year in '87 and i was getting a bit disillusioned i had no prospects of a contract and to be honest i was earning more as an amateur than some pros. I rode for a Dutch team called Zero in 88, we did most of the classics, Gent-Wevelgem, Amstell Gold, Liege-Bastonge-Liege, Flech-Wallone but we never got paid so i quit."
Williams did not touch his bike for two years.
"I went on the piss, labouring on a building site, i did not see the point, getting paid a piffling salary, mates i had gone to school with were buying houses and XR3's and all these lads who were professional athletes were getting paid peanuts. I grafted really hard, got some money together and bought a house."
Along with Stephens,Roger Hammond, Jeremy Hunt & Chris Newton were all at the Great Yarmouth race, the names were getting younger?
"All kids, i was an old hand by now"
An old hand who was still in demand!
"Keith Reynolds offered me the chance to race for the Townsend team, i was flattered. I could get a lot of money as an amateur and i could race as much as i liked, as a pro you could only ride pro races,I really loved racing so i turned Keith down. The following year 1996 racing had become Open and i got invited to ride for Team Ambrosia with Rod Ellingworth, Mark Mckay, Rob Hayles and Tim Hall.We rode really well, i won Girvan that year and the Eddie Soens. Eddie Soens is like the worlds for us up north and i won it twice. In 95 riding for RT Italia, i got in the break with all the Kodak team which was pretty much the team pursuit guys. I was a bit savvy by this stage and managed to get rid of all of them and snotted Julian Ramsbottom at the finish, i was really made up. In 96 it was me Rod Ellingworth & Glenn Holmes, who was riding for a dutch team and i left them both, i think Rod came in second."
"Bradley was very very talented, i did not have too much respect for him, he was a young upstart, years later at a wedding he told me he won the support race at the Crit champs in Great Yarmouth and had looked up to me."
"I was on the dole, i had all day everyday, we did not know what we were doing, we would just go out and mile eat, we got our quality miles from racing, back in those days we could race four or five times a week during the summer. There was no imput from GB. You were doing what your peer group did, if someone suggested doing a 20 minute interval we would have thought they were mad. We used to go out and ride three hours then ride a crit in the evening, we were knackering ourselves but everyone was doing it. I think modern training methods are good, look at British Cycling, we have gone from nothing to probably the best in the world, there is clearly a big effect. If you were serious you would not go out the night before a race, Pre race meal? a bag of chips, a marathon (snickers) and a can of coke."
"It seems to be the track is a vehicle for the road but if you have not got a passion for the track... i think a lot of guys slip through the net....its a science, if you can provide this many watts for four minutes you get a medal, if you get a medal we get funding, if we get funding we can reinvest. Ultimately without the system we would not be in the strong position we are in but it has taken a bit of the romance out of it. You have to have a lot of respect for the guys who go abroad and make it outside of the system."
" I never rode much track, went down to Leicester for a laugh, had a few beers and rode the track. Up for 10 minutes, sat down talking, up for another 10, it wasn't for me"
"Doing the Havant Grand Prix, all i can remember is, i hated it, it was red hot and dead hard, we had driven down on the day, i was nailed the whole day, i finished"
What about todays domestic race scene?
"Terrible, yeah, the level of racing is high but the calendar is appalling now, there is not enough racing, a few premier calendars, the Tour series but what else is there? All the town centre races have gone, once a week on a Sunday and thats it and i dont envy the guys with all the traffic on the road."
"I was a big diesel, i had a good sprint from a small group but not from a big bunch."
"I run my own business, Terry Dolan a good pal of mine introduced me to the Kuota brand, we assemble the bikes ,its grown and we do a lot of business with independant dealers like Primera. We also do Spinergy Wheels, GSG Clothing, and we have just started these new Powerpod Power Meters (the first meter to attach to the handlebars). I am sell something i am passionate about, i know the Kuota bikes inside out, i have ridden them all, if someone phones up with a problem, i can solve it, creaks, groans, which all carbon bikes have, i can solve it, i consider myself very knowledgeable .
"I race TLI a lot, against all my old adversaries, its good, riding with blokes your own age is good, i like the BC races but lets be honest a fifty year old cant complete with 20 year old lads although i have won a couple of races."
Do they know who Dave is?
Most of them dont, i have to give them a bollocking, i just sit behind them and say "sorry i'm not working, i wouldnt have had the cheek to ask a fifty year old to work, its not a popularity contest, get rid of me! I am sitting here, get rid of me"!
Dave Williams won over 100 races in his career.


text:
<ion-header class="mod-header browse-page">
  <button ion-fab mini menuToggle style="display: inline !important;" class="ripple">
    <cav-icon name="menu"></cav-icon>
  </button>
  <span class="search-container">
    <search-bar right [filterSet]="filterSet$ | async" [nbBottles]="nbOfBottles" [nbCrus]="nbOfLots"
                (change)="filterOnText($event)">
    </search-bar>
  </span>
</ion-header>

<ion-menu class="browse-page" [content]="content" id="menu-components" type="overlay">
  <page-filter></page-filter>
</ion-menu>

<ion-content class="browse-page page mod-content">
  <responsive-wrapper>
    <ion-nav [root]="rootPage" #content swipeBackEnabled="false"></ion-nav>
    <ion-list sliding="true" class="bottle-page" #bottleList>
      <ng-container *ngIf="bottleStates$ | async as bottleStates">
        <div *ngFor="let bottleState of bottleStates" style="width: 100%">
          <bottle-item *ngIf="standardListItem; else largeItem"
                       [bottle]="bottleState.bottle" (onShowDetail)="triggerDetail($event)"
                       [selected]="bottleState.selected"
                       (onSelected)="toggleSelected($event)"></bottle-item>
          <ng-template #largeItem>
            <bottle-item-large
              [bottle]="bottleState.bottle" (onShowDetail)="triggerDetail($event)"
              [selected]="bottleState.selected"
              (onSelected)="toggleSelected($event)"></bottle-item-large>
          </ng-template>
        </div>
      </ng-container>
    </ion-list>
  </responsive-wrapper>
</ion-content>

<ion-fab #fab class="browse-page" bottom right *ngIf="anyBottleSelected()">
  <button ion-fab class="ripple">
    <cav-icon name="menu"></cav-icon>
  </button>
  <ion-fab-list side="top">
    <button ion-fab (click)="placeSelection()" class="ripple">
      <cav-icon name="apps" large></cav-icon>
    </button>
    <button ion-fab (click)="locateSelection()" class="ripple">
      <cav-icon name="location" large></cav-icon>
    </button>
    <button ion-fab (click)="registerSelectionAsFavorite()" class="ripple">
      <cav-icon name="star" style="color: #FFC125" large></cav-icon>
    </button>
  </ion-fab-list>
</ion-fab>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


By embarking on a Nottinghamshire coaching course, your child will get active, become versed in the fundamental movement skills for children and - most importantly - have lots of fun.
They'll learn the cricketing skills of the stars and also gain a first-hand education in teamwork, fair play, leadership and the spirit of the game.
With beginners to the sports every bit as welcome as experts, we'll make sure sessions are tailored and relevant to the youngsters on the course.
Every child that registers will receive a backpack full of goodies including a cricket bat, ball, water bottle, personalised shirt and cap all sent straight to your door.
Sessions will be held inside at Trent Bridge Cricket Ground and cover technical and tactical skills for batting, bowling, wicket keeping and fielding, through a variety of fixed, variable and games based practices.
Hardballs will not be used for this age group. Kwik and soft balls will be used.
Some of the coaching may involve using hard balls, children must provide all their own protective equipment including a helmet. Many of the drills will still be done without hard balls and their use will be assessed on the ability of the whole group.
Some of the coaching will involve using hard balls, children must provide all their own protective equipment including a helmet. Many of the drills will still be done without hard balls and their use will be assessed on the ability of the whole group.
You can book onto our current courses by selecting the option from the menu at the top left of the page.
For more information about any of our junior cricket coaching contact claire.page@nottsccc.co.uk or 0115 982 3000 (ext 227).


text:
- The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine
< View all Subjects
Home > Geology > Palaeontology >
Fossils of Folkestone, Kent
by Hadland, P.
Cover : Paperback
Publisher : Siri Scientific Press
Published In : Manchester
Illustrations : col photos
Our customers have not yet submitted a review for this title - click here to be the first to write a review
Folkestone is surely one of the top ten places to look for fossils in Britain. The variety of fossils that can be found there is truly staggering. For centuries geologists have visited Folkestone, mainly attracted by the beautiful Gault Clay ammonites that are so abundantly found along the beach. Aside from ammonites and other invertebrate fossils, a rich variety of vertebrates has been found, including rare dinosaur remains. There is no doubt an untapped potential for new and exciting discoveries at Folkestone.
This book aims to showcase the spectacular fossils that can be found at Folkestone in a series of 100 full colour plates (see below), illustrating approximately 200 different species from the Chalk, Gault Clay, Lower Greensand and also the Pleistocene mammal fauna. It is designed as a user-friendly identification guide for anyone collecting fossils there and hopefully will encourage more people to collect there and report any new rare finds.
Checklist of Beetles of the British Isles
Duff, A.G. (Ed.)
A guide to longhorn beetles of Britain (Identification Chart)
Heeney, W.J.; Potts, K.; Lewington, R. (Illus)
The Ants of Central and Northern Europe
Seifert, B.
Trilobites of the World: An Atlas of 1000 Photographs
Lawrance, P.; Stammers, S.
Snowball, S.; Chivers, C.
Fossil Orthoptera Ensifera
Zeuner, F.E.
Dunlop, J. A.; Penney, D.
Amber Palaeobiology: Research trends and perspectives for the 21st century
Penney, D.
Penney, D.; Green, D.I.


text:
Precious… but that's about all
Davida Chazan adult, Book review, contemporary, fiction, literary, novel, romance, women October 10, 2014 April 17, 2022 4 Minutes
Book Review of "The Kalahari Typing School for Men" by Alexander McCall Smith.
Mme Ramotswe is a female detective in Botswana, the only one there until Mr. Buthelezi arrived, claiming it as "man's" work. Mme Ramotswe isn't convinced and nor is her assistant, Mme Makutsi, who graduated top of her Secretarial College class. However, small towns don't have much call for private detectives, so when Mme Ramotswe gets a particularly delicate new case, the customer wants only Mme Ramotswe's help. That means Mme Makutsi needs to find other things to fill her days and increase her bank balance (which might also help her find a husband). Helping with the clerical work for the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, the garage below their offices, doesn't earn her much, and so she establishes the Kalahari Typing School for Men. When another case comes to the "#1 Ladies Detective Agency" via the unhappy customer Mr. Buthelezi, things start getting complicated.
From this summary, one might think that this mystery novel would be quite a long book. Especially since I didn't even mention Mme Ramotswe's fiancé, the garage owner reluctant to set a wedding date, or the two orphans she's adopted with him. However, this is a very slim volume, which is suspicious. With so much to cover, and this being the fourth book in the series, there seems a whole lot is missing here. Perhaps if I started with the first book I would have had more background. Still, most detective novels I've read seem to have enough background on the detective to make them complete on their own (no one I know ever read Agatha Christie in the order her books were written). Unfortunately, my first impression of this book was that I felt somewhat lost.
Of course, as the book progressed, I did get to understand these characters much better. McCall Smith's draws his central characters to work in a type of blurry harmony, as if they're all in this haze of a place and move through it in slow motion. If that is how McCall Smith sets a mood, he's been very successful. While these stories take place in Botswana, a foreign location to most of us, McCall Smith makes us feel it's the most natural place in the world. His settings are human and believable and the characters fit into them like a hand in an old glove. As we get both their thoughts and their actions, we get deeper into their psyches and more comfortable with them and their situations. This is probably McCall Smith's greatest achievement – he can really make the reader empathize with his cast of characters, which I think is essential to a character driven story.
This is primarily due to McCall Smith's writing style, which is very charming. He gives us a lovely feeling of what this African place is like, how the people move through it and how life is there in general. His descriptions of places are done via observations by the characters, which is far more effective than just straight-out listings of details. His dialogs work to help the reader understand the character's personalities and he gives them very clear and unique voices. Furthermore, he knows how to get the reader to feel part of his character's lives by setting up situations of interactions, which reveal more than the words on the page themselves. Despite the dream-like manner, it still feels realistic.
Unfortunately, where McCall Smith excels with his characters, he underestimates the need to give them something read-worthy to do, but not for lack of trying. This book has not one, but two mysteries to solve, and they completely unrelated. In addition, there is the dilemma of the #1 Detective Agency's new rival detective. These three things were pivotal to the story but only whitewashed into this book, making one wonder why they were even included. Into this mix, we have the garage's two apprentices and their antics, as well as Mme Makutsi's business venture. While the latter does factor in one of the cases, the former seems to be there just for color. It just felt that McCall Smith bit off more plot than he could chew, which got lost under about 200 pages of (an albeit nicely done) character study. That leaves two easily answered mysteries and tossing off the rival detective with several unattended loose ends, which made me say "huh?"
All this made me think that McCall Smith was making light of the day-to-day problems of the people. Almost as if he's saying that, nothing is complex in this world that uniting of a minimal amount of attention with a heavy dose of nature taking its course won't solve. Of course, maybe this really is life in Botswana, but I don't buy it. After all, human beings are complex creatures. So even the most idyllic of places have complications, mysteries and dilemmas that take at least some effort and thought to resolve, if not learn how to live with. If McCall Smith is showing his nostalgia and affection for his roots through rose-colored glasses, I'm afraid I don't care for that shade of pink.
On the positive side, this is a very pleasant way to escape for a few hours into another place and mind-set, which today is a true blessing. Its escapist fiction vaguely disguised as a mystery and the most complimentary word I can use for it is "precious," which is also our protagonist's first name. If you're a hard-core mystery lover, who needs cliffhangers, twisty plots and situations that are practically impossible to get out of, this isn't for you. However, if you want a fast reading, short feel-good book, this may be just the thing. Even so, I can't give it more than two stars.
"The Kalahari Typing School for Men" by Alexander McCall Smith published by Polygon Books in 2002 is available (via these affiliate links) from Amazon, Kobo (Walmart) eBooks and audiobooks, eBooks.com, iTunes (iBook or audiobook), The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery), new or used from Better World Books (to promote libraries and world literary) and Alibris, as well as from an IndieBound store near you. (This is a greatly revised version of a review that I originally published on {the now defunct} Yahoo! Voices.)
Published October 10, 2014 April 17, 2022
Previous Post That which was gone for those that remain
Next Post Protections and Professions
3 thoughts on "Precious… but that's about all"
Pingback: TCL's #6Degrees of Separation for October 2, 2021. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Pingback: Series I Never Finished Reading #2 – Flopped from the Start. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Pingback: Billie Walker Begins. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog


The HEX 2.0 comes in a very thick, glossy, cardboard box, which does give you a feeling that you are about to open something special. On this panel, there is the naming off to the left and your first look at the cooler that is included in the box.
As we move to the next panel, at the top, it makes mention of the Thermoelectric component. The bulk of the panel addresses the features, where we see mentions of the exceptional heat control, custom LED lighting, a one-year warranty, ease of installation, the fact that there is no water to leak, and that you can control and monitor this cooler via software.
This side matches what we saw in the first image, but this gives us time to address other things. First of all, there is a ghosted rendering of the cooler found under the naming near the top. The second is that that is duplicated on the inner packaging, which can be seen near the bottom; and that green is a real eye grabbing color to use.
The last panel offers the logo that both Phononic and Silvercore use in their naming in the middle of it all. Below that, we find the tagline "Quietly Outperforms" and the site address to read up on the cooler or to find support.
Inside of the lower part of the box, we find everything packed safely for travel. The hardware and accessories are kept at one end, and cannot move around, while the paperwork is shoved down the side of the coolers packaging. The cooler is resting in a cardboard form that surrounds the fins and protects them, while a layer of plastic is stretched over the cooler to keep it tightly in place. As for our sample, it is in perfect condition, and ready for images and testing.


Wir waren von 27.12. bis 10.01.2017 im Coco Grove Beachresort und mit unserer Wahl des Resorts sehr zufrieden!
Es ist eine hervorragende Resort mit sehr nettem und hilfsbereitem Personal und 2 guten Resaurants am Strand. Die Anlage verfügt über 3 Pools und einen min. 1Km langem Strand, sodass es im Resort immer sehr leer aussieht es nie überlaufen ist.
Auch die Tauchbasis ist echt super und so individuell bin in der Hochsaison noch nie betreut worden, die Hälfte meiner 15 TG habe ich nur mit einem eigenen Guide gemacht. Hat mir echt viel spaß gemacht.
Auch vor dem Resort gibt es in Gehentfernung 2 Restaurants und in Umkreis von 2 km einige andere gute Restaurants und Bars.
Wir haben schon einigen auf den Philippinen gesehen und sind waren mit dem Coco Grove, alles in allem sehr zufrieden!
Diese ist sehr klein und es gab kaum mehr als 10 Taucher täglich, so dass es immer genügend Guids und Boote für ausreichend Individualität gab. Wenn ich der einzige AOWD war wurden mit mir die Tauchplätze in der Umgebung angefahren und wenn wir mal 2-3 Erfahrenen waren haben wir die entfernteren Plätze gemacht.
Bin allen Tauch-Guides und dem gesamten Personal zufrieden!
Auch muss ich sagen, dass ich nach 7 Urlauben auf den Philippinen, diesmal sehr positiv von den Riffen und den Fischbeständen überrascht wurde.
This place was great, I stayed roughly 8 days. The people were so great and always had a smile and a warm greeting. The rooms were very clean and accommodating. There were 2-3 restraunts operating so you had choices. The beaches were great and so was the motor bike tour of the island I took. I came to Siquijor Island to meet my fiancé and her family, this place is where I stayed. Really look forward to my wife and I to stay here next summer when we come back for a visit.
We stayed in this resort in May 2013 with my husband and plan to return in December 2015 with our daughter and my sister´s family, it was that nice! The service, hospitality, services provided, accommodation, pools, beach, marine sanctuary, diving trips, island trips, food — you name it — it was all close to perfection.
My friend Lila and I, spent two magic weeks at this resort in November/December 2014. This was my third holiday to Coco Grove Resort. We think it is the most beautiful resort you could ever wish to visit. The staff and family are so very friendly and helpful at all times. You have a choice of three swimming pools all situated in beautiful shady areas with bars close by. Our accomodation was excellent and close to restaurants. The service and food was of top quality, with candlelight dinners by the beach or restaurant and that we can certainly recommend.The different activities that are available to all are varied, scuba diving, a visit to Apo Island, boating etc. games or just relaxing in this spacious resort is just so wonderful. The resort is on the beach and the sunsets are magnificent, a photographers dream but the whole resort is the same. All in all we can recommend this wonderful resort and staff. Loved it so much.
Stayed in room 304, Casa Coco hotel, which was extremely comfortable. Above all we found the staff very pleasant, helpful and accommodating. The food and drinks are to die for especially the seafood. The resort provided everything we wanted, relaxation, water sports, tours, nothing was a problem. Cannot wait for our next holiday in this resort.
Thank you so much for your help. We had a great time both in Coco Grove and Coco Grande. We were pleasantly surprised and very happy with our stay Everyone from the front desk clerks to the waiter/waitress in the restaurants to the housekeeping staff were friendly and accommodating. Thank you for a great vacation!
We traveled for three weeks in the central Philippines before we arrived at Coco Grove, we stayed at several hotels and resorts along the way but nothing come close to Coco for the whole package. From the moment that we were picked up from the ferry to the sad trip back to the wharf we were in awe of what was shared with us. Coco and its staff (more like family) put 110% effort into everything on the resort, nothing was left to chance.
Our guests really enjoyed staying at the Coco Grove Resort. Aside from the wonderful scenery and ambiance, the service was wonderful. Rest assured that we are going to invite more guests to enjoy your hospitality.
In 2010 I found, in Coco Grove Resort, my dreaming place and I've searched for more than 30 years. I spent a week on Siquijor and thought I'd found it. Wonderful scenery, beautiful open friendly people and the blueist blue water I have ever seen. Then, after local families' recommendations, 24 hours in Coco Beach Resort. Nothing I have experienced before comes close and I have searched. North and South America, West Indies, Europe, Mediterranean Islands. Perfect rooms, gardens, beach, Staff – you name it. All at a price a retired man like me can afford. GO THERE. Do yourself a favour. I'm going back. 6 months is all I can stand away from Heaven on Earth.
My stay together with my niece in 2009 was one big breath of pure relaxation and bliss! My most precious memory of our stay is the yoga practice we did on the sunset beach: too beautiful for words. We'll be back!!! Barbara.


text:
Q: Prove that the solution tends to $0$ as $t$ goes to infinity I have to prove  that, if  $A(t)$ is a real symmetric $N\times N$ matrix whose
eigenvalues are all less than $-1$ for  all $t$, then if we consider $u$ to be the solution of
$$\dot u(t)=A(t)u(t),$$
Then
$$\lim_{t\to\infty}|u(t)|^2=0.$$
The only thing I was able to do was to write down the solution, but  nothing more.. can you help
me? Many thanks..

A: Note that
$$\frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm dt}|u(t)|^2=2\langle u(t),u'(t)\rangle=2\langle u(t),A(t)u(t)\rangle\leqslant-2\langle u(t),u(t)\rangle=-2|u(t)|^2,
$$
hence
$$
|u(t)|^2\leqslant|u(0)|^2\,\mathrm e^{-2t}.
$$


text:
Brighton Film School lecturers choose a world of HOPE, over hate
Brighton Film School lecturers directed and produced short film for national charity
Filmmaking lecturer Julian Kerridge and Screenwriting lecturer Martin Sadofski directed and produced a short film for the national charity 'HOPE not hate'. The charity is running a campaign to counter racism and fascism in elections and local communities.
Coldplay invited the charity to use their soundtrack and John Simm did the voice over.
Brighton Film School lecturers are industry professionals, constantly working on short films and productions alongside teaching our aspiring filmmaking students.
Julian said: "Martin and I have worked together in a Producer / Director partnership for a number of years now and Martin was approached about a month ago by Silverfish media – after we made a quite a successful film for them last Christmas for the Labour party. This time we had quite an open remit in that we were given the task of "changing the word hope to hate" and finding ways to give life, character and personality to the film so that it felt spontaneous and inclusive. In the end, we used a mixture of staged moments in which the word hate was changed to hope and we inter-cut real footage of people we'd literally stopped in the street and asked them to take part. We're both really pleased with the result because it feels quite organic and fresh but with a clear narrative running through it."


emmy rossum vera wang - vera wang .
emmy rossum vera wang - emmy rossum wears vera wang to the need for speed nyc .
emmy rossum vera wang - 24 surprising facts you never knew about your favorite .
emmy rossum vera wang - emmy rossum in vera wang .
emmy rossum vera wang - 17 best images about emmy rossum on pinterest bobby pins .
emmy rossum vera wang - emmy rossum 233 tait la ni 232 ce de vera wang 50 infos .
emmy rossum vera wang - emmy rossum scrubs up well as she performs music from her .
emmy rossum vera wang - the fashionista stories .
emmy rossum vera wang - 25 best images about emmy rossum on pinterest fashion .
emmy rossum vera wang - red carpet style the 2016 emmy awards my fashion .
emmy rossum vera wang - emmy rossum jokes that hermione granger dressed her .
emmy rossum vera wang - wear tights right .
emmy rossum vera wang - emmy rossum in vera wang need for speed new york .
emmy rossum vera wang - aaron paul and emmy rossum need for speed new york .
emmy rossum vera wang - screen stars film and tv emmy rossum .
emmy rossum vera wang - bellanaija style best dressed list the golden globes .
emmy rossum vera wang - best looks of the week emma watson s open back gown emmy .
emmy rossum vera wang - shameless star emmy rossum has a spring in her step as she .
emmy rossum vera wang - who emmy rossum wearing carolina herrera where at the .
emmy rossum vera wang - la jolie emmy rossum est la ni 232 ce de la c 233 l 232 bre styliste .
emmy rossum vera wang - emmy rossum jokes that hermione granger dressed her in .
emmy rossum vera wang - emmy rossum in marc allison jeans celebrities in .
emmy rossum vera wang - best 20 celebrity weddings ideas on pinterest celebrity .


Study objective: The insertion and management of a temporary transvenous pacemaker can be a lifesaving procedure in the emergency department setting. We compare the success and complication rates associated with temporary transvenous pacemaker insertion between physicians trained in either emergency medicine or cardiology.
This was a retrospective medical record review of all patients with a billing code for temporary transvenous pacemaker insertion at our institution between July 1999 and December 2002. Patients were excluded if the temporary transvenous pacemaker was not supervised by an attending physician or was placed under fluoroscopy or if the indication for pacing was asystole. Cases were reviewed by 2 physicians certified in emergency medicine and categorized by the specialty training of the attending physician providing direct supervision.
During the review period, 10 emergency medicine faculty and 8 cardiologists directly supervised 141 of the 158 temporary transvenous pacemaker insertions in 154 patients. Twenty-four were placed for asystole, 4 were placed under fluoroscopy, and 13 were placed without direct attending supervision, leaving a total of 117 cases (30 emergency medicine, 87 cardiology) for review. The procedure was successful 97% (95% confidence interval [CI] 90% to 100%) of the time for emergency medicine faculty and 95% (95% CI 91% to 100%) of the time for cardiology faculty. Complications were seen in 23% (95% CI 7% to 39%) of the temporary transvenous pacemakers inserted by emergency medicine attending physicians and 20% (95% CI 11% to 28%) of the temporary transvenous pacemakers inserted by cardiologists.
There was no statistical difference in errors between the specialties, and no complication resulted in death or prolonged disability.
Physicians trained in emergency medicine perform temporary transvenous pacemaker insertions in the acute care setting with a proficiency similar to that of their counterparts in cardiology.
*Author contributions: All authors participated in the theoretical formulation and study design. RHB, JT, and TM took primary responsibility for data abstraction and database structure. RHB, TJG, and WMB conducted data analysis. RHB drafted the manuscript, and all authors contributed substantially to the revision and presentation of the final work. All authors take responsibility for the paper as a whole. Presented as an abstract at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine annual meeting, Boston, MA, May 2003.The authors report this study did not receive any outside funding or support. Reprints not available from the authors.
* Submitted August 1, 2003.
* Revised September 23, 2003.
* Accepted on September 24, 2003.


The rise of ISIS and the murderous trail they have carved across the Middle East have brought the fate of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian Christians to the forefront of the news. This book, drawing on eye-witness accounts, brings that suffering into clear focus. Beginning with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the book traces the story of the war, the occupation, and the resulting impact on Iraqi and Syrian churches, to the present day. The book traces the lives of key individuals and their families, as the author returns again and again, over a twelve year period.
Mindy Belz is an editor and journalist for WORLD Magazine. She has been reporting from on the ground in the Middle East for over a decade. She lives in North Carolina, USA.


text:
Last updated: 10:28 AM ET, Wed April 17 2019
gallery icon 50 Best Rides and Attractions at Walt Disney World
Entertainment Lauren Bowman April 17, 2019
PHOTO: Partners Statues—Walt Disney & Mickey Mouse at Magic Kingdom. (Photo by Lauren Bowman)
Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida is the theme park capital of the world, and Walt Disney World may just rule them all. With four main theme parks—Magic Kingdom, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios—and two themed water parks—Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park and Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park—it's the perfect destination to travel with the whole family, with new attractions being added constantly. With so much to do and see, here's a summary of the very best Walt Disney World has to offer.
For more information on Orlando, Florida
For more Entertainment News
More by Lauren Bowman
Club Med Launches 'Your Vacation, Your Way' Sale
gallery icon Every State's Top Travel Destination for 2022
gallery icon Where to Travel in 2022 Based on Your Zodiac Sign
Disney Cruise Line Unveils New Offer for Select Cruises
Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" Returns for Season 5