Few metal bands have been as influential and have had the longevity as Diamond Head - listed as a major influence by two of metal's biggest, Metallica and Megadeth. Led by co-founding member/guitarist Brian Tatler, Diamond Head will be launching a North American tour that will include both US and Canadian dates, beginning on August 19 with Psycho Las Vegas festival appearance and ending on September 11 at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn, New York.
'We are excited to get back to North America and see our old friends once more,' says Tatler and Wilcox (who resides in the US).
'Diamond Head may not have toured the continent as much as we would have liked way back when, but we are certainly making up for it now! And the band sounds better than ever,' states Brian.
As part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in the late '70s/early '80s, Diamond Head came up in the same scene as eventual global headliners Def Leppard and Iron Maiden. And while Diamond Head did not achieve the same commercial success as the aforementioned bands, they did influence countless subsequent musicians - especially Metallica, as it was a then-teenaged Lars Ulrich that befriended the band early on and became a major fan. Subsequently, Metallica has covered such Diamond Head classics as 'Am I Evil,' 'Helpless,' 'The Prince,' and 'It's Electric' multiple times - on multiple platinum releases.
In addition to performing these classics at their upcoming U.S. shows, expect to also hear material performed off their latest release - 2016's self-titled offering.
There is a new Diamond Head album already in the works (set for release next year).
Soon, many North American headbangers will get their chance to see the legendary Diamond Head and hear the songs that inspired a generation of musicians on a nearby concert stage.
One of the most influential heavy metal bands of all time, Diamond Head, will be returning to the States for tour dates in May and in August. From May 17-27, the band - led by co-founding member/guitarist Brian Tatler - will be playing headline shows (and two dates with Ross the Boss, as well as a performance at the Legions of Metal Festival in Chicago with Armored Saint, and an appearance at Rocklahoma in Oklahoma). And then from August 19-25, Diamond Head will return to the US for another festival appearance (Psycho Vegas 2017 in Las Vegas), as well as additional headlining gigs.
In addition to performing these classics at their upcoming U.S. shows, expect to also hear material performed off their latest release - 2016's self-titled offering. Their seventh studio albums overall, the album has become one of their most critically acclaimed of their entire career - as evidenced by Classic Rock Magazine saying, "It just fu*kin' rocks in glorious timeless fashion" and Metal Hammer simply adding, "This is rather excellent."
"I'm influenced by the likes of Paul McCartney, Jimmy Page and Brian Tatler".
DIAMOND HEAD US TOUR 2017: Additional dates to be announced shortly.


A strong commitment to service and desire to help fellow Veterans moved Eric Bruns, a 20-year Army Veteran, to seek a career change from his private-sector job.
He heard about VA for Vets from friends and began using the Career Center's online tools to explore open positions at VA. Eric also worked with a VA for Vets career coach and together,they focused on how to frame his military experience to appeal to potential employers. "My career coach really helped me see how my resume could be written better," he said.
Armed with a new resume and advice from his career coach, Eric attended the Veteran Career Fair and Expo in Washington, D.C. The event, sponsored by VA for Vets, featured more than 6,000 federal and private-sector opportunities available to job seeking Veterans.
Thanks to the high tech, high touch resources of VA for Vets, he was hired as the director of the Veterans Health Administration's Employee Education Resource Center. Eric credits VA for Vets for guiding him through the transition to federal service and is excited about starting a new career at VA.


I have been working on samples for the Framed Clutch Purse class I will be teaching at Sew South in March. Although I have written the instructions with the suggested batting and interfacing I am playing with a few others to show my students a variety of weights and textures that some different interfacing will give to the clutch.
I lined it with a Lotta Jansdotter Echo print.
For this one I used a piece of a cute quilt weight fabric. I know, you're asking WHY WHITE?
I sprayed Scotch Guard on the fabric before making the clutch. I fused Pellon Craft Fuse 808 to the outer fabric before fusing Thermalam to the backside of the outer fabric.
I also fused Shape Flex to the lining fabric. This makes for a very firm clutch, but it holds up well and doesn't look squishy. Since I did not do any quilting on this clutch, I think using the extra interfacing makes it look better. I also placed an inset zipper pocket into the lining.
I need to make a few more samples in different stages so I can demonstrate techniques for the Framed Clutch newbie.
You can purchase my pattern for the clutch on Craftsy.
Such pretty purses Di - I know you are going to be such an awesome teacher. I nearly ordered some thermolam yesterday and didn't in the end - now I wish I had.
You are going to be the BEST teacher Di! Both these purses are just wonderful! You have such a variety of interfacings and the like over there...those names (thermolam?) mean nothing to me!
Lovely clutches and you are going to ace the teaching. Love the fabric you used on the outside of the second clutch!
So looking forward to being in your class in 2 months from now! You'll do a great job Di!
I'd love to take a class from you. I can't do frame clutches. I've tried once a few years ago. It is tricky to get the shapes right to fit the frame. They both look so great. The one with inner pocket is nice!
These are looking super! What lucky students you have!
These are so great, thanks for sharing. I started a new metal frame clutch with a friend yesterday and we didn't get too far... wish I lived close and could attend your class.
Love the white one. So cute.
The look fabulous! I wish I could come to your class!
I wish I were coming. How do you have time to do this as well as everything else!
Love that you even put zippers inside! Your students will be pleased!
I wish I was coming but I had already committed to QuiltCon.
Your class is going to be so fun, having all the different samples lets people see the differences which is the best way to learn.
I totally wish I was going to Sew South! I think with you as a teacher I MIGHT be able to conquer this. The fabric is a home decorator weight, I think I have a labeled swatch somewhere and will double check if you need the info. Love all of the samples you showed!
Love the all the different purses! Especially the one with the inside zip! So looking forward to your class!
The grey fabric is Outside Oslo - I have some in a great blue,red and natural color. Great print!
You're teaching at Sew South?! How did I miss this?! Congratulations! That's awesome!


Medicines are used to treat certain conditions or illnesses, but when two or more medicines are used simultaneously, they may interact with each other and cause complications or unwanted side effects. Drug interactions may occur with prescription drugs, over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, herbal remedies, or dietary supplements, so it is important that the patient realizes the dangers of mixing drugs without consulting a doctor.
Levodopa + peripheral decarboxylase inhibitors such as carbidopa and benserazide.
Dopamine receptor agonists – pramipexole, ropinirole, and rotigotine.
MAO-B inhibitors – selegiline and rasagiline.
Anticholinergics – sometimes used in addition to levodopa for treatment of symptoms in Parkinson's disease. Over-the-counter cough and cold medicines contain anticholinergics such as diphenhydramine, chlorpheniramine, and phenylephrine.
Antispasmodics used for treating stomach or uterine cramps also contain anticholinergics such as dicyclomine and hyoscyamine.
Sedatives such as diazepam, lorazepam and alprazolam.
Multivitamins, specially vitamin B-6 or pyridoxine, and minerals such as iron.
Metoclopramide – used to control nausea and vomiting.
Medicines containing acetaminophen, used for pain, headache, and fever.
Antacids and other medicines containing aluminum, calcium, and magnesium.
The above medicines should not be used to enhance the effect of levodopa.
Levodopa may potentiate the action of antihypertensives, causing excessive lowering of blood pressure when used concurrently. Levodopa may cause severe hypertensive reactions if taken by patients treated with MAO (monoamine oxidase) inhibitors such as furazolidone or procarbazine within the last 14 days.
Alcohol intake may cause CNS depression when used along with Parkinson's disease medicines.
Antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, and ofloxacin may cause drug interactions with pramipexole, ropinirole, or rotigotine.
Entacapone may react with antibiotics such as ampicillin, erythromycin, and chloramphenicol.
Narcotic pain relievers such as codeine may react with entacapone or other drugs.
Quinine or quinidine may interfere with renal clearance of amantadine.
Various other drug interactions are possible and you should consult with your doctor before taking any other medication or supplement, whether an OTC (over-the-counter) medicine, scheduled drug or a herbal remedy.
My husband suffers from parkinson, he takes mirapex, levodopa 25/100, levodopa 50/200. He hallucinates. I haven't seen any improvement in his walk. My husband suffers from this illness about 10 years.
Each individual case differs in terms of the patient's response to Parkinson's medicines. You should consult with another doctor for a second opinion.
My husband had hallucinations . Stopped the Mirapex and they pretty much went away after a couple days. Have heard a lot of people say same thing.
My question is that can he take antibiotics to treat any sort of infections?if so then what class and generic antibiotics he should be taking that will not interact with his prescribed drugs?I seek your advise.Thank you.
Does anyone know of this antibiotic (or the class it comes from) causing adverse effects in PD patients?
My mom had a similar problem caused by bactrim and having Parkinson's disease. The neurologist called it toxic encephalopathy . She was hallucinating a Nd so confused. It took her over a month to get better! The doctor said that the bactrim had prevented her mirapex from working.
Same thing happened with my husband twice since the doctors did not recognize that it was the antibiotic. Also with cephezolin and cephetrione. The Bactim is a sulpha drug and the other 2 are in the penecillin family.
To Jamey I just recently lost my dad from being on bactrim , he had a drug interaction with his PD medicine , he was on SINEMET, AMANTADINE AND COMTAN.
We have been through a stage of losing 21kgs in weight because he could not eat anything, everything did'nt get further than his throat. Achalasia was diagnosed, he had an operation to release the muscle down the ausophagus and the sphincter valve. For about 6 months now he is also having a problem with his neck. He has no control of his neck and we are told the muscles at the back of the neck are in a spasm and the muscles in front are not working. My reason for writing is not to scare anyone, but to share concerns as to medications which could be having an adverse effect and causing other problems. He also takes blood pressure tablets, blood thinners, cholesterol tablets, so yes my sentiments are becoming that all the medications actually start creating more serious problems, unless I am wanting to make excuses.
So all I can wish you is that you stay well, as well as you expect to be and that God would keep you, and guide you, fill you with His love and peace. Would be great to hear from you and to know how you are doing.
My question is: My husband has PD for 4 years now and im still not sure on what i can do for him when he gets colds or flu. Like he has now for the last 4 days and just been sleeping and coughing. He took decongestant and cough headache med.Generic tussin with the gueif in it. What other options does he have for relief? He's on ropinol and Sinemet.
My husband has had Parkinson's for over 15 years and recently had to be on a number of antibiotics for a bone infection. He has reacted to 3 of them with extreme muscle weakness making the Parkinson's much worse. His doctor's do not believe that it is the antibiotics causing the problem. The antibiotics are Bactrim, cepezolin and cephetrion. The reaction almost killed him. It takes about 6 weeks after he stops to get his strength back.
I have the cold/flu and cannot get over my cough. I am taking rasagiline and phampexole. Can I take any cough suppressants or antibiotics like Zithromax?
My husband was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease at 63. His symptoms were shuffling of feet, slurred speech, low volume speech, degradation of hand writing, horrible driving skills, right arm held at 45 degree angle. Things were tough for me, I too was diagnosed with COPD with early stage i have to step up to assist him. He is now fully cure of parkinson disease i was so lucky to receive a herbal products from my step father who bought it while coming from South Africa for Rugby league,this herbal remedies saved me and husband from this disease,at first it helps fight the symptoms of diseases and i was seeing good outcome,we had to use it for 13 weeks just as they Dr was prescribed and we are totally cure of PD & COPD,email them now Totalcureherbalfoundation gmailcom do not hesitate to purchase from them they deliver across worldwide.
Breathing Problems, Difficulty in Parkinson's Disease | Pdring.com - A-Z Parkinsons disease information: Parkinsons disease symptom, treatment, exercise & medication.
Substance Abuse and Addiction in Parkinson's Disease | Pdring.com - A-Z Parkinsons disease information: Parkinsons disease symptom, treatment, exercise & medication.


I have a recurring dream. In the dream there are random tigers that I'm afraid of and I do everything to avoid them. But no-one else is concerned about the tigers. The Tigers never hurt me or seem aggressive.
It took time and a fair amount of therapy over the years to understand what these dreams were all about. As I understand it dreams are reflections of your inner self - the good and the bad. People, animals, buildings etc. are all parts of me. The Tigers were a reflection of my anger. Unexpressed anger that I had stored up for years. Anger towards my Father, the bully at school, the teacher, my 2 wives... but ultimately anger towards my self! My dreams were symbols of the 'wild' emotions in me that I was afraid of.
Interestingly, unexpressed anger can lead to depression and anxiety. Think of the word 'de-press(ion)'. Keeping all that anger inside is toxic to the whole body and takes a lot of energy (tension) to keep it there.
I conclude that the mind-body will release old emotions when it's ready and not before. I can't force emotions out that have been stored for years partly because there was a reason they were not expressed in the first place. It was how I survived at the time.
What recurring dreams have you had and have you thought about what they might be symbolising?
Have you found helpful ways of letting go of unwanted 'old' emotions?


To be a new you in 2016 you must be disciplined. Discipline is training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character. Lev. 20:7 (NKJV) states: "Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God." You can't live any old way you please and expect to be a new person. You must be holy!
Give your God a clean house in which to live in 2016. Billy Graham states: "The great Christians throughout history have been men and women of great personal discipline." To be a new you in 2016 you must be disciplined.


text:
Q: How to subtract component of quaternion along a given axis? For example, to subtract out the component of a vector a along unit vector b, you just take the dot product of a and b and multiply by the vector b.  Then you just subtract a•b*b from a to take out the component of the vector along b.
How do you do this for a rotation?
Rotations can be represented by euler angles, rotation matrices, or quaternions.  The quaternion is a certain rotation about an euler axis, but how do you subtract out the component of the rotation about a given axis?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Southern Nevada Teamsters Retiree Association meetings are held the third Thursday of every month at 10:00 a.m. the doors will open at 9:30 a.m.(excluding the months of February, June, July & August). The meeting are held at Teamsters Local 631 located at 700 N. Lamb Blvd., Las Vegas, Nevada 89110.
For more information on becoming a member of the Southern Nevada Retirees Association please contact Norman Kloke @ (402) 740-4569.


Holiday Cooking Potato Salad Bites etc.
I couldn't resist a recent recipe that came in the mail and I'm sure that my potato and potato salad loving hubby will appreciate this little treat to go along with his burger tonight…I'm sure that you can use your favorite potato salad recipe ingredients. These little reds seasoned with EVOO, salt and pepper and roasted then you cut off the top, scoop out the potato for the filling, leaving a neat little potato cup for your potato salad…like a twice baked potato. Make your potato salad (rough chop tops and the rest of the potato) fill the cups and chill. What a great take along picnic or cookout treat!
While Michael had his burger and potato salad, I picked away at some steamed crabs for our Sunday dinner, another nice quiet evening this long July 4th weekend.


Gerry leads Corporate Services, which includes Information Technology Services (ITS), Property Services, Corporate Security & Surveillance, Central Services, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR Strategy, Community Support, Sustainable Development, and Social Responsibility.
He joined the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission in July 2007 as Chief Information Officer, and in January 2011, was appointed Chief Corporate Services Officer, which included Human Resources. Following the merger in 2012 and until December 2016, Gerry was the Vice President Facilities, Central Services, Security & Surveillance. Prior to Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, Gerry worked for over 20 years in the agriculture industry, directing the information technology function and providing project management services for strategic development initiatives, mergers and acquisitions.
Gerry holds a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) degree from the University of Manitoba, and also has completed the Queen's School of Business Executive Program. He is currently a member of the Computer Information Professional Society, Project Management Institute, and Building Owners and Managers Association of Manitoba.


I suffer from depression, and have for a long time.
About 9 years ago my life fell apart, my fiancee of 4 years at the time decided that she would rather run away and make something of a life with the man she'd been cheating on me with. I came home to an empty flat, I honestly didn't see it coming, I though we'd been robbed! Until I found the note. For around a year I put a brave face on things, I threw myself in my work and university studies. I would routinely work 7AM to 7PM then go home and attempt to study till midnight.
Occasionally the little protective framework I put up would show a few cracks, eventually it was going to fall down. I couldn't keep up the act and I knew it. I still remember when I realised what was being explained to me by my doctor, meant that I as a part time university student with a stable public sector job had what I would refer to later as mental health issues.
I'm not sure that I've ever been fixed properly. A combination of basic NHS support and a lot of stubbornness got me through the first rough patch. A regime of keeping busy and trying to focus my energies in a more positive way kept me going and upright. Occasionally I loose it, sometimes because I'm tired and angry, or upset about something. But sometimes for absolutely no reason whatsoever, I'll cry, feel so bad I just want to run away and hide, or worse. I'll dismantle my world in my head convince myself that everything is my fault, regardless if it even had anything to do with me.
Before everyone posts or emails me telling me to go and get fixed, see a shrink, take some pills.
This is who I am, my emotional spectrum runs raw, right to the edges. Yes I can sometimes feel so very bad, but I can also feel the other end and find almost childlike joy in the simplest things and I wouldn't want to have that worked out. It's cheesy but after the dark comes the dawn and I'm slowly learning to make the dark pass a little faster.
I've learnt that someday's I'm going to feel crap no matter what and no one will hold it against me, It doesn't make me a bad person. I need to remember that sometimes the ones closest to me have no idea what is going on in my head and not saying anything or just saying "it's nothing" don't help anyone.
I live with depression, I'm not perfect… but who wants to be perfect.


Several years ago a former ace student, Jane Bishop Halteman, responded to a blog. I have no idea what was in the blog — maybe something about grief and loss. Our cordial exchange of e-mails did indeed lead to the topic of grief and loss. At that time I became aware that Jane was serious about dealing with a loss that she had never been given opportunity to fully grieve.
Now I receive from Jane a copy of a speech she delivered in northern Indiana. Because of its insightfulness and thoroughness, I asked Jane's permission to post it here. She kindly consented.
The summer I turned 16, Dave, the boy I had fallen in love with 10 months earlier near the start of my sophomore year, lay dead before me in a netted casket shrouding his beautiful, but now lifeless, disfigured face. The trauma sustained in a pig truck accident two states away from our homes in eastern PA ended our high school romance abruptly.
Except for the whirling, obsessive recycling in my mind of the events of our last summer together and the ever-mounting lists of if-onlys and what-ifs, no processing took place, no one offered help, and I churned and yearned on the inside for a way out of the agony. The unimaginable pain, too deep to speak of, stayed inside where it lay dormant for 12 years until my 18-year-old brother died in a single-car crash about a mile from home.
Still numb with the shock of the first loss of a young man dear to me, I survived the second loss by not letting myself get immersed in more pain. I dreamed frequently about the boyfriend…even as I married five years after the accident, finished a college degree in journalism, became a newspaper reporter, had two children, started my own writing/editing/meeting planning business, did marketing for a not-for-profit, became a spiritual director. The dreams continued, but he never knew me in the dreams, never noticed me across the classroom, never bothered to come my way. I was always desperate in my dreams to get his attention, but not once did he glance my direction.
Both of these huge losses had haunted me for years, in unhealthy ways, and became the foundation for layers of new pain every time other griefs came into my life. Church conflicts, the loss of beloved pastors, even close friends moving away…all were added to the refuse heap of untended inner pain.
Though I had been receiving spiritual direction for 15 years, I had never really begun to deal with the pain of grief and loss until the fall of 2009, when a most incredible thing happened. More than 47 years after the first grievous loss, I met my boyfriend's younger brother when our paths crossed quite miraculously at a high school event honoring both his son and my sister-in-law. I discovered very quickly that he also continued to battle the ghosts of his brother's death, which took place when he was 10. Over time the two of us began to piece together our individual stories of loss, which created a much more detailed patchwork picture than either of our separate experiences had offered.
Another favorite spirituality writer of mine, Macrina Wiederkehr, says that "the soul thrives on remembering. Feed it memories and it comes alive." And so the remembering began as my boyfriend's younger brother Steve and I carefully navigated our way onto the turf of excavating painful memories from so long ago…though I had no recollection of the visit, I learned from him that I had brought a potted plant to his mother after his brother's funeral.
Eventually we made a pilgrimage to the gravesite, which I had never visited and it seemed he had rarely visited though he lived quite close to the cemetery. One summer he surprised me with a letter I had written to his brother several weeks before his death. With the help of his son, Steve and I approached our Mennonite high school, which ultimately gave us permission to plan and execute a worship service honoring the 108 alums who died since graduation and particularly the 10 who died while still in school or very soon after, which was the case with both our brothers. As a result of that process, I learned to know friends of my deceased brother and more about him as a teenager whose growing up years took place while I was in college. I have discovered first-hand, in the loss of these two young men, that sometimes the green shoots of redemption take a very long time to show themselves.
One of my college mentors, whose blog I stumbled across close to the time I was ready to get serious about the unearthing process, suggested the creation of some sort of memorial by which to remember when he discovered I was at the front end of excavating these old griefs. "When grief can be channeled to a positive end, then grief becomes a creative, and not a debilitating, thing," he said from his own personal experience. His gentle urging led to the establishment of the memorial garden at our high school, which we dedicated following the worship service designed to help us grieve our losses. A spot of quiet beauty carved out of a wooded area, the garden was envisioned as a place where folks might remember loved ones while communing with the Divine, a place to observe the process of life, from the greening of the shoot to the dying off of the flower.
I recruited my brother's best friend, who became an English teacher at our high school, to help with the business of locating parents and siblings of other students who died while they were still in school, in addition to my boyfriend Dave and my brother Greg. Not only did Greg's best friend collaborate with Steve and me and high school administrators to plan the event, but he generously shared with me things he had saved over the years in connection with Greg's death: his journal entries surrounding the dark days after learning that Greg had died, notes written for a tribute at Greg's funeral, recordings of the band in which they had played together.
During the worship service preceding the garden dedication, we placed an empty chair on the platform so that each participant might visualize himself/herself in that seat as the 10-year-old who lost a beloved brother or the 16-year-old who lost a boyfriend or the 50-something parents who said goodbye to their youngest child or the empty-nester who lost a spouse prematurely. Mourners were invited to take a moment of quiet reflection to recall the person they were at the departure of their loved ones.
As I unpacked my own losses, I learned that it is better to grieve with a village than all by one's self, which is what I had done until that fortuitous meeting became the catalyst for beginning the inner work I had left undone those many years. With my recollections and Steve's, we began to search the closets of our collective memories by taking a new look at what was just too painful to examine closely for a very long time. I learned only recently about the wisdom of folks like Elizabeth Lesser who writes about Good Grief in her book Broken Open.
She says: "There is an art to grieving. To grieve well the loss of anyone or anything—a parent, a love, a child, an era, a home, a job, (one's health)—is a creative act. It takes attention and patience and courage. But many of us do not know how to grieve. We were never taught, and we don't see examples of full-bodied grieving around us. Our culture favors the fast-food model of mourning—get over it quickly and get back to work; affix the bandage of 'closure' and move on.
"Grief is a tonic," Lesser goes on to say, "a healing elixir, made of tears that lubricate the heart…When a friend or family member dies—or when the world loses one of its beloved citizens—we should not hold back our tears. Our tears, and the calm hands of grief that follow are not signs of some tragic and evil reality…Grief is the proof of our love, a demonstration of how deeply we have allowed another to touch us.
"We know that the power of life is wrapped in small gestures of compassion, and in the gifts that spill from the heart," a friend said once in his sermon. His thought crystalized a hope for the worship service and memorial garden dedication…that people would find connections to each other via the event and launch new interactions to process difficult life experiences.
I trust the garden will remind people that the Divine loves them and calls them perhaps to a new way of noticing God at work in their lives. I see creation of the garden as a positive way to share our grief stories and tend to our own grief work, so that we might maintain right relationship with ourselves, with the person we were when our loss took place, and with the person we become in the process of suffering grief and loss.
On the anniversary of the 50th year since my boyfriend's death, a friend and I made a pilgrimage to the site of the accident, which I had mis-remembered as having occurred in Bluffton, OH. Soon after moving to South Bend almost five years ago, I discovered that the accident actually took place in Bluffton, IN, just a few hours from our new home. I realized almost immediately that I wanted to see the spot. I did a bit of on-line research and discovered that the local library housed an excellent microfilm center with access to many years of newspapers.
On the way to the library and accident site, we stopped at a nearby labyrinth where I hoped to center myself for what I imagined might be difficult reading at the library. I had a tremendous sense of Dave's terror and pain on the walk into the center. The intuition of his pain was good preparation for what we discovered in the two newspaper accounts we found on microfilm…he was pinned under the truck for one half hour. I read in amazement the list of injuries and that he had been subjected to a three and one half hour surgery immediately following the accident. And then I began tapping into his parents' pain, as the newspaper included mention of their flying (on separate planes at different times) from Pennsylvania to Indiana to be with their son. Neither had flown before, Steve told me.
The first newspaper account described the location of the accident. With that information in hand, my friend and I drove to the site, a country road near a railroad track, cornfields, and a few scattered homes. I had mistakenly believed that Dave's uncle, who owned the pig truck they were riding in on a delivery from Chicago back to eastern PA, had been at the wheel, but learned that a young man in training was the driver. He fell asleep.
In addition to revealing the name of the driver, the article mentioned investigating police officers, whose names I googled eagerly in the hopes of interviewing them about their memories of the incident. Unfortunately, I found obituaries for both of them. I discovered evidence that the driver still lived in the town, which the old newspapers listed as his home. Steve approached him with a letter of invitation to meet, but we never heard back from him.
A year after the site visit, I decided once again to ritualize remembrance of that dreadful day by walking a labyrinth. Here's what I wrote about that experience: Today dawned a beautiful one to walk the Saint Mary's labyrinth remembering Dave 51 years after his death. I have been slow, very slow, to ritualize ways to deal with the pain of this loss, which came into my life so unexpectedly and took up permanent residence. As I learn more about introverts and high-reactive personality types like myself, I am not surprised that losing Dave at a formative time of life has left a forever-mark.
Stepping onto the first circular stone of this seven-circuit labyrinth, I attempt to release all that's on my mind on the walk toward the center. I'm particularly aware this visit of blemished stones, the long shadows at this early hour in the morning, the cracks and crevices of the smooth rocks between stones, the chaff and debris of approaching fall cluttering this beautiful, quiet space, the grime and dirt left behind by vigorous summer rains.
At the center, I wait to receive…the light is spectacular at this time of day and not yet clearing the trees on the eastern horizon. How can I not be grateful for all the ways the light has been evident even under the darkest of circumstances? I have a wonderful family and caring friends, a congregation which continues to nourish my ever-growing contemplative faith journey, jobs I've been fortunate to enjoy, directees I have had the gift of companioning, travels and other experiences I remember fondly.
In spite of all this, much of my adult life, or so it seems, has been wrapped in the shroud of Dave's death. The long shadows of grief and pain that accompanied his departure from my life leaked 12 years later into a new pain created by brother Greg's death.
Leaving the center of the labyrinth, then, to walk out the same way I came in brings with it a sense of empowerment, in this case realizations of the many ways the bright light continues to unpack the darkness of despair still lurking under the carpet.
First there was Steve and the joy of coming to know Dave's younger brother so many years after the fact…the perfect companion to begin the process of unpacking ancient wounds that had hounded both of us for so many years and a Divine gift for which I shall always be grateful!
The ever-growing list of unearthings the light has allowed, by now, is long, but walking out from the center enables me to skim through some of the numerous surprises this journey has brought: finding an amazing spiritual director who gave me courage to carry on and listened to each new chapter of this story with reverent attention, encouragement from the powers that be at our high school to do a memorial event for Dave and Greg and all students who died before or after graduation, the opportunity to hear the stories of some of those students' families, the engagement of planning and executing a memorial worship service (including the privilege to work with my former pastor John, who became my high school's chaplain at a most fortuitous time), the delight of singing with former students and alums at the service, lighting candles for those lost to us, the thrill of seeing a memorial garden spring to life, the unlocking of dreams and memories, the discovery of old letters, unearthing newspaper articles which reveal new details, a visit to the accident site, learning how to keep these departed loved ones alive to ourselves and others, prepping a grief retreat for other long bereaved survivors, interacting with a homeless woman about her losses, leading a spiritual directors' workshop on grief, sharing with you here today on the theme "Restore Our Joy".
Eighteen months ago, my high school class celebrated 50 years since graduation. I introduced them to the memorial garden, and after sharing its history, spoke openly for the first time of the pain of having lost Dave with no processing by the school or class members. They were generous in their listening and then disclosed their own pain, both related to losing our classmate, as well as in a variety of other difficult circumstances…deaths close to them, deaths too soon, miscarriages and still births they had failed to grieve, loss of eyesight.
Another classmate shared his single memory of Dave's funeral: he recalled the congregation singing to the tune Finlandia the song Be Still My Soul. He said he remembered seeing me through the crowd, noting the terrible anguish evident on my face. He wondered to himself how on earth I would carry on after that and then he heard the words, "Be still my soul, the Lord is on your side" and knew the second phrase was the key to the fact that I would be ok. And so it was that this classmate offered me a tiny gift-wrapped package that had been stored away on a shelf all these years and pulled out to present to me 52 years later. Even at that late date, his gift of words offered validation of the pain and sorrow I felt way back then, which, at the time, it seemed to me, no one recognized!
I remain vigilant for what will continue to reveal itself. And, yes, if you are curious about whether Dave has come to me in dreams more recently, I can tell you that he has…he has recognized me, we have spoken briefly in those dreams, where he has aged as I have. He and my brother have occasionally shown up together when I needed them, once on a lonely, stressful car ride during which I thought our daughter-in-law was miscarrying. Dave's mother appeared once during a reiki session, and Dave and Greg came together another time while a friend was doing energy work with me.
Having my 91-year-old mother still beside me to witness the unfolding of this journey has been a joy. It was she who recalled that Dave had a younger brother, Steve, and she who pointed out I might meet him that night our relatives received high school honors back in 2009. I would not have known the family connection. It has been a good thing to begin to remember my brother on his birthday and death day; I was in PA this past May 22, when Greg would have turned 60. I close this story with a photo of my mom and a beautiful white rose commemorating his birthday, the arrival date of her fourth and last child. You see a piece of his high school artwork in the background.
This is Dan again. If you wish to make contact with Jane, give me your contact information and I will forward it to her. Thanks.
Morning coolness isn't strong enough to create dew. The temp rises quickly. Will we have a 90 degree day?
The word of the day is nonpareil — a person or thing having no equal.
I choose the picture of yesterday's salad bar for Today's photo in Facebook.
The Indy Star comes in a big wrap, but probably 85% of it is ads that go immediately to the recycling bin. The only other-than-news that I "consume" is the Sunday puzzle.
Sunday is not a church day for me; however it is a day of rest and renewal both of which occur partially because I help to make them happen, partially in spite of my own planning. Anticipation, however, is a big part of it.
I ask a man in Starbucks permission to move to a chair behind him. He doesn't answer. He doesn't move. Shortly after I sit down I hear unintelligible words from him, as though he were severely challenged mentally. I had thought he was reading the newspaper. In about ten minutes he leaves the store and only then can I see that he is frightfully drunk, out on the hot sidewalk staggering toward nowhere.
A thoughtful letter from a friend is like an intellectual and emotional echo.
A call from a daughter awakens me to the date — it's Father's Day.
And an email from a distant friend today provides this photo, taken I would suppose, in the mid to late 1940s.
My mother and father are in the back row on the far left, next to my tall brother Merv. In front of him is Harold (now Hal), five years my junior but nearly as tall as I. My sister Erma, taller than I, is in the very middle of the picture, second row, her face partially hidden. I'm in the second row, far right. I remember that shirt! I wonder whether my mother was, at this time pregnant with my youngest brother Ken. The host family for this occasion were the Bechtolds of Spring City, Pennsylvania.
Sunday afternoons and naps go together.
Because of the heat I affix a shade cloth over the most recent planting of salad veggies.
Mid-afternoon fruit salad: peaches, apples, serviceberries and grapes.
The five water barrels freely empty themselves to the garden on this very hot evening.
Sparrows are messy eaters when compared with finches. Doves have such a hard time keeping their balance on the feeders. It's always a treat when a chickadee or woodpecker show up. While watching them I hear an owl just to the north.
I think I shall close the day with music — possibly the Kansas City Chorale.
Friends of mine got married today (Jeanne Smucker and Brad Yoder) with the meal catered by The Juniper Spoon, operated by my daughter Lali. She accepted my request to help with the catering.
My perspective for the day was framed, understandably, by food — its preparation and presentation. I'll share several photos but know that I arranged none of these spreads.
I'm sitting on a chair by the lamp in the living room. The only other occupant is Jordan, one of my six grandchildren. He arrived yesterday from a trip with his mother and brother, Adrian, to Norway. In the morning I will take him to the airport.
To write a blog entry about each of my grandchildren would be easy. Adrian is getting ready to go to Costa Rica for six months of volunteer work in turtle nest habitats. Ben is spending the summer with Duke classmates, working in a business incubator with a hot idea. Sam works at a tennis club. Lucy is currently in summer camp at Purdue, studying westward migrations. Annie is in soccer camp.
Jordan will return to his apartment in Salt Lake City and to a full agenda of work. He makes violins, has a long back order for instruments that will keep him more than occupied for 18 months. Take a look at "Jordan Hess Violins" on Facebook.
He says he sleeps from 4 AM until 2 PM, then devotes most of the rest of his time in his workshop, which, incidentally, doubles as his apartment. He is beginning to talk of a cabin in the mountains with an attached workshop, made to order.
One other person works for/with Jorden — one of his former teachers of violin making. Among his clients is Shar, the supplier of stringed instruments and supplies.
An hour ago I asked Jordan what I might listen to on YouTube. "Daniel Hope" he responded. Most impressive is Hope's tribute to Yehudi Menuhin.
Our evening heads toward bedtime. We get up at 5:30.
The following article is reprinted from today's Washington Post.
On this anniversary of the death of my beloved sister Erma and of the death of her daughter Valerie, my heart goes out to those who lost sisters and nieces, brothers and lovers in Orlando.
Fifty years ago our nation (and the Soviet Union) defined military power in terms of large-scale armaments. That mentality endured for decades … into the Iraq War. Somewhere along the line insurgents, largely members of nations lacking in hydrogen bombs, air fighters and sea-going military materiel, came to recognize that small-scale warfare — explosives, fire, public executions — caught the big-armament strategists off guard. To this day, it is possible for a lone gunman to kill 50 and injure 53 others in a nightclub. Military bombers nor the National Guard nor the local police force stopped him.
We already see that a governmental response to small-scale insurgency will lead to a loss of citizens' privacy. The size of that loss will surely grow.
The wide-spread anger and anguish over the American gun culture continues, as of this date, to be readily overwhelmed by a deeper cultural conviction that citizens have a right to carry guns. Guns are as American as Chevies and apple pie.
ISIS has scared the Western world out of its wits. The result: a paralysis in knowing how to relate to ISIS.
I return to the first item. Today, at this very moment, thousands of people are heartbroken by the Orlando gunfire. They have lost their nearest and dearest. Their tears can not be wiped away.
As I grieve the motives for and the results of the shooting in Orlando, I turn again for grace.
the blanket that catches our fall.
balm for the festering wound.
a cooling breeze upon urgent ire.
a caress when love seems far away.
an honest word amid euphemisms.
a lifter at the other end of a burden.
tears that share our sorrow.
a gentle rain upon an arid spirit.
a song in the key of yes.
the arrow that indicates which path to take.
an angel attendant at death.
a promise, a surprise, a hope.


We all know April, May and June are already the busiest times for students. However with the Conservative party continuing to stay in power means that we're going to be seeing some big changes for GCSEs and A-levels. With a more traditional structure and exam pattern being put in place from September 2015, students will be tested in a much more challenging way. Don't worry though- Tutor Doctor is here to help and make these changes easier on your children. Our very own Academic Game Plan will provide your child with all the skills they'll need to prepare and most importantly succeed.
In a nutshell the biggest changes surrounding GCSEs and A-Levels are concerning the exams. Modular exams will become a thing of the past, swapped for a more traditional approach, whereby all exams will become linear and taken at the end of the two-year course. The Department of Education is also planning on making exams tougher so that they reflect the high expectations of Universities. Other changes include a new 1-9 grading scale for GCSEs (9 being the highest), alongside AS results not counting towards the final A-Level grade (currently counts for 50%).
These changes will start being phased in from September 2015 in core subjects such as GCSE Maths and English Literature/Language, alongside A-Level Art and Design, Biology, Psychology and Sociology. By September 2017 all subjects will have transitioned and be following the new structure. For more detailed information on these changes read the official Ofqual statementhere.
What is the Academic Game Plan?
With these new GCSE and A-Level exam structures taking a more traditional approach, comes a new challenge for students, one that will require them to really focus and hone in on their executive skills. These executive skills include areas such as: time management,organisation, memory, prioritisation, focused attention and task initiation. We realise these skills aren't something easy to acquire as they aren't always taught at school, which is why we developed the Academic Game Plan.
Through our Academic Game Plan we aim to teach students how to master these executive skills and apply them to their studying. This means that they will learn how to become more organised, manage their time effectively, as well as understand how to prioritise certain tasks over others. With GCSEs and A-Levels now having exams at the end of the course, being faced with having to remember two years worth of information is going to be overwhelming and scary. Having a grasp of all of these vital skills will help make students feel in control and as if they have a lot more time on their hands.
We believe that building this unique skill-set is the key to success and will help your child achieve their academic goals and beyond. No matter if students are with us for three weeks or three years, we want every individual to have learned a formula for success and independently apply it even when we're not there.
How Tutor Doctor can help?
The most important thing is to not worry about these changes- Tutor Doctor is here to help. Our tutoring services are tailored specifically to your child and take place in the comfort of your own home. Most importantly we integrate the Academic Game Plan into all tutoring sessions, as we believe it's important to provide your child with all the tools and skills they will need to thrive not only at school but also in later life.
All of the tutors we work with are highly qualified but are also passionate about providing students with the most personalised and professional one-to-one tutoring service. What makes them really special is that they are dedicated in helping your child succeed and thrive off watching them grow. We also handpick each tutor to ensure that they are best suited for your child.


mandolin.org.uk • View topic - Anyone know where to find a Savannah mandolin?
Anyone know where to find a Savannah mandolin?
Anyone come across one? Or seen one in. local music shop?
Re: Anyone know where to find a Savannah mandolin?
Can't say that I've ever seen one. Many of the "Pac-rim" instruments probably originate from the same factory. Why, in particular, do you want one of those?
It's not that I want one of these particularly, and I realise that it's another of the 'pac-rim' instruments from Korea or China.
I'm probably not the best person to ask re sub £200 mandolins - my travel mandolin used to be a '24 Snakehead but now I've "downgraded" to a Breedlove.The thing you will find though is that, if you're used to something much better, you won't be happy with a significantly lower grade instrument. It might be worthwhile looking for something used.
+ currency exchange fees + shipping + import duty + VAT + possible charges for collecting the tax!
Hi. The Savannah SA-120 is definitely the one you need. Other models are nothing like as good as I think the SA-120 is all solid wood although it is no doubt pressed rather than carved. I've had over a dozen of these and they are unbelievable value for money.
These mandolins have been made in the same factory for years. They used to be Johnson M-100 and then Savannah.
Contact Cash Converters because they now sell them new as 'Republic' and they are the same mandolin and around £60. Best to go and check one out because no truss rod and of the 12 I've had, some were better than others.
Best value mandolin the world. No doubt. May need a little fret dressing and nut/bridge/ set up but they sound great.
I keep one for my Mandolin band and carry it in case anyone breaks a string on a gig. I actually put a set of Schaller tuners on because the mandolin was worth it.
Cheers for the info, Jimmy. I was considering getting a different mandolin, but if the SA-120 is the best value for money, I don't think I can resist. Do you know if they ship overseas?


Here is a quiz for upcoming Banking exams like IBPS Clerk and other Banking Exams. This quiz contains important questions which match the pattern of IBPS Clerk and other Banking Exams, so make sure you attempt today's IBPS Clerk Reasoning Linear arrangement Quiz 15 to check your preparation level.
Seven persons A, B, C, D, E, F and G are sitting in row. A is sitting at the middle position. B and C are on the opposite sides of A and there is no person to the right of E. There is only one person between E and F. D is at extreme corner of row and adjacent to B. What is the position of G?
Now it is told that there is no person to the right of E, it means E is at the extreme right of the line ⇒ E is at the position 7.
It is also told that D is at the extreme corner of row and adjacent to B.
Since one end is already occupied by E so D will be at position 1 and B will be at position 2.
Again, it is told that there is only one person between E and F and it is also told that B and C are opposite sides of A.
Since B is on the left side of A, so C will be on the right side of A.
Since there is only one person between E and F so position 6 will be occupied by C and F at 5. Now only one position is remaining so that will be filled by G.
Hence, the position of G is between A and B.
Seven trees namely mango, lemon, apple, ashoka, banana, guava, and papaya are planted in a straight row, not necessarily in the same order. [Assume as if trees are facing North].
The papaya tree is planted fourth to the right of the lemon tree.
The ashoka tree is planted at the extreme right, end of the row.
The mango and guava trees are immediate neighbours of the lemon tree.
The banana tree is planted immediately next to the mango tree.
What is the position of the apple tree with respect to the guava tree?
From (ii), the Ashoka tree is planted at the extreme right, end of the row.
The statement "the mango and guava trees are immediate neighbours of the नीबू tree" indicates the first case will hold true.
The statement "the banana tree is planted immediately next to the mango tree" indicates the second case will hold true.
From above, the apple tree is fourth to the right with respect to the guava tree.
Four of the following five are alike in a certain way based on their position in the above arrangement and so form a group. Which is the one that does not belong to the group?
The statement "the mango and guava trees are immediate neighbours of the lemon tree" indicates the first case will hold true.
The first tree is to the immediate left of the second tree in every option.
Apple tree is second to the left of Ashoka tree.
Directions: Study the following information carefully and answer the questions given below.
Eight people out of which four are girls and four are boys are sitting in a straight row. Extreme left position is numbered 1 and extreme right position is numbered 8. Boys are occupying the extreme positions and the girls are occupying the remaining odd numbered positions and one of the even positions. There is no person to the left of A and P is sitting second to the right of A.
1- C, a boy is sitting exactly between two girls, R and S.
2- D is sitting at the extreme end of the row.
3- 1 boy is sitting exactly between two girls and B is the boy.
4- Q is a girl.
How many boys are there between Q and R?
The arrangement given in the question is depicted in the below figure.
Now it is told that, there is no person to the left of A and P is sitting second to the right of A.
⇒ 1st position is occupied by the boy that is A and 3rd position is occupied by P that is girl.
From information (2), D is sitting at 8th position and he is a boy.
From information (1), C is sitting at 6th position and 5th and 7th position can be occupied by either R or S.
Now one of the positions from 2 and 4 will be occupied by boy and second one will be occupied by the girl.
From Information (3), B is a boy and he is sitting between two girls ie. at 4th position.
From information (4), Q is a girl and should be sitting at 2nd position.
From above explanation, it is clear that number of boys between Q and R can be either 1 or 2.
Which of the following options represents complete list of boys who are sitting in the row?
From this it is clear that the complete list of boys who are sitting in the row are A, B, C and D.
Eight persons from different banks viz. UCO bank, Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank, PNB, Dena Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Indian Bank and Bank of Maharashtra are sitting in two parallel rows containing four people each, in such a way that there is equal distance between adjacent persons. In row 1 – A, B, C and D are seated and all of them are facing south. In row 2 – P, Q, R and S are seated and all of them are facing north. Therefore each member seated in a row faces another member of the other row. (All the information given above does not necessarily represent the order of seating in the final arrangement).
C sits second to the right of the person from Bank of Maharashtra. R is an immediate neighbor of the person who faces the person from Bank of Maharashtra.
Only one person sits between R and the person from PNB. Immediate neighbor of the person from PNB faces the person from Canara Bank.
Q faces the person from Dena Bank. The one who faces S sits immediately to the left of A.
B does not sit on any of the extreme ends of the line. The person from Bank of Maharashtra does not face the person from Syndicate Bank.
C sits second to the right of the person from Bank of Maharashtra.
R is an immediate neighbor of the person who faces the person from Bank of Maharashtra.
Only one person sits between R and the person from PNB.
Immediate neighbor of the person from PNB faces the person from Canara Bank.
Canara Bank can't be on second place as Bank of Maharashtra is present there.
CASE III is not possible as the only position which can be available to Canara Bank is occupied by Bank of Maharashtra.
P is not from PNB. P does not face the person from Bank of Maharashtra.
Q faces the person from Dena Bank. The person who faces 'S' sits immediately to the left of 'A'.
B does not sit on any of the extreme ends of the line.
Case I is invalid as B cannot be on either extreme ends.
The person from Bank of Maharashtra does not face the person from Syndicate Bank.
The person from UCO bank faces the person from Oriental Bank of Commerce. R is not from Oriental Bank of Commerce. Hence, the final arrangement is as follows.
The persons from Oriental Bank of Commerce, Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank and R are on the extreme ends of the rows. Hence Q is the odd one who is not part of the group.
P is related to Dena Bank in the same way as B is related to PNB based on the given arrangement. To who amongst the following is D related to, following the same pattern?
Q faces the person from Dena Bank. The person who faces S sits immediately to the left of A.
The person from UCO bank faces the person from Oriental Bank of Commerce. R is not from Oriental Bank of Commerce. Hence the final arrangement is as follows.
The relation is such that the person from the given bank is immediate left to the person facing the given person.
Hence, R is sitting opposite to D. The person from the Indian Bank is sitting immediately to the left of R.
i) P, Q, R, S, T, U and V are sitting on a bench and all of them are facing east.
iv) V is between T and U.
v) S is sitting fifth from the North end.
Which of the following pairs is sitting at the extreme ends?
Step 1: P, Q, R, S, T, U and V are sitting on a bench and all of them are facing east. S is sitting fifth from the North end and R is to the immediate right of S, but not next to U.
Step 2: Q is at the extreme end and has T as his neighbor and V is between T and U.
Here, P is automatically filled.
Clearly, P and Q are sitting at extreme end of the bench.
Between which of the following pairs is S sitting?
Hence, S is sitting between U and R.
Directions: Study the following information carefully to answer these questions.
Eight friends P, Q, R, T, U, V, Y& Z are sitting in two opposite rows, facing each other. Each row has 4 persons. P is between V and Y and are facing north. Z is opposite to U who is to the immediate left of Q. R is between T and Q. Z is to the immediate right of Y.
Which of the following pairs of persons has second person is sitting to the immediate left of the first person?
Given all eight friends are sitting in two opposite rows, facing each other. Each row has 4 persons.
Z is opposite to U who is to the immediate left of Q. R is between T and Q.
From the given options VP, YP, UQ, RT Only YP is true because in this second person P is sitting immediate left of the first person. In all other second person is sitting immediate right to the first person.


An opportunity arose for me to visit Margaret Woollett's Exhibition in Devonport this week. See earlier post of Oct 29th for more details. For those who are out of the city here are a few details up closer than the other available material shows. However nothing is quite the same as seeing with your own eyes, you need to see the impact of size and the play of light etc. The Museum sits on an amazing site, nestled in under the hill, right on the water's edge with a wide view of Auckland city from across the harbour. With no charges, on site parking, and a pleasant modern cafe, I recommend a visit.


The Groovy Sixties is one of 3 slot machines with a specific decade theme that was released by Net Entertainment back in 2009. This one is dedicated to the 60's, while the two others where dedicated the 70's and the 80's. All the three slots have the exact same game play, so if you play The Funky Seventies or this slot, they will work the same way. The main feature of the game is a free spin feature where all wins are multiplied, but the most exciting thing about this slot is the stacked wild symbols that appear on all the reels. They have the potential to fill the entire reel with wilds on all of the 5 reels. A single spin during the base game can award you with up to 1.000x the stake, while this prize is doubled during the free spins. The theoretical payout percentage for this game is 96.50%.
The Groovy Sixties doesn't have a lot of features, but it has wild symbols that are stacked by 4 on each of the 5 reels. These symbols substitute for all other symbols except the scatter symbols. Since the wild symbols comes as stacked by 4 symbols after each other, it's possible to fill all the 40 paylines with wild symbols during a single spin. The main feature of the game is however the free spin feature, where all wins are multiplied.
Free spins: The free spins are awarded when a scatter symbol land anywhere on reel 2, 3 and 4. This combination will give you 5 free spins, and during these spins all normal wins are multiplied by an x2 win multiplier. It's possible to re-trigger the free spins during the feature if 3 more scatters appear during a single spin.
The Groovy Sixties is created by Net Entertainment.


"Bringing hope and understanding to our community as we respectfully embrace our diverse sense of sacredness."
We are a community of faith communities, diverse in our paths yet united in our respect and support for each other.
We aspire to inspire understanding through interaction and shared learning.
We are committed to making Cheyenne a place which reflects the best of what this nation can be.
Learn more about us by exploring this site by using the navigation menu on the left side of this screen.
Almost 200 pages of delicious delights.
Diversity in flavors of foods are shared in our firstCheyenne Interfaith Council Cookbook.
Enjoy all of the recipes from this first edition for only $18.00.
Please make checks payable to "Cheyenne Interfaith Council."
This site is under construction - more information will be posted soon.


Outfielder Ryan Spilborghs battles the sun Monday in Tucson while catching a flyball at Hi Corbett Field during a Rockies workout at their spring training base.
TUCSON — Shortly before last season began, Ryan Spilborghs lost his mom. A few months earlier, Spilborghs got married. By the summer, he was a father. In between, he squandered his starting outfield job.
Even for Spilborghs, who is the frosted side of life's mini-wheat, this was a lot of drama.
His offseason began with apprehension, with Spilborghs concerned that he might be traded. The Cubs were among the teams interested. But a blunt conversation with Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd before the December winter meetings changed everything.
After batting a career-low .241, Spilborghs acknowledged flaws in his approach last season and admitted he pressed too hard to hit home runs. He also told O'Dowd he wanted to remain a Rockie. His answers satisfied O'Dowd, and a month later, one of the most popular reserve players in Rockies history signed a two-year, $3.25 million contract to avoid arbitration.
Even as his season soured, Spilborghs never pouted. His intangibles were a big reason the Rockies didn't ship him off when the Phillies pushed for a trade in July.
If nothing else, the notion Spilborghs is a power hitter is gone forever. At his best, he hits to the gaps, works counts. He strayed from that last season as Dexter Fowler, Carlos Gonzalez and Seth Smith moved ahead of him on the depth chart.
To his credit, Spilborghs continued to succeed as a pinch hitter and in the clutch after he lost his starting job. He delivered a walkoff grand slam against the Giants on Aug. 24, one of the team's biggest hits all season. But what the Rockies really need is for him to excel against left-handers. He hit them at a .230 clip last season, compared with .326 in 2008.
To rebound, Spilborghs changed his routine. For the first time in his career, he did not play winter ball. He rented a place in Santa Barbara, Calif., and worked out with Dr. Marcus Elliott, who was recently named the Mariners' director of sports science. Elliott is considered a revolutionary in conditioning. He instructed the Mariners to go almost entirely without lifting weights in their training while focusing on movements used during a game.
Spilborghs trained alongside Minnesota's Delmon Young, who has dropped 22 pounds, and former Rockies outfielder Jeff Salazar. Physically, Spilborghs looks fit. Mentally, he has found peace.


text:
How can you tell a rock from a fossil?
Question: How can you tell a rock from a fossil?
What Color Is fossil rock?
Are ichthyosaurs Diapsids?
Is it OK to collect fossils?
Are ichthyosaurs considered dinosaurs?
Are ichthyosaurs still alive?
Mostly, however, heavy and lightly colored objects are rocks, like flint. Paleontologists also examine the surfaces of potential fossils. If they are smooth and do not have any real texture, they are probably rocks. Even if it is shaped like a bone, if it does not have the right texture then it is probably a rock.
Fossils inside dark fossil rocks will always be red-boned, though dark fossil rocks may also contain high rarity jewels or dropping fossils.
Ichthyosaurs are superficially dolphin-like reptiles that were important marine predators from the Triassic Period through the middle of the Cretaceous Period. For now, paleontologists think that ichthyosaurs are diapsids, but exactly where they fit in the diapsid tree is not yet known.
Should we then continue to study privately-owned specimens? To some, the answer is no. But to others, private collecting isnt all bad, and putting more restrictions on fossil collecting would do science little good. Many modern natural history collections started out as private collections of the local elite.
Marine reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs are not dinosaurs. Nor is Dimetrodon or other reptiles in the same group (previously called mammal-like reptiles and now called synapsids). None of these other extinct groups shared the characteristic upright stance of dinosaurs.
Ichthyosaurs (Greek for fish lizard – ιχθυς or ichthys meaning fish and σαυρος or sauros meaning lizard) are large extinct marine reptiles. Later that century, many excellently preserved ichthyosaur fossils were discovered in Germany, including soft-tissue remains.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Funny Morning Quotes are worth t be in your good morning breakfast to have a crazy cool day with fun and love so just share enjoy with friends on facebook whatsapp. You can share this on Twitter Fb pinterest any thing you like & its easy too. Comment here below with the craziest quotes for the early morning to start a day with lovely cool words today.


text:
Item:2 General Debate - 1st Meeting 32nd Regular Session of Human Rights Council
13 Jun 2016 - Item 1: Organizational and procedural matters A/HRC/32/1
Update by the High Commissioner followed by General Debate Under Agenda Item:2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General
- 1st Plenary Meeting 32nd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council.
Mr. Choi Kyonglim, President of the Human Rights Council (Opening Statement)
H.E. Mr. Didier Burkhalter, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland
Mr. Choi Kyonglim, President of the Human Rights Council (Organizational and procedural matters)
Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Oral Update)
H.E. Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, Vice-President, Viet Nam
H.E. Mr. Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Azerbaijan
Morocco (On behalf of OIF), Mr. Mohamed Auajjar
Iran (On behalf of NAM), Mr. Mohsen Naziri Asl
Netherlands (On behalf of EU & a Group of States), Mr. Roderick Van Schreven
Pakistan (On behalf of OIC), Ms. Tehmina Janjua
Egypt (On behalf of LMG Countries, Mr. Amr Ramadan
South Africa (On behalf of African group), Ms. Ncumisa Pamella Notutela
Qatar, Mr. Faisal Bin Abdulla Al-Henzab
Cuba, Ms. Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo
Germany, Mr. Joachim Rücker
Ecuador, Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés
Switzerland, Mr. Alexandre Fasel
Ethiopia, Mr. Negash Kebret Botora
France, Ms. Elisabeth Laurin
Russian Federation, Ms. Natalia Zolotova
Saudi Arabia, Mr. Faisal Bin Hassan Trad
Algeria, Mr. Boudjemâa Delmi
Cote D'Ivoire, Mr. Tiémoko Moriko
El Salvador, Mr. Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli
32nd Regular Session
Mr. Choi Kyonglim, President of the Human Rights Council (Opening Statement) 00:00:00
H.E. Mr. Didier Burkhalter, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland 00:02:54
Mr. Choi Kyonglim, President of the Human Rights Council (Organizational and procedural matters) 00:10:41
Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Oral Update) 00:24:26
H.E. Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, Vice-President, Viet Nam 01:31:10
H.E. Mr. Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Azerbaijan 01:40:03
Morocco (On behalf of OIF), Mr. Mohamed Auajjar 01:53:48
Iran (On behalf of NAM), Mr. Mohsen Naziri Asl 01:57:07
Netherlands (On behalf of EU), Mr. Roderick Van Schreven 02:00:01
Netherlands (On behalf of Group of States), Mr. Roderick Van Schreven 02:03:14
Pakistan (On behalf of OIC), Ms. Tehmina Janjua	02:06:03
Egypt (On behalf of LMG Countries, Mr. Amr Ramadan 02:09:19
South Africa (On behalf of African group), Ms. Ncumisa Pamella Notutela 02:12:35
Qatar, Mr. Faisal Bin Abdulla Al-Henzab 02:15:59
Cuba, Ms. Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo	02:19:08
Germany, Mr. Joachim Rücker 02:22:03
Ecuador, Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés 02:24:39
Switzerland, Mr. Alexandre Fasel 02:27:09
Ethiopia, Mr. Negash Kebret Botora 02:30:23
France, Ms. Elisabeth Laurin	02:33:15
Maldives, Ms. Hala Hameed	02:36:22
Russian Federation, Ms. Natalia Zolotova 02:39:20
Saudi Arabia, Mr. Faisal Bin Hassan Trad 02:42:14
Algeria, Mr. Boudjemâa Delmi 02:45:30
Cote D'Ivoire, Mr. Tiémoko Moriko 02:47:57
El Salvador, Mr. Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli 02:50:53
ID: High Commissioner Update on Ukraine - 38th Meeting 32nd Regular Session o...
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LAURA TAYLOR, a pianist, singer and songwriter whose trio is currently performing in the Cocktail Terrace of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, gave a concert on Sunday evening at Carnegie Recital Hall that placed her low-key, tightly controlled singing in settings that occasionally developed lively jazz elements.
Many of Miss Taylor's original songs had a misty, moody quality, which she projected in a high, soft, breathy voice. Her best songs were crisply rhythmic, including one that was recorded by Diana Ross, ''Think I'm in Love,'' and another, ''One of a Kind,'' that had the catchy quality of a Blossom Dearie performance.
However, the concert came most vividly alive when Mr. Samuels or Mr. Johnson had opportunities to break into solos. Even on slow pieces, their openness and vitality gave the program an energizing lift.


Bill McGrath, CCIM and Peter Wall of LandPark Advisors, LLC represented Stone Mountain Properties in the acquisition of the Beltway 8 Office Flex Center in Houston, Texas. The property is an office flex/warehouse complex containing 116,700 square feet, located at 9920-9980 W. Sam Houston Parkway S. and situated along Sam Houston Parkway, just South of Bissonnet Street.
Constructed in 2005 and situated on 10.45 acres, Beltway 8 Office Flex Center is strategically located in a dynamic submarket with Beltway 8 frontage less than 1 mile from Interstate 69 (US Highway 59) and 3 miles from Westpark Tollway. The Property consists of four (4) multi-tenant office/industrial buildings with abundant parking. Exterior access doors are controlled by a monitored access control system with grade level loading with roll-up doors.
Beltway 8 Office Flex Center contains a well-diversified tenancy in terms of size, lease expiration and primary business industry. "This Property caught our attention due to the diverse, nationally recognized tenant mix," according to Bill McGrath. "The Southwest is especially a sought after destination for local businesses given the immediate proximity to Interstate 69 and Beltway 8, a critical freeway in Houston serving as the main thoroughfare for major companies that want access to employees from the suburbs as well as quick access to the Houston freeway system.
This acquisition increases Stone Mountain's commercial portfolio to over 1,080,000 square feet in Texas and New Jersey. In addition to its commercial portfolio, Stone Mountain has a multi-family portfolio of over 2,500 units and more than 120 acres of land.


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Foster 'fails' - the animals that capture our hearts
At SPCA we have a dedicated group of people who open their hearts and homes to the animals who need a little extra time before they are ready to go their forever home. These are our foster parents.
Foster parents give a temporary home to animals who need additional care, treatment, and socialisation. The intention is always that the animal returns to SPCA to find a forever family. But... sometimes one special animal comes into their care that they can't help but fall in love with and decide to call their own.
These are the stories of their "foster fails", the animals who captured their hearts and stayed with them forever.
"We just looked at each other and knew"
Jessie became a foster parent because she knew it was her only chance at having a cat in the house.
"I grew up in a pet-crazy house and my husband Dion and I already had a dog, Cody. But Dion was absolutely adamant he didn't want a cat.
"When I started working at SPCA, I was surrounded by kittens and cats and I knew how important fostering was to helping them recover. I convinced Dion that we should sign up as foster parents and do our part to help," she says.
Watching those vulnerable animals develop and grow into their own personalities was what made being a foster parent so special for Jessie.
"You are looking after sick animals who are usually super quiet and timid. It is so rewarding watching them coming out of their shell. The hardest thing to do is give them back."
Jessie and Dion's agreement to have cats on a temporary basis was going well... until they met Henry Hudson.
Previously looking after an excitable little kitten with plenty of attitude, they were both relieved to have the opportunity to foster an older kitten.
At five months old, this kitten was found living on the streets in West Auckland with severe cat flu and was fostered to Jessie and Dion's home to recover.
"He came home with us and was the sickest cat we'd ever met. He needed to be with us for a month. After the first two weeks he started to recover and became friendlier, and really bonded with Dion," Jessie says.
"It's like he knew Dion was the one to win over. He would snuggle into Dion's lap while he was sitting on the couch or lying in bed."
"We were surprised he was a stray, as he bonded to people so quickly. He really just loved hanging out with us. He acted like he was meant to be with us."
For Jessie and Dion, there was a key moment when they knew that this kitten would be part of their family forever.
"We were sitting on the couch with Cody our dog. Henry jumped up onto the couch, head butted Cody, snuggled into him and fell asleep."
"I looked and Dion and he looked at me. We just knew after that."
Adoption papers were officially signed, and the kitten was named Henry Hudson. Jessie liked the name Henry, Dion the name Hudson, they couldn't agree so they combined the two!
Now they can't imagine life without Henry Hudson
"I know that the point of fostering is to help animals recover so they can go back to SPCA... but we are so grateful we never sent him back and that he is part of our family," Jessie says.
"We would have never found Henry Hudson without fostering."
"Henry Hudson and Cody play so well together that we have to split them up at night time. Cody knows his name and even responds when Dion asks him, 'Where's Henry?'"
"Every night we take Cody for a walk, Henry jumps up on the windowsill to watch as we leave and when we walk home down the path, he runs to the door to meet us."
"We just fell in love with them"
Rebecca Johnston has fostered so many animals over the years.
Whether it is bottle-feeding kittens, puppies, goats, or lambs, you can often find a foster animal at Rebecca's home.
"Working at SPCA, I saw a real need for it. As I worked there more, and moved to a lifestyle block, I wanted to help foster more animals," Rebecca says.
Two of these animals were pigs, Buffy and Kevin.
Buffy was found wandering in a Wellington suburb, and Kevin was found in the Wairarapa. They both came to Rebecca's home and ended up never leaving.
Rebecca originally intended on taking Kevin back to SPCA to go up for adoption but couldn't bear to part with him. She wanted him to have a long and happy life with her.
"They're super super cheeky. Kevin isn't allowed inside because he keeps trying to break into the pantry," Rebecca laughs
"Kevin wrestles with our dog Paverotti, and you can often find them together. You can often hear him sleeping under the house."
Rebecca always knows where she will find Buffy and Kevin each day.
"They are always down by the stream, they come wandering back with tide marks on their ankles from the water," she laughs.
Buffy and Kevin are a perfect fit for Rebecca, and she couldn't have it any other way.
"We just fell in love with them."
"There is no way we are taking them back"
Heather became a foster parent purely by chance when two lambs called Annie and Ollie needed her help.
"We knew one of the vets at our local SPCA centre. One night she rang us and asked, "can you do me a favour?"
"So we had two lambs that came to us late on a dark, and wet night. They were orphaned, and they came and stayed with us temporarily."
"But we just fell in love with them and they never left. Fifteen months later we got a call from SPCA asking, 'do you want to adopt them?'
"The gratification we had from that one rescue showed there was such a need for fostering farm animals," she says.
While fostering means so much to Heather and she is so invested in what she does, it also has its challenges.
"It's hard dealing with the circumstances they arrive in. It can be time consuming when they are two or three days old, needing bottle feeding and around-the-clock care."
Fostering is also how Heather was introduced to goats Bonnie and Clyde, who came into her care and were soon part of her family.
"Bonnie and Clyde were found emaciated and weak. They were barely able to walk when we first got them. SPCA brought them to us the night they were found, and we slowly introduced them to bottle feeding."
In Heather's care they have since flourished.
"Some mornings they are just standing on the roof of my car, and poo falls down my windscreen. They run around the barn walls. You're either biting your lip to stop swearing at them because they are such clowns, or loving them to bits and cuddling them," she laughs.
"When we were going to return them to SPCA, I tried to ring my daughter to let her know. Before I even got home, she had messaged me saying, "Mum there is no way we are bringing them back".
Now Annie and Ollie, and Bonnie and Clyde, are happy and healthy with Heather and her family.
"They curl up on my lap and just fall asleep. They just want their mum and that's who we are to them. They become a part of your family, you put your heart and soul into caring for them."
We have so many special animals that come through our doors at SPCA and into the homes of our amazing foster parents.
They don't usually have the intention of keeping them forever.
But sometimes, there is that one animal that comes into their lives and becomes a part of their family.
Are you interested in becoming a foster parent? Find out more here.


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Rio Yachts 42 Air
Meeting the needs of boaters in the U.S. has some builders around the world scratching their heads, but not Rio Yachts. This Italian builder knows what works and what doesn't, and adds a creative touch and fine finish to differentiate its product from lots of other boats out there. Have a look and see what you think.
Rio Yachts
LOA 43'5"
Beam 13'2"
Draft 3'8"
Fuel Capacity (in Gallons) 300
Water Capacity (in Gallons) 85
Optional Power 2/370-hp Volvo Penta IPS500s
Displacement 35,000 lb. (dry)
The Art of Refreshment
There's something in the air—the Rio Yachts 42 Air—that brings the cool when things heat up.
I'm not saying Americans are demanding, but it's nevertheless an interesting fact that, according to her manufacturers, a Rio 42 Air fitted out to U.S. specification—which includes more powerful air-conditioning, a bigger generator, and an extra 12-inch monitor at the helm station, among various other refinements—comes out ten percent heavier than the same boat built for the European market.
Which perhaps explains why Rio chose to fit my test boat, the first one built for the U.S., with the larger of the two engine options—a pair of 435-horsepower Volvo IPS600s. On glassy seas off the Côte d'Azur at the tail end of summer, these proved more than adequate to push the boat through the 30-knot barrier. In fact, in a two-way speed trial—not that there was any tide to counteract, or even any wind during the hottest Cannes Yachting Festival anyone could remember—we averaged just over 32 knots.
Rio Yachts might not have tracked across your radar before, but this family-run boatbuilder from northern Italy has carved out a solid reputation for its runabouts, weekenders, and sports cruisers for more than 50 years. While its main focus down the decades has been the domestic market, the company now seems determined to make a splash over on the more demanding side of the pond.
It's certainly taking the challenge seriously. European customers would generally expect three cabins in a 42-footer, but this first example of Rio's new model was fitted out American style, with just the two. There's much to recommend it. All boat layouts involve compromise, but there's little of that in evidence here in the en suite double forward, which has a roomy head compartment, and a full-size berth with 6 feet of headroom at its foot.
The amidships cabin is also surprisingly practical, with a useful en suite, a small sofa on the port side, and cabinets to starboard, complete with a hinged and mirrored top to create a dressing table. Headroom over most of the berth is a perfectly reasonable 33 inches, while windows and an opening porthole on each side admit light and fresh air.
With just two cabins, there's plenty of space between them for a comfortable little saloon seating area opposite the galley on the port side, which has good counter area and plenty of stowage space. The saloon sofa slides out to create an extra berth, albeit one for shorter people—it measures 5 feet, 4 inches by 3 feet, 4 inches when extended—while the infill cushion has its own stowage slot under the galley sole.
There are numerous other clever stowage solutions throughout the boat, from the dedicated glass and crockery cupboards in the galley to a useful little locker hidden away behind the companionway steps, which might not be especially accessible, but it still makes excellent use of otherwise wasted space. Best of all is the way the cockpit table rises electrically out of its own recess in the engineroom hatch. Of course this does mean that when the table is stowed, you're walking on it, but for most owners that will prove a small price to pay for being able to make the table simply disappear when it's not wanted. And naturally, in its half-way position, it fills in the L-shape of the sofa to make a large sunpad.
A word about the cockpit sofa: that open corner looks pretty unusual, and there's a reason for that. It has now dawned on Rio that what probably looked cutting edge on the drawing board is actually a pretty fundamental design flaw, and so future boats will have conventional seatbacks all around (thus filling in the open corner), to help ensure that you return to port with the same number of passengers you set out with. A more useful innovation is the way the port section of the cockpit sofa pivots around to face forward—not to improve the view, but so it can sit inside the zipped canopy, the better to enjoy that high-spec, stateside air-conditioning.
The fit and finish of the 42 Air are also aimed at the U.S. market, according to Rio, with high-quality plumbing fixtures, leather-trimmed door handles, stitched leather linings, and neat little features like the embroidered 'RY' logos on the upholstery, which all help to create a luxurious ambience that's maybe a notch or two up from the average sports cruiser. Bamboo flooring is an unusual but attractive touch that also adds a little character.
Unplugged from the boat-show pontoon, the sudden lack of 42,000 Btu, American-style cooling power that we enjoyed belowdecks was apparent in the sweltering confines of Cannes' Vieux Port that lent an element of urgency to our departure. In the airless conditions we badly needed to create our own breeze rather than deploy the curtains around the cockpit and crank up the air, and the Rio was only too willing to oblige.
Lightly loaded as we were, with just three aboard and not much fuel, the moderate-vee hull was on the plane at about 2500 rpm, and from there onward provided a fun and responsive ride, with no vices and just the right angle of heel in the turns. It seemed especially comfortable at cruising speeds in the mid- to high-20s, and with big wheelhouse windows, sightlines from the helm were pretty good.
It was also quite sensitive to fore-and-aft trim. Putting the tabs all the way down increased speed by a full knot—although such changes may be less marked with more fuel in the tanks and the boat's center of gravity slightly farther forward.
While 32 knots seemed an excellent result, it's somewhat less than the top speed Rio claims for the 42 with IPS 600s. Part of that might be due to the heavier U.S. spec, but we did notice that the engines were about 50 rpm down on their rated maximum of 3,500. So props with slightly less pitch might help reinstate the missing revs, add a little more speed, and, more importantly, ensure that the engines can reach their rated power even with stores on the boat or some late-season fouling on the hull.
But if I hadn't looked at the tachometers, I wouldn't have realized that anything was amiss. The 42 Air felt right underway and proved to be a safe and enjoyable family cruising boat. It felt right in the harbor, too, with its luxurious fit-out, capacious stowage volumes, and the all-important interior space created by a generous two-cabin layout.
There was another reason why it felt right, of course, once we got back from the sea trial. With the shore power plugged in again, that air conditioner was soon back up to full combat power. I didn't want to leave.
See more photos of the Rio Yachts 42 Air here ▶
Click here for Rio Yachts's contact information and index of articles ▶
Layout Diagram
NOTEWORTHY OPTIONS: Volvo Penta IPS600 option ($45,000); 48,000 Btu air-conditioning ($43,350); genset upgrade ($12,000); hydraulic swim platform ($22,500); 4-kW bow thruster ($6,750); custom galley ($6,850); additional 12-in Garmin MFD ($7,250).
Other Specification
Generator: Kohler, 13.5 kW, Warranty: 5 years on hull and deck, manufacturer warranty on engines and equipment
Conditions During Boat Test
Air temperature: 88°F; humidity: 60%; seas: 1'
Load During Boat Test
87 gal. fuel, 85 gal. water, 3 persons, 250 lb. gear.
Test Boat Specifications
Test Engine: /435-hp Volvo Penta IPS600s
Transmission/Ratio: Volvo Penta IPS, 1.82:1 gear ratio
Props: Volvo Penta VP T4
Price as Tested: $977,250
GPH
EDITOR'S NOTE: Since our test, Rio Yachts changed out the props and the trim tabs CPU, and reported a top speed of 35 knots at a fuel burn of 45 gph with 119 gal. fuel and 87 gal. water, and three persons on board.
Alan Harper
Camper & Nicholsons 42 Endeavour
Monte Carlo Yachts 105
Sunseeker 86 Yacht
Perry 42
Arcadia 100
Austin Parker 42 Open


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Next Resident Evil Movie Will Resurrect Michelle Rodriguez And Other Dead Characters
By Josh Tyler | 9 years ago
If there's one thing you can count on when you show up to a Resident Evil movie, it's that by the time it's over nearly everyone except Alice will be dead. Those who survive are sure to be killed off at the start of the next sequel, or turned into some sort of robo-powered freak of nature.
The list of great characters who've been killed off over the franchise's four movies so far, is long… and it looks like most of them will be back in the fifth one… somehow.
For instance we already know that Michelle Rodriguez, whose character was killed off in the first film, is set to join the cast of the upcoming Resident Evil: Retribution. Now Deadline reports that Oded Fehr is in the film as well. Fehr played the generally awesome, self-sacrificing, very dead Carlos Olivera in Resident Evil: Extinction.
Also returning to the franchise are Sienna Guillory who played Jill Valentine in Afterlife, Colin Salmon who played Shade in the original Resident Evil, Shawn Roberts who played Wesker in Afterlife, and Boris Kodjoe who played Luther in Afterlife.
Apparently Retribution is some sort of reunion, or maybe all these dead people will simply be seen in flashbacks. No one's talking for now, but the cast list does include at least a few new faces. Johann Urb and Kevin Durand have also joined the Resident Evil: Retribution cast.
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Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1 Review – This Is The Star Trek Show To Watch
The Doctor From Doctor Who To Come Out Of The Closet


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go easy on my friend!
Sometimes, people around me say really terrible things about themselves. I mean, okay, we all do it, right? But sometimes people say them out loud, to me, in a way that I think is meant to be apologetic, but also seems to be seeking at least an implicit agreement. "I'm such an idiot!" you might say, after making a mistake, or "Wow, I'm a jerk," when you turn up late for a dinner plan.
I feel a moderately able deal with this in my friends. I don't think you people are idiots or jerks even when you do idiotic or jerky things, because you aren't what you do, and the small cases just aren't the bulk of what makes you up. So I can say, "You're not an idiot!" or "I know the feeling!" and that's that. Though I don't always do that, because I often feel like acknowledging these statements, which are usually conversational asides, makes them bigger than they were intended to be, and I almost don't want to give the sentiment that attention. That said, I, in general, think it's better (for me) to at least express my disagreement with the sentiment.
I'm running into it a bit, though, in my work life, and it feels trickier to address it with my direct reports. It has all the same challenges of encountering it with a friend, plus the complication of "I'm your boss." I'm not really excited about letting it go, even if it's casual self-talk, because the people who work for me are, like my friends, GREAT people, who sometimes make mistakes, and also because some of them are women, for whom that kind of verbalization can be VERY detrimental in a professional setting, so I feel like it's part of my job as a good boss and mentor to help them rein it in, both internally and externally.
But it feels trickier to call them on it than a friend, because we don't have the same kind of casualness in our interactions. And because, yes, I'm their boss, and I know that sometimes, if you're in a ditch, it brings you lower to hear that you're ALSO failing at liking yourself enough, or something like that. (I'm really only worried about that last bit for one of my reports -- the others, I think, it's not so loaded.)
Anyway, so, I'm noodling on this a fair amount, and I'm interested to hear how you deal with it in yourself, your friends, your colleagues. How do you like to be handled in various settings when you're getting down on yourself? What helps?
introspection, life, thinky, work