Today was one of those rainy Mondays around here. Monday is not my favorite day of the week and adding rain to it doesn't help one bit.
But thankfully I worked from home today. I'm so glad I didn't have to go out in that rainy weather. Folks around here don't know how to drive when it's raining. Some seem to lose their minds. And let's not talk about tailgaters. When it comes to folks driving behind me, if I can't see your headlights then you are too damn close. This goes for nice sunny days as well.
Anyway to somewhat cool things off TV One has an all day Christmas in July marathon on Saturday. Shows include Amen, Living Single, A Different World, Martin, Good Times and The Jeffersons.
The New York Times has an interesting article about folks living without air-conditioning.
TO many Americans, abstaining from air-conditioning is a masochistic folly akin to refusing Novocain or renouncing the dishwasher.
Yet as this particular summer finally heats up, even citizens who believe that climate control is a God-given right may be questioning whether it has become a luxury they can no longer afford. They are probably also wondering how they can survive without it.
Those who've done just that like to point out that air-conditioning is a relatively recent boon to humanity: The Allies won World War II without it, and the great pyramids of Egypt were built al fresco. Today, fans of the unchilled life say that it is not only possible to turn back the clock and live as one with summer, but to do it while maintaining a fairly high quality of life.
Lisa Finkelstein, a freelance editor, stopped using the semi-functional air-conditioning and heating unit in her rented cottage in Tallahassee, Fla., two years ago, mostly for economic reasons.
She said that if she didn't work from home, the adjustment would probably be harder. "It's miserable when you come out of a nice air-conditioned place," Ms. Finkelstein said.
This summer, she probably has more company in the choice she has made. Shipments of window air-conditioners from manufacturers to distributors were down 39 percent in the first half of this year compared with the first half of last year, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers in Washington, D.C., and shipments of central air-conditioning units have been down 10 percent a year for the past few years, according to the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute in Arlington, Va.
Those who plunge into a warmer world for economic reasons sometimes find that there are advantages that they hadn't anticipated.
Genma Holmes, a 42-year-old mother of three in Nashville, and her husband, Roger, declared their suburban ranch house a no-air-conditioning zone last summer as surging gas prices ate into the profits of their pest control business. Their children — now ages 17, 18, and 23 — were not amused, given that average summer temperatures in Nashville are in the high 80s with around 90 percent humidity.
Before I leave for work I turn the temperature up so the ac won't come on that often. When it's hot and humid outside and I'm coming home from work I can't wait to get home and turn up the air. The heat and humidity is why I can't stand summertime. Give me spring and fall anytime. I prefer temps in the 60 and 70 range.
I use to work with this guy who loved hot and humid weather. If the temps hit 90 and above he was thrilled. I would look at him like he's crazy, lol. To him even 70 degrees is too cool for him.
I had a feeling with the name Ike, this hurricane would be fierce. Overnight Hurricane Ike left some serious damage in southeast Texas including Galveston and Houston. Southwest Louisiana was also affected by Hurricane Ike. Some folks who decided not to evacuate regretted their decision.
GALVESTON, Texas (CNN) — Rescuers in Galveston, Texas, were going door-to-door Saturday to check on the estimated 20,000 people who failed to flee Hurricane Ike, which has slowed to tropical storm status.
Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc said the island would be closed while authorities assess damages, including to the causeway, which was in "bad shape" because of debris and road damage.
LeBlanc said 17 buildings on the island had been destroyed, including ten homes that caught fire and a boat storage warehouse that was set ablaze as Ike approached.
The other buildings fell because their structures were battered by winds and storm surge, LeBlanc said.
Ike was downgraded Saturday to a tropical storm 11 hours after it crashed ashore as a Texas-sized hurricane that walloped southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.
Check out the entire article here. I was watching CNN earlier today and they mentioned that over 2 million people were without power in Texas and Louisiana. And of course gas stations are jacking up the gas prices.
The New York Times has a section on the Galveston Storm of 1900. This hurricane occured on September 8, 1900 and caused over 6,000 deaths.
First there was Gustav. Next came Hanna who roared up the east coast giving us plenty of rain. And now there's Hurricane Ike which is wreaking havoc in the Caribbean. Hurricane Ike is a Category 4 hurricane.
The premier of the British territory of Turks and Caicos said that Hurricane Ike has damaged 80% of the homes on Grand Turk island.
Michael Misick told The Associated Press by phone that Grand Turk took almost a direct hit and that hundreds of people have lost their roofs.
He said people are cowering in cupboards and under stairwells and are "just holding on for life. They got hit really, really bad," he said.
There are no reports of deaths or injuries, but authorities are now trying to rescue people and get them into shelters.
Ike is now raking Haiti and heading toward the Bahamas and Cuba as a powerful Category 4 storm.
You can read more about Hurricane Ike at the Weather Channel.com.
Remember my post titled April winds from April 13th? Yeah, Friday the 13th. Well 2 days after that very drastic weather changing, windy day I woke up with a very sore throat. By Tuesday afternoon I was sounding like Froggy the Frog, with a runny nose and a sore throat. It's Sunday and the runny nose has gradually disappeared but I've been coughing like a mad woman and I'm still talking like I have a frog in my throat. Luckily I've been working from home last Wednesday thru Friday. Perfect timing. It was nice not to have to deal with a long commute and I'm sick as a dog. I believe I've medicated myself to death and I've gone thru at least 4 gallon jugs of water since Thursday. I haven't caught a cold this bad in years.
Today I'm a little better than I've been all week. Yesterday while at the grocery store I finally bought some tea, lemon jucie and honey. I've had about 4 cups of honey vanilla tea so far since yesterday and it's helped.
I haven't been in the mood to hang out on the web this past week. Too tired and what news I did read was just too depressing.


text:
package com.baidu.palo.common.proc;

import org.easymock.EasyMock;
import org.junit.After;
import org.junit.Assert;
import org.junit.Before;
import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
import org.powermock.api.easymock.PowerMock;
import org.powermock.core.classloader.annotations.PowerMockIgnore;
import org.powermock.core.classloader.annotations.PrepareForTest;
import org.powermock.modules.junit4.PowerMockRunner;

import com.baidu.palo.catalog.Catalog;
import com.baidu.palo.common.AnalysisException;
import com.baidu.palo.persist.EditLog;
import com.baidu.palo.system.Backend;
import com.google.common.collect.Lists;

@RunWith(PowerMockRunner.class)
@PowerMockIgnore("org.apache.log4j.*")
@PrepareForTest(Catalog.class)
public class BackendProcNodeTest {
    private Backend b1;
    private Catalog catalog;
    private EditLog editLog;

    @Before
    public void setUp() {
        editLog = EasyMock.createMock(EditLog.class);
        editLog.logAddBackend(EasyMock.anyObject(Backend.class));
        EasyMock.expectLastCall().anyTimes();
        editLog.logDropBackend(EasyMock.anyObject(Backend.class));
        EasyMock.expectLastCall().anyTimes();
        editLog.logBackendStateChange(EasyMock.anyObject(Backend.class));
        EasyMock.expectLastCall().anyTimes();
        EasyMock.replay(editLog);

        catalog = EasyMock.createMock(Catalog.class);
        EasyMock.expect(catalog.getNextId()).andReturn(10000L).anyTimes();
        EasyMock.expect(catalog.getEditLog()).andReturn(editLog).anyTimes();
        catalog.clear();
        EasyMock.expectLastCall().anyTimes();
        EasyMock.replay(catalog);

        PowerMock.mockStatic(Catalog.class);
        EasyMock.expect(Catalog.getInstance()).andReturn(catalog).anyTimes();
        PowerMock.replay(Catalog.class);

        b1 = new Backend(1000, "host1", 10000);
        b1.updateOnce(10001, 10003, 10005);
    }

    @After
    public void tearDown() {
    }

    @Test
    public void testResultNormal() throws AnalysisException {
        BackendProcNode node = new BackendProcNode(b1);
        ProcResult result;

        // fetch result
        result = node.fetchResult();
        Assert.assertNotNull(result);
        Assert.assertTrue(result instanceof BaseProcResult);

        Assert.assertTrue(result.getRows().size() >= 1);
        Assert.assertEquals(Lists.newArrayList("RootPath", "TotalCapacity", "AvailableCapacity", "State"),
                            result.getColumnNames());
    }

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Rikki Bourg
COVID-19 impacts students' holiday traditions
The 2020 holiday season looked quite different for members of St. Martin's Episcopal School. Whether plans were canceled or altered, everyone felt the shift in this year's holiday season due to COVID-19 restrictions. Many students experienced these changes within their families and to their holiday traditions.
Senior Laura McCrary felt the effects within her family, including not being able to see one of her brothers that lives out of state.
"One of my brothers and his wife couldn't come visit us for Christmas due to their fear of COVID," McCrary said. "It was unfortunate because I only get to see him once a year if I'm lucky, and Christmas is meant to be spent with family. My other brother did get to visit though, but we couldn't really go anywhere due to the restrictions [throughout] the city. It was still good to see him though."
Senior Erica Ricci shared that this holiday season was spent alone with her immediate family, rather than gathering with those she loves as usual.
"This year, I just spent the holidays with my mom, my brother, and my dog," Ricci said. "It was kind of sad because we usually celebrate with all of our friends and family, but this year it was just quiet. I mean, we were making the most out of it, but it just wasn't the same."
Others felt the lack of activities among friends this time of year, like Senior Thomas Devall, who missed the parties usually associated with winter break.
"It was weird," Devall said. "I wasn't able to spend Christmas with the rest of the family like we usually do. For New Year's, no one was able to have a large get together or party due to COVID. I'm crossing my fingers that it will be different next year."
Other students, like Freshman Emy Farber, faced the difficult issue of having their older loved ones over for festivities. She recalled having to take precautions in order to spend time with them due to the large spike in COVID-19 cases.
"This season definitely felt different for me," Farber said. "Normally, I would have some family come in, but this year it was just immediate family, and we had to take extra precautions just to invite my grandma. It changed a lot. It was also super scary knowing how many people would be traveling at this time of year and the risk it would pose. Overall, it felt weird, but it wasn't too bad."
Other students spent time with their family in less traditional ways, like Senior Elena Gaver. Her family from outside of the state opted to hold virtual meetings over Zoom to see each other, rather than risking exposure from travel.
"This holiday season I stayed home for Christmas for the first time ever," Gaver said. "My family and I Zoomed with family during the holidays. It was really weird but it was still nice to be able to talk to them. I haven't seen any of them in over a year and they live out of the country and on the West Coast. It definitely felt different and I hope to see them soon."
Despite the changes in plans for this time of year, Junior Lilly Rabe was able to enjoy the break with her parents and her sister, whom she does not get to see often because of college.
"This year my extended family didn't spend the holidays together which was new for our family," Rabe said. " Instead of our usual family traditions, I spent the holidays with my parents and my sister.
Although it was a smaller group, I enjoyed spending time with my sister, who is away at college, and had a happy holiday season despite the differences.
Some students had their usual holiday trips canceled, such as Senior Camila Figueroa, but still tried to keep the spirit of the season alive in other ways.
"This holiday season felt different because of the increase in COVID cases," Figueroa said. "I usually like to go on trips with my family, but we couldn't this year, so the holiday season wasn't the same. While I did have a good holiday season, traditions definitely weren't the same as usual, and we had to do things with more precautions and safety."
Sophomore Lauren Crowell used this year to reevaluate the meaning of the holiday season.
"Before this, I thought I'd be more upset about missing out on the hectic events of the holiday season," Crowell said. "Normally, this time of year is stressfully spent trying to manage studying for exams as well as keeping up annual holiday traditions. Despite the obstacles faced this year, I was able to spend the holidays focusing on my family and friends, even if I might not have been able to see them in person. Overall, although this year was unlike any we've ever had, I think it gave us all time to realize what we're actually supposed to be celebrating [during] the holidays."
Junior Quinncy Boutchard echoed that sentiment and explained why this year's celebrations had a different feeling from previous ones.
"The holiday season itself was the same at heart," Boutchard said. "But since my family couldn't come together, it brought an undeniable feeling of difference and sadness that came not from change but from not being to be with your family and loved ones to experience it."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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I created a basic common library that could drive both apps, where I was trying to consolidate as much as possible to the common lib, and let the two client apps focus as much as possible on the task at hand.
I wanted to create a performant React demo out of the box, so I picked up the React CommonJS example as a quick place to start, and I'll get my code compiled so there shouldn't be the runtime penalty for interpreting JSX tags. The React app I've created takes an InfiniteTable component which wraps a normal table element, then appends table rows via the TableRow component. You'll see in the code above that after a new page set is returned, I simply take the current list of all rows and assign it to the state object for the table component. This example may not exactly play into the major strengths of React, as I am simply appending rows to the end of a list, and not reordering the list by inserting rows in the middle. However, the original app I'd worked on where I'd started to see performance issues only consisted of a simple paginated table, so I'm not really able to see why that scenario should bring a mobile browser to its knees, in the first place.
The DOM version uses the same common lib code to grab the next set of results and simply append the rows to the table in the UI, as they come in from the 'back end'.
When you run the examples, you'll see the table start rendering out rows, and periodically scrolling down. Once processing is complete for the 'maxRows' specified, you'll see a nice summary printed at the bottom. I did track execution times for each iteration, and they can be seen in the summary as: Execution, Avg. and Median times. However, those times did not seem that interesting, as the React iteration was consistently longer, in comparison to the DOM version. This probably had a lot to do with reassigning the React table with an entirely new set of rows in the model state, where the DOM version simply appends table rows to a table body tag.
The results I've compiled here were painfully manual. It wasn't till I was nearly done with this writeup that I stumbled across Benchpress for automated performance testing. The next time I attempted something like this, I would definitely consider that library. So for now, I simply ran multiple iterations of different data sizes, and recorded the total times as printed in the apps.
The one good thing this shows me is that my apps seem to be set up with a pretty good baseline compared to each other. There are probably ways to optimize the React application that I've not taken the time to consider, but for now, this looks like a pretty good starting point for further comparisons.
Again, the two apps are in a dead heat at 500 elements, with both clocking in around 8.2s. Surprisingly, this is also very close to the same time on the desktop version, which is respectable. However, things get dicey as soon as we throw more elements at the app, at 1000 elements. Now, both become a few seconds slower than the desktop, but React starts to fall behind the DOM version by a around 1 second. At 2000 elements, the DOM version is comparable to the desktop time, but cruises ahead of React on the Nexus with a 12s lead. By 4000 rows, the React version is struggling to render at 2.25min, and is more than twice as slow as the DOM version. I wish I could tell you why this was the case, but I can only guess that the React version must do twice as much work, as it is juggling both its virtual DOM as well as manipulating the actual DOM to render components. I can only imagine that the desktop V8 engine is optimized well beyond the point of the same found in the mobile browser, in its ability to handle so many elements in memory as well as in the DOM at the same time.
Now I really slammed the doors on these apps, and started them up on my phone. The trend lines look very similar to the Nexus 7, but with half the number of elements being rendered. I suppose this makes sense, as I am under the assumption that the Nexus has a quad core processor, while the Moto X has a dual core, while their installed RAM appears to be about the same. The problem is that I'm not really sure that the browser's individual tabs are really optimized to leverage multiple CPU cores.
In an attempt to verify memory utilization, I simply opened Chrome's Task Manager window, and manually tracked memory consumption for the tab running the app. For example, with the React app running 1000 rows, I generally saw around 155-160MB memory consumed. I'd love to find a better approach to verifying memory consumption. I tried using window.performance.memory, but those numbers seemed to reflect more on available heap size, then actual utilization. What really threw me off was when I'd seen the numbers actually get updated on my Nexus 7, only to later realize that Chrome must be running with a flag enabled.
What floors me when I looked at the compiled numbers is how the React version starts out with just about the same memory footprint as the top end of the DOM app, run with the maximum number of elements. So it looks like when considering React in the mobile environment, the memory consumption would have to be optimized for, or to be at least aware of. This could be a part of any slowness seen in the React app across apps, if the environment has to start doing some kind of virtual memory page swapping against disk or something. I was able to find anecdotal information that the mobile chrome browser tab may have access to around 128MB memory by default. There is supposed to be an admin flag to override this value, but I was unable to locate it in the version of Chrome my phone is running. This would be a great test to verify whether increasing available memory grants a sizable boost to rendering performance. Again, there are probably ways to slice and dice the data so that the React component tree doesn't have to hold references to every piece of data, but that is also outside of the scope of this article.
There is no doubt that React.js is a great approach towards managing state in the view layer of a browser application. However, from my own limited experience as well as just comparing raw numbers from time spent in rendering to the amount of memory consumed, there is a clear price to pay in any convenience gained from a library like React. From a pure performance perspective it does appear there may be some merit in evaluating a pure JS DOM approach to a given problem. However, from the perspective of managing a team of developers who want to deliver a large amount of maintainable code, there can be a clear advantage to leveraging libraries and frameworks such as React, Polymer, Angular, etc.
I would love to read some in depth analysis that may go farther in explaining the results that I've seen here. I'm definitely aware that my approaches may not be ideal in every way, and am definitely open to improving what I've done here. However, it does look like it's best to have your eyes open in evaluating these libraries, especially in regards to their use in a mobile browser environment.
* You continue to load results (add rows) well beyond what a user would do. Once you've reached a couple of hundred rows, you've exhausted the user's attention span – heck, even if you think a user will fetch 1000 rows, your test extends out to 10k rows. That makes this performance test a "synthetic test" rather than a "real world test". What would be more interesting is to the see the fine-grained numbers for 0 to 500 rows.
b) Why 750ms? Will the user actually be able to browse that many rows in such a short time? If you upped the delay to something more reasonable, would it allow the two frameworks to have more time to do GC, thus effecting the overall time that you chart?
1) Yes, this is not a realistic test. Is definitely set up as a stress test.
2) The setTimeout will be implemented the same way in the same browser, regardless of library used. As such, it is fairly deterministic, but could easily be dropped. In actuality, I am measuring the actual time taken during the UI update code for each iteration, and even factoring out the timeout, I would see React taking much longer during execution time, as compared to native JS. You are correct, it would be worth removing the timeout, to see how much affect it has.
b) 750 ms was just the upper end of my rough estimate of how quickly a user could flip through in infinitely scrolling list. These are actually very common in mobile environment, even if not seen as much in web applications.


Specialists in pre-press and production of original and fitted models for industrial printing and manufacturing of packaging for paints, varnishes, as well as aerosols, metal lids for glass jars, crown cap, etc..
Creation and preparation of cases, prospects, blisters, boxes, labels, envelopes and all kinds of packaging materials for the Pharmaceutical industry, including the preparation of drawings and specifications of the materials or the layout of the different materials.
Treatment and preparation of files from the photomechanical point of view in order for them to be ready for printing at an industrial level. We consider that each material and media has its own characteristics and we apply the right techniques required to obtain the ideal outcome.
Vallespín is an expert and a trusted company in adapting the design and managing pre-press to produce the best finished printed products, on different types of media and regardless of the printing technique..
We provide an experience of over 40 years in the world of photomechanical, and have seen and experienced all the technological changes of the sector. We started in the days of typesetting, preparation and assembly of originals, copies of originals with photography negatives, scans and originals color selection (film negatives, illustrations and original paper) in high resolution cylinder scanners, retouch and manipulation of films and color selections, generation of films for printing, insolation and plates mounting and subsequent color proofs.
Now, we focus in making original files, vectorized files, photolithograph, proofs and control of industrial runs for metallographic sector and the pharmaceutical industry.
We offer the reliability of a company exclusively dedicated to the adaptation of the design and pre-press. Our customers are reassured to know that their work has been prepared by experienced professionals and won't give problems in printing and will give the requested final results. We put seriousness and zeal in every job, large or small in difficulty.
In addition, our customers know that the works we do are always available so they can hire the industrial printing supplier which offers the best quality / price relation, because our customers are the real owners of files and final artwork, which adds value in the case ofreprints.


www.ChandlerRealEstateGuide.com – The family-friendly community of Ocotillo in Chandler, Arizona is the perfect choice for new and prospective home buyers. Located to the Southeast of Phoenix, this quiet community resides near Downtown Chandler, an area rich with culture and history. You'll find an amazing array of historic and modern architecture throughout the Downtown area, providing you with an ample supply of eye candy. Historic Homes have been well preserved and some have been converted into local shoppes that can be easily accessed through the downtown corridor. Adjacent to Ocotillo is the beautifully landscaped Ocotillo Golf Resort, a 27-hole course . Take your family on a quick drive and enjoy a day in the sun at Golfland Sunsplash in nearby Mesa. Is luxurious shopping and fine dining for your taste? Just North of the community lies the Chandler Fashion Mall. Sitting on 100-acres, this oasis in the desert is the premier shopping destination for many of the East Valley's residents. For more information about Ocotillo and it's surrounding communities, visit us today.
Source: Ocotillo Chandler Homes for Sale (Youtube).


Act 88 - Reciprocal Retirement Act of 1961 allows you to combine service you may have earned with another Michigan governmental unit in order to qualify for a pension. Examples of a governmental unit include (but are not limited to) a city, township, village, or county, law enforcement division, commission or court, as well as Michigan public schools.
In general, Act 88 helps public servants who have worked either full- or part-time for more than one Michigan governmental employer, but perhaps fall short of pension eligibility with any or all of them. Combining years of service from multiple employers can help you qualify for a pension, but the other service won't count in the calculation of your pension amount.
Reciprocity works both ways. If, after serving as a state employee for at least 30 months (2.5 years), you then go to work for another Michigan governmental unit within 20 years, you may be able to count your subsequent employment to meet the pension eligibility requirement. You would then be eligible for a pension based on your state service at age 60.
It's a good idea to talk to your previous employer and ORS if you think Act 88 can help you qualify for a pension.
You must have a minimum of 30 months (2.5 years) of state of Michigan service credit.
You must have participated in a retirement program with your other governmental employer.
There cannot be more than a 20-year break in service between your other governmental unit service and your state service.
Your other Michigan governmental unit service cannot be concurrent with your state of Michigan service.
Act 88 is only used when other Michigan governmental unit service, combined with your state of Michigan service, qualifies you for a pension you would not receive otherwise.
Act 88 cannot be used to qualify someone for survivor or disability benefits. It can only be used for a regular retirement.
Reciprocal service can count toward the pension eligibility requirement, but is not included in your pension calculation.
If you took a refund of contributions from a previous governmental employer, you may wish to contact the employer concerning repayment (potentially allowing a pension payment under both retirement systems). If you are permitted to repay the refund, however, you must do so within 20 years after service commences in this retirement system.
Download the application for Act 88 service credit here.


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We feature BG products with Lifetime Protection Plans. We are an authorized Pennzoil Distributor and offer both conventional and synthetic oils.
All repairs offer 24 month and 24,000 mile warranty on parts and labor when returned to Complete Auto Repair for service.


text:
Tom Gardner: How To Be A Value Investor Today
Johnny Hopkins February 16, 2021 Tom GardnerLeave a Comment
In his latest interview with Dave Lee on Investing, Tom Gardner discussed value investing today and how it's changed from the days of Peter Lynch saying, "That wasn't the case during the Peter Lynch years of following companies, opening stores and malls that had to raise capital and get leases and get product and manage inventory, like the Nine West's of the world are gone." Here's an excerpt from the interview:
I think it changes and has been and I think of people like Bill Miller who helped to change that thinking a little bit, and like Mason, and that is that it shouldn't be only or even primarily about valuation.
Value investing should concentrate on what creates value, sustainably, less recklessly, let's say perhaps with less volatility.
We know that the best performing stocks in the public markets are the most volatile but it doesn't mean those are the only performing companies. And the portfolio that my dad is interested in at the age of 82 is different than the portfolio I'm interested in. And different in the portfolio that my nieces and nephews are interested in.
My dad would say 10 baggers aren't that compelling to me right now at 82. I mean he's very much out in technology investing but he's buying stabler companies. Like his large positions in winning large tech companies and has for a long time.
But dad has said to me don't be a value investor in technology because those companies that look cheap probably have missed the last innovation cycle and it's very hard to leap back forward and be relevant. Usually it takes acquisitions and that's got its own risk associated with it.
So I would say value investing for me, if I were to define for the next 10 years that I'm going to be a value investor, I would focus on two things.
I would focus on mid-cap and larger companies for the stability. When you start to get to large caps historically over a rolling 10-year period you have a much higher rate of profitability among those companies than small and micro caps but you obviously have a lower return. So I'm going to trade the return for the stable business.
And the second thing just to trot out some numbers that won't make for good video but if we all begin to develop metrics around the stability of a company's growth rates and cash flows because it's natural and particularly in kind of boom times for the market that you only want to buy the company growing 50 percent a year. Or it's 38% a year and it's accelerating, those become the only companies that people latch on, and you get a lot of momentum investing around that and that's not necessarily bad though, that is a great slice of companies to be invested.
But if you start to look at how they manage their balance sheet, how inquisitive are they, what's their goodwill as a percentage of their total assets. What gross profit do they generate from every dollar of working asset investment.
So when we start looking at some financial metrics we're going to lose a slice of innovation and we're going to lose small mid cap but we're going to go very capital efficient mid and large cap companies.
Which to me for example would highlight Shopify and Zoom as more value investments, even though when we look at their valuation value investors traditionally would throw their arms in the air and say that's insane but from a value sustainability and and low volatility I think you're going to get in companies like that in ServiceNow, and that's not going to be Fiverr and Fastly and Cloudflare.
You can watch the entire interview here:
Tags:Tom Gardner


January 26, 2017 Workers' Compensation, Workplace Injury, Workplace SafetyBody Mass Index, fat, obesityPaul J. McAndrew, Jr.
June 16, 2014 Workers' Compensationobesity, Worker HealthPaul J. McAndrew, Jr.
Truck drivers were the most obese, nearly 39 percent. The proportion of current smokers was highest also for truck drivers, who – with computer scientists and mechanics – had the lowest proportion of adequate servings of fruits and vegetables. "Truckers are likely influenced by the availability of food choices, such as fast food and convenience stores," Dr. Bonauto noted.
The study has its limitations. Because researchers used self-reported height and weight, there might be an underestimate of obesity. Also, the body mass index results don't distinguish between fat and muscle mass. Police and firefighters, for instance, had a high prevalence of obesity but also had the highest proportion of vigorous leisure time physical activity.
Those with less education and an income less than $35,000 had a significantly higher likelihood of being obese, according to the study. Workers who had regular servings of fruits and vegetables and adequate physical exercise were less likely to be obese.
March 14, 2013 Workers' Compensation, Workplace Injurychronic pulmonary conditions, diabetes, drug abuse, hypertension, obesityPaul J. McAndrew, Jr.
February 25, 2013 Health Carecost of medical care, obesity, prevention, The Affordable Health Care Act, Tobacco, wellness, workplace healthPaul J. McAndrew, Jr.


The Historical Society is thrilled to announce our 2015 Local Legends, Mark McMahon and his late father, Franklin McMahon.
Join us for a captivating conversation between Mark McMahon and interviewer Bill Kurtis. Learn more about the McMahons, artistic virtuosos who witnessed, drew and told stories of pivotal historical moments as artist-reporters. Don't miss the opportunity to learn the inside stories from the McMahons' unique and perceptive vantage points.
Proceeds from this event support our programs and exhibits.
View a photo gallery from this event.


text:
Slayer >
Slayer to quit touring after farewell shows
By Bang Showbiz in Music / Festivals on 23 January 2018
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Slayer have announced they will do one final world tour before hanging up their guitars.
Slayer have announced their next tour will be their last.
The heavy metal band - made up of Kerry King, Tom Araya, Paul Bostaph and Gary Holt - confirmed they will head on the road around the globe for one final time by sharing a video titled 'The End is Near... Slayer to make its exit with one, final world tour' on their official website.
The 30-second clip has one of their most famous songs, 'Raining Blood', playing in the background as several images looking back at their career pop up in quick succession.
At the end of the video, a message states: ''Slayer's final North American tour dates coming...''
Slayer are yet to release a tour schedule for their forthcoming run of shows but the group confirmed they will hit the US with Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth and Testament.
The 'Angel of Death' hitmakers released their 12th and final studio album 'Repentless' in September 2015, two years after they were left devastated by the death of their guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who formed the band with Kerry in 1981.
Slayer shot to fame with their 1986 album 'Reign in Blood' and are known as one of the so-called Big Four thrash metal bands alongside Metallica, MEGADETH and Anthrax.
In 2016, vocalist Tom Araya admitted it was time to ''collect my pension'' after 35 years in music, hinting at a possible retirement, but said he still loved playing live.
He said: ''At 35 years, it's time to collect my pension. This is a career move.
''I'm grateful that we've been around for 35 years; that's a really long time. So, yeah, to me, it is.
''Because when we started off, everything was great, because you're young and invincible. And then there came a time where I became a family man, and I had a tough time flying back and forth.
''And now, at this stage, at the level we're at now, I can do that; I can fly home when I want to, on days off, and spend some time with my family, which is something I wasn't able to do when [my kids] were growing up.
''Now they're both older and mature. So now I take advantage of that.
''Yeah, it just gets harder and harder to come back out on the road. 35 years is a long time.''
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Are you a Dynamics NAV Support Analyst looking to gain exposure to Dynamics 365 Business Central? Interested in the flexibility to work from home 1/2 days per week?
My client is looking to fill this position ASAP, so if you feel you have the relevant skills for this role, please send your CV to Alex at Click here to contact this recruiter , or call [Telephone number removed] .


Thousands of people were caught up in the stampede late Saturday and the victims may have been trampled by the rushing crowd, Budapest police spokeswoman Katalin Fanni Horvath said.
Police and medical investigators were working to determine the cause of the deaths. Police have denied reports that the victims were stabbed.
"Human irresponsibility caused the deaths of the three victims," Interior Minister Sandor Pinter told reporters late Sunday, adding that drugs had been detected in one of the young women.
The incident occurred late Saturday at the West-Balkan nightclub in downtown Budapest, housed on several levels inside a communist-era shopping mall and office complex.
According to district officials, the venue was functioning without a full permit and being allowed to operate only until 10 p.m. with a maximum capacity of 300 people.
An estimated 2,500 people were in the nightclub when the incident occurred just before midnight and 2,881 tickets had been sold, Night Noise Life, the organizing company, said in a message posted Sunday afternoon on its Facebook page. Interior Minister Pinter said 4,000 tickets had been printed.
Family, friends and other mourners lit candles and laid flowers Sunday night outside the nightclub which is across a busy avenue from one of Budapest's main railroad stations.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his wife, Aniko Levay, also lit candles at the scene.


On behalf of Vizzoni Law Firm, L.L.C. posted in Estate Planning on Friday, April 12, 2019.
One woman's mother put off her estate planning, and in fact, she never got around to it at all. When she passed away, she did not leave a trust, a will or any other documentation.
Why do we procrastinate when it comes to estate planning?
On behalf of Vizzoni Law Firm, L.L.C. posted in Estate Planning on Friday, January 18, 2019.
People often put off their estate planning for "another day," but that becomes months and then years. They constantly tell themselves that they'll get to it eventually, but they never do.
On behalf of Vizzoni Law Firm, L.L.C. posted in Estate Planning on Friday, January 4, 2019.
One of the main keys to estate planning, if you want the whole process to go smoothly, is communication. You need to talk to the other members of your family who will be impacted by the plan. Experts advise sitting down and creating a family communication plan to address this process.
On behalf of Vizzoni Law Firm, L.L.C. posted in Estate Planning on Friday, December 7, 2018.
People often assume that estate planning just means writing a will. That's a good place to start. The biggest mistake people make is not drafting a will or doing any planning whatsoever. But that doesn't mean that a will is all you need or that there aren't other mistakes you should guard against.
On behalf of Vizzoni Law Firm, L.L.C. posted in Estate Planning on Tuesday, October 9, 2018.
Most people know that creating a will is a normal part of growing older. You start to collect assets, so it only makes sense that you'd want to create a will to protect those assets and state who should receive them upon your death.
On behalf of Vizzoni Law Firm, L.L.C. posted in Estate Planning on Wednesday, August 29, 2018.
When you create an advance directive, you lay out your wishes for medical care in writing. These are decisions you would typically make in person, at the time they need to be made, but the advance directive gives you some insurance if you're unable to do that. You can address things like what lifesaving machines you want the doctors to use and whether or not you should be resuscitated.
Should you give more money to a child who needs it?
On behalf of Vizzoni Law Firm, L.L.C. posted in Estate Planning on Thursday, August 2, 2018.
You know that you want to be fair when you leave your money to your children. But does that necessarily mean leaving them equal amounts? This is one of the biggest questions that parents have to ask themselves.
On behalf of Vizzoni Law Firm, L.L.C. posted in Estate Planning on Friday, July 20, 2018.
You have an heir with special needs, and you are trying to figure out your best course of action during your estate planning. You want to provide for that person and help him or her significantly after you pass away, but you do not accidentally want to do something with unintended consequences. What should you do?
Why don't people think about estate planning?
On behalf of Vizzoni Law Firm, L.L.C. posted in Estate Planning on Sunday, June 17, 2018.
When was the last time you gave some serious thought to your estate plan? If you cannot remember, or if you have never done any estate planning, you are not alone. We will all need it eventually, so why don't we think about it more often?


text:
Departments Clinical Departments Department of Neurosurgery of undergraduate and postgraduate study
kyrgyzneurosurgery@mail.ru
0 (312) 66-23-66
Str. Togolok Moldo, 1
Mamytov Mitalip Mamytovich
Tashibekov Zhumabek Tursunbaevich
Assistant of the Department.
Keneshbek Bakirbaevich Yrysov
keneshbek@web.de
Ruslan Mannafovich Kadyrov
Turganbaev Bakytbek Zholdoshbaevich
Shamshiev Altynbek Turabayevich
Karimov Sultan Kudaiberdievich
Seideldayev Adilet Janybekovich
Kanyev Alimbek Amirbekovich.
A brief history of the Department
The teaching of neurosurgery to KSMI students began in 1976, when a neurosurgery course was organized at the Department of Neurology. For 6 years, neurosurgery was taught only in practical classes, with only 8 hours allocated for this purpose.
The official teaching of neurosurgery at the Kyrgyz State Medical Institute began in 1985 as part of the Department of Neurology for a course in neurosurgery. Twelve hours of lecture and 14 hours of practical instruction were allotted. Professor M.M. Mamytov was the head of the neurosurgery course.
 In 1999, for the first time in the history of KSMI  was opened an independent Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery . The personnel potential of the department within a short period of time has become incomparably high.  At the same time, doctors of medical sciences M.M. Mamytov, K.B. Yrysov, B.B. Kulov, and associate professors Z.A. Kadyrova, T.M. Omorov, G.K. Abitova worked at the Department.
 There are still three doctors of medical sciences working  at the Department , one of them is the academician of National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, and two of them aree neurosurgeons with the degree of candidate of medical sciences. The department carries out a large research work with the defense of doctoral and candidate dissertations.
Since 1999 to 2008, there were separate chairs of Neurology and Neurosurgery No.2 of KSMA.Since 2008, these departments have been reorganized into a single department of "Neurosurgery Pre- and Postgraduate Education".
The main educational and methodological methods of teaching are used in the study of neurosurgery: students' work at lectures, practical classes, protection of clinical case histories, in-depth study of certain sections of the course using reference books and monographs, and independent examination of patients. The neurosurgery program is compiled taking into account the peculiarities of teaching at the medical, dental, and pediatric faculties as well as at the faculty for foreign citizens.
Clinical sites of the department
г. Bishkek, 720409, Togolok Moldo str. 1, National Hospital of the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic.


service providers (such as cleaning services, suppliers, maintenance, trainings, etc.) and manage contracts related to professional servicesOrdering new furniture, equipment, stationeries, branded items, etc.
Assisting in the continuous improvement of the Office management department's activities, such as activities related to the reception desk and cleaning services.


Why "Mad Max - Fury Road" is not Just a Monstrous Melee in the Desert, or Why We Love this Inspiration for "fury"
I'd like to talk about Mad Max – Fury Road as an inspiration for our show. It's contemporary, recognizable, and a head turner. All things we wanted when exploring movie references for our story. But a couple years ago when I was coaxed into going to see the movie, it was one of those I expected to forget, thinking it would just be a big, absurd chase through a desert. I was surprised to find that I left the theater chuckling and respecting it, and I'd like to share why. For starters, its female and male heroes are equals - in drive, intensity, physical strength and mental stamina. We can probably chalk up even more points for Furiosa, who has taken it upon herself to rescue imprisoned women. But she and Max are also equals in their misery - dirty, hobbled and emotionally shelled-off, tortured by loss and despair. They are both raw nerves who can trust no one. They battle each other and everyone else until, finally, out of options and facing a hopeless future of more torturous isolation, each must transform in the core of their souls. The risk each must take is an internal one, requiring equal measures of uncertainty and vulnerability. They have to stop going it alone and rely on someone else. That's one thing that touches us about Fury Road. We all run into the wall of doom that total self-reliance throws up in front of us. We all struggle with whom to trust. A super hero's courage is never more tested than when she must admit she's wrong. Don't we all face the super hero's challenge when it comes to that? For Furiosa, admitting she's wrong means facing the unimaginable – going back to the very place she thought she had left forever. Never mind retracing a parched landscape and facing another death battle to get there. This is one of the most interesting questions Fury Road brings up. It asks us to ponder what is "home", and the inevitable futility of chasing a place we can finally be happy. Its stark question is that if your home is hell, isn't that the battle you have to fight? Isn't real heroism found in facing what is, and bringing your talents, your power, and even your fury to making that better for everyone? The desert blow-up of Fury Road unearths other deep questions about what makes a place home. Is it as much a state of mind as a place? Is it given to us, or do we make it? Max and Furiosa survive, physically and emotionally because they decided to trust each other. Is home really found wherever there are people you can trust?
LIlie Hoy, me, James Jackson and Luke Acret.
I am exactly in the middle of two film shoots for "Unbound", San Francisco Ballet's New Works Festival coming in April 2018. SFB chose 12 choreographers to make 12 new 30 minute works which will premiere in four programs over the course of two weeks in April. It's an exciting burst of new creation for this company which is already known for consistently commissioning new pieces by well known, new and diverse choreographers.
I am directing two short dance films based on the stage ballets by two of the choreographers: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Alonzo King. I could not be more thrilled to be creating art films from the work these two very different and important choreographers have created for the stage.
We shot the film based on Annabelle's piece, "Guernica" on November 5th. She was inspired by the Pablo Picasso painting with the same title, and choreographed a gorgeous ballet with mythological characters that move with punctuated, angular steps, sweeping swings and lifts and distinct group formations that convey drama, challenge, and resolution. The short dance film I'm making will show separately from the ballet in various events SFBallet has planned leading up to the live performance, as well as online when the ballet premieres. We have just finished a rough cut of the edit, and are now diving into the deeper details of making it... well what can I say but.... really cool.
Annabelle is a Columbian-Belgian, award winning and sought after choreographer, having made works for over 50 dance companies around the world.
I will be shooting the Alonzo King piece on January 9th, and will write another post about that soon! Stay tuned.
The new ballet for which I did projection and set design premiered at Ballet Sun Valley on August 24th. Gemma Bond from ABT was the choreographer, and Judd Greenstein wrote a complex and varied new score for the live orchestra. It was all quite ambitious for a summer dance festival, but it came off beautifully! The cast was big with 15 dancers, and starred Isabella Boylston and Marcelo Gomes in the leads. The title of the ballet, "eight/twenty-one/seventeen" is the date of the actual solar eclipse that took place on August 21st. We were all lucky that Sun Valley was directly in the path of Totality, andI I hiked up Dollar Mountain to watch it with Judd and orchestra conductor Martin West (from San Francisco Ballet). As a projection designer, lets just say I was thinking that Mother Nature sets a high bar for light shows. Seeing the gorgeous full corona was special.
Gemma wanted the ballet to be abstract, and include a platform for dancers to be above the stage level, so we set a circle element behind the platform. I used simple, bright moving color bands, color gradients and ripples in the video design to express the moods and changes in the music.
Isabella Boylston made her debut as Artistic Director for the two night event. The full cast of dancers she invited was unbelievable: Misty Copeland, Tiler Peck, Maria Kotchekova, Stella Abrera, Ida Praetorias, Tyler Angle, James Whiteside, Xander Parish, Kimin Kim and more. The performances were in the outdoor Sun Valley Pavilion which was a perfect place for this incredibly exciting new summer dance festival.
Backstage with Isabella Boylston and Marcelo Gomes on the first night.


Claudia - Name Meaning, What does Claudia mean?
Claudia ▼ as a girls' name is pronounced KLAW-dee-ah. It is of Latin origin, and the meaning of Claudia is "lame". Feminine of Cladius (see Claude). Biblical: a Christian woman of Rome greeted by Paul in his second letter to Timothy. The name was thus used by those looking for religious names which were not those of saints. It has been recorded for use from the 16th century. Literary: Colette's novel was named "Claudine at School". Actresses Claudette Colbert, Claudia Cardinale; model Claudia Schiffer.
Claude, Claudette, Claudie, Claudine, Clodagh and Gladys are the popular related forms of Claudia (#761 FROM CURRENT RECORDS) ranked in the Top 2000. Usage of these relations of Claudia was widespread during 1900-1909 (MEDIAN #1041) and has become significantly diminished since.
Claudia▼ is pronounced similarly to Cloudy. Other recommended sound-alike names are Alathia, Alaysia, Alidia, Allidia, Amadia, Blaisia, Blaysia (see Blasia), Braulia, Cacia, Cadie, Caidie, Calandra, Callia, Camia, Canda, Candi, Candia, Candias, Candie, Candis, Candita, Cardin, Carlia, Carmia, Cassia, Cathia, Caylia, Cearia, Chalia, Chanda▼, Chandra▼, Chandria, Chaundra, Chaunta, Cindia, Claea, Clair, Clairita, Clara▼, Clarecia, Claresa, Clareta, Clari, Clarica, Clarie, Clarina, Claris, Clarisa▼, Clarita, Clariza, Clarrie, Clarrisa (see Clarissa), Classie, Cloelia, Cordia, Cyndia, Eladia, Elainia, Elidia, Elodia, Fadia, Faunia, Flavia, Heladia, Ilania, Ilaria, Kadia, Nadia, Paladia, Placidia, Sadia, Shadia, Vardia and Wardia. These names tend to be less frequently used than Claudia.


Our team will be happy to sit down with you and go over your dream goals in a new home build before getting started on the detailed plans. We will work hard to ensure the home build is drawn up to your exact specifications to give you the ultimate result in new home construction.
Once you call us at Schleg Valley Construction, we will set up a time to sit down to go over your ideas and needs. We will ask a list of questions to ensure we share your vision in regards to whatever project that you may have in mind.
If you are noticing that you are developing problems with your sewer lines, this is never something that you want to let fester for too long. Waiting could leave you having to deal with a major issue where sewage will back up into your drains in the showers, sinks, tubs, and toilets.
The thing with sewer line emergencies is that you tend not to notice that anything is wrong until something major happens. If you are having wastewater coming back up into your shower and tub drains or your sinks, this is an indication that there is a problem with your sewer lines that have to be addressed as soon as possible.
If you start to notice that you have slow drains or there are gurgling noises coming from the toilet when you flush it, you can give us a call at Schleg Valley Construction and we will send someone right out.
Our high-powered water sewer jet equipment will break through anything that is gumming up the works in your sewer line so that it can flow freely once again.
Once you notice gurgling noises, foul smells, or slow drains in more than one location in your home, it is time to call us so that we can come out to do an inspection. We can then work on unclogging the sewer line and talk with you about any potential repairs or replacement you should have done.
If it seems like there is something going wrong with your septic system, this is something that needs to be addressed sooner than later. We have trained septic technicians who will be happy to come out to your property to perform a full inspection to determine your needs.
You are responsible for the portion of the sewer pipe that rests on your property, so if something goes wrong on your end, you will need to fix it in a timely fashion. We have trained technicians that will come out to your property to do an assessment and determine the best course of action to get the repair work started.


text:
Q: Como encontrar posicion en un arreglo comparando con el nombre de la variable En un arreglo necesito comparar con el nombre del objecto, me explico me dan un codigo 61002
la idea es recorrer el arreglo y buscar si mi codigo 61002 esta en el nombre de un objecto dentro de la lista, y en caso de que coincida poner alli un valor.
[
{"VM_61001":""},
{"VM_61002":""},
{"VM_61003":""}
]

Quedando el arreglo de la siguiente forma.
[
{"VM_61001":""},
{"VM_61002":"dato"},
{"VM_61003":""}
]

He intentado con esto:
   for(var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++){
        if(arr[i]['VM_'+codigo].indexOf(codigo)){
           arr[i]['VM_'+codigo] = 'dato'
        }
      }

A: Asi puedes encontrar el dato y cambiarlo:
let data = [
   {"VM_61001":""},
   {"VM_61002":""},
   {"VM_61003":""}
]

const code = 61002;
const finalCode = "VM_"+code;

data.find(d => d[finalCode] !== undefined)[finalCode] = "Hello";
console.log(data);

Resultado:
[
    {
        "VM_61001": ""
    },
    {
        "VM_61002": "Hello"
    },
    {
        "VM_61003": ""
    }
]

Si no estás seguro que algún objeto del array tenga esa clave, puedes almacenar el dato en una variable y compararla antes de intentar asignarle un valor

A: Intenta con esto:

var my_array = {
"VM_61001":"",
"VM_61002":"",
"VM_61003":""
};

var codigo = "VM_61002";

for(var [key, value] of Object.entries(my_array)) {
   if(key == codigo){
      my_array[key] = "dato";
   }
}

console.log(my_array);//muestra el array modificado

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


I have never felt so many different kinds of stress!
One of the things about opening a brewery that you go through is STRESS! Thats right, a word deserving of capital letters, because it is not something, when you are dreaming of this, that you think about at all. In fact I had friends and other entrepreneurs tell me about stress, and I always dismissed it, or paid it some superficial lip service about how I was a laid back guy and it wouldn't get to me. Well it did get to me over the past month.
What I have realized is there are different levels of stress. I will try and talk about each and how it relates to starting a brewery.
Instantaneous Stress: This is the stress that comes out of nowhere, like being late for a meeting, which is very intense and lasts a very short period of time. Often it is unexpected, and comes and goes before you even realized what the heck happened. I don't mind this kind of stress, as I don't loose sleep at night thinking of how I am going to be late for a meeting the next day because of traffic or not leaving enough time to get there.
Decision stress: As I have blogged about previously, there are heaps of decisions you need to make when you open a brewery. Name, bottle size, engineers and architects, size of tasting room, branding, financials, company structure …. you get the idea. Sometimes, you only have the odd decision to make, but other times you have 5 or 6 big decisions to make and they compound to make the decision even harder. How do each of these decisions cumulatively effect your business, and will you end up with the company that you thought you would have?
Performance stress: Ok, it might put a smile on your face, but it isn't that kind of stress! This is the kind of stress I feel when I think about me as an individual living up to my expectations, and those of my shareholders, and everyone else that is depending on this business to be a success. Full stop, I worry that my performance in the day to day operations will be good enough.
Long term success stress: This is the kind of stress that keeps you up at night. Will I be able to make money, will I be happy, how will this business effect my personal/work life balance, and will I have any investors that want to be friends with me if this business goes bankrupt? When you are investing thousands of hours in time, and thousands of dollars without a paycheque, failure is not an option. I am far too old and far too deep into life to have another "learning experience." The only way I can cope with this stress is yoga before bed and exercise. It seems to be the great balancer in my life, an I hope to always have time for this.
Family stress I think we all feel this, and it goes without saying; the stress of my families well-being and happiness is more important than anything else. I love my wife and kids too much to sacrifice their long term happiness. How will my kids respond to me being gone 12 hours a day for the first year of this business? How will my wife feel about the same thing? I think the only way to deal with this is to unplug 1 full day a week, and to pick your spots when you work versus when you spend time with your loved ones. I only hope I get the right mix!
Beer Nerd Stress: Thats right, I said it. I worry about how our beer will be received from the world of beer nerds. While we are certainly going to sell our beer to everyone that wants to purchase it, I think the opinion of local and abroad beer nerds really matters to me. I want to make beer that I would be proud to serve to those "in the know". Unique, unapologetic, and delicious. I would hate my brewery to be a company that was put alongside other less than respected breweries. It would ruin this whole process and take away from my dream to be a respected brewery.
I've Got Something to do: This is the stress associated with having a deadline, and a finite amount of time to complete this task. This stress is right up there for me. Its like a real life episode of Chopped. Recently I ran a couple focus groups on naming my brewery (I will blog more about this later), and the days leading up to the first focus group was intense. It was 2 days of preparing, emailing, calling, booking, rebooking, re-emailing, buying, printing …. etc. This is a really hard type of stress to deal with, as any escape from this stress will only put more pressure on you.
The stress of all these things …. In other words the stress of all this stress!: The last bit of stress that comes to mind, is the stress of all these things. Cumulatively, all these stresses can stress you out. This is the kind of stress that can really impact you both in the short term and definitely in the long term. The only way to deal with it is to stay positive, believe in yourself and those around you, and to make lists. Ok, maybe there are some other ways also, but every person is different, and I am certainly one that falls into that category.
My next blog will focus on the naming contest, and the 3rd stage of that process. I hope that we have our list of 3 names in the next couple days, and then pass this out to the world for their opinion.
This entry was posted in Misc, The Journey and tagged Beer, Beer Nerds, British Columbia, Canada, coal harbour, Craft beer, East Vancouver, How to Open a Craft Brewery, Microbrewery, Parallel 49 Brewing, Starting A Craft Brewery, Storm Brewing, Stress, Success, Vancouver on October 31, 2013 by locuswest.
First Focus Group Results …. coming soon!
On Tuesday of this week, we had a focus group with the purpose of getting feedback on naming our brewery. It was the first time I've planned and implemented a focus group, so it was many things rolled into one, not the least of which was a great learning experience.
Like anything in life, preparation is the key. It was something that I prepared myself for, and even knowing that there was a lot of work for something like this, I was blown away by how much work it actually took. I did keep a total of the amount of time I spent organizing this focus group, and up until the minute things started, it was 48 hours of work. Where the hell did 48 hours go you ask? Let me tell you: Organizing participants, preparing questions, meeting with the moderator, securing the space, getting the food and beverages, printing copies of questions and non-disclosures, etc, etc, etc.
The focus group itself went well in my mind. There are always questions you would change, formatting alterations you would make, and slight differences you would make if you did it again. For the second focus group that we are having this Sunday, I will likely only change one question.
A huge component of the focus group is your moderator. Luckily I had the help of a real craft beer enthusiast and very personable, yet professional individual. I can honestly say, that next to the preparation involved, the moderator can make or break the implementation. Rebecca was so unbiased, and also so personable, and was able to take the outline I gave her, and worked with it in her own way.
The feedback was somewhat expected and completely unexpected all at the same time. While I would love to go into the details, I will wait for our second focus group to complete before commenting on them. What I can say, is that the results will help us pick the name that is right for our brewery. What we do know is the name we pick will represent what we are doing, what words are meaningful and what name fits with the local market.
I will update everyone more after we have our second focus group on Sunday and get closer to having our list of names narrowed down to 2-4 finalists.
This entry was posted in Marketing and tagged British Columbia, Craft beer, focus group, Starting a brewery, Starting A Craft Brewery, Vancouver on October 24, 2013 by locuswest.
Another short post today, as I have a bunch of items to tend to. We have been gathering quotes, engineers information, opinions, and mixing them all together with our budget and timeline and it looks like we are getting close to making a decision on our floors.
At first glance, our floors seemed like they were not solid enough to build and construct things on top of. However, since this time we have continued to gather information and we are now more sure that we can make the floors work. Like everything, its just a matter of how much money you want to throw at the problem.
The focus group is coming together nicely, and I hope we get the right mix of people attending the sessions. We are focusing on craft beer enthusiasts, in hopes that they will help us with naming our brewery, and a few other minor details we are interested to learn more about.
Lots to do, and in the next week I will be sure to blog all about it.
This entry was posted in Brewhouse on October 19, 2013 by locuswest.
OK, so thank you to everyone that has sent in their name request. We had an overwhelming response from the community, and we are grateful for this. I think the name of our brewery is on that list, and I hope we can now move onto phase #2 in order to find out what the general public feels.
So we now move to getting feedback from a small group of individuals in order to move us towards naming our brewery. If you would like to comment on any of the names on the list, please feel free to send me an email, or you can post a comment on this blog. I would love your feedback and it will help us move onto the next stage.
For now, I am going to contact some people for a focus group, and hopefully you can make the dates that are available for discussion.
Lots of other stuff going on, not the least of which is making a decision in the next couple weeks on our space, and whether we are going to remove subjects or not. My fingers are crossed and I hope that things continue to move forward as they have so far.
This entry was posted in Marketing on October 16, 2013 by locuswest.
I often wonder how many breweries can a City, Province, Country and Continent support? As an entrepreneur and soon to be brewery owner, the concern is always in your head that the market reached a saturation point with businesses. Eventually, craft beer market share will stop coming from Molson, Labatt and other International giants. It will indeed come from other like minded craft breweries, which means I can taketh and I can giveth.
In the United States, the Brewers Association indicates that there 2,538 breweries operating in the country as of June 2013. It also states that there are an additional 1,600 in the planning stages. If you take a 90% survival rate, that would make about 4,000 total breweries operating in the USA. That is a lot of beer, and one would have to think, reaching the point of saturation. In fact, you can read this article posted in the USA Today, which looks at this very question.
In Canada, best estimates put the number of breweries at about 300, and within 5 years, that number is expected to reach 400. Where is the tipping point? Well no one knows for sure, but not unlike our counterparts south of the 49th parallel, with every new brewery, we take another step towards saturation.
All of this plays in your mind when you open a brewery. It fundamentally matters what you stand for, the type of beer you make, and how you put all these moving parts together to form your brand. It would be my opinion that as the market gets more and more crowded, new breweries need to carve out a more focused niche. It used to be that making a craft beer was enough of a differentiator, but with more breweries doing more unique beers, being uncommon becomes a good play.
It feels like this is the path that we are going down with our brewery. It just seems to make the most sense to me, and when something makes sense, I usually jump in with both feet. When I look at the breweries that have opened and experienced success, they all stand for something.
Do you think Vancouver could support a brewery that focused on beer from one area of the world? What about a brewery that focused on Low Alcohol beers or Gluten Free Beers? Or do you think a brewery that focused exclusively on Sour beers, or different types of Saison would do well? What about doing what Steam Whistle does, and only make one beer? What about a brewery that only sourced local ingredients?
These are some of the options that are coming into play with new breweries, and ones that we have kicked around. At the end of the day, I am going to brew beers that I believe in, and hopefully others like them as well. There really is no other way to go, and to be honest, doing otherwise would be somewhat disingenuous. As for the number of breweries, this is not something I can worry about. It would be counterproductive for me to focus on what others are doing, at the expense of conveying what we are doing.
Back to my Excel spreadsheet I go. It seems that I am spending far too much time making the numbers work. My topic for next time will be the tasting room and what are some of the decisions and qualities that are important in designing one. For now, I will leave this parting thought. I hope that we are a ways from saturation, for it will make the task before me that much more attainable.
This entry was posted in The Journey and tagged 33 Acres, Four Winds, New Breweries, Niche, Number of Breweries in Canada, Number of Breweries in USA, Parallel 49, Red Racer, Starting A Craft Brewery on October 7, 2013 by locuswest.


This handout was prepared specifically for the first year course of the Oxford B.A. in English. Students on other courses may nonetheless find some useful advice about close reading of Old English texts.
In the exam, you will have a choice either of writing a commentary on a passage of verse, or of translating a short unseen piece of prose. The poems set for commentary are The Dream of the Rood, The Battle of Maldon, The Wanderer, and an extract from Beowulf (lines 702-897). You will generally be offered two passages, from which you choose one on which to write your commentary.
You must make sure that you know the four poetry texts very well. Initially, it is necessary to map out what is happening in the plot. These are relatively complex poems, and you may find that making a clear plan of what is happening will help you. For Rood, be clear about which passages are spoken by whom. For Wanderer, be aware that there is some critical debate about how many narrative/speaking voices are contained in the poem, and that editorial punctuation may affect our attitudes towards this argument. For Maldon and Beowulf, be sure that you know what is happening at each point in the action - who does what to whom?
It may be that you need to read the texts in translation a few times to get these aspects clear in your head. However, always remember that your work in the exam must be a reaction to the Old English, so there is no substitute for knowing these texts well in their original language.
Probably the best way to approach these texts for commentary is to annotate your own copies with details of interesting features. In order to be able to scribble on and highlight the texts, you could make photocopies of the texts from Mitchell and Robinson, or cut and paste them from an online source. If you choose this latter option, correct the text against the one in Mitchell and Robinson, since there may be the odd difference in word forms or punctuation which can make a big difference to your understanding of the text.
In the exam itself, take some time to look through the offered passages and decide which one you want to attempt. Your choice will be affected by many factors. Primarily, you will want to choose the passage which you think offers you most scope for comment; the one in which you see more interesting linguistic and literary features. You have three hours to write three answers, and one of those hours should be dedicated to the commentary/translation element - so you have plenty of time to spend reading and planning.
The following is a series of suggestions as to the content of your commentary. The specific Old English linguistic and literary features you choose to discuss will, of course, depend on the passage.
This is an essential feature of your commentary. Begin with a very brief summary of where we are in the poem: state what happens immediately before and after this extract, and who is speaking (whether the narrator or a character). Be very careful, however, not to start telling the whole story of the poem from the beginning - it is sufficient to give enough context to show that you know the placement of the passage in the poem as a whole.
What is the significance of this passage to the poem as a whole? Does it add to the dramatic action? Does it introduce a new character or idea? Does it advance the plot? Does it explore a theme or idea? Does it relate to the themes explored in the poem as a whole? Are there particular concepts (religious, philosophical, political) which underpin this extract, or which are necessary to understanding it?
Again, this should be a relatively brief section of your commentary, showing that you understand the job that this extract does in the wider context.
Perhaps the most obvious aspect of the form used by Old English poets is alliteration. The relatively complex alliterative system is intertwined with strict metrical schemes. For an introduction to this, see Peter Baker's discussion.
Be cautious of making too much of alliteration and metre, since any comments on the effects produced by these techniques are likely to be subjective and rather fuzzy ("repetition of 'b' slows down the reader", "alliteration on 'w' creates a soft ambience"). Remember that the associations we have with certain sounds, as well as our pronunciation of them, may be entirely different from those of an Old English author/audience. Additionally, alliteration is better understood as a structural device rather than an auditory effect in Old English poetry, so to comment on the sounds as having particular meaning in and of themselves will almost certainly be anachronistic.
You may find, however, that a poet uses particularly ornate patterns, or patterns which do not fit the usual set structures, and this should be worthy of comment. Equally, it may be significant that a poet has written a particularly structured and formal set of lines which follow the "rules" very closely.
Another obvious aspect of Old English poetic form is the use of half-lines. You could consider how lines and half-lines relate to each other. Do lines run on at the end, or are they end-stopped? Is there a break between half-lines? What effects might these techniques have? Please remember that punctuation of Old English texts is always editorial, so you cannot comment on it as a feature of the text.
There is a good discussion of the grammar of Old English poetry by Peter Baker.
Consider also the poet's use of grammatical structures and the effects this might have. Is there a prevalence of a certain type of sentence structure (e.g. many simple sentences or much use of subordinate clauses)? Does the poet use unusual syntax? Are expected grammatical components such as subject or verb omitted?
It is likely that the discussion of vocabulary will make up a significant part of your commentary. It is important, therefore, that you have some idea of the categories you will use to discuss it, in order to avoid producing simply a list of interesting words.
Specific Old English poetic vocabulary is discussed by Peter Baker.
You may like to use his lists as a checklist when reading through the poems. Look out particularly for kennings. It is worth quoting Baker's admonition about looking up compounds and kennings in dictionaries: "you must be on your guard, for some glossaries may supply only an interpretation. To do so, of course, is to rob poetry of much of what makes it poetry. If you suspect that the definition of a compound is not literal but rather an interpretation, go to a dictionary and look up its elements separately."
You may find that a poet uses a series of words which are all related. This is referred to as a lexical field. For example, the words sword, fight, warrior, shield, blood, wound belong to a lexical field relating to battle. These last two might, however, belong to an entirely different field if they are placed in conjunction with words such as cross, sacrifice, church. This would then make a religious lexical field. Such groups of words may be used closely together in a few sentences, or spread out across a whole passage.
Verbs may be either dynamic or stative. A stative verb expresses a state or a condition, whereas a dynamic verb expresses an action. For example, to believe, to own, and to prefer are stative whereas to dance, to laugh, and to give are dynamic.
Nouns may be either concrete or abstract. A concrete noun names something that can be experienced with the senses, such as glass, sword, fabric. An abstract noun names something that cannot be experienced in this way, such as love, beauty, religion.
What would be the effect of a poet's using mainly dynamic or stative verbs, or mainly concrete or abstract nouns in a passage?
Consider the poet's use of adjectives and adverbs, and the effect these have on the things or actions they describe.
You might also look at the pronouns in a passage - are there many first-person singular pronouns (I, me, mine)? Or first-person plural pronouns (we, us, ours)? Does the poet contrast first- and second- or third- person pronouns (me/you, me/him, us/them)? What effects do different pronouns have?
In basic terms, figurative language is language which cannot be interpreted in a literal sense. Metaphor and simile are the most obvious examples, but hyperbole, metonymy, synecdoche, personification and many other techniques may be considered figurative because they demand an interpretation that goes beyond the literal meaning of the words used. Richard A. Lanham's "A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms" is an incredibly useful guide to figures of speech as well as other rhetorical techniques, and a good dictionary of literary terms should also prove helpful. Consider how much (or how little) figurative language is used in the extract. What or whom does it describe? What kind of techniques are used?
Be brief: expanding on a particular theme or topic is not the aim of a commentary essay.
Be relevant: every point you make should relate back to some aspect of the extract you discuss.
Be confident: get to know the poems inside-out, so that you can approach them with assurance and exercise your critical flair.