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Taken By The Bull – Bull Shifter Romance Novels
"You know, they call it 'the most dangerous eight seconds in sport'? That's how long most of these rides last, before the bull throws them off. All these 'rodeo clowns' have to run in and distract the thing, so it doesn't – HEY!"
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The van lurched and jolted sickeningly, throwing her sharply forward. The tablet PC on the dash clattered to the floor and rolled underneath the seat. If it wasn't for the seat belt holding her in place, she might well have followed it.
"Mikey!" She complained, gesturing in the driver's direction with the dark-brown pencil in her left hand. "Are you having fun, playing connect-the-dots with every pothole and rock on the road?"
"Oops." The man in the driver's seat cast a sidelong glance in her direction, a smirk on his lips. "Are you having fun, trying to research our guy at the same time as doing your make-up?"
"They're both equally important." With a sigh of resignation she placed the kohl liner pencil between her teeth and leaned forward, almost bending double as she reached around under her seat looking for the tablet. She was about to give it up as a lost cause when her fingers brushed across the warm chrome casing and with a triumphant grunt, she retrieved it.
"You'd better not have busted that thing," Mikey glanced her way before returning his attention to the road ahead. "You know how old man Minas gets when we mess with company-issued equipment."
"I'd better not have busted it? Me?" She passed her sleeve over the device, front and back, and returned to it its clip-stand on the dashboard. She couldn't be too angry with the guy; he was her driver, cameraman, editor, and one of her best friends to boot. "It's fine, so it doesn't matter! But give me a warning next time you see one of those baby canyons in the road, so I don't go taking my eye clean out."
If it wasn't for the way that artificial lights and an HD camera conspired to make anyone unfortunate enough to be caught between them look like they'd just crawled out of the grave, Staci Wilder wouldn't even have bothered with the powder and paint at all. But, it was all part of the job. Asking the right questions of the right people would only get her so far, if the viewers at home were getting all bothered about messy hair or dark circles under the eyes. It didn't matter that the two of them had been stuck in traffic between Jackson and Biloxi for six hours, that she'd only been given an hour's notice, or that it was her first big assignment. The people watching at home didn't know – couldn't possibly know – any of that. 'You can't argue with the cards you're dealt', her mother always said. 'But if you know the art of bluffing, you can still win every time.'
"So, what have you learned about our guy?" The van slowed as Mikey wove around a truck pulled up at the roadside with its hood popped, smoke billowing from the engine. "Between bouts of beautifying yourself, that is."
"Steve Law? Typical all-American success story." She adjusted the fold-down mirror. Pursing her full lips in concentration, she brought the blunted tip of the kohl pencil to the lash-line of her right eye and cautiously returned to finishing her quick-and-dirty make-up job. "He's ranked 21st in the world on the Professional Bull-Riders circuit, and is only on the way up. If he comes out on top in tonight's event, he'll have won his last ten. His brother Seth is riding tonight too, but Steve is the one everyone is watching."
"Why do we care, though? We – Pothole incoming!"
"Thanks!" Staci braced herself for the inevitable jolt. "We care, because Biloxi's his home-town. So if his winning streak continues, we've got ourselves a classic local hero story."
"Since when have we carried stories about bull-riders, though? What's so special about this guy?"
"That's a question I've been wondering, myself." She couldn't stop herself grinning, just a little. "I'm pretty sure it's only because he's cute as hell."
"Damn, I've known our Steve since he was fresh outta high-school, and he's always been a real talented guy." The old man in the cowboy hat leaned back against the barrier that separated the crowd from the ring, and flashed a wide smile right at the camera. "We always knew he was gonna be going places!"
Sure you did, Staci thought, smile never wavering under the scorching lights. Everyone always says that, when a local kid makes good. "So!" She almost had to shout to be heard over the clamor of the crowd. "What do you think of his chances for making this his third time at taking first place with the judges, here in Biloxi?"
"Oh, he'll make his mark, I got no doubt about it, at all! Everyone knows, Steve's a natural at this sport – no matter what Starbucks throws at him, he'll always be one step ahead!"
'Starbucks'. The name of the bull that Steve Law was slated to be riding that night. From the way everyone talked, it was as if the animal was almost as important as the man riding it. It was just another oddity that Staci didn't understand; how could they all make such a big deal out of a beast that, under different circumstances, most of them would be happy to slap in the middle of a sesame seed bun?
"Well!" She shot the man her best smile, a wasted effort since he was squarely focused on the camera. "With a home-crowd like this, I'm sure he'll do it!"
Turning to Mikey, she signaled for him to cut; the too-bright smile dimmed instantly as she sighed, and fanned herself with her hand. Was there enough time to get another quick spot with one more member of the audience before the man himself made his appearance? Probably not. "Thanks for your time, sir."
"Not a problem, darling!" The old duffer in the hat switched his attention back to her, his smile widening. "Always got time for a pretty thing like yourself. How's about you and me-"
"Staci, we got to get into position for the main event!" Mikey cut in quickly, gesturing towards an open space to the side of the press area. "Let's go!"
Bless you. "I hope you enjoy the show, sir!" With a quick wave of her hand, Staci was already in motion, weaving through the crowd with her cameraman in tow. "Thanks for that," she told him in a low voice. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to the ones who think that the smiley-happy act is for their benefit, and not for the camera."
"Oh, he probably knows." Mikey responded with a shrug. "Just trying his luck, is all."
"This looks perfect. Here – let's get in by the barrier." With just a little elbow and a lot of maneuvering, Staci led Mikey to the best vantage point she could find. The bigger sporting networks had the best spots, of course; but that wasn't going to stop her from getting the footage she needed to make this report good enough to run with. "How's this?"
He gave her the thumbs up, and positioned the camera squarely. She moved to his side, one hand on the barrier, braced to ensure that anyone who was going to jostle Mikey and ruin the shot would have to get past her, first. "As soon as his ride is done, pan over to me, okay? I'll say a little something-something about how amazing it all was, and we can get everything in a one-shot with the crowd going crazy all around us. Sound good?"
"Sounds like you got everything covered. He's coming out of that chute on the far left, yeah?"
"Yeah." She pointed to where the sturdy gate blocked off the moving figures inside, getting ready for the door to spring open and unleash the bull and its mount into the ring. "Michael Yeung, you better make sure you're focused on the right spot, or I will slap you silly. Got it?"
"You sound like my mother! And my mother is batshit crazy!"
"I'll be batshit crazy if my first real assignment gets screwed because our money-shot winds up being a stretch of sawdust and the feet of a rodeo clown."
The voice of the announcer boomed out over the PA system. The crowd began to applaud, even before the gate slammed open. These people really love this guy, huh? She thought, shading her eyes from the floodlights. I guess-
Then the gate was open and out lurched the pale, bucking form of the bull, and the rider dressed in black. Holding on with only one hand held tight to a rope wrapped around the beast's body, the other hand held aloft as if to wave on the cheering crowd who rose to their feet as one. His fingers were forked in a peace-sign as the bull spun around and threw itself into the air, landing back on all four feet only to launch itself skyward yet again; heavy shoulders bunching and back arching as it kicked its feet and stamped.
The rider stayed on its back, swinging his weight easily to counter the frantic pace of the beast. The buzzer that signaled that the first eight seconds had passed sounded, and still, he stayed on.
And people do this for fun! Staci took a half-step away from the barrier as the beast drew closer, spinning with the force of a captured tornado. Her back collided with a stocky man who had both his arms thrown up into the air and just for an instant she was convinced that the bull was going to smash into that barrier, take it down, and crush her beneath it –
Then the rider slipped from its back and onto his feet, striding away from the thrashing beast as brightly-dressed rodeo clowns ran forward and caught the attention of the bull; suddenly calm, it lowered its head and snorted, forelegs spread apart.
Those railings are made to take a hit, she told herself as the fluttering of panic settled down again, settled down like a flock of butterflies coming to rest. But damn, that was something!
The crowd hollered and applauded, stamping its feet as the bull trotted away towards the exit chute. The rider they were all praising turned slowly around, grinning widely as he brought his own hands together as if he were, in turn, applauding the crowd.
He stood only ten feet from where Staci and Mikey had set up their camera, and as he completed his turn he was facing their way. His grin was all perfect teeth, tanned skin and five o'clock shadow on a handsome face shaded beneath his wide-brimmed old hat. In that Stetson, black shirt and waistcoat, he looked like something from another time and place. A hero from an old black-and-white Western.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught a blur of frantic movement and she turned her head, startled out of her reverie; and saw the camera turned her way, Mikey signaling wildly. Oh, damn! I clear forgot that I asked him to pan over – damn!
She snapped back into reality, a wide professional smile lighting up her face as she turned her whole body to face the camera. "And that was Steve Law! Born and raised right here in Biloxi, sending the crowd wild with one amazing ride!" It took a whole lungful of air to give her voice the power it needed to be heard above thousands of cheering people. Keep calm, look cool.
She tilted her head to one side, a strand of hair falling over one eye. Vaguely she was aware that she was gripping the microphone just a little too tightly. "A ten-second ride, lasting long past the buzzer! Like everyone says, he makes it all look so easy! Hopes are high that he'll make a real mark at the PBR Championship Finals later this summer!" Did that sound like I know what the hell I'm talking about? Because, I really don't! "This is Staci Wilder with JMN News, reporting from the Mississippi Coast Coliseum!"
It felt like her cheeks were about to split as she held that smile just long enough to be sure that Mikey had enough to edit with; then finally she relaxed with a deep sigh, wiping her hand across her forehead. "Wasn't that something?"
"And you were telling me not to mess up the shot!" Mikey rolled his eyes as he flipped out the built-in screen to check the footage. "I got two clear seconds of nothing but you, giving him the googly-eyes!"
"I did not have googly-eyes!"
"Whaaaaaatever," the camera operator drawled, stepping to one side to let a slab-shouldered old cowboy past. "So what now, boss?"
I like it when he calls me 'boss'. "We gotta get an interview with the guy, of course! So let's go!"
"Googly-eyes, I tell ya." His voice was just loud enough for her to catch as she slipped by him, heading towards the backstage area. "I know that look."
They weren't the only ones with a mind to get a few minutes with the man of the moment, it seemed. Other news crews had already set up shop, and the press had to compete against the average well-wisher. At least it wasn't quite as blazingly hot in the shaded area around the back of the arena.
"I'm staying put, for as long as it takes." More than anything Staci wanted to lean back against the wall, and let the cool sheet steel take a little of the warmth off her back – but she knew that if she moved away to the side they could kiss good-bye to any chance of being front-and-center when Steve Law finally showed his face. "Though I swear, I'm getting a blister the size of the State fair."
"That's what you get, for wearing heels." Mikey rubbed at the back of his neck, tired from hauling around their equipment all night. "You know, the camera can't see your feet, right?"
"I need those extra inches. The Good Lord didn't exactly bless me in the vertical department, you know." She could feel the back of her silk shirt clinging to her skin. I gotta remember not to turn my back to the camera. When changing into her outfit earlier, all she'd cared about was how the white fabric made a pleasing contrast with her darker skin; but now she was feeling conspicuously overdressed among the cowboy boots and plaid shirts. "The smell of those hot-dogs is just about driving me crazy."
"Ol' Steve isn't worth the wait, ma'am." She turned her head to see a man in his mid-twenties leaning against the wall like an outlaw, arms crossed over his red shirt, hat pulled down over his eyes. "On the other hand, those D. Walker hot-dogs are damn fine specimens of their kind, so I hear."
I know him. Staci's eyes narrowed, even as a slow smile started to stretch her lips. I'm sure of it. "I don't believe we've met, Mr…?"
"I'm Seth." He tipped his hat, and extended his hand in her direction. "Not Mr Seth, just Seth. And who might you be?"
"Staci Wilder, JMN News." As she took his hand and shook it, her eyes never left his. The square jaw, the dark eyes and straight eyebrows – the resemblance was striking. "Seth Law, right? Steve's brother? I was hoping to get a spot with you, as it happens!"
"Were you now?" He shot her a knowing smile. "I'm pretty sure, it's my rising-star big brother that you're really wanting to talk to."
"Not at all!" The response was quick, automatic, as practiced lies often are. The moment it passed her lips it left a nasty taste in her mouth, and her own smile faltered. "Well, that's not entirely true. My boss wants us to have a few words with Steve, but really, I don't know anything about bull-riding. I didn't have a clue who any of you were before this morning, so I haven't exactly got stars in my eyes."
"You don't say?" He looked her up and down, from her head to her heels. "And here was me, thinking that you looked just like the kind of girl who grew up on a farm."
"Are you making fun of me, Mr Seth Law?" From the corner of her eye, she saw that Mikey had swung the camera around and was catching every word of this on tape. "Would you mind giving us a few minutes of your time, to answer a few questions?"
"I'd rather not." His shoulders lifted in a casual shrug. "Always been a little camera-shy, myself." Perhaps the disappointment that Staci felt showed on her face, because he bit his lip, looking thoughtful. "But hey, if you want, I can get you a few moments with ol' Steve. He's a sucker for a pretty face and a little attention."
Staci's eyes lit up at the sound of that. "If it's not too much trouble! It'd surely make my boss a very happy man!"
And me, too. But shh. It'll never do, to look too eager.
He pushed himself up and off the wall, and nodded in her direction. "Well, if you and your man there want to follow me…" With a casual gesture of the arm he beckoned them to stay close as he turned and walked away, not towards the backstage door – but the exit, nodding to the burly guard who stood in front of it.
I hope he's not going to prank us – just show us outside and then shut the door, locking us out while twirling his mustache like a villain. Taking a deep breath, she shot a glance towards Mikey before following Seth. No, he couldn't do that. He doesn't even HAVE a mustache. Surreptitiously she crossed her fingers as the door opened and let in a blast of cool air, following Seth Law outside into a late evening beneath an indigo sky, lit by bright sodium lamps.
And walked right into the middle of an argument.
"It doesn't even bother you?" Twenty feet away from the exit door, a tall blonde in a neat Grey skirt and frilled red blouse ranted at a broad shouldered figure, her voice carrying easily over the muted sounds of the crowd inside. "You're happy to show-boat and play the big-man hero, despite everything?!"
Well, damn, the young reporter thought. Is Mikey still filming all of this? She looked towards him and saw that both he, and the camera, were pointedly facing away from the scene; but the little red light that signaled that the camera was recording was still on. "Um, Seth?" She kept her voice low, not wanting to call attention to herself. "Should we, ah, come back later?"
He shot her a lopsided grin as the woman with the shock of champagne-blonde hair stamped her foot in annoyance, and turned their way. "Fine!" She snapped. Kitten-heels clicked as she strode purposefully along, passing the little group by the door – and then stopped, gray eyes fixing onto Staci. If she hadn't been wearing such an ill-tempered look on her face, she could have been a catalog model. "More idiots coming to give him the spotlight? Well, I wouldn't bother! He's not half the man he pretends to be, sweetheart."
Then she turned to Seth, and her entire demeanor changed like a light switch had been flipped. "Hiya, Seth! Always nice to see you."
"Likewise." Eyebrows twitching upwards, his expression never shifted from polite amusement. "Always a pleasure."
With a gracious gesture he moved out of her way; she nodded her head once and left through the door that they'd only just arrived through, striding quick and fast like a cold breeze in high-class clothing.
"Well, that was… Something." Staci wasn't entirely sure what to say about that. Even if she'd been doing this job for ten years, she doubted she'd ever know quite how to act after walking into the middle of a skirmish like that. It was just so – so awkward. But surely, she had to say something? A professional woman like herself needed to always have an answer for everything, right?
Thankfully she was saved from blurting out the first thing that came to mind by a rich, deep voice echoing out from the half-light. "Well, I do apologize about that." The tall figure who had been reclining against the wall straightened up, and walked their way with a slow, confident stride. "Can't tell a lie and say that this is the way I like to be introduced to a strange face or two. I've never been one for the personal dramas. Judging from that camera you two are truckin' around with, it might just be that such things are more your cup of tea than mine."
Up close like this, he seemed much taller than he had been when standing in the arena; at around six-two, he stood a clear ten inches taller than Staci did. Every inch was built of lean, solid muscle, with wide shoulders and big hands – and just like before, she found herself almost believing that he wasn't real at all. That maybe, he was a silver-screen cowboy from a time that existed only in celluloid, a ghost from the wide dusty plains and blue skies of a film-maker's vision.
This is it. After two years of unpaid internship and another three years working on obituaries and grocery-store openings, her break was finally here. Remember what you have to do, she told herself. Get him good and softened up, before slipping into a few questions. "Congratulations on your winning ride, Mr Law. I'm Staci Wilder from JMN News. How does it feel, breaking your own record right here in your home-town?"
There was a slight pause as he met her practiced, breezy faux-charm. "You're all business, you." He looked over to his brother, and the two shared a knowing smile. Staci wondered what lay behind that look. Just – answer my questions, please! "Let's start at the beginning. Nice to meet you, Miss Wilder. I'm Steve."
Just as Seth had done, he extended his hand towards her, eyes shadowed beneath his cowboy hat. Slowly she reached out and found her small hand enveloped in his – his fingers were strong, his skin warm and slightly rough to the touch. Staring up into the darkness cast by that old hat, she found herself trying to look back into the eyes that she instinctively felt were on hers. "Hi, Steve." Her voice felt as small as her hand did, and equally lost within his expansive presence. "It's good to finally meet you. Might…. Might I ask you a few questions?"
"Like I could refuse a pretty lady who asks so nicely." He released her hand, and tucked his own into the pocket of his black jeans. "Fire away."
"How – ah-" For an awful, gut-wrenching second her mind went as blank as a cloudless sky. Then the words came, all in a rush. "How did it feel, breaking your own record?"
"Right here, in my home-town?" As he filled in the missing part of the question, he nodded thoughtfully; as if those words were mere coincidence. "It felt good, of course. Just like I'd always dreamed, ever since I was a boy."
It wasn't quite the answer that she'd expected. Sure, the words were all there, but there was a strange lack of feeling – as if none of this was a surprise to him. Not at all. "So, what comes next for you?"
"Have you ever gotten everything you'd wanted, everything you'd planned for, and then found that the world just keeps on rolling around the sun?"
What…? Staci's smile faltered, her eyebrows drawing together quizzically. "I, well – can't say I rightly have?" The quick-moving and confident speech of the professional, aspiring reporter was gone. Just like that, she was left grasping for the right thing to ask.
"It's the most peculiar feeling. But not a bad one, I'd say." A casual shrug tilted his shoulders, a half-grin lighting his face. "I guess, I should tell you how I'm gearing up for the Championship in Vegas. But really, all I'm thinking of is getting back to my bed, and waking up tomorrow for a day's work on the ranch. Winning titles is a grand thing, but honoring our family's legacy is what really matters."
They own a ranch? What am I saying, of course he does. Just look at him! "I've never been to a ranch!" The moment the words left her lips, she could have kicked herself. This was rapidly starting to sound like less of an interview, and more like a casual conversation over dinner. A casual conversation where she fumbled her words and embarrassed herself horribly. Come to think of it, that was how many of her dates tended to go.
Her thoughts raced, dizzyingly fast. Get us back on topic girl, before you blow it! "You're a hard-working guy, Steve! Have you got a message for all of your fans here in Biloxi?"
"Let me see… Keep supporting the PBR!" For the first time he looked right at the camera, taking his eyes from Staci. "But really, thank you all. I've been all over America, and one day away from Biloxi is one day too long."
"Well. Thank you, Steve! It's been wonderful chatting with you! And good luck on your road to the Championship!" This… Hadn't gone quite as smoothly as she'd expected, and she could feel the tension in her shoulders and face as she turned back to the camera. "This is Staci Wilder for JMN News, at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in beautiful Biloxi. Good night!" Her smile froze into place for endless, aching seconds until Mikey signaled that the take was done. Her entire body sagged and she heaved a deep sigh from the bottom of her lungs. "Phew."
"Are you alright, Miss Wilder?" Steve's low voice murmured. "You seem a little tense."
"You could say that." Now that it was done – now that she knew there was nothing more that she could do – a strange and giddy lightness flooded her senses. Mikey's puzzled expression told her everything she needed to know about how well it had all turned out. "Truth is, I don't know anything about bull-riding. So I feel like a real fish out of water, and just about as flailing."
"I think you did a wonderful job." His tone was so reassuring, she could almost believe it; and it coaxed a smile from her, looking up into his eyes. "Here." He reached up, and took the cowboy hat from his head, setting it on her own. He had a gentle way to him, despite being such a big man. "Have this as a souvenir, ma'am. If you got time before you're on your way, why don't you come on over to the Double Thunders tomorrow? I always got time to talk a little while about this little sport that I play at."
Self-conscious and a little flustered, her hand stole up and touched the brim of the hat as if to check that it was really there. It was too big, of course; and it smelled faintly of some light and musky cologne. "The – the Double Thunders?"
"That's our ranch," Seth spoke up. That sent blood flushing to her cheeks; she'd almost forgotten that he was there. "You ask just about anyone, they'll point you our way."
"I'd like that!" The answer came too quickly, sounded too enthusiastic. "Perhaps we will." She paused, grasping for the next thing to say. "Thank you for the interview – both of you. And, well. I hope you get to clear the air with your girlfriend, too."
From the corner of her eye, she saw Mikey's eyebrows shoot up as if they were propelled by jet-fuel, and Steve chuckled good-naturedly. "Ah, Dawn's my ex-fiancee. I doubt the air will ever really be clear, where that one is concerned."
She opened her mouth to speak some silly platitude, about there always being more fish in the sea, about how someone like him would surely find someone else; but thankfully common-sense reasserted itself. "Well, ah. Thank you again for your time!"
"The pleasure is ours." With a polite little incline of the head he stepped past, always keeping two feet of space between the two of them. "Come see us, y'hear?"
"Good night, guys." Seth added as he turned, and headed to the door that led back inside. "Later!"
It wasn't until the door closed behind them that Staci finally let loose the breath that she'd never even realized she was holding. "Whew! Thank the Lord, that's all done with."
"A consummate professional," Mikey replied, dryly. "I think you might just win a Pulitzer for your insightful and probing commentary. 'I've never been on a ranch before!' Truly, inspiring stuff."
"Shut up!" She raised her fist to punch him in the arm, and then remembered that he was holding several thousand dollar's worth of camera equipment. "You're a real shithead, Mikey!"
"And you've got a crush on Steve Law, but hey. I'm sure that no-one will notice."
"Of course I don't." Scowling, she crossed her arms over her chest. "In fact, I'm starting to think that what's-her-name might have had a point."
"You'd think that someone who had this record-smashing victory would be a little surprised about it, wouldn't you?"
With a grunt, Mikey shifted the heavy camera from his shoulder and held it under one arm while rubbing his neck with his free hand. "That's true. Seemed like no big deal to him, didn't it?" He glanced over his shoulder in the general direction of the car lot; it seemed that he was starting to think about getting back to the van, and to their hotel rooms for the night. "You got that look about you. That look a cat gets, when it knows there's a mouse hiding behind the furniture. So, what's on your mind?"
"Well." Staci shifted her weight from one foot to the next, feeling the sting of her blistered feet. "I'm still working on that. But let's just say – I think we'll be stopping by that ranch, tomorrow."
"Aw, hell no!" Mikey groaned. "I gotta be back in Jackson by eight! I'm due to be… Meeting someone."
Staci cocked her head to the side, narrowing her eyes playfully. "Mikey got a date?"
"Hell yeah, Mikey got a date. Sort of. Look, all I know is, I really like the guy and the last thing I wanna do is show up late. So whatever you're planning – have a heart, and don't break mine."
"Don't worry!" She replied, airy, reassuring. "It'll all be just fine. Come on, let's get ourselves to our rooms for the night, so you can get your beauty sleep."
There was something about a clean, bright hotel room that always made her feel as if she were a princess, or a CEO; in this day and age, perhaps they were much the same thing.
Her phone felt pleasantly warm against her ear as she listened to the sound of the ring-tone on the other side. With a sigh she collapsed across the white linens spread across the double bed, bare legs crossed at the ankle. After a few beats, the call was answered.
"Hey, Tina! This is Staci Wilder." Studying the ceiling above, she noticed that the plaster had been smoothed into the shape of sea-shells. Pretty. "Is Mr Minas in tonight? I'm out in the field, and there's something I need to ask him."
Moments later she was again listening to the sound of the dial-tone, before a familiar, lightly-accented voice answered. "Staci! I wasn't expecting to hear from you, this late."
"Hey, boss." Despite herself, she grinned a little. The head of JMN News had never been anything but kind and warm-hearted towards her; more like a father, than an employer. "I know it's late. I'm sorry about that. But there was something I wanted to ask you."
"And what would that be, my dear?"
"Well – it's about this story. The bull-rider guy, remember? Now, it might be nothing, but the more I think about it, the more I think it might be something. And I was wondering if Mikey and I might be allowed to stay on a few more days, to follow it up."
"Go on. I'm listening."
She drew a cautious breath. No matter how well she got along with the boss, he wasn't the kind to throw money away on a story that wouldn't be worth the run-time; she had to sell the possible story to him, and sell it well. "This guy – Steve Law. Now, he's a real charmer, don't get me wrong. Kind of a sweetheart, and his brother, too. But, when I was interviewing him, there was something… Something not quite right there. And I'm not the only person to notice."
"Ah. I see. What kind of 'not right' are we looking at here? Drugs? An affair?"
"Better'n that." I think I got him hooked. Now…. Just gotta reel him in… "Just about everyone we interviewed said the same thing. "He's such a natural, he makes it look easy." And we ran into his girlfriend – well, ex-fiancee – and she said something about how he's not half the man he pretends to be."
Staci rolled over onto her stomach, almost tangling herself up in the hotel bathrobe. "Then, we hear about how he runs a local cattle-ranch with his brother. He rides cows, he tends cows – well, bulls. Same thing! And I'm starting to think. Maybe there's something more, to all of this." Her fingers tapped lightly on the coverlet as both her words and her thoughts began to race. "This winning streak and all this success – our home-town hero might be finding a way to tip the odds in his favor. Can't be entirely sure, but – I think, his ex knows more than she was letting on. Maybe he's cheating his way into the finals."
A brief pause on the other end of the line. "A fallen hero. Professional misconduct. It's always something worth following up on."
Alone in her room, Staci grinned triumphantly; Mikey might have to miss his date tomorrow night, but it was all for the good of the story. She was sure he'd understand once the accolades rolled in.
"Thanks, boss!" Having gotten clearance to follow up the story, her mind was already busy planning out her next move. "If Steve Law really is a cheater, I'm going to find out. And I'll tell the world exactly what he really is."
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Rod 2.0:Beta #gay #news #lgbt #gaynews: Did a Top Obama Advisor Indicate Support for Marriage Equality?
Did a Top Obama Advisor Indicate Support for Marriage Equality?
Following a Monday speech at Boston College's School of Law, President Obama's senior domestic policy aide implicitly acknowledged that she differed with Obama on the issue of gay marriage. Or did she?
Melody Barnes is the President's Domestic Policy Adviser and the Director of the Domestic Policy Council, which coordinates the domestic policy-making process in the White House. Barnes reportedly told a gathering of students that she sympathized with a questioner who expressed support for marriage equality, attendees tell the Huffington Post.
"Paul Sousa, a co-founder of the GLBT rights organization Equal Rep, and the individual who asked Barnes the question, described the scene this way. "I ended with this, 'I know there isn't much you can say right now because it's your job to defend President Obama even if he is wrong on a domestic policy stance. What I would like to know is - whether or not you support equal civil marriage rights for gay and lesbian Americans and if so, are you speaking or will you speak with President Obama on this civil rights matter?' For her response, Ms. Barnes did state that she supports marriage equality and can appreciate the frustration that our community is feeling. She [said she] is trying to move the ball forward with other action items (DOMA, DADT, ENDA)."
An "anonymous" White House disagrees with Sousa's account and maintains Barnes stayed on message. Sousa, the Facebook-based activist who is one of the organizers behind the online LGBT donor boycott of the Democratic National Committee, now says there is "proof" the anonymous staffer "lied".
John Aravosis at AMERICABlog: "It's been 4 days. Why has the video of the event not been released publicly? You'd think it was a scandal that a White House official might have been support of the g-a-y-s."
Before working for the White House and the Obama campaign, Meldoy Barnes was an official at the Center for American Progress, the progressive think tank that publishes Think Progress. It's probably not a stretch to imagine Barnes is pro-marriage equality. But is she advising the White House to move quicker on gay rights such as ENDA and DADT? And why the big mystery about what she said Monday?


text:
Scirnce Fiction
Reborn Rich: 1x14
Do Jun fails to become the CEO of Soonyang Financial Holding Company because of Seong Jun's scheme. Just when he was despondent over the loss, Mr. Lee Hang Jae handed over the will Chairman Jin Yang Cheol left for him separately.
Soonyang's Loyal Servant Nov. 18, 2022
Can You See the Future? Nov. 19, 2022
Foresight or Just Luck Nov. 20, 2022
Chairman Jin's Lifetime Goal Nov. 25, 2022
Opportunity or Miracle Nov. 26, 2022
The Man Behind Chang-je Nov. 27, 2022
Do-joon's Declaration of War Dec. 03, 2022
The Rule of Primogeniture Dec. 04, 2022
Falling in Your Own Trap Dec. 09, 2022
Don't Trust Anyone Dec. 10, 2022
Who Tried to Kill Me? Dec. 11, 2022
The Hidden Agenda Dec. 16, 2022
His Last Dream Dec. 17, 2022
The Brothers' War Dec. 18, 2022
Family Feud Dec. 24, 2022
The Repentance Dec. 25, 2022
Silenced 2011
V.I.P. 2017
I Saw the Devil 2010
The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil 2019
Toxic 2022
The Man from Nowhere 2010
Summer Ghost
The Witch: Part 2. The Other One 2022
DramaHive

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: I want to know the difference if the value in an object in JavaScript is undefined The variable 'bar' are all undefined. But is there any difference between obj.bar and obj2.bar?

const obj = { foo: "foo" };
console.log(obj); // { foo: 'foo' }
console.log(obj.bar); // undefined

const obj2 = { foo: "foo", bar: undefined };
console.log(obj2); // { foo: 'foo', bar: undefined }
console.log(obj2.bar); // undefined

A: In the first case, the bar is not declared. But in the second case, the bar is declared and defined to undefined.
Pretty tricky, the way to find it is, if you use Object.keys(obj), you can't find bar.
Also, using obj.hasOwnProperty('bar') will give you false. Thanks to deceze♦ for pointing it out.

const obj = { foo: "foo" };
// console.log(obj); // { foo: 'foo' }
// console.log(obj.bar); // undefined

const obj2 = { foo: "foo", bar: undefined };
// console.log(obj2); // { foo: 'foo', bar: undefined }
// console.log(obj2.bar); // undefined

console.log(Object.keys(obj));
console.log(Object.keys(obj2));
console.log(obj.hasOwnProperty('bar'));
console.log(obj2.hasOwnProperty('bar'));

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
The Step Not Beyond
by Blanchot, Maurice (1992)
This book is a translation of Maurice Blanchot's work that is of major importance to late 20th-century literature and philosophy studies. Using the fragmentary form, Blanchot challenges the boundaries between the literary and the philosophical. With the obsessive rigor that has always marked his writing, Blanchot returns to the themes that have haunted his work since the beginning: writing, death, transgression, the neuter, but here the figures around whom his discussion turns are Hegel and Nietzsche rather than Mallarme and Kafka. The metaphor Blanchot uses for writing in The Step Not Beyond is the game of chance. Fragmentary writing is a play of limits, a play of ever-multiplied terms in which no one term ever takes precedence. Through the randomness of the fragmentary, Blanchot explores ideas as varied as the relation of writing to luck and to the law, the displacement of the self in writing, the temporality of the Eternal Return, the responsibility of the self towards the others.
Blanchot, Writing, Literature, Hegel, Nietzsche
Cite this page as though it were a secondary source, thus the inline citation should be (Blanchot, M. 1992 cited in Deranty et. al. 2022). In the references, use:


text:
India's crude steel output up 8% in July, says World Steel Association
By PTI Sept 3, 2018 6:25:57 PM IST (Published)
India's crude steel output increased by 8 percent to 9 million tonnes (MT) in July this year, according to the World Steel Association.
The country had produced 8.33 MT crude steel in the same month a year ago, the association said in its latest report.
"Global crude steel production was at 154.6 MT in July 2018, a 5.8 per cent increase compared to July 2017," it added.
China's crude steel production for July stood at 81.2 MT, an increase of 7.2 per cent as compared to 75.7 MT in the same month of 2017.
Japan's output fell by 2 per cent to 8.4 MT in July 2018.
The US produced 7.3 MT of crude steel in July 2018, an increase of 4.5 per cent in comparison to same month of the previous fiscal.
South Korea's crude steel output grew marginally to 6.2 MT in July 2018, followed by Turkey 3.3 MT.
Brazil's crude steel production stood at 3 MT, up by 6.7 per cent from July 2017.
World Steel Association is one of the largest industry associations in the world. Its members represent about 85 per cent of the world's steel production.
They include over 160 steel producers with 9 of the 10 largest steel companies, national and regional steel industry associations and steel research institutes.
crude steelsteel outputWorld Steel Association


text:
Scuba Schools International (SSI) is een van de grootste opleidingsorganisaties ter wereld op het gebied van de duiksport.

De organisatie werd in 1970 opgericht door Robert Clark. Inmiddels zijn er zo'n 1.800 dealers verspreid over 90 landen.

Overal ter wereld heeft SSI 'Regional Centers' die de contacten met dealers onderhouden. SSI-dealers zijn professionele duikwinkels, duikscholen, duikschepen en ook bijvoorbeeld universiteiten.

Duikvereniging

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Every feature and setting in AbleOrganizer that can be customized can also be exported. This capability allows you to create your own custom distributions of AbleOrganizer that can be set up through a web-based installer. These are called branded installations.
You might want to consider creating your own branded installations of the platform in the following situations.
You have a specific methodology for engaging with communities and want to configure the tools around it for your own system.
You are part of a chapter-based organization that needs to set up new installations for a large number of chapters.
You work with external clients and want to use AbleOrganizer as a platform that reflects your own identity.
You just need specific layout / contact / activity / relationship / report settings with every new installation and don't want to have to set them up over and over again.
There are a number of potential downsides to creating your own branded installation. You want to be aware of these and take steps to mitigate them.
It's possible to overwrite key features in the base platform. This limits the support you can get from other members of the community and your ability to benefit from other contributions.
It's possible to break compatibility with future releases of the platform. This complicates your ability to upgrade the system over time.
It's possible that your enhancements might not be backwards compatible with other releases of AbleOrganizer. This limits your ability to distribute and share specific components in the system.
It's possible that you are creating a fork of the platform. While there's nothing wrong with creating a fork per se, it does have the potential to fragment the community of people using AbleOrganizer. Open source communities are healthiest in numbers.
It's possible to run afoul of the GPL license. This is mostly a situational concern that basically revolves around distribution. If you plan to take AbleOrganizer and turn it into a commercial platform that you distribute without releasing the code behind your enhancements, you can get into gray areas really fast.
With the discussion about downsides out of the way, it's pretty easy to understand how to create your own branded installation of AbleOrganizer. There are a number of things you can customize in the core platform, and they include the following items, along with many, many others.
It should be understood there is no single way to customize all the components in AbleOrganizer. The platform is robust and your specific goals can be accomplished a lot of ways.
There are ways of building a branded installation that minimize the potential downsides. This article focuses on those techniques.
As a rule of thumb, the basic rule of many open source software projects applies: don't hack core. Hacking core will most likely lead to problems that will affect you over time, which will cost money, take time to resolve, and affect your sense of self-confidence and enjoyment of life. Even if you do not run into problems in the short term, you will have to live with the knowledge you broke a cardinal rule of working with open source projects until the inevitiable day some disaster strikes. Disasters only strike on the wrong days, at the worst possible time and when they can cost you the respect of your peers and the people you care about.
If you are going to change something within the underlying platform, the contributed modules, or anything you did not build yourself, consider writing a patch instead. Patches are much easier to track and their impact can be understood without needing to search through every line of code. Patches can be applied through automated installers and shared with project maintainers for eventual incorporation into the base platform.
Search the web for articles about 'writing a patch for Drupal' if you need to learn how to write a patch. Seriously, it is a lot better to know how to do this than to be watching over your shoulder for problems that will emerge from hacking core.
There are a lot of techniques for building portable code in Drupal websites. The standard currently in use for AbleOrganzier is features.
Features provide you with a way to export settings through a web-based administrative interface. You can use them to export a ton of settings: contact types, activity types, relationship types, content types, specific fields for each of the previous entities, forms, reports, contexts, settings for user accounts, permissions, and about 90% of the other things that will go into a branded installation.
There are some best practices for creating features included in the documentation for AbleOrganizer, as well as a set of best practices maintained on the Drupal.org website. Read through these articles and pay special attention to the points about avoiding feature conflicts.
One thing that is hard for people to get their heads around is the importance of of cloning and overriding tools in AbleOrganizer instead of overwriting them.
This is a little counterintuitive to someone who has customized the platform. You may have used views or panels to change the way a report looks, or to create new filters for the main list of contacts. You want to share these items with other people.
Overwriting basic components leads to situations where updates to the platform can overwrite your customizations. In general, when you are building a branded installation of AbleOrganizer, it is best to clone a tool and give it a unique machine name instead of exporting a customized version. There are tools for cloning views and panels available within their respective interfaces.
Another thing to understand is that views and panels can be enabled and disabled programmatically. You can write code within a feature that turns the default item off so that your cloned copy is used instead. This is what is meant by overriding.
If you are going to export sample content with your branded installation, use the UUID and Deploy modules. There are a number of advantages to taking this route. First off, it allows you to include photos and other media within the exported content. Secondly, it allows you to make your content portable between websites.
Heads up! Future version of AbleOrganizer are going to make extensive use of UUID for keeping data synchronized across multiple sites (this includes contacts, activities, relationships, content, users, paths, tags, and a lot of other stuff). Becoming familiar with UUID and Deploy now is worthwhile because it means you are preparing yourself for the next version.
The basic steps involved in exporting content through UUID and deploy are as follows.
Download, install and enable both modules.
Deploy your content to the plan.
Create a feature that contains the deploy plan.
Export your plan to the feature.
If you are going to create a branded installation of AbleOrganizer, you are likely going to want to create your own look and feel for the site. You can create a separate look and feel for the frontend of the platform, the CRM section of the platform, and the backend of the platform.
In general, unless you want to put work into building your own theme from scratch and maintaining it over time, it is best to use a contributed theme for Drupal. You can take any supported them and use it as a base theme for you own work. Currently, AbleOrganizer is using the Omega theme as its own base theme and simply styling it to look the way it looks.
You will most likely want to stick with a theme that is well supported. Look at the number of installations and how long the theme has been around.
You will mostly likely want to stick with a theme that supports mobile devices.
Different themes offer different options and settings. Look around and find the one that is right for you.


Discussions around CoreSight implementation for ARMv7/v8 chips including both - kernel and user space side building blocks.
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The 3 C's act as a cyclical foundation of our primary spiritual growth process.
We gather together weekly to celebrate God's active involvement in our lives and in our church family, thanking Him for His grace and mercy.
We experience biblical community as we connect in a relationship with God which influences our relationships with others.
We impact our world as our love for God overflows into our love for others. We do this by using our time, talents, and treasures to contribute to God's ministry.
Our core values are more than just words, they are ideals on which we as a church place high value. They are what help guide our actions and help us stay on target to what God is doing through His church. They each act as a filter which helps us to remain focused on and be true to the vision that God has set before us.
We want you to know that this church is God's church period. In everything we do and all that we are we seek always to make it all about Him and not about ourselves. We believe when we do this, He directs and guides in the ways that are right. He leads and we follow.
(Proverbs 3:6) MSG Listen for God's voice in everything you do and everywhere you go, He's the one who will keep you on track.
We understand that the message and the mission of who we are doesn't change but how we communicate the message and how we fulfill the mission does. Example- Jesus and the two blind men. One week you may be in a book study and the next week in something a touch more topical, but it will always be relevant to our lives and backed by the word of God.
(Hebrews 4:12) – For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
We want everyone to develop deep meaningful relationships with God and others both in the church and beyond – to love like Jesus did.
We are not a church of perfection because we know we can never attain that. We are, however, a church that seeks to do things with excellence. We believe anything worth doing for God is worth giving our absolute best–always. That's why you won't see tattered and beat up furniture in our kids areas, or you won't see instrumentalists on stage who don't know how to play, or hear a message from someone who hasn't worked on it. When you come to an outreach event like Love Ocala or Jump Start, our team members our giving our best for God and to people. We believe and practice excellence because God and his people are worth that.
(Colossians 3:23) Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
You will not find anyone here who has it all together. We believe that in order to become right with God we have to be authentic and real with Him. The same is true with us. Don't ever be afraid to be real because of what you think others will think of you because there is no judgement. You're in good company because we all have a story that God is still writing for each one of us.
(Hebrews 4:1) Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.
(Psalm 139:23-24) Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.


This double fronted 3 bedroom detached home is a new version of the Forge ET, it still provides contemporary living space using traditional proportions with its eye catching chimney stack creating a focal point to its carefully designed exterior.
A central entrance hall gives way to a modern kitchen/ living / dining room with French doors leading to the garden. Additional full height windows ensure natural light becomes a key feature to this space. The large separate lounge provides a sophisticated sanctuary offering a superb balance between family life and personal space.
Upstairs in this charming property you will find a spacious master bedroom with en-suite, two further well proportioned bedrooms and a family bathroom. This house really does offer everything for family life.


September 9, 2011 – The perils of digital. | What I got rid of today.
← September 2, 2011 – The Red Shoes.
If ever there were a mascot of the RID project, it might be this book.
You see, I picked it up in Scotland recently — and after I read a few chapters I realized that I had already bought it and downloaded it to my iPad. Yep, bought the same book twice. If ever there were a reason to RID everything I can…and go digital for most things, that's it.
So, as I RID this excellent book today about the study of pleasure, I remind myself of the simple ones — reading, enjoying, and NOT consuming.


I really enjoyed coming to this pub, karaoke is amazing and bar staff usually really up for a bit of banter with you. Recently I went on a Monday night with a few work mates. already a bit tipsy. We were all sitting having a laugh. There was darts on and we were making too much noise for the few customers that were in. barman rudely told us to tone it down. Now I dont know about you but (it's a pub). Anyway, wanted to let people know that it's great fri n sat night but I dont recomend during the week if your wanting a laugh.
cant believe how different the chesser looks inside now. really modern and feels good. loads of plasma tvs, even in the booths. otal refit. comfy place to watch the footie and a place you'd call your local. well done with all the changes. good luck.
definitely a place you want to visit. if you want somewhere to watch the football then this is a must. what a difference to how it was before.
What a great change to this pub. clean, modern and has enough plasma screens for all to see the sport on tv. anyone should enjoy the atmosphere whether for sport, music or just a drink. soon to be one of the only places in edinburgh for poker players too!


Corelle dinner plates – Dinner plates are a very important part when someone talks about glassware. A good set of dinner sets with beautiful plates forms a very important part of one's household. An important factor when buying a dinner set includes durability and strength of equipment. When looking for someone's plate, it's usually very special about the design and color set.
The Corelle dinner plate is the brand name when it comes to dinner dishes. For years people have been using this plate without complaints. They are good to look and last. Such features have made it popular among the public. These plates serve as a set of parties that people prefer because they are durable and easy to maintain. They have various options that give reason to become popular. In addition, this plate is also known for its low price. They are available at low prices so it is very easy for people to buy them and use them.
Additionally, the material used to make this plate is very good and durable so people do not hesitate before buying it. They are available in a variety of designs and patterns that provide a variety of options to choose from. People can choose from a variety of designs of their own choice. They are also available in almost all retail stores across the market with various colors, designs and shapes. This gives a very royal view when used on the side as it is nice to see, light and easy to hold. It improves the atmosphere of the dining room when properly placed for dinner. They have the added advantage of being easily cleaned with liquid soap and it is not important to rub it with soap or a hard detergent.


You can stop in for a cup at the new DAVIDsTEA shop in Bucktown, but the Canadian loose-leaf tea retailer would rather infiltrate your kitchen cabinets. It's already infiltrating Chicago: The Bucktown location opened earlier this month, and new stores in Lincoln Park and Lakeview are slated for later this fall.
DAVIDsTEA hasn't waited too long to cross the border. Founded in 2008, the company opened its first United States stores in New York last year, and it touched down in San Francisco this past summer. The Chicago openings lead the pack of other expansions across the country, and the company expects to open its one-hundredth store by the end of the year. Chicago is no stranger to tea companies–Argo Tea launched in Lincoln Park in 2003–but DAVIDsTEA focuses on a luxe home-sipping experience.
That little moment of bliss is what hooked Nicole Mourino, a Wicker Park-based painter and arts administrator who frequented DAVIDsTEA when she lived in New York.
"We always really imagined a variety of flavors and tastes and an environment where people could engage with the product and explore their senses," Segal says.


Using Strain Gauge Bolt-On Sensors In The Mining ApplicationMining Complex in Australia Used 3-Hole Strain Gauge Bolt-On Sensors For Bin . As a result, the industry has been massively supported by strong equipment,.uses or applications of strain gauge in the mining industry,Application Of Strain Gauges In Measurements Of Strain Distribution .Hoffman K., 1989, An Introduction to Measurements using Strain Gauges, HBM . Cook R.D., 2002, Concepts and applications of Finite Element Analysis,.Industrial benefits of utilizing traditional strain gauges | HBMSensors are extremely important in the modern world. They are used to measure many different quantities in diverse applications such as testing, data.
Aug 20, 2013 . Sensors hold considerable importance in the modern world. They are used for the measurement of a number of quantities in a range of.
Aug 8, 2013 . The most-common force sensors based on strain gages are load pins, shear beams, and tension links. Truck weighers are a common force-sensor application. . on cranes and wire tensioners on safety cages used in mines. . Full industrial controls take it further and spur machine responses based on.
Nov 26, 2014 . The bonded resistance strain gauge is by far the most widely used in . In a strain gauge application, the carrier matrix and the adhesive must.
LOAD CELL FOR MINE SUPPORT SYSTEMS" submitted by Ms. Saswati . Vibrating wire type load cells are extensively used in mining applications .. Strain Gauge Load Cells- These types of load cells are most commonly used in Industries.
Application Of Strain Gauges In Measurements Of Strain Distribution .
Hoffman K., 1989, An Introduction to Measurements using Strain Gauges, HBM . Cook R.D., 2002, Concepts and applications of Finite Element Analysis,.
Application of indirect stress . Kaiser effect gauging, using the monitoring of acoustic emission to determine the . 4 Non strain gauge based methods of in situ rock stress ... routine method of in situ stress measurement in the mining industry:.
in underground mines and lead to reliable measurements that aid the engineering decisions .. resistors (R2, R3, and R4) by using switches on the strain gauge.
industrial scale, alternative ways of mill load measurement were investigated. Detection of strain changes in the mill shell during mill rotation, by using a piezoelectric strain .. more sensitive than the resistive system (wire strain gauge). . The first application of piezoelectric strain transducers, in 1982, involved force.
The strain gages can be used to measure the strain of all kinds of materials, . Features; Data; Application; Related Press Release; For Product Catalogue and . in Thailand and China for global market by original design and development.
Pillar's wireless strain gauge system will monitor pipelines that stretch across longwall mines to assess strain and damage. . Mesh Network Radio System for Redundant Communication Network; Easy-to-use Web Application for Mobile Devices; WiFi or Cellular Communications to the Cloud; Automatic . Industries Served.
Apr 12, 2017 . This SPIE Tutorial Text excerpt discusses the use of strain gauges in optical engineering. . Cover of SPIE Press Book Strain Gauges in Optical Engineering .. "Measuring Strain with Strain Gauges," Application Note 078, . Center at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, New Mexico.
DMS (DehnungsMessStreifen - the German for strain gauge) load cells are the most common . In industrial scenarios, several DMS load cells are often used together. . properties, specifications and examples of applications, search for load cell. . Industries. Industry overview · Cement & gypsum · Chemicals · Coal mining.
Strain gauges are designed to measure small deformations in materials due to changes . and can be used in both dynamic and static monitoring applications.
Scanimetrics' wireless strain gauge monitoring system can be used in a range of applications including strain measurement for mobile mining equipment, pipelines, plant equipment, buildings, and . Certifications, FCC and Industry Canada.
The two most widely used techniques for experimental stress analysis and transducer . The bonded resistance strain gage sensor represents the more versatile and widely . solutions to practically any weighing or force measurement application. . Their sensors and display systems are used in a wide range of industries,.
Our in-situ measurement methods for drive engines and industrial machines are ideal . in this field are operators of wind turbines, rolling mills, coal conveyors and . The application of strain gauges can be used for both short and long-term.
Technical Notes - Strain Gauges. Click on the red buttons to view technical notes on Geosense Strain Gauges. Features. Rugged proven technology. Vibrating.
TSM for strain gauges, bonding services and glue kits . A variety of technologies have been used according to the application but nowadays . in the aerospace industry, defence industry, automotive and subsea oil and gas choose . with ATEX and IECEx certification for Gas Atmospheres, Dust Atmospheres and Mining.
This paper compares measurements obtained from strain gauges . The grinding mill is a large rotating cylinder used in the mining industry to reduce the size of.


This is a blog about a back garden we are building in Frinton on Sea in Essex. To follow the progress of this project please subscribe for automatic updates on this blog. Please note, these updates do not represent the time taken to build the garden.
You will see in this, the second blog for this garden, we have now laid the paving for the patio in-front of the proposed summerhouse, this will now need to be pointed with mortar. The paving used for this patio is Raj Green sandstone and the brick paving is a Rudgwick brick paver. The brick paved entrance to the utility area has also been laid and is ready to be pointed.
The trellis screen has been erected around the utility area. This provides great screening for the proposed shed. The client also enjoys growing climbers, this heavy-duty trellis will be perfect for the climbers the client wants to grow. The retaining walls for the main patio are almost complete. Crushed aggregate has been brought in and compacted in 75mm layers. Once the wall is complete the rest of the sub-base will be brought in. The next stage will be the paving for this patio. More topsoil has been imported to provide a small step down from the patio.


A bill that would repeal gun-free zones at government meetings in Wyoming passed the state Senate by a 20-10 margin on third reading on Monday.
Senators did vote to amend House Bill 137, however, to specify that the bill would only apply to meetings held in places where firearms are not prohibited.
That amendment was approved to address concerns about legislative meetings that might be held on the campus of the University of Wyoming or any of the state's seven community college campuses. A bill to allow concealed carry permit holders to carry guns onto college campuses was defeated in the Senate last week.
But on Monday, senators for the second time turned back an attempt to leave the decision about whether to allow guns at government meetings to local governing bodies. Monday's debate on that amendment largely followed the same script as Friday's discussion, with supporters of the amendment arguing for local control and saying the state should not dictate such decisions.
Sheridan Republican Senator Bruce Burns argued that if the right to carry firearms is really an unrestricted right, that would mean anyone could carry a gun anywhere, including into courtrooms, bars, and churches, which are all locations where firearms are prohibited under Wyoming law.
Laramie Democratic Senator Chris Rothfuss noted firearms have always been banned from certain venues throughout Wyoming's entire history.
But Republican Senator Curt Meier of Lagrange said that even though most of the city councils in his district oppose allowing firearms at meetings "I took an oath to uphold the constitution." He says the Wyoming Constitution clearly stands in favor of the right to bear arms.


During an extreme testing procedures, MESA's MTLE5524 TL-15 safe demonstrated it is ability to withstand severe attacks by an experienced U.L. experts using powerful tools such as sledgehammers, drills, power saws, carbide disc cutters, etc., and based on the succeful test it was awarded the U.L. TL-15 label.
Exterior: 62" H" x 31" W" x 29.5" D"
Interior: 55" H" x 24" W" x 20" D"
Interior Storage Capacity / Cubic Feet: 15.3 cu. ft.
Approx Weight (Shipping Weight): 2343 lbs.
Overall Door thickness of 5¾" and is constructed with a 23¾" defense barrier of outer and inner steel plates creating a single strong structure enclosing a unique, high density fire and burglary Protection/resistant composite material.
Burglar Defense barrier houses a proprietary amalgamation of nuggets and steel fibers to withstand concentrated heavy attacks with the most sophisticated equipment used by burglars today.
The entire door coverd by Mesa TL-15 which offers a massive solid steel hard plate.
The Safe formed body has a total protective thickness of 3½"
The Safe formed body has a high density fire resistant composite material with nuggets and steel fibers.
The door frame has a reinforced drill resistant to protects the door and each individual bolt chamber from severe side attacks.
High strength 3 adjustable shelves.
Equipped with six to ten (10) massive 1½" diameter chrome plated solid steel locking bolts.
Each bolt moves deep into the body's protected bolt chambers.
Bolts stay in the retracted position when the door is opened and automatically engage when the safe door is closed.
Entire safe boltwork mechanism is also protected by a spring operated boltwork detent system.


No question: On Edge is the real deal from a writer who knows the territory, has faced the fear and seen the action.
In the lawless streets of Kabul and into the far outreaches of Afghanistan, Alex relentlessly hunts his friend's killer―and uncovers the truth. In real-life, an incident kept mostly out of the media―a monumental embarrassment to both countries.


SK Foods, the Monterey-based tomato processor under federal investigation, systematically hired undocumented immigrants as a source of cheap labor, depressing wages for the remaining work force, according to a lawsuit filed at the U.S. District Court in Fresno against the company.
The lawsuit, brought on behalf of former company employee Robin Brewer, was filed at the U.S. District Court in Fresno in late 2006 and named SK Foods President and CEO Scott Salyer as the defendant. The suit, pursuant to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, alleged that the company knowingly hired undocumented workers, thereby depressing the wages of the plaintiff and other legal workers.
The lead attorney on that suit, Nicholas Wagner of Fresno, was not available for comment Friday.
Early Wednesday, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service executed a search warrant at the company's Monterey headquarters, but the agencies remained mum Friday about what they hoped to find. It isn't known whether the raid is connected to the lawsuit.
Lisa Crist, SK Foods vice president of human resources and administration, said Friday that the company is cooperating with investigators.
"At this point, it's still very preliminary," said Crist. "We're still reviewing a lot of the documents trying to determine what was taken from us on Wednesday."
said Crist. "We are coordinating with the FBI, but haven't really had much feedback from them at this point."
Records and data were taken from the company's Monterey headquarters, said Crist, and warrants were executed at both of the company's processing locations in California — in Williams, north of Sacramento, and in Lemoore, south of Fresno.
SK Foods employs 300 full-time employees at the three California locations, with the numbers swelling seasonally to 1,200 employees at the height of the summer packing season.
The warrant search caught company officials and employees by surprise, but Crist said the company continued its operations without interruption.
"We are still committed to our success, our operations and our products and customers," said Crist. "We are definitely standing behind our products and our customers and our service each and every day."
She declined to discuss the status of any lawsuits involving SK Foods, citing company policy against discussing past or present litigation.
"We are going to take whatever means necessary to defend our company, our integrity and our products," Crist said.
SK Foods issued a brief statement Wednesday, stating that "the events of this morning have nothing to do with food quality and food safety issues."
The statement cited the company's investment in its employees and their training.
A second statement, issued on the company's Web site, was directed to employees, reassuring them that the company was still in business and that operations would resume as usual after the federal agents' search and seizure.
Marie Vasari can be reached at 646-4478 or mvasari@montereyherald.com.
SK Foods, an international food processor with headquarters in Monterey, is under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Arlette Lee, public information officer for the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, confirmed that a search warrant was executed early Wednesday at the company's Ryan Ranch office.
"We were out there on official business," said Lee.
But she said that because the warrant was issued under a sealed affidavit, she was not at liberty to reveal additional information, including the nature of the joint investigation or what authorities hoped to find at the facility.
At least one other location was searched Wednesday as part of the investigation.
SK Foods was established in 1990 and is now based in an office at 21 Lower Ragsdale Drive. Part of the SK Foods Group of companies, it processed more than 1.5 million tons of tomatoes in California in 2006. Among its products are tomato paste, diced tomatoes, salsas and sauces, diced green chiles, sliced jalapenos and crushed tomatillos.
In late 2005, the privately owned company signed a deal to process all goods marketed by Chino-based Authentic Specialty Foods, including sauces and salsas sold under the La Victoria and Embasa brands.
The products are processed and packed at SK Foods' facilities in Williams, a town north of Sacramento, and Lemoore, south of Fresno.
Salyer American Fresh Foods, a Salinas-based fresh produce supplier founded by his family in 1986, when the family-owned farming organization Salyer American diversified from grain and cotton.
The company has operations in California and Arizona. Its products are sold under the American Classic brand but the company operates as a division of SK Foods.
Along with its facilities in California, SK Foods owns Cedenco Food Ltd. of New Zealand, which is primarily involved in corn processing, and an Australian factory where tomato, pear and apple products are processed.
Salyer wasn't speaking to reporters Wednesday. But the company issued a media statement via e-mail through a company representative.
"The events of this morning have nothing to do with food quality and food safety issues," read the statement. "We want to reassure our customers, employees and friends that we clearly stand behind the quality of our products and employees and reassure our customers of the absolute safety of our products."
The company has hired Monterey-based public relations firm Armanasco Public Relations to handle media inquiries, said spokeswoman Leslie Borasi.
"We will share more information as we find out what the government is investigating and why," Borasi said.
Marie Vasari can be reached at mvasari@montereyherald.com or 646-4478.
MONTEREY, Calif., April 16, 2008 --- The events of this morning have nothing to do with food quality and food safety issues. We want to reassure our customers, employees and friends that we clearly stand behind the quality of our products and employees and reassure our customers of the absolute safety of our products.
Our company was established based on the principle of integrity; producing a product of the highest quality and dedication to our customer relationships. Our investment in our employees, their training and in our widespread facilities represents our commitment to the future and to our long-term success. We look forward to resolving this situation that is a business issue unrelated to our products' quality and safety.
See the online version of this story to read SK Foods' complete statement.
MONTEREY, Calif. – April 18, 2008 – SK Foods remains fully operational, despite the unexpected events of April 16, and our employees in California and worldwide continue to do an excellent job. Our high-quality vegetable products continue to be processed and distributed without interruption.
SK Foods attorneys are reviewing and assessing the situation. No one has been accused of any wrongdoing, and our team has cooperated fully with authorities. Our management team and our employees remain focused on doing their jobs, keeping our business strong and communicating with our customers.
The SK Foods family has long been noted for its principles of integrity, quality, and dedication to our customers, as well as to the vendors and growers with which we do business.
SK Foods is proud of its products, its employees and its reputation of integrity. We look forward to continuing with business as usual. And, we will be forthcoming with any new information as we learn more.
SK Foods is one of the world's leading processors of tomato and vegetable products for re-manufacturers, retail and foodservice marketers. With headquarters in Monterey, California, and processing facilities at locations in California, New Zealand, and Australia, SK Foods was established in 1990 and is part of the SK Foods Group of companies. For more information please visit www.skfoods.com.
How do you know what possible diseases might be spread when you don't even know if they're in the country legally or not. How do you know they couldn't and wouldn't do something to the safety of the food on purpose? Or even by accident. Not exactly reassuring to me.
Holy Smokes. If this woman and other employees have good proof of this and the FBI gets good evidence this is serious. This is the RICO law and is a federal offense.
I hope this scares the bejeebers out of other employers who are knowingly hiring illegals.
You know what I'm copying, printing and faxing this lovely article to Boxer, Feinstein, Pelosi, and my congressman. Oh maybe to some of the other congress members who won't sign the Discharge Petition.
I finding other threads posted that I find this article even more relevant.
Bravo for Brewer! More Americans should be doing this. The IRS does not take kindly to not getting their share of taxes and is more vigilant than ICE, it seems. Whatever it takes to punish those who employ illegal aliens and the illegal aliens themselves is the only way to go!
The SK Foods plant in Lemoore was the target of a Federal Bureau of Investigation search today, in what may have been a deeper investigation into the company's alleged practice of hiring cheap, illegal-immigrant labor to lower the wages of hourly-paid workers.
"The only thing I can say is that a search warrant was conducted today," FBI Agent Steve Dupre said from the Sacramento Office of the FBI. "The Department of Justice has a strict policy regarding pending investigations, so we are prohibited from commenting further. We can only confirm that, yes, we did conduct a search."
SK Foods is still in the midst of a pending federal class action lawsuit, which alleges that the company hired more than 5,000 illegal immigrants in a period between 2002 and 2006, which is a violation of the Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Repeated calls to the SK Foods executive offices in Monterey were not answered this afternoon.
Spoken like a true traitor who hired illegal aliens, had all their records hauled away by the FBI, and will probably be charged with several criminal violations under the RICO Act.
Just ANOTHER corrupt illegal alien employer.


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I suggested the topic of "The Courage to Change: Tips for making big life changes and how small changes often pave the way" without giving it too much thought. I've made lots of changes in my life and helped others make changes in theirs. Most recently I moved away from consumer culture to take up residence in an eco-village and start a home-based internet coaching business to support my family. I know a few things about the courage to change.
Yet when I started writing this article, the subject reached in and touched me. I cried at my keyboard while I typed. During the writing, I read through some of my journals from 10 years ago and read my articulation of things I wanted then and still want now but have yet to manifest. So before you start reading, I ask you to keep a few things in mind.
Be gentle with yourself. Know that the courage to change is often long-lasting courage. It embraces the courage to make mistakes and to have life unfold in ways you didn't expect. While some changes happen quickly, many take months or years to fully manifest. We still need courage to keep going and keep building our lives the day after the change and the day after that, too.
Throughout this article I'll keep asking questions then offering some answers. I suggest you read the questions and then take a few minutes to write down your own answers before reading the ones I've written. These insights are coming from my work with clients in my parent coaching business, from my yoga students, from friends, and from my own life.
Let's start with a few questions about why we don't change. When we want to change but don't, what holds each of us back? Why do we often stay stuck in the familiar but dysfunctional?
What I have found working with myself and other is that fear keeps us stuck. Fear of embarrassment, fear of failure, and fear of success all rank in the top reasons people avoid change. When you are afraid to make a mistake for fear of looking bad, foolish, stupid, or incompetent, it is very hard to try something new. Especially if you did well in school, you have learned that it is wrong to fail or to make mistakes. Change requires that you be willing to do both. Yet fear of embarrassment is hard to overcome.
Inertia is another powerful force insisting that it is easier to keep doing what you have been doing than to change direction. Inertia is easier to work with when you take change in small, incremental steps.
The biggest fear, however, may be the fear of success. "What if I really change? What then?" you may ask yourself. You don't really know what is on the other side of change. Perhaps, you worry, you will have to face something about yourself you can't bear to face and you will lose your own regard. Perhaps change will cause you to give up something you can't stand to lose like a person, a feeling, or a belief? You may feel fear that you will not be able to stand your life after the change or that you will fail trying.
Do you have masks, fakes, or personas you live behind in order to keep the peace? Most of us do. Usually we have agreements, usually unspoken, about what we will and won't do, who we are, and what we believe. We have agreements about how we'll stay stuck and how we'll keep enabling each other. In more extreme cases, they is called codependency, but most of us do it at least some of the time to some degree. We know how to react to our friend, our lover, or our co-worker when they stay in their same habits and keep telling the same stories. They might drive us crazy, but it's a known sort of crazy where we are comfortable in our discomfort.
In order to change, you have to have the courage to break the agreements that no longer serve you.You have to have the courage to be different and make different choices with no guarantees for how those around you will respond. You don't really know what changes you can make and still be met with love, tolerance, and approval.
On some cellular level most of us have a fear of being ostracized, kicked out of the group, or abandoned. Humans are social creatures who depend on one another for survival. Throughout our history we have needed one another in order to survive. Being kicked out of the group could literally be a death sentence. We may think we're safe, but on some level we are aware that outliers are often punished.
The courage to change is a very real courage. The courage to leave behind the known, safe, and livable for the unknown and therefore less safe is a powerful sort of courage.
Sometimes you need the courage to stay in a situation and stay the course. Hang in there through the rough spots of a marriage. Wait for our kids to grow out of a rebellious phase. Wait for the bad haircut to grow out. And sometimes you need the courage to change. The courage to ask for help and start seeing a counselor. The courage to say no. The courage to say yes.
What allows someone to let go of old patterns? What gives a person the courage to step into the new and unknown?
The courage to change is the courage to look at what is. What is your reality? What do you want? Can you articulate what you want to yourself, to a higher power, or to your journal? Can you articulate it to a therapist, coach, or close friend? Can you articulate it to your boss, your co-parent, or your parent? If your heart's deepest longing often stays hidden, it makes it much harder to manifest it. Speaking the heart's longing is a very freeing level of honesty.
The courage to change is easier when the people around you support you. Yet, when you have the courage to tell the truth and live real and out-loud, you are most likely breaking a deal you've made with someone to stay smaller and be less than honest. They may get angry at you. Just when you want their help, they may pull away, get angry, and try everything to get you to go back to your old ways. Why?
Change is destabilizing. You are shifting the balance, the control, and the source of power when you change. In the midst of your own exhilaration and fear, can you remember the people close to you are forced to change by your changes? Being compassionate with them can help them embrace your change. Offering them compassion and empathy while continuing to tell the truth and embrace your own change can also be amazingly helpful to you. Then the obstacles people offer you become gifts and the people themselves become angels of change.
These angels of change don't often wear white or have wings. Sometimes your angels challenge you to dig deeper and realize your own depths. Sometimes they hold your hands and offer support. Sometimes they pull away and say "do it yourself" and you must find strength you didn't know you had. Who are your angels? Can you realize the gifts they offer you and say thank you?
Children are often the catalysts for change. They rock our worlds with love and with chaos. They challenge us to dig deeper and be more loving, generous, and giving then we ever were before. They ask us to grow up into the adults we want to be and to stop hiding out in excuses.
My husband stopped smoking after 15 years when I was pregnant with our first child. He quit his secure job as an electrician to start his own company when I was pregnant with our second child. Each pregnancy challenged him to step up into more of his potential and strength. Knowing that his children would be looking to him as a role model for life helped give him the courage to change.
A friend of mine is also finding that children are her catalyst for change. She's been living with an emotionally abusive husband and making excuses to stay. But when he got violent with their children she found the courage to move out and face divorce, court appearances, and cross examination. To look her husband and supposed life partner in the eye while he tried to prove her crazy took significant amounts of courage. The welfare of her children gave her the courage to keep facing her road to freedom and find more strength than she knew she had.
Most of us are afraid to go through something like that. Most parents are afraid to change too much for fear that it could lead down the path of separation or divorce. The courage to change is the still, small voice within you that stays with you even when times are dark and your path is full of obstacles. It is the knowing that moving into the truest expression of your life is right, even if it is difficult.
The courage to change is the courage to own your own life: to not blame others, to ask for what you want, to be aware and alive to your own life, and to be responsive and trust that you have what it takes to weather whatever storms arise. As a parent coach this is the work that I help people do. I help parents be honest and courageous in the face of their own lives, their own parenting, and their own choices. I help you take change slowly, one manageable step at a time, allowing you to adapt and still be safe in your own world.


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The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF USA) paved the way for the ASC by initiating and coordinating the Aquaculture Dialogues. Aquaculture Dialogues were a multi-stakeholder roundtable formally started in 2004 with the goal to:
Develop verifiable environmental and social performance levels that measurably reduce or eliminate the key impacts of salmon farming and are acceptable to stakeholders
Recommend standards that achieve these performance levels while permitting the salmon farming industry to remain economically viable
Universal, open and transparent, the Aquaculture Dialogues focused on minimising the key environmental and social impacts of aquaculture. Each Dialogue produced standards for one or a range of major aquaculture species groups that are science-based, performance-based and metrics-based and globally applicable to aquaculture production systems, covering many types, locations and scales of operations.
The dialogues took place over more than a decade. The process was transparent and inclusive, conducted in scores of cities around the world to ensure a multi-cultural, mutli-stakeholder process. The dialogues, and the resulting standards, reflect the direct input of more than 2,000 NGOs, scientists, farmers, retailers and other important stakeholders within the aquaculture industry.
The aquaculture dialogues resulted in standards for 12 species: salmon, shrimp, tilapia, pangasius, trout, abalone, bivalves (oysters, mussels, clams and scallops) and seriola and cobia. The initial species were selected based on their degree of impact on the environment and society, their market value, and the extent to which they are traded internationally.
The Netherlands based Sustainable Trade Initiative IDH joined forces with WWF Netherlands to create the Aquaculture Stewardship Council in 2010. The ASC was established as a fully independent, not for profit oorganisation to both manage the standards developed for each species and to create future standards based on need and market demand.
Since its founding, the ASC has set up its own system to develop, operationalise, manage, review and revise standards based on the original Aquaculture Dialogues. To do this in a credible manner, all ASC standards are created according to the ISEAL Alliance Code of Good Practices for Setting Social and Environmental Standards. This code of good practice complies with the ISO/IEC Guide 59 Code of good practice for standardization, and the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement Annex 3 Code of good practice for the preparation, adoption and application of standards.
Membership in the ISEAL Alliance is available to any multi-stakeholder sustainability standard and accreditation bodies that demonstrate their ability to meet the ISEAL Codes of Good Practice and accompanying requirements, and commit to learning and improving. Through membership in ISEAL, standards systems show a commitment to supporting a unified movement of sustainability standards. ASC joined ISEAL as an associate member in January 2013 became a full member in April 2015. The ASC is the only aquaculture scheme to be accepted as a full member of ISEAL.
In 2012, Regal Springs tilapia farm in Indonesia became the very first ASC certified farm.
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