Today we didn't wake up until after 8.30, since we changed time zone yesterday we put this down to jet lag as it would have been not too bad if we were only about 30 miles to the west. Our bodies just woke up to the sunlight I guess.
Last night was much cooler. I even had to get the sleeping bag out last night. Let me just say that my Thermarest really smells now quite strongly of vinegar and mildew damp.
First thing this morning we went to the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, he was born two hundred years ago this year. In 1911 they put the hut they thought he was born in into a big memorial building. Except once they built the building they realised that the hut was quite large and wouldn't fit very well. So they shaved 4 feet off the walls of the hut so it would fit neatly. Somewhere in the small print in the visitor centre they also admitted that it might not be the actual hut he was born in either.
We stopped for lunch in Howardstown, which was a petrol station and two liquor stores, it being on the edge of a dry county. From here we figured out a shortcut from the route while sat at their table eating Bologna sandwiches (pronounced baloney) and went down a road to see the trappists.
This was the Gethsemani Monastery for the Trappist monks of Kentucky. They have a very impressive building and have been going since December 21st 1848. We looked in their gift shop and they had various religious memorabilia, books and produce. They make a very pretty penny selling cheese, fudge and fruitcake by mail order.
We spoke to couple of brothers, one of whom had been there since 1946, he didn't look that old so it must be a stress free living! He was originally from Philadelphia and told us how he used to like cycling and once got his wheel caught in the trolleycar rail and sped down the hill in the train tracks with a trolley car following him trying desparately not to run him over.
It looked like a very peaceful place, and the simple life looked very appealing. If anyone is interested in putting in some money to start a cheese making, cake baking commune with Sarah and I please let us know.
We arrived in Bardstown just after 5pm and tried to find somewhere to buy some foodfor dinner. Fresh produce was off the menu again as we couldn't find a supermarket of any size in the town, although we did see an Arbys, a Domino's, Sonic Burger, McDonalds, a country kitchen and a couple of other places.
In the end we opted for a tinned melange (pork and beans, sweetcorn, peas) with boil in the bag rice. This was an unfortunate choice, the peas were a pretty much brown and the whole lot was unparalleled in blandness, matched only by the green bean and kidney bean tortillas evening from a few weeks back.
We are typing this sat in McDonalds after having a consolation ice cream and listening to country and western music. Have you ever had a McFlurry? They are our new favourite thing. The song on at the moment is about how this guy loves his truck, would take a bullet for his kids, his country or Jesus and would give his last breath to his wife. I kid you not.
We are at the centre of the Bourbon distillation industry. We had wanted to visit a distillery but they were all closed by the time we arrived, and they don't open until after 1pm tomorrow, presumably to give everyone the chance to go to church before they go on the local booze tours.
Tomorrow morning at 10am there is a cowboy Sunday church service in the outdoors at the campsite. Did we mention we were in the bible belt?
We woke up to the sound of rain tapping on the tent. Not to worry, this is a sure sign that it's permissible to not get up just yet. So we didn't. But we couldn't stay inside for long and once we decided to show our faces to the world, the rain stopped.
We crossed into the next timezone this morning, going forward another hour. The scenery was much the same as the last few days, rolling green hills, fields, houses, crossing railroad tracks, and winding roads.
We stopped at a village for lunch where we bought hot pepper cheese and ate it in the store with our bread, and chatted to a few locals. Most gas stations and shops in the countryside have a couple of tables and some chairs and there's always someone sat there to chat to. It's the equivalent to our pubs, I guess, where people congregate to swap local news and socialise. Kentucky being mostly dry though – there aren't any bars.
We arrived in Hodgenville, our destination for the day, at about 5 pm and stopped by at the local library for directions to the city park where we could camp. We pitched our tent next to the baseball field and got chatting a local man with a metal detector who showed us a handful of quarters he'd found that evening.
Matt called the local sheriff to let him know we were camping in the park. The sheriff told us there was a janitor around who locks up the park every evening and if we saw him to let him know we were there. We looked for him but couldn't see him and after dinner we were keen to go out of the park to get ice cream. We were worried that we'd get left out, but ice cream was worth the risk, so were just very quick. Luckily when we got back the gates were still open!
Hodgenville is famous for being the nearest town to where Abraham Lincoln was born – 200 years ago, in fact, in February 1809. There are a wide assortment of landmarks for Abe fans to visit. Lincoln only spent his early childhood here before his family moved to Indiana and then ultimately to Illinois, but the Kentuckians loudly proclaim their state's place in the making of the great man. Tomorrow we will go and see the hut in which he was born.
Today we made a startling realisation. We have been in Kentucky for three days and we have not yet been in a KFC. We had big plans of crossing the border and straightaway ordering a family bucket to get our chops all greasy. The closest we have come so far is looking in a Kentucky tourism brochure and seeing a picture of Colonel Saunders shaking hands with a country and western star from the 1950s. They both hail from this fair commonwealth of Kentucky. We are so far in the back woods we can't even find the state dish.
The bedroom was as dark as a cave when the alarm went off at 6am. It was the type of inky blackness you only get in a windowless room with the door closed. We slept the sleep of the brave on mattresses that had cushioned the buttocks of over 230 cyclists this year. Neither of us rose from our slumber at that ungodly hour any further than was necessary to turn the alarm clock off and re-set it for 7am. I always have a sense of insane bravado whenever it comes to deciding what time to get up in the morning, since I am awake at that moment of course it will be easy to spring out of bed with the lark and skip happily towards our breakfast. Sadly it is never the case.
Sebree (population 1500) does not have a grocery store. Or at least not one that we could find, so we had to stop at the 'Dairy Bar' for some food. Nearly every town of a certain size has one of these things, it is basically a yellow food outlet. You know the kind of place, you can get all the different types of food that are yellow: french fries (we have seen them labelled as freedom fries several times), fried chicken, hamburgers, hash browns, other deep fried delicacies (e,g, Jalapeno Poppers).
I had a sausage patty, egg and cheese sandwich, the bread had been lightly fried. Sarah repasted on a serving of biscuits and gravy. Remember dear reader this is in essence a scone cut in half covered in a white sauce with bacon or sausage bits in it. I think we have started to go native. We have both begun pronouncing water "wodder" as it is just about the only way to get understood. Just wait, we will be tallking like Tony Blackburn by the time we get back.
Incidentally, Brother Bob said last night that we are in the bible belt, and I guess he is an authority on these matters. For the 1500 souls in Sebree, there are 10 churches competing to save them, one of them should open a small grocery shop, they will have them queueing out of the door to get in.
I have said it before but I will say it again, this may be the land of the free, but it is not the land of the green vegetable. At lunchtime in a town called Whiteville, you could procure a medium pizza with any topping and free breadsticks for $5.99 but there were no veges in sight, just another Dairy Hut as the other option. We had a milkshake and then resolved to find something that had either grown in the ground or had hung on a tree. In the end we found a local supermarket and got a tomato, some bread and a meat product that approximated to turkey ham.
We have started to see a new crop plant at the farms, we are assuming it is tobacco as they grow a huge amount of it in Kentucky and Virginia. If anyone can confirm that would be great.
Tonight we are camping right by the dam at Rough River State Park in a camping area ominously called the 'tailwaters'. If the water were to over-top the dam we are in the zone that would be scoured clean of trees, buildings and any sign of human civilisation. Don't worry Mum, if you are reading this we made it out alive. Unless they found our possessions and have returned this laptop to you. In that case, I am leaving everything to the cat and the money is in the bottom of the filing cabinet.
6 am alarm call. Nooooooooooo, aaaaaaggggh! More cycling, not again, let me stay here in this comfy bed, with the remote in my hand and air conditioning purring all around me.
Matt is pleased his thunderstorm prediction came true and I am pleased he demanded we stay in a B&B to save ourselves from a total drenching, but now it is more difficult to get up. I think that if we didn't set an alarm or had to get up we could probably both sleep for 48 hours.
Anyway, must not even entertain those thoughts as there are miles to cycle today and they're not going to pedal themselves. Or they could, but that's called a motorbike and we didn't take that option.
We ate our breakfast of pancakes with some other guests who seemed to having a few family troubles. I think Kim, the mother in the group wished she could come cycling with us instead of drive cross country with her son and daughter in law. When we left she came over grabbed our hands and said a prayer for our safe trip, which was unexpected but very kind of her. Meeting them made me feel thankful for the simplicity of our trip and all the good fortune we have experienced. We cycle, we eat, we sleep and we laugh throughout. (Although sometimes we don't laugh. Sometimes we sigh, grunt, swear or stay silent). We don't have many possessions with us, we don't buy much and we're not using too many of the earth's resources day to day. We travel fast enough to cover relatively good distances each day, but slow enough to properly notice our surroundings, the beauty of the countryside and the subtly changing scenery and light. The changing light throughout the day is really special. My favourite time is about 6.30 pm when the sun is low in the sky but not quite down, and a warm orange glow pervades, making everything look so wonderful. This type of light is so rare in London, I marvel at it everyday.
Despite the overnight storm and getting on the road relatively early, it heated up pretty quickly. But cycling is the best way to create your own breeze (also now known as 'CYOB') so we wound our way along western Kentucky's rural roads, passing more green fields, mostly growing corn or soybean, and plenty of white wooden houses set in huge gardens. As we get further east, we've noticed that it's getting more populated, but even so, this is still very rural and there aren't many cars on the road.
We stopped in the small town of Clay for cold drinks and met a couple of westbounders, Matt and Dan from Philadelphia. We were surprised as we hadn't seen any westbounders for ages and assumed that everyone who was heading across had left months ago. We recommended the slushies we had from the drugstore and they recommended staying the night at the First Baptist Church in Sebree. Too late boys, practically everyone we have met since about Idaho has been telling us about the hospitality of Pastor Bob and his wife Violet, in Sebree. Their kindness is legendary on this trail and the saying goes that if you have to stop anywhere, you must stop here.
We arrived in Sebree about 2 pm and saw the church straight away. We were hungry/thirsty though so headed on a bit to the drugstore (which was 100 years old and still kitted out inside with original fittings) and had chocolate malts whilst it rained (like an English drizzle) for half an hour.
We then cycled back up to the church and were met by Pastor Bob who was sitting at a desk outside the front of the church doing his paperwork. He took us around to the area where bikers can stay and invited us to have dinner with the congregation in the evening. Usually he and Violet cook for cyclists in their home, but there are church activities on Wednesdays so he said we could join their weekly bbq with about 40 others too instead. About 180 cyclists have stayed here this year alone and there is a map on the wall with pins showing where everyone is from. There were a few in London but we squeezed ours in too!
After burgers, hot dogs and the best chocolate brownies ever (in fact so good, one of my teeth is throbbing) and recalling our route, stories, where we're from, what we do, where we've liked the most, how many miles we do a day etc etcs we have settled in the youth club zone to read Adventure Cycling magazines and inspire ourselves with other trips.
This was actually a rest day, we are not being really that slack. The B&B was so good we slept like babies all night, and by that I don't mean we cried ourselves to sleep and woke up with poop in our pants.
The B&B really was the lap of luxury and breakfast was as we expected delicious, in fact it was difficult to get ourselves out of the room in good time. Sue the innkeeper was incredibly hospitable and a great cook. For breakfast she made us French toast filled with strawberries and cream cheese, plus thick cut bacon on the side. Are you salivating? You should be, it was so good.
We finally peeled ourselves away from the aircon, the shower, the TV and the internet at about 10.30, which was not ideal because as usual the terrible humidity was really cooking up by then.
After about 10 miles we arrived at Cave In Rock, the home of Cave In Rock State Park. Predictably enough there is a big cave in a rock wall down on the banks of the Ohio River.
We got a couple of interesting photos as there was a big crack in the ceiling that let the light in. Originally the cave was used by the native American hunter gatherers, and there were 10,000 year old remains found there when it was first discovers. It was wonderful and cool in the cave, but we couldn't stay there all day, so we had to be off.
We caught a ferry over the Ohio River and into our ninth state, Kentucky. We immediately saw signs indicating this was Amish territory. We were hoping that the Amish were going to be a bit better than the cigar chomping, mobile toting Mennonites we came across in Missouri, but other than the signs and one man in braces in a hat, we saw no Am-sign.
Arriving at our 22 mile destination at 3pm was slightly later than expected. There was a storm forecast so we checked into another B&B. We're sitting pretty in the room now watching the DIY network and 'When Animals Strike' while a big electrical storm rages outside, so I make that $50 well spent!
We had dinner in an 90 year old diner that used to be the local drugstore, which was pretty cool. One of the porcelain doorknobs on the medicine drawers said 'opium', and the waitress said they used to sell cocaine too. Surprising because she didn't seem the type.
Last night is officially in my top five surrealist experiences thank you to our racoon visitors throughout the WHOLE night. My overriding memory of the episode will be Matt leaping out of the tent with his sleeping bag liner around him like a loincloth, shining a torch in the bushes and shouting at the top of his voice 'I can see his little racooney face staring at me!' and then about two hours later – 'That's it. I'm pepper spraying a racoon!'. The whole experience was made that bit more farcical because of the unbelievably unbearable humidity adding to our discomfort. We both burst into fits of laughter randomly throughout the night because it was so funny. (By the way, so you get an idea of my surreal experiennce league table, this is up there with the time Matt rapped 'Ice Ice Baby' to an audience of fifty Vietnamese, up a mountain, on our honeymoon, while I beatboxed the tune for him. Actually that was still more surreal).
So as a result of having very little sleep we moved slowly this morning and didn't leave the park til 10 am. The weather was nicely warmed up by then and not that much of a breeze to go with it. But the roads were quiet and nicely rolling with only a few steepies thrown in. We stopped at a gas station in Eddyville to get a cold soda and a snack and sat with some locals who were discussing a friend who'd had a bad accident where a pipe had gone through his neck but he'd survived.
We only did 50 miles today, it was an enjoyable mileage though, the scenery was all rural still, some farms or neat white houses dotted around, all very green. We had a couple of chasey dogs, but they were harmless. In one garden we saw deer taking shade under a tree, but as soon as they saw us they ran off into the woods. Deer are the one animal that we would like to see more of, but they flee as soon as they see us. Definitely not the chasing variety.
We arrived in Elizabethtown about 4pm. We knew from our map that there was no camping option here but that there was a B&B. Oh what a shame! We find it immediately as Elizabethtown or 'E-town' as the locals call it is very small. And we are so happy to be staying in such a lovely place.
The River Rose Inn is all home comforts and wonderful personal service. Sue and Bruce, the owners have a hot tub in the garden which overlooks the Ohio River, so that was our first port of call. This is so luxurious compared to our tent! We ate at a basic floating restaurant on the river and had locally caught catfish which was delicious.
We've just finished the evening chatting on the veranda to another couple from St Louis, Missouri who have come down here for a few days break from the city. He was stationed in Cambridgeshire in US airbase in the 1970s, as well as in Germany for some time too. We've met quite a few US military veterans who spent time in Europe whilst they served and all love to tell us how much they liked it and want to go back.
Tomorrow we cross the river and head into our penultimate state – Kentucky!
So we were camping this morning outside the Eagles clubhouse in Chester. Despite their crazy promises that it would be going on all night the music didn't go on for too long. After we snuck off to bed, we spent a couple of hours listening to two different types of music which was slightly annoying, but we drifted off to sleep soon enough.
More heat, more humidity, we both got very sweaty, yada yada. We tried and failed to supersize our drinks, 44oz of diet Pepsi was a little bit too much.
Two interesting things happened today. We saw an old Indian mound the kind of many in Southern Illinois. There are thousands of them over this hilly countryside, built by the hunter gatherers who lived here over the past few thousand years. No-one knows what they were for.
The night was stifling and we had just started to drift off trying to ignore that all our bedding was damp with sweat. Suddenly Sarah said 'what was that?' and I became aware of what sounded like a drunken farmhand stumbling over the guy ropes outside the tent. Moments later we could hear one of our plastic food bags making its way over the grass. Raccoons. We hadn't come across any live ones yet, but a couple we met a few days ago warned us they were around more in the Eastern states.
So we raised hell and I was sent outside dressed in my cotton sleeping bag as a loincloth to pick it up. In the darkness I saw a pair of glowing orange eyes across the field, just sitting there, watching. Our blueberries and bananas were well handled by raccoony hands, but safe. I came back to the tent and we moved our bags inside the fly sheet.
Next after we had drifted off again we heard the distinctive sound of velcro opening. The raccoons were going into our handlebar bags. Up we jumped once again. And by this time the little mammals were gone before we looked. However, we kept a lookout as they were stumbling around outside. It is funny, you would think that the raccoon would move stealthily through the woods, but no.
Moments later a little raccoon arm stretched out under the tent outer, and reached over the panniers, trying to pull them out of the tent. They are so used to human bags that they know how to undo fasteners, straps and buckles. I tried shining the torch at him/her and shouting, but it had absolutely no fear and just kept going. By now his little raccoony head was in too. All this was happening around 3 feet from our heads..
He was quite an attractive little fella, but he did look like a potentially mean looking badger size creature, and the story of the man attacked in his own garage by a badger a few years ago weighed heavily in my mind. What I am building up to is that I basically hosed the raccoon down with our pepper/CS gas mix spray. I don't think I got a direct hit, but he definitely thought again about coming back. The CS made it a bit difficult to breathe in the tent for a couple of minutes, but it was worth it to score one point for mankind against the fearless beasts.
After a few minutes he did come back. So we did it again and he ran off. That was it. They were hanging around all night, but we slept like sweaty babies after that.
We said goodbye to Captain Tom and the other firemen at 7am this morning having had an excellent night's sleep in the mobile command unit. They'd had five callouts during the night but we hadn't heard the sirens at all!
They recommended getting breakfast at the local Town and Country grocery store which has a cafe, and as expected it was a proper fireman's breakfast including the most wonderful crispy bacon you could hope for, plus that regular American staple biscuits (scones) and gravy.
We also took Captain Tom's advice on the route to Chester. Our maps advise going past the wineries, but he recommended we go via another road which had a good shoulder on which to cycle. We'd heard the wineries in this region are really good. It would have been good to sample the local produce, but it would have been about 8 am when we went through!
It was unexpectedly a little hilly today, nothing major but I thought it was going to be flatter. Going up one roller we came across another Tom, this time a cyclist. He didn't have panniers so we knew he wasn't a Transammer, and we stopped and said hello and then caught up with him at the gas station further on down the road. He was cycling with a friend Diane and his wife Gladys was in the support car. We stopped and chatted for a while with about various long distance routes in this part of the country and other neighbouring states. They have all been keen cyclists for many years and could tell us a thing or two about cycle touring. I love Diane's cycling jersey from a southern Missouri ride. Tom's expecting a postcard from us when we get home so he knows we made it back! Tom, Gladys and Diane – it was great to meet you on Saturday morning and cool down over a soda.
After a few more rollers, cycling suddenly went very flat, very quickly. Have we just popped back into central Kansas as if by teleport? No, we hit the Mississippi river plain, and rode through corn fields all the way to the actual river. This feels very significant as the Mississippi provides a clear boundary between the east of the country and the routes out west.
The bridge was pretty skinny so I couldn't stop and get a picture of the river as traffic was very heavy but here it is from the other side.
Now we are in Illinois – our eighth state. I've been to Illinois before, albeit only up in Chicago but this is very different down in the south, much is rural farmland and we've just read some hills are called 'Little Ozarks'. In fact most of Illinois is completely flat, except for the tiny bit which we are travelling through! The hills better be little, that's all I say, as I was thinking the next hills were the big beasts of Appalachia.
As soon as as we crossed into the state, we came into the town of Chester, population about 5000, which is a teeming metropolis by Transamerica standards. Chester is famous as being the home of Popeye, or rather the home of his creator Elzie Crsler Segar who started out as a newspaper cartoonist. Popeye, along with Olive, Brutus et al can be seen in many murals all over town. Segar based his character on a real person, one Frank 'Rocky' Fieg el, who is mostly described as 'a local scrapper'.
Other cyclists have recommended that we stay with the 'Fraternity of the Eagles' whilst we're in Chester. The Eagles are a nationwide fundraising/social organisation, I guess a bit like the Lions. They have a centre here with a bar and grassy area outside where we can pitch our tent, and showers which we can use, and as has become customery all for no charge.
Tonight they have two functions going on here, a 21st party outside and a poker run inside in memory of a local man who died in a motorcycle accident. They all seem like a very respectable bunch of retirees right now, but apparently Eagles know how to party, so who knows what might happen later.
As we set up the tent, we noticed we found a hitchiker from Missouri who must have been inside one of our panniers for about 48 hours (because we didn't use the tent last night). Not sure whether we should be declaring him to the Illinois authorities as some kind of illegal contraband but we just set him free.
It is with some excitement that I can reveal that I am writing these words from the driving seat of a Fire Department Mobile Command Unit. I never had the childhood dream of becoming a fireman (I was an astronaut type of boy), but I have to admit this is pretty cool.
We heard from a few other cyclists on the way across that there is this fire station in Farmington Missouri where you can camp out or stay in their fire station. This is one of the places that it seemed we couldn't miss. We turned up at around 4pm, and there was no-one there. They were out. Was it a 'job'? I have seen London's Burning. No, it was because the chief was around so they were hiding. In a Dunkin Donuts I imagine, or is that the cops. Anyway they are a great bunch of guys, and showed us around. We got some great pics.
But hang on, back to the travelogue. This morning we bade farewell to Daniel – the 120 mile superhero – in his quest to catch up with Carl, who we think is around 150 miles ahead of him. Carl is doing 90 mile days, so Daniel has got some serious work ahead of him.
Today we did the final set of hills of the Ozarks. There was some quite steep climbing but to be honest apart from a couple of bottom cog gutbusters it wasn't too bad, and even they were pretty short. The Ozarks never really materialised in the way that we had both feared. I think that we had built it all up for ourselves over the Kansas plains about how tough it was going to be. Sarah says I am not allowed to say I thought it was really easy. Anyway the real tough job starts in eastern Kentucky when we hit Appalachia where they have really steep hills like the Ozarks, but which are seriously long. And they have the dogs that chase you.
Ankle biter – actually risks doggie life and limb by dashing out in the street to try to bite you. Or do they? We have tried slowing down and I think they don't actually intend to savage you. In fact they look a bit confused if they manage to get up close. This will require some courage when we start hitting the Pit Bulls, Rottweillers etc in bandit country.
Today was a pretty short day so we took the opportunity to take in some tourist sites. Elephant Rock State Park was pretty cool, a series of massive boulders sat on the ground. The rock itself is over a billion years old and has been slowly eroded away from cubic granite to the shape it is now by freeze/thaw erosion and water percolating through the soil. This stuff is incredibly hard, so the amount of time that must have taken is beyond comprehension. We also took in what Sarah described as the sort of museum that I most like, the Fort Davidson interpretive centre. This deals with the civil war Battle of Pilot Knob, a defence in the last year of the war of a small earthen fort by 1000 Union troops against over 12,000 Confederate raiders.
A few people have mentioned my beard in emails and comments. It is nearly ready. Sarah says I look like I am in the Gingahedeen. I was thinking of shaving my head, but by the time we go home this may cause some problems at Customs, as shaven head and long beard has been cornered by a quite specific social and political world view.
We hadn't planned to do such a short day but we found out early on that our intended destination for the night – Johnson Shut Ins State Park – no longer allowed camping, so we revised our plans on route and decided to stay in Centerville. The distances between camp spots in this area are big so there aren't so many options, and because we put in some big distances in the West we are at least two days ahead of our schedule so didn't want to get even further ahead. We feel a bit slack doing only 40 today but at least it gives us time to enjoy the area we are travelling through.
Also we weren't that feeble because today's riding took in some serious steep climbs, probably our steepest of the trip so far – in the lowest gears possible where you hope you make it because there ain't anything lower! There is something comical about some of these hills, or at least I think you have to laugh in order to do them. You ride up a really steep hill, then as soon as you get to the top you see another right ahead, and another one, and another one – all laid out like an undulating piece of grey ribbon in front of you. Some of the grades are between 12-15% whereas even in the Rockies I think the maximum was about 7%. When we started out today at 7.30 am it was misty and we put our dayglo jackets on so drivers could see us, but we were so hot very quickly because it was such hard work. We constantly have to make sure we are replenishing our bodies with enough salt and electrolytes because we sweat so much. I'm sure you wanted to know that!
We both agreed though that we actually felt good climbing these hills, they have been in our mind's eye for so long it's good to know what they're about. It's certainly true that mental preparation is the key – if you prepare for the worst, you won't be let down! Also we don't have the elevation profile on the back of our Adventure Cycling Assoc. map for this section, because ours is not the latest version, and I think not being able to obsessively scrutinize it in this area helps, because you don't know that there is a whopper of a climb ahead so when you get to it, you just do it. To get an idea of what the elevation map looks like though just picture the profile of a very long comb with an assortment of very long teeth. It's pretty laughable when you see it!
We stocked up on food for dinner in the little town of Ellington and then arrived in Centerville at 1pm. We called in at the sheriff's office to ask where we could camp and he told us that we could pitch our tent right in the grass courtyard outside the town hall after 4pm. To kill some time we cycled a short way out of town to where the West Fork Black River crosses the road and had a splash in the cool water. It was perfect.
In the evening another cyclist rode into town – Daniel from Virginia. In fact he rode up to us asking if we are Matt and Sarah, as he'd met another cyclist on ahead who knew we weren't far behind. The network of Transamerica cyclists who all know each other is incredible, like a spider's web.
Daniel had done 125 miles in one day. Now we felt really slack! But he is trying to catch up with his buddy Carl who is on ahead, they are both going in the opposite direction to us. We met Carl this morning at our campsite so passed on his whereabouts to Daniel, who'd had to head back home for a few days hence his delay.
We've all just had milkshakes in a very quintessential diner and chatted about the character, quirks and customs of life in rural America. Some American cyclists we meet are often keen to know our honest opinion about what we think of the places we are travelling through.
The ones who are from the big smoke often tell us: 'not all America is like this you know!'. And feel relieved when we tell them we have been to big cities too like San Fran and NY so have a balanced view. But we like these smaller places and don't have any criticisms at all. They may be a bit hicksville, but life is just as busy here, and people also have time to talk and a smile to go with it.
Ps – Dan has asked whether we feel brawny or scrawny. Personally I don't think I feel either, but it's fair to say we are both feeling very healthy. In fact if either of our GPs are reading, take note that when in a drugstore last week there was a heart rate and blood pressure monitor to use. We both checked ourselves and both of had pulses of 10 bpm less than usual. Take that, blood pressure!


text:
class Dwarf : public Player
{
public:
	Dwarf(Dungeon &dungeon);
	~Dwarf();

private:
	void levelUp();
	void draw(WINDOW *win);
};

#endif // RUOEG_GAMEOBJECTS_PLAYER_DWARF_H_

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The TotalDECOM round up is early this month, as we are getting ready for holding the TotalDECOM event on the 27-29th March at Old Trafford, Manchester.
The conference and exhibition are well underway, with the team working on the finishing touches. This year's event looks set to be our largest yet, with over 300 attendees (Who's involved). We have a great range of speakers from across the sectors (including a strong Japanese presence). We are also fortunate enough to have some wonderful sponsors, such as our headline sponsor – Texodrone and our platinum sponsor – Aecom.
There is still time to be a part of TotalDECOM 2017; so book your delegate tickets now, to make the most of the unique event.
At the start of the month, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) announced that David Peattie would take the lead as their new CEO. His predecessor, John Clarke, is stepping down after five years in the role. For more on this story, visit Energy Live News.
From Sellafield to the North Sea – Collaboration is Key?
Integrated Decom has chosen TotalDECOM 2017 to showcase their collaboration for the first time. Integrated Decom comprises a specialist team of companies that have come together as part of their commitment to deliver an approved decommissioning programme under one collaborative offering – providing front-end engineering and environmental solutions with integrated support for oil and gas operators looking to retire redundant facilities without the burden of an in-house overhead.
The Box Encapsulation Plant Delivery Team (BEPDT) comprising of Jacobs, AMEC Foster Wheeler and Balfour Beatty, is multi-million pound collaboration contract at the Sellafield site, that clearly demonstrates the benefits to operators of collaboration.
February has been a busy month for the TotalDECOM team, as preparations for our event on the 27-29th March at Old Trafford, Manchester are in full swing. Click here to see which organisations are already signed up to attend.
This month saw the first encapsulation of sludge from the world's oldest nuclear storage pond at Sellafield. The first barrel was sent to the onsite encapsulation facility and on the 14th February it was announced that it was ready for long term storage. For more information about the process and quotes from Eric Bowe, head of encapsulation plants at Sellafield, click here.
Back on the 8th of February the 60 day public consultation for recommendations regarding decommissioning the Brent oil fields began. The consultation was commenced by Shell, the fields operator, and will consider the ramifications of the proposed Brent decommissioning conference. For more information on the process, click here.
This month has seen the TotalDECOM team hitting the road and spending time with our sponsors including our headline sponsor Texodrone at various industry events. We networked at the Achilles FPAL event up in Aberdeen, The NOF's members meeting in the northeast and even presented at the NOF's decommissioning event.
We are heading into the final weeks before TotalDECOM 2017; book your delegate tickets now to make the most of the unique event.
Also, on the 2nd March, we have the pleasure of hosting a webinar by Diederik Nelisson, McKinsey & Co on the topic of " Navigating decommissioning: storm or tailwind". To secure your free place, visit the website.
We are delighted to announce that our speaker for the TotalDECOM 2017 Networking Dinner is Rt Hon Charles Hendry.
The former Minister of State for Energy (2010-2012) has also been the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wealden since 2001. He has previously acted as the Conservative Party's spokesman on energy issues, holding the portfolio longer than any previous Minister. In 2012, the Prime Minister has appointed him as his Trade Envoy to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Charles is President of the British Institute of Energy Economics; of the fuel poverty charity, National Energy Action and an Honorary Fellow of the Energy Institute. Also, since leaving Ministerial office, he has been appointed as a Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh (in both the Business School and the Academy of Government).
Mr Hendry's presentation will draw on his experiences in relation to energy issues and is sure to be a highlight of the networking evening. Tickets to the networking dinner are included within the Delegate Day package, which can be purchased here. These tickets include full access to the both the Premier Day one schedule and the visitor's day event on the 29th March.
Texo DSI Ltd is pleased to announce that they are headline sponsors of the TotalDECOM 2017 event which takes place on 27th – 29th March 2017, in Manchester.
TotalDECOM is the annual event for the decommissioning industries. Now in its fourth year, TotalDECOM has firmly established itself as the leading cross sectoral decommissioning exhibition and conference, both in the UK and internationally.
Each year, TotalDECOM brings together the latest technologies and thought leaders, from the Oil & Gas, Nuclear, Defence and Waste Management industries.
Texo DSI Ltd own and operate the world's most comprehensive and dynamic fleet of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, incorporating advanced multi-rotor and fixed wing RPAS (Remote Pilot Aircraft System); delivering 'game changing' aerial inspection and survey solutions.
The use of Remotely Operated Ariel Vehicles or UAV's for survey and inspection has grown tremendously over the last number of years.
The technology is very much welcomed as an integral part of the survey and inspection landscape and plays a crucial role in the pre-project planning and initiation of decommissioning projects. Texo DSI Ltd's UAV survey and inspection offering will represent a 'game-changer' for the global decommissioning sectors – giving clients unsurpassed levels of survey data and accuracy; all of which are crucial for successful project outcomes.
UAV technology represents a much safer survey and inspection method than deploying personnel on ropes; it is now one of the most efficient and accurate ways of surveying assets, primarily in Texo DSI's Survey-Grade LiDAR technology (with survey accuracy of 1mm-3mm).
Welcome to the first TotalDECOM news summary of 2017. The year had been kicked started with a number of drives calling for Innovation within the decommissioning sector. Such as the NDA & Innovate UK's competition (as discussed last month) and the Innovus Game Changers scheme being fully funded by Sellafield.
While not strictly decommissioning news (but relevant to the larger energy sector) – Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon will be the world's first tidal lagoon power plant. There is some debate as to whether this initiative will prove to be more beneficial than the similarly priced Hinkley C Facility. There is even debate on the renewable side, if waiting for cheaper renewable options become available would be better in the long term, due to the excessive costs of the forerunning project.
To visit the Tidal Lagoon power website click here.
The board of French utility EDF has approved a compensation package for the closure of France's oldest nuclear reactor, the 39-year-old Fessenheim nuclear plant, but it delayed making a final decision on the closure until after the presidential election this spring. For the full article at Powermag click here.
The team are pleased to release the programme schedule for day one of the event. We have also been continuing to announce the speakers, sponsors and exhibitors that are coming to the event. For example, as Alistair Syme (Citigroup), Professor Alex Kemp (University of Aberdeen) and Takafumi Ihara (Tepco) will all be speaking on the Premier Delegate Day.
Follow us on Twitter or sign up for our newsletters for News and Speaker announcements.
Our Platinum Sponsor Aecom together with their joint venture partner Energy Solutions has announced that they have been awarded a multimillion dollar contract to decontaminate and decommission the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, California. Both of the partners have considerable experience in the sector and met the contract requirement of having a "sizeable" percentage of Subcontracted local businesses be owned by a minority, disabled veteran or woman.
The contract was awarded by Southern California Edison, which owns the majority stake in the plant. This project is one of America's largest commercial nuclear plant decommissioning projects and looks to be completed over a ten year period creating over 500 jobs.
To find out more about this story, visit the Los Angeles Times article.


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Marcelo Bielsa addresses reports of just nine fit Leeds United first-team players vs Arsenal
Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa is currently in the throes of a particularly troubling selection crisis ahead of a packed Christmas football schedule
Daniel James #20 of Leeds United during the game
Over the coming weeks, Leeds United are set to host Arsenal, Aston Villa and Burnley at Elland Road whilst making the trip to Anfield in order to face a Liverpool side in daunting form.
The prospect of facing three in-form teams and a potential relegation rival with fewer than 11 fit first-team players makes that task all the more intimidating.
Leeds look destined to face Arsenal with an increasingly threadbare squad this weekend, after Jamie Shackleton was substituted in the first-half at Manchester City and Junior Firpo picked up a fifth booking of the season, meaning he will serve a one-match suspension.
Reports this morning suggested Daniel James had also sustained a muscle injury in the game at the Etihad Stadium, explaining his half-time substitution for Joe Gelhardt.
Marcelo Bielsa was asked about that very topic in his pre-Arsenal press conference on Thursday afternoon.
"[Jamie] Shackleton and [Daniel] James are out. [Robin] Koch is available. That's the novelties," said Bielsa.
"Shackleton has a problem in his Achilles tendon. James has a problem in his adductor muscles."
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has called for all Premier League and Carabao Cup fixtures between now and Christmas to be postponed due to the ongoing situation with the Omicron COVID variant. The Dane was informed by a club official during his press conference earlier today that 13 members of his squad and backroom team had tested positive for the virus, throwing their fixture with Manchester United this weekend into serious doubt.
"I wouldn't like to come up against a team who has their team depleted due to COVID," Bielsa added on the matter.
Marcelo Bielsa's side were comprehensively beaten at the Etihad (Image: Alex Livesey)
"I wouldn't like to take advantage of that. With respect to the other things about your question and the authorities are the ones who have the information to make those decisions."
An outbreak at Leeds' Thorp Arch training facility would - in theory - cause severe selection issues to an already sparse squad due to injury and suspension.
Should fixtures go ahead, Diego Llorente, Raphinha and Tyler Roberts must avoid a booking against Arsenal and Liverpool or will face a one-match suspension for having picked up five yellow cards in the first half of the season.
Follow everything the manager had to say in his pre-match press conference here.
Leeds United braced for 40 per cent squad reduction as January transfer question lingers
San Francisco 49ers solidify Leeds United link with financial commitment and five-year pledge

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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BLM is strongly focused to the markets in Hongkong, China and South East Asia, where many different industries have been supported in their market entry strategies. We are also located in Hongkong and Southern China, thus best prepared for a local support of your needs.


This resource is an online open-access journal. "Practitioner Research in Higher Education" publishes two types of contributions; that is, practitioner research papers and articles that focus on evaluation of practice. It also welcomes contributions in the form of reviews and responses to published articles. The journal's maiden publication was in 2007 and four volumes have been published so far. It is peer-reviewed and the editors are based in the University of Cumbria.
Unilaterally Appointed Arbitrators - A Good Idea?
"The Empire and the Birth of Historical Research in India"
Dipesh Chakrabarty is the Lawrence A. Klimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History at the University of Chicago.


Sir Gerry Robinson, of the UK's most respected entrepreneurs, is taking some very big risks: he's preparing to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds of his own money in failing British companies. Each week two businesses whose fate hangs precariously in the balance must persuade Gerry that they're potentially profitable before he makes his big decision: to invest in both, either or neither of the businesses. Gerry recognises the important of 'family' but, in this concluding episode, he discovers a hotel chain that's been affected by a father and son's business decisions. The day when the final guest checks out forever is a near possibility. Hundreds of miles away, another family, who own and run a chain of department stores, are also losing money and the signs could very soon be turned to 'closed' for good.
Another chance to see the series in which Sir Gerry Robinson, one of the UK's most respected entrepreneurs, was prepared to risk millions of his own money to rescue credit crunch-hit companies that he believed didn't deserve to fail. Each week, two British businesses whose futures hang in the balance must persuade Gerry that they're potentially profitable, before he makes his big decision: which, if any, businesses to invest in. Gerry's first quest takes him into the lives of two couples: both of whom have built award-winning breweries, but are now equally desperate for his cash. Gerry submerges himself in all aspects of the businesses, trying to uncover the strengths and weaknesses of each faltering firm. But if Gerry reads matters wrong, it won't just be their product going down the drain, but his own money too.
Gerry recognises the important of 'family' but continuing his journey across Britain, risking millions of his own money to save British businesses, he discovers a hotel chain that's been affected by a father and son's business decisions. The day when the final guest checks out forever is a near possibility. Hundreds of miles away, another family, who own and run a chain of department stores, are also losing money and the signs could very soon be turned to 'closed' for good. Each has their own ideas about how to save their legacies but have any of them got it right?
An interview with Sir Gerry Robinson is available on the press website under Programme Info/ Future Highlights/ July.
In Lancashire, almost an entire village community is dependent on one company: Britain's last surviving major chair manufacturer. But the MD and the owner are at loggerheads and 150 years of tradition could vanish within months. Meanwhile, in Devon, another firm is also on the brink of extinction. They're recognised for "making Britain's finest pies and pasties", but it's dawning on owner Simon that he has bitten off more than he can chew. Both owners and their respective employees must persuade Gerry that they can prosper with a major cash injection. Should he save either of them?
Across Britain, the economic crisis is causing businesses to go bust. In this new series, Sir Gerry Robinson, one of the UK's most respected entrepreneurs, is prepared to risk millions of pounds of his own money to rescue those that he believes deserve another chance. Each week, two British businesses whose futures hang in the balance must persuade Gerry that they're potentially profitable, before he makes his big decision: which, if any, of the businesses to invest in. In the first episode Gerry's quest takes him into the lives of two couples who have built award-winning breweries.


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S o C a l F i t 4 U
HomeSocal BlogginIn Loving MemorySportsSports Hall of FameNFLNBAMLBNHLNCAASocal Prep SportsUSMCTrainingCoachingAcademy AwardsGrammysMusicMerrie MonarchLava List
2012 Olympic Games - London, England
Country G S B TOT
United States 46 29 29 104
China 38 27 22 87
Great Britain 29 17 19 65
Japan 7 14 17 38
Korea 13 8 7 28
Italy 8 9 11 28
Netherlands 6 6 8 20
Ukraine 6 5 9 20
Canada 1 5 12 18
Hungary 8 4 5 17
Spain 3 10 4 17
Brazil 3 5 9 17
Cuba 5 3 6 14
Kazakhstan 7 1 5 13
New Zealand 5 3 5 13
Belarus 3 5 5 13
Iran 4 5 3 12
Jamaica 4 4 4 12
Kenya 2 4 5 11
Czech Republic 4 3 3 10
Azerbaijan 2 2 6 10
Poland 2 2 6 10
Denmark 2 4 3 9
Ethiopia 3 1 3 7
DPR Korea 4 - 2 6
South Africa 3 2 1 6
Croatia 3 1 2 6
Turkey 2 2 1 5
Lithuania 2 1 2 5
Switzerland 2 2 - 4
Norway 2 1 1 4
Sweden 1 4 3
Georgia 1 3 3
Mexico 1 3 3
Ireland 1 1 3
Slovenia 1 1 2
Serbia 1 1 2
Tunisia 1 1 1
Dominican Republic 1 1 -
Trinidad and Tobago 1 - 3
Uzbekistan 1 - 3
Latvia 1 - 1
Algeria 1 - -
Bahamas 1 - -
Grenada 1 - -
Uganda 1 - -
Venezuela 1 - -
India - 2 4
Mongolia - 2 3
Thailand - 2 1
Egypt - 2 -
Slovakia - 1 3
Armenia - 1 2
Belgium - 1 2
Finland - 1 2
Bulgaria - 1 1
Estonia - 1 1
Indonesia - 1 1
Malaysia - 1 1
Puerto Rico - 1 1
Chinese Taipei - 1 1
Botswana - 1 -
Cyprus - 1 -
Gabon - 1 -
Guatemala - 1 -
Montenegro - 1 -
Portugal - 1 -
Greece - - 2
Moldova - - 2
Qatar - - 2
Singapore - - 2
Afghanistan - - 1
Bahrain - - 1
Hong Kong, China - - 1
Saudi Arabia - - 1
Morocco - - 1
Tajikistan - - 1
Kuwait - - 1
(35) SPORTS
Archery, Athletics (Track & Field), Badminton, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Canoe-Slalom, Sprint, Cycling-BMX,
Moutain Bike, Road Track, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Football (Soccer), Field Hockey, Gymnastics-Artistic, Rhythmic,
Handball, Judo, Modern Pent, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Swimming, Sync. Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Trampoline, Triathlon, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling
1896: Athens, Greece
Greece 10 18 17 45
United States 11 6 1 18
Germany 6 5 2 13
France 5 4 2 11
United Kingdom 2 3 2 7
Hungary 2 1 3 6
Austria 2 1 2 5
Switzerland 1 2 0 3
Australia 2 0 0 2
International Team 1 0 1 2
9 Sports (Track & Field Cycling Fencing Gymnastics Shooting Swimming Tennis Weightlifting Wrestling)
1900: Paris, France
France 30 41 34 105
United States 19 14 14 47
United Kingdom 16 7 10 33
Belgium 6 6 5 17
Netherlands 1 3 3 7
Italy 2 2 0 4
British India 0 2 0 2
Bohemia 0 1 1 2
Canada 1 0 1 2
Cuba 1 1 0 2
Spain 1 0 0 1
Luxembourg 1 0 0 1
Sweden 0 0 1 1
20 Sports (Archery, Track & Field, Cricket, Croquet, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Golf, Gymnastics,
Pelota Basque, Polo, Rowing, Rugby, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Tug Of War, Water Polo, Sailing)
1904: St. Louis, Missouri
Greece 1 0 1 2
Ireland 1 1 0 2
France 0 1 0 1
17 Sports (Archery, Track & Field, Boxing, Cycling, Diving, Fencing, Golf, Gymnastics, Lacrosse,
Rowing, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Tug Of War, Weightlifting, Water Polo, Wrestling)
France 15 9 18 42
Greece 8 13 13 34
United Kingdom 8 11 5 24
Italy 9 7 4 20
Sweden 2 5 7 14
Switzerland 4 4 2 10
Belgium 2 3 3 8
Finland 2 1 1 4
13 Sports (Track & Field, Cycling, Diving, Fencing, Gymnastics, Rowing, Shooting, Soccer,
Swimming, Tennis, Tug Of War, Weightlifting, Wrestling)
1908: London, England
United Kingdom 56 49 38 143
Sweden 8 6 11 25
Canada 3 3 9 15
New Zealand 0 0 1 1
24 Sports (Archery, Track & Field, Boxing, Cycling, Diving, Fencing, Figure Skating, Gymnastics,
Field Hockey, Lacrosse, Motor Boating, Jeu De Paume, Polo, Rackets, Rowing, Rugby, Shooting,
Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Tug Of War, Water Polo, Wrestling, Sailing)
1912: Stockholm, Sweden
Sweden 23 24 16 63
United Kingdom 10 15 16 41
Finland 9 8 9 26
Germany 5 13 7 25
Denmark 1 6 5 12
Norway 3 2 5 10
Estonia 0 0 1 1
17 Sports (Art Contests, Track & Field, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Gymnastics, Modern
Pentathlon, Rowing, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Tug Of War, Water Polo, Wrestling,
Sailing)
1920: Antwerp, Belgium
France 9 20 13 42
Belgium 15 12 14 41
Finland 15 10 9 34
Norway 13 10 9 32
Italy 14 6 5 25
South Africa 3 4 3 10
Brazil 1 1 1 3
Czechoslovakia 0 0 2 2
Japan 0 2 0 2
25 Sports (Archery, Art Contests, Track & Field, Boxing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Figure
Skating, Gymnastics, Field Hockey, Ice Hockey, Modern Pentathlon, Polo, Rowing, Rugby, Shooting,
Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Tug Of War, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
Finland 14 13 10 37
Sweden 4 13 12 29
Switzerland 7 8 10 25
Czechoslovakia 1 4 5 10
Argentina 1 3 2 6
Poland 0 1 1 2
Yugoslavia 2 0 0 2
Haiti 0 0 1 1
Monaco 0 0 1 1
Portugal 0 0 1 1
Uruguay 1 0 0 1
20 Sports (Art Contests, Track & Field, Boxing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Gymnastics,
Modern Pentathlon, Polo, Rowing, Rugby, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Water Polo,
Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
1928: Amsterdam, Holland
Germany 10 7 14 31
France 6 10 5 21
Great Britain 3 10 7 20
Egypt 2 1 1 4
India 1 0 0 1
Chile 0 1 0 1
Philippines 0 0 1 1
16 Sports (Track & Field, Boxing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Field Hockey, Gymnastics,
Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Soccer, Swimming, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
1932: Los Angeles, California
Finland 5 8 12 25
Sweden 10 5 9 24
France 11 5 4 20
United Kingdom 5 7 5 17
Mexico 0 2 0 2
Latvia 0 1 0 1
17 Sports (Art Contests, Track & Field, Boxing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Field Hockey,
Gymnastics, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Shooting, Swimming, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling,
1936: Berlin, Germany
Germany 38 31 32 101
Italy 9 13 5 27
Austria 5 7 5 17
Hungary 10 1 5 16
22 Sports (Art Contests, Track & Field, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian,
Fencing, Gymnastics, Handball, Field Hockey, Modern Pentathlon, Polo, Rowing, Shooting, Soccer,
Swimming, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
Italy 9 12 10 31
Hungary 10 5 12 27
Switzerland 5 12 5 22
Australia 2 6 5 13
Turkey 6 4 2 12
South Korea 0 0 2 2
Panama 0 0 2 2
Peru 1 0 0 1
Puerto Rico 0 0 1 1
Sri Lanka 0 1 0 1
Trinidad & Tobago 0 1 0 1
Fencing, Gymnastics, Field Hockey, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming,
Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
1952: Helsinki, Finland
Soviet Union 22 29 19 70
Hungary 16 10 16 42
Germany 0 7 17 24
Lebanon 0 1 1 2
Venezuela 0 0 1 1
19 Sports (Track & Field, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing,
Gymnastics, Field Hockey, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming, Water Polo,
1956: Melbourne, Australia
Australia 13 8 14 35
Hungary 9 10 7 26
United Kingdom 6 7 11 24
Romania 5 3 5 13
Bahamas 0 0 1 1
Iceland 0 1 0 1
Pakistan 0 1 0 1
1960: Rome, Italy
Soviet Union 43 29 31 103
Poland 4 6 11 21
United Arab Rep. 0 1 1 2
British West Indies 0 0 1 1
Ghana 0 1 0 1
Iraq 0 0 1 1
Morocco 0 1 0 1
Singapore 0 1 0 1
Taiwan 0 1 0 1
1964: Tokyo, Japan
Japan 16 5 8 29
Italy 10 10 7 27
Australia 6 2 10 18
Bulgaria 3 5 2 10
Tunisia 0 1 1 2
Nigeria 0 0 1 1
Gymnastics, Field Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming,
Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
1968: Mexico City, Mexico
West Germany 5 11 10 26
East Germany 9 9 7 25
Mongolia 0 1 3 4
Uganda 0 1 1 2
Cambodia 0 1 0 1
Gymnastics, Field Hockey, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming, Volleyball,
1972: Munich, W. Germany
East Germany 20 23 23 66
West Germany 13 11 16 40
Hungary 6 13 16 35
Bulgaria 6 10 5 21
North Korea 1 1 3 5
Colombia 0 1 2 3
Niger 0 0 1 1
23 Sports (Archery, Track & Field, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian,
Fencing, Gymnastics, Handball, Field Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Shooting, Soccer,
Swimming, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
1976: Montreal, Canada
Romania 4 9 14 27
Hungary 4 5 13 22
Bermuda 0 0 1 1
Thailand 0 0 1 1
23 Sports (Archery, Track & Field, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Gymnastics, Handball, Field Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Shooting, Soccer, Swimming, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
1980: Moscow, Soviet Union
East Germany 47 37 42 126
Bulgaria 8 16 17 41
Poland 3 14 15 32
Tanzania 0 2 0 2
Guyana 0 0 1 1
Zimbabwe 1 0 0 1
Romania 19 16 17 52
Canada 10 18 16 44
United Kingdom 5 12 21 38
Italy 14 5 13 32
China 15 7 9 31
Japan 10 6 14 30
France 5 7 16 28
South Korea 6 6 7 19
Sweden 2 11 6 19
Yugoslavia 7 4 7 18
Algeria 0 0 2 2
Ivory Coast 0 1 0 1
Cameroon 0 0 1 1
Dominican Rep. 0 0 1 1
Syria 0 1 0 1
Zambia 0 0 1 1
Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
1988: Seoul, S. Korea
South Korea 12 10 11 33
China 5 11 12 28
Romania 7 11 6 24
Netherland Antilles 0 1 0 1
Costa Rica 0 1 0 1
Djibouti 0 0 1 1
Indonesia 0 1 0 1
Virgin Islands US 0 1 0 1
Senegal 0 1 0 1
Suriname 1 0 0 1
Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting,
Wrestling, Sailing)
1992: Barcelona, Spain
Cuba 14 6 11 31
Hungary 11 12 7 30
South Korea 11 5 11 27
Spain 13 7 2 22
North Korea 5 0 5 10
Czech Rep. 4 2 1 7
Yugoslav Federation 0 1 2 3
Israel 0 1 1 2
Namibia 0 2 0 2
Georgia 0 0 1 1
Malaysia 0 0 1 1
Qatar 0 0 1 1
27 Sports (Archery, Track & Field, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving,
Equestrian, Fencing, Gymnastics, Handball, Field Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing,
Shooting, Soccer, Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Volleyball, Water
Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
South Korea 7 15 5 27
Ukraine 9 2 12 23
Canada 3 11 8 22
Netherlands 4 5 10 19
Spain 5 6 6 17
Czech Rep. 4 3 4 11
Slovak Rep. 1 1 1 3
Armenia 1 1 0 2
Moldova 0 1 1 2
Uzbekistan 0 1 1 2
Azerbaijan 0 1 0 1
Burundi 1 0 0 1
Ecuador 1 0 0 1
Hong Kong 1 0 0 1
Mozambique 0 0 1 1
Tonga 0 1 0 1
29 Sports (Archery, Track & Field, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling,
Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Gymnastics, Handball, Field Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon,
Rowing, Shooting, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis,
2000: Sydney, Australia
Australia 16 25 17 58
Cuba 10 12 7 29
United Kingdom 11 10 7 28
South Korea 8 10 10 28
Romania 11 6 9 26
Netherlands 12 9 4 25
Ukraine 3 10 10 23
Belarus 3 3 11 17
Greece 4 6 3 13
Kazakhstan 3 4 0 7
Saudi Arabia 0 1 1 2
Barbados 0 0 1 1
Kyrgyzstan 0 0 1 1
Kuwait 0 0 1 1
Macedonia 0 0 1 1
Vietnam 0 1 0 1
Taekwondo, Triathlon, Volleyball, Water Polo, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Sailing)
Cuba 9 7 11 27
Eritrea 0 0 1 1
Paraguay 0 1 0 1
United Arab Emirates 1 0 0 1
2008: Beijing, China
Gold Silver Bronze Total
China 51 21 28 100
South Korea 13 10 8 31
Cuba 2 11 11 24
Czech Republic 3 3 0 6
Slovakia 3 2 1 6
Chinese Taipei 0 0 4 4
Dominican Republic 1 1 0 2
Trinidad and Tobago 0 2 0 2
Tajikistan 0 1 1 2
Bahrain 1 0 0 1
Sudan 0 1 0 1
Afghanistan 0 0 1 1
Mauritius 0 0 1 1
Togo 0 0 1 1
(36) Basketball Gymnastics Track & Field Archery Badminton Baseball
Beach Volleyball Boxing Canoe/Kayak Cycling Diving Equestrian Fencing Field Hockey Gymnastics Handball Judo Modern Pent. Rhythmic Gym. Rowing Sailing Shooting Soccer Softball SwimmingSync. Swimming Table Tennis Taekwondo Tennis Track & Field Trampoline Triathlon Volleyball Water Polo Weightlifting Wrestling
Country Med Yrs G S B TOT Avg Medals
Algeria 4 4 1 7 12 3
Argentina 16 14 21 20 55 3
Armenia 2 1 1 2 4 2
Australia 25 113 124 149 386 15
Austria 24 24 38 37 99 4
Azerbaijan<


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: 2017 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru "Les Caillerets"
2017 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru "Les Caillerets" (Previously $220)
SKU #1483973 95 points Decanter
Deeper in colour than some of the d'Angerville wines in 2017, although that is no indication of quality, this comes from the high part of the premier cru close to the Clos des Chênes. Dense yet focussed with stylish, scented oak and a sturdy tannic backbone, this is another classy red from François Duvivier. Drinking Window 2024 - 2032. (TA) (10/2018)
91-93 points Allen Meadows - Burghound
(from two parcels measuring .65 ha). A softly spiced nose grudgingly reveals wafting and perfumed aromas of plum liqueur, violet and a hint of sandalwood. The medium weight flavors are not quite as dense as those of the Frémiets but they're finer still with plenty of the hallmark minerality suffusing the classy and impeccably well-balanced finale. This Zen-like effort should be approachable after only 5 to 7 years of cellaring if that's your preference. (4/2019)
91-93 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets is one of the more ethereal wines in the cellar, exhibiting classy aromas of red cherries, spices, rose petal and rock salt. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, fine-boned and satiny, with delicate but chalky structuring tannins, bright acids and lovely purity of fruit. I suspect it will improve further before it's bottled. (WK) (1/2019)
91-93 points Vinous
The 2017 Volnay Les Caillerets 1er Cru has an elegant, correct, almost conservative bouquet, a bit like a Swiss watch in terms of its precision. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine silky tannin, perfect acidity, very pure with moderate substance, hints of orange zest and marmalade towards the vivacious finish. You could almost drink this now. (NM) (1/2019)
Particularly transparent garnet. Powdery nose of ground pebbles. Then immensely sweet, flattering fruit. You could almost drink this tonight! Very accessible fruit even if there is clearly much more complexity to come. And on the finish there is no shortage of fine tannin. Completely seductive. Very precisely judged. 18/20 points(JR) (3/2019)
K&L Notes
90-93 points Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy: "They did have just under half a hectare and in 2013 were able to buy a further 0.20. Middling depth of purple, this cuvee is very reductive at the moment. There is a real intensity of piercing red fruit behind though, admirable if currently stern." (01/2019)
2017 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru "Les Caillerets"
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DC: 95
BH: 91 - 93
RP: 91 - 93
VN: 91 - 93
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- One of France's most legendary grapes and the grape that earned Burgundy its reputation. The parent of varietals like Pinot Gris/Grigio and Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir is blue to violet to indigo in color with relatively thin skins, and it is said to have been cultivated in France for more than 2,000 years. At its best, Pinot Noir creates elegant wines that are filled with primary red fruit aromas and flavors while young, revealing with an array of secondary characteristics like earth, smoke, violet, truffle and game with age. The varietal is also known, perhaps better than any, for its ability to translate terroir, or a sense of place. While the best Pinot Noir still comes from Burgundy, it is being produced with increasing success in cooler climates around the world. In France, it is part of the trifecta of grapes that can go into Champagne, and it is also grown in Alsace, Irancy, Jura, Savoie, Lorraine and Sancerre. Outside of France it is produced under the names Pinot Nero and Blauburgunder in Italy's mountainous regions, as Spätburgunder in Germany and as Blauburgunder in Austria. In the US, Pinot Noir has found suitable growing conditions in the cooler parts of California, including Carneros, the Russian River Valley, the Anderson Valley, the Sonoma Coast, Monterey County, the Santa Lucia Highlands and Santa Barbara County, as well as in Oregon's Willamette Valley. In recent years, New Zealand has demonstrated its ability to interpret this hard-to-grow varietal, with successful bottlings coming from careful and attentive growers in Central Otago, Martinborough and Canterbury. Chile is also an up-and-coming region for Pinot Noir, creating fresh, fruit-forward, early-drinking and affordable Pinots from the coastal Casablanca Valley and the Limari Valley.
- When it comes to wine, France stands alone. No other country can beat it in terms of quality and diversity. And while many of its Region, Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne most obviously, produce wine as rare, as sought-after and nearly as expensive as gold, there are just as many obscurities and values to be had from little known appellations throughout the country. To learn everything there is to know about French wine would take a lifetime. To understand and appreciate French wine, one only has to begin tasting them.
- The province of eastern France, famous for its red wines produced from Pinot Noir and its whites produced from Chardonnay. (Small of amounts of Gamay and Aligoté are still grown, although these have to be labeled differently.) The most famous part of the region is known as the Côte d'Or (the Golden Slope). It is divided into the Côte de Beaune, south of the town of Beaune (famous principally for its whites), and the Côte de Nuits, North of Beaune (home of the most famous reds). In addition, the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais are important wine growing regions, although historically a clear level (or more) below the Côte d'Or. Also include by some are the regions of Chablis and Auxerrois, farther north.
- Sometimes known as the Chambolle Musigny of the Côte de Beaune, Volnay is famous for its silky, elegant wines with finesse, delicacy and an almost ethereal nose. However, the wines have a depth and structure that can allow them to age for decades. Remington Norman said it wonderfully in his book The Great Domaines of Burgundy: 'If the wines of Pommard sometimes seem like a truck-driver's interpretation of Pinot, then those of Volnay are a ballerina's.


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A 4859 Fraknoi (ideiglenes jelöléssel 1986 TJ2) a Naprendszer kisbolygóövében található aszteroida. Edward L. G. Bowell fedezte fel 1986. október 7-én.

Kapcsolódó szócikkek
 Kisbolygók listája (4501–5000)

Jegyzetek

A Naprendszer kisbolygói

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Sought after Townhome in Indian Hills. Top Rated School District. Prime East Cobb location. Fantastic Bright & Open floor plan w/ views of the Golf Course from the back decks.2Story Vaulted GR w/ floor to ceiling Brick Fireplace. Loft area could be used for Reading Nook, Office or Computer Area. Lower Area off GR can be used as a Bar Area or Office.New windows,Roof is less than 2years old,Fresh Paint, Tile & Harwood Floors, Wrought Iron Spindles, Deck, Covered Deck off Master Bdrm.Too many new additions to list. Townhouse has been well maintained by the Original Owners.


Librarianship as a profession has existed and contributed to the development of Papua New Guinea for nearly 50 years. Yet it has not successfully achieved, or been given, the recognition it deserves. This paper aims to challenge the ways in which the profession markets itself to the public and touches on various promotional messages that can easily be understood by common people. It argues for equality in library and information provision between different sectors of the community and concludes by campaigning for a vigorous change in the way the library profession sells itself to the public and private enterprises.
Knowledge is an important commodity for national development and success and information is its primary ingredient. The role Library and Information services play in the recording, transmission and use of information has helped government, industries and men and women of all walks of life to find out what they want to know. The education services on the other hand is the underlying process required for knowing. Thus, both the Library services and education services play a crucial role to the developments of individuals and society.
We often think that the strength of a nation depends very much on its economic resources and political systems, but it is not necessarily the case. While both the economic and political systems have some positive bearing on a nation's success, the real success of a nation depends on its "e;access to information and good education systems"e;. Without information we can not make good decisions, and we can not truly make decisions unless we have educated minds.
The role libraries play in the overall education system is often not clearly understood. The old stereotype image of the library being a place where books are kept is still predominant among people more so than the fact that it is a place where knowledge is stored, organized, and made accessible to those who search for it. Libraries play a key role in the social and economic development of Papua New Guinea and they serve as a focus for intellectual growth, research and learning for people of all ages. Through libraries, our towns, school, institutions, and business provide collective access to books and other resources which no individual could hope to afford.
The combined collections of all the existing libraries in the country constitute one of the richest intellectual resources in the nation and, has greatly served the people of Papua New Guinea despite numerous constraints. Today, our society and these libraries are challenged by several major trends that are changing the way we work, learn and communicate. The first of these trends is globalisation. Increasingly, we live and work in an environment of global interdependence and global competition where personal, educational and corporate success is determined by timely access to global information resources.
The second trend is the information explosion. During the last few decades, published information has increased at an unprecedented rate, with the total amount of recorded information estimated to be doubling every ten to twenty years. Acquiring, organizing and making this information accessible presents a serious and growing challenge.
The third trend is the revolution in computer technology, which has created a new world of electronic access to information. While books and periodicals will continue to serve as the main source of information for education and communication for many generations to come, new electronic information systems are augmenting and, in many instances, replacing traditional printed information sources. This creates tremendous challenges for the individuals, which must learn to use them effectively. An even more serious problem is the emerging chasm between information "e;haves"e; and "e;have nots"e;. If all citizens are to meet their full economic and personal potential, they must not only be print literate, but must be information literate as well.
The fourth trend is an acceleration in the rate of technological change which has created an increase need for lifelong learning and retraining. More and more of our young people now are expected to change employment several times in their lives, with new skills required each time. So we will see that lifelong learning is not only desirable but may mean economic necessity.
Business and workers today are trying to cope with staggering growth in publication, information and human knowledge while learning how to compete in an information-driven global economy that requires access to global information resources. The Papua New Guinea economy is and will become dependent on the informational resources acquired, organized, and maintained by libraries. It would be extremely short-sighted to believe that Papua New Guinea will be able to compete in the emerging information-based economy without continued access to strong libraries and the new electronic information resources.
The rapid growth in publishing and the accompanying increases in the variety and specialization of user needs have far outstripped the capacity of any library to handle them. Library funds has failed to keep pace with these growing needs due to the combined effect of inflation and diminishing financial support.
The positive response to these increasing demands and limited resources is for libraries to strengthen co-operation and establish resource sharing networking systems. The government must work closely with libraries to initiate automated resource sharing networks which would provide libraries with an expanded access to information and materials not available locally.
Issue No. 2: Closer co-operation among different types of libraries.
Libraries of all types must work closely with each other if they are to meet all the information needs of users. Currently they all exist and work in isolation of each other. The government must look at establishing cooperative structures which would allow libraries to meet the rapidly changing needs of users in the future.
Issue No. 3: Inequities in access to information.
The quality and range of services offered by the existing libraries varies from excellent to totally inadequate. Nearly all the public and school libraries in the country are poorly supported and do not meet minimum standards for library services. Further service inequities exist in the rural areas where 90 percent of the population live. These inequities can be addressed if the government make a commitment to guarantee that every citizen has a basic level of access to information.
Issue No. 4: The need to be business-like.
The decline in government support which results in a widespread deterioration of library services means that librarians have to use and apply business techniques to run their libraries: to develop appropriate goals by asking themselves what business they are in, to develop skills in marketing their services, and to use budget techniques used by profit-making organizations.
The greatest defects in the library profession here in Papua New Guinea is the lack of organizational presence. The defunct PNG Library Association could have played a major role in determining the future of library and information services and establishing cooperative information sharing among libraries if it had existed. It is tragic indeed to have allowed the association to die away and it is even worse to do nothing about it. Professional librarians must all work together for the common good of everyone to ensure information needs of users are well catered for and, the Library Association is an ideal avenue for reaching mutual understanding and support.
The librarian's role of "e;helping people to know"e; is based on the principle of entitlement to know which requires both the education system and the information system. This role immediately assumes that libraries have products and services to sell and these products and services have to be measured to determine their relevance and success in an ever changing environment. Because of the nature of our work we immediately assume our main business is selling information, looking at information as a product we can sell to library clientele. But the other side of the coin is acknowledging the fact that we as librarians have our skills, knowledge and experience to sell. This very important aspect of selling is often overlooked. But it requires us to go out and tell people about what we know as well as what we can do. Librarians can do so much in helping people to know by developing their information handling skills - their abilities to analyze daily problems, seek relevant information, gain access to it efficiently and effectively, use it productively and devise solutions to help improve the quality of their working or personal lives. Such skills are necessary and relevant throughout life and they required constant updating and refreshing. In the library sector librarians hold some responsibility for helping users develop and use information skills. In the school sector it is very well developed and we see information skills itemized in the school curriculum, making teachers responsible for the integrated development of knowledge and how to gain knowledge.
The changes taking place means that we have to change our perspective of the library and see it more from a business perspective, not so much as a profit business but as a business that assigns value to the access to it resources, a value to its services, and to the products it provides, a business which markets all these.
These paradigm shift, this new perspective, requires librarians to retool their attitudes, their values, and their own self worth. They will have to stop cringing at the idea of the library as a business: like other businesses, libraries have always had inventories of goods which they serviced for people to use. They will have to estimate the value of what they do for their users and carefully explore what their users value versus what the librarians think users should value. And if they are to successfully sell their information services they will have to perceive themselves as well worth the price or value they lable on themselves.
To become a business the library should be totally self supporting. This may not be possible or even practical for many libraries. But they must experiment with this approach and move in this direction in order to be free to flexibly respond to the demands of the library's market.
The predominant focus appears to be more on the management of information resources, their organization, exploitation and use and we make people think that this is all we do. But, I think we do rather more than this. We also know about knowing and knowledge especially if we work in institutions of learning where we are daily helping people to use resources for educational purposes. The process of finding out about something results in knowledge, and in educational institutions professionals have needed to become knowledgeable about this largely cognitive process. This expertise which is a result of our constant exposure to, and interrogation of, knowledge resources, is hardly exploited.
We gain knowledge through handling the enquiries of others and this furnishes our minds with subject vocabularies, structures of subjects and their literature, knowledge about their history and other major issues and problems discussed by people working in these different specialisms. We also learn, perhaps subconsciously, that the problems in one discipline may or may not resemble, in character, the problems in another. This is demonstrated by the way in which we can, seemingly drift across the information resources of several disciplines to seek information for an inquirer.
This has left a great deal to be desired about the way we market ourselves. The program leaflets we use to market library collections and services may be used to convey these powerful ideas to our customers and offer them a focus on the intellectual expertise available from a professional. We could sell the idea of our ability to respond to any question, rather then describing our "e;information services"e; as if customers fully understood what this phrase meant. This notion is only understood by a few people but many took it to mean their need for documents or for information which is supplied through consulting documents.
Librarians could promote their skills and knowledge of information by creating partnership.
It is easier in an educational setting where a librarian can work closely with a lecturer in planning his curriculum activities and support for courses, subjects and student groups. Both parties benefit from this kind of collaboration. They both are guided to look at the gaps in the collection and decides on what to acquire as well as deciding on what to discard. They also learn how to monitor trends in the development of the subject and the progress of the students. Also, in discussing the curriculum areas, both parties learn more of each others understanding of the subject and they contribute to the building of each other's knowledge.
Such partnership helps the librarian to make suggestions about how topics and issues might be introduced to students based on a knowledge of what can be learned, what resources are available to assist that leaning, and what problems arise as individual students attempt to learn with the resources.
In as much as we would like to remain with one practice for some length of time, the internal and external pressures continue to put libraries on a tight rope, thus making us always looking for something better every time. The rapid changes we are experiencing has shortened, as it were, the value of anything we consider important. The best product and services, even skills and knowledge of today become the legend of tomorrow. We are constantly amused and threatened by something new and so the familiar chorus is sung over and over again; "e;We have got to change"e;. Heraclitus once said: "e;you can not jump into the same river twice"e;, and he was right. The whole world is in a state of flux, and that change seems to be the only reality.
Information skills is not of walking around the room to find things to read but that of knowing what resources are available and how to handle information from those various sources, in many different forms, how to digest and synthesize it, how to evaluate and apply it - and how to learn from it by thinking about it. The reality of modem information technology has already created a future image which threatens libraries and librarians, and those who will remain in the game are those who are willing to move along with change.


Trek recalls around 800 bicycles and 300 wheels due to fall hazards. The company reports that caliper on the front brake can contact a broken spoke which can cause the rider to fall. 2015, 2016, and 2017 model 720 Disc bicycles and Bontrager Approved TLR Disc 700C 24H Front and Rear Wheels with silver spokes. The bicycles were sold in two different frame sizes, 49 through 61 cm frame sizes. "Trek" is on the bicycle frame, and the serial number is printed on the down tube. The company has received ten incident reports where the spoke of the wheel contacted the caliper, or the spokes broke on the hub. One injury report involved a broken vertebra. The company suggests consumers stop using the bicycle and return to a Trek retailer for a free inspection and replacement wheels.
Product liability laws were established to help protect consumers against dangerous products and potential injuries. Companies, manufacturers, distributors and retailers all maintain a responsibility to produce and sell safe and reliable products to consumers. Often companies are not aware of any issues with their products until complaints are made. It's always important to report any defect or harmful issue with any product. The company will issue a recall to warn other consumers of the potential problems and alert them of solutions to fix the product. Usually, the company will refund the consumer's money or replace the product entirely. However, injuries due arise from faulty or defective products. An experienced attorney will assist in investigating your injuries and can determine if you can pursue legal action.
The product liability attorneys at Meyerkord and Meyerkord, LLC have represented countless product liability injuries cases. We fully understand that injuries are stressful and can put a strain on personal and work relationships. Our team is dedicated to helping our client by communicating throughout the entire legal process and working diligently to get them the care and compensation they deserve. Call us today if you or a loved one has been injured by a faulty or defective product. Our firm provides no-obligation consultations at our downtown St. Louis office to discuss your legal needs. Contact us today.


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Cycling in Japan: Basic Rules, Prohibitions, Safety Tips & Cycling Courses in Tokyo
The extensive train and subway system in Japan is great, but also complicated. Cycling is a great way to commute to avoid the crowds. But of course, there are important rules that you should know before cycling in Japan. Basic Rules about Cycling in Japan jp.fotolia.com/ First of all, you should keep to the left…
How to Take Your Bicycle on Trains, Buses, and More in Japan
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Stay Active While Sightseeing with These 3 Recommended Cycling Tours in Tokyo!
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A Budget Travel Experience in Chiba!
Shinurayasu is located in Chiba Prefecture. It is home to the famous Tokyo Disney Theme Parks. The place is clean and safe even for tourists. The roads are smooth and are bicycle friendly. Bicycle rider must remember the principle though, that pedestrians have the right of way in Japan. There are alternative ways to enjoy…
Let's Bike to Work in Japan!
Japan is a highly industrialized country. Everything is easily accessible and transportation is on the go. There are less worries for people who are in a hurry and need transportation at anytime. s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/ Despite this fact, it tries to maintain an eco-friendly environment. Though a lot of people commute by train, still some of them…
4 Extreme Sports in Japan
When you think of extreme sports in Japan, it may not be the first thing that springs to mind. Many people think of Japan as a tranquil nation where technology and spirituality live side by side in nature. However, Japan has an adrenaline filled side and for those of you who love extreme sports but…
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Following the Excise Act of 1823, the first licence to legally distil whisky in the Highlands was granted in 1824 to George Smith and his son John Gordon Smith of the Glenlivet distillery in Speyside. For many years afterwards, George carried a pair of hair-trigger pistols to protect himself and his family from reprisals by illicit distillers. John made do with a cutlass.
Glenlivet's popularity was such that in the early days of whisky, dozens of distilleries had a 'Glenlivet' suffix appended to their names by owners or bottlers at some point. Notable culprits included Macallan-Glenlivet, Glenfarclas-Glenlivet and Aberlour-Glenlivet.
Diageo's Roseisle distillery, which opened in 2009, is Scotland's largest distillery with a capacity of 12.5 million litres per year.
Between them, the active Speyside distilleries account for more than 60% of Scotland's single malt whisky production.


My weight has definitely been fluctuating this week - a difference of over 2 lbs all together - not sure what's up with that. But for the official weigh in today I'm very happy to report a loss of exactly 1 lb!! I'm so excited!! Since starting this intermittent fasting thing I'm finally seeing steady progress towards my goal - and I even mean "see it" literally, in the mirror!
That brings me to 3.5lbs lost in total - I'm gradually getting close to that 5lb button!!
And this has happened with me going back to only shredding 3 workouts per week, instead of 6! Woohoo! Why torture myself unnecessarily right?!
Off to do Level 3 now. I couldn't workout Monday - well, I could've if I wanted to get up early, which I didn't :). So, I worked out yesterday instead. It doesn't work out ideally to do the every other day thing this week, so I'm just doing 2 days in a row, to make sure I get my 3 days in this week. I haven't done Level 3 in almost 2 weeks, so wish me luck!


"We are just beginning to realize--and study--how the home we create for ourselves also builds a complex, indoor habitat for bugs and other life," says Dr. Misha Leong, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at the Academy. "We're hoping to better understand this age-old coexistence, and how it may impact our physical and mental well-being."
Humans spend the majority of their time indoors. Aside from pests, most life within the home--be it bacteria, fungi, or arthropods (a group that includes insects and their close relatives like spiders and millipedes)--has rarely been studied. The scientific team surveyed 50 urban homes in Raleigh, North Carolina to see what it is about a home that might lead to a buggier abode.
Next time you climb the stairs, remember that insects, too, prefer lower levels. Survey findings revealed that as floor numbers increase, fewer types of insects thrive. Larger rooms, especially on the ground floor (or even below ground), harbored more insect diversity. More varied types of insects were also observed in carpeted rooms versus those with bare floors as well as "airier" rooms with more windows and doors offering greater accessibility to the outdoors. Species diversity within the home tends to mirror the life thriving outside, with neighborhood affluence playing an important and recently studied role.
"While the idea of uninvited insect roommates sounds unappealing, bugs in houses may contribute to health in a roundabout way," says Dr. Michelle Trautwein, senior author and the Academy's Schlinger Chair of Diptera. "A growing body of evidence suggests some modern ailments are connected with our lack of exposure to wider biological diversity, particularly microorganisms--and insects may play a role in hosting and spreading that microbial diversity indoors."
Bugs can also vary from room to room. An analysis of core representative species--like booklice, fruit flies, and ladybugs--revealed how common areas like living rooms hosted more diverse communities when compared to bathrooms, kitchens, and bedrooms. Basements also proved unique: these dark, damp, and cavernous spaces lent to diverse communities of cave-dwelling insects like spiders, mites, millipedes, camel crickets, and ground beetles.
Every room within the home revealed a complex ecological structure of predator and prey--with scavenger species, strays from the outdoors, and transient go-betweens all playing critical roles. The study also noted how indoor ecology is much like island ecology--a scientific discipline that examines what lives where, and why. Once species permeate inside, they tend to colonize their new "island" habitat and disperse across the household.
"We're beginning to see how houses can be a passive go-between for insects traveling through the surrounding landscape," says Trautwein. "The more numerous the entry points of windows and doors, the more diverse the community that thrives inside."
For the messy among us, rest assured: study findings revealed that tidiness does not play a significant role in insect diversity except for the presence of cellar spiders--delicate, long-legged critters of the family Pholcidae typically spotted in damp crawl spaces. While more cluttered areas hosted a greater number of these web-spinners, on the whole human behavior played a minimal role in determining the composition of bug communities in the survey.
The presence of cats or dogs, houseplants, pesticides, and dust bunnies revealed no significant impact, suggesting that our indoor communities are more strongly influenced by the environment outside the window than how tidily we live inside with Fido and Kitty.
"Even though we like to think of our homes as shielded from the outdoors, wild ecological dramas may be unfolding right beside us as we go about our daily lives," says Leong. "We're learning more and more about these sometimes-invisible relationships and how the homes we choose for ourselves also foster indoor ecosystems all their own."
This study is part of a seven-continent exploration to understand overlooked life in the home: how our tiniest roommates arrive and thrive, and the unknown impacts--both harmful and benign--that stem from living together in close quarters.