CLA is Conjugated Linoleic Acid. It's a fat usually discovered in vegetable oils, dairy products as well as beef, and also it is one of the most popular Omega-6 fatty acids.
CLA Safflower Oil comes from the safflower plant, especially the oil. In this form, it is extremely powerful as well as can be packed into a little capsule for simple usage.
CLA Safflower is the richest source of Conjugated Linolenic Acid worldwide. Many state that this is the best natural means to slim down presently.
Scientists have actually located that CLA Safflower Oil helps to destroy stored fat while boosting lean muscle mass. CLA is something that our body can not produce yet needs.
CLA Safflower was released at the beginning of 2016 and also the product is exclusively readily available online as softgel capsules. The item is manufactured in a FDA signed up research laboratory so it is certain that the firm behind the item is United States based.
Keeping your body's cells working at their maximum efficiency is just one manner in which CLA Safflower Oil help in fat burning.
CLA Safflower Oil is a hunger suppressant, so you will really feel satisfied with much less food while taking it. This leads to a decline in calories that amounts to weight reduction, however you do not seem like you're depriving yourself!
Ultimately, this omega-6 oil is revealed to boost metabolic process. Your body burns a lot more calories throughout the day without you having to do anything apart from taking a simple capsule.
Different research studies have actually been carried out to identify the efficiency of CLA safflower oil when it pertains to weight management. According to a clinical research published in the Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry Journal, a compound referred to as acetic acid which is present in apple cider vinegar can assist you with weight management. CLA safflower oil is seen to have the exact same result on your body.
Another research study in the International Journal of Obesity also discovered that CLA safflower supplements aid in reducing your hunger. This is essential in dealing with obesity because it helps you to stay clear of overindulging.
Another research study performed by a clinical assistant professor of medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine learnt that obese people who consumed modest amounts of safflower oil every day shed a substantial amount of weight after some time. The research study involved 55 individuals who were carefully checked for a number of months.
Beyond lipo, there is no other way to reduce body fat than the three approaches from above, and also CLA Safflower Oil achieves all three.
It's very easy to get confused when CLA Safflower Oil is referred to as a fatty acid. Consuming dietary fat is not what makes a person gain fat. You can consume only protein and still gain fat. The reason a person puts on weight or gains fat is that they are eating extra calories than their body can burn.
Nevertheless, foods high in fat are likewise high in calories, which is why they are to be taken in sparingly. However that doesn't indicate they are to be stayed clear of. Fats are necessary to nearly every bodily function, as well as a lot of them are really helpful for weight loss.
Safflowers are in the exact same flower family as daisies, so if you have a recognized allergy to daisies, you would certainly wish to avoid CLA Safflower Oil. Those with a ragweed allergy may additionally experience allergic reaction symptoms, though it is not a certainty.
CLA Safflower Oil enhances the danger of hemorrhaging when combined with the use of blood thinners, aspirin, and also non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. Seek advice from your medical professional if you are taking any one of these drugs.
Most individuals tend to think that CLA as well as safflower oil are the same however the reality is that these are 2 different components.
CLA is a mix of about 28 positional and geometric isomers of the linoleic acid which is a vital omega-6 fatty acid. CLA is mostly discovered in dairy and meat items. CLA is recognized to reduce the total body mass which assists in the decrease of BMI. It additionally helps in maintaining insulin levels in the body.
Safflower oil, on the other hand, is extracted from the safflower plant. The oil is mostly used for cooking functions. The oil is drawn from the seeds of the safflower plant. Safflower is normally an excellent weight-loss supplement if you are only thinking about removing the abdominal} fat, yet CLA influences your complete body mass. To be effective, the oil needs} to include high amounts of CLA and so CLA must be gotten and also refined.
Although CLA safflower oil seems to be the most effective option for managing weight, it features numerous drawbacks connected with careless or extreme intake of the oil. Using CLA safflower can be valuable to your overall health yet consuming way too much of it can bring about weight gain rather than fat burning.
Considering that the interest in the benefits of CLA safflower oil is only starting to rise, a great deal of research is still being carried out to determine what kind of quantity is proper relying on the person's gender, medical history, age, among other factors. This is the main reason the majority of the supplements have the asterisk (*) indicator next to their daily value.
Overall, if you are a healthy person, the one to three grams of CLA is considered safe and one of the most suggested dosage for normal administration. Nonetheless, if you pick to take in the CLA in its natural form as your food preparation choice, after that make sure that you maintain your day-to-day dosage to at most three tablespoons.
Talk to your physician prior to taking CLA safflower supplements if you're under the age of 18 years of ages and/or have a background of medical problems such as diabetes, blood clotting, stomach ulcers, and high blood pressure.


text:
Catalog » Breaking the Spell
Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
Daniel C. Dennett
With a scholarly tone, Daniel Dennett attempts to analyze the true nature of religion and its effect on humanity by investigating its influence scientifically.
Religion, for many people, is vivid and central component of life. Religion comforts people in sickness and sorrow, is an integral tool in their relationships and family life, and has encouraged human coexistence to magnificent and awful ends. Because religion remains such a powerful force in our lives, it is important that we fully understand and are mindful of its influence and what that means for humanity as a whole. While some of the religious may be wary of outsiders examining their faith through a scientific lens, doing so is crucial for the success of humanity.
In his daring book, author Daniel C. Dennett seeks to uncover the origins of faith and why it means so much to so many different people.His analytical discussion tries to determine how and why religions have become so powerful, and why they can be so life-shaping. Where do they come from? Why are so many so devoted to God? What basis do they have in our biology? In our psychology? Is a life lived in a religious faith really the best life that a person can live? All important, fundamental human questions that Dennett explores in his latest book. He sets out to discuss why and how religions have commanded allegiance, become so potent, and shaped so many lives so strongly. Where does our devotion to God come from? What was the psychological and cultural soil in which religion first took root? Is it an addiction or a genuine need that we should try to preserve at any cost? Is it the product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Do those who believe in God have good reasons for doing so? Are people right to say that the best way to live a good life is through religion? These are the types of questions Dennett seeks answers to.
Dennett explores how religions formed, and how they might evolve moving forward. Note please that Breaking the Spell is not the author's attempt to crush institutional religion, but rather an open-minded exploration of those forces in our lives and systems. While religious debates rage on, Dennett's book is a reasoned and calm discussion that believers and nonbelievers each will find useful to further their own understanding.
Premium Certificate of Marriage

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Difference between a pane and window apache beam What's the difference between pane and window? The incoming elements are grouped into windows. Then what does a pane contain?
I took the following code from beam docs
.of(new DoFn<String, String>() {
     public void processElement(@Element String word, PaneInfo paneInfo) {
  }})

Does each element belong to one pane? Or multiple panes? Need a simple analogy to understand pane and window

A: Windowing strategies partitions data by their event time. One element can belong to multiple windows (sliding windows).
Pane is fired by triggers for each window. A window can emit multiple panes depending on how many times a trigger is fired. If there is no trigger, it fires only one pane when the window is out of scope.
Data emitted by each pane then can be aggregated together by the accumulation mode.
You can think a window as a class, a pane as an instance of that class. An element can belong to one or more windows and is used by windows to emit panes.
More details can be found in the programming guide in sessions about windows and triggers.

When you specify a trigger, you must also set the the window's accumulation mode. When a trigger fires, it emits the current contents of the window as a pane. Since a trigger can fire multiple times, the accumulation mode determines whether the system accumulates the window panes as the trigger fires, or discards them.

To set a window to accumulate the panes that are produced when the trigger fires, invoke.accumulatingFiredPanes() when you set the trigger. To set a window to discard fired panes, invoke .discardingFiredPanes().

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


This paper presents a formulation for a method for the adaptive selection of angular flux expansion orders for use in COarse MEsh radiation Transport (COMET) method solutions to whole-core reactor problems. An important aspect of the COMET method is an assumed angular flux expansion on mesh interfaces. Previously, this expansion was held constant throughout a problem. However, the adaptive method described in this paper chooses the angular flux expansions automatically and allows them to vary between meshes. To demonstrate the method, a pressurized water reactor benchmark problem with UO2 and mixed oxide fuel assemblies is solved. Three different configurations for different insertions of control rods were considered. For all configurations, the agreement between the standard and adaptive COMET solutions was excellent, with eigenvalue agreement being 2 pcm or less and average pin fission errors never exceeding 0.1%. Increases in computational efficiency by factors of 2 to 2.6 were observed over standard COMET solutions employing the full flux expansion considered in the problem. In addition, a lower flux expansion suggested by literature as well as the results of the adaptive calculation was used in the standard COMET method to solve the problem. The adaptive COMET solution has a run time similar to this lower expansion, which is to be expected since many of the flux expansions chosen with the adaptive method match this lower flux expansion. The results of this study are encouraging and imply that adaptive COMET solutions improve upon the standard method by increasing computational efficiency when a flux expansion is used that is higher than required for desired accuracy. The method also limits the need for intuition and numerical experimentation in achieving flux expansions that result in COMET calculations that achieve satisfactory accuracy.


text:
Q: RestKit v0.20.x: simultaneously mapping (transient) object and (core data) managed object Suppose I want to send a request to the server with the json
{ "begin_session" : { "info" : "this is some info" } }

and I expect in response the json:
{ "token" : "this is a token", "a_objects" : [
    { "name" : "name of first a_object", "b_objects" : [
        { "name" : "name of first b_object", "type" : "some type value", "id" : "123" },
        { "name" : "name of second b_object", "type" : "some other type value", "id" : "124" }
    ], "id" : "id of first a_object" },
    { "name" : "name of second a_object", "b_objects" : [
        { "name" : "name of first b_object", "type" : "some type value", "id" : "123" },
        { "name" : "name of third b_object", "type" : "some third type value" , "id" : "125" },
    ], "id" : "id of second a_object" }
] }

I want to store "token" transiently and persist the a_objects in core data. Is this how I should do the entire process? First, I set up the objects:
@interface LoginToken : NSObject
    @property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *token;
@end

@interface AObject : NSManagedObject
    @property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *name;
    @property (nonatomic, retain) NSSet *bObjects;
    @property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *aObjectId;
@end

@implementation AObject
    @dynamic name; @dynamic bObjects; @dynamic aObjectId;
@end

@interface BObject : NSManagedObject
    @property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *name;
    @property (nonatomic, retain) AObject *aObject;
    @property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *type;
    @property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *bObjectId;
@end

@implementation BObject
    @dynamic name; @dynamic aObject; @dynamic type; @dynamic bObjectId;
@end

These are the request parameters:
NSDictionary *params = @{"begin_session":@{@"info":@"this is some info"}};

Then I set up the mappings:
RKObjectMapping *tokenMapping = [RKObjectMapping mappingForClass:[LoginToken class]];
[tokenMapping addAttributeMappingsFromArray:@[@"token"]];
RKResponseDescriptor *tokenResponseDescriptor = [RKResponseDescriptor responseDescriptorWithMapping:tokenMapping pathPattern:nil keyPath:@"token" statusCodes:RKStatusCodeIndexSetForClass(RKStatusCodeClassSuccessful)];

RKEntityMapping *bObjectMapping = [RKEntityMapping mappingForEntityForName:@"BObject" inManagedObjectStore:objectManager.managedObjectStore];
[bObjectMapping addAttributeMappingsFromDictionary:@{@"name":@"name",@"type":@"type", @"id":@"bObjectId"}];
bObjectMapping.identificationAttributes = @[@"bObjectId"];

RKEntityMapping *aObjectMapping = [RKEntityMapping mappingForEntityForName:@"AObject" inManagedObjectStore:objectManager.managedObjectStore];
[aObjectMapping addAttributeMappingsFromDictionary:@{@"name":@"name",@"id":@"aObjectId"}];
[aObjectMapping addPropertyMapping:[RKRelationshipMapping relationshipMappingFromKeyPath:@"b_objects" toKeyPath:@"bObjects" withMapping:bObjectMapping]];
aObjectMapping.identificationAttributes = @[@"aObjectId"];

Suppose objectManager is a correctly configured RKObjectManager. I set up the response descriptors:
RKResponseDescriptor *tokenResponseDescriptor = [RKResponseDescriptor responseDescriptorWithMapping:tokenMapping pathPattern:nil keyPath:@"token" statusCodes:RKStatusCodeIndexSetForClass(RKStatusCodeClassSuccessful)];

RKResponseDescriptor *aObjectResponseDescriptor = [RKResponseDescriptor responseDescriptorWithMapping:aObjectMapping pathPattern:nil keyPath:@"a_objects" statusCodes:RKStatusCodeIndexSetForClass(RKStatusCodeClassSuccessful)];

[objectManager addResponseDescriptorsFromArray:@[tokenResponseDescriptor, aObjectResponseDescriptor]];

And finally I'll make the request:
[objectManager getObjectsAtPath:@"path" parameters:params success:^(RKObjectRequestOperation *operation, RKMappingResult *mappingResult) {
    LoginToken *token = [mappingResult firstObject]; // use this token transiently
    // coredata objects are auto saved
} failure:^(RKObjectRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error) {
    // handle error
}];

Is there anything I need to be aware of if this is, in fact, the correct way to do it? Also, how do I set the inverse relationship from BObject to AObject...?

A: As long as your CoreData file has the relationship configured properly (which it looks correct based on your object header files) then the inverse relationship is handled by the mapper. Otherwise, it should work as is.
Note that the token object will be persisted in CoreData as well so you might have to delete them that's the desired behaviour.


Twenty-five years ago, when UNESCO designated Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (HVNP) as a World Heritage Site, the geographical marvel was a literal hotbed of activity. Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, had erupted in 1984, and Kilauea was in the fourth year of a continuous flow that's still going strong today, adding 500 acres of new real estate to Hawaii Island.
One of only 21 World Heritage sites in the U.S., HVNP was tapped for its outstanding universal value and the high number of endemic species it protects.
To mark its 25th UNESCO anniversary, HVNP is planning a free, public celebration on Nov. 11. Park entrance fees will be waived since it's among the National Park system's 2012 special events. Other free events include a cultural festival on July 14 and National Public Lands Day on Sept. 29. HVNP is also gearing up for its centennial anniversary in 2016.
With two of the world's most active and accessible volcanoes, HVNP offers visitors a glimpse of island creation with lava tubes, steam vents, sea arches, caves, craters and calderas, most of which are accessible along hiking trails and roads. Kilauea Visitor Center provides updated information about flows, hiking and ranger-led activities. Among the sure-fire ways to catch the dazzle is by visiting the Thomas A. Jaggar Museum — especially at night, if clients' schedules permit. A fiery glow from the lava lake in Halemaumau Crater illuminates the gas plume rising from the vent.
During my recent visit, surface-flowing lava was accessible beyond the end of Chain of Craters Road, but I didn't have enough time to make the 10-mile trek that takes an estimated 5.5 hours to complete. Instead, I scoped out the action via the one-hour Lava Flight with Iolani Air. Headquartered at Hilo International Airport, Iolani operates flightseeing excursions onboard air-conditioned, eight-passenger Gippsland Airvans designed for stability at lower speeds and boasting large convex viewing windows.
My pilot assured me this was the right trip to complement my previous ground experiences at the park. Since it cuts to the chase, it's geared toward people who are limited on time.
The big buzz on Hawaii Island during my visit was the lava destruction of Jack Thompson's home in the former Royal Gardens subdivision. Situated 3.75 miles down a steep slope southeast of Kilauea's active vent, the former 1,800-acre community boasted nearly 200 dwellings in its heyday. Over the next three decades, flows picked off every structure in its path except for Thompson's. He finally helicoptered out on March 3, 2012, just before lava consumed his home.
As we flew above the area, only a tin roof and water catchment were visible in the vast, inky landscape below. It's humbling to realize that no matter how hopeful and tenacious you are, nature will always take its course.
Learn what to pack when planning a trip to Hawaii.
Lava Flight rate: $175 per adult. Commission varies.


text:
Home › All Issues and News
All Issues and News
Welcome to the OFIR Issues and News page. All issue and news articles are consolidated here for viewing.
Perry to feds: Send child immigrants back home
Rick Jervis, USA TODAY
border, Border Patrol, Mexico, illegal immigration, illegal aliens
McALLEN, Texas – Gov. Rick Perry told a U.S. House field hearing Thursday that President Obama should deploy the National Guard to secure the Texas border and should send thousands of undocumented child immigrants back to their home country.
He also called on the federal government to reimburse Texas the $500 million that he said the state has spent on securing the border since 2005...
"Allowing them to remain here will only encourage the next group of individuals to undertake this dangerous and life-threatening journey here," Perry said...
"Send them back! Send...
Massachusetts Committee Defeats Illegal Alien Driver's License Bill
driver's license, illegal aliens, state legislation
Legislation that would make illegal aliens eligible to receive driver's licenses and learner's permits in Massachusetts failed this session because of its lack of support among constituents and within the Massachusetts legislature. Last week, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Transportation voted to send House Bill ("H.B.") 3285 to study, effectively killing consideration of the legislation this session. (Boston Globe, Jun. 24, 2014).
H.B. 3285 would have removed the provision in Massachusetts law that requires an applicant to provide a Social Security Number for proof of...
Non-Citizen Driver's Licenses Bogging Down Colorado DMV
CBS Denver
illegal immigration, driver's license, illegal aliens, state legislation
A new kind of driver's license for non-citizens will soon be available but even before the Department of Motor Vehicles can issue them, advance requests are clogging up the system.
Tens of thousands of drivers in Colorado are calling the DMV to register for the new ID which is clogging the system.
Those licenses are the result of a law passed last year that aims to improve public safety by making sure every driver in Colorado, regardless of their legal status, has a license.
The law doesn't take effect until Aug. 1 but the DMV began making appointments on...
Man with memorable tattoo gets 3 years for sex crime
East Oregonian
Mexico, crime, illegal aliens
A former Irrigon man who evaded justice for 12 years is going to prison for three years for a sex crime.
Court records show Martin Estrada, also known as Juan Manuel Virelas-Martinez, pleaded guilty June 19 to one count of second-degree sodomy.
Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson said Oregon State Police investigated Estrada in August 2002 for sex crimes in Irrigon. Police found Estrada received oral sex from a girl who passed herself off as 15 when she was a 13-year-old runaway living with him in his trailer. Detectives interviewed Estrada and arrested him Aug. 29...
Gallup Shows Obama Is Wrong About Immigration
Neil Munro - White House Correspondent
border, Border Patrol, Mexico, enforcement, illegal immigration, illegal aliens
Only one-in-five Americans want to see additional immigration, while two-in-five Americans want less immigration, says a new Gallup poll.
The June 27 Gallup poll helps to explain why the GOP's rejected the media-touted lobbying push for the Senate's June 2013 immigration-boosting bill.
Progressives and business groups have spent at least $1.5 billion since 2008 pushing for increased immigration, and routinely insist that the public supports their version of "comprehensive immigration reform." That version was approved last June by the Senate, and it would double the inflow...
New York to Issue ID Cards for Undocumented Immigrants
Henry Goldman
population, enforcement, illegal immigration, illegal aliens, taxes
New York City's 500,000 undocumented immigrants will be able to open bank accounts, visit libraries and use medical clinics, thanks to an official municipal identification card approved by the City Council.
The measure, backed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, passed in a 43 to 3 vote today with two abstentions. The photo IDs will display the holder's name, birth date, address and -- at the cardholder's option -- a self-designated gender.
"It sends a simple and clear message that we are a city that believes in including everyone," Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said...
This Is a 'Cheat Sheet' Found at the Border to Coach Illegals on How to Stay in the U.S.
border, Border Patrol, Mexico, crime, enforcement, illegal immigration, illegal aliens
U.S. law enforcement officials have been finding "cheat sheets" along the border used by illegal immigrants to try to stay in the United States and not get deported after they've been caught.
The notes, believed to be supplied by human trafficking groups, give pointers in Spanish on what immigrants should say when confronted by border authorities.
One federal law enforcement official dubbed them "illegal alien cheat sheets."
A copy of one sheet obtained by TheBlaze lists a series of questions that U.S. authorities will consider in granting someone an immigration...
Senator Sessions Does His Part to Defend America–But Where is the GOP Leadership?
Allan Wall
border, Border Patrol, Mexico, enforcement, Homeland Security, illegal immigration
The GOP congressional leadership is AWOL in serious opposition to the border chaos that has been encouraged by the Obama Administration. Just think what the Republican leadership could do if the will was there—Senators and Congressmen could be filibustering, cutting off funds, speaking to the press—opposing with one voice what the government is doing and demanding that the administration secure the border.
But of course the GOP leadership doesn't do that. If only Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions were running the GOP. Check this out :
Exclusive- Sen. Jeff Sessions: Pro-...
Drug dog find 50 pounds of cocaine in vehicle following traffic stop
Lynne Terry
border, crime, drugs, illegal aliens
A Canadian man has been arrested on suspicion of transporting cocaine.
Charles Taesung Pak, 28 of Vancouver, B.C., was pulled over... driving a rental car and did not answer basic questions.
...they called in Nikko, a drug dog..., finding 50 pounds of cocaine.
The drugs have a street value in the United States of $420,000...
Previously deported sex-crime felon re-arrested in Wilsonville
Rick Bella
WILSONVILLE -- A Mexican national deported in 2012 after serving a prison sentence for felony sex crimes was re-arrested in Wilsonville Thursday.
Victor Ozuna Bernal, 35, was booked into the Clackamas County Jail and later was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
...Ozuna Bernal – previously had been deported.
...was convicted in Nebraska in 2007 for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl. He served a five-year prison sentence and was deported to Mexico...
...living in Woodburn for the past year.


text:
Q: Alternate for function Timestamp I want to modify below query to avoid using function Timestamp. Since this function is being used the index is not used.  Please let me know what alternatives can be used. This query is for DB2 database.
SELECT *
  FROM   Capacity CPC
 WHERE TIMESTAMP(CPC.CPC_DATE,CPC_TIME) BETWEEN
       CURRENT TIMESTAMP + :Input_number HOURS
   AND
       CURRENT TIMESTAMP + :Input_number HOURS

A: You have to decompose date range and time range separately. The time part only needs to be checked if it in the same date part of the range:
SELECT *
FROM Capacity CPC
WHERE
CPC_DATE >= DATE(CURRENT TIMESTAMP - :Input_number HOUR)
AND
CPC_DATE <= DATE(CURRENT TIMESTAMP + :Input_number HOUR)
AND
CPC_TIME >=
    CASE WHEN CPC_DATE = DATE(CURRENT TIMESTAMP - :Input_number HOUR)
      THEN TIME(CURRENT TIMESTAMP - :Input_number HOUR)
      ELSE '00:00:00'
    END
AND
CPC_TIME <=
    CASE WHEN CPC_DATE = DATE(CURRENT TIMESTAMP + :Input_number HOUR)
      THEN TIME(CURRENT TIMESTAMP + :Input_number HOUR)
      ELSE '24:00:00'
    END

A: It's pretty much hopeless as your data is not in 2NF: CPC_DATE and CPC_TIME should be single column CPC_DATETIME. If you don't need the time component in that form, you can still query from YYYY-MM-DD-00:00:00 to (YYYY-MM-DD plus one day minus one second) and retain using an index.


Whether this is your first pageant or your one hundredth pageant you are sure to shine on stage, be rewarded with a crown, sash, and prize package, build confidence, and make new friends and memories to last a lifetime.
~ WE AWARD OVER $15,000 IN CASH AND PRIZES AT NATIONALS!
~ OUR NATIONAL PAGEANT AWARDS EVERY CONTESTANT WITH A CROWN, SASH, AND QUALITY PRIZE PACKAGE .
~ PHOTOS DO NOT COUNT TOWARD SUPREME TITLES.
~ SCORE SHEETS RETURNED TO CONTESTANTS RIGHT AFTER CROWNING.
Congratulations Blair - 2018 Ultimate Grand Supreme. $1000 cash prize!
MCS February 2017 - Belle won a pair of season passes to the Six Flags amusement park of her choice!
Marjana donated over 430+ items for the homeless through Life Changes Charity at our February 2017 national pageant!
What better place to build confidence and self-esteem than on the MCS pageant stage. We provide a fun, stress-free competition and every contestant is rewarded for the courage, elegance, and talent they display. Professional judges score contestant's on the basis of facial , personality, grace, poise, originality, and stage presence. Score sheets are returned to contestants at the end of our crowning ceremony with valuable input from the judges. These are great to take home with you and use for practice for future pageants and even real life scenarios such as that next go-see, audition, or public appearance.


text:
Judge declares mistrial in Bundy Ranch case
Robert Anglen
LAS VEGAS — A federal judge declared a mistrial Monday against four men accused of taking up arms against federal agents during the Bundy Ranch standoff in 2014.
A jury convicted two defendants on multiple counts but could not reach a unanimous verdict against four others.
U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro said the four men will be retried June 26.
The case was the first of three trials against 17 defendants charged in the standoff, which pitted cattle ranchers, anti-government protesters and militia members against the Bureau of Land Management.
Navarro's decision will delay the start of the second trial against cattle rancher Cliven Bundy and his sons, Ammon and Ryan Bundy, who are described by prosecutors as the leaders of the standoff.
As jury weighs Bundy Ranch standoff, Carol Bundy awaits her husband's fate
Prosecutors: Bundy Ranch dissidents were criminals, not protesters
The jury told Navarro on Monday morning that it was "hopelessly deadlocked" and could not reach verdicts on the four defendants.
Navarro ordered the jurors to continue deliberating to see if they could reach additional verdicts. But just before 1 p.m. MT, Navarro declared a mistrial and ordered a retrial.
The defendants faced 10 identical charges and could spend the rest of their lives in prison if convicted.
The jury did not convict any defendants on conspiracy charges, viewed as a huge blow to government prosecutors who built the case to pivot on two counts of conspiracy.
Gregory Burleson of Arizona, was convicted on eight charges, including threatening and assaulting a federal officer, obstruction, interstate travel in aid of extortion and brandishing a weapon. Burleson had told a video crew after the standoff that he had come to the Bundy Ranch to kill federal agents. The video crew was made up of undercover FBI agents.
Todd Engel of Idaho was convicted of obstruction and interstate travel in aid of extortion.
"The bottom line is a hung jury is not the end of the world," Las Vegas lawyer Shawn Perez said Monday after the jury announced its first impasse. "But it's (more time) in prison for my client."
Perez, who represents Richard Lovelien of Oklahoma, said how the government decides to retry the case will depend on how the jury split.
"For them to say they are hopeless deadlocked, my gut is telling me it has to be more than one juror holding out."
Jurors began deliberating April 13 after two months of testimony involving 35 prosecution and four defense witnesses.
The Bundy Ranch standoff is one of the most high-profile land-use cases in modern Western history.
The six men from Arizona, Idaho and Oklahoma are among 17 defendants charged with conspiracy, extortion assault and obstruction for helping rancher Cliven Bundy fend off a government roundup of his cattle.
For decades, the BLM repeatedly ordered Bundy to remove his cattle from federal lands and in 2014 obtained a court order to seize his cattle as payment for more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees.
The Bundy family issued a social-media battle cry. Hundreds of supporters from every state in the union, including members of several militia groups, converged on his ranch about 70 miles north of Las Vegas.
After the BLM abandoned the roundup, the standoff was hailed as a victory by militia members. Ammon and Ryan Bundy cited their success at Bundy Ranch in their run-up to the siege of an Oregon wildlife refuge in 2016, also in protest of BLM policies. An Oregon federal jury acquitted Ammon, Ryan and five others in October.
No arrests were made in the Bundy Ranch case until after the Oregon siege ended.
The BLM abandoned the roundup because they were afraid they were going to die, federal prosecutors told the jury. They said law enforcement officers were surrounded and outgunned in a dusty arroyo beneath Interstate 15 where they had penned the cattle.
Closing arguments to begin in Bundy Ranch supporters trial
Judge orders feds to identify agent in Cliven Bundy case
Local, state and federal law enforcement officers testified they were afraid they would be shot or be drawn into a bloody shooting war with unarmed men, women and children in the crossfire.
Defendants denied they conspired to help Bundy and told jurors the case had nothing to do with cattle. They said they came to protect the public from overzealous and aggressive law enforcement officers.
Defendants said they were moved to join Bundy after seeing internet images of officers throwing an elderly woman to the ground, loosing dogs on one of Bundy's sons and shocking protesters with a stun guns.
They also said they were inspired to act by the so-called First Amendment zone officers established to cordon off anticipated protesters, which they described as anathema to free speech.
Defense lawyers attempted to cast the case as a constitutional issue and said their clients were exercising their First Amendment right to assemble and Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Navarro would not allow the defense to argue about constitutional protections to the jury.
Navarro also prevented the defense from calling a string of witnesses about what happened in the run-up to the standoff, ruling they could only testify about what happened on the final day of the standoff.
That left lawyers chipping away at the conspiracy charges, which make up the core of the government's case. They sought to establish the six men acted independently from one another and without coordination from the Bundys.
No information was presented in court to explain what led prosecutors to file charges against the six men out of the hundreds of protesters at the Bundy Ranch. Lawyers said their clients were singled because of comments they made online and in interviews before and after the standoff.
Burleson, Richard Lovelien of Oklahoma and O. Scott Drexler, Engel, Eric Parker and Steven Stewart of Idaho are described as the least culpable of all 17 defendants.
The jury had to work through a complicated set of 37 separate jury instructions to determine the culpability of each defendant.
It had to decide if the defendants were part of a criminal conspiracy that sought to impede and injure federal officers.
It was also asked to determine if the men were guilty of assault and threatening federal officers, carrying or using a firearm in a crime of violence, obstruction of justice, interference of interstate transportation by extortion, interstate in aid of extortion and aiding and abetting.
Follow Robert Anglen on Twitter: @robertanglen


Gwydir Castle, Llanrwst, a photo by davidrobertsphotography on Flickr.
A trip up the Conwy Valley today and I stopped to grab this photo over the wall of the wonderful Gwydir Castle at Llanrwst. Built in c1490, it is really a fortified manor house but still very impressive, nonetheless.
Lovely photo, David. What I love about this place is that it seems so original and untouched...I know it's been restored and all that, but the result isn't some kind of sanitised replica as per the NT. So you can stand in the great hall and imagine how it must have been.


Love My Trips is delighted to share this special offer with our readers. 'The Dales Experience' at the recently reviewed Devonshire Fell includes two night's accommodation, with a three-course dinner on the first evening and a traditional Yorkshire cooked breakfast each morning. The offer is available midweek (from Sunday – Thursday evenings only) and priced from £134.00 per person for the two-night stay (based on a Classic bedroom). Guests also enjoy free entry to the Bolton Abbey Estate, use of the spa and health club facilities and 10% discount on pre-booked treatments at the nearby Devonshire Arms, sister property to The Devonshire Fell. The Devonshire Spa includes a heated indoor pool, sauna, Jacuzzi, steam room, and nail bar. Treatments are with the deeply luxurious and world-renowned ESPA product and treatment range.
The cheerful, colourful and contemporary design of the cosy Devonshire Fell and its original works of art, also lift the spirits, as well as its beautiful location. Each of the sixteen bedrooms is individually styled, with strong pastel shades and a simple country theme, with modern art and ceramics offering a homely touch. The restoration and design of the property was overseen by The Duchess of Devonshire herself, as this hotel is part of the award-winning Devonshire Hotels Group.
Foodies will enjoy dining at the Devonshire Fell. Head Chef, Rob Harrison, worked for more than 8 years at the acclaimed Michelin-starred 'Pipe & Glass' pub at South Dalton. Since becoming Head Chef at The Fell in 2015, he has influenced the one AA rosette à la carte and tasting menus with his culinary experience and flair. Fine local produce is a key feature on his menus.
Situated in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, in picturesque Burnsall, well-known for being the setting of the film, 'Calendar Girls', The Devonshire Fell boasts the most spectacular views of the surrounding countryside, which is simply glorious in the autumn time. With the countryside a kaleidoscope of golds, greens and reds, this two-night stay 'The Dales Experience' is a short break to revitalise the senses.
To book, call 01756 718111 or visit www.devonshirefell.co.uk. Please mention Love My Trips 'The Dales Experience' when booking.
Read our review of this hotel.


text:
/*global define*/
'use strict';

// Dependecies

define([
    'jquery',
    'jquery-ui',
    'pubsub',
    'underscore'
], function(
    jQuery,
    jQuery_ui,
    PubSub,
    _
)
{
    /* This module handles the user notes.
        Each note can be connect to an atom (via IAC) or not.
        Each note may appear on the canvas.
    */
    // Variables
    var target = undefined;
    var notes = {};
    var cameraData = {}; // here are stored data about the camera position that each note can be related to

    var idCounter = 0;

    // Module References
    var $setUIValue = undefined;
    var $tooltipGenerator = undefined;
    var $disableUIElement = undefined;
    var $menuRibbon = undefined;
    var $stringEditor = undefined;
    var html = undefined;
    var intervalTime = 3000;
    var timer;

    // Contructor //
    function notesTab(argument) {
        // Acquire Module References //
        if (!(_.isUndefined(argument.setUIValue))) $setUIValue = argument.setUIValue;
        else return false;
        if (!(_.isUndefined(argument.tooltipGenerator))) $tooltipGenerator = argument.tooltipGenerator;
        else return false;
        if (!(_.isUndefined(argument.disableUIElement))) $disableUIElement = argument.disableUIElement;
        else return false;
        if (!(_.isUndefined(argument.menuRibbon))) $menuRibbon = argument.menuRibbon;
        else return false;
        if (!(_.isUndefined(argument.stringEditor))) $stringEditor = argument.stringEditor;
        else return false;
        if (!(_.isUndefined(argument.html))) html = argument.html;
        else return false;

        // Inputs //
        html.notes.properties.title.on('keyup',function(){
            html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).find('.noteTitle').html(html.notes.properties.title.val() );
        });
        html.notes.other.body.on('keyup',function(){
            html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).find('.wordwrap.notes').html(html.notes.other.body.val());
        });
        html.notes.properties.opacity.html('<option>0</option><option>2</option><option>4</option><option>6</option><option>8</option><option>10</option>');
        html.notes.properties.opacity.selectpicker();
        html.notes.properties.opacity.selectpicker('val','10');
        html.notes.properties.opacity.on('change',function(){
            html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('-ms-filter','progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(Opacity='+$stringEditor.multiply10(html.notes.properties.opacity.val())+')');
            html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('filter','alpha(opacity='+$stringEditor.multiply10(html.notes.properties.opacity.val())+')');
            html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('opacity',$stringEditor.divide10(html.notes.properties.opacity.val()));
        });
        html.notes.properties.color.spectrum({
            color: "#000000",
            allowEmpty:true,
            chooseText: "Choose",
            cancelText: "Close",
            move: function(){
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteColor:{
                        publish: { id: notes.activeEntry, color: '#'+html.notes.properties.color.spectrum('get').toHex() },
                        value: '#'+html.notes.properties.color.spectrum('get').toHex()
                    }
                });
                html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('background-color','#'+html.notes.properties.color.spectrum('get').toHex());
                html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).find('.notes').css('background-color','#'+html.notes.properties.color.spectrum('get').toHex());
            },
            change: function(){
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteColor:{
                        publish: { id: notes.activeEntry, color: '#'+html.notes.properties.color.spectrum('get').toHex() },
                        value: '#'+html.notes.properties.color.spectrum('get').toHex()
                    }
                });
                html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('background-color','#'+html.notes.properties.color.spectrum('get').toHex());
                html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).find('.notes').css('background-color','#'+html.notes.properties.color.spectrum('get').toHex());
            }
        });

        html.notes.other.saveCamera.on('click',function(){
            var value = undefined;
            (html.notes.other.saveCamera.hasClass('active')) ? value = false : value = true;
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                saveCamera:{
                    value:value,
                    publish:{saveCamera:value, id : notes.activeEntry}
                }
            });

        });
        html.notes.other.enableParameters.on('click',function(){
            var value = undefined;
            (html.notes.other.enableParameters.hasClass('active')) ? value = false : value = true;
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                enableParameters:{
                    value:value,
                    publish:{enableMotifParameters:value}
                }
            });

        });

        $disableUIElement.disableElement({
            noteTitle:{
                value: true
            },
            noteBody:{
                value: true
            },
            noteOpacity:{
                value: true
            },
            noteColor:{
                value: true
            }
        });
        html.notes.other.table.find('tbody').sortable({
            appendTo: document.body,
            axis: 'y',
            containment: "parent",
            cursor: "move",
            items: "> tr",
            tolerance: "pointer",
            cancel: 'td.visibility'
        });
        html.notes.other.table.hide('slow');

        // Buttons //
        html.notes.actions.new.on('click',function(){
            if (!(html.notes.actions.new.hasClass('disabled'))){
                highlightNote(notes.activeEntry,false);
                highlightNote(addNote(),true);
                $disableUIElement.disableElement({
                    noteTitle:{
                        value: false
                    },
                    noteBody:{
                        value: false
                    },
                    noteOpacity:{
                        value: false
                    },
                    noteColor:{
                        value: false
                    },
                    newNote:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    saveNote:{
                        value: false
                    },
                    deleteNote:{
                        value: false
                    }
                });
            }
        });
        html.notes.actions.save.on('click',function(){
            if (!(html.notes.actions.save.hasClass('disabled'))){

                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        value: false,
                        other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+notes.activeEntry)
                    }
                });

                if (notes[notes.activeEntry].atomNote === true) {
                    var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('width'),10) / 2;
                    var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('height'),10) / 2;
                    notes[notes.activeEntry].x = x;
                    notes[notes.activeEntry].y = y;
                    $setUIValue.setValue({
                        noteVisibility:{
                            publish: {id:notes.activeEntry, visible: false, x: x, y: y, color: notes[notes.activeEntry].color}
                        }
                    });
                }

                showCanvasNote(notes.activeEntry,false);

                var cameraToggle = (html.notes.other.saveCamera.hasClass('active')) ? true : false;
                var sceneObjsToggle = (html.notes.other.enableParameters.hasClass('active')) ? true : false;

                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    saveNoteForSystem:{
                        publish: {id:notes.activeEntry, cameraToggle : cameraToggle, sceneObjsToggle : sceneObjsToggle }
                    }
                });

                editNote({
                    title: html.notes.properties.title.val(),
                    body: html.notes.other.body.val(),
                    color: '#'+html.notes.properties.color.spectrum('get').toHex(),
                    opacity: html.notes.properties.opacity.val(),
                    atomNote: notes[notes.activeEntry].atomNote,
                    x: notes[notes.activeEntry].x,
                    y: notes[notes.activeEntry].y
                });

                $disableUIElement.disableElement({
                    noteTitle:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    noteBody:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    noteOpacity:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    noteColor:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    newNote:{
                        value: false
                    },
                    saveNote:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    deleteNote:{
                        value: true
                    }
                });

                clearTimeout(timer);

                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    playerPause:{
                        value:false,
                        publish:{play:false }
                    }
                });

                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    playerPlay:{
                        value:false,
                        publish:{play:false }
                    }
                });
            }
        });
        html.notes.actions.delete.on('click',function(){
            if (!(html.notes.actions.delete.hasClass('disabled'))){
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    deleteNote: {
                        publish: {
                            id: notes.activeEntry
                        }
                    }
                });
                deleteNote();
                $disableUIElement.disableElement({
                    noteTitle:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    noteBody:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    noteOpacity:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    noteColor:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    newNote:{
                        value: false
                    },
                    saveNote:{
                        value: true
                    },
                    deleteNote:{
                        value: true
                    }
                });
            }
        });

        // player
        html.notes.other.playerSlider.slider({
            value: intervalTime/1000,
            min: intervalTime/1000,
            max: 300,
            step: 1,
            animate: true,
            slide: function(event, ui){
                html.notes.other.interval.val(ui.value);
                intervalTime = parseInt(ui.value)*1000;
            }
        });

        html.notes.other.interval.val(intervalTime/1000);
        html.notes.other.interval.prop('disabled', true);

        html.notes.other.play.on('click',function(){
            var value = undefined;
            (html.notes.other.play.find('a').hasClass('active')) ? value = false : value = true;

            if(value === true){

                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    playerPlay:{
                        value:value,
                        publish:{play:value }
                    }
                });

                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    playerPause:{
                        value:false,
                        publish:{play:false}
                    }
                });

                playerTimerFunction();
            }

        });
        html.notes.other.pause.on('click',function(){
            var value = undefined;
            (html.notes.other.pause.find('a').hasClass('active')) ? value = false : value = true;

            if(value === true){

                clearTimeout(timer);

                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    playerPause:{
                        value:value,
                        publish:{play:value }
                    }
                });

                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    playerPlay:{
                        value:false,
                        publish:{play:false }
                    }
                });
            }

        });
        html.notes.other.repeat.on('click',function(){

            var value = undefined;

            (html.notes.other.repeat.find('a').hasClass('active')) ? value = false : value = true;

            $setUIValue.setValue({
                playerRepeat:{
                    value:value,
                    publish:{repeat:value}
                }
            });

        });

        html.notes.other.rewind.on('click',function(){

            var nextID = undefined;

            var id = notes.activeEntry;
            var newStart = false ;

            if( id === false){
                newStart = true;
                id = (jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:first'))[0].id ;
            };

            // Find Next Note //
            var table = {
                first: jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:first'),
                last: jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:last'),
                current: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id),
                next: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).closest('tr').prev('tr')
            };

            if (table.next.length > 0){
                nextID = table.next[0].id;
            }
            else{
                nextID = table.last[0].id;
            }

            // Hide Current Note //
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    value: false,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id)
                }
            });
            if (notes[id].atomNote === true) {
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[id].x = x;
                notes[id].y = y;
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id:id, visible: false, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id].color}
                    }
                });
            }
            showCanvasNote(id,false);

            // Show Next Note //
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    value: true,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+nextID)
                }
            });

            if (notes[nextID].atomNote === true) {
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[nextID].x = x;
                notes[nextID].y = y;
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id: nextID, visible: true, x: x, y: y, color: notes[nextID].color}
                    }
                });
            }
            showCanvasNote(nextID,true);

            $setUIValue.setValue({
                selectNote:{
                    publish: {id:nextID}
                }
            });

            selectNote(nextID);

        });

        html.notes.other.forward.on('click',function(){

            var nextID = undefined;

            var id = notes.activeEntry;
            var newStart = false ;

            if( id === false){
                newStart=true;
                id = (jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:last'))[0].id ;
            };

            // Find Next Note //
            var table = {
                first: jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:first'),
                last: jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:last'),
                current: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id),
                next: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).closest('tr').next('tr')
            };

            if (table.next.length > 0){
                nextID = table.next[0].id;
            }
            else {
                nextID = table.first[0].id;
            }

            // Hide Current Note //
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    value: false,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id)
                }
            });
            if (notes[id].atomNote === true) {
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[id].x = x;
                notes[id].y = y;
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id:id, visible: false, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id].color}
                    }
                });
            }
            showCanvasNote(id,false);

            // Show Next Note //
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    value: true,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+nextID)
                }
            });

            if (notes[nextID].atomNote === true) { console.log(9);
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[nextID].x = x;
                notes[nextID].y = y;
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id: nextID, visible: true, x: x, y: y, color: notes[nextID].color}
                    }
                });
            }
            showCanvasNote(nextID,true);

            $setUIValue.setValue({
                selectNote:{
                    publish: {id:nextID}
                }
            });

            selectNote(nextID);

        });
    };
    var playerTimerFunction = function(){

        var nextID = undefined;

        var id = notes.activeEntry;
        var newStart = false ;

        if( id === false){
            newStart=true;
            id = (jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:last'))[0].id ;
        };

        // Find Next Note //
        var table = {
            first: jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:first'),
            last: jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:last'),
            current: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id),
            next: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).closest('tr').next('tr')
        };

        if (table.next.length > 0){
            nextID = table.next[0].id;
        }
        else if((html.notes.other.repeat.find('a').hasClass('active')) || newStart === true){
            nextID = table.first[0].id;
        }
        else{
            clearTimeout(timer);

            $setUIValue.setValue({
                playerPlay:{
                    value:false,
                    publish:{play:false }
                }
            });

            return;
        }

        // Hide Current Note //
        $setUIValue.setValue({
            noteVisibility:{
                value: false,
                other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id)
            }
        });
        if (notes[id].atomNote === true) {
            var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
            var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
            notes[id].x = x;
            notes[id].y = y;
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    publish: {id:id, visible: false, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id].color}
                }
            });
        }
        showCanvasNote(id,false);

        // Show Next Note //
        $setUIValue.setValue({
            noteVisibility:{
                value: true,
                other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+nextID)
            }
        });

        if (notes[nextID].atomNote === true) { console.log(9);
            var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('width'),10) / 2;
            var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('height'),10) / 2;
            notes[nextID].x = x;
            notes[nextID].y = y;
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    publish: {id: nextID, visible: true, x: x, y: y, color: notes[nextID].color}
                }
            });
        }
        showCanvasNote(nextID,true);

        $setUIValue.setValue({
            selectNote:{
                publish: {id:nextID}
            }
        });

        selectNote(nextID);
        timer = setTimeout( playerTimerFunction, intervalTime );
    };

    // Add note to Table //
    function addNote(newID,restore){
        var id = undefined;
        var atomNote = false;

        // Clear Forms //
        html.notes.properties.opacity.val('10');
        html.notes.other.body.val('');
        html.notes.properties.opacity.selectpicker('val','10');
        html.notes.properties.color.children().css('background','white');

        // Note is not related to an atom //
        if (_.isUndefined(newID)) {
            do{
                id = 'note'+idCounter;
                idCounter++;
            } while(!(_.isUndefined(notes[id])));
        }
        // Restore Note //
        else if (_.isUndefined(restore)){
            atomNote = true;
            id = newID;
        }
        // Atom Related //
        else id = newID;

        html.notes.other.table.find('tbody').append('<tr id="'+id+'" class="bg-dark-gray"><td colspan="1" class="visibility"><a class="noteButton"><img src="Images/hidden-icon-sm.png" class="img-responsive" alt=""/></a></td><td colspan="4" class="selectable note-name">Untitled Note</td><td class="selectable note-color"><div class="color-picker color-picker-sm theme-02 bg-purple"><div class="color"></div></div></td></tr>');
        html.notes.other.table.show('slow');

        // Create Database Entry //
        notes[id] = {
            title: '',
            body: '',
            color: '#FFFFFF',
            opacity: '',
            atomNote: atomNote,
            x: 0,
            y: 0
        };
        // Create on Canvas //
        createCanvasNote(id);

        // Handlers //
        html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).find('.selectable').on('click',function(){

            $setUIValue.setValue({
                selectNote:{
                    publish: {id:id}
                }
            });

            selectNote(id);
        });
        // Note Visibility //
        html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).find('.noteButton').on('click', function(){

            var value = undefined;
            (html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).find('.noteButton').hasClass('visible')) ? value = false : value = true;
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    value: value,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id)
                }
            });
            if (notes[id].atomNote === true) {
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[id].x = x;
                notes[id].y = y;
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id:id, visible: value, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id].color}
                    }
                });
            }
            showCanvasNote(id,value);
        });
        // Remote Hide/Show Note //
        html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).on('hide',function(){
            if(_.isUndefined(notes[id].temp)) {
                return false;
            }
            else{
                if (notes[id].temp === true){
                    // UI //
                    $setUIValue.setValue({
                        noteVisibility:{
                            value: false,
                            other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id)
                        }
                    });
                    showCanvasNote(id.toString(),false);
                    notes[id].temp = undefined;

                    // System //
                    var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
                    var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
                    notes[id].x = x;
                    notes[id].y = y;
                    $setUIValue.setValue({
                        noteVisibility:{
                            publish: {id:id, visible: false, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id].color}
                        }
                    });
                }
            }
        });

        // Initiation //
        $setUIValue.setValue({
            noteVisibility:{
                value: true,
                other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id)
            }
        });
        $setUIValue.setValue({
            atomNoteTable: {
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                    id: id,
                    add: true,
                    color : notes[id].color
                }
            }
        });
        if (notes[id].atomNote === true) {
            var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
            var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
            notes[id].x = x;
            notes[id].y = y;
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    publish: {id:id, visible: true, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id].color}
                }
            });
        }
        showCanvasNote(id,true);

        return id;
    };
    // Edit note //
    function editNote(note){
        // Update Database //
        if (notes.activeEntry !== false) notes[notes.activeEntry] = note;
        else return false;

        // Update Title //
        if (note.title !== '') {
            html.notes.other.table.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).find('.note-name').html(note.title);
            html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).find('.noteTitle').html(note.title);
        }

        // Color, opacity and position //
        $setUIValue.setValue({
            noteColor:{
                publish: { id: notes.activeEntry, color: note.color },
                value: note.color
            }
        });
        html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('background-color',note.color);
        html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).find('.notes').css('background-color',note.color);
        html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('-ms-filter','progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(Opacity='+$stringEditor.multiply10(note.opacity)+')');
        html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('filter','alpha(opacity='+$stringEditor.multiply10(note.opacity)+')');
        html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('opacity',$stringEditor.divide10(note.opacity));

        html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('left', note.x+'px');
        html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).css('top',note.y+'px');
        if(note.atomNote) {
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteMovement:{
                    publish: { id: notes.activeEntry, x: note.x, y: note.y }
                }
            });
        }

        // Body //
        if (note.body !== '') html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).find('.notes').html(note.body);
        html.notes.other.table.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).find('.color').css('background',note.color);
        highlightNote(notes.activeEntry,false);

        // Clear Forms //
        html.notes.properties.title.val('');
        html.notes.other.body.val('');
        html.notes.properties.color.children().css('background','transparent');
    };
    // Delete note //
    function deleteNote(){
        // Update Database //
        if (notes.activeEntry !== false) {
            if (notes[notes.activeEntry].atomNote === true) {
                delete notes[notes.activeEntry];
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    atomNoteTable: {
                        publish: {
                            id: notes.activeEntry,
                            add: false
                        }
                    }
                });

            }
            else delete notes[notes.activeEntry];
        }
        else return false;

        // Remove Entry //
        html.notes.other.table.find('#'+notes.activeEntry).remove();
        deleteCanvasNote(notes.activeEntry);
        highlightNote('q',false);

        // Clear Forms //
        html.notes.properties.title.val('');
        html.notes.other.body.val('');
        html.notes.properties.opacity.selectpicker('val','10');
        html.notes.properties.color.children().css('background','transparent');
    };
    // Select Active Note //
    function selectNote(id){
        highlightNote(notes.activeEntry,false);
        html.notes.properties.title.val(notes[id].title);
        html.notes.other.body.val(notes[id].body);
        if (notes[id].color !== '') {
            html.notes.properties.color.spectrum('set',notes[id].color);
            html.notes.properties.color.children().css('background',notes[id].color);
        }
        if (notes[id].opacity !== '') html.notes.properties.opacity.selectpicker('val',notes[id].opacity);
        highlightNote(id,true);
        $disableUIElement.disableElement({
            noteTitle:{
                value: false
            },
            noteBody:{
                value: false
            },
            noteOpacity:{
                value: false
            },
            noteColor:{
                value: false
            },
            newNote:{
                value: true
            },
            saveNote:{
                value: false
            },
            deleteNote:{
                value: false
            }
        });

        if (notes[id].atomNote === true) {
            var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
            var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
            notes[id].x = x;
            notes[id].y = y;
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    publish: {id:id, visible: true, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id].color}
                }
            });
        }

        Object.keys(notes).forEach(function (key) {
            var visibility = (key === id);
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    value: visibility,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+key)
                }
            });
            showCanvasNote(key,visibility);
        })

    };
    // Highlight Table Entry //
    function highlightNote(id,state){
        var color = (state) ? 'bg-light-purple' : 'bg-dark-gray';
        html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).removeAttr('class');
        html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).attr('class',color);
        if (state === true) notes.activeEntry = id;
        else notes.activeEntry = false;
    };
    // Show/Hide on Canvas //
    function showCanvasNote(id,value){
        if (value === true) html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).show();
        else html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).hide();
    };
    // Create note on Canvas //
    function createCanvasNote(id){
        html.interface.screen.wrapper.prepend('<div id="'+id+'" class="noteWrapper"><div class="noteBar"><img class="closeNote" src="Images/close.png" /><img class="swapRight" src="Images/right.png" /><img class="swapLeft" src="Images/left.png" /><div class="noteTitle">Title</div></div><div class="wordwrap notes">'+notes[id].body+'</div></div>');
        var notepad = html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id);
        notepad.hide();
        notepad.draggable({
            scroll: false,
            drag: function(event, ui){
                var x = parseInt(ui.position.left) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(ui.position.top) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[id].x = x;
                notes[id].y = y;
                if (notes[id].atomNote === true){
                    $setUIValue.setValue({
                        noteMovement:{
                            publish: { id: id, x: x, y: y }
                        }
                    });
                }
            },
            containment: html.interface.screen.appContainer
        });
        // Close Note Handler //
        notepad.find('img.closeNote').on('click',function(){
            showCanvasNote(id,false);
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    value: false,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id)
                }
            });
            if (notes[id].atomNote === true) {
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[id].x = x;
                notes[id].y = y;
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id:id, visible: false, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id].color}
                    }
                });
            }
        });
        notepad.find('img.swapRight').on('click',function(){

            var nextID = undefined;

            // Find Next Note //
            var table = {
                first: jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:first'),
                last: jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:last'),
                current: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id),
                next: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).closest('tr').next('tr')
            };

            if (table.next.length > 0) nextID = table.next[0].id;
            else nextID = table.first[0].id;

            // Hide Current Note //
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    value: false,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id)
                }
            });
            if (notes[id].atomNote === true) {
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[id].x = x;
                notes[id].y = y;
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id:id, visible: false, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id].color}
                    }
                });
            }
            showCanvasNote(id,false);

            // Show Next Note //
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    value: true,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+nextID)
                }
            });
            if (notes[nextID].atomNote === true) {
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[nextID].x = x;
                notes[nextID].y = y;
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id:nextID, visible: true, x: x, y: y, color: notes[nextID].color}
                    }
                });
            }
            showCanvasNote(nextID,true);
        });
        notepad.find('img.swapLeft').on('click',function(){

            var nextID = undefined;

            // Find Next Note //
            var table = {
                first: jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:first'),
                last: jQuery('#'+html.notes.other.tableID+' tr:last'),
                current: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id),
                prev: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).closest('tr').prev('tr')
            };

            if (table.prev.length > 0) nextID = table.prev[0].id;
            else nextID = table.last[0].id;

            // Hide Current Note //
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                noteVisibility:{
                    value: false,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id)
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            });
            if (notes[id].atomNote === true) {
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                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
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                notes[id].y = y;
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                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id:id, visible: false, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id].color}
                    }
                });
            }
            showCanvasNote(id,false);

            // Show Next Note //
            $setUIValue.setValue({
                noteVisibility:{
                    value: true,
                    other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+nextID)
                }
            });
            if (notes[nextID].atomNote === true) {
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+nextID).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[nextID].x = x;
                notes[nextID].y = y;
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id:nextID, visible: true, x: x, y: y, color: notes[nextID].color}
                    }
                });
            }
            showCanvasNote(nextID,true);

        });
    };
    // Delete note from canvas //
    function deleteCanvasNote(id){
        html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).remove();
    };
    // Get all notes //
    function getAtomNoteTable(){
        var table = [];
        _.each(notes, function($parameter,k){
            if ($parameter.atomNote === true) {
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+k).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+k).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+k).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+k).css('height'),10) / 2;
                notes[k].x = x;
                notes[k].y = y;
                table.push({
                    id: k,
                    x: x,
                    y: y
                });
            }
        });
        return table;
    };

    // Module Interface //
    // Focus note on Note Tab //
    notesTab.prototype.moveToNote = function(id){
        $menuRibbon.switchTab('notesTab');
        // Create new note if none is specified //
        if (_.isUndefined(notes[id])) {
            highlightNote(notes.activeEntry,false);
            highlightNote(addNote(id),true);
            $disableUIElement.disableElement({
                noteTitle:{
                    value: false
                },
                noteBody:{
                    value: false
                },
                noteOpacity:{
                    value: false
                },
                noteColor:{
                    value: false
                },
                newNote:{
                    value: true
                },
                saveNote:{
                    value: false
                },
                deleteNote:{
                    value: false
                }
            });
        }
        else selectNote(id);
    };
    notesTab.prototype.getAtomNoteTable = function(){
        return getAtomNoteTable();
    };
    // Show Note on Canvas //
    notesTab.prototype.focusNote = function(id){
        if(_.isUndefined(notes[id.toString()])) return false;
        else{
            if(html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id).find('.noteButton').hasClass('visible')) return true;
            else {
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        value: true,
                        other: html.notes.other.table.find('#'+id)
                    }
                });
                showCanvasNote(id.toString(),true);
                // Mark to close
                notes[id.toString()].temp = true;
                // System //
                var x = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('left'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('width'),10) / 2;
                var y = parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('top'),10) + parseInt(html.interface.screen.wrapper.find('#'+id).css('height'),10) / 2;
                $setUIValue.setValue({
                    noteVisibility:{
                        publish: {id:id, visible: true, x: x, y: y, color: notes[id.toString()].color}
                    }
                });
            }
        };
    };
    notesTab.prototype.getNotes = function(){
        return notes;
    };
    // Restore UI + Database //
    notesTab.prototype.restoreNotes = function(notesJSON){
        _.each(notesJSON, function($parameter,k){
            if (k !== 'activeEntry') {
                // Parse possible atom connection //
                var atomConnection = undefined;
                if ($parameter.atomNote === 'false') atomConnection = false;
                else atomConnection = true;

                // Add empty note and select it //
                highlightNote(notes.activeEntry,false);
                highlightNote(addNote(k,true),true);

                // Overwrite with data from the JSON file //
                editNote({
                    title: $parameter.title,
                    opacity: $parameter.opacity,
                    color: $parameter.color,
                    body: $parameter.body,
                    atomNote: atomConnection,
                    x: parseInt($parameter.x),
                    y: parseInt($parameter.y)
                });

                if (atomConnection) {
                    $setUIValue.setValue({
                        saveNoteForSystem:{
                            publish: {id:k, cameraToggle : true, sceneObjsToggle : true }
                        }
                    });
                }
            }
        });
    };
    notesTab.prototype.resetTable = function(){
        html.notes.other.table.find('tbody').html('');
    };
    notesTab.prototype.doSmthWithSystemCamState = function(arg){
        cameraData[arg.id] = arg ;
    };
    return notesTab;
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Alastor Reynolds had always lived with an overly long list of habits. Every morning he would wake up at precisely 6:27. Why 6:27?, you might ask. Well, Mr. Reynolds would simply answer that it was so that it gave him time to wake up completely before getting up; he had three full minutes to open his eyes, recover his barring and get out of bed. By the time he was standing up, ready to begin the day, it would be precisely half past six.
Then he would come down the stairs, hopping over the first and the last steps to prevent any bad vide from catching up that day. He would sit down at his table with a cup of black coffee and wait patiently for a full minute to pass until his toasts jumped out of the toaster. Three toasts, with butter and strawberry jam, that he would for nor more than four seconds in his coffee before taking a bite. When his breakfast was over a quarter of an hour later he would put his dishes in the dish washer and climb back up the stairs two by two, careful not to step on the first and last ones.
After another quarter of an hour spent washing his face, trimming his short beard and brushing his teeth, he would walk back to his room and dress in one of his eight suits. A white shirt and a dark red tie would go with a black pair of pants, black shoes and a black jacket. Always. (Only on Sundays would he allow himself to wear anything else. 'Anything else' meaning a differently colored shirt, a matching pair of pants and shoes, a tweed jacket and a blue tie. Sometimes none.) Then he would put on his watch; on the right wrist because he could never get accustomed to wearing it on the other side. And at ten minutes past seven he would be ready to go to work, locking his door and climbing in his dark grey work car. On his ways to work he would count the number of seconds each traffic light lasted and drive through each one of them as they turned green.
At noon Mr. Reynolds liked to go down to the cafeteria of the company where he worked and order a caesar salad with extra sauce. He would eat his salad either alone in his office if he had much work that day or with his friend Paul on the picnic takes outside the building if the weather was good enough. Then after an afternoon of hard work he would get back home at precisely eight o'clock and would eat while watching the evening news. Finally, at 10:25pm sharp, he would turn off all lights and get into bed for a good night's sleep, giving himself five minutes until half past ten to get ready. And he would repeat this routine every day of the week, every week of the month.
All these days were an unchanging routine adopted by Alastor Reynolds over the years to reassure himself of his control over his life. Indeed, due to some uncomfortable memories of bullying in his childhood, Mr. Reynolds was quite unsure of himself at all times and so he liked to comfort himself by keeping complete control over himself, his actions and their consequences, thus managing every step of his life with the utmost caution. As you have probably understood by now, Alastor Reynolds was still single. Of course he had had some adventures with women before but it hadn't worked out well… It was partly due to all his habits but mostly because he hadn't found anyone to his real liking yet. All those women he had met had seemed either too shallow, too possessive or simply not interesting enough to him.
On Saturdays he would spend the day cleaning the studio that was his. That was the day that Mr. Reynolds was the most overcome by his habits. Every Saturday morning, after waking up at eight and eating a quick breakfast he would start sweeping the dust, sorting out every object that he considered as "to be put to the trash" by size, color and material in small plastic bags. There always were five different plastic bags : red for the leftovers, green for glass, yellow for metallic scraps, blue for cardboard and wood, and white for anything that didn't fit in any of the previous categories. After putting all of this in bags he would dust each room from ground to ceiling and polish it until it shined. Then he would put order in his clothes, planning his dressing for the week.
After that he would take the bags down to the trash cans and come back up to wash himself. A quick shower, and if he deemed himself clean enough he would rearrange every object in his house so that it took back its original place. He even had pictures of every object's position if he ever had a doubt, which he hadn't as he had what some would call a 'perfect memory'. It allowed him to remember many a great many thing he wanted or needed to remember, but also a great many things he did not want to remember… Then he usually went to see Dr. Andrews, and he would talk about his very little understanding of other people and, on rare occasions, of his fears. The doctor often said that he would greatly need a break from his work and his life, that he should go on a holiday somewhere nice and warm, perhaps even something he had not planned in advance. But Alastor Reynolds was not a man of useless action nor of inaction, he preferred to work and continue in his routine rather than try new things on a whim.
The only break – or rather what seemed like a break – in his routine was on Sundays. Every Sunday he would choose something different to do: a different place to go out to, or simply a different book to read. He tried to keep it as random as his need for meaning or usefulness allowed him to, but he often found himself going to the beach and sitting on the soft sand while he watched the ocean and listened to his favorite music. These were some of his favorite moments in life for he felt appeased and serene. And though it might seem strange for a man such as Alastor Reynolds, it allowed him to clear his mind and, sometimes, even open it to new idea, thus relieving him of some of his stress. He liked to imagine himself living in another world, a world without obligations, work or bosses to check on what you were doing. He liked to imagine himself floating along the stars, witnessing the great marvels of the universe with his own eyes. At least for a few minutes or hours.
For his routine would always catch up to him; Monday always came round. He sometimes wished that he was an adventurer, travelling around the world, climbing mountains and discovering jungles. He dreamt of flying planes, fighting imaginary armies, being a war hero. He aspired to something better, something greater, but alas for now he was just a law firm employee. And he was conscious that with his habits, which he knew were more than that but was too uncomfortable talking about psychological disorder, he would be so probably for the rest of his life.
If only he could get rid of all this and do as the doctor said… "Get rid of all the junk you don't need Alastor. You should really try, you'll see the world from a new eye…" Oh how he longed to do that. But he was scared, too scared. Scared of everything : the huge world out there, the others, himself… What he needed was a change, something big, an upheaval in his life. Something he hadn't planned, something akin to a meteor that would strike his routine right to the heart and somehow free him of himself. Alas, he knew how unlikely it was to happen, he had calculated the odds on multiple occasions. "Get rid of all the junk." Well easier said than done doctor!, he thought. He had tried not to count everything, he had tried not to be always so distant and stiff, he had tried to open to the world, to be carefree. But it simply wasn't for him… And yet, he kept hoping.
He closed the window on his desktop with a sigh. The clock showed quarter past seven, time to go home, he thought. He shut down his computer and put on his long dark coat, grabbing his leather suitcase in which he kept his work-related documents. It was old but he was very attached to it, it had been his father's. As he exited the room and walked in the corridor towards the elevator a voice called for him.
He turned around to see a young woman. He remembered her to be Stephanie Anderson, a colleague from the IT department.
"Oh, hello Ms. Anderson. May I help you?" He asked, very formal but letting a tentative smile begin to form on his face.
He spent the short moment it took her to reach where he was standing to observe her. He had never taken the time to really look at her; well he had never really taken the time to get to know anyone really, despite working in the same company for the last eight years. Except Paul, he thought. But Paul was an exception, they had been assigned to work together since they had both arrived at the same time eight years ago, almost immediately creating some sort of connection. Stephanie was slightly taller than most women, almost as tall as Alastor, with long slender legs. She had dark hair falling over he shoulders in long curls and big bluish eyes one could drown himself into without realizing it. She was usually dressed with a white blouse and a black skirt, but today she had opted for a beige one. She appeared much younger than she actually was but still she must have been at least ten years younger than him, about twenty-five or twenty-six he guessed. She approached him with a bright smile.
"Hello Alastor, I was hoping to catch you before you left. Looks like I was right on time!" Her smile got wider, and brighter, if that was even possible. "And yes you can help me. You see, I have to get all these numbers ordered and clarified before my boss allows me to ask for the new material I need but I am really lost and I hoped you could sort of… give me a hand? If it's too much to ask!" She added quickly, her face displaying a timid expectancy.
Alastor pondered her request. Of course, it would be more work for the next few days, but he always tried to help as much as he could. He nodded and tried to return her bright smile but it felt like it turned into a weird grimace so he stopped.
"You know, I totally understand if you can't!", the young woman added hastily.
She must have noticed his grimace and interpreted it either as a polite yet forced smile, as if he was reluctantly accepting her request.
"Oh… No, of course not! I mean, yes. I would be glad to help you. I was going for a smile but apparently to no avail", he replied, playing it as embarrassed as she was.
It was a trick he had picked up over the years. Mimic expressions and states of mind to seem more interested in what people were trying to express. He knew that sometimes he had trouble with showing rather than telling.
"Please. Just tell me what you need and I'll be happy to do my best", he added with another attempt at a smile.
This time it must have worked as she replied to him with one of her own, and, to his great surprise, she hugged him, making him jump slightly.
Repetition was also key to emphasize some things, sometimes.
His eyebrows scrunched imperceptibly as he checked in his mind if he had anything scheduled at that time and as he reordered his agenda slightly to fit in her visit.
"Right, tomorrow at ten it is then. I'll be waiting.", he said.
He did not try to smile this time, he wasn't sure if it would work again – too little practice!, he scolded himself – but focused on loosening the muscles of his face. He found that doing that seemed to put people more to ease, even without smiling.
"See you tomorrow then Ms. Anderson", he added as he moved to leave.
"Yes, see you tomorrow Alastor", she answered as he walked away.
And before he entered the elevator she added almost shouting.
Alastor Reynolds looked up and saw that she was waving her hand at him with a bright smile yet again spread on her face. As the doors slowly shut before him he caught himself waving back at her. He didn't know what to think of it at first, but the image of a comet soon floated through his mind. Well, maybe I could be wrong after all… And strangely, for once, that thought didn't bother him the least.
So, yeah, another text in reply to a daily prompt that I wrote some time ago. It was inspired the movie Stranger Than Fiction with Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal that I watched a few years back and really enjoyed.
I'm not really satisfied with this one, I mean, I've checked for mistakes in the grammar and spelling so that should be okay, but I feel like I had a different vibe in mind when I started writing it then when I finished it, I feel like the second half isn't as good as it could've been… I might come back to it one day and re-write it completely.
Anyway, that's my point of view, tell me if you agree or not!
Edit: 04/02/2018 – Corrected some mistakes and made a few changes to the text. I feel more satisfied with this text, although I don't think it is perfect yet, I like it more as it is now than as it was.
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