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Transit Reliability
I had the experience today of what "reliability" means in transit – and why connections (or transfers if you prefer) are so critical. The issue is not so much overall journey time, though that is of course significant, as the predictability of the arrival time. How much time does one allow for a journey, especially if there is an appointment at the other end, and how much slack do you build into your schedule in case things go sideways.
Actually time is significant when it comes to mode choice. The journey I am about to describe is one that I make regularly by car – and I normally allow 30 minutes each way. Of course there is a variation of plus or minus five minutes depending on traffic, and some times of day are worth avoiding – or checking with AM730 before deciding a route. At one time it seemed to me that the freeway was faster – but the congestion at the Steveston Highway intersection, as well as the inevitable line-up for the bridge doubled that variability factor. Arterial streets may be slower but they are more dependable.
The big doubt factor at present is the potential for icy road surfaces. Having spun out once before I am now much more reluctant to drive when the temperature drops. Today it turned out I need not have been concerned, but having written so much about transit I felt that it was a good reason to test some of the theories. In general, the need to include other stops on the way (pick up some milk, collect the shoes from the repairer, drop off the DVDs at the library – that kind of thing) make transit even less attractive. For one thing, all it takes is somebody slow ahead of you at the check out and your transfer expires.
I find making connections irksome. One on a trip I can deal with, two is near my tolerance level. The Translink real time bus map is a boon – at least when starting the journey. Of course it helps if you are close to the bus stop. Knowing that the bus is on its way is one thing: seeing it depart from the stop just as you arrive breathless at the corner is something else. If you able to use the "where's my bus" feature on Translink's web site then at least you know where the bus is. However, to be able to do that on a mobile device you need something other than a Nokia smart phone: I am told that Androids and iOS work well.
I know I left the apartment at 10:00 and the bus was due at 10:09 but the faresaver validation expires 11:48 – which, with 90 minutes validity, makes boarding time 10:22. I checked the schedule and the service is supposed to be every ten minutes 10:00, 10:09, 10:20. So it seems I just missed the 10:09 and the following bus was a bit late – and got later due to extended dwell times at two stops to deploy the ramp. Similarly getting down to the lower level platform at King Edward – after crossing both Cambie and King Edward, then waiting while an airport train went through, made the connection the longest the schedule allows.
It is a fair trek from the Canada Line to the #403/#404 stop outside Richmond Centre or "Brighouse Stn Bay 7" as Translink would have it. I did that quite quickly as this bus was waiting there – and I hoped it would be the #403. Of course, with all the muck on the back of the bus obscuring the route number I was almost aboard before I determined it was a #410. And another one of those came and went before the #403 showed up. I got to No 4 and Steveston at 11:30 – or a ninety minute door to door trip compared to the Translink trip planner's estimate of an hour (stop to stop).
Brighouse Station is the terminus of the Canada Line but is still an on street exchange around the intersection of Cook and No 3. The southbound connection – again crossing two busy streets – is around 350 metres, as the bus stop is far side of the intersection and is long enough for two arctics from the B Line days.
Coming back I did much better. I left the house as soon as I saw the bus pass Shell Road on the map (which meant I simply cut power to the PC and did not shut down properly) so I arrived at the stop as the bus did. The northbound #403 bus stop is on the same side of No 3 Road as the station but is still more than three bus lengths from the entrance. There was a train waiting to leave.
The Canada Line has some odd features in its operations – including slow orders through switches and around curves. The picture shows a stationary outbound service, stopped short of Lansdowne station waiting for the inbound service to open its doors in the station before proceeding. This seems to be taking caution a little too far to me, but seemingly is a regular feature as that had been noticeable on the way down. I also noticed people boarding the southbound train to get a seat for the northbound journey even at midday. This says a lot about the trade off that people make between speed and comfort and suggests that passengers place a much higher value on a seat than transit planners who like to maximize capacity at the expense of seating. Plus of course space for bikes and mobility devices.
When I got off the train at King Edward I had positioned myself to be opposite the exit – which was just as well as a #25 was pulling up to the stop as I got to the top of the escalator. The operator was going to end his shift at Granville Street, so was not hanging around at the stop for stragglers.
Of course, you have to be willing to give up this seat – which actually faces inward, not forward – if a priority passenger wants it. But the view on the Nova LFS is better than the New Flyer low floor – and the windscreen far cleaner than a Canada Line train.
Return journey 45 minutes door to door compared to the 90 minute outward leg. Which shows how much time can be saved by making connections (transfers) properly.
Now one round trip is simply an anecdote, not data. But it illustrates how in transit the devil is always in the details. Cheaping out on stations on the Canada line – not having entrances on each corner of the intersection, not having a convenient off street bus loop – makes the overall journey much less convenient than it could be. It sends a strong message to the passenger – that your time is not considered valuable. Removing a direct bus service and inserting two connections means much more than just a slightly longer journey: the #480 used to connect my house to UBC with no transfers, so it was indeed competitive with the car when you consider that you can use the time seated on a bus to read – not something you ought to be doing when driving.
I am sure that everyone who reads this blog entry will have similar stories. But it is going to take a real culture change here to make that experience different. The Mayors are still pursuing imaginary administrative savings – actually I think it is just pique that the Province imposed an auditor on them and not the regional transportation agency. They forget of course that there is a transit commissioner, who has been on the same trail for a while now. But let's make it all about money – not value for money.
Posted in transit
Tagged with connections, service quality, transfers
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Your experience is exactly why some people say that every transfer chops a huge percentage off your potential passenger count. I think trying to use a blanket rule like that is wrong, however. I listened to people like that before Canada Line opened and foolishly predicted that the additional transfers would keep ridership below official estimates. Of course the opposite actually happened. Despite more transferring passenger counts on the line quickly exceeded all estimates.
There are good reasons, of course. Transferring to a fast, high frequency service costs little time and may, if your journey is long enough, save time. The train is also very reliable. I've only been stuck in a Canada Line tunnel once and the delay was less than 5 minutes. Yes I've suffered much longer Expo Line delays in the past, but very infrequently.
I incurred worse this afternoon because the elevator took too long to arrive. I was running down the stairs at Waterfront as the train pulled away. Now a 3 minute delay, even when running late, is no big deal unless it causes further delays. I wound up on the stairs at another station when I heard my bus pulling away. So a 30 second delay waiting for an elevator caused me to miss my bus.
My example shows that it's the transfer from a fast, frequent service to a relatively infrequent service that does all the damage, where some idiot holding the door of the train can cause a long wait for a bus later on. Since most passengers need a bus in addition to the train, why doesn't that deter passengers? I think it's because people assume some of the blame for missed transfers. They think about all the reasons why they weren't on the train that left just 3 minutes earlier. That extra minute spent talking instead of packing up, that trip to the washroom, little things that caused a delay that didn't seem important at the time, but wound up causing the missed transfer later on.
Transfers from low frequency to low frequency, on the other hand, are psychologically the fault of the transit operator. They need to run more buses! They need to make sure they arrive at my transfer point in the right order and right distance apart. My bus is always late! It's easy to blame the bus system instead of ourselves. Of course there is often some truth in the matter too. I used to live near a major street where it was normal to see 3 buses travelling on each other's bumpers when they were supposed to be 12 minutes apart. That kind of thing drives people crazy and leads to serious trust issues.
Canada Line arrives every 3 minutes plus or minus a half minute here and there and journey time is almost never more than 2 minutes more than scheduled. People can count on it and that's why it's more popular than the direct buses it replaced despite the added transfers for many.
I thinq you have expressed the problem . . . it isn't the TX scheduling, it's passenger expectations.
How can planners possibly factor in your need to go to the bathroom or being delayed on the elevator?
What's the hurry, anyway?
We are confronted every minute by high energy PR intent on conditioning us to accept something we do not need and cannot afford: of course the Canada Line is user optimum. Like I said, so where the life boats on the Titanic.
If we would just settle down and accept the city for what it is, rather than looking, enviously, at other city's shiny gadgets we may, after all, have no need to go to the bathroom in a hurry! "The fault lies, dear David, not in our stars, but in ourselves!"
". . . psychologically (its) "the fault of the transit operator . . ." come on, that's nonsense!
Roger Kemble
I have to agree with Mr. Kemble.
As far as I can remember passengers holding the door of the rapid transit in Vancouver only happens here. It isn't easy to do on many other rapid transit systems as their door close with way more strength, but also because their transit culture is different.
When the door start closing people stand back..another train will be there in a few minutes.
It is also likely due to the absence of a driver that monitors the platform and, more importantly, the absence of platform screen doors.
SkyTrain/Canada Line and the Docklands Light Rail in London are the only automated system I have seen that DON'T have these sliding doors on platforms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ligne-13-invalides-portes-a.jpg .
When a bus is really full the driver close the front door even if people are banging on it..full is full..
On the long buses the drivers are quick to object if one does hold the back doors after he/she close it.
Red frog
Hey, common Stephen, gimme a break! "The "do not make trips" option is one that is firmly rejected." Of course it was, and so it should be! Who said that anyway? We are looking for an equitable modal split: walking, biking, cabs and trams.
"Attempts to create a place – say Kitsilano – that no-one ever needs to leave, will firstly be doomed to failure, but secondly neglects to recognize why people move to cities in the first place." What's all this extreme hyperbole? Are you are pulling my leg?
I am premature posting Vancouver: Re-boot. In my haste to gauge feedback: I did not expect black-white/all-or-nothing! Nor would I have expected such declamatory certitude had I been at the meeting!
Why do people move to cities? Good heaven's how do I know? Do you know? Surely, there are as many reasons as there people.
I know why I lived on Kits Point for 14 years: to take a summer swim before brek among other, perhaps less trivial, reasons.
What are you proposing Stephen? Go under ground or fly over: shiny trinket all the way down?
I must say the 1962 Seattle World Fair monorail was exciting . . . but it soon wore off.
Replicating the Canada Line all over: Broadway and Fourth and Cornwall? The work the miracle at Champlain. Nix to that: more disgruntled merchants more adolescent excitement over shiny trinkets NOT!
Vancouver is blessed with many, virtually, self contained urban villages: all they need is a little push. Kits has self-sufficient amenities. Anyone, who wishes, may spend their lives there, why not: and peripatetic wanders have a pad to come home to if that's the way they live!
But I don't want to plan for "self-sufficiency". I want decrepit Heather Pavilion fixed up to be The Vancouver Healthy Village Center, and so on . . .
On campus I would like to see University Village become a classical town center: yunno, town and gown, Oxford and Cambridge.
In 1952 the town was replete in clickity-clack tramcars ready to take me to Abbotsford or Steveston and all stops between. There were buses too: very convenient. I don't want to be sold off to Bombardier, Lavalin or Metro Hong Kong. Making our own trams at home beats the FIRE economy!
Street level TX does frequent stops, redirected as necessary. Shiny trinkets don't.
Complain is more on the impediment put on Transfer by Translink than on lack of reliability (all the bus and train were looking running on schedule according this post account).
There is 2 folds in the transfer, a time/space problem, Stephen focuses on one side, the spatial one
the "geography" of the connection
bus 25 East bound stop at the SE corner of Cambie#25 when the station entrance is at the NW -> 2 very large street to cross: one too much…easy to fix by relocating the 25 bus stop on the SW corner of the interstection.
In 2 years, Not only Translink has not done that, but where connection was good, it has simply destroyed it:
"Brighouse Stn Bay 7" is a fair "treck" from the subway entrance because Translink has removed all the real Southbound stop connecting with Canada line, be Brighouse, Landsowne and Aberdeen, and renamed the other "connection":
It is not only insulting the common sense, but show a complete lack of respect for the transit user.
David focuses on the "timing": I agree he has expressed well the problem, but I don't think "more bus" is the solution (not the realistic one at least!)-why below
On the timely connection
As you could now on late evening Canada line run every 20mn on its branches. and try to do the journey Richmond YVR or reverse late night:
usually, when a train coming from one of the branches, be YVR or Richmond, arrives at Bridgeport, one mn later a train coming from Vancouver enter the station: It could make a perfect connection for (YVR-brighouse or reverse trip)…if this train was going to the other branch…it doesn't…and you will have to wait 11mn where the transfer could have been timed at 1-2mn.
I don't see any other reason other than pure sadism to this state of operation.
But if you think the above is bad enough translink gonna add insult to injury for people in need to transfer from the Canada line to the 410 (remember on the South/West bound, Translink has suppressed the bus stop)-Aberdeen is the station of choice:
arrival time of the SB train at Aberdeen: 00:16 00:36 …
Departure time of the bus 410 EB: 00:14 00:34 …
Yes Roger, it is a schedule problem and here I can't imagine any other reason than deliberated sadism from Translink. Do you have any other reason?
After literally wrecking the Canada line connection, like they did in Richmond, How they can dare to come to us claiming more money?
I don't believe Translink needs more bus (and more money) to improve the situation (connection problem), and more generally I don't see why Translink could need more money to imrpove the bus service in Richmond
(see my opinion on it at http://voony.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/bus-410-express/ and http://voony.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/a-richmond-transit-plan-the-local-view/)
Voony
Commuting home to North Burnaby, it seems like 50% of the time, a M line train pulls out of Commercial Drive just as I'm crossing over the BNSF tracks… It's only a 5 minute wait, but compared to Burrard, where the trains are (in theory) 108 seconds apart, it seems like an eternity. re Holding door, last Tuesday night, we barely made it off a MK-1 Train at Broadway; dawdlers and door blockers almost made us take an unwanted trip to Nanaimo.
re Transfers, in early December we took transit from N. Burnaby to 240th St in Maple Ridge. M line, 169, 710. Two Hours! The transfers were OK, scheduled under 10 minutes and made with no problem… but that 701.. meanders through the streets of "Ridge Meadows"… and stopped for a glacially slow freight train on Harris Rd for what seemed like an eternity. 42 stops, I think we stopped at almost all of them… My brother, when picking us up to complete the trip, asked how far the 701 went beyond 240th… No idea, I said.. it may fall off the end of the earth!
The Other David
As far as I'm concerned, Translink's "Next Bus" web site is the "Killer App" for smartphones that truly justifies having one.
Sean Nelson
http://m.translink.ca/ works on "home computers" too, so you can plan when to walk out the door… though on the return trip you takes your chances (the 130 from the Hastings/Willingdon Safeway has a scheduled interval that can be 2 minutes, or 11 minutes… even on weekdays, catching the 130 s/b from the Safeway can be 21 minutes if you are unfortunate…
6:31pm	6:37pm	6:46pm	7:01pm	7:22pm	7:33pm
I agree that the Next Bus app is worth an awful lot in terms of mobility in the region. Particularly with good bus routes such as the 410 with bad clumping problems: http://nb.translink.ca/Map/Route/410
This has made transit to/from work a whole lot more reliable without really changing anything… (smart use of technology).
But there's still something to be said for having most of your necessary destinations in walkable/bikeable access within your own community and the rest somewhere along a SkyTrain line or similar. (and a transit pass in your pocket).
I am looking at a diagram of movement in Vancouver. A couple of things stand out.
1. The Canada Line does not serve Vancouver as it traverses one of the least populated areas. It was built for the 2011 Olympics (probably with no other consideration).
Land-lift may change that but the outcome depends on speculation, not future growth in its catchment: land speculation will exacerbate, an already, affordability issue.
Evidently the line is, currently, well used serving, I conjecture, Richmond commuters and YVR.
Taxicabs and jitneys previously served mobility to YVR somewhat. The major mode was SOV: it still is! On any given day parking lots are full as YVR serves Metro, not just the city.
Who benefits from land-lift is a non-starter: obviously the taxpayer since their penny went into the excavation.
2. Mount Pleasant. Broadway @ Main, is the epicenter of movement within the city. During the academic year that intensifies to and fro UBC an SFU.
To my surprise Vancouver is very much decentralized (apparently, by happenchance more than design) and that may be the reason despite intensive discourse and planning vehicular movement never improves.
This may be the reason downtown traffic is abating: not for lack of SOV usage: rather commuters have other destinations.
May I suggest Vancouver's TX conversation needs take another direction before we waste more billions of federal/provincial tax money on more white elephants?
Roger – it would help a lot if you would provide some source – preferably a URL – for your "diagram".
Loadings on the Richmond branch of the Canada Line are much heavier than YVR, but the agreement to YVR funding was that they get 50% of the service. There are no "jitneys". Shuttle buses serve the hotels, park and fly lots and so on. Parking lots at YVR are not as full as they once were as car traffic has fallen since the line opened and air travel has not yet recovered from the recession.
Travel by car to downtown has fallen significantly – and the region has long been "everywhere to everywhere". The plan was for regional town centres but employment did not move to them but rather to the suburban office parks which were never part of any plan – regional or municipal. As with many places in North America, development proceeds through OCP amendments and zoning changes, not following plans.
Stephen Rees
Thanqxz for asking . . .
It was posted twice earlier, on this blog.
Click on this URL . . .
http://www.theyorkshirelad.ca/1yorkshirelad/vancouver.re-boot/Vancouver.re-boot.html
. . . if you are interested, for regular up-dates. Scroll down to Re-boot the transportation system, of course.
Note the convergence of all lines at Broadway and Main.
Still a work in process . . . please feel free to rip my assumptions to shreds!
If My Morning Jacket becomes tiresome there is a click off top left.
Thanqxz for the comments.
By jitneys I was referring to the hotel buses.
YVR parking reduced. Why? Less economic activity as you imply and less airborne traffic.
IMHO less exporting of our raw resources and more import substitution may appear unrelated but well-paying jobs are really what I am driving at.
Needless to say I see a direct relationship between self-sustaining autonomous quartiers and those huge container ships I see out in the Straits.
PS "Parking lots at YVR are not as full as they once were as car traffic has fallen since the line opened and air travel has not yet recovered from the recession.
Travel by car to downtown has fallen significantly – and the region has long been "everywhere to everywhere""
And my thesis, that it is never coming back . . .
@Roger Kemble:
"The Canada Line does not serve Vancouver as it traverses one of the least populated areas. … jitneys previously served mobility to YVR somewhat."
The same could be said of the Expo and Millennium lines. But all those lines carrying many hundreds of thousands of people into and out of Vancouver every day do have a real benefit compared to the alternative – congestion caused by more cars and buses using precious fossil fuels and spewing pollution and greenhouse gases.
And – having a fast, reliable link to the airport serves Vancouver well. You only have to look at the number of baggage-toting passengers riding the Canada Line into and out of the city to see this. Yes, it's fewer riders than the south-of-Fraser commuters, but it's still quite significant because it's a steady stream of passengers all day long. As a Vancouver tax payer I'm very grateful for that link.
And if by "Jitneys" you really mean hotel buses – then they serve people from out of town, not Vancouverites.
@ Sean Nelson
Yes, Sean I do say that. The lifeboats on the sinking Titanic were full too because of the insitu inevitability of its situation.
I am not advocating more cars and busses!
These lines, are grotesquely out of whack with their catchments, best served by surface, emission free tramcars, frequent stops that sometimes may have to be re-routed as contiguous development changes: inevitable considering the areas affected.
Ridership is up because, as Titanic, there is no alternative. To make the line look well-used: schedule fewer trips.
As for the, now well worn, "fossil fuels and spewing pollution and greenhouse gases" . . . http://rt.com/news/carbon-canada-effect-kyoto-773/ . . . if you are still hanging your hat on that canard, I cannot help you.
There is a greater picture than wasting billions on trendy gadgets . . .
Were you serious about that last link? The numer of scientists who do not think carbon dioxide contributes to global warming is pretty small and most are considered cranks.
@Roger Kemble –> "As for the, now well worn, "fossil fuels and spewing pollution and greenhouse gases" . . . if you are still hanging your hat on that canard, I cannot help you."
Even for those who deny global warming there are plenty of other compelling reasons to reduce fossil fuel use. And frankly I really don't have any faith in the judgement of those who flatly deny even the possibility of global warming.
"Trams" or not, the region also needs high capacity transit backbones, and we have Skytrain. It works well, is cheap to operate, and as a user I find it far more pleasant to use than a subway. It wouldn't serve the region well if it ONLY benefited residents of the City of Vancouver. We're all in this together.
1/ "The Canada Line does not serve Vancouver as it traverses one of the least populated areas"
Yes, that is right: that is the reason why bus #15 is still running there. It is the essence of a regional Transit line…it doesn't serve a local purpose.
It is what some parochial interests have some difficulties to grasp: Thought that the Canada line is mostly in Vancouver, and doesn't venture SoF: it serves much better the Richmond And SoF interests than the Vancouver' ones. It serves also the airport goer pretty well.
I have read that the mode share for airport is 17% for the train…it is as good as the train to CDG-Paris…so it is very impressive: It provides the trip reliability the bus/jitney/cab can't and this can explain that.
Have a reliable accessible airport serve the regional economy well (not only Richmond, or the guy checking your luggage)
2/ For transit, I suggest the epicenter, is Broadway#Commercial, Broadway#Cambie, and Waterfront.
Waterfront should be the epicenter because it where there the major connection- WCE and seabus- but my god-feeling tells me that nowadays Broadway#Cambie is more busy, at least look like, and anyway is poised to be the future Transit "epicenter" of the region with the extension of the Millenium line to Cambie.
@Sean Nelson
I certainly hope SkyTrain is, as you say, cheap to operate, but TransLink doesn't let us see their books so the only way to learn anything is to try to find similar operations elsewhere that do report their income and expenses.
On the other side of the Rockies the books are open and driver salaries are only a small percentage of operating expenses. Combined with sharply lower borrowing costs it's rather easy to come to the conclusion that systems with drivers actually cost less to operate than automated ones. Here in BC we'd never want to admit that of course.
I'm glad to see Canada Line is well used because it's costing us a lot more than most people realize. Again the books are closed and the contracts secret, but it's easy to do some really basic math and figure out what it must be costing. The public put in $1.35 billion and the private sector put in somewhere between $700M and $1.2B depending on who you listen to. Let's say it's $750M. The private sector expects a return on its capital. A doubling in value every decade is pretty slow growth for large scale investors. So over a span of 30 years the operators of Canada Line are expecting to get back at least $3 Billion over and above actual operating expenses. That's a minimum of $2.25 billion in profit over 30 years coming from taxpayer pockets. There are whispers around town that the actual amount being paid to ProTransBC is much higher, but they're just whispers.
@Voony
Thank you for reiterating the point about the SkyTrain lines being regional in nature. I've long contended that those who complain about Vancouver getting all the rapid transit lines simply don't get it. The main beneficiaries of high speed, limited stop service are long distance commuters. For many trips within the city its faster to take a direct bus than to use a cross town bus and transfer to Canada Line.
@ Vooney
If by referring to "some parochial interests" you are referring to me, say so?
I recognize the overwhelming consensus for "Rotem" technology but there is a more fecund approach to regional growth: i.e. autonomous new towns. The monolithic agreement with your mental singularity tells me, beware!
Closed minds already and we haven't even started!
You'd be smart, Vonny, to consider all options. Nothing is going to happen, anyway, for a very long time.
You have so many spurious expectations (minimum of $2.25 billion in profit over 30 years) I don't know where to begin other than to say dream on! (30 years, who'll remember? Who'll care?)
You say, ". . . that is the reason why bus #15 is still running there. It is the essence of a regional Transit line… it doesn't serve a local purpose." Why, then, have four (potentially five) stations in the city?
The most egregious condition to come out of the Vancouver component of the Canada line is, "Land-lift": i.e. speculator inflation . . . http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/housing/vancouver-among-worlds-least-affordable-housing-markets/article2311279/
. . . driving Vancouver's housing prices further into the stratosphere.
My personal view is, inflated real estate will drive the city into decades of stagnation: we wont be able to afford the no 10 bus, let alone shiny trinkets!
I, incidentally Mayor Corrigan (Evergree NOT) too, don't have difficulty comprehending your regional quest so why do you thinq I do? Must we all march lock-step? Mercy me, we're not in the army!
That everyone on this blog are in lock-step agreement over one official approach should raise concerns. Your views are cast in stone and that bodes ill for the region.
Give yourself a break Voony. Open up, its a big world . . .
I am not, Sean, a fan of Mr. Harper but . . .
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/weather-preparedness/arctic-sea-ice-to-expand-for-a-decade/
. . .Yup, that canard.
"Even for those who deny global warming there are plenty of other compelling reasons to reduce fossil fuel use." Absolutely, you bet!
When I lived in DF in the late '90's the IMECA reading (trace air borne solids) . . .
http://www.calidadaire.df.gob.mx/calidadaire/index.php
. . . was frequently over 100 (100 being unacceptable: 200, the schools closed).
Today's, @ 0630 hrs, Noreste reading appears to be 100 regular! Sigh of relief.
We could use something like that in Vancouver.
On AGW: "And frankly I really don't have any faith in the judgement of those who flatly deny even the possibility of global warming." And nor do I Sean. Earth's temperature is in constant flux . . . http://rt.com/news/carbon-canada-effect-kyoto-773/
. . . and carbon credits just shift the blame: paying to pollute doesn't stop pollution!
The Mediaeval Warm . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1rj00BoItw&feature=player_embe%20dded#!
. . . was far warmer than it is today and there wasn't a CO² belching 1956 Buick in sight!
And no . . . http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ . . . the polar bears are not stranded!
Sort gets tiresome after a while doesn't it . . . especially the petulant name-calling and the pompous caste-in-stone know-it-alls!
There are other TX means yunno, less expensive, more community responsive, and don't forget goods and emergencies.
" "Trams" or not, the region also needs high capacity transit backbones, and we have Skytrain". Yup!
The presence of the expensive, unresponsive, inflexible Expo Line is good reason to reject it!
Personally, and keep in mind all gossip on this blog is personal.
"The best TX is no TX": by that I mean time spent in transit is time wasted no matter the modal split. Ergo follow the UK/Euro self-contained, new town approach.
The New Town approach in the UK at least has been abandoned – and for some long time. While the initial hope was that they would be "self contained" they have never performed that way. Basically, London stopped growing geographically due to the Green Belt. So the growth simply leapfrogged over that and continued beyond it. All the New Towns around London were on main line railways with fast direct services to central London. In fact, I was commissioned to do a study for the Standing Conference on London and South East Regional Planning (a local government body) in the mid 1970s, which examined the capacity of the railway lines to absorb more traffic, to determine where the growth could go. The national government was at that time still attempting to divert growth to the other regions, where unemployment was high due to the decline of traditional industries such as mining and steel making. While they did manage to relocate some government functions, such as driver and vehicle licensing, or National Savings, the private sector (especially the all important financial sector) declined to follow, even with significant inducements. So Bracknell, Basildon, Crawley, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Milton Keynes and the rest all became essentially commuter towns. Of course in Britain "commuter rail" is fast, frequent and runs all day and every day. New Towns in the other regions failed spectacularly – Cumbernauld being one of the test cases studied in planning schools.
By the way, when you put lots of links in a comment, it triggers an automatic diversion to the moderation queue as an anti-spam measure. Not that I discourage such links – quite the opposite – but you might become concerned if your post does not appear quickly.
"Cumbernauld being one of the test cases studied in planning schools." Thanqxz Stephen: very interesting.
I'm not surprised Cumbernault failed: topog alone was enough to do it in (did me in)!
Even though I was a fan of Jimmy Sterling Runcorn (grotesque: did you visit?) was, rightly, blown up. I enjoyed his one-off Olivetti at Hazelmere, though.
I'm sorry: the new town policy could have worked if not, as you say, for a change in government.
Since I see no advantages in Translink's present TX policy I'd like to see it try another approach. Perhaps on a much less ambitious scale City/Metro urban villages can do better.
Any policy has to be better than the potential for sprawl the Canada line services.
I lived in Runcorn in 1970-1 before James Stirling's disaster was built. The rules of New Towns did not permit me to reside in the New Town itself. But somehow strings were pulled at the local municipality and I got a Council Flat in Churchill Mansions (now a "freehold" building) – adjacent to the Mersey bridge and the Manchester Ship Canal. That lasted about six months before I, mercifully, got a transfer back to London. The New Town was admitted later to have been completely unnecessary.
The policy at Translink is irrelevant as they have no funding to make it a reality. Whatever the staff or the politicians might want to do is at the mercy of the provincial government. There is no "regional transportation authority" and never was. Any more than BC Ferries is a company capable of making its own decisions.
Roger, I was not referring at you when mentioning to "some parochial interests": but some other people justifying the prioritization of transit line on the number of km of track layout in one city vs another.
On the topic, I have written this:
http://voony.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/the-future-of-metro-vancouver-lie-in-chilliwack/
When I say the canada line serves regional interest, it needs to connect to some structuring transit line, like 49 or 41, (i have also noticed them in your map), major bus loop like Marine drive…,
Broadway start to be a destination…now I am unconvinced by the relevance of Olympic village (at least as of today), and am not expecting other station like 57th or Cambie village will open in our life time.
Good morning Voony.
G & M reports (Jan. 24), Vancouver is the most expensive city in the world (C$100.00 hot dogs) to live in.
CBC evening news yesterday had a clip showing a throng of Chinese buyers looking over local condos, commenting, Vancouver is in for another good year: meaning more real estate sales, rising prices.
Evidently 2012 is the Chinese Year of the Dragon: a lucky year!
Understanding that hard facts are trumped by perceptions, my reading, watching telly and various stats is that China has a major problem retrieving hard currencies owed to them by the US: ergo they are buying up tangible assets as a currency hedge (Vancouver being an easy mark!).
That means a continuation, indefinitely, of the bubble in condo sales, but not necessarily an increase of population.
I also read that China has built many ecologically sensitive . . .
. . . cities: so far void of population!
POTUS Obama, last nite, gave another one of his rousing change we can believe in homilies. He speaks for what was once our major trading partner.
Perhaps he is speaking to our benefit but watching the expression of anxiety on Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's face, I doubt it!
Metro, Vancouver, the Canada Line, Cambie Village: ummmmm, we are in for interesting times.


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Festivalgoers can satisfy big appetites at a variety of food trucks and enjoy craft beers, wine, musical entertainers and a tremendous selection of juried art during their visit at the historic Boys Ranch Park. Shoppers who love unique finds will not be disappointed as they stroll among exhibits in the Arts & Crafts Marketplace.
Live entertainment throughout the day on the main stage features Gladys and Maybelle, Redwine and Roses, the Michael Lee Band and headliner act Brave Combo.
"The emerging cultural district and events such as [ArtsFest] have a groundswell of support and are contributing to building a vibrant sense of community in Bedford," writes Councilman Ray Champney.
The festival is produced jointly by the city, the Bedford Cultural Commission, Arts Council Northeast, Trinity Arts Guild and H-E-B schools. Admission is free. For information, contact Florey at 817-952-2317. Details at www.bedfordtx.gov/artsfest.
Karaoke sing-along to raise money for a good cause
Have some karaoke fun on Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. as the Chick-fil-A store at 460 Grapevine Highway hosts an event that aims to raise money for the DBA Foundation.
After learning about 6-year-old Hallie Bea of Denton who suffers with a rare blood disorder called diamond blackfan anemia, or DBA, the restaurant wanted to help the family create awareness about the disease and raise money to help find a cure.
They decided to have a karaoke event — Sing Away DBA — and enlisted the services of David Moore with DM Productions for the party.
According to Chick-fil-A spokeswoman Elizabeth Copeland, "Hallie's bone marrow fails to produce essential red blood cells and she is alive today because of steroids and regular blood transfusions. The only cure for DBA is a bone marrow transplant. With less than 800 children diagnosed with DBA, research is largely funded through fundraising by parents, family and friends."
"The idea is similar to the ice bucket challenge where we are hoping people will sing a song, post it on social media and challenge friends to sing a song on social media and/or donate to the DBA Foundation," said Copeland.
Chick-fil-A will donate 20 percent of all sales between 4 and 9 p.m. that day to the DBA Foundation, and the bone marrow donation organization Be the Match will also be on site for a bone marrow registration drive. Learn more about DBA at dbafoundation.org.
Contact Copeland with any questions at 817-371-2994.
Please send your Eyes on H-E-B news to freeder@star-telegram.com. Keep up with even more community news by liking our page on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SocialEyes.ST. Follow me on Twitter: @FayeReeder
Have some karaoke fun on Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. as the Chick-fil-A store at 460 Grapevine Highway hosts an event that aims to raise money for the DBA Foundation in honor of Hallie Bea, 6, of Denton. Courtesy photo
House fire in North Richland Hills occurs after thunderstorm
Listen to the 911 call from fiery crash on I-30
North Texas massage parlor owner charged with prostitution
By Domingo Ramirez Jr.
The owner of a Richland Hills, TX massage parlor is accused of propositioning an undercover police officer on two separate visits in May 2018, according to an arrest warrant. She was charged with prostitution.
MORE NORTHEAST TARRANT
Northeast Tarrant
Grapevine baker creates 'one of a kind' cake to win competition on Food Network
Uber driver may sue, says beer bottle thrown by Fort Worth passenger cut her hand
How Southlake won 'Oscar of the PR world' for police communication with public
Grapevine police release video of attacker grabbing woman, carrying her into breezeway
HEB students finally receive IB test scores. But the mystery remains unsolved
Ross Perot, North Texas philanthropist, businessman, presidential candidate, dies at 89

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


You have been hired to make political posters for one of the California 2012 Propositions. 1. Research: Go to website :https://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/propositions/ Read about Propositions: 30, 34, 37. Then select Pro or Con on one of propositions. 2. Quickwrite: Write 50 words that begin: "I choose [yes/no] on Prop _____ because _______." Be sure to include your name and period. 3.


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bence tordai building opposition parties párbeszéd
Green Party Opposition Politician Reportedly Built His Villa without Permission
Barbara Bene 2022.08.18.
According to the media reports, even though a leftist politician claimed he had all the permission for building his luxury house, the Government Office said that the building is unlawful and unprofessional.
Bence Tordai, a Hungarian politician from the opposition Párbeszéd party and a member of parliament, recently built a house in one the most expensive districts of Budapest, worth around HUF 150 million (EUR 370,000).
However, the house was reportedly built in violation of building regulations,
which has led to the Government Office launching proceedings and the police investigating abuse of office.
The politician claims that everything around the construction was done in an orderly and regular manner. However, according to information from Hungarian Mediaworks' News Center, the government office has found that the villa, which was built on the basis of a simple declaration, was "carried out by means of illegal and unprofessional construction activity, which is not in line with the law."
House Speaker Fines Opposition MP Tordai over 8 Million Forints
Parliamentary Speaker László Kövér has fined Bence Tordai, deputy of opposition Párbeszéd, over 8.2 million forints (EUR 22,370), an equivalent of four months' salary, in a disciplinary procedure. During a session of parliament on March 1, Tordai attempted to make video footage, "rushed after Finance Minister Mihály Varga and blocked his way when the minister […]Continue reading
The political scandal about Bence Tordai's house was sparked by the Metropol newspaper a few weeks ago, after it was reported that the politician had bought a farmhouse in the 2nd district in Budapest.
The opposition politician then allegedly started to build his new house by hiding it behind the farmhouse, circumventing the rules.
The reason behind this was that he could not get permission for a new building on the plot because of strict regulations. Although the Párbeszéd co-chairman said he was just renovating the original house, he reportedly demolished it and built a new one in its place.
In addition, the Hirado.hu website pointed out earlier that Bence Tordai could not even afford a HUF 150 million property on the basis of his asset declaration.
Featured photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd
New Details to Be Declassified about Opposition's Foreign Funds
Fidesz Starts the Year with Confident Political Lead


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Brainë en albanais et Braina en serbe latin (en serbe cyrillique : ) est une localité du Kosovo située dans la commune/municipalité de Podujevë/Podujevo, district de Pristina (Kosovo) ou district de Kosovo (Serbie). Selon le recensement kosovar de 2011, elle compte  habitants, tous albanais.

Géographie

Histoire

Les ruines de l'église de la Mère-de-Dieu remontent à l'Antiquité tardive et au Moyen Âge ; mentionnées par l'Académie serbe des sciences et des arts, elles sont inscrites sur la liste des monuments culturels du Kosovo.

Démographie

Évolution historique de la population dans la localité

Économie

Notes et références

Voir aussi

Articles connexes
 Localités du Kosovo
 Monuments culturels du Kosovo

Liens externes
  Brainë/Braina sur fallingrain.com

Localité dans la municipalité de Podujevë/Podujevo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The goal of the NCCS libraries is to foster a love of reading and to provide the tools necessary for independent learning.
The Lower School Library serves as a resource for all members of the Beginners through the fourth grade community. The purpose of the library program is to develop an appreciation of literature and to support the curriculum. Students visit the library each week individually and in groups. They learn about books of interest, the organization of the library, and how to use the resources of print and electronic media. Students borrow books for recreational and assigned reading.
The John-Christophe Schlesinger Library serves both the Middle and Upper Schools, and truly is the hub of NCCS. There are weekly library classes for fifth and sixth grades, and all students in grades five through ninth grade use the library's vast print and non-print resources, including databases and e-books, for research. The library integrates technology and books by having computers available throughout the library and in an adjacent Media Lab. In support of fostering a love of reading, there is a cozy reading room where students can relax with a good book.


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07 3367 2808 | Shop 2/146 Baroona Rd Rosalie, QLD
Sushi Train
Reservations for a la carte dining.
Hours Open: Tuesday to Sunday 11.30am till 9:30pm
2021 Christmas trading hours:
Closed: 25/12/2021 – 3/1/2022
Reopen: Tue, 4/1/2022
The word Moga translates to modern girl.
Not quite a year had passed since the great Earthquake of 1923 and mass culture had begun to exert an influence on the daily lives of Japanese society. The Modern girl began to appear on the city streets of Tokyo. With her short bob hair doo and her Western style of dress she quickly caught the public eye and became a symbol of a new interwar social phenomenon.
Moga was incarnated in popular culture through such media as magazines (posters and magazine covers seen on our restaurant walls), movies, radio, popular music and Jazz.
Moga is turning 10 years old
3rd March '22
À la carte:
Tuesday – Sunday 11:30am - 9:30pm
Sushi Conveyor
For Bookings Call (07) 3367 2808
Come to Shop 2/146 Baroona Rd View Map
Paddington, QLD 4064
Copyright © 2022	Moga	. All rights reserved.


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Here's why AT&T decided to buy Time Warner, according to CEO Randall Stephenson
Think Netflix.
By Edmund Lee@edmundlee May 30, 2018, 5:33pm EDT
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Asa Mathat
AT&T is close to nailing down its deal to buy Time Warner, a massive content company that owns HBO, CNN and the "Harry Potter" film franchise.
But I've wondered about the merits of the deal. Since Time Warner content still has to be made available to competing distributors — whether Verizon or Comcast or Amazon or Netflix — AT&T doesn't get an advantage by owning HBO or Warner Brothers or rights to NCAA games on Turner.
Recode Executive Editor Peter Kafka gamely asked AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson why it makes sense for his company to spend $85 billion to own Time Warner when it could simply license that same content. His answer came down to Netflix.
"A key variable is the direct relationship with the customer, and a lot of the media companies don't have that direct relationship with the customer," Stephenson explained onstage at the Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
Netflix is one of the few standouts with that direct relationship, some 125 million by last count, he said. Stephenson cited Amazon as another and mentioned that Disney CEO Bob Iger's bid to buy most of Fox is also about building a business that will allow it to ultimately circumvent distributors.
"Bob Iger clearly has big ambitions to establish that direct relationship with the customer," he said. It's about being "vertically integrated."
Separately, he praised Iger on his quick canceling of the renewed ABC series "Roseanne" after the star posted a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama.
"You have to admire how he did that," Stephenson said. "I can't imagine how you would not."
The larger issues facing media companies today lie closer to Silicon Valley, he said.
"How do you feel about going toe to toe with Silicon Valley?" he asked, citing the companies that make up the famed FANG index of stocks: Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google.
"If you don't have vertical integration, you're going to have a hard time competing with these guys," he said. "That's what this is about. Building the ability to compete."
Stephenson envisions the higher profit he can extract by marrying Time Warner's content with AT&T's data to sell targeted advertising.
"Think about what's coming together here. Turner has an amazing inventory of advertising that they kind of sell broadly; it's not a very targeted advertising approach."
AT&T's 130 million mobile subscribers give it "great customer insight," he said. "Can you pair a very formidable ad inventory with data and can you create something unique and change how you're monetizing content?"
It's traditional TV's way of capitalizing on the very ads that Facebook ad Google have been selling for years.
Stephenson also imagines how the combined company can create new forms of content, especially for mobile devices. That all squares with what AT&T said a few years ago when it announced the deal, but it's worth noting the company's consistency in the rationale for the deal.
That's also part of the reason why AT&T bought DirecTV in 2015, but the company "was not in love with the satellite business," Stephenson said. "What we loved was the ability to innovate."
He cited the rapid development of DirecTV's over-the-top service, DirecTV Now, which replicates a skinny bundle of live TV channels delivered over the internet. It now has 1.5 million subscribers, "and it's still growing," he said.
Still, that customer group isn't profitable, he said. Over time, as that service adds new features such as DVR, you can charge more and make money.
The steep decline in DirecTV's traditional satellite business was still surprising to Stephenson. "It was a step change," he said, as people cut the cord much faster than AT&T had anticipated.
"We know where that traffic went. ... It's millennials," he said.
As for the Time Warner merger, Stephenson is still awaiting approval. The Justice Department sued the company to block the deal, calling it anti-competitive. The judge plans to issue a ruling by June 12.
Experts anticipate a win for AT&T, with some conditions attached. But what's plan B if they don't get a favorable ruling?
"I don't want to go there," he said. "Right now we're just focused on winning this thing."
Stephenson also sounded off on AT&T paying Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen for insights into the new administration. Cohen is under investigation by Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor in charge of the probe into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
"It was a bad decision," he said. "It was a bad mistake. I don't know how else to say it."
You can watch the full Code Conference interview here:
Code Conference, Day 2
Full video and transcript: U.S. Senator Mark Warner at Code 2018
Designer babies are just one example of the ethical dilemmas faced by the genomics industry
A new era for the American worker American workers have power. That won't last forever.
The true cost of Amazon's low prices Critics say the "everything store" does too much. Is 2022 the year antitrust hawks come for Amazon?
Rapid tests, omicron, and you At-home tests work with omicron, but there are caveats.


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Friday morning Rangers things
By Adam J. Morris Oct 30, 2009, 8:48am CDT
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A couple of things from last night's World Series game...
First of all...the umpiring, and the continuing missed calls, is the story from this playoffs. There were two huge missed calls last night that ended what could have been big innings by each of the teams, and then Ryan Howard being called out on strikes in the 9th on an Eric Greggian call on a ball way outside...the groundswell of support for replay, and the move towards removing ball and strike calls from the purview of the human umpire, is simply going to increase.
And secondly, even though Derek Jeter bunted on his own with two strikes last night, Joe Girardi's continuing hands-on over-managing is reminiscent of Buck Showalter. It is as if he doesn't trust the players to win the game, or else he feels he has to show everyone how much smarter than everyone else he is.
Anyway...Jeff Wilson writes that the Rangers want a hitting coach who can, and wants to, work with young players, and who can help the team fix an approach that resulted in a ton of strikeouts and not many walks last year. The finalists for the job are Rusty Greer, Thad Bosley, Clint Hurdle, and Gerald Perry.
Rush Olson has a story up at mlb.com about Mitch Moreland.
Richard Durrett looks at the closer spot for the Rangers, and the Rangers managerial situation.
And Kevin Richardson has signed a minor league contract with the Rangers for 2010.


INTENSE Stick it and Trick it voting now open!
You can cast your vote for your favorite picture submission at our Official INTENSE Stick it and Trick it Poll which will remain open until Friday May 2, 2008. The winner will receive a $50.00 INTENSE Gift Certificate. Good luck all!
Order #15000 is FREE Winner!
Congratulations to Kevin McNeil of Haverhill, MA. He was the winner of our Order #15000 is FREE promotion. His entire order amount was refunded to him and we shipped his order for FREE! Be sure to check our site often for more great promotions and exciting give aways.
Congratulations to Frank Moran of Newport News, VA! He is our latest winner in the INTENSE PCM Lottery. We're currently running a special promotion where every 25th PCM purchased from INTENSE is free. If you are the lucky 25th buyer you will receive your purchase price back as a gift certificate for the price of the INTENSE PCM (excluding shipping and core charges) and the count will start over.
INTENSE Order #15000 is FREE!
Thats right, the whole thing will be FREE if your order number is #15000. At the time of this posting the current order number is #14869 and as all of our customers know your order number is emailed to you automatically when you make a purchase. Customer #15000 will instantly know they have won and the order no matter how big or small will be FREE.
All returned orders during this promotion whether shipped or not are still subject to our normal 20% restocking fee. In the case that order #15000 is invalid or non-existant (due to the way our shopping cart assigns numbers) then the next valid order will be used for the free offer. In order to qualify the order must be prepaid and have the system generate an order number.


I often think of how quickly time goes by, and wonder if, at this stage in my life, I have wasted my youth on things that were not what God would have wanted me to do. I'm certain I have not utilized my God-given talents on God-chosen tasks, and I view the future with resignation, not joy. After all, I'm past my prime. What can I possibly offer God now?
God view us differently. He created each of us uniquely, and He knows not only what our talents are, but when to use them. And unlike flowers, we can bloom at any age, many times, all throughout our lives. Timing is everything, and God's timing is always perfect if we trust in Him and allow Him to use us as He sees fit. The Bible is full of examples of God surprising someone who thought they were past the age of making a great difference in His kingdom on earth. Just look at Abraham and Sarah! Who could have predicted the wonderful turn of events in their waning years, and the impact it would have?
God is a God of surprises, so never be discouraged that your prime time to serve has passed you by. Who knows what God has planned for your life, and when? Perhaps, like the wine in Cana, He has saved the best for last!


May I suggest a small update for keybinds.txt.fr file ?
With today's autobuild, it works again ; cursors can be dragged without any issue.
@cl_maxfps_alwayssleep@ is not saved even though it is in the settings menu.
Sorry, I forgot to update that bug report.
It's fixed now, I tried with the latest autobuild.
I still have this issue with the latest autobuild (from 10th March 2013).


Do you like reading to children? I am looking for volunteers to read for Toddler/Preschool story time. If this is something you might like to do occasionally, please call or come into the library for more information. 402-654-3833. Dates and times are not set for this yet so I can work with your schedule.
As Director of the library every year I am required to submit a survey of statistics about our library and community. This also helps determine our accreditation every 3 years. We recently received our accreditation at the SILVER LEVEL. That is an improvement over our last accreditation which was at the bronze level.
Now that the holiday season is over and things have settled back to normal routines please make sure you are encouraging your children and grandchildren to read on a regular basis. And of course set a good example by reading yourself! If you do not have a library card with us please sign up today! It's no cost to you but there are plenty of benefits. Along with books we offer public computers, Wi-Fi, magazines, DVD movies for checkout, and Nebraska Overdrive which allows you to borrow audio or e-readers to your device. All of these services are available at no charge. Services like copies, die cut use, inter-library loan are available for a small fee.
We have recently made a couple of changes in our shelving to make finding books at your child's level a bit easier. We made a separate section at the beginning of the picture books that are labeled EARLY READER for those young ones starting to be able to read on their own. We also separated TEEN books in our Junior Fiction aisle. These are books that are a higher reading level or the content may be geared more toward teenagers but that does not mean a child has to be a teenager to check these out.
Also, watch for flyers or check our Facebook page or website for more information on the party and Story Time with Guest Readers – coming soon!
Tristan, McKenna, Nadia, Christian, Logan, Jonathan, Kelton, Harper, Avery & Will!
Also Congrats to Maxwell, Myla & Molly for visiting the library the MOST times this summer. They will each receive a prize for coming to the library & checking out books 11 times this summer!
Snippets of our Summer Reading Program ~ LIBRARIES ROCK!
SIGN UP FOR SUMMER READING PROGRAM! LIBRARIES ROCK!
We are currently having our annual used book sale, we have a large variety of adult & junior fiction as well as some non-fiction and children's books. Come and peruse our selection and see if we have something for you.
All proceeds from this sale benefit our summer reading program.
We welcome donations of cash and/or gently used books and DVDs (no VHS please).
The Stan Buman bird & wildlife photo exhibit will be on display here at Hooper Public Library next Tuesday January 9th-February 23rd.
Library hours are 2:00-6:00p.m. Tue. Wed. & Thur. and 9:00a.m.-1:00p.m. on Friday & Saturday.
We will be closed Saturday, January 6th to transport and set up the exhibit.
Due to transportation complications the photo exhibit has been delayed, but it will be coming soon! Check back here or our Facebook page for updates.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Hooper Public Library! We have a great way to start off 2018. We will be hosting a photo exhibit titled "Fenceline Photos" right here in our library for the months of January and February.
Come see 40 bird and wildlife photos captured by birdwatcher and photographer Stanley Buman of Carroll, Iowa.
Get to know the greater prairie chicken, piping plover, bufflehead, dowitcher, dickcissel and sedge wren, along with more familiar species of hawks, owl, sparrows, swallows and geese. Most photos were taken in Iowa but a few are from pastures further west including Winnetoon, NE. and ocean coasts.
Stanley Buman, who is also passionate about restoring old tractors, is one of the founders of Agren, an agri-business firm in Carroll, Iowa.
Hooper Public Library is located at 126 N. Main St. Hooper NE. The exhibit is free and open to the public during regular open hours starting in January.
Tue-Thur. 2:00-6:00p.m. and Fri & Sat. 9:00a.m.-1:00p.m. For more information call us at the library 402-654-3833.
Time flies when you're having fun! Last week marked my 7th anniversary as Director & Librarian here. Lois & Kay are still my trusty substitutes and keep things running smoothly when I am not here.
Our Board of Trustees consists of 5 members of our community and they recently elected officers.
Michael Mattes serves as president, Sally Oberg is vice president & Jamie Volpp is our board secretary. Anne Skidmore & Kelly Abrahams also serve as trustees.
Recently the board & I were able to accomplish a goal we have had for quite some time. We purchased a new awning for the front of the building and it looks great!
On Halloween I greeted 80 trick or treaters and the adults who accompanied them. It was busy fun night but I did manage to snap a few pictures of the cute costumes that came through.
The holidays are fast approaching now and we will have Mrs. Santa Claus story time again this year at the Main Street Extravaganza so watch for details on that!
If you don't have a library card here stop in and get one today! In addition to books, magazines & movies you can check out, Hooper Public library offers many services including, Nebraska Overdrive, free Wi-Fi, computers for patron use, copies, die cut, meeting room use & inter library loan.


Pebble Beech stick a huge range of beautiful wood carvings, giftware, natural body products and gorgeously franganced natural plant wax candles. Our range of incence is all natural as is our selection of oils and resin.
Pebble Beech are delighted to introduce the new range of sterling silver jewellery containing beautiful and unusual pendants and earrings.


A fantastic opportunity to join a specialist Accountancy and Finance Recruitment company where you will have the opportunity to take over a warm desk within permanent Transactional Accountancy and Finance. This role is available due to the expansion of an office and there are very genuine opportunities to progress as the business continues to grow. You will receive full training and be well supported to achieve your targets within a friendly office environment.
A quality driven and well established specialist company with multiple offices. You will join a friendly team, with a very supportive management structure. You will benefit from excellent training, quarterly incentives including international trips (they recently went for lunch in Paris!), days at the races, afternoon teas in London and much much more. You'll be rewarded with a competitive commission structure and excellent benefits and incentives.
You will ideally have gained a grounding in professional services recruitment, although experience from other recruitment markets may be considered if you have the confidence and credibility to build relationships over the phone and attend meetings face to face. You'll probably have had some good training, understand the fundamentals of recruitment and be eager to get your hands on a warm desk where you can hit the ground running! You must have a driving license and be a car owner for this role.


400150 LITE Natural Dutch Jell 10 pounds FAVORITE!
Works in "Sure Jell" low-sugar recipes! This specially formulated natural fruit pectin blend does not require regular sugar to product a jelling effect in homemade jams and jellies. This jell is perfect for no sugar added or reduced sugar jam and jelly recipes. Each case consists of ten pounds.
Ingredients: Dextrose, Special Lite Fruit Pectin, Citric Acid.


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Home / NBA / NBA News / NBA Finals Odds 3/14/20, Bucks remain favorite following suspension
NBA Finals Odds 3/14/20, Bucks remain favorite following suspension
Bucks still favored to win NBA Finals
The NBA is currently in an indefinite hiatus, but oddsmakers and the league still anticipate a 2020 champion being decided at some point, and they see three teams as top contenders.
According to the latest oddsmakers, the Milwaukee Bucks remain the NBA Championship favorite, as they are getting odds of +225 to win. Other short odds to prevail are the Los Angeles Lakers (+250) and the Los Angeles Clippers (+300).
The Bucks entered this suspension as the league's top team in regards to record. Milwaukee sits at 53-12 on the year with a 28-3 record at home and 25-9 record on the road. They have a 6.5-game lead in the East right now and a 3-game lead on the Lakers for the top record in the NBA. It definitely seems likely that the Bucks will have the home-court advantage entering the playoffs. This stoppage will allow Giannis Antetokounmpo to heal up from a knee injury that had forced him to miss the last two games. The Bucks had lost four of their last five going into the break and this stoppage could allow them to heal up and get re-focused on reaching the Finals.
The Lakers have the top spot in the West going into the suspension. Los Angeles is 49-14 on the season, 23-8 at home and 26-6 on the road. Los Angeles has a 5.5-game lead over the Clippers in the standings right now. Anthony Davis was dealing with a few lingering injuries, as was LeBron James. This suspension will allow both veterans to heal up, but a month away from the game for veterans also could have a negative impact.
The Clippers are second in the West and fourth overall in the NBA. Los Angeles is 44-20 on the season, 25-7 at home and 19-13 on the road. L.A. has a 1.5-game lead on the Nuggets for the second seed in the West. This suspension comes at a tough time for the Clippers, as they had won seven of their last eight to surge up to second in the West. Lou Williams was dealing with a calf injury, but was nothing serious and he could have returned soon.


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Healthcare adds jobs as unemployment holds at 9.1%
Melanie Evans
Healthcare added 29,700 jobs in August as the nation's overall hiring stalled and the U.S. unemployment rate held at 9.1%.
Healthcare employment increased 0.2% to total 14.1 million workers in August even as U.S. employment was unchanged, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The August figures are preliminary. All figures are seasonally adjusted. On average, healthcare added 25,500 jobs per month during the 12-month period ended in August. Total healthcare job growth for the period was 305,900, an increase of 2.2%.
Erratic hospital hiring through the summer months continued in August. Hospitals added 7,700 jobs last month, a gain of 0.2% but down from 11,000 new employees in July, preliminary figures show. Meanwhile, in June, hospitals cut 1,900 jobs, the first decline since a 1,500 reduction in July 2010.
Hospital hiring was up 74,100 workers for the year that ended in August, an increase of 1.6%, to total 4.8 million workers.
Physician offices added 5,600 workers in August for an increase of 0.2%. On average, physician offices hired 4,200 per month during the 12-month period ended in August. Some 50,800 jobs were added to physician-office payrolls during that period to bring total employment to 2.4 million. For the 12 months ended in August, physician-office hiring increased 2.2%.


Taylormade m1 460 9.5 driver head. Head only. Condition used good 8/10.
Callaway Epic Sub Zero 9° Driver Head Only • Condition: Good • Club: Driver Head • Dexterity: RH • Loft: 9° • Lie: Standard • Includes original head cover but no tool All Clubs are guaranteed 100% authentic. Check our feedback!!! No stock pictures, the pictures above are of the actual club for sale. Click on Zoom for close up looks. Shipping cost is to the contiguous lower 48 states only. If you are in HI, AK or PR please contact me with your zip code for a rate quote. Shipment to a PO Box MUST choose Priority mail option at checkout. Default shipment is FedEx ground or USPS.
Machine Learning enabled Callaway to cycle through 15,000 face architecture iterations, learning from each one, before arriving at Flash Face. Adjusting the position of the weight allows golfers to promote neutral, draw or fade biased flight.
Listed is a slightly used Titleist 917D3 Driver head golf club. This head has 9.5 base loft. As shown in the pictures, the club face is clean.
Ping ANSER Driver Head, Screw. MODEL : ANSER 10.5. HEADCOVER: Included.
New (other) TaylorMade M3 460 Driver Head (12*): Head Only!
Up for Sale is a New (other) Taylormade M3 460 Driver Head! Model: Taylormade M3 Driver (Head Only). TaylorMade's MOST TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED DRIVER EVER. - A radical departure from traditional driver-face design.
Callaway Rogue 10.5° Driver Head Only. • Lie: Standard. • Dexterity: RH. • Club: Driver Head.
Model: 2018 M4 Driver Head. This new driver Head from Taylormade is hot. The twist face technology is the most advanced driver out there. Condition: NEW.
THIS IS TOUR ISSUE 2017 M2 9.5° HEAD ONLY!This is the version 2 model! 4th letter in serial # is a K,that indicates it's a version 2 head. MODEL:M2 2017 version 2. SERIAL NUMBER:71KKE00E (AUTHENTIC TOUR ONLY).
MODEL:M1 2017 440cc. SHAFT:Fujikura Pro 73 Stiff Graphite Shaft. SERIAL NUMBER:69NB9BVD.
This is a NEW TOUR ISSUE LEFT HAND 2017 M1 460cc 10.5° HEAD ONLY! MODEL:M1 460 2017. SERIAL NUMBER:74AKA00V . HEAD COVER:NONE.
GREAT BIG BERTHA. Head Cover:.
Model - GBB Epic Sub Zero. Lie Angle - STD. Dexterity - RH. Type - Driver. Shaft Model - N/A.
MODEL:Aeroburner TP. Head does have a on hosel. LIE ANGLE:58.8°. SERIAL NUMBER:57JKE02B8 (AUTHENTIC TOUR ONLY). HEAD COVER:NONE.
LH Taylormade M4 driver d-type 9.5 head. Head only.
Left hand Taylormade m4 9.5 d-type driver head. Head only. Condition used avg-good. Does have a crown mark on the grey towards the heel. See all pics, use the zooms, its all there.
Up for Sale is a New Titleist 917 D3 Driver Head! Model: Titleist 917 D3 Driver (Head Only): 2017-2018 Model. - 917 D3 is designed for distance with workability in a traditional tour inspired 440cc pear profile.
GREAT BIG BERTHA. Head Cover:. 100% Authentic.
Beautiful Taylormade M4 driver head with 9.5 degrees of loft. Head does not work well with my existing shaft.
Titleist 917 D2 9.5° Driver Head Only. • Dexterity: RH. • Club: Driver Head Only. • Generic Head Cover is included but NO Tool.
Tour Issue Left Handed TaylorMade 2017 M1 460 9.5 Degree Driver HEAD ONLY. TOUR ISSUE! Dexterity - Left Handed. The face is still in great playing condition with many more rounds left! Head Weight - 196g (204g with Adapter).
SLDR 460 S. Head Cover:. 100% Authentic.
TaylorMade M1 (2015) 10.5° Driver Head Only. • Lie: Standard. • Dexterity: LH. • Club: Driver Head. • Does not include a tool or head cover.
TITLEIST 917 D2 8.5* Driver Head Right Hand w/headcover Used Priority Ship!
Titleist 917 D2 Right Handed Driver Head. Just didn't clean it all off. Nice used condition - as the pictures show. Right Handed.
THIS IS A NEW TOUR ISSUE 2017 M1 460cc 8.5° HEAD ONLY! This head has weight port. MODEL:M1 460 2017. LIE ANGLE:N/A. NUMBER:6A7K31CV (AUTHENTIC TOUR ONLY). Head does have a on hosel. HEAD COVER:NONE.
Left hand Taylormade 2017 m1 10.5 driver head. Head only. Condition used very good.
BRAND NEW TaylorMade 2018 M4 8.5*. RH 460cc DRIVER HEAD ONLY. Condition is New. Shipped with USPS Priority Mail.
Head Cover:. Club Type:. ■Item Details ■. 100% Authentic.
Tour Issue TaylorMade 2017 M2 10.5 Degree K Serial Driver Head. Actual loft is 11.2*. Great driver for a great price!
Model: Taylormade M1 Driver (Head Only): 2017 Model. Up for Sale is a New Taylormade M1 460 Driver Head! • Carbon toe panel results in 43% more carbon and twice the weight savings vs. the original M1.
Heavy wear to the paint on the crown and many nicks to the paint above the face. Tiny nicks to the paint around the edges of the crown. Heavy scarring on the face and sole with nothing on the face that will impact club performance.
THIS IS TOUR ISSUE CALLAWAY ROGUE 8.5° TF(Tour Flat) HEAD ONLY!Head has a good CT of 245. MODEL:Rogue TF. SERIAL NUMBER.
The paint is flawless! This gorgeous head is the newest addition to the Callaway lineup and not only gives you crazy long distance, but is very forgiving. This driver head looks great, sounds even better and the forgiveness will blow you away.
Club Type: DRIVER Gender: Shaft Info: Lie Angle Dexterity: RIGHT-HANDED Shaft Material: Loft: 9.5 Club Condition: PAR. Club Conditions. We take actual images of the item you are buying! 3 Birdie: Used but in fantastic shape.
HERE IS A USED RIGHTHANDED CALLAWAY X2 HOT 10.5 HEAD ONLY FOR SALE. SERIAL # 6404096750. GOOD LUCK AND SEE PICS!


Wall sconces are a great way to add lighting to any room, and they need to have a focal point on the wall that they relate to. You'll need to watch out about their proximity to that focal point, although. For example, if the mirror is the target, you do not want the sconce to be proper on prime of it. The size of the mirror will determine precisely the way you cling the sconces. Hold your inside design venture cost-efficient by using high quality equivalents you purchase from mass merchants. High-finish decor is actual expensive, however if you happen to go searching and are resourceful, you'll discover something comparable at a much cheaper price. Select designer brands if you're unable to search out related items at a lesser value.
If you wish to add a dramatic touch to a room without repainting it solely, you can decide one wall to paint in an accent shade. This should be a vibrant coloration that coordinates with the remainder of the room's colors but undoubtedly stands out. Think about using a primary shade in a room that is otherwise painted in pastels, for example. When eager about utilizing wall sconces, it is best to determine the situation, as you do not need to should a lot clutter within the room. All the time leave some room round a mirror so as to let it breath. This is determined by the dimensions of the mirror; but step again and make this choice while you are placing them.
When you've got a love of all things inside design, then you've got come to the appropriate place. Whether or not you might be new to the world of design, have dabbled a little here and there or are a true design aficionado, you'll find great advice and suggestions to help you. Are you looking for a starting place on your next interior design venture? Inside design can seem a bit intimidating if adorning does not come naturally to you. Luckily, anybody can decorate their house with the fitting advice. In case you comply with the useful suggestions within the article that follows, you will have no bother along with your interior design tasks.
Having a funds may help you be extra inventive as nicely.
As you'll be able to see from the above article, it would not take much so as to add excitement and change up any size room. Keep on with the ideas you learned here and use them as a information as you change across the model of your property. You can all the time come to the article to seek advice from the tips as you go alongside. Use lamps. Aside from merely trying nice round the house, lamps are a great way to create a relaxing ambiance round your house. They are higher at lending to a desirable ambiance than the cruel mild of an overhead fixture. Lamps may also save you quite a bit on your electricity invoice.
An easy strategy to redesign your kitchen is to reface your cabinets and alter out the hardware. This is a cheap project that most people can do themselves. There are a selection of hardware items bought in hardware shops, and this makes it straightforward to seek out items that suit your individual fashion. In case you at all times have inside design in mind once you store, always have fabric or shade samples in your purse or glove field from the actual room you're decorating. A small swatch representing the fundamental colour scheme or pattern from your own home will be sure that the whole lot you purchase will coordinate completely!
Always get a second opinion! Have you ever purchased a rug or throw pillows that you thought looked wonderful, solely to resolve in a while they were a bit cheesy? Displaying pictures of things you wish to your folks or members of the family will help you keep away from making purchases you remorse. Everybody has their very own tastes, but different perspective might help you discover stuff you might have missed.
As a substitute of using retailer purchased paintings or trinkets, maintain some previous childhood toys in your cupboard. Or something your youngsters made you.


The failure of Congress to produce a budget that President Trump is willing to sign forced the US government into a Shutdown on December 18, 2018. This resulted in a Reduction in Force, a temporary layoff without pay for about 800,000 employees. The sticking point was funding for a wall, or fence, on the Southern Border with Mexico. Trump insisted on a modest $5.7 billion but Pelosi and Schumer were refusing even a penny, on principle. This despite Democrats willingly funding border walls in the past.
Just over half of Democrats in the Senate voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush, including then-Sens. Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton. Most Democrats in the House voted against it, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi. The law authorized a fence along about 700 miles of the border between the U.S.-Mexico border. By 2015, U.S. Customs and Border Protection had constructed 654 miles of fencing.
Of the about 800,000 employees in the nine Cabinet departments and various smaller agencies whose funding has lapsed, about 380,000 have been furloughed without pay while the rest are still working without pay.
Another oddity about the Shutdown was that President Trump appeared to have the funds and means for construction of a wall. He could take the funds from the Department of Defense budget, where $25 billion was placed into a construction category, and have the military construct the wall. He has also stated he could reallocate hurricane relief funds for prior hurricane damage in Puerto Rico and the Gulf. This fund totals $14 billion. However, both these routes require that Trump declare a National Emergency.
The White House has directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to examine the possibility of using for border wall construction $13.9 billion the corps received in a February 2018 disaster relief bill. The money was earmarked for relief measures for Puerto Rico and California, Florida, Texas and other hard-hit states. The diversion plan is being presented as an option to the president and may not be implemented.
Congress would have to approve any money that "reprogrammed" from its original appropriated purpose.
President Trump signed the $1.3 trillion budget into law. The bill provides $700 billion in 2018 and $716 billion in 2019 to the Defense Department, money Mattis and the service chiefs have repeatedly emphasized is critical to rebuilding military readiness and lethality. Trump suggested that part of the Pentagon's new-found wealth could be used for the wall. Military readiness would be hurt if DoD has to cut $25 billion from its spending plan to pay for the wall, instead of using those funds for DoD priorities, such as buying new aircraft to replace aging aircraft and increasing the size of the Navy.
via this Shutdown, as when it goes past the first 30 days, a second furlough is set in motion whereby employees can be terminated not based on seniority but based on productivity and need.
is preventing any workarounds such as new positions or new hires.
More than a Government Shutdown?
On 01.22.2019 "Reduction in Force" law activates allowing permanent layoffs of federal employees, i.e Dem Socialists/Resistance. Normally, full-time federal employees, saboteurs or not, are nearly impossible to fire.
on January 17 during the turmoil to avoid arrest for treason? What did they know, and what were their roles? Afghanistan does not have an extradition treaty with the US.
An American supporter of the Islamic State has been arrested after he plotted to blow a hole in the White House with an anti-tank rocket and storm the building. He had been watched since March. In December Taheb met with an undercover agent and, according to court documents, he showed the agent "a hand-drawn diagram of the ground floor of the West Wing of the White House" and "described his plan for attacking the West Wing."
The pointed tweets by insider Donna Brazile continue. Days later another implying assassination. Oh, on the surface, about a $15/hour minimum wage, perhaps, but President Lincoln was assassinated, and Hamilton was killed in a duel by VP Burr. The duel ultimately ended the career of VP Burr. Thus, Brazile's tweet is in essence saying – kill the President and destroy the VP! The Zetas explain.
Vice President Burr shot Hamilton, delivering what proved to be a fatal wound. Hamilton's shot broke a tree branch directly above Burr's head. Burr survived the duel and was indicted for murder in both New York and New Jersey, though these charges were later either dismissed or resulted in acquittal. The harsh criticism and animosity directed toward him following the duel brought an end to his political career.
Meanwhile, the threat of a shutdown continues, even with a three week continuing resolution. Though government workers will have their deferred paychecks based on laws both Pelosi and Trump signed into action, the threat of another shutdown looms. Will President Trump declare a National Emergency to force funding for the Wall? The rumor mill reports that this is pending, but any move by Trump would surely be entangled in court. It increasingly looks like forcing Congress to fund the Wall is the only outcome. But a game of chess is in process!
The White House is preparing a draft proclamation for President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency along the southern border and has identified more than $7 billion in potential funds for his signature border wall should he go that route. According to options being considered, the administration could pull: $681 million from Treasury forfeiture funds, $3.6 billion in military construction, $3 billion in Pentagon civil works funds, and $200 million in Department of Homeland Security funds.
Using a national emergency to build the wall sounds like a simple solution to a lot of people, but the truth is that it would be a legal nightmare. Democrats would likely invoke the Antideficiency Act.
Simply stated, this is the law that says money appropriated by Congress cannot be spent in advance or in excess of a congressional appropriation. In effect this means funds may only be used to pay for the item or action for which the money was specifically appropriated.
Most often plate movements are revealed by violent earthquake jolts and the tsunami that follow. Plates can push against each other or pull apart, or slide past each other or rise and drop where they touch. But all of this usually results in a jolt, and where water is affected, a tsunami. But the Zetas have warned that as the rough edges along plate borders are smoothed, that plate movement may become silent. How then is man to know that this plate movement is occurring?
And after months and years of this type of tugging, the edges of the plates have worn smooth, rock fingers breaking off, so rapid and dramatic movements of the plates are now possible. The quakes are quickening.
We have repeatedly stated that earthquakes are no longer increasing on a linear basis, but are increasing on something more akin to an exponential basis. We have mentioned that the plates have their edges smoothed, and can thus move further during any adjustment.
Where sliding rock strata has been worn smooth via constant subduction, the results on the surface may be minimal. Where subduction has been occurring regularly on one side, the rock surfaces are smooth and the adjustment is felt as a series of slight jolts, grip and release. Where the subduction is pressing inland on the other side, under virgin land, the top layer can be carried virtually unaffected or can be terribly rumpled, depending upon its rock and soil characteristics.
in the same Portland location, and it seems to relate. The Zetas explain why the residents of Portland were being warmed.
In Russian's Far East, on the plate border between the great Eurasian Plate and the N American Plate, a mountain suddenly and inexplicably slid into the nearby Bureya River, blocking it completely. There was no torrential rainstorm to melt the soil, no jiggling earthquakes to nudge a landslide along. There was a 7.4 quake east of Kamchatka on December 20, just a day after the Portland waves, but not where the landside occurred. Right on the plate border on the Amur Platelet just west of the prong of the N American Plate that refuses to break off, per the Zetas. Thus there was a silent quake under that region, enough to block a river.
Whatever the cause, the event resulted in a massive rockfall which has blocked the nearby Bureya river, and left several villages at risk of flooding.
Strange Movement of Landmass Blocks Remote Russian River - locals Speculate Landslide or Meteor?
The video was reportedly filmed in a remote area near the Bureya River in Khabarovsk Region of the Russia's Far East. It shows large chunks of land mass completely blocking the frozen river.
of this Newsletter, clear evidence of an orb near the Sun was captured on film at the Neumayer Station. These are not lens flares, which move as the camera moves. This orb is stationary.
registering the view for a full 24 hours. Note that where Nibiru is seen at the 4 o'clock position in the Northern Hemisphere, it is at the 11 o'clock position in the Southern Hemisphere, because locationwise, people there are standing upside down. In other words, the location of Nibiru changes depending upon one's view.
The South Pole station is one of three year-around stations operated by the National Science Foundation (NSF). South Pole Station sits at the Earth's axis.
Nibiru is normally sighted from the temperate regions in the Northern Hemisphere at the 4 o'clock position to the Sun. But in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Brazil, it is found at the 11 o'clock position. This is because the view of the Sun torques, depending upon the angle of the viewer.
But as has been true since 2002, Nibiru has been in view from the Northern Hemisphere. It is so big, and real, one can almost reach out and touch it, especially when viewed through a filter for light in the red spectrum such as Alberto uses. There stands the monster, with its two dominant Moon Swirls on either side, like shoulder pads.


text:
info@imagimont.com
FCA Compliance
- Imagimont.com
It's not about the M&Ms
Music powers me through life. It calms my nerves, raises my spirits and fills me with a warm glow of nostalgia...all within the same Funk & Soul playlist. Music can also open my mind to new ideas and inspirations; as a full-fledged funkateer, I instead looked to the lessons of rock legends Van Halen when researching this article. Yes, really!
When the band went on tour, Van Halen had it written in their concert contracts that there must be no brown M&Ms backstage. A folly? A whim? A demonstration of diva-like demands? Absolutely not!
In a 2012 interview, David Lee Roth explains the genius of this specific clause and how it efficiently signalled imminent danger. "Van Halen was the first to take 850 par lamp lights - huge lights - around the country and at the time, it was the biggest production ever" Roth explains. "If I saw brown M&Ms on the catering table, then I guarantee the promoter had not read the contract rider, and we would have to do a serious line check of the entire stage setup".
Having been one of the architects of this elaborate lighting and staging design, Roth knew only too well the dangers involved; alerting all parties to the systems and controls in place to mitigate the risks. The full technical specification was detailed within the concert contract, a legal document that all parties were expected to consider, clarify, then commit to -legally binding each other to agreed terms and conditions. So, why the need for the rider?
Well, despite all best efforts to control risks with compliance, there can never be a 100% guarantee that all dangers have been eliminated. Unsurprisingly, the weakest link in any risk management framework is usually human. Brown m&ms backstage meant someone had failed to keep up their end of the bargain, signalling the activation of fail-safe procedures in order to revert back to safer conditions. Like a 'canary in a coal mine', 'rats fleeing a sinking ship', or 'raised red flags', Roth identified 'brown m&ms backstage' as a recognisable indicator, triggering an urgent re-assessment of the risks, before any harm was caused.
There have been notable cases in the music industry where ignoring safety standards or overlooking risk management controls led to devastating consequences. Curtis Mayfield was paralysed in a freak accident that his son attributes to the
gross negligenc
e on the part of the concert promoters, Keith Richards explains the lack of consideration given when
deciding site security
at the 1969 Altamont Speedway Free Festival, and insufficient communication about that night's pyrotechnics display, led to Metallica's James Hetfield suffering his horrific on-stage injuries. Roth's inspection of the candy stash was integral to the safety of all those present at Van Halen's performances.
The ISO identified that an engaged, energised and enabled workforce are integral to an
organisation's resilience
. But in a recent Gallup poll, a heart-stopping 83% of the UK workforce feel neither engaged, energised nor enabled at work! Disengaged employees make 100 times more errors than their engaged colleagues and are more likely to exhibit non-compliant behaviours, whether they are motivated into deliberate acts of non-compliance or unintentional stumbles into complacency. The impact of disengagement is significant: productivity stalls, innovation is stunted, and service levels become sub-standard. More alarming, an organisation with a disengaged workforce are at greater risk of being hit harder by external threats when non-compliance affects the resilience of its systems and controls.
Fail-safe procedures are established as part of an organisation's Incident Management Plan, but how efficiently can they be activated if employee disengagement is the cause? Many businesses now conduct quarterly pulse surveys, gaining employee feedback on specific projects, initiatives etc and what impact they have on fluctuating engagement levels. But quarterly isn't efficient enough to offset the dangers of non-compliance. We need recognisable indicators like Van Halen's 'brown m&ms backstage' and personally, I think it's much easier to identify employee disengagement from simple observations.
I've started a list of recognisable indicators that may either be the cause or effect of disengagement; signalling an immediate response to re-assess the risks.
1. SILENCE IS GOLDEN?
Have you conducted a Team Check-In recently? Not a morning meeting that sets out the tasks required for completion; not the weekly catch up where updates are shared and expectations are exchanged. This Team Check-In can be completed in moments and by any member of the team:
The most obvious signs of disengagement are the silences. Where once the workplace was a hive of thriving activity, but now it's like individual hamsters focused only on their own wheel, we're looking at a danger zone. Employees that are no longer inclined to share their thoughts, express their feelings or dedicate time to ask about each other are less likely to value how their individual responsibilities impact the shared organisational strategy.
2. EXODUS OF EXCELLENCE
The employees celebrated for excellence...you remember them, right? They featured heavily across the branding, actively promoting the business as an 'Employer Of Choice'. They were applauded for their commitment to community engagement. They regularly worked cross-departmentally to encourage social learning and sharing best practice. Whatever happened to them...?
Peer motivation is recognised as the
biggest influence
on engagement levels and the number one reason for employees to go the extra mile at work. If the organisation has been unable to retain these brand ambassadors, if they quickly disappeared or quietly faded in to grey, that red flag should be flying!
3. CELEBRATED CAKE DAYS
Okay, hear me out on this one...
First of all, who doesn't like cake? Seriously, who?! Homemade, shop bought, spectacularly decorated or scrumptiously delicious, most of us can find an excuse for cake and for many workplaces, cake is as essential as coffee. When an organisation can only demonstrate their corporate culture with a collection of Coffee Morning photos, does this set them apart from any other workplace? They may as well showcase the kettle!
In their 2018 study Recognition & Other Workplace Efforts to Engage Employees,
SHRM/Globoforce
highlighted that 34% of HR Professionals raised Culture Management as a top challenge and are using a variety of programs to influence corporate culture. With 'Corporate citizenship or charity' right up there at 44%, I believe that organisations could better promote their culture with examples of community engagement, volunteering opportunities or young enterprise partnerships etc. If they have no such examples, unfortunately they can only celebrate cake.
4. ANY UPDATES ON THAT LEVY POT?
When the UK Government first launched the Apprenticeship Levy in April 2017, it required businesses that had an annual wage bill greater than £3 million to co-invest 0.5% of their salary spend in to adult learning development opportunities. This should be an incredible way to upskill new and existing employees, giving school leavers access to early careers experience, supporting community re-employment programs, while succession planning can be enhanced with degree level courses. Employers have 24 months to spend on staff development; use it or lose it reminders were repeatedly sent when the first expiry date was due. As the UK experiences the same digital skills shortage as many other countries, how shocking to find that
£133 million unclaimed
funding expired from the pot in September 2019 ?!
Employees have many reasons why they want to develop their skills - performance improvement, career progression, enhance their understanding of the business strategy to name but a few. It's important that access to development opportunities are clearly communicated across the organisation and their schedule has the flexibility to incorporate time for study.
In summary, these are just the start of the list. There are many more recognisable indicators of employee disengagement and can be linked to Towers Watson's 5
Top Engagement Drivers
What red flags or brown m&ms help you efficiently identify employee disengagement; what can be done to offset the risk? Please share your insights and ideas in the comments below.
What is Imagimont?
I'm Jo, a Freelance Learning Experience Designer at Imagimont Ltd. With a creative flair and commitment to engagement, I manage development projects that align to the organisation's culture, values and business strategy. Partnering with internal stakeholders and external providers, I deliver blended learning resources fully accessible using multimedia at the point of need. My commercial awareness, UK Regulatory Compliance expertise and 10 years' experience as a People Development Specialist ensure that learning initiatives evolve as quickly as service expectations.
#energy #engagement #empowerment #experience #learning #culture #lxdesign
to find out more.
Social Media & Employability


You have probably experienced it. You find yourself in some place and you are struck by the beauty of artwork on the wall. A painting or a collection of paintings. The image is complete, warming, balanced and exudes the right atmosphere. In fact, you have been looking for the right filling of your own interior or working space for a long time. You get inspired, you hang paintings, but somehow you do not succeed in creating that special feeling or bringing that great atmosphere in.
Art advice or consulting is possible for companies and for private clients. I will help you create the right identity for your house, office, an arty event, your consultation room or entrance hall. Together we create a pleasant, inspiring (working) environment that will give people something to talk about, because a good painting is tempting!
For a good advice, I will listen to your wishes. What atmosphere are you aiming for? I take a look at the environment, for starters. How can paintings reinforce each other and the space they are in? How do you create harmony? What size is best suited? What's more, the energy I feel in the involved space will be included in my advice. Together, we will reach the filling and harmony you are looking for!
Would you like to learn more or do you want to make an appointment? Please call or email me!