Want to make your first dance special and memorable? Would you like that feeling of dancing in the clouds? Want your guests to witness something magical? We now provide a Low Lying Fogger to make it all happen. This extremely unique effect will make your wedding your guests will talk about in the years to come.
The equipment we use is extremely safe and is the standard for providing low lying fog effects. The effect lasts anywhere between 2-4 minutes depending on the environment it is in. We have actually purchased 2 units to extend the effect anywhere from 3-8 minutes. Enough to last your whole first dance. The unit uses dry ice and water to create the effect so there is no chemicals to worry about. It does not leave any sticky residue or leave any moisture on the floor.
We are one of only a handful of companies that provide this service. There are other companies that say they provide low lying fog service but it is not what it really is. We understand that our clients like to shop around so we want to ensure that our clients understand the different types of low lying fog machines there are. The main reason we want our clients to know the difference is because we don't want a "so called" low lying fog machine that they rented from someone else to set off the fire alarm. Now that would be extremely bad for your wedding or event.
The market has basically 2 types of fog machines. The 1st type is like the one we have that uses dry ice and water to create the effect. It does not use fog juice and there is no other chemicals that is added to produce this effect. The low lying fog that is produced by this machine stays low to the ground and does not rise when it dissipates. Thus giving a true low lying fog effect.
The other type of low lying fog machine is a machine that uses fog juice in combination with regular ice or even with dry ice. These are the type of units you really have to watch out for. Especially if you are planning to use them in a hotel or in a ballroom that has a fire suppression system. The low lying fog that is produced from these units initially stays low to the ground but eventually rises. The fog does not dissipate like the 1st type of machine that was described. These units use fog juice and the ice that is used temporarily creates a low lying fog effect which eventually rises and goes into the AC vents. This could trip the fire alarm which the client would have to pay $500 or more to reset the alarms.
If you decide to go with someone else for this low lying fog effect, we strongly urge you to find out what kind of equipment the other company will be using. We have seen this costly mistake happen and it became a really bad situation. If you book with us, we will contact the venue and ensure that we are allowed to provide this effect. There are a few venues that do not allow this effect. We will make sure that it is allowed at the venue of your event.
We can provide 2-5 minutes of low lying for effect for a low price. Book any of our other services and we will give you a $100 discount. If you want to use the effect again at another time during your event, we can provide another 2-5 minutes for an additional $150. We will also give you free consultation on when is the best time to use the effect during your event.


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Home / Weather / Makati Weather Today
Makati Weather Today
Makati also also known as as Lungsod ng Makati or city of Makati is the commercial center of Metro Manila with a population of around 510k people at night, the day population is much higher considering that a lot of office are using Makai as their HQ. It is one of the most densely populated cities in the Philippines. Makati is located in the central part of Metro Manila and is bounded by Pasig River to the east and the west. It is the only city in the metropolis to occupy an island and a part of a river. Size of Makati is 27.36 km²
Makati Daily Forecast for the week
Makati Hourly forecast
Planning an Event in Makati? Check the hourly forecast!
Post Tags: #makati daily forecast#makati hourly forecast#makati weather today#weather in makati
Caloocan Weather this week
Quezon City Weather this Week!
Cebu Weather Today
ByGeorge Sheker September 1, 2021 September 8, 2021
Share the story: More The Philippines is a tropical country with a short rainy season and a long dry season. In the rainy season, the Philippines is usually wet. In the dry season, the Philippines is usually dry. The dry season is from March to June, and the rainy season from July to December. The…
Read More Cebu Weather TodayContinue
ByGeorge Sheker September 1, 2021 September 11, 2021
Share the story: More In Caloocan City, the average temperature ranges from 20° to 28° Celsius. This is the reason why the city is called the "Sunshine City", as it gets a lot of sunshine, all year round. We have weather updates and forecast that we will provide. Come back and check the weather outlook…
Read More Caloocan Weather this weekContinue
Marikina Weather Today
ByGeorge Sheker August 29, 2021 September 7, 2021
Share the story: More The weather in Marikina is a bit unpredictable. There are times when the weather is hot and sunny, and then there are times when it rains. We can't always control the weather, but we can always be prepared for the unexpected. Here is the Marikina weather forecast to keep you prepared…
Read More Marikina Weather TodayContinue
Trending Topics | Weather
#OdettePH Monitoring
ByGeorge Sheker December 17, 2021 February 27, 2022
Share the story: More What to do? You see everything but how do you make a difference? The recent typhoon has affected everyone in visayas and mindanao across all social classes, the typhoon does not discrimate, if you are in the way, you get hit.. What a Christmas 2021 this will be.. Twitter Monitoring for…
Read More #OdettePH MonitoringContinue
ByGeorge Sheker September 2, 2021 May 5, 2022
Share the story: More Quezon City is a district in Metro Manila, Philippines. It is one of the urban areas of the city of Manila, along with Manila itself. Quezon City is accessible by both water and land, through Manila's only two bridges, the San Miguel and the SLEX. Weather in Quezon City Philippines The…
Read More Quezon City Weather this Week!Continue
Leyte Weather Updates
ByGeorge Sheker October 4, 2021 October 4, 2021
Share the story: More The challenge in the Philippines is that the typhoons that come in from the Pacific Ocean always have a direct impact on Leyte when it is in its path. Because of this, the typhoons have a much stronger impact on the people when they are in the town of Tacloban, Leyte….
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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The Wrong Girl actress, a former Top Model host and a theatre star: The three women at the centre of Craig McLachlan sexual assault allegations
Three women accused Craig McLachlan of sexually inappropriate behaviour
Erika Heynatz, Angela Scundi and Christie Whelan Browne have made claims
The 52-year-old Australian actor has claimed the allegations are entirely false'
Heynatz, 42, rose to prominence hosting hit show Australia's Next Top Model
Scundi starred in film I Love You Too and Sydney Theatre Company productions
Christie Whelan Browne appeared in Channel Ten program The Wrong Girl
By Max Margan and Andrew Court For Daily Mail Australia
Published: 17:28 EST, 7 January 2018 | Updated: 17:32 EST, 7 January 2018
Erika Heynatz, Angela Scundi and Christie Whelan Browne have accused Craig McLachlan of sexual assault and bullying, allegations the Australian actor says are 'entirely false'.
The three woman have alleged the Gold Logie winner performed a range of indecent acts when they worked together on The Rocky Horror Show musical.
Heynatz, 42, rose to prominence hosting Australia's Next Top Model and had a recurring role on popular soap Home And Away, playing biology teacher Charlotte King.
Christie Whelan Browne (pictured left) and Angela Scundi are among the three women to accuse Australian actor Craig McLachlan of sexually inappropriate behaviour and bullying
Erika Heynatz rose to prominence hosting Australia's Next Top Model. She has made serious allegations against McLachlan
McLachlan (pictured) has vehemently denied the allegations put forward by the three women
She also hosted the only season of Channel Ten's short-lived The Hot House program.
The singer, model and actress has been married to her financier husband Andrew Kingston for nine years.
Her Rocky Horror co-star Angela Scundi has also made serious allegations.
She starred in 2010 film I Love You Too and a string of Sydney Theatre Company productions.
Angela Scundi (pictured left) starred in 2010 film I Love You Too and a string of Sydney Theatre Company productions
Rocky Horror Show stars, from left to right: Nicholas Christo, Tim Maddren, Ashlea Pyke, Craig McLachlan, Erika Heynatz and Brendan Irving
Cast: The 2014 cast of the Rocky Horror Show musical, with Craig McLachlan pictured centre front and Erika Heynatz seen at centre back
Scundi said McLachlan kissed her passionately onstage even after she had asked that it not be done.
She said when she confronted him about the unwanted kiss, he abused and threatened her.
'I said: ''Don't you kiss me. Don't you do that ever again'' and he turned. I haven't felt that terrified ever in my life, or ever again,' she told the ABC.
'He was just a different person. He said: ''You are nothing. Don't you dare talk to me like that. I will end you.'' And in that moment, I believed him.'
'He was a powerful predator': TV presenter Deborah Hutton... 'It was vile': The Block All Star winner claims Don Burke...
Christie Whelan Browne, the third woman to make the allegations, also appeared in Channel Ten program The Wrong Girl alongside McLachlan in 2016 and 2017.
She starred in Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door in 2015 and 2011's Winners and Losers.
Whelan Browne told the ABC she was dismayed when she learned McLachlan had been cast for The Wrong Girl but felt she had to continue to have a civil relationship with him for the sake of her career.
She said his behaviour towards her on that program was appropriate.
But she said during Rocky Horror McLachlan, who played the transvestite Frank N Furter to her Janet, said he indecently assaulted her on stage during a sex scene.
Denial: Australian actor Craig McLachlan has vehemently denied allegations of indecent assault and sexual harassment put forward by multiple women in a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald and the ABC on Monday
Allegations: Erika Heynatz, who once hosted Australia's Next Top Model and had a recurring role on Home And Away, is one of the women who has made allegations against McLachlan
The three women said they had asked the production company, GFO, for an independent investigation into their claims, but that fell through.
In a statement, GFO said managing director John Frost was not available for an interview and the company declined to make any comment on the record.
McLachlan has vehemently denied the allegations put forward by the three women.
In response to the claims, the 52-year-old told The Sydney Morning Herald via e-mail: 'I have NEVER done anything like this.'
Speaking out: Christie Whelan Browne alleges McLachlan 'indecently assaulted her during the show'
Musical: The cast of the 2014 production of the Rocky Horror Show, where McLachlan played the lead role of transvestite scientist, Dr Frank N. Furter
He further told the ABC: 'Frankly, they seem to be simple inventions, perhaps made for financial reasons, perhaps to gain notoriety. In either event, they are to the best of my knowledge utterly and entirely false.'
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Craig McLachlan for comment.
One of Australia's most iconic actors, McLachlan first appeared in a guest capacity on The Young Doctors, before playing Kylie Minogue's on-screen brother in Neighbours.
He won the Gold Logie Award for his role on the popular soap.
For two years in the early 1990s, he starred as Grant Mitchell in Home And Away, and has had recurring roles in beloved Australian dramas McLeod's Daughters and Packed To The Rafters.
Starring role: McLachlan as he appeared on Neighbours in the late 1980s
Famous face: McLachlan pictured in 2014
www.smh.com.au/n...
Craig McLachlan accused of indecent assault, sexual harassment during Rocky Horror Show - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Craig McLachlan's sexual assault allegations


This is a film Bruce made about the husband & wife dynamic duo, the great Cleveland artists Gary and Laura Dumm. They each have their own unique style and often collaborate with each other.
Laura is a painter, using vibrant color along with a kaleidoscope of patterns, she has developed her unique modernist approach, with ambidextrous ease, distilling forms whether they be of people, plants and fauna or animals to their essence. Her favorite subject matter is cats. Her art is completely original and takes to wonderful places.
Gary Dumm is a prolific creator of comics. He writes and illustrates many of his own titles. He also collaborates, illustrating comics for other writers. His imagination has no limits, easily traveling back and forth with an irreverent sense of humor from the mundane to the fantastic to the humorous grotesque and everywhere in between.
Gary Dumm (b. c. 1949) is an Ohio-based comic book artist known particularly for his work illustrating the comics of Harvey Pekar. From 1977 until Pekar's 2010 death, he worked on Pekar's autobiographical comic series, American Splendor, where he appeared alongside such notable comics artists as Robert Crumb, Joe Sacco, and Gerry Shamray. Much of Dumm's work on American Splendor was as an inker, embellishing the pencils of Greg Budgett and Joe Zabel. (Dumm has also inked Zabel in other venues, including Caliber's Dancing With Your Eyes Closed, Fantagraphics' Real Stuff, and Zabel's own title The Trespassers.) Dumm collaborated with Pekar as the primary artist on two full-length books, Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story, and Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History.
The day we went over to Laura and Gary's house. Bruce and I had a wonderful time.


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Q: SMS sent to Twilio aren't received according to logs I'm currently working as a programmer analyst in a company and we built an app that send invites to an event by SMS with the help of the Twilio API.
Here's how it works:
When a new event is created, a phone number is reserved on Twilio through the API. Then, when people are invited in the app, a SMS is sent from the reserved phone number, here again through the API. People who get the SMS can answer to the SMS by "Yes" or "No". Our app handles the answer of the person to see if he/she will be present or not at the event.
Most of the time, everything works. The phone number is reserved properly, the invites are sent to people, and answers are handled as expected.
But since few days, we're having some issues where answers to invites aren't received in the app.
Here's our investigation for now:

*

*An event is successfully created in our app and phone number is reserved properly in Twilio.

*Invites are sent properly to people by SMS.

*Twilio logs are showing outbound SMS.

*Invites are properly received by people.

*When they answer to the invite, nothing occurs. Nothing is available in Twilio logs.

*If I try to text an existing phone number of an event that is working, I can see the SMS in Twilio logs.

*We checked, the problem is present with different carriers.
In summary, some of the phone numbers used aren't receiving answers by SMS, while there isn't any problem with others.
We opened a ticket with the Twilio support and are currently investigating with them and I contacted the carrier of the cellphones used for testing, but I still want to ask you guys, in case anyone had a similar issue and could help.

A: I also have the same problem.
Use Case: Xfinity is setup for two-factor. Would like for 2-factor authentication to go to a Twilio number which will forward to myself and wife. When Xfinity sends the validation sms message it does not show up in the log or to the forwarded number. Sending messages from another mobile device works fine.
I use TwiML Bin for this. Here is the code
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response>
    <Message to="+1xxxxxxxxxx">{{From}}: {{Body}}</Message>
</Response>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday will barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse.
And Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside. But not for him a mere body in the wardrobe. Rather, many, many bodies - and an ancient crime more terrible than murder.
He is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth, out of bacon sandwiches, occasionally snookered and out of his mind. But never out of guile. Where there is a crime there must be a finding, there must be a chase, and there must be a punishment.


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Africa, Aid, Asia-Pacific, Development & Aid, Economy & Trade, Europe, Featured, Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean, Poverty & SDGs, Regional Alliances, South-South, TerraViva United Nations
Towards a Global Role for ACP?
By Goele Geeraert	Reprint | | Print |
Patrick I. Gomes, Secretary-General of the ACP Group, at the 105th Session of its Council of Ministers in Brussels. Credit: Goele Geeraert/IPS
BRUSSELS, May 7 2017 (IPS) - The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) met this week in Brussels for the 105th Session of its Council of Ministers to discuss the key question of how these 79 countries could play a more effective role for their own citizens and in the international arena.
The ACP-group was established by the 1975 Georgetown Agreement to co-ordinate cooperation between its members and the European Union. At that time, it consisted of 46 countries of the Caribbean and the Pacific that signed the first Lomé Convention on trade and aid with nine European Union member states.
"The question of insecurity, peace and crime is also a fundamental question of poverty and development." --Patrick I. Gomes
Since then the ACP's commercial and political clout has grown. Today it counts 79 states. All of them, save Cuba, have signed the Cotonou Agreement that replaced the succesive Lomé conventions and is better known as the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement.
Post-2020 relations
The current ACP-EU Cotonou Partnership Agreement ends in 2020. In the lead-up to negotiations for a renewed partnership, future relations between the ACP and EU countries was one of the main points on the agenda of the Council. The current ACP-EU Partnership Agreement is based on three pillars: development cooperation, political cooperation, economic and trade cooperation.
Economic and trade cooperation has been a key component of the ACP-EU partnership. It took the form of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA's). They replaced the former non-reciprocal preferences the ACP countries enjoyed and had to meet the World Trade Organization (WTO) requirements. The majority of ACP countries are now implementing an EPA or have concluded EPA negotiations with the EU.
ACP: One Billion People to Speak To Europe with One Voice
Opinion: The ACP at 40 – Repositioning as a Global Player
ACP countries unite on empowerment of rural women and youth
Ethiopia's Minister of Finance and Economic Cooperation Abraham Tekeste said, "We have to be ready to fundamentally reform our cooperation with the EU after 2020 aiming at deepening our relationship in various, differentiated fronts rather than sticking to the traditional cooperation areas. We must ensure a more balanced partnership with Europe based on shared values and mutual respect."
Therefore the Council of ministers approved its three priority areas to guide future programmes and activities of the Group post-2020: trade, investment, industrialisation and services; development cooperation, technology, science, innovation and research; political dialogue and advocacy.
The ACP representatives reaffirmed their commitment to enhance ACP-EU trade relations. At the same time, they asked the European Union to show flexibility in responding to concerns from ACP countries.
Another APC challenge of paramount importance will be to demonstrate its comparative advantage in partnerships with governments, the UN, multilateral organizations, civil society, the private sector, academia, and others.
According to Peter Thomson, President of the UN General Assembly, the ACP Group has an added value on the global scene. "It can play a significant role in multilateral agreements such as the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement."
This has recently been shown by the joint announcement made by the EU and ACP during the COP21 negotiations, representing 28 plus 79 countries of the world. The partners called for a legally-binding, ambitious, inclusive and durable agreement with clear long term goals, as well as a five-yearly review mechanism and a transparency and accountability system tracking national commitment progress.
The statement became known as the "Ambition Coalition", quickly growing to include major powers and emerging economies.
Intra-ACP cooperation
To play a significant global role, the ACP-group must also invest in stronger intra-ACP cooperation. There the group wants to play a complementary role to national and regional initiatives.
Patrick I. Gomes, Secretary-General of the ACP Group, said, "Looking at the question of security, peace and stability, we do not have an army to go for example after Boko Haram in Nigeria. But as ACP we can ask ourselves why that ideology of Boko Haram appeals to young people and what gives people purpose in life. And that is where the ACP culture programme comes in.
"The question of insecurity, peace and crime is also a fundamental question of poverty and development: how do we have comprehensive approaches to reducing and addressing poverty in all its forms and aspects? ACP makes a contribution in that direction by complementing what is at the national and the regional level. We have to look for examples of success at the national, we have to learn from each other's experience and make a difference by our intra-ACP programmes."
No organisation can develop without strong institutions and solid, sustainable financing sources. Therefore the Council asked its member states to invest in a sustainable self-financing capacity of the ACP. It made an appeal to consequently pay their membership contribution and launched the idea of an endowment trust fund.
According to Gomes, "Member countries are receiving millions in grant financing thanks to the ACP. Compared to that amount of money the membership contribution is very little. So we encourage everyone to contribute to keep us going.
"We also encourage voluntary contributions as a start for an endowment trust fund. There is so much wealth and money in our countries. Would our billionaires and corporations not be concerned to look to how they can support their own organisation? We see that as a very important area for our financial sustainability."
At the end of the two-day meeting, the president of the council, Abraham Tekeste, said, "We have received by our Heads of State and Government clear marching orders to undertake the reforms needed to transform the ACP Group into an effective global player, fit for the 21st century, and responsive to the emerging priorities of our Member States."
Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP)
Cotonou Agreement


If you love trying different face masks but worry about what it may do to your skin type, then this is for you.
Finding a great face mask is often times difficult though it seems easy; you pick one up and put it on your face. However, that's not the case for many of us. If your skin is dry- you don't want something that may be too exfoliating. If your skin is oily- you don't want something that has too much oil or is even too hydrating because it may make your skin worse.
These face masks have different attributes that make them great for almost all skin types.
This mask is one of my personal favorites. I have dry skin, so I will use this overnight to keep my skin nice and hydrated through the week. It doesn't leave a gross oil feel after you rinse your face after wearing it and it just leaves a nice glow. This mask is also appropriate for oily skin types who may be dehydrated and it won't exacerbate your oily skin.
For dry skin, this one is a gift from the beauty heavens. It's hard to exfoliate dry skin because we worry we're stripping away oil our skin needs. This one doesn't do that AT ALL. It does exactly what it's supposed to (and even smells great). This is one of L'OREAL's newest items in skin care and it's seriously probably one of their best ones too.
Pomegranate is one of the few products that should be used MORE in skin care. It has a lot of great natural benefits and Tony Moly tapped into it's abilities with this mask. It's great for firming up your skin and giving it a little bit more stay power. No one likes sagging skin and this one helps that a little bit. The sheet mask is good for 30 minutes and isn't as annoying as others.
For oily or dry skin this one is fantastic. It can be used as both a mask and a cleanser. I recommend this one for all skin types when I have clients. It's a cheaper alternative to brands like Dermalogica. You may use this one more, but it still has great effects. I use it as a mask on my nose for blackheads about once a week and also use it as a cleanser in my shower twice a week.
This is one of those products that is worth what you pay for. This mask helps improve elasticity and collagen in ALL skin types. It's from the Age Smart line by Dermalogica which is for aging skin types, but is also preventative. In a professional opinion, this is something I pushed on people a lot to buy. You'll see a big difference in your skin by 6 weeks.
What are some of your favorite masks? Have you tried any of the ones we mentioned?
Cheryl's Debut Lip Kit Range With L'Oreal Paris Is Finally Here!


went two and a half. отслеживался track. отменное quality. recommend store. order will still.
super bracelet .. elegant design on the foot .. .. volume is adjustable to take!
bracelet is good, all like the photo. order пришёл very fast. thank you!
damaged goods come. but! store, very cute, the proposed replacement/refund. it have do all orders. angel just it!
lovely thing. небыстрая shipping. your money worth it.
lovely bracelet. looks beautiful. normal clasp. value for money.


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India | Kerala | Nedumkandam
Keerithodu Waterfalls
Keerithodu, popularly known as Thoovalar, is a waterfall set on a picturesque village located near Nedumkandam in Idukki District. The waterfall originates as a narrow stream from Kailasam and drifts through the village Keerithodu after creating three majestic falls on its way. The awesome view of water cascading down from a height of over 200 m is a real feast to the eyes.
The specialty of these falls is that as one reaches near, the falls appear to be a single one and not three. It is also an ideal place for the adventurous trekkers. Keerithodu is 7 km away from Nedumkandam, where food and lodging facilities are available.
Frequent buses connect Nedumkandam with Kottayam and Thodupuzha. From Nedumkandam jeeps are available up to Mavady. A 2 km trek along a dusty bumpy road from Mavady leads to Keerithodu.
District: Idukki
Location: Nedumkandam


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Q: Integral of $\int_{1}^{x} \frac{1}{t^2+4}dt$. I am computing

$$\int_{1}^{x} \frac{1}{t^2+4}dt$$

I have firstly re-written the problem as:
$$\frac{1}{4} \int_{1}^{x} \frac{1}{(\frac{t^2}{4}+1)}dt,$$
then by substitution of $u=\frac{t}{2},$ this simplifies to:
$$\frac{1}{2}\int_{\frac{1}{2}}^{\frac{x}{2}} \frac{1}{(u^2+1)}$$
After this step, I was going to use substitution of say p=tan(u), and use trigonometry to simplify. However I have found the following online:
$$\int \frac{u'(t)}{(1+(u(t))^2}dt=arctan(u).$$
I was wondering where this identity came from, so I could use/explain it in my answer, to save having to do the trigonometry.
Thanks :)

A: It is a consequence of that fact the$$(\forall x\in\mathbb{R}):\arctan'(x)=\frac1{1+x^2}$$and of the chain rule.

A: write $$4\left(\frac{t^2}{4}+1\right)=4\left(\left(\frac{t}{2}\right)^2+1\right)$$
and substitute $$u=\frac{t}{2}$$

A: Hint:
Let $t=2\tan u$, giving $dt=2(\tan^2u+1)\,du$.
Then
$$\int\frac{dt}{t^2+4}=\int\frac{2\tan^2u+2}{4\tan^2u+4}du=\frac u2.$$

A: Recall that if $g(x)$ is the inverse of $f(x)$, then $$\frac{dg}{dx} = \frac{1}{\frac{df}{dx}}$$
So since $y = \arctan x$ and $\tan y = x$, we have
\begin{align*}
\frac{dy}{dx} &= \frac{1}{\frac{d}{dy}\tan y} \\
&= \frac 1{\sec^2 y} \\
&= \frac 1{1 + \tan^2 y} \\
&= \frac 1{1 + x^2}
\end{align*}
So if $$\frac d{du} \arctan u = \frac {u'}{1 + u^2} \tag{Remember the chain rule!}$$ then
$$\int \frac d{du} \arctan u = \int \frac {u'}{1 + u^2}$$ i.e. $$\arctan u = \int \frac {u'}{1 + u^2}$$


Our purpose is to care for our patients and to support their families and friends. We aim to give the most appropriate and efficient treatment and care to our patients; to assist in the relief of their physical and emotional suffering and to help them to lead an acceptable, purposeful and fulfilling life in their home or in the hospice.
Funds raised by Keech Hospice Care, of which 75% is generously donated by our community, are largely spent on fulfilling the charity's aim, which is to ensure our patients and their families receive the very best quality of care in the time they have together and through bereavement.
Recent fundraising allowed us to complete building work on our adult in-patient unit with eight en-suite bedrooms, and develop the new palliative care centre which offers a warm and friendly welcome to people requiring support and advice. Our aim is to maximise and enhance users' quality of life by offering a range of services so that patients and their families get the very best hospice experience.
The hospice is fully registered with the Care Quality Commission and accredited with CHKS/HAQU (Healthcare Accredited Quality Unit) demonstrating our strong commitment to maintaining the quality of our service and of always seeking improvements to deliver best practice. We're now seeking accreditation from the Fundraising Standards Board to prove our sound management of donations made to the hospice.
This hospice is a cause very close to my heart as the Keech & Pasque Hospice helped us care for my dad when he was dying from pancreatic cancer, they went out of their way to make both him and us comfortable in his last days.
donate over $20 so far, hopefully i will be able to give the cause more in the future!
This a really riveting cause. Thanks so much for sharing!


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New London, New London, Connecticut, United States
Latitude: 41.3556525, Longitude: -72.0995192
1 Hewitt, Frederick William I16511
2 Parkinson, Timothy Ryan I16507
3 Hewitt, Jessica Lynn I16510
4 Parkinson, James George Lihou I16506
5 Hewitt, Amanda Leigh I16509
6 Pont, Marion Joseph 3 Dec 1941 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I16563
7 Perrone, Angeline Theresa I127982
8 Congdon, Thomas Boss 1874 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I27118
9 Congdon, Robert R. 1870 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I27117
10 Congdon, Carey 1868 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I27116
11 Berry, Mary Evelyn 6 May 1854 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I116569
12 Lyon, Nelson J. 19 Jul 1853 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I47256
13 Boss, Eliza 1847 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I27115
14 Saunders, Joseph Rogers 28 Dec 1846 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I14641
15 Miner, Thomas Asher 24 Aug 1845 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11132
16 Hoxsie, Royal Stiles 16 Dec 1842 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11627
17 Berry, Elizabeth Phebe 1839 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I14646
18 Miner, Ann M. 26 Nov 1838 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11094
19 Miner, James W. 4 Jun 1834 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11096
20 Congdon, George D. May 1834 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I19976
21 Congdon, Frances A. May 1832 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I19975
22 Congdon, Sarah Ashby 26 Apr 1831 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I19974
23 Congdon, Sarah Ashby 26 Nov 1829 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I19973
24 Congdon, Harriet E. 14 Sep 1828 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I19972
25 Spafford, Clark W. 28 Feb 1814 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I17618
26 Bliven, Silas 11 Aug 1807 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11746
27 Nowlin, Amy Bacon 29 Jun 1804 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I19757
28 Bliven, Isaac 26 Jun 1803 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11745
29 Bliven, Theodoty 12 Sep 1799 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11744
30 Crandall, Desire 9 Nov 1786 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I4556
31 Snow, Lavinia 3 Jun 1782 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I20751
32 Rogers, Bethany 26 Feb 1772 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11739
33 Rogers, Jesse 16 Jan 1767 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11738
34 Short, Joseph 1748 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I58069
35 Congdon, Mehitabel 3 Nov 1742 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I14091
36 Congdon, Elisha 5 Aug 1740 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I14090
37 Congdon, Timothy 15 Apr 1739 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I14089
38 Congdon, Eunice 14 Apr 1738 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I14088
39 Congdon, Jeremiah 27 Aug 1736 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I14087
40 Camp, Ann Abt 1736 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13480
41 Rogers, Mary 26 May 1731 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I18494
42 Camp 1731 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13494
43 Rogers, Hannah 25 Dec 1727 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13460
44 Lester, Grace 3 Jun 1725 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I18491
45 Rogers, Bethia 1 Apr 1725 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I2198
46 Congdon, William Nov 1723 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I27424
47 Rogers, Ruth 4 Oct 1722 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I5880
48 Rogers, David 8 Mar 1720 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I18492
49 Smith 1717 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I18385
50 Rogers, Peace 30 Aug 1716 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I18490
Last Name, Given Name(s) Christened Person ID
1 Larrabee, Jerusha 13 Jun 1714 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I24057
2 Manwaring, Anne 8 Jun 1682 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I27695
3 Manwaring, Bathsheba 9 May 1680 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29429
4 Manwaring, Oliver 2 Feb 1679 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29428
5 Manwaring, Judith 2 Apr 1676 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29427
6 Strickland, Elizabeth 1 Aug 1675 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I24092
7 Manwaring, Richard 13 Jul 1673 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29426
8 Richard, John 26 Mar 1671 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29432
9 Foster, Joan 5 Oct 1670 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I18332
1 Taylor, Kenneth Cundall 16 Jul 1995 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I15048
2 Lillibridge, Donald Green 28 Mar 1994 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I15826
3 Loofboro, Norman F. Jul 1993 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I115211
4 Poore, Ernest Edwin 15 Jun 1993 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I15832
5 Loofboro, Marguerite L. 13 Jan 1991 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I115214
6 Dawson, William L. 28 Mar 1990 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I115218
7 Bliven, Ella Dorothy Aug 1982 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I12973
8 Saunders, Edwin Thurlow Feb 1971 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13068
9 Congdon, Jean Lillian 15 Jun 1955 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11018
10 Crandall, Bion H. 1949 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I12387
11 Burdick, Ella Elsien 20 Feb 1923 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11951
12 Burdick, Susan Hoxsie 5 Dec 1920 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I14015
13 Allen, Frances Adelaide 7 Apr 1915 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I47255
14 Rogers, Capt. Thomas S. 25 Apr 1907 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I120181
15 Johnson, Milton P. 15 Jun 1904 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I116557
16 Congdon, Thomas Boss 1892 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I27118
17 Bingham, George 28 Feb 1890 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I23532
18 Bliven, Silas 21 Sep 1884 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I11746
19 Weaver, James Bradford Aug 1884 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13798
20 Gorham, George 24 Apr 1836 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I19977
21 Congdon, John Aft 1825 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I27443
22 Kenyon, Elijah 13 Dec 1806 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I17050
23 Rogers, Nathan Mar 1794 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I2189
24 Smith, Jonathan 1789 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I18383
25 Rogers, Jonathan 11 May 1787 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I18489
26 Potter, Judith Abt 1778 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I10823
27 Rogers, Jonathan 1777 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I6626
28 Bishop, Eleazer 1775 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I24104
29 Fargo, Robert May 1762 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13535
30 Chandler, Mehitabel 3 Nov 1759 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I31917
31 Monroe, Joseph 1759 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29040
32 Congdon, John Abt 1759 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I14086
33 Beckwith, John 8 Dec 1757 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29431
34 Camp, Bathshua 5 Aug 1757 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13518
35 Beebe, Joseph 4 Oct 1756 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13529
36 Davis, Martha 1 Apr 1756 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I2181
37 Darte, Roger 11 Dec 1755 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I24083
38 Manwaring, Oliver 9 Oct 1754 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29428
39 Hough, Hannah 20 Sep 1754 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29438
40 Morgan, John 24 Apr 1754 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I24097
41 Crocker, Thomas 28 Mar 1754 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I38464
42 Lester, Isaac 12 Oct 1753 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13541
43 Morgan, Hopestill 11 Jul 1753 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I32735
44 Comstock, Kingsland Bef 1753 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I32014
45 Hiscox, Hannah 7 Oct 1750 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I6298
46 Strickland, Elizabeth 7 Feb 1749 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I24092
47 Daton, Ephraim 26 May 1748 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13540
48 Coit, John 22 Oct 1744 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I31926
49 Congdon, Eunice Bef 8 Feb 1744 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I14088
50 Manwaring, Love 19 Dec 1743 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29425
1 Camp, William 5 Apr 1733 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13493
2 Crocker, Mary 19 Aug 1728 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I38463
3 Avery, Christopher 12 Mar 1679 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I36396
4 Raymond, Joshua New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I29442
1 Camp, Samuel 8 Oct 1710 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13524
2 Camp, Sarah 20 May 1705 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I13522
1 Rogers, Nathan 12 Nov 1786 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I8486
2 Rogers, Nathan 6 May 1718 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I2189
Last Name, Given Name(s) Census Person ID
1 Furrow, Ernest Fay 1930 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I124222
2 Danforth, Rev. James Romeyn 1930 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States I45813
1 Bliven / Denison 19 Oct 1898 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F6055
2 Geer / Chapman 1 Jan 1873 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5297
3 Congdon / Boss 12 Nov 1867 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F10954
4 Bliven / Bliven 3 May 1856 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F6050
5 Congdon / Ashby 7 Oct 1827 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F7945
6 Chapman / Congdon 28 May 1826 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F11114
7 Rogers / Crandall 17 Sep 1757 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F965
8 Rogers / Congdon 23 Jan 1754 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F11101
9 Davis / Rogers Abt 1745 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F957
10 Rogers / Lester 27 Jan 1744 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F7333
11 Rogers / Davis 11 Dec 1740 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F956
12 Rogers / Hiscox 1737 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F2433
13 Crocker / Larrabee 20 Mar 1734 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9634
14 Smith / Gardner 24 Aug 1732 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F7292
15 Hamilton / Camp 30 Apr 1732 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5204
16 Brown / Chapman 30 May 1731 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F12139
17 Beebe / Camp 26 Apr 1731 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5200
18 Camp / Willoughby 4 Feb 1730 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5190
19 Lester / Willoughby 17 Jun 1728 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5196
20 Whipple / Darte 28 Feb 1727 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9651
21 Hatch / Baker 2 Oct 1726 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9642
22 Fargo / Camp 22 Jul 1724 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5203
23 Thomas / Willoughby May 1723 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5194
24 Daton / Willoughby 27 Oct 1720 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5195
25 Lester / Willoughby 5 Jul 1719 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5189
26 Morgan / Giddings Oct 1718 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F13472
27 Comstock / Crocker 18 Sep 1717 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F13180
28 Darte / Beckwith 24 Jul 1717 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9647
29 Ross / Hempstead 29 Sep 1715 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F12498
30 Fargo / Camp 31 Oct 1714 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5199
31 Smith / Munsell 8 Jun 1713 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9658
32 Williams / Camp 31 May 1713 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5198
33 Camp / Abigail 8 Mar 1713 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5193
34 Rogers / Potter 24 Nov 1711 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F2576
35 Larabee / Hatch 22 May 1711 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9635
36 Beebe / Tubbs 29 May 1710 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F13179
37 Manwaring / Jennings 25 May 1710 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F12008
38 Plumb / Richardson 2 Dec 1708 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F6517
39 Darte / Golding 15 May 1705 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9648
40 Manwaring / Hough 14 Mar 1705 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F12010
41 Lewis / Foster Abt 1705 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F7265
42 Darte / Roe Abt 1705 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9644
43 Bishop / Darte 22 Jun 1704 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9652
44 Chappell / Douglas 10 Jun 1703 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F13131
45 Smith / Rogers 8 Jan 1702 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F2565
46 Rogers / Smith 2 Jan 1701 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9659
47 Wilson / Manwaring 8 Dec 1700 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F5337
48 Crocker / Beeby 23 Apr 1700 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F16103
49 Foster / Brown Abt 1700 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F2599
50 Morgan / Darte Aug 1699 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States F9649


Intelligent Things of a Wisdomatic Nature.
I've been out – that's why I'm late in this morning (and I bet you thought I was sleeping in) – we had to pick our car up first thing this morning from a garage next town over and be there RIGHT at the time I normally post.
Of course it might have helped to organize something yesterday afternoon for this morning and let the automatic posting-timing-thing take over this morning (I haven't used that yet), but I was writing, instead, and I'm sure you'll forgive me that one. I also didn't know there car would be ready until late yesterday.
This entry was posted in books and tagged books on April 30, 2014 by A.D. Everard.
A Great Break – Yes, I'm back.
Hi All. Yes, I'm back, having enjoyed a wonderful time out from my usual routine – I hope those of you able to take a break also enjoyed a safe and happy holiday, and that you're all fit and well and happy – See how cheery I sound? This must be good for me. I will endeavor to spread it around.
This entry was posted in writing and tagged books on April 29, 2014 by A.D. Everard.
A Break from Blogging – Disappearing from the Net.
With Easter holidays upon us, I am taking a break from blogging for about ten days – this means I am also taking a break from Blogsville.
This does not mean I will be taking a break from writing.
This entry was posted in books and tagged books on April 18, 2014 by A.D. Everard.
Having Fun and Oh My Gosh, is THAT how Characters Take Over???
Having fun when you write is essential – Yes, I know, sometimes tears are important too, and energy and emotion and strength and perseverance, but in any endeavor, having fun keeps you going more than any other of those things.
So, what happens when you've hit a rough spot or an insolvable problem and after weeks or maybe even months, you feel like you're banging your head against the wall and wishing you'd never started the dang project? How do you get the fun back into the equation?
We all try all the different things that can be done in that situation. We take a day or more away. Or we try to force our way through it. Or we try logic and mapping out all the pros and cons, all the paths available, all the ways that might deliver what we need most – that troublesomely rare and elusive solution.
Sometimes we quit. Sometimes we sleep on it. Sometimes we hand it over to our characters.
Forcing a character to come up with their own solution is not the same as leaving that character to find their own solution. The first – demanding a character take over – leaves you (the writer) still in the situation of having to solve a problem. You're still at your desk. The second – leaving that character to do it alone – has you (the explorer) treating your character as a viable being and being prepared to engage with them. You've entered their world.
The moment you start to wonder how the character would go about it, something happens on a subconscious level. In effect, you slip from your desk and enter the character's world where their worry is not how you will solve a problem. Their worry is ground-level. It's right there and if their problem is particularly serious, they are going to die unless they work it out.
They're not working with words. They're looking around for a lump of driftwood to use as a weapon, or they're tearing curtains into strips to weave together into a rope, or they're trying to learn how to fly the dang helicopter. Whatever. They're not interested in telling a story, they're interested in survival.
This entry was posted in writing and tagged books on April 17, 2014 by A.D. Everard.
This entry was posted in writing and tagged books on April 16, 2014 by A.D. Everard.
Getting into a writing routine.
Having a routine of writing is a good thing, not many will disagree with that – yes, at times a writer does need to step away for some breathing space or to just take stock (or stare at the skyline for inspiration), and other times writer's block with upset your flow, your balance and no doubt raise your blood pressure – All that aside, some sort of writing routine is a hugely beneficial.
The actual writing part of the project can slide away from you very quickly. Your head might be full of ideas, a full-blown movie going on in your mind, but somehow putting it together in actual words gets postponed again and again, and the longer you leave it, the harder it gets.
A writing routine will help keep you a little bit on track.
If you're anything like me, you would have started off your writer's life by writing when the inspiration grabbed you, going like crazy for days or weeks, then somehow losing the motivation and it all settles back into your mind and you're left there, not crafting words anymore.
This entry was posted in writing and tagged books on April 15, 2014 by A.D. Everard.
Middle of the Night calling.
I've got to stop getting up in the middle of the night – evenings are quiet, the household is usually asleep and there are no chores to do, so if I'm awake at all, I think, I plot, I work out dialogue and action scenes, and I usually end up sitting at the computer capturing what gems that came along.
This morning it was 2:30 when I got up, and I got a couple of pages of good detailed writing done. Greg starts his day at 4:30 a.m., which generally means if I'm up early, I stay up, which I did, then went back to bed and fell asleep.
This entry was posted in writing and tagged books, science fiction, The Khekarian Series on April 14, 2014 by A.D. Everard.


text:
#region License Information (GPL v3)

#endregion License Information (GPL v3)

namespace ShareX.HelpersLib
{
    public static class Links
    {
        public const string URL_WEBSITE = "https://getsharex.com";
        public const string URL_PROJECT = "https://github.com/ShareX/ShareX";
        public const string URL_ISSUES = URL_PROJECT + "/issues";
        public const string URL_UPDATE = URL_WEBSITE + "/Update.xml";
        public const string URL_CALLBACK = URL_WEBSITE + "/callback/";
        public const string URL_VERSION_HISTORY = URL_PROJECT + "/wiki/Changelog";
        public const string URL_DONATE = "https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PCNWK2G6ZYJ2E";
        public const string URL_BERK = "https://github.com/Jaex";
        public const string URL_BERK_STEAM = "http://steamcommunity.com/id/ww";
        public const string URL_MIKE = "https://github.com/McoreD";
        public const string URL_MIKE_GOOGLE_PLUS = "https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/110225361399361277394/+MichaelDelpach";
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Find out where mortgage rates are headed.
The average 30-year fixed rate hovered around 4% in the past year, ending October at 3.98% (a one-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 2.4%). Kiplinger thinks that the 30-year rate will rise by less than a percentage point over the course of 2015, based on continued low yields on Treasury notes.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has been below 5% for five years, contributing to a spike in home affordability. Of course, it doesn't matter what the rate is if you can't qualify for a mortgage, and tight mortgage credit is often cited as a reason for the slow pace of the housing recovery. Mortgage credit is much tighter today than it was in the lead-up to the housing bust, although lending standards started to tighten a year or two before prices plunged.
Looser credit. Most mortgages still go to borrowers with exemplary credit. In September, closed mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac had an average credit score of 755 out of 850, and Federal Housing Administration borrowers had an average score of 682, according to the Ellie Mae Origination Insight Report, which analyzes closed mortgage loan applications. But most lenders will allow, say, a higher credit score to offset a higher debt-to-income ratio, or a larger down payment to offset a lower credit score. Jumbo mortgages (loans of more than $417,000, or $625,500 in high-cost areas) have made a comeback, with rates that are comparable to conforming loans. However, you may need a high credit score and a big down payment to get one.
Still, it may be possible to get a mortgage with a low down payment without relying on an FHA loan. FHA loans, which allow borrowers to put down just 3.5% of a home's purchase price, have been a market mainstay since the mortgage meltdown. However, a hike in FHA mortgage premiums imposed for the life of the loan (which effectively increase a 4% interest rate to 4.5%) and lower loan limits have pushed many borrowers to look elsewhere for a low-down-payment mortgage.
In an effort to expand credit accessibility, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are bringing back "3% down" programs for creditworthy borrowers (guidelines haven't been issued yet). Plenty of mortgages (backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or from private lenders who plan to hold loans in their portfolios) are available to borrowers with just 5% down, says Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance.
Lenders are easing up on documentation requirements, too, and are demanding just W-2 forms and pay stubs rather than two years of federal tax returns. If one lender rejects you for, say, an inadequate work history or irregular income, or you're self-employed or paid on commission, shop for a lender that will offer some flexibility.


Does an arrest automatically suspend my driver license?
Will I face more jail time?
Contact me today and I will give you answers to those questions and many more. There are many stories and falsehoods about being arrested for DWI in Texas. Your best source of information and guidance is from a qualified attorney.
Right now, one of the most important things you can do is to make sure that you request an Administrative License Hearing. Failing to do so can result in the suspension of your driver license before your first court date. At our first meeting, I can help you fill out the hearing request – even if you choose not to hire me.
A Texas DWI arrest triggers two separate, but parallel cases: An administrative case and the criminal case. The administrative case determines if the Department of public safety will administratively suspend your driver license. The criminal case first determines your guilt or innocence, then the punishment, and an ultimate decision about your driver's license.
Like any other challenge in life, reaching a successful outcome for a DWI charge requires a lot of planning. Beginning with our first meeting, I will show you the steps necessary to get that successful outcome for your case.
Call DWI Attorney Al Rowland at (469) 626-7529 today!
The information contained on this website is not intended to serve as legal advice. I believe that information is power and my goal is to give you that information. Please feel free to use this website as a resource for your case. I find that providing clients with information allows for a more meaningful consultation.
Hiring an attorney at the beginning of your DWI case can help ease your mind about what is to come and allow for a more thorough defense. Contact me today at (469) 626-7529.


How to decode HTTP packets?
I want to decode the HTTP header inside TCP packet. I used sal.packet.TCP.getRawPayload and stored the result in a byte. There were only 20 bytes and when I tried to print it byte by byte (typecasting it to char), I'm getting some non-alphanumeric characters. Can somebody help?
Do not typecast. Arrays.toString(byte); should do the trick.
Actually the problem seems to be with OVS switch. Eventhough miss_send_len is set to 0xffff (OFPCML_NO_BUFFER) by ODL, OVS is including only till TCP header in the PacketIn message. There seems to a glitch with sal.packet.TCP too. sal.packet.TCP.getRawPayload is returning TCP options fields.
How can I use java code to send a packet from Controller to a specific switch?
How to capture packets in ODL using Python script?


This is getting to be a bit old hat: bickering and partisan brinkmanship is once again causing some nasty effects in Washington.
We're about to have potentially our third government shutdown in as many months. As a citizen, it's incredibly frustrating. As an investor, it can be downright terrifying. After all, depending on the severity of the shutdown, the economy could hit a major stumble.
Or at least that's the thought anyway.
But the reality is, the effects of a shutdown are only skin deep. New research into past shutdowns shows that investors may not have anything to fear but a bumpy and more volatile ride. That's great news to hear as the potential for more shutdowns is only growing.
Our law enforcement dividend stock is riding high on increased government spending. See the pick here.


text:
Get the look for less.
Posted on April 15, 2015 by Xavier
week 20 of 24
Lima and the south coast.
As predicted, Lima was a godsend. We were more than a little exhausted after the previous week, so we really needed a few days to recharge. The apartment we rented via Airbnb was very nice and comfortable, and in a great location in the heart of Miraflores too, which was an added bonus. Despite the sunny weather I was very happy to stay indoors, but extracted myself from the comfort of the apartment for a spot of sightseeing mainly to stop Simon from going up the walls. We did a walking tour of the old town, the highlight of which was the Convento de Santo Domingo (among other things the original site of the longest continuously operating university in the American continent – a bit of trivia right there for you), where we had a guided tour and then went up the bell tower for great views over the city.
On Simon's suggestion we also visited the excellent Museo Larco, home to a private collection of thousands of Pre-Columbian artefacts, including unique ceramics from the Moche culture (100-800 AD), which the museum is happy for visitors to photograph at leisure, in stark contrast to the Museo de Moche near Trujillo, where I was made to delete all the photos I took of the handful of objects they have on display, on the ludicrous pretext that my photos could be used to make copies of the ceramics in order to sell them as originals, then saw photographs of said objects displayed in other parts of the site, as well as plastered all over the internet.
Another museum I wanted to visit but we sadly missed on this occasion is MATE, a beautifully restored 19th century building that hosts a permanent collection of the work of Mario Testino, who was born in Lima, plus temporary exhibitions. Maybe next time!
What we didn't miss was a chance to catch up with our Canadian friends in the bars around Miraflores, and go to some nice cafés and restaurants. Lima is not only the largest city in Perú, the world's second driest after Cairo (more trivia), and the location of some of the oldest civilisations in human history, but it is also a foodies paradise, with two of its restaurants currently among the top 20 in the world. In a surprising "budget?, what budget?" kind of moment, Simon announced that it would be a shame not to try one of them while we were here, so I dutifully called Central in the hope that they could find a table for us that same evening. The nice man who answered the phone managed to inform me without laughing that he was dreadfully sorry but they were fully booked until the end of May. Of course. We did, however, succeed at getting a table at the eponymous restaurant on the grounds of the Huaca Pucllana (pronounced poo-kee-ana – an important archeological site in the heart of Lima). We discovered this restaurant almost by accident during our previous visit six years ago; it was just as good as we remembered, and not too budget-busting!
video: Mario Testino channel, YouTube.
With our batteries fully charged and the travel bug nibbling at our feet, we were ready to get back on the Gringo Trail and left Lima for the coastal town of Paracas, where the main (only) attraction is a boat tour of nearby Islas Ballestas – also known as "the poor man's Galápagos". Indeed, the two-hour boat ride, which we booked through our hostel, was just less than 1% of the cost of going to Galápagos, but turned out to be really good. We cruised around these small, uninhabited islands which lay a few kilometres off the coast and host an amazing wealth of marine wildlife, including sea lions and dolphins, but most notably various species of seabirds like rare Humboldt penguins, Peruvian boobies, pelicans, and cormorants. Some of these birds number in the thousands; the extraordinary accumulation of guano (bird poo) on the islands is exploited commercially by a state-owned fertiliser company. About a hundred men descend on these barren islands every few years and stay on them for five to six months, mining by hand several thousand tons of pungent guano which is then shipped out for use in agriculture. I shall bear this in mind next time I think I'm having a tough day at work, once I have returned to my desk job in London.
From Paracas we headed further south and slightly inland, and stopped in Huacachina for a few days. Huacachina is a desert oasis some distance off the coast, created around a natural lagoon just outside the city of Ica (birthplace of Don José de la Torre Ugarte y Alarcón, one of the original signatories of the Peruvian independence in 1821, who also wrote the lyrics to the Peruvian national anthem – another bit of trivia, you're welcome), and surrounded by sand dunes tens of metres high. By the end of the 19th century Huacachina was practically uninhabited, until the Italian Angela Perotti rediscovered the medical properties of the water in the lagoon, specially for the treatment of skin and rheumatism illnesses. With the years it has become a very popular holiday spot among locals and young travellers from Europe (lots of Germans), North America, Japan, Australia, etc, who come here for two reasons: hurtling up, down, and all around the enormous sand dunes on funky tubular vehicles called "dune buggies", to then slide down said enormous dunes on snowboard-like boards, or "sandboarding" – which Simon has taken to like a duck to water. On our first day here we (and about everyone else in our hostel) jumped on one of several dune buggies parked outside our hostel and off we went into the desert. Our 82 year old driver (I kid you not) could have given The Stig a run for his money. A white knuckle ride later we stopped at a certain spot on the dunes and that's when the boards came out. One by one, people launched themselves enthusiastically down the side of the high and steep dunes, with various degrees of skill and indeed grace, one dune at a time. This went on for a couple of hours after which we all got back on the buggies and were driven back in time to see the oasis from the top of the dunes as the sun set over the desert. Not bad.
There are other things to do in Huacachina too. A certain amount of sweet red wine (Peruvians like their wine the sweeter the better) and the ubiquitous pisco (a clear, high-proof brandy-like spirit made from the distillation of grape wine) is made in the area. Grace and Jason, who arrived from Paracas a day after us, joined us in an informative, entertaining, and very generous tasting tour of two of the main local wineries – bodegas – from which it took us all a little while to recover.
I'm very glad that things have picked up in the last ten days or so. Trujillo and Lima were great, as was the boat around the Islas Ballesta; and Huacachina (including the hostel we stayed at, which we liked a lot) is one of the most fun places we've been to on this trip. We really didn't want to leave, but leave we did, and headed to our next, very exciting stop in Perú: Nazca.
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All media in this blog © Xavier González | Simon Smith unless otherwise credited.
All maps from Google Maps, also unless otherwise credited.
Posted in blog, people, Pictures, Places, travel, video	| Tagged Airbnb, around, boat tour, bodegas, borgoña, Central, Convento de Santo Domingo, cormorant, desert, dolphin, dolphins, Dominicos, dune buggies, dune buggy, dunes, friends, Gringo Trail, guano, Huaca, Huaca Pucllana, Huacachina, Humboldt, Humboldt penguin, Islas Ballesta, Lima, Mario Testino, MATE, Miraflores, Moche, Mochica, museo, Museo de Moche, Museo Larco, Nazca, oasis, out of the office, Paracas, pelican, penguin, Peru, Peruvian booby, pisco, pisco aromatico, pre-Columbian, Precolombino, Rafael Larco, sand, sand boarding, sandboarding, Santa Rosa, sea lions, South America, Testino, travel, vino borgoña	| 2 Replies
Telling the tale.
Posted on April 6, 2015 by Xavier
ECUADOR | PERÚ
The Pacific coast.
I don't think I will ever forget the last week (a bit like Jesus, when you think about it).
Montañita was our last stop in Ecuador as we continue following the Gringo Trail across South America. The guidebook wasn't too encouraging about it, but it was going to be one of our last chances to relax on the beach so I thought we should give it a go, and convinced Simon to make the journey there just before Easter.
We took an afternoon bus from Cuenca to Guayaquil, where we found that the connecting bus was full so we paid a man US$20 for the pleasure of cramming in a stuffy van with nine other people, plus the driver, and off we went. Beetles are among the most numerous living things on Earth; the bright lights above the pumps of a petrol station where we stopped for a few minutes were attracting a nightmarish number of them, many the size of chestnuts, and not all entirely harmless. They buzzed and crawled all around us, even landed on us. The unfortunate ones got crushed under the moving vehicles or under people's shoes, with a hideous crunching noise. It was like a scene from a horror movie. Fortunately, none of the creatures got inside the van with us and about three and-a-half uncomfortable hours later we arrived in Montañita.
What I hadn't quite anticipated is the hot, small, dirty town we encountered. A notorious party beach resort that makes Southend look like St Tropez. There is nothing in Montañita besides hostels (ours was surprisingly good compared to some of the others, which was a relief), countless bars, cheap food outlets (one or two decent ones), and endless shops and stalls selling all kind of merchandise with the name of the town on it, including a place that was selling "I SURVIVED MONTAÑITA" t-shirts – little I knew how prophetic that would turn out to be. The denizens of Montañita are mainly a collection of local tourists, Argentine waiters, beach bums, backpackers, surfers, Israelis celebrating the end of their military service, and peddlers. We spent any amount of time declining continuous offerings of quality sunglasses, hammocks, all sorts of hand made ornaments and, especially, freshly baked brownies and cookies of the kind consumed by adventurous youths – what I took to calling The Great Montañita Bake Off.
Despite all this, we ended up spending four days there – Simon likes to think of it as our own South American version of The Beach – and actually had a really good time, mainly due to coinciding again with Char, Matt, Grace, and Jason, which goes to show how it's always the people what makes the difference.
It all went rather well until the last day. The sun was up and the beach wasn't crowded after the hectic weekend. There was some surf but it wasn't rough, yet only a handful of people were in the water. We had just said goodbye to Grace and Jason, who were moving on, and had made arrangements to meet later in the evening with Char and Matt. Simon settled under an umbrella and I went for a swim – and very nearly didn't make it back.
To Igor and Conrad, the two surfers that got me out of the water after I got washed away by the current: thank you again; nice one.
That evening was very subdued after the day's events, but we still managed a couple of nice beers with Char and Matt, who were planning to hang around the area for a bit longer while the rest of us headed to Perú. We wish them all the best and hope to see them again some time, who knows!
And that was Montañita.
The next morning we rode the bus back to Guayaquil and changed to another bus which took us across the border with Perú at Tumbes (apparently the worst land border crossing in South America but on this occasion quite painless except for the mosquitos that came to say hi while we waited to get back on the bus) and on to our next stop. For the second time on this trip (the first was on arrival at Easter Island) my Spanish passport baffled the border control officers, who kept asking if I had Colombian citizenship. Once again I really wanted to say "Do I look Colombian to you?" but of course we all know the answer to that, so I just stood there smiling until they eventually stamped me out of Ecuador and into Perú, much to Simon's amusement.
It took us about 13 hours to travel from Montañita to Máncora, another popular beach destination. With Easter Week in full swing (it was already Holy Wednesday) we were expecting to find the place busy, and indeed available accommodation had been scarce by the time we booked our hostel. The usually infallible Lonely Planet describes Máncora as "the place to see and be seen along the Peruvian coast – in the summer months foreigners flock here to rub sunburned shoulders with the frothy cream of the Peruvian jet set. It's not hard to see why – Peru's best sandy beach stretches for several kilometers in the sunniest region of the country, while dozens of plush resorts and their budget-conscious brethren offer up rooms within meters of the lapping waves." – yet this write up differs somewhat from our experience.
Besides the initial shock on arrival ("budget-conscious" doesn't even begin to describe where we stayed, though to be fair the place has glowing reviews on Tripadvisor and the people there seemed alright after we got to talk to them a bit more), the whole place looked very rough. There was hardly anyone or anything on the long barren beach except for the odd fish carcass. It seems the whole coast has been battered by recent bouts of extreme weather, and indeed there are numerous signs that a particularly bad El Niño is already affecting South America this year. Weather notwithstanding, the handful of people that we did see on the stretch of beach closest to the town didn't look terribly jet-set either, so I guess anyone who had come here to rub their sunburned shoulders was staying put inside the plush resorts, of which we spotted a few. Longingly. We were also warned not to wander around the area outside our hostel as it wasn't safe, which added another layer of discomfort since the hostel itself had no walls to speak of, or locks on the doors, and we struggled to see how it could be safe inside either. The town itself was pretty charmless, though we found a nice café for lunch. We tried a prawn filled version of a popular Latin-American snack called tequeños, which was very good. That, and a spectacular sunset, were definitely the highlights of the day. We'd only booked two nights in Máncora and it was clear that we weren't going to stay a third, so we made enquiries about buses to Trujillo, our next stop. With the Easter weekend looming all buses the next day were full, but we were offered instead to leave on the last bus that same night and we jumped at the opportunity. Our Canadian friends Grace and Jason were in Máncora as well – and apparently enjoying it about as much. They were staying in a much better looking hostel just down the road from ours, so we were very glad to meet them there for some reparatory beers before leaving to catch our bus.
Don't be fooled by these photos…
The overnight journey between Máncora and Trujillo ended up being ten excruciating hours. A mixup at the bus stop meant that instead of the marginally more comfortable bus we had paid for, we were put on the one they call Económico, and the worst bus ride of this whole trip ensued (Simon later on looked up the bus company El Sol on Google and found that it is regularly mentioned in news reports for crashes, robberies, and fines for breaching safety rules). To cut a long, dreary story short, we arrived in Trujillo early in the morning, feeling and looking the absolute worse for wear but in one piece and with all our belongings. Due to a fortunate foresight from our part we had booked a nice posh hotel for that night so we knew we'd at least get a proper rest after the ordeal. True to our style, we turned up with our dusty backpacks in tow, dishevelled, and in much need of a shave. The staff were very gracious as usual. We did get a few looks from other guests, but we were beyond caring by that point. I spent most of the day sleeping, while Simon somehow managed to drag himself out for lunch.
Trujillo is actually an OK city. Much recovered by the evening, we ventured out to the old town, which is lined with colonial buildings and had a lively atmosphere. We had an excellent dinner at El Celler de Cler, which I totally recommend to anyone visiting Trujillo. Rested and scrubbed up, we were ready for a spot of sightseeing the next day. The largest Pre-Columbian city in South America lays about five kilometres from Trujillo. Now a vast archaeological site, the ruins of Chan Chan are a must for those travelling in Perú. We shared a local guide with a Spanish couple from Barcelona – apparently both engineers working on the construction of the metro in Lima – and wandered for about an hour around the parts of this extraordinary city that are open to the public. Just as entertaining as the tour itself was witnessing the battle of wills between the very inquisitive Spanish woman and our tour guide, who clearly didn't appreciate being interrupted. From Chan Chan we drove a short distance to another fascinating Pre-Columbian site, the Huacas de Moche, where we also had a very interesting guided tour, after which we headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags and make our way to nearby Huanchaco, on the coast again, which had been our original planned stop after Máncora.
The best thing I can say about Huanchaco is that it wasn't as bad as Máncora. The town stretches along the coast for quite a bit. The sea looked quite rough but we saw considerably more people around than we had seen so far. The B&B we had booked was very odd. The common areas looked rather nice but the room definitely wasn't. The manager, a middle-aged man from Argentina, reminded me a bit of Basil Fawlty but perhaps more helpful. We only stayed one night, so didn't get a chance to see much, but we did catch a glimpse of the Good Friday celebrations before meeting Grace and Jason, in town once again, for more drinks later that evening. It is remarkable how much more enjoyable some places become when you can share a mojito or two with friends.
We headed back to Trujillo in the morning. Our next bus journey – about nine hours – would take us further south, along the road between the coast and the Andes, the Panamericana, all the way to the capital, Lima. No longer trusting agents, Simon booked our bus tickets directly online with Cruz del Sur, the same company we had used to cross the border with. The bus this time was a modern, clean, double decker with huge, fully reclinable seats (three across!) with individual entertainment screens, air con, meal and drinks service… I almost cried when we got on. The views along the way were very impressive. The sea to our right, the Andes to our left, and just sandy desert all around us. At some point we got diverted off the Panamericana and for a while drove on a fresh-looking road carved on the side of massive compacted sand dunes – I called it the Sandes… geddit?… Simon says I may have a career in cracker jokes – and it made for a truly spectacular view.
It was 2009 when we were in Lima for the last time. We are going to stay here for a few days to chill and get our strength back before carrying on, and have rented a great apartment in Miraflores via Airbnb. Simon is also fighting off a cold, so a few days of rest will hopefully do us a world of good. We hope you all have had a lovely Easter. More news soon!
Posted in blog, people, Pictures, Places, quotes, travel	| Tagged Airbnb, around the world, Ball Chair, beach, beer, border crossing, brownies, Casa Andina, Celler de Cler, Chan Chan, Chimu, Cruz del Sur, Cuenca, Easter, Ecuador, El Niño, friends, Gringo Trail, Guayaquil, Hostal Kundalini, hostel, hotel, Huaca, Huaca de la Luna, Huaca del Sol, Huacas de Moche, Huanchaco, I SURVIVED MONTAÑITA, Jaegermeister, Kundalini, Las Brisas, Lima, Lonely Planet, Mad Max, Máncora, Miraflores, Misfits, Misfits Hostel, Moche, mojito, Montañita, out of the office, Pacific, Pacific coast, Panamericana, Peru, pre-Columbian, Precolombino, rip current, Semana Santa, Sirena d'Juan, South America, sunset, surfers, tequeños, The Point Hostel, travel, Tripadvisor, Trujillo, Tumbes	| 3 Replies
Love at first sight.
Posted on March 30, 2015 by Xavier
week 17 and 18 of 24
Quito and the Andes.
"You see, the first thing we love is a scene. For love at first sight requires the very sign of its suddenness; and of all things, it is the scene which seems to be seen best for the first time: a curtain parts and what had not yet ever been seen is devoured by the eyes…"
— Roland Barthes, A Lover's Discourse: Fragments.
OK there were some bits of Colombia that I liked a lot: the nights out in Bogotá, the hotel pool in Santa Marta, the friends we made in San Agustín… but I wasn't bowled over by Colombia, or really got as much from it as Simon did – he loved it. So I worried that South America was not quite going to do it for me this time, and we still had over two months to go. All of this was weighting on my mind as we were making our way into Quito from the border. Another road, another stuffy old bus. Then I looked out of the window and my jaw dropped. We were approaching the town of Ibarra, half way between the border and our destination. I could see it in the distance, small and flat, and framed by an immense volcano shrouded in thick white clouds. It was an incredible scene, and I was mesmerised. It got dark by the time we reached the outskirts of Quito, higher than the sprawling city itself. The view of the city lights from the road was like the view from a plane, which I always find very exciting. At the bus station we said goodbye to our Dutch friends and found a taxi. As we chatted to the driver and took in the views I thought to myself I was going to like this place.
I loved Quito. A lot. We stayed in a great hostel in La Floresta which had amazing views (when the fog permitted; there seems to be a lot of fog in Ecuador), and spent a few days exploring the city, though the weather turned cold and wet (and foggy) so not as much exploring as we would have liked. The old town is a legacy of Quito's wealthy and deeply religious colonial past. We visited some beautiful churches, like the Iglesia de San Agustín, the Cathedral, and one of Quito's highlights: the Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, a (mainly) baroque extravaganza built by the Jesuits between 1605 and 1765, and decorated with – we were told – about seven tons of gold leaf, which says a lot about the priorities of the Church. There were some museums too. Casa del Alabado is a restored late 1600's Spanish house that hosts an excellent collection of pre-Columbian art, with some items on display dating from about 4,000 B.C. It was well worth the visit. We also tried some typical food, like fanesca, a hearty soup traditionally eaten during Easter. We hung out in Plaza Foch a few times, did a bit of shopping (I found a small shop in the old town where a group of young designers sell some cool stuff), and wined and dined at a couple of hip restaurants near our hostel.
One of the things we wanted to do while in Ecuador was to go to Galápagos Islands. After Easter Island, Galápagos was the main highlight of our penciled itinerary. It was in Quito where we finally decided not to go. Our travel budget is already on the overstretched side, particularly after the time we spent in the South Pacific. Oh well, next time. On the up side, we now had some extra time in our hands, so decided to extend our stay in Quito for two more days before heading south. The rain and the cold spoiled these days a bit but we managed to enjoy ourselves, and I really hope to come back to this wonderful city at some point.
From Quito we travelled south to Baños de Agua Santa (or just Baños), a small town reminiscing of Vang Vieng in both setting and main activities. The weather was fortunately a lot better than in Quito, which was just as well, because there is nothing to do in Baños other than outdoorsy stuff – well, while Baños is fairly dead midweek, thousands of people descended on it for the weekend, and the centre of town turns into a massive Latin party on Saturday nights, as we found out. Baños offers a wide range of outdoor activities: hiking, paragliding, white water rafting, canyoning, zip lining, mountain biking, swinging off bridges, etc, etc. We chickened out of the most thrill seeking ones (for me a thrill is to sit in the lower rows at the IMAX) but managed to cycle to the Pailón del Diablo (the Devil's Cauldron), a spectacular waterfall about 20 kilometres from Baños, and a couple of strenuous hikes through the farming land just outside the town – the first hike we did totally disproved the theory of infinite universes where everything is possible because there is just no way there exists a universe where I could have climbed that hill without stopping every couple of meters to catch my breath; the second hike ended up on an unwitting game of Mud Or Shit, with an ever increasing amount of both. Great views though. Simon even tried the thermal pools that give the place its name, but they were apparently crowded and not terribly clean, so he wasn't very impressed. Our hostel was fairly out of town, good for the views and very tranquil, but a bit of a pain for getting to and from town, which we ended up doing more than anticipated, not least on account of hanging out in the evenings with some of the guys we met in San Agustín, who are travelling a similar route to us and happened to be in Baños over the same few days, which was great fun.
And from Baños we made our way to Cuenca, Ecuador's most important colonial city after Quito, mainly to break the long journey towards the border with Peru. We only stayed a couple of nights, at a very quiet B&B just outside the old town. Cuenca was very pleasant. Simon, as usual, found an excellent restaurant on the first night, then we spent the next day seeing the sites along Mariscal Sucre and Calle Larga, two of the main streets. We saw some works by Ecuadorian artists at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, and walked the long way to the Museo del Banco Central, touted as Cuenca's most important museum and so on, but actually very odd. The only thing of some interest that we found was its permanent ethnological exhibition, about the different indigenous Andean peoples of Ecuador, especially the section dedicated to the Shuar culture and its custom of shrinking human heads – tzantzas – and yes, there are a few on display. With not much else to do, we spent the rest of the time in cafés, and looking for a place where to fix my wristwatch, which turns out was never water proof after all.
After Cuenca, the plan was to head straight for the border. I liked the idea of stopping by the sea first, as we'll just have one more chance on this trip when we get to Peru, so at my insistence Simon agreed to make a detour from our planned route and hit the coast north-west of Guayaquil – adding eventually about 15 hours of bus journeys, so I hope it's worth it.
We are now in Montañita, a very popular and, er, lively beach town, where we have to wear a wristband with the details of the hostel, and the ratio of people to dodgy cocktail bars seems to be one to one, as if we have materialised in an episode of Sun, sex, and suspicious parents. Definitely watch this space.
Posted in blog, people, Pictures, Places, quotes, travel, video	| Tagged around the world, Baños, beach, BoutiQuito, bus, Calle Larga, Casa del Alabado, Casa del Árbol, Casa Verde, cascada, church, Compañía de Jesús, Cuenca, Cuenca Rooms, design, Ecuador, fanesca, Floresta, Foch, friends, gold, gold leaf, Guayaquil, hike, hiking, Ibarra, Iglesia, Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, Iglesia de San Agustín, Imbabura, Jesuits, la Floresta, Leprechaun, Montañita, museo, Museo del Banco Central, museum, out of the office, Pailón del Diablo, Plaza Foch, pre-Columbian, Precolombino, Quito, road, Roland Barthes, San Agustín, shrunken heads, Shuar, South America, Tiesto's, travel, travellers, tzantzas, volcano, Vulgomaestre, waterfall, waterfalls	| 3 Replies
Down Under.
Posted on February 9, 2015 by Xavier
weeks 9 and 10 of 24
"Australia is the world's sixth largest country and its largest island. It is the only island that is also a continent, and the only continent that is also a country. It was the first continent conquered from the sea, and the last. It is the only nation that began as a prison."
— Bill Bryson, Down Under.
It has been almost seven years since both Simon and I were in Australia at the same time. We were very excited about stopping by as we cross Oceania from West to East, especially since we have some very good friends living there. Sadly, due to the nature of our trip and the fact that Australia is noticeably more expensive these days, we could only allow ourselves a brief stay so we really wanted to make the most of it.
Our first stop was Melbourne, Australia's second most populous city. It was my first visit too, the third for Simon. We stayed for five nights, in a nice apartment in the middle of Richmond we rented via Airbnb, very well located and easy to get around from – our host, Daniel, was lovely and gave us lots of ideas for things to see and do. Thankfully, the weather wasn't as hot as we had anticipated (it had reached over 40°C some days back) so we could be out and about in the Melbourne sun.
On the slight (and arguable) downside, any illusion of keeping to the reasonably healthy lifestyle we had acquired in Asia, where wine is not very good and expensive, or good and very expensive, so we mostly abstained, went out of the window practically the moment we touched down in Australia. It didn't help (or rather it did) to find a superbly stocked bottle shop (sic.) just around the corner from the apartment. No dry January for us!
When not deciding between the Riesling and the Cabernet Sauvignon, we set out to explore some of Melbourne's more interesting areas, like the exuberant Botanical Gardens, St Kilda and its very lively beach (there was a beach volleyball tournament going on, as well as a lot of kite surfers), and trendy Fitzroy (think a sunnier, more suburban version of London's Hoxton)
We also managed to find ourselves in the middle of two of the biggest events in the city's calendar: the Midsumma festival and – most amazingly – the Australian Open, where we got to see Rafael Nadal play his first match of the tournament (sadly he didn't make it to the final this time), it was awesome.
Melbourne, in short, was a blast. The days just flew by, and suddenly it was time to move on.
Our next stop, after a short flight, was Sydney. We were kindly hosted by Anthony and Trevor – whose year-long travels around the world some time ago were the inspiration for this trip – in their beautiful house in Randwick, very close to Bondi Junction so we squeezed in quite a few trips to the Westfield shopping centre there… We had seen the boys briefly back in London only a few months ago but it was great to see them again, and their utterly lovely dogs: Emma, Bonnie, and Scooby.
Fortunately, our stay coincided with a three-day weekend because of Australia Day, and we were able to see and catch up with the rest of our friends in Sydney, including our also adventurous housemate Luke, who also happened to be in town by happy coincidence.
Sydney was amazing in many ways, one of which took the shape of a much missed musical fix for me. Having only known the building from the outside, I finally had a chance to go inside and watch a performance at the iconic Opera House and meet some of the cast afterwards, courtesy of my dear friend Alex who runs her own very successful artist management company and had come in support of one of her singers, Hannah Dahlenberg, a remarkable Queen of the Night. It was a wonderful evening.
Alex was kind enough to show me around the front of House areas during an unusually long interval apparently caused my a mysterious problem backstage (at one point we bumped into the Company Manager, Allana Sheard, who just looked at Alex and exclaimed "I have no idea!") so I could marvel at the design of the building. We paused briefly just outside the door to the auditorium towards the end of the interval when a man walked past and as he did he said to us: "The Queen of the Night… Only dogs could hear her!" before disappearing inside the auditorium, leaving both Alex and I, who had heard the Queen quite clearly, rather bemused. Alex's husband Loz met us at the end and we walked over to a very cool pub for dinner and drinks with Simon and the boys.
source: Opera Australia channel, YouTube
I saw Alex and Loz again the following evening after more opera, this time in the park, which I'd come to see with a mutual friend: the gorgeous Lady Ramsden. Simon likes opera as much as he likes Tolkien, so he went to meet his friends instead, missing a collection of opera's greatest hits which the huge crowd lapped up and with some very impressive singing too. Just as the last note rung out the skies opened (likely unrelated) and it just didn't stop raining for the rest of our stay.
We also celebrated Simon's birthday over the weekend, with a traditional barbecue at the house, generously provided by Anthony and Trevor, with Andrew manning the grill, and buddying writer Greg entertaining us all with humorous anecdotes of the kind that cannot be repeated here. Simon was so pleased he even gave a speech (he never does) on how much he was enjoying his birthday this year.
Then Australia Day came and as it was realistically the last chance to see most of our friends before everyone went back to work we decided to brave the rain and try to see as many people as possible, and so we started by heading off to Surry Hills for an indoors picnic at one of Sydney's top beauty salons (as one does), with its owners Richard and Asim and some of their lovely friends. Richard and Asim are two of the first people I met when I moved to London in 1997 and I hadn't seen them since I was last in Sydney seven years ago. I was very happy to see them now, but most of all I was bowled over by their amazing five year old twins Azra and Wednesday. It was a real pity that we couldn't linger as we had to leave for our next engagement. Alex and Loz were giving a barbecue in their lovely home in Manly Vale, where we arrived just in time for some mouth watering lamb. Once again we had to make our excuses far too soon, and hurried to our next and final engagement to meet Andrew and Dean in The Rocks – Dean is a cake designer, which is a much better job title than I will ever have, and runs his own brilliant business in Sydney. We had drinks at the bar of Sydney Theatre, a super cool space on the wharf with amazing views over the harbour, and then moved on for dinner at a trendy Italian nearby, while outside the drizzle turned into a downpour. Those familiar with Sydney will realise just how much of the day we ended up spending going from one place to another, but it was all well worth it.
We would have loved to stay longer in Australia – we had even pencilled in a trip to Byron Bay when we were planning our itinerary – however it could not be this time, and we find ourselves currently traveling around some pretty amazing surroundings in New Zealand… More of that on the next update!
Posted in blog, festivals, music, opera, people, Pictures, quotes, travel, video	| Tagged 2015, ACG Wines, Airbnb, Australia, Australia Day, Australian Open, Aveda, bar, barbecue, barbie, BBQ, Bill Bryson, Botanical Gardens, cake, Diva, Diva Management, Domain, Down Under, Eloura, Eloura Aveda, Eloura Beauty, Eloura Spa, festival, Fitzroy, friends, Gay Cakes, Hannah Dahlenberg, January, Lonely Planet, Manly Vale, Mazda Opera, Melbourne, Midsumma, New South Wales, NSW, Oceania, opera, Opera Australia, out of the office, Push Bar, Queen of the Night, Rafa, Rafael Nadal, Randwick, Richmond, Rod Laver, St Kilda, STC, suburb, suburbs, Surry Hills, Sydney, Sydney Opera, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Theatre, The Magic Flute, The Push Bar, The Rocks, Theatre, travel, Victoria, wine	| 2 Replies


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text:
HAZLETON CREEK PROPERTIES AWARDED $250,000 PENNDOT GRANT TO CONSTRUCT RAILROAD TRACK FOR DREDGE MATERIALS DISPOSAL
HAZLETON, PA – Hazleton Creek Properties LLC (HCP), thefirm that is presently engaged in a major mine reclamation project in Hazleton, Luzerne County, PA, has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to complete the second phase of a planned four phase project that entails the construction of train tracks for the transportation of clean and safe dredge material disposal to a current brownfield site slated for redevelopment. The announcement was made last week by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell. The Commonwealth committed a total of $24.5 million for rail investments in 31 counties across Pennsylvania.
"Upgrading and expanding our freight rail lines helps maintain service and also opens the door to greater business opportunities," the Governor said in a statement. "These investments will help meet growing demand for freight rail service and also help ease highway congestion by reducing the number of trucks on our roadways."
The quarter million dollar grant to HCP was welcome news for the company's President, William F. Rinaldi. "I want to personally thank Governor Rendell for his unwavering support of this important redevelopment project that will improve the safety and quality of life for the residents of Hazleton. This company is committed, first and foremost, to protecting the environment and enhancing the natural beauty of this proud community. Securing the funding support from the state to build the rail infrastructure to transport the clean dredge materials needed to reclaim the dangerous, abandoned mine sites was a critical step in this process."
The Hazleton Reclamation site is an abandoned mine site located directly off Interstate 81 and bounded by Routes 924, 309 and Broad Street. The site has been severely impacted by past deep and surface mining practices and encompasses more than 277 acres of un-reclaimed, abandoned mine pits and spoil piles. Portions of the site (approximately 50 acres) were previously used for disposal of municipal and industrial waste in several mine pits.
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HAZLETON CREEK PROPERTIES AWARDED $ 250,000 DEP GRANT 2 OF 2
The area is a Brownfield site and has been certified as a Designated Special Industrial Area (SIA) by the Governor of Pennsylvania, giving the site priority attention for remediation. The site has the capacity to accept over 10 million cubic yards of residual materials to complete the site reclamation. HCP is authorized to conduct the site reclamation/remediation using DEP-approved residual materials, including regulated fill, clean-fill from construction activities, and river dredge materials.
Once the primary site is reclaimed, HCP will engage in a larger effort to reclaim 250 acres of abandoned mine land adjacent to the city of Hazleton upon which the company plans to build the Hazleton Performing Arts Center. The Center will occupy approximately 80 acres in the middle of this site with other commercial development to the north and south. The Performing Arts Center will be a 20,000 seat facility (16,000 fixed, 4,000 lawn) with state-of-the-art offices, crew and dressing/lounge space for artists and their staff. Additionally, the Center will include 50,000 square feet of vendor/commercial space that is under roof in order to be convertible to convention space. This new venue will serve as a catalyst for the city of Hazleton for new economic development and generate increased tourism to Hazleton.
For more information, visit hazletoncreekproperties.com.
HAZLETON CREEK PROPERTIES DONATES NEW DOORS TO THE GREATER HAZLETON SENIOR CITIZENS CENTER
FABRIC STRUCTURE USED FOR DRILL CUTTINGS AT BROWNFIELD RECLAMATION SITE