text:
Posted inCoronavirus and Inequality
'They don't let us use masks. They say we don't need them.'
Low-profile hospital workers bemoan their COVID-19 risk
by Susan Ferriss April 1, 2020 January 28, 2022
Washington state nurse puts on a respiratory helmet in January. A speech therapist in that state uses a helmet with face shields that must be shared. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Are you a health worker, medical provider, COVID-19 patient, or federal employee on the front lines of the pandemic? We want to hear from you. Email us tips@publicintegrity.org.
¿Es usted trabajador de salud o de otro servicio de primera línea, o paciente de COVID-19? Cuéntenos, en español si prefiere, de sus inquietudes a tips@publicintegrity.org.
They're not doctors or highly trained nurses.
But legions of low-profile hospital workers — from skilled therapists and translators for non-English speakers to room cleaners and meal servers — are bemoaning their risk for coronavirus exposure.
Workers in California, Illinois and Washington state, where COVID-19 cases are numerous, tell the Center for Public Integrity they fear inadequate access to personal protective equipment that could shield them. Two nurses in New York City have died from the virus, and it's left hundreds of other hospital workers ill.
Many hospitals are struggling to obtain the equipment and rationing what they do have.
Angst is mounting among workers because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on March 10 reacted to national shortages by easing guidelines on when and which healthcare workers should be prioritized for optimal gear — especially the coveted N95 respiratory masks that filter out 95 percent of small particles that may carry the virus.
There's also meager support for low-paid hospital workers who are least able to afford to self-quarantine if exposed to the virus, said Catherine Murrell, deputy communications director for Healthcare Illinois and Indiana, a healthcare workers' union affiliated with the Service Employees International Union.
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Wellington Thomas, an emergency room tech at Chicago's Loretto Hospital, is a worker who fears his hospital will run out of protective supplies. He worries that he won't get paid if he tests positive and has to stop working to self-isolate.
ER techs are among the first workers to see patients. They check vital signs, record symptoms, provide physical assistance — if necessary — and aid nurses. Thomas earns a little more than $19 an hour, more than a lot of techs because of his seniority. But he only receives six days of paid sick leave per year — and only has three left for this year.
The Healthcare Illinois and Indiana union is urging hospitals to cover 15 paid sick days if a worker must self-quarantine, Murrell said.
Thomas said he's donned adequate personal protective equipment, or PPE, if he's called into patient isolation areas. One piece is the N95 respirator mask that hospitals are clamoring to stock. But Thomas has also been in contact with ER patients who developed COVID-19 symptoms while wearing less-than-optimal protection.
After one case of known exposure to a patient, Thomas said the hospital put his and other aides' names on a list. "Six or seven of us were going in and out of that room all day," Thomas said.
Administrators advised Thomas and others to monitor themselves for fever or other suspicious signs — advice that's in line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, Loretto spokesman Mark Walker said.
He also said the inner-city hospital, the services of which are overwhelmingly covered by Medicare and Medicaid, is "absolutely committed" to paying workers who must quarantine "if we have the funds to do it."
Under fire for failure to provide and distribute timely aid, President Donald Trump said Sunday that new legislation will provide hospitals "critical supplies including masks," and $2.2 trillion in relief for "families, workers, businesses and Americans of every race, color, religion and creed."
Nevertheless, all health workers may not immediately, or ever, receive the specific protective gear they say they need now. And the federal legislation doesn't guarantee that all healthcare workers, and workers at companies with more than 500 and fewer than 50 employees, have to be paid if put on two-weeks quarantine.
Urgent need for helmet shields in Seattle
Heather is an acute-care speech therapist in a Seattle hospital. She's in demand to work with COVID-19 patients and worried that the hospital is running out of parts for the essential equipment she's been using to protect herself. She asked that her last name and the name of the hospital not be disclosed because she wasn't authorized to identify it.
As many as 60 percent of the U.S. healthcare workforce consists of people such as Heather, who are "allied" healthcare workers trained in a range of diagnostic and treatment disciplines.
Heather's Seattle hospital is in a COVID-19 hotspot — and near to a nursing home that's been linked to at least 37 coronavirus-related deaths.
The Labor Department won't take steps to protect health care workers from the coronavirus
There's a federal system for signing up medical volunteers — but it's neglected
Heather's job, by its nature, requires her to get close to patients' faces and look inside their mouths. She expects they'll cough on her. She asks patients to swallow liquids or foods of differing textures to determine how well they're breathing and swallowing as they come off ventilators.
The tests, she explained, determine if patients are "aspirating," or breathing substances into their airways and lungs. Aspirating prevents recovery from pneumonia and can nurture new infections. What Heather does is crucial to measuring fragile patients' condition and for designing treatment for recovery.
To protect herself from infectious droplets and mist, Heather has been using a CAPR — a controlled air purifying respirator. The tool consists of a helmet with a removable face shield, an air filter, a battery pack worn on the back and flexible material that creates a suction around the neck.
Nurses also use CAPR devices, but Heather said they have individual, detachable face shields assigned to them. Heather must pick from a limited supply of shields shared among workers who also perform tasks essential to patient care, which could increase the risk of infection. Those sharing shields include ultrasound technicians and lab techs who draw blood.
"There's a table with three or four shields. You have to pick one," Heather said. "And you have to hope the person who used it before you did a good job cleaning it or do it yourself."
Because workers are repeatedly cleansing the shields with bleach wipes, as protocol demands, the shields are breaking down, Heather said. The material that seals the respirator is also deteriorating. Her hospital urgently needs more parts to keep the CAPRs working safely.
Because the CAPR is loud, Heather said she'd prefer to use an N95 respirator — a smaller, special facepiece that guards against airborne droplets and mist. There is a national shortage of N95s, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identify as superior to a simple surgical mask. Some workers use N95s with eye protection. Many workers have only access to surgical masks. Some have no protection at all.
Heather has two N95 masks at home from a prior job, although she hasn't been able to get a required annual check to ensure that they fit. The hospital has begun fitting new doctors and nurses for N95s, she said. But to help control the supplies of facepieces, the hospital isn't conducting fitting tests for therapists such as Heather.
Up-close interpreting in a Chicago ER
Hospital interpreters also find themselves in risky contact with patients with COVID-19 symptoms.
An interpreter in Chicago, who works in a different hospital than Wellington Thomas, said he's sometimes inches from the faces of patients. Some have sneezed on him. He knows he's interpreted for patients who came to his ER and left, only to return with a confirmed case of COVID-19. He said he wasn't authorized to identify himself or the hospital.
He walked into a room recently to interpret for another patient with COVID-19 symptoms. A doctor attending the patient had on an outfit with a face shield resembling "riot control" gear, the interpreter said.
"There I was with just a surgical mask," he said.
The interpreter has been fitted for N95 respirators, but the hospital didn't have one available.
The patient was being treated with a nebulizer that covered her nose and mouth. The interpreter hoped that the nebulizer would act as a shield. But the treatment is also an "aerosol-generating" procedure that can emit mist that lingers.
The weakened patient had trouble speaking clearly. "I had to get really close to her," the interpreter said.
A supply of N95s later arrived, the interpreter said, and as long as they last, he said he'll be asking for one when he starts his shift. Ideally, N95s aren't supposed to be reused. But anyone who uses one, the interpreter said, has been placing them in brown paper bags with names on them to keep them for reuse. Paper bag storage for N95 masks has gone national, along with hospital workers posting photos of bags and the hashtag #GetMePPE on Twitter.
Instead of stockings on a mantle we have paper bags on a wall. I'm sure if I think about it enough I'm sure I can come up with a Christmas carol about resusing N95s. #GetMePPE #GetUsPPE pic.twitter.com/IeWbVdXA4v
— Alden Landry (@AMLandryMD) March 29, 2020
"With each passing day, people are less casual about this," the interpreter said. "Protection goes both ways. It's for patients and workers."
Enrica Ardemagni, president of the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care, said she's been fielding calls from worried interpreters, many of whom are on-call workers. The council set up online training to help interpreters temporarily transition to telephonic and video interpreting.
But "face-to-face" interpreting will still be necessary in some cases, said Ardemagni, a Spanish-language interpreter and professor at Purdue University in Indianapolis.
Disinfecting rooms, safe food service in California
In Downey, California, unionized workers at the Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center pushed for more protection for environmental service workers, who clean rooms after coronavirus patients vacate them.
This is Gabe Montoya, an EMT at Kaiser Permanente hospital in Downey, California. (Courtesy of Gabe Montoya)
Gabe Montoya is an emergency medical technician who typically cleans wounds, splints limbs and helps with electrocardiograms and resuscitation at the Los Angeles County hospital. One of his jobs now is to help doctors and nurses correctly put on and remove gowns, gloves and facepieces before entering isolation rooms to treat COVID-19 patients. EMTs, also clad in optimal personal protective equipment, then stand outside the rooms, watching through windows, to make sure the medical team's equipment doesn't tear or otherwise become compromised.
"From the very start, a COVID patient takes a lot of staff," Montoya said.
He said he's heard the "horror stories" about lower-paid, "marginalized" workers who disinfect hospital rooms but don't benefit from strict safety protections. Montoya worked with management at his hospital to ensure that, when needed, cleaning staff get N95s, gowns, gloves and booties.
Most of them are Latino, and many are not fluent in English, said Montoya, who also serves as a union representative for United Healthcare Workers West, which is part of SEIU.
"To me, they have one of the more dangerous jobs. They have to go into rooms with a lot of surfaces. Everything has to be disinfected — the beds, railings of the beds, behind the beds, all the cords and the walls and the floors," Montoya said. "Without them we don't function."
In emails, Montoya said he's had to remind frontline medical workers and management: "Whatever you wore in that room, they have to wear it, too."
"To me, they have one of the more dangerous jobs."
Gabe Montoya, an emergency medical technician, said of cleaning staff
To help secure more protective gear, United Healthcare Workers West announced March 26 that it located a distributor with a stockpile of 39 million N95 masks. The union is arranging for hospitals in the hot-spot states of California and New York to buy the masks, at $5 each. The group also put in an order for another 1 million N95s from another supplier and found a company that said it can supply millions of face shields.
Update, 10:31 a.m. April 6: The union has confirmed that subsequent hospital efforts to obtain the N95 masks fell through, as the Los Angeles Times reported. Union spokesman Nathan Selzer said that federal Coronavirus Task Force contacted the union, "looking into problems with PPE," and that the union provided information about the supplier. "Our role was to connect those who needed PPE with a potential supplier. Once the connection was made, it was up to those who needed the equipment to work out details like quantities, payment, delivery and due diligence on the validity of the supplies. Unfortunately, as governors, counties, hospital systems and others have learned in recent days, the supply chain for this type of equipment is fraught with problems," Selzer said in a statement.
The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that the demands of a pandemic on the U.S. care system will require up to 3.5 billion N95 masks over a year. On March 21, Democrats in Congress wrote to HHS that only 12 million N95 masks were in the Strategic National Stockpile, and as many as 5 million may have expired.
Kaiser Permanente declined to comment on negotiations with the union, and in a statement said: "We continue to provide our staff with protective equipment that is aligned with the latest science and guidance from public health authorities. … While we currently have the personal protective equipment needed to serve our patients and protect the safety of our staff, we are prudently managing our resources and are aggressively pursuing additional supplies."
At Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California, United Healthcare Workers West members negotiated with managers to upgrade protections for dishwashing staff who were fearful of coronavirus exposure.
Shop steward Juan Boza said he suggested to managers that the hospital use only paper trays and containers for patients in isolation. Nurses can discard the material in patients' rooms. The hospital, which did not respond to a request for comment, agreed to the change, Boza said. Update, 9:26 a.m., April 1: The hospital confirmed in a statement that it's now using disposable paper meal service for virus patients and "pursuing all channels" to keep up a supply of safety equipment for staff.
"They don't let us use masks," Boza said. "They say we don't need them. Just wash your hands all the time. But don't touch your face. That's what they keep telling us."
Susan Ferriss
Susan Ferriss joined CPI in 2011 and directs its immigration project. As a Cox Newspapers Latin America... More by Susan Ferriss
by Susan Ferriss, Center for Public Integrity

'They don't let us use masks. They say we don't need them.'

by Susan Ferriss, Center for Public Integrity
April 1, 2020

Are you a health worker, medical provider, COVID-19 patient, or federal employee on the front lines of the pandemic? We want to hear from you. Email us tips@publicintegrity.org.

¿Es usted trabajador de salud o de otro servicio de primera línea, o paciente de COVID-19? Cuéntenos, en español si prefiere, de sus inquietudes a tips@publicintegrity.org.

They're not doctors or highly trained nurses.

But legions of low-profile hospital workers — from skilled
 therapists and translators for non-English speakers to room cleaners and meal
 servers — are bemoaning their risk for coronavirus exposure.

Workers in California, Illinois and Washington state, where
 COVID-19 cases are numerous, tell the Center
 for Public Integrity they fear inadequate access to personal protective
 equipment that could shield them. Two nurses in New York City have died
 from the virus, and it's left hundreds of other hospital workers ill.

Many hospitals are struggling to obtain the equipment and rationing
 what they do have.

Angst is mounting among workers because the Centers for
 Disease Control and Prevention on March 10 reacted to national shortages by easing
 guidelines on when and which healthcare workers should be  prioritized
 for optimal gear — especially the coveted N95 respiratory masks that filter
 out 95 percent of small particles that may carry the virus.

There's also meager support for low-paid hospital workers
 who are least able to afford to self-quarantine if exposed to the virus, said
 Catherine Murrell, deputy communications director for Healthcare Illinois and
 Indiana, a healthcare workers' union affiliated with the Service Employees
 International Union.

Wellington Thomas, an emergency room tech at Chicago's
 Loretto Hospital, is a worker who fears his hospital will run out of protective
 supplies. He worries that he won't get paid if he tests positive and has to
 stop working to self-isolate.

ER techs are among the first workers to see patients. They check
 vital signs, record symptoms, provide physical assistance — if necessary — and aid
 nurses. Thomas earns a little more than $19 an hour, more than a lot of techs
 because of his seniority. But he only receives six days of paid sick leave per year
 — and only has three left for this year.

The Healthcare Illinois and Indiana union is urging
 hospitals to cover 15 paid sick days if a worker must self-quarantine, Murrell
 said.

Thomas said he's donned adequate personal protective
 equipment, or PPE, if he's called into patient isolation areas. One piece is
 the N95 respirator mask that hospitals are clamoring to stock. But Thomas has
 also been in contact with ER patients who developed COVID-19 symptoms while
 wearing less-than-optimal protection.

After one case of known exposure to a patient, Thomas said the
 hospital put his and other aides' names on a list. "Six or seven of us were
 going in and out of that room all day," Thomas said.

Administrators advised Thomas and others to monitor
 themselves for fever or other suspicious signs — advice that's in line with
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, Loretto spokesman Mark
 Walker said.

He also said the inner-city hospital, the services of which are
 overwhelmingly covered by Medicare and Medicaid, is "absolutely committed" to
 paying workers who must quarantine "if we have the funds to do it."

Under fire for failure to provide and distribute timely aid,
 President
 Donald Trump said Sunday that new legislation will provide hospitals
 "critical supplies including masks," and $2.2 trillion in relief for  "families, workers, businesses and Americans
 of every race, color, religion and creed."

Nevertheless, all health workers may not immediately, or
 ever, receive the specific protective gear they say they need now.  And the federal legislation doesn't guarantee
 that all healthcare workers, and workers at companies with more than 500 and
 fewer than 50 employees, have to be paid if put on two-weeks quarantine.

Urgent need for helmet shields in Seattle

Heather is an acute-care speech therapist in a Seattle
 hospital. She's in demand to work with COVID-19 patients and worried that the
 hospital is running out of parts for the essential equipment she's been using
 to protect herself. She asked that her last name and the name of the hospital
 not be disclosed because she wasn't authorized to identify it.

As many as 60 percent of the U.S. healthcare workforce
 consists of people such as Heather, who are "allied" healthcare workers trained in
 a range of diagnostic and treatment disciplines.

Heather's Seattle hospital is in a COVID-19 hotspot — and near to a nursing home that's been linked to at least 37 coronavirus-related deaths.

Heather's job, by its nature, requires her to get close to patients'
 faces and look inside their mouths. She expects they'll cough on her. She asks patients
 to swallow liquids or foods of differing textures to determine how well they're
 breathing and swallowing as they come off ventilators.

The tests, she explained, determine if patients are "aspirating,"
 or breathing substances into their airways and lungs. Aspirating prevents recovery
 from pneumonia and can nurture new infections. What Heather does is crucial to
 measuring fragile patients' condition and for designing treatment for recovery.

To protect herself from infectious droplets and mist, Heather
 has been using a CAPR
 — a controlled air purifying respirator. The tool consists of a helmet with a removable
 face shield, an air filter, a battery pack worn on the back and flexible material
 that creates a suction around the neck.

Nurses also use CAPR devices, but Heather said they have individual,
 detachable face shields assigned to them. Heather must pick from a limited supply
 of shields shared among workers who also perform tasks essential to patient
 care, which could increase the risk of infection. Those sharing shields include
 ultrasound technicians and lab techs who draw blood.

"There's a table with three or four shields. You have to
 pick one," Heather said. "And you have to hope the person who used it before
 you did a good job cleaning it or do it yourself."

Because workers are repeatedly cleansing the shields with
 bleach wipes, as protocol demands, the shields are breaking down, Heather
 said.  The material that seals the respirator
 is also deteriorating. Her hospital urgently needs more parts to keep the CAPRs
 working safely.

Because the CAPR is loud, Heather said she'd prefer to use an N95 respirator — a smaller, special facepiece that guards against airborne droplets and mist. There is a national shortage of N95s, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identify as superior to a simple surgical mask. Some workers use N95s with eye protection. Many workers have only access to surgical masks. Some have no protection at all.

Heather has two N95 masks at home from a prior job, although she hasn't been able to get a required annual check to ensure that they fit. The hospital has begun fitting new doctors and nurses for N95s, she said. But to help control the supplies of facepieces, the hospital isn't conducting fitting tests for therapists such as Heather.

Up-close interpreting in a Chicago ER

Hospital interpreters also find themselves in risky contact
 with patients with COVID-19 symptoms.

An interpreter in Chicago, who works in a different hospital
 than Wellington Thomas, said he's sometimes inches from the faces of patients.
 Some have sneezed on him. He knows he's interpreted for patients who came to his
 ER and left, only to return with a confirmed case of COVID-19. He said he
 wasn't authorized to identify himself or the hospital.

He walked into a room recently to interpret for another patient
 with COVID-19 symptoms. A doctor attending the patient had on an outfit with a
 face shield resembling "riot control" gear, the interpreter said.

"There I was with just a surgical mask," he said.

The interpreter has been fitted for N95 respirators, but the
 hospital didn't have one available.

The patient was being treated with a nebulizer that covered
 her nose and mouth. The interpreter hoped that the nebulizer would act as a
 shield. But the treatment is also an "aerosol-generating"
 procedure that can emit mist that lingers.

The weakened patient had trouble speaking clearly. "I had to
 get really close to her," the interpreter said.

A supply of N95s later arrived, the interpreter said, and as
 long as they last, he said he'll be asking for one when he starts his shift. Ideally,
 N95s aren't supposed to be reused. But anyone who uses one, the interpreter
 said, has been placing them in brown paper bags with names on them to keep them
 for reuse. Paper
 bag storage for N95 masks has gone national, along with hospital workers posting
 photos of bags and the hashtag #GetMePPE
 on Twitter.

 https://twitter.com/AMLandryMD/status/1244306425628766214

"With each passing day, people are less casual about this,"
 the interpreter said. "Protection goes both ways. It's for patients and
 workers."

Enrica Ardemagni, president of the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care,
 said she's been fielding calls from worried interpreters, many of whom are on-call
 workers. The council set up online training to help interpreters temporarily
 transition to telephonic and video interpreting.

But "face-to-face" interpreting will still be necessary in
 some cases, said Ardemagni, a Spanish-language interpreter and professor at Purdue
 University in Indianapolis.

Disinfecting rooms, safe food service in California

In Downey, California, unionized workers at the Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center pushed for more protection for environmental service workers, who clean rooms after coronavirus patients vacate them.

This is Gabe Montoya, an EMT at Kaiser Permanente hospital in Downey, California. (Courtesy of Gabe Montoya)

Gabe Montoya is an emergency medical technician who typically cleans wounds, splints limbs and helps with electrocardiograms and resuscitation at the Los Angeles County hospital. One of his jobs now is to help doctors and nurses correctly put on and remove gowns, gloves and facepieces before entering isolation rooms to treat COVID-19 patients. EMTs, also clad in optimal personal protective equipment, then stand outside the rooms, watching through windows, to make sure the medical team's equipment doesn't tear or otherwise become compromised.

"From the very start, a COVID patient takes a lot of staff,"
 Montoya said.

He said he's heard the "horror stories" about lower-paid,
 "marginalized" workers who disinfect hospital rooms but don't benefit from
 strict safety protections. Montoya worked with management at his hospital to ensure
 that, when needed, cleaning staff get N95s, gowns, gloves and booties.

Most of them are Latino, and many are not fluent in English,
 said Montoya, who also serves as a union representative for United Healthcare
 Workers West, which is part of SEIU.

"To me, they have one of the more dangerous jobs. They have
 to go into rooms with a lot of surfaces. Everything has to be disinfected — the
 beds, railings of the beds, behind the beds, all the cords and the walls and
 the floors," Montoya said. "Without them we don't function."

In emails, Montoya said he's had to remind frontline medical
 workers and management: "Whatever you wore in that room, they have to wear it,
 too."

"To me, they have one of the more dangerous jobs."

Gabe Montoya, an emergency medical technician, said of cleaning staff

To help secure more protective gear, United Healthcare
 Workers West announced March 26 that it located a distributor with a
 stockpile of 39 million N95 masks. The union is arranging for hospitals in
 the hot-spot states of California and New York to buy the masks, at $5 each. The
 group also put in an order for another 1 million N95s from another supplier and
 found a company that said it can supply millions of face shields.

Update, 10:31 a.m. April 6: The union has confirmed that subsequent hospital efforts to obtain the N95 masks fell through, as the Los Angeles Times reported. Union spokesman Nathan Selzer said that federal Coronavirus Task Force contacted the union, "looking into problems with PPE," and that the union provided information about the supplier. "Our role was to connect those who needed PPE with a potential supplier. Once the connection was made, it was up to those who needed the equipment to work out details like quantities, payment, delivery and due diligence on the validity of the supplies. Unfortunately, as governors, counties, hospital systems and others have learned in recent days, the supply chain for this type of equipment is fraught with problems," Selzer said in a statement.

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that
 the demands of a pandemic on the U.S. care system will require up to 3.5
 billion N95 masks over a year. On March 21, Democrats in Congress wrote to HHS that only 12 million N95 masks were in
 the Strategic National Stockpile, and as many as 5 million may have expired.

Kaiser Permanente declined to comment on negotiations with
 the union, and in a statement said: "We continue to provide our staff with
 protective equipment that is aligned with the latest science and guidance from
 public health authorities. … While we currently have the personal protective
 equipment needed to serve our patients and protect the safety of our staff, we
 are prudently managing our resources and are aggressively pursuing additional
 supplies."

At Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, California, United
 Healthcare Workers West members negotiated with managers to upgrade protections
 for dishwashing staff who were fearful of coronavirus exposure.

Shop steward Juan Boza said he suggested to managers that the hospital use only paper trays and containers for patients in isolation. Nurses can discard the material in patients' rooms. The hospital, which did not respond to a request for comment, agreed to the change, Boza said. Update, 9:26 a.m., April 1: The hospital confirmed in a statement that it's now using disposable paper meal service for virus patients and "pursuing all channels" to keep up a supply of safety equipment for staff.

"They don't let us use masks," Boza said. "They say we don't
 need them. Just wash your hands all the time. But don't touch your face. That's
 what they keep telling us."

This article first appeared on Center for Public Integrity and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.


text:
Science, Tech, Math › Social Sciences
Biography of Journalist C Wright Mills
His Life and Contributions to Sociology
Archive Photos/Stringer/Getty Images
Major Sociologists
Research, Samples, and Statistics
By Ashley Crossman
Charles Wright Mills (1916-1962), popularly known as C. Wright Mills, was a mid-century sociologist and journalist. He is known and celebrated for his critiques of contemporary power structures, his spirited treatises on how sociologists should study social problems and engage with society, and his critiques of the field of sociology and academic professionalization of sociologists.
Mills was born on August 28, 1916, in Waco, Texas. Because his father was a salesman, the family moved a lot and lived in many places throughout Texas while Mills was growing up, and as a result, he lived a relatively isolated life with no intimate or continuous relationships.
Mills began his university career at Texas A&M University but completed only one year. Later, he attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he completed a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in philosophy in 1939. By this point, Mills had positioned himself as an important figure in sociology by publishing in the field's two leading journals ("American Sociological Review" and "American Journal of Sociology") while still a student.
Mills earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1942, where his dissertation focused on pragmatism and the sociology of knowledge.
Mills began his professional career as an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park in 1941, and served there for four years. During this time, he began to practice public sociology by writing journalistic articles for outlets including "The New Republic," "The New Leader," and "Politics."
Following his post in Maryland, Mills took a position as a research associate at Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research. The following year, he was made assistant professor in the university's sociology department and by 1956, had been promoted to the rank of Professor. During the 1956-57 academic year, Mills had the honor of serving as a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Copenhagen.
Contributions and Accomplishments
The major focus of Mills's work was the subjects of social inequality, the power of elites and their control of society, the shrinking middle class, the relationship between individuals and society, and the importance of historical perspective as a key part of sociological thinking.
Mills's most influential and famous work, "The Sociological Imagination" (1959), describes how one should approach the world if one wants to see and understand as a sociologist does. He emphasizes the importance of seeing the connections between individuals and everyday life and the greater social forces that constitute and course through society, and the importance of understanding our contemporary lives and social structure in historical context. Mills argued that doing so was an important part of coming to understand that what we often perceive as "personal troubles" are in fact "public issues."
In terms of contemporary social theory and critical analysis, "The Power Elite" (1956) was a very important contribution made by Mills. Like other critical theorists of that time, Mills was concerned with the rise of a techno-rationality and intensified bureaucratization following World War II. This book serves as a compelling account of how military, industrial/corporate, and government elites created and how they maintain a closely interlocked power structure that controls society to their benefit at the expense of the majority.
Other key works by Mills include "From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology" (1946), "The New Men of Power" (1948), "White Collar" (1951), "Character and Social Structure: The Psychology of Social" (1953), "The Causes of World War Three" (1958), and "Listen, Yankee" (1960).
Mills is also credited with introducing the term "New Left" when he penned an open letter in 1960 to the leftists of the day.
Mills was married four times to three women and had one child with each. He married Dorothy Helen "Freya" Smith in 1937. The two divorced in 1940 but remarried in 1941, and had a daughter, Pamela, in 1943. The couple divorced again in 1947, and that same year Mills married Ruth Harper, who also worked at the Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia. The two also had a daughter, Kathryn, who was born in 1955. Mills and Harper separated after her birth and divorced in 1959. Mills was married for a fourth time in 1959 to Yaroslava Surmach, an artist. Their son Nikolas was born in 1960.
Throughout these years, Mills was reported to have had many extramarital affairs and was known for being combative with his colleagues and peers.
Mills suffered from a prolonged heart condition in his adult life and survived three heart attacks before finally succumbing to a fourth on March 20, 1962.
Mills is remembered as a deeply important American sociologist whose work is essential to how students are taught about the field and the practice of sociology.
In 1964, he was honored by the Society for the Study of Social Problems with the creation of the annual C. Wright Mills Award.
Crossman, Ashley. "Biography of Journalist C Wright Mills." ThoughtCo, Aug. 25, 2020, thoughtco.com/c-wright-mills-3026486. Crossman, Ashley. (2020, August 25). Biography of Journalist C Wright Mills. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/c-wright-mills-3026486 Crossman, Ashley. "Biography of Journalist C Wright Mills." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/c-wright-mills-3026486 (accessed January 20, 2022).
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Who's DAN AUGUST? How the 1970 Cop Show Propelled Burt Reynolds to Film Stardom
by getTV Staff May 16, 2017
It was 1970 and Burt Reynolds needed a hit.
After a decade on television, Reynolds had sought movie stardom in action-packed Spaghetti Westerns, but what worked for Clint Eastwood in the "Man with No Name" trilogy didn't bring Burt the same fistful of film roles. So the 34-year-old went back to the primetime grind, guest starring on shows like Love, American Style. And he waited for his next big break.
Meanwhile, prolific producer Quinn Martin (The Untouchables, The Fugitive, The F.B.I.) was expanding his empire into made-for-TV movies. His first starred Christopher George as Lt. Dan August, a homicide detective in the fictional Southern California city of Santa Luisa. Based on the novel of the same name, House on Greenapple Road was a ratings success, and ABC ordered a spin-off series for the fall of 1970 to be called Dan August.
But there was a problem. Christopher George didn't want to be Dan August.
"Chris wanted to do (the sci-fi series) The Immortal instead," his widow Lynda Day George remembered in the 2008 book Quinn Martin, Producer: A Behind-the-Scenes History of QM Productions and Its Founder. "Chris and Burt Reynolds were good friends and Chris kept saying to Quinn, 'Look! You've gotta get Burt.'"
George – who had recently wrapped the military action series The Rat Patrol – went so far as to screen tapes of Reynolds's 1966 cop show Hawk for Martin. But the producer was unmoved, and briefly attempted to negotiate a compromise with Paramount (producers of The Immortal) wherein George would star in both shows. Eventually he relented, and Burt Reynolds became the new Dan August.
With a younger actor in the title role, Dan August went through some changes on its journey from Greenapple Road. Norman Fell (age 46) was cast as Dan's partner Sgt. Charlie Wilentz, replacing 54-year-old Keenan Wynn. Richard Anderson took on the role of chief-of-police George Untermeyer, played in the telefilm by Barry Sullivan (14 years Anderson's senior). Returning from the pilot were Ned Romero as Sgt. Joe Rivera and Ena Hartman as investigative assistant Katie Grant.
By the time Dan August debuted on September 23, it had evolved from a middle-aged police procedural to a kinetic action series with stories ripped from the headlines. As a plainclothes detective barely out of his 20s, August advocates for younger characters and gives voice to their concerns – a sea change for the older-skewing primetime cop show format. While Dan August is no Mod Squad, and Reynolds' straight-laced hero was hardly counterculture, there was a clear effort to tailor stories to viewers who today might be described as "woke."
In one episode, Dan detoxes a teen junkie. In another, he visits a gay bar (one of the first depictions of such an establishment in primetime, according to the book Queer TV: Theories, Histories, Politics). He quells a campus uprising, saves a hippie from being set-up for murder (by the man!), advocates for low-paid migrant workers, helps a young priest in love with a woman, and prevents a black activist from taking a phony rap. With its socially conscious narrative and ethnically diverse cast (including an African-American woman as a member of his team), Dan August has an unusual degree of contemporary resonance. But for Quinn Martin, the controversial content was a surprise – and not necessarily a welcome one.
"Quinn said to me, "Are we doing propaganda here?'" producer Anthony Spinner said in Quinn Martin: Producer. "I said, 'Yeah, because I'm tired of diamond heists and kidnapped girls and all that stuff. How many times can you do that?"
While Martin may have been skittish about the "relevant dramas," he was surprisingly comfortable with his name-above-the-title star risking serious injury by doing his own stunts. Reynolds' go-for-broke stunt work can be almost disconcerting. It's him in literally every shot – fighting, falling, jumping off moving cars, flying in helicopters, and running through burning houses – and that realism adds a different dimension to the standard QM Productions formula.
"It was very important to Burt that Dan August succeed," series director Ralph Senensky remembered. "This was his fourth series. If Burt didn't make it this time, where did he go next?"
While Reynolds' groundbreaking Hawk should have lasted longer, Dan August improves upon the earlier show's greatest flaw: relentless intensity. Unlike the winking antihero of Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run, the Burt Reynolds of this era was serious as a heart attack. And while he smiles more in one episode of Dan August than in the entirety of Hawk, the latter series benefits from what Hawk lacked: an ensemble that humanizes Reynolds.
Norman Fell, best known today for Three's Company, is hilariously deadpan as Dan's neurotic, hypochondriac partner. (There's even an episode with John Ritter, six years before Jack Tripper would meet Mr. Roper.) And Richard Anderson, unforgettable as mentor Oscar Goldman in The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, is surprisingly effective here as Dan's boss and primary antagonist. Like all Quinn Martin shows, Dan August benefits from an incredible group of guests, including some before they were stars such as Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams (nine years before they would face off as Han Solo and Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back) as well as Martin Sheen and Gary Busey. There were still other guests who were established actors from classic Hollywood like Mickey Rooney, Ricardo Montalban, and Vera Miles. The series also boasts a memorable theme song – one of the oddest in the Quinn Martin oeuvre – from composer Dave Grusin.
Though Reynolds was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work on Dan August, the series was not renewed for a second season. But the story doesn't end there. According to production manager Howard Alston, the show's editors assembled an outtakes reel demonstrating how charming and funny Reynolds could be when he didn't think the cameras were rolling.
"Burt took that gag reel, he went on these talk shows, and he changed his whole career around," Alston remembered. "He had this whole personality change in front of the camera as a result. He became a motion-picture actor on the basis of that gag reel!"
It may have happened after the show was cancelled, but Dan August was Burt Reynolds' big break after all.
For more information, visit the getTV schedule.
DAN AUGUST
getTV talks SANFORD AND SON With Demond Wilson
Original Stars Reunite for GOOD TIMES Special
Check out THE LIBRARIAN on getTV
getTV talks GOOD TIMES With Bern Nadette Stanis
getTV talks SANFORD AND SON with Hal Williams
getTV talks AMEN With Clifton Davis
getTV Talks HOW THE WEST WAS WON with Bruce Boxleitner
Ed Asner Celebrates His 90th Birthday With Friends, Family and getTV
Celebrate Thanksgiving With The Macahan Family in HOW THE WEST WAS WON


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What it's like to be homeless during Germany's winter
DPA/The Local
homelessnesswinter
A homeless woman in Frankfurt am Main. Photo: DPA
Hundreds of thousands of people in Germany don't have a home - and during the winter, cold weather and illness can put them in life-threatening situations.
Kurt doesn't have a home, but that doesn't stop him smiling as he offers his homeless newspaper to Christmas crowds in the centre of Mainz in Rhineland-Palatinate.
"I'm happy that the authorities don't mind me putting up my tent under the bridge in the evening," he says, when asked where he sleeps.
The 44-year-old is one of around 335,000 homeless people who live in Germany. While many are offered beds in hostels, an unknown number sleep on the streets. In the winter their situation becomes particularly precarious.
Many of them are already weak, says Werena Rosenke from the Federal Organization for Helping the Homeless (BAG). If they get sick there is a real danger they could die of hypothermia, even in a milder winter.
Since 1991 the BAG estimates that at least 289 homeless people have frozen to death. Last year there were three deaths through hypothermia, one in Berlin, one in Saxony and one in Baden-Württemberg.
"I'm afraid of the winter," says 31-year-old Ioannis from Romania, who is begging in the pedestrian zone in Mainz. "I'm on the street every day, and every night I sleep against a house wall."
Ioannis collects between €15 and €20 a day, just enough to survive.
"The state doesn't help, the churches don't help," he complains.
People from Romania have no right to state welfare, explains Beate Jagusch from Caritas, the Catholic Church's charity.
"Nobody has responsibility for them. It's tragic that we can't offer them anything more than a cup of hot tea and a place to warm up."
This winter the Protestant Church in Mainz has erected containers to house homeless people. But on the first day, 15 people were sent away as there was only sleeping room for 24 people.
Local authorities also have a responsibility to ensure that homeless people have a place to sleep.
"That is especially true in the cold months when when local authorities have to offer suitable housing so that people don't freeze to death," said a spokesperson for the social affairs ministry in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Roughly every third homeless person in Mainz comes from eastern Europe, says Klaus Merten, a director of the Catholic Church's help organization there. Many of them once worked in farming but had to stop work because of illness. Others were cheated out of their wages but won't go home out of shame.
It is a similar story throughout the country. The BAG estimates that 50 to 60 percent of homeless people in major German cities are from other EU countries.
"Every story is different," says Merten. "They are very individual stories for why people have fallen out of their lives."
One person he knew once ran a big company, but after his wife died he gave up his home and moved to the streets.
Another story is that of Angelika, who worked as a dental assistant for 20 years. But when she gave up her job due to her depression and stopped receiving money from her insurer, she became homeless.
Now 49, she has a one-room apartment again thanks to a pension, but still begs on the street during the day.
"When I've paid for everything with my pension, I have €250 left each month – that's simply not enough," she says.
Kurt says he prefers selling a newspaper to begging. For each one he sells he earns 75 cents.
"I had no idea it would be this hard to get back on my feet," the 44-year-old admits.
Kurt has been living on the street for a year since he suffered burnout and lost his job. In 2017 he says he will "look for a small apartment so that I can get back into normal life again."
"I know I can't give up on myself, otherwise I've lost."
Freezing temperatures pose constant danger to Germany's homeless
Frankfurt authorities are 'trying to drive homeless Roma out of town', says rights group
'Bureaucracy makes you feel like a lowly beggar': surviving on the streets of Berlin
Poland to take more active role in caring for homeless on Berlin's streets
Number of people living on German streets has jumped by a third: report
How Berlin is struggling to deal with growing homelessness in its parks
How this frozen fox became a grim winter warning
Why the 'ugly Christmas sweater' is making waves in Deutschland
How the pandemic is sharpening the plight of Berlin's homeless women
Germany sees temperature rise of record 41.9C in one week
Germany to see temperatures up to 20C after winter freeze
Icy weather causes accidents in Germany as cold spell set to end
IN PICTURES: Germany embraces cold snap amid warnings over icy waterways


Seven bodies were recovered Friday hours after the disaster, after a torrent of mud broke through the dam at the iron-ore mine close to the city of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerias, around 1:00 pm.
By early Saturday the official death toll had risen to nine, local firefighters said, who also doubled the number of people presumed missing from the previous toll to nearly 300 people.
Romeu Zema, the governor of Minas Gerais, told reporters that while all was being done to find survivors, "from now, the odds are minimal and it is most likely we will recover only bodies".
Brazil's new president Jair Bolsonaro, who rushed home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is scheduled to fly over the disaster zone Saturday along with his defense minister.
The mine is owned by Brazilian mining giant Vale. It was involved in a 2015 mine collapse in the same state that claimed 19 lives and is regarded as the country's worst-ever environmental disaster.
Minas Gerais officials obtained a court order blocking Vale's bank account in the state to the tune of $270 million, money that would used for victim relief, according to the G1 news website.
Television images showed people being pulled out of waist-high mud into rescue helicopters, dozens of which were in use by late Friday because land access had been cut off.
Brazil's new government reacted to its first major emergency by launching disaster coordination between the defense, mining and environment ministries and the authorities in the affected state of Minas Gerais.
Bolsonaro's environment minister raced to the area late Friday.
Some of the firefighters used earth-moving machinery to dig down to engulfed dwellings.
Walter Morais, a member of the Red Cross team sent to the disaster zone, told AFP that his relief group "will begin humanitarian actions helping people who were rescued and are homeless".
Schvartsman, who had his two-year term renewed last month by Vale's board, said it was an "inactive dam" that was in the process of being decommissioned that burst apart "very violently, very suddenly".
The Brazil office of Greenpeace, the environmental activist group, said Friday's dam break was "a sad consequence of the lessons not learned by the Brazilian government and the mining companies".
Such incidents "are not accidents but environmental crimes that must be investigated, punished and repaired", it added.


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Plocaederus fragosoi är en skalbaggsart som beskrevs av Martins och Monné 2002. Plocaederus fragosoi ingår i släktet Plocaederus och familjen långhorningar. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Långhorningar
fragosoi

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The ribbon cutting ceremony is led by (from left) Terence Uygongco (President of Excel Feeds), Mr. Dominador S. Co (Executive Assistant of the City Mayor's Office), Ms. Remelyn R. Recoter (Regional Director - Department of Agriculture Region 6), and Mr. Mike Mayoga (from the office of Sen. Cynthia Villar) as the event officially begins.
AGRICULTURE is the focus in the three-day event held and organized by CMB Events–the Iloilo Agriculture & Livestock Expo 2019.
This expo was held at Iloilo Convention Center from March 21-23, 2019. The event features the exhibit of agricultural products and materials. Not only that, but there are seminars that can truly benefit those who seek to gain further agricultural knowledge.
What's best about this is that there is no entrance fee. Anybody can come, see, and purchase the products exhibited, and they can attend seminars without having to pay upon their entrance.
There are more than 100 exhibitors in the expo. Feeds, tools, and anything agriculture-related can be spotted upon visiting the expo. The venue was filled with all agriculture products one can think of. From all corners and spaces, every exhibitor offers something worth your money and attention. These exhibitors include Philippine Foremost Milling Corporation, Prime Agritech Corp., Plastech Industrial Corp. and a whole lot more!
Aside from the exhibit, Ilonggos can truly gain knowledge through the seminars being offered. The topics are taught by experts and these are Natural Biosecurity, Practical Tips on Sow Nutrition and Management, Biosecurity: Your First Line of Defense Against, Swine and Poultry Management and Diseases, Animal Nutrition, Signs of Wean-Ready Piglets, Cutting Edge/Eco-Friendly, Harmless Biocide Solution for Agricultural Treatment, Practical Tips on Market Pig Nutrition and Management, Pork Slaughtering, Pork Cutting and Processing, and Introductory Solar PV.
He added, "Sa moderno na panahon, ga amat amat na dula ang agriculture. Ang iban ga focus na sa iban na business." He also emphasized that the three-day expo is a great way to bring back focus on the agriculture business.
So what are you waiting for? There is no entrance fee, plus you can get a variety of products to choose from and you can attain new learning through seminars conducted.
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Congratulations to our Deputy Manager, Rose Wilson for passing the FGA (Fellowship of Gem-A). Following Samuel Barnett, the first ever to be awarded the Diploma in 1913.
The FGA is the most prestigious international gemmological qualification in the gem and jewellery trade. The Gemmology course gives a more in-depth understanding of gemmology and the principles of gem testing and enhanced gem identification skills.
The FGA Diploma will allow Rose to use the letters FGA after her name, which conveys a student's knowledge, integrity, membership of a professional body and commitment to professional development and is highly recognized within the trade.
During the new industrial age twors the end of the 19th century, the National Association of Goldsmiths (NAG) was created in the interests of jewellers. Protecting jewellery traders in the market place. In 1908 NAG Education Committee was set up to establish gemmological qualifications for the UK jewellery trade, teaching courses and examinations in the study of gemstones at the NAG's annual conference. This marked the start of organised gemmology.
As the study of gemmology grew in popularity a branch of NAG was inaugurated, called the Gemmological Association with provision of education, research and information, and also meant their diploma graduates could be elected to the Fellowship of the Gemmological Association.
During the next 20 years interest in gemstones and diamonds grew that the Gemmological Association of Great Britain began making connections with other associations both hear in Britain and overseas all who wanted to teach the GEM-A Diploma.


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Posted by Darren Zygadlo on January 11, 2023 January 11, 2023
This past week, The Consumer Electronics Show showcased some of the latest and greatest new tech. that is heading our way in 2023.
This years' CES shattered expected attendance drawing over 115,000 industry professionals – marking the largest audited global tech event since early 2020. With over 3200 exhibitors, including 1000 start-ups, CES 2023 showcased the next era of innovation from transportation and mobility to digital health, sustainability, Web3, metaverse and beyond.
Put plainly, CES is the most influential tech event in the world – the proving ground for breakthrough technologies and global innovators. This is where the world's biggest brands do business and meet new partners, and the sharpest innovators hit the stage.
Below, we have compiled a list of the best new products from this years' show.
Withings U-Scan home urine lab
A breakthrough in-home biomarker analysis platform and one of the company's most technologically advanced devices to date, U-Scan is a miniaturized health lab that hygienically sits within any toilet bowl to unlock the wealth of health information in daily urine.
Urine is an extraordinary tool to assess and monitor one's health. It gives an immediate snapshot of the body's balance and is integral in monitoring and detecting a large variety of health information. Withings U-Scan makes it possible to conduct biomarker assessments from the comfort and privacy of a person's own bathroom.
In Europe, the U-Scan Nutri Balance app shows an analysis of specific gravity, pH, vitamin C and ketone levels. The combination of these measurements helps people monitor their metabolic intake to optimize their daily hydration and nutrients. The "actionable" part of that is that the system can recommend workouts, offer dietary suggestions and recipes — all to help health-conscious users achieve their goals. The company points out that U.S. functionality of Nutri Balance may vary, depending on FDA clearance.
Acer eKinekt BD 3 bike desk
What can best be described as a desk combined with a stationary bike, this ingenious device is looking to empower sustainable and healthier lifestyles. The eKinekt BD 3 lets users exercise as they work by using kinetic energy from the rider's pedaling to power the machine and charge devices.
The LCD display and a companion smartphone app provide information to help riders stay on track with their progress during exercise regimes or work periods. Users can seamlessly adjust the bike resistance, seat, and desk height based on desired placement to provide added flexibility and comfort when working or training. The device is equipped with two USB Type-A ports and one USB Type-C port, a bag hook, and a beverage holder for added convenience whether in the office or in the comfort of home.
One hour of constant cycling at 60 RPM on the bike desk can generate 75 watts of self-generated power. The useable energy is then utilized to charge laptops and other devices, so users can get work done and stay active at the same time. The eKinekt's user-friendly companion app provides real-time information to check riding duration, distance and speed, while indicating the estimated number of calories burned and watts generated when pedaling.
Sony and Honda Afeela
One of the most hotly anticipated launches this year at CES was Sony's new electric vehicle. Back in March, the company announced a partnership with Honda and this past week rolled out a prototype called the Afeela, which it developed in collaboration with the chipmaker Qualcomm.
The car will have safety and driver assistance systems from Honda along with entertainment and interactive features from Sony. Screens soak the car's interior, which makes it a massive multimedia entertainment chamber as well as a mode of conveyance. Thanks to Qualcomm's input, Afeela owners will get to process what will presumably be tremendous amounts of road, navigation, and safety information gleaned from their driving.
Inside, the company is working with Unreal Engine graphics technology from Epic Games, the company that produces Fortnite, to design interfaces for the vehicle. There are also 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside the vehicle, some of which are used to detect the condition of the driver to help ensure alertness and safety.
Sony also claims that when you purchase an Afeela, you will be able to post anything from sports scores to Spider-Man animations on your flickering back lights—or maybe just flash them in an angry color when someone cuts you off. Preorders will begin in 2025 and cars will begin shipping in 2026.
A thin-and-light laptop with not one, but two 13.3-inch OLED screens that you can use in a variety of positions. Complete with a kickstand, external keyboard, and a stylus, you can use it as a normal laptop, or you can have two wide screens stacked (such as with a meeting on the top screen and presentation notes below), have two side-by-side vertical screens for maximum productivity, or even lay it flat like a paper notebook, with two pages open in front of you.
In terms of core specs, there are going to be three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, up to 16 GB of RAM, up to 1 TB PCle SSD Gen4 SSD storage, WiFi 6E and a 5-megapixel webcam for video conferencing. It's running on just regular Windows 11, not any special version built for dual-screen devices. However, Lenovo has built all these shortcuts to make it easier to use the two screens together.
The YogaBook 9i is currently scheduled to start shipping in April and hit the shelves by June 2023.
Samsung Premier 4K UST projector
This world first ultra-short throw 8K projector can display an image up to 150 inches wide diagonally and promises to take your entertainment experience to a whole other level!
Featuring four times the number of pixels as a standard 4K projector this new model from Samsung will offer oodles of detail, high brightness and contrast due to a laser light source and a number of advancements to ease the set-up process including automatic focus, automatic keystone and automatic leveling to ensure that the projected image is perfectly optimized for its specific placement and screen.
Complete with built-in speakers with Dolby Atmos, Samsung has packed it with the same Tizen OS that you find in the company's smart TVs, which means it has all the smart features like AirPlay, Alexa, Bixby, G00gle Assistant, Q-Symphony, SmartThings, Samsung Health, Samsung Gaming Hub, Tap View, and more.
Samsung hasn't announced pricing or availability yet. Generally, products that are announced at CES come out in the spring or summer. Pricewise, this will almost certainly not be cheap.
Movano Evie Ring
The Evie ring mostly emulates the Oura Ring Gen 3 experience, but with a stronger emphasis on menstrual health management for people with uteruses. Paired with an adjustable design and portable battery case that can recharge the ring up to 10 times, Evie seems to offer plenty of practicality right out of the gate.
Evie combines health and wellness metrics to give a full picture of one's health: resting heart rate, heart rate variability, SpO2, respiration rate, skin temperature variability, period and ovulation tracking, menstrual symptom tracking, activity profile, including steps, active minutes and, calories burned, sleep stages and duration, and mood tracking. This data is delivered through a mobile app which aims to simplify how data is presented, moving away from complex graphs and charts, and turning biometric data into actionable insights that will help women make manageable lifestyle changes and take a more proactive approach to mitigating the risks of chronic disease.
For example, Evie uses medical grade heart rate and SpO2 data to help identify patterns in her sleep quality and trends in her menstrual cycle, so she can understand her body's natural baseline and over time learn how to feel her best. Because a successful day looks different for every woman, the solution places as much emphasis on recovery as it does activity and encourages women to set goals related to both physical and mental health.
The smart ring is expected to cost under $300 with no added monthly subscription fees and will be available in 2023.
German Bionic Apogee
German Bionic, the robotic exoskeleton start-up behind the Cray X has launched the Apogee, the company's latest and lightest powered exosuit built for commercial and industrial use.
The German Bionic Apogee is a posture protection wearable solution for professionals that work in environments where they're required to deal with heavy equipment or loads to help protect their body. The device works by being attached onto the back and thighs where it will go to work helping wearers reduce load weights by as much as 66-pounds. This will help drastically to reduce fatigue when continuously putting pressure on the body, while also prioritizing ergonomics.
The Apogee is based on the brand's IO architecture to capture, monitor, analyze and report information on the user's ergonomic data directly back to them. This can be performed through the onboard display or audible alerts to let them know if they are moving in unsafe ways.
Phew! That is a wrap. 2023 is sure shaping up to be a year of innovation. Stay tuned for all the latest and greatest product reviews right here. Make sure you subscribe below and follow @onecutreviews on IG, Twitter, FB and Linkedin.
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SubC Imaging's three owners (left to right), Chad Collett, Adam Rowe and Ron Collier, look forward to a successful 2019.
The Titanic is the most famous shipwreck in the world. In 2019, technology built and developed by a Newfoundland and Labrador company will play a part in an important expedition to capture images of the luxury liner that sank about 600 kilometres south of the province on April 14, 1912.
SubC Imaging, a Clarenville-based company, will have its cameras, strobe lights and digital video and recording overlay system placed on a manned underwater vessel that will go to the bottom of the North Atlantic. They'll collect images, video and sonar to assess the decay of the iconic wreck and help document and preserve the history of a ship that may be nothing but rust within two decades. SubC Imaging's cameras will record high definition pictures and video during the expedition led by OceanGate Inc. that will start in June.
That a small company from Newfoundland and Labrador is working on projects like this shows how far it has come since it was formed in 2010. The idea for SubC Imaging came from co-founder Chad Collett, who was working offshore with marine inspection companies but was about to get married and start a family. He wanted a job where he could spend more time with them, and he felt he could develop a better camera than what was being used in the industry.
His solution was to build a prototype camera. After spending a year developing the prototype, he unveiled the 1Cam―still a staple in the firm's product line―and the company became SubC Imaging. The company creates advanced underwater imaging systems that include cameras, lights, lasers, and DVR overlay systems.
Along with Collett and Collier, who joined the company in 2011, Adam Rowe is the other shareholder. With Collett's past work experience in the offshore oil industry, SubC Imaging initially targeted that sector for clients. But within two years the company started to branch out into the ocean sciences market.
The diversification strategy paid off. By 2015 oil prices sunk like the Titanic and the sector went into a deep funk, which Collier says impacted the company's bottom line. However, because SubC Imaging had built a reputation for developing and manufacturing quality, versatile equipment―all of it made in Newfoundland and Labrador―the downturn in the offshore oil sector didn't devastate the company.
Instead, it has thrived. SubC Imaging now has approximately 25 employees and boasts a list of projects that include not only the upcoming Titanic expedition but the search for Amelia Earhart's plane wreckage and a survey of a sunken Australian World War II light cruiser, the HMAS Sydney.
While the oil and gas industry continues to be a significant source of business for the company, Collier says the ocean sciences sector is becoming a big revenue stream as well. An emerging opportunity SubC Imaging is focusing on is the defence industry as navies look for underwater image systems that can help them with port security and mine detection.
Despite being based in Clarenville, it is selling and renting its products all over the world thanks to a network of distributors in Abu Dhabi, Singapore, England, Scotland, Italy, Norway and other locales. He says approximately 70 per cent of the privately-owned company's revenues come from outside of Canada, and there are significant opportunities to grow within Canada and outside the country.


James' decidedly Existentialist leanings may have resulted from his own existential crisis. Soon after completing his medical degree from Harvard, while in a psychiatric ward, James noticed a severely mentally ill patient and was suddenly struck by the fact that he had no idea how thin the line was that separated him from that man. A slight chemical or electrical shift in the workings of his brain could leave him as incapacitated as this unfortunate soul. Fear and uncertainty plunged him into overwhelming anxiety and doubt. A year later James began on what would be a rather long road to recovery. He was reading the definition of human freewill offered by the French philosopher Charles Renouvier when he famously exclaimed, "My first act of freewill will be to believe in freewill." With this statement James took a stand that liberated him from existential doubt and confusion and gave him a profound insight into the role that belief and faith played in human life.
As he saw it, whatever we choose to believe in, or choose not to believe in, will affect the way we act and live and so how we exercise our "will to believe" is of the utmost importance. Belief and non-belief carry equal risk because human life and human activity rests on a foundation of belief. We stand on our beliefs and from there we push off into an uncertain future where the results of our actions will either strengthen our confidence in our beliefs or force us to reconsider them. James came to see the human ability to freely choose what we believe in as the key to life and this conviction lies behind his conception of Pragmatism, his Radical Empiricism and his unwavering defense of the right to believe religiously.
William James delivered an address to students at Yale and Brown University that he called "The Will to Believe" and described as an essay in justification of faith, a defense of our right to adopt a believing attitude in religious matters, in spite of the fact that our merely logical intellect may not have been coerced. This statement reflects James' existential leanings especially in his use of the modifier "merely" in reference to our logical intellect. To the mind of the Western Enlightenment the logical intellect was the ultimate arbitrator of truth. James' essay is a defense of the individual's right to believe in things that are not strictly speaking logically defensible. This somewhat anti-intellectual stance was something shared with his friend the French Philosopher Henri Bergson and it became characteristic of the Existential philosophers of the European continent.
In "The Will to Believe" James explains that some beliefs cannot possibly be proven conclusively through evidence and at the same time we have to either believe or not believe in these ideas. These force beliefs must be decided upon, one way or another, on faith.
Some people James claims take a stance of skepticism refusing to believe what is not proven for fear of believing in a lie. For disciplines like science this stand makes sense. Yet there are issues like morality and human relations which defy which cannot be concluded upon definitively and yet we must take a stand in them. In opposition to the skeptical attitude James describes the stand of what he calls the Radical Empiricist stance in relationship to the uncertainty of human existence. Rather than holding back and waiting for proof James prefers to lean forward into life, accepting the reality that many of our decisions must be made on faith, and doing our best to consciously choose what to believe and then acting whole-heartedly as if their truth was assured. The process of human life is then a relentless affair of jumping consciously yet somewhat blindly into the future and then continually adjusting and readjusting our beliefs. James believes that for social creatures this attitude must be adopted by individuals in order for social order to survive.
I have been reading a bit around Nietzsche -I used to love Zarathustra- because I did not really connect him to existentialism. Reading your blog now about 'James own existential crises' reminded me of that. I was very surprised to find so much existentialism in Nietzsche -the idea that everything needs to bread down in order to be able to create something new (which is also happening in an existential crisis), the idea of ever growing, continuous evolution, creating new values. But what I found is that I not longer like to read (about) Nietzsche (I am not an expert). I used to love his mocking to the crowd, breaking down of all existing values. When I read your blog I see why, it is fundamentally positive, it is gives me the opposite experience as reading Nietzsche. Nietzsche was a very individualistic person with a lot of personal crises which resulted in very brilliant and very funny lines, but it is connected with 'God is dead'. I read Nietzsche myself in time of crises, when there was 'nothing to believe in' anymore. That is why I see how true your blog is, the will to believe. It is totally different, freed of all conformity, of the past, of the dogma's. It is ultimately positive. I have Bergson next to me, next to read.
Didn't both William and his brother Henry have their own struggles with depression that may well have added to that existential consideration?
It might be away from the blog, but being inspired by 'the will to believe' I started reading about Bergson who in talking about 'the real self' mentiones both God and free will. Reading about Bergson, I remembered what Tony Packer said on a retreat. She said; "during our waking state we do exactly the same as when dreaming: we connect images and flashed of thought into a whole, into a story. In a dream the story is totally irrational, but what she said is that for enlightened people the story we create in waking time is just as unreal as the story we create in dreams.
Bergson says that during the day we create stories (pick out relevant aspects) to fulfill the need of our bodies, it is a tool of life. Our mind acts according to the need of our bodies, it is daily self that acts practically as part of a spatially homogeneous universe. He calls this the superficial self; it necessarily expresses itself in worlds and thinks in time, it classifies objects, solves problems. Both our observation and our language try to pick from reality aspects that are relevant for our practical needs, the rest (of reality) it leaves out of the way. Bergson connects the superficial mind with a cinematographic mechanism, it dissolves motion, picks out images and reconstructs them. This is caused by the utilitarianism of our mind. Our intellect produces what would be common to do next (based on knowledge from the past). Science brings this to to highest level: it can predict what is coming, it only deals with repetition. Science looks for elements that are a reproduction of the past. The past only exists in our memory, that is why the superficial self thinks in symmetrical time (past-now -future).
As different from intellect, Bergson mentioned intuition, which is unique and unspeakable; it is about the world as it is, without the utilitarian function of the mind. It is about direct knowledge, which we cannot communicate. Intuitive insight as opposite to analytical thinking. It is real knowledge as opposite to abstract concepts of reality. The real self is not a tool of life, individually or socially, this deeper self cannot express itself in words. This is where we get in touch with Bergon's time as 'durée'. Here time is becoming, it is asymmetrical. Arthur Young on Youtube: 'Bergson argued with Einstein and talked about the asymmetry of time – he anticipated quantum physics. The universe is not a structure in time and space, it is a structure in space that changed through time and you cannot anticipate. Bergson included novelty in becoming, he said there is a perpetual novelty occurring. There are drops of novelty on the line of time. This is why Bergson was rediscovered by process philosophers. Bergsons intuition is an aspect of the universal life force (Eros) that causes evolution, Intuition is the way we feel One with Eros the universal creative life force, that is God. Through intuition we are aware of the Divine impulse in evolution and that is how we understand its function in the existence of the cosmos.


We learn a lot of lessons each year. While all lessons are important, some are far more important than others.
Each zodiac sign has something different in store this year and while they may not realize it, are going to grow tremendously in the months to come. Take a look below for your sign to see what this year might be bringing to you. Be aware of what lessons you are supposed to be learning but don't spend too much time dwelling on how they are going to be learned.
You are going to be brought to a point in your life this year that changes you completely. While you are normally hardworking and strong-willed you will be struggling with this one. You are going to realize that life is sometimes not as organized as you would like for it to be. Unexpected things happen and while you cannot fix them, you have to press through them.
You are going to learn a lot this year but the most important thing you will learn is patience. You have to stop giving up, the longer you stick things out the better they will end up being when all is said and done. Letting go and giving up are very different things and you need to realize that.
You are going to be facing a lot of change this year as well. Your life is going to shift to a completely new direction and it is going to be a bit overwhelming. That being said, the lesson at hand is an important one. You have to learn that not everyone deserves your time. Some people are toxic and cutting ties with them will benefit you greatly.
You need to get out of your comfort zone and learn to just be yourself. This year is going to push you to that and through it. Figure out how to express who you are and everything will get better, I promise.
You are going to be feeling quite down and out for a large portion of this year. The reason for this is that you are finally realizing how unfulfilling being in the spotlight truly is. You are noticing how fake the people around you are and it is really beginning to bother you.
You are coming to a crossroads in your life. You are stuck and unsure of where to go from here. Get out of this depressed state and make a decision, better yourself. You have to learn how to overcome obstacles like this once and for all. Your whole life has been basically a rut and this year is going to change that.
During this year you are going to learn a hard lesson about love. This could be romantic love or love in general. You are always giving too much to the wrong people. There has to be a point where you realize that your needs matter too.
You are someone who tends to let things bother you on the inside without ever making the problem known on the outside. This year you are going to learn to speak up for yourself. You are not going to let your emotions get stepped on anymore.
You are going to be learning to let go during this year. While you are flighty for the most part you hold onto too many people and things in general. Your life is full of movement but you have too much baggage. This is something that has been needing to change for far too long as it is.
You are going to be figuring out a lot this year. Who you are and where you want to go will be coming into perspective but you have to learn to stop letting people hold you back. Sure, you have close friends and family but they shouldn't be controlling you. Your life is YOUR LIFE, you are the only person who gets to be in charge of it.
Your year is going to be hectic and crazy, to say the least. Nothing is going to seem to be going right and everything is going to be a mess. That being said, it will bring you to a lesson that you need to learn. You will be learning how to live a happy life through trial and error. By the time this year comes to an end everything will make sense.
You are going to be getting over your fears during this year. Everything that has been keeping you from chasing your dreams is going to melt away. I know it sounds a bit too good to be true but this year is going to be wonderful to you.


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Barbershopper of the Year
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Trevor Garrabrant ~ Director
Dave Kracker ~ Assistant Director
Jim Frye - Assistant Director
Chordially Yours
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Home » About » Our Directors
Dave Kracker
Dave's familiarity with barbershop harmony began in his childhood as both his parents sang in quartets or choruses for many years. Today, children who have this experience at home and then go on to become a barbershopper themselves are referred to as "barbershop brats". And so, that he is for sure.
Prior to joining SPEBSQSA in late 1961 in Canton, Dave had sung in a youth church choir in Massillon, a high school choir in Canton, and then four more years in a men's glee club at Kent State University.
In 1966, Dave found himself in Mansfield where there was no barbershop chapter at the time, so he sang in the choir at St. Peter's church and with the Mansfield Mastersingers until 1975 when the Mansfield chapter was formed. Dave directed the chorus for its first 22 years and has been as an assistant director ever since. He was honored as Barbershopper of the year in 1994, 1999, and 2005.
For a period of more than ten years, Dave was also a dual member with the Singing Buckeye chorus in Columbus which led to a cultural exchange singing experience in Russia in 1999 and also four national chorus competitions over the years. While active with the Buckeyes, he became very involved in their acclaimed Harmony Camp, a four-day educational experience involving up to 300 choral students per year in the summer months. He served as chairman of the camp for three years and also helped establish a Mansfield chapter scholarship fund for local students who attend the camp.
Quartetting has always been a favorite of Dave's barbershop career. Having sung lead, but mostly baritone, his longest tenure in quartets was with Broadway Limited (10 years) and Home Edition (25 years as of 2013).
Dave says his greatest barbershop pleasures over the years include the honor of directing the Fun Center Chordsmen, introducing men to the joy of barbershop harmonizing and being awarded the Johnny Appleseed District Director of the Year in 1984 and the Barbershopper of the year in 2007.
Dave's hope is to be able to keep singing until the lid on the casket is closed. And even then, he cautions that a note or two may come forth for those with a keen ear!
BHS website
Donation to Harmony Camp!
John Maurer Photography
Krogers Rewards! (Our # is 82228)
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Contact: RF Miller - VP Marketing & PR
Rehearsal Site:
640 Millsboro Rd, Mansfield, OH
Mondays starting @ 7:00 PM
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Inspection team: One adult social care inspector and an expert by experience formed the inspection team. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using, or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type: Nationwide Care Services (Erdington) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to adults living in their own homes.
Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection visit because it is a care agency. We needed to be sure someone would be available to speak with and show us records. Inspection site visit activity started and ended on 11 February 2019. We visited the office location on this date to speak with the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. Phone calls to people and their family members also took place on this date.
What we did: Before we visited the service we checked the information we held about this location and the service provider, for example, inspection history, statutory notifications and complaints. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to CQC by law. We contacted professionals involved in caring for people who used the service, including commissioners and safeguarding staff. We also contacted Healthwatch. Healthwatch is the local consumer champion for health and social care services. They give consumers a voice by collecting their views, concerns and compliments through their engagement work. Information provided by these professionals was used to inform the inspection.
During the inspection: We spoke with five people who used the service and seven family members. We spoke with the registered manager, office manager and five care staff. We looked at the care records of four people who used the service and the personnel files for four members of staff.


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Places to Visit in Sirsi
Sri Venkataramana Temple - Manjuguni
India | Karnataka | Sirsi
#10 of 28 Places to Visit in Sirsi
Distance (From Sirsi): 28 Kms
Visited From: Sirsi
Trip Duration (Including Travel): 1-2 Hours
Place Location: At Manjumani
At a distance of 13 km from Benne Hole Falls, and 28 km from Sirsi, Sri Venkataramana Temple is a sacred Hindu temple situated at Manjuguni in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. It is one of the popular places of pilgrimage in Uttara Kannada, and among the must-visit places in Sirsi.
Located in the Sahyadri Hills, the Manjuguni Temple is dedicated to Lord Venkataramana and Goddess Padmavathi. According to Sri Venkatesha Mahatmya, the founder of this temple is Sri Tirumala Yogi, a saint. It is believed that the Lord of Tirupati settles down here in this temple while traveling around the globe hunting wild animals. Thus the temple is also referred to as Tirupathi of Karnataka or Chikka Tirupathi. During winter, this place will be covered by thick fog, and hence this place is called Manjuguni.
The Venkatramana Temple at Manjuguni is a huge complex built in Vijayanagara style. The temple has a huge Dwaja Sthambha, Bali Peetha, and then the entrance to the main shrine, which includes the facade, the hall, and the Navaranga, Sukhanasi, and sanctum sanctorum of the original temple. The main idol here is assumed to be more than 1000 years old. The special feature of the idol here is that the Lord is holding an arrow and bow as symbols of assurance and protection to the devotees. His consort Goddess Padmavathi is on the right side. Navaranga hall has several pillars decorated with beautifully carved figures of gods and goddesses that attract the attention of every visitor. There is also a small lake called Sri Chakrateertha in the temple complex.
Manjuguni Rathothsava (Theru) is the main festival celebrated here every year in March and is considered one of the biggest festivals in the Uttara Kannada District. Thousands of pilgrims from various parts of Karnataka come to this temple and offer prayers to the Divine couple.
Timings: 6 AM - 12.30 PM, & 4 PM - 8.30 PM
3 Must Visit Places in Sirsi
Sri Marikamba Temple
Sri Mahaganapathi Temple
Sahashralinga
All Places to Visit in Sirsi
All Sirsi Tour Packages
Sirsi Tourism
Sirsi Tour Packages
Best Time to Visit Sirsi
How to Reach Sirsi


This document outlines the FMA's priorities for monitoring reporting entities under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act).
We reviewed the accounting classification and disclosure of financial instruments classified as hybrid instruments listed on the NZX debt market, as at 1 December 2012. This report outlines our findings and recommendations.
This document outlines our priority areas for monitoring and surveillance in 2013.
Key findings from the Authorised Financial Advisers (AFAs) survey, our response and how we would like to take some of these findings forward with industry.
View the Executive Summary of the stakeholder survey conducted by Colmar Brunton on behalf of FMA.
This report details the results of stakeholder research conducted around the time of FMA's establishment in 2011.
These reports present the findings of Cycle 10 - 14 of the New Zealand Securities Commission's Financial Reporting Surveillance Programme (FRSP), which sampled issuers' financial reports dated between 31 January 2009 and 31 July 2010.
The purpose of this report is to inform governing bodies, investors and other stakeholders of our findings so that they can reflect critically on the governance practices and disclosures of issuers.


heres a couple of polaroids from a mini photo shoot i did today. not the most successful due to weather but i managed to get a couple of good shots.
this is a picture of the old street signs, almost hidden due to the 'walkabout' pub sign.


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What's your favorite thing to do to relax?
Besides watching a cheerful movie or reading a good book, I love walking along the beach of a morning or afternoon and watching the waves roll in. I feel very blessed to live so close to the water and to be able to enjoy that stunning scenery every day.
If you could go back in time to when you were seven years old, what wisdom or advice would you pass on to yourself?
There are probably many things I wish I realised much earlier in life, but the main two are:
It is not your obligation to always please everyone, to keep everybody happy and take responsibility for every mistake, accident or bad situation. Don't forget, you deserve happiness, encouragement and compassion as much as all of those people you aim to please.
There is no need to always be perfect or hold yourself so severely accountable when you and your efforts or achievements do not reach the highest level of success. Everyone is flawed. Be proud of everything you achieve in life, not just those that impress the masses.
For what are you most grateful?
I am most grateful for my parents. Without them—their unconditional love and never-ending support—I never would have been able to pursue my dreams.
Now about you as an author…
Did anyone in your life influence you or encouraged you to be a writer? (teacher, family member, friend)
When I was in primary school, I hadn't considered writing as a career until my year 7 teacher told my parents and I that he wanted me to send some of my work into an organisation that held an annual writing camp for young people. Apparently, he'd noticed the flair in my creative writing assignments and believed I had the potential to score a coveted spot at the camp. At the time, I had been writing stories for myself after school, using them as a form of escape and expression. I ended up being chosen to attend and got to meet and be mentored by various Australian authors with national and international acclaim. One of those authors was Narelle Oliver, the award-winning children's book author-illustrator, and seeing her passion, recognising mine, helped inspire me to work toward writing as a career.
Do you have any "must haves" with you while you're writing?
Since I hate working in silence, I must have the television on with some movie or TV show that I know by heart and the volume low enough that the verbal buzz doesn't pull me from focus. Besides my beloved laptop, I also always surround myself with my initial notes, a baby name dictionary, several half-empty "idea" notebooks, my lovely to-do list notepad (which I can't live without) and an assortment of coloured pens. Air-conditioning is also a must as sunny South-East Queensland is subtropical and not always friendly to electronics.
Do you have a common theme or item that appears in each of your books?
Being an ex-swimmer and slightly obsessed with swimming pools, especially as I don't currently have one at home, I have noticed that the majority of my books include swimming pools or water of some kind. I honestly didn't plan from the beginning to have pools or water feature so frequently. It must have just been an odd subconscious addition.
Tell us about your latest release:
How did you decide on your story plot?
Let's just say that the plot of my most recently released novel, Persuading Lucy, was inspired by true events. It's dedicated to my wonderful best friend, with whom I shared an interesting life event that strengthened our friendship and forever changed our relationship with our closest male friend.
How did you choose the location for your story?
I normally choose local Australian locations that I love and frequently visit. The beauty of these places, whether as picturesque scenery, friendly small town or bustling city, always inspires me, prompting story ideas I just can't ignore.
Do you have a character that you identify with? Who and why?
In many of my stories, I tend to identify with my female protagonist's friends, often their best friend. In Persuading Lucy, I connect the most with Lucy's friends Maddy and Steph. I think I feel this way, because the protagonist is often guided by their close friends in a way that is somewhat similar to how I, as an author, guide the story and characters along. I also often like to create those characters, especially those who are best friends with the female protagonist, as a version of the kind of best friend I strive to be.
You can't hide from destiny….
Callum Hawthorne is one of those lucky guys who seem to have it all. He's a wealthy property tycoon, the CEO of his family's company. He's handsome, intelligent and charming and has a gorgeous new woman on his arm every week. But there's one thing still missing – the love of his life, Lucy Spencer.
Fourteen long years ago, Lucy left for college and cut off all contact with Cal, leaving their mutual friend Madison as his only connection. That was until in his effort to save his deceased father's beloved Gold Coast property, The Calypso, Cal contacts Insight Marketing, the best advertising firm in Melbourne, and discovers his Lucy among the team.
Successful marketing executive, Lucy Spencer had managed to avoid her ex-best friend for nearly half their lives. Fearful of trusting him, loving him and having her heart broken all over again, Lucy tries to keep her distance from him, but discovers that there is a fine line between love and hate, and maybe – just maybe – Cal could be her inescapable destiny.
Cal was flabbergasted. What had happened? What had he missed?
Then, distracted by her outburst, he made another mistake and his grip on Lucy's wrist loosened slightly. As if sensing his lapse in control, she used the whole weight of her small frame to jerk herself free of his hold and with a triumphant sigh she began to back away.
"So, you orchestrated this together, did you? What, did you seduce Maddy too? Why can't you just leave me alone?"
Cal's gaze narrowed with concern. "What are you talking about, Luce?"
Worried that she'd run before he had a chance to explain, Cal reached out and took a step toward her. But, Lucy immediately backed farther away, taking two steps for his single stride.
"What did you give her to make her finally tell you where I was?"
Her fiery glare was enough to make his fingers ache to touch her, to soothe her. He hated seeing her in so much distress.
"Nothing." His voice was calm, pacifying. "She didn't tell me."
Lucy frowned and her gaze dropped from his, confusion clearly clouding her expression.
"But I—" She shook her head with irritation and glanced back up at him. "But how did you know that I'd be here?"
Cal smiled as he remembered the moment of pure serendipity, the second he'd seen her gorgeous face on the team's profile page on the Insight Marketing website. Executive Manager Lucy S., it had read. Cal had tried searching the internet for her before, but to no avail. There had always been too many Lucy Spencers and he'd been convinced that she must have altered her name. Yet, this time he'd found her, so simply found her, as though the universe had finally pointed her out to him.
"Fate," he said confidently.
Tammy Mannersly is an Australian author based in Brisbane, Queensland. She loves writing romance, has a fondness for animals, is crazy about movies and enjoys a great Happily Ever After. Her passion for writing started from a very young age and led her to complete a Bachelor Degree in Creative Industries majoring in Creative Writing at Queensland University of Technology. Her novel, Persuading Lucy, is a semi-finalist in the 2018 Chatelaine Books Awards for Romantic Fiction, a Chanticleer International Book Awards competition.
You can find out more information about Tammy and her work on her website: www.tammymannersly.com or by visiting:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tammymannersly
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16935790.Tammy_Mannersly
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tammymannersly/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TammyMannersly


Lawns can benefit from calcium carbonate applications.
The question of whether calcium carbonate is good for lawns depends entirely on what kind of soil you are working with. Calcium carbonate, usually in the form of limestone, can be applied to lawns as a means of raising soil pH, or making it less acidic. If your soil is already at an appropriate pH, this is unnecessary. But if the soil has a low pH, then applying calcium carbonate can be beneficial to the lawn.
The pH scale measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is. The measurement stands for the potential of hydrogen in water, as acidity is affected by the number of available hydrogen ions in a solution, including soil. The scale ranges from 1 to 14, though most plants grow within a few pH points of 7.0, which is neutral. Soil with a higher pH is more alkaline, whereas soil with a lower pH is more acidic.
In the landscape industry, acidic soils are often referred to as "sour," while alkaline soils are known as "sweet." As a rule, turf grasses prefer sweeter soils -- usually between 6.5 and 7.0 -- which means they do not tolerate highly acidic growing conditions. Since many soils in their natural state are slightly acidic, and less frequently highly acidic, the earth may need serious amendment before turf grasses will flourish. Calcium carbonate, though not the only method of increasing alkalinity in lawns, is a commonly used one.
Calcitic lime and agricultural lime are both good sources of calcium carbonate. To determine your need, first establish the ideal pH level for the particular turf grass species you would like to grow. Then, using a soil test kit, determine the pH level of the soil in which you would like to plant a lawn or are already growing one. Using these numbers, you can figure out how much you need to apply in order to raise the pH the appropriate amount.
Ideally, you would apply lime when you are planting the lawn, but as this is not always possible, you can apply it on top of a pre-existing lawn in the fall, winter or early spring, moving from most to least desirable application times. Loosely speaking, the lower your pH is. the more lime you need. You also need more lime for clay soils than for loam, and more for loam soils than for sandy ones. For sandy soil at a pH of 6.0, for instance, you would need about 2 pounds per 100 square feet to raise the pH to 6.5. Mix lime thoroughly into the top 6 to 8 inches of soil.
Moore, Sarah. "Is Calcium Carbonate Good for Lawns?" Home Guides | SF Gate, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/calcium-carbonate-good-lawns-76695.html. Accessed 25 April 2019.