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Category: Street
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but few words
I want to tell you, now.
To make up for never telling you then.
The way I repent now.
For the kind of person I used to be.
And go through days looking for a way to make my spirit whole. But I'm coming around to the idea that there's no one waiting at the gate. It's just me again.
And I keep trying to chip away at the most substantial things. I think of ways to get rid of things, and friends.
The only reason I don't sever ties with my family, because I'm weak or I love them.
Everyone else seems to boil away into vapor.
It's funny what you can accomplish without trying, or caring.
But who am I anyway? I can feel it in my hand sometimes, the muscles going slack, like just before darkness and sleep.
I could probably lose my cell phone. Get a simple phone plan that only accepts calls. Live on rice and water. Fast four days out of the week. Read more books.
Try to think in verse.
I could probably lose the people I talk to, who talk back out of convenience, but don't really care.
Hell, I don't really care either.
It just feels like something is being let go.
I think about how I don't talk to anyone at work, besides my manager, and maybe one or two other people that require talking to.
The Dao says "To use but few words is natural."
After food, water, clothing, and shelter, what do you need? A bit of conversation? Some basic distractions, meaningless banter?
It seems like the harder a conversation is to come by, the more precious it is held.
Over years, and growing more golden with age, becoming a cherished thing you only once knew.
Wherever they go, wherever they've been, and whatever might have come to pass, I wish them the very best.
Under your skin there's an animal that wants out. Something basic and mean. But something pure and honest, too. Held in check by shreds of morality and scraps of ethics. All the shit they put in your head to program you.
Split me right down the middle, divide me up into the good and the bad.
Feel like you're drowning in the everyday barrage, the sharp buzzing distraction of emails, text messages, chit chat, and bitter memories. Try to block it out with music and art and hear or see nothing. But people still prying their way back through the shutters.
"People were doing it for ages before cell phones," someone says. "If you get lost, you'll probably figure it out."
Makes you wonder how much you could get rid of.
Late at night, eyes closed and waiting for sleep to come creeping in, I think of living alone in the wilderness. Far from any town.
A gun to hunt.
Pen and paper to write.
Not much else.
A bank account to see me dead. Whatever comes after, let someone else bear witness.
Under : Photography, Street
SCENE PLAYING OUT
It's just a scene playing out.
Over and over again.
You can feel your brain coming out of your skull. You can feel your jokes landing flat. You can feel the impasse, the general failure to communicate.
I wish someone had prepared me. "Prepare to be alone. Prepare to be unable to relate to other people. Prepare to live in solitude. Prepare to be rare, and different. Prepare to be gifted or retarded – it's the same thing here. Prepare to be set apart."
That's what it feels like. A stranger even to people I think I know. Still too weird to make it work. I'm always lost.
I hate crowds. They make my skin crawl. Lines and busy restaurants. All the people pushed up against one another. Or worse, glued to phones.
Like vegetables. Like statues, or dolls. Empty and bereft of life.
It's a feeling. It's just a scene playing out. A train sliding by. Too quick to be caught. Speeding on to the next station.
It's a feeling. Means nothing. Adds up to zero. Let it go.
People want to leave their mark. But that's not art. The cavity your body leaves in reality is your legacy. An empty apartment. Faded photos of a person who never comes around. A name you only dust off in remembrance.
I don't like it, the lines. The sewer water they freeze into ice cubes, then serve up with your drink so you can taste it there, too.
Seltzer.
Stupid boring people always want to get fucked up. I find myself there whether I want to or not. Sometimes it's good to feel out of it and sober. Maybe it's a chemical imbalance. Not enough calcium or something. Maybe I'm depressed. Maybe tonight is the night.
Sometimes I think, maybe I'm not even here. And I take photos to prove to myself that I exist. Long after I've taken them, they seem to mean something else.
But the events that pass by still feel like nothing. Just a scene playing out. Something underpinning your being, Your existence, the thing that assures you: you are.
Incurable.
Can't change it. Embrace emptiness. And cultivate it.
Unbalanced. Crazy and lonely. Sick, and over time, getting sicker. Faithless, til finding faith in Nothing. The dim flickering hope that at the end of a road awaits some reward.
Artful people make Art that looks like Art, to be sold as Art. Meanwhile artists make real shit.
If something would be beautiful, crass and cruel folks scuttle by and pluck it up and put it on a high shelf.
But I want to find the people who look at it and drink it in for a moment, before moving on. Or who wake in the night, recalling a prior vision. But who left it there, untouched, unplucked, knowing it isn't something to be owned.
I want to find people who still have souls. Who still think, and think they can be better, if only practicing a little restraint.
I want to find the people who know the way, but never call it.
Why do you have a camera? She asks.
"He always has a camera." Someone tells her.
I always have a camera, I tell myself.
The things that make you unique aren't named. They're something asleep in the dark, deep inside your chest. Or locked away inside your head. Bringing them up, they seem to evaporate into thin air, appearing lost. But you never had the words to bring them up in the first place.
You're a dash or an ellipse. Negative space between two black lines.
But it's the emptiness of a vessel that makes it of use.
Masculine Spelling
"Does your cousin have any allergies?" I ask.
Garrett looks at me for a moment, his eyes digging into my face and mouth, searching for some trace of a punchline.
"Um, carrots. And eggplant." The briefest of pauses.
"And some nuts."
My face cracks into a huge grin. "You're too easy man, it's like shooting fish in a barrel," I tell him.
"What? You're gonna say 'but not deez nuts', right?" His voice drips with a comical irritation. It grows in pitch, sharp and pointed towards me.
"I would have told him 'your words, not mine'" Tom tells me, laughing.
He asks if Garrett is coming to dinner. "I mean, if he is, you want me to clean up around the apartment, bro?"
Maybe…if Olivia comes too…then let's roll out the red carpet.
But I'd be too ashamed if a woman came by. Four seats in the entire apartment, the accumulated mismatched ensemble of countless residents, coming and going over the years.
I keep telling myself that I'll buy furniture. But then other things pop up. And those other things seem to deserve more attention and money.
Maybe when you die, you realize it. You realize, "I died". And everything else after that is just fighting sleep. Maybe you could spend five years fighting that feeling, the feeling of being right on the edge, and drifting off.
Other times, the feeling of just too much to do before the lights go out.
Days of work, and days of errands, duties, obligations. Days of commitments, engagements, and obsessions.
Late nights listening to sad songs. Smoking and drinking in the moonlight. Alone. All along.
Everyone is the victim in a love story.
Stay gone.
Leaves have fallen. Snow comes now. On the other side, the green tidings of spring and another year.
Conversations of Getting Better, conversations that mean nothing. Tell a joke to laugh, to slip away from the seriousness for a minute. But that's what people always come back to. The progressive march towards a towering gate, torches blazing there on either side. On the arch above, the word: Success.
I feel sorry for so many people, but mostly my friends and lovers. And the people I know who might be interesting if they weren't so busy trying to gain an inch of ground.
Miss Rich by a few minutes, maybe. Already gone to physical therapy. An empty bed and a window looking down on cold streets.
"Tell him Carroll stopped by," I instruct the nurse, after she asks if I want to leave a message.
She peers over the top of her glasses as she writes it down, incorrectly spelling it.
"C-A-R-R-O-L-L" I spell it out for a customer on the phone.
"Like the masculine spelling…" the man says.
For some reason, I can't sleep. Not ready yet, maybe. Not slipping off the edge of consciousness. Not sinking into the dark.
My eyelids just won't close.
I think, and the thoughts dredge up emotions, and from there it all goes to Hell in a handbasket.
A breadcrumb trail, back to a place full of creaking floorboards and cobwebbed clocks.
It's my own laughter that I can hear.
It's what you do that comes back to hurt you.
Soaking in the feeling, of another book coming to an end. The flutter of pages, the whisper of a closed cover, the silence of finality.
High L\ife
They say everything worthwhile requires sacrifice.
Now Abraham dragged Isaac up that hill, to speak as much.
In the corridor of days, it makes about as much sense. In the sound that still gets through. Air being pushed up out of the dark underground.
Missing sleep until it's something that comes and goes. Vision blurry and out of focus. Mind not working right. Coming and going, like bad wiring. Kill it with booze and cigarettes.
I've been feeling rotten and reptilian, but only when I read scripture, or other religious or philosophical texts.
Never when I'm in the simple day-to-day, in the mode of working, and coming and going from work.
The way her voice sounds, soft and sweet. "For sure," she says in answer. It rolls off of her tongue.
Like an animal, what I would do.
I crack my neck and knuckles waiting for my stop at West 4th. I feel like I'm coming alive, my head breaking the slimy surface of a black pond.
Rising up. My eyes roll up and focus on the light above me.
Somewhere up there, I think.
My little brother tells me he wants a copy of the print I gave to our mother.
But what good is art if you give it to everyone?
The same thing, done well, over and over again, becomes cheap, and ordinary.
After days of obsessing about models and projects, they seem to like what I've done.
But what I did is just everything except what I didn't do.
The part you hide away from everyone probably wants to get out, too.
Eventually you'll tear yourself in two. Right down the middle.
The holidays are right around the corner and already my body begins to slow down. One by one, the lights go out in all the rooms. And my brain grows darker.
One day Garrett laughs about stupid nu-metal lyrics he found online.
The next day I come clean about asking his ex girlfriend to work with me.
I never know how to factor anyone else into the equation. In my mind, when I do the math, there's me and there's a camera, and a woman, and photographs. Everything else is just interference.
Some nights I sit at the bar and stare into a glass and drink in the static. All the mindless chit chat. All the wasted minutes and hours and days and years.
"You're lucky because you got out early," Garrett confides.
"Smartest thing I ever did," I tell him. But sometimes I wonder if I had that piece of paper, and I was just another fucking idiot brainwashed by the American Education System, if things would be easier.
If ignorance is really bliss, maybe stoogery is only a slight downgrade.
At night I edit photographs for a job. And in between the looks is a Look. I know it means nothing.
I'm just at the point where anything could seem like something.
Tilt my head back until it pulls at my throat. And the tension begins to drip down my spine. Wipe the sleep from my eyes. And brain.
Not yet. Not yet.
Photographing stains on the subway. And on the platform when the train comes, I think about killing myself.
Just a thought. What will I have for dinner tonight? Hey, photograph that stain. You know, you could jump in front of that train.
Life is getting easier. The less you talk, the more that fades, the smaller the circle gets and the colder you feel. Maybe depression gets worse, too, this time of year. But if you're a man, who the fuck cares?
Holidays and the biblical flood of imbeciles it brings to the streets. The cold. The general bullshit and misery of the holidays. The invitations of family, invitations that force me to question whether I really can't make an appearance, or if I simply want to remain away from warmth.
But then I wonder if anyone really wants to see me, and I begin to think it's all some big lie or joke. Like they're all in cahoots with one another – to make me think I'm part of something I'm not.
But I've always felt that way, about everyone.
"Tomorrow is another day," Tony says. Then he utters his goodbyes and melts into the night.
I stare up at empty windows.
And I rake my brain for a reason.
Under : Street, Uncategorized
Planet Rose
It feels like a narrow spit of land, growing narrower.
It feels like being swallowed up by water.
Losing touch with something bigger.
Always the right thing – what you want to say, what you never do.
Every night, in the red glow of city lights, I think of going wandering.
If I spend time with people, we will talk bullshit. And I'll make a fool of myself for a laugh. But things will wind down and slow to a halt.
Eventually, I will be alone, taking the A Train back home.
Maybe everything is written. And there's really no room to move, outside of a narrow track.
Robbing you of complicity, or at least agency.
But I think each one of us can make some difference in the world. Each one of us can choose what life we live, or at least how to view that life.
And sometimes I think the two aren't all that different.
I miss the forests. The mountains I used to hike in. The sunlight through the trees. Everything laid out before you, youth was a mystery. Nothing could hold us down.
Now I'm maybe halfway or a third-of-the-way done. It feels too far along.
And every time I try to talk to anyone, I find it harder and harder to recall familiar territory. We're just strangers now, who remember one anothers' names. But there's no ritual left to follow, and every sacrifice feels forgotten.
In time, everything dissolves.
I kiss the top of Salma's head as we stand on the platform waiting for the L.
"He only went ahead of us because he knew that I was with you. He wouldn't have done it otherwise," I tell her.
"How can I repay you? Can I buy you dinner? Some ramen? Carroll, let me buy you some sweet-ass ramen."
I tell her not to worry, that she's cool, so she kisses me on the cheek.
"I bet you didn't expect your night to end like this," Lamia says, as the three of us follow behind, through a construction zone.
But I never know how it's going to end. Sometimes I never even know where I'm at, much less in which direction things are headed.
Maybe two days after I text him, Garrett responds. And I wonder if he's angry.
But it doesn't matter; I'm angry at myself.
"You are a good man. So things are going to come harder for you." Salma says, dragging on my cigarette.
"What makes you think I'm good?" I ask, feeling a little defensive.
"The minute you start talking about your nieces, a woman is going to know – come on, Carroll, you're good."
"I'm not that good," I protest.
Thoughts spring up in my head, leaving me feeling rotten inside.
But even a person like me feels a sense of right and wrong. So I don't touch Salma.
But when she puts a hand on my arm, it burns.
Obscene thoughts.
Rotten inside.
I'll go out into the night and wander.
Listen until it becomes unbearable. Open your senses until it hurts.
Like a dog sniffing at city streets. Every drop of sound. Every stab of light. But nothing left to remain loyal to.
In the gutter, you can only go up.
Everything beautiful will break your heart.
Even as my eyelids seem to close, the train pulls into the station at Franklin Avenue. With some last vestige of energy, I hazily exit the train and go up to the street.
Is it really 4 am?
Everything is closed, shuttered, cold and dark.
I feel like the last person in the world.
Under : Street
2 am phone calls
Up late aching for that 2 am phone call.
You know the kind.
Yearning with a heart you didn't know you still had.
I yearn with my teeth clenched through strange dreams.
I rail against the knowing that we never got close enough.
Now everything feels too late, and too far along. But maybe there's a little crazy left in the tank.
What would you do to become unstuck? In that moment.
"Maybe you should go make someone else uncomfortable," a friend tells me.
And I can feel something break down in that moment.
In reflections in windows, I see it too.
"He's ugly," she says. But a soulless kind of ulgy. A hopeless kind of ugly.
A concrete knowing, something never coming undone. Scathed and raw. Arching your back in the moonlight. Gross and misshapen.
I could scream in the light of a full moon.
Scream until your throat bleeds.
Does it even matter? What's the difference now, between the good life you live and the sinful existence you want? What good is virtue if it's a struggle for you?
Wouldn't it be better to be real and rotten?
No one's even looking.
Let em try it.
Like a gun to the head.
Some people don't know. How close it really is to the surface.
Some things move in perpetual shadow.
I can feel my teeth aching for something to sink into. I can feel my lungs aching for something to soak up. I can feel my fingers itching for someone to caress. I can feel my eyes aching for lines to follow, contrast to discern, colors to bleed.
I can feel that 2 am phone call. I can feel silence coming down like storm clouds. I can feel something turning away in my chest.
Steeped in night. It seeps into my pores and mixes with the sweat oozing out, into the night air.
The lights. The sound.
Moving slowly, as though in a dream. Like when I was young, and I would wade into the surf.
Wandering around in circles that spell out nothing.
And then realizing, deep down, that nothing has changed. That you're still the same.
On the train, the eyes like mine that look back. No words, no nothing.
I can lean my head back against the metal and feel every shudder and shake.
It's just pain and then you die.
Until then, you'll go on. Following it.
Something glimpsed through a door, a key hole, a window.
Something never spoken.
Something held secret.
Something held dear.
And never uttered.
Over cobbled streets. Through public parks and gardens. Past large empty buildings, cold and ornate, like tombs. By fences and plywood walls with advertisements for brothels and cigarettes.
In Berlin, I quickly break vows. My will, so strong back in New York, seems to buckle and disintegrate beneath the pressure of a new city.
And Berlin feels that way – new. It feels that way even as you pass the old buildings, with new scaffolds all around, harbinging a new spurt of construction that will bring new homes and new people to fill them.
The art is new and fresh, too. Not the shock that they sell on the streets or in the shops, but the tags and graffiti the kids put up at night.
Some of it is even written in English – the new Latin.
I find excuses to be alone and wonder where my feet will lead me. For a moment I follow this person, then that one. And it's not long before I'm just walking anywhere,
And I could disappear.
I think about how slippery of a slope it is, to go walking, and then have a thought just pop into your head that you could disappear in a place like this. No need to let anyone know. Sell what you have and get a plane ticket.
People must do it all the time.
Never heard of again.
Tell people a new name. Tell people a new story. No one will ever know.
The train comes surging into Stadtmitte. I get on and watch the girl across the aisle who watches me, in between starts and fits of conversation with a friend.
Down the platform and down the steps. To the street. Where Tony and I stand, waiting for the gates to open.
It's an odd sensation.
When I am alone, I walk and look for cracks. For a place I might skip into, or through.
From windows above, a child watches me.
And people come and go around me as I pause to photograph some piece of vandalism. Like an edying stream, they pass on.
But the more I see, the more I look and take it in, the more I feel a need, welling up in my chest and clawing up my throat, to get out and shoot, shoot, shoot.
Ideas need to be formed. Projects thought up, sure. But at the heart of that mania is an impetus to go out and do. On shoestring budgets. Bartering if need be. And when everything else should fail, roaming the streets at night like a wild dog.
Maybe at thirty I am already past middle age. Maybe I don't have all that long left to leave a mark, to reach someone, to be truly heard, seen, or felt.
There is nothing to delay. The important thing to do now is to keep shooting.
No matter what comes.
Every spare moment. Every nickel and dime.
And just keep shooting.
Teeth Marks
There isn't enough time in the day anymore.
There isn't enough room in the weeks or months or years. I begin to feel claustrophobic, and move with a manic energy.
A sickness.
It knocks me out for days. A full week.
It's a general feeling, one of degradation and corruption. The feeling of being unable to breath, and coughing until I cough blood.
Fall asleep with the lights on, wondering if someone's going to find me dead.
I have a sneaking suspicion there's something very wrong with me.
But I've always felt that way.
At West 4th Street I keep looking for a dead rat, like the one I saw months ago, lying between the tracks. While commuters stood by, waiting for a train.
My boss tells me I should stop eating pork because some doctors somewhere found a parasitic worm in a woman's brain.
For a minute, I feel like telling him there's worse shit in my brain.
But why bother? It's always something with that guy – pork, cigarettes, or whatever else doesn't fit inside the Muslim religion.
Even as I get better, I begin to entertain notions of slipping back down the slop I just crawled back up.
I think about how good it feels to feed addiction, and that kind of ecstasy I can only feel with the poison leaning in to take my last bit of life away.
You know you're a fucking addict when you have to face the prospect of an eternity without the thing you want most.
Every moment from now on – in every room of every day, from the minute you wake until the darkness comes over you, that crushing crippling suffocating emptiness of never knowing it again. Until you die and cease to feel anything at all. Just estrangement.
Feel that.
Counting money and cleaning up my too-large-and-too-empty apartment. Standing naked in my living room late at night with the lights turned out, staring out at empty Brooklyn streets like a savage.
I make plans to visit my little brother and his wife and their daughters. My boss makes plans to fly to Germany for a business trip. "What do you think?" he asks.
Something to break up the monotony.
The same day playing on repeat. Wake up, get dressed. Go outside and sweat. Walk to the train. Stare into space and try not to think about anything.
Images images images.
New ideas come about, as I sit back and count money inside my head.
Pretty soon now.
And sitting next to me, the spectre of my addiction.
Some dice to roll, some odds to beat, a vice to crumble beneath.
Looks at a coworker I want to talk to. But don't know what to say.
Give everyone the cold shoulder. Nose down, minimal brain activity. No jokes and no small talk.
The day flies by and it's back to the streets and subway.
Then home. To ramen and water. Ramen and water. Ramen and water.
If I get ten more years, I'll spin it into twenty.
If I get twenty more years, I'll spin it into forty.
If I get half the chance, I'll piss it all away to feed that addiction again.
I'll die young, and sick. You'll see the teeth marks in my skin.
Maybe they'll say: what a shame.
Everything Sucks
"It's messy and complicated and it's doing everything it can to just be a song."
Garrett is talking about making music outside the store as I smoke a cigarette. He's waiting for his date to show up. I am waiting for I-don't-know-what.
Finally my cigarette burns away. I take a sip of coke and wonder how to excuse myself.
And then Salma shows up.
Out of Night
Rising out of night like a bad dream.
She introduced me to her boyfriend twice.
Why? I wanted to ask. Why would you do that?


text:
Buy a brick or two
Published 10:38 am Wednesday, July 12, 2017
By Staff Report
If the vast number of people who pick up this newspaper on a weekly basis or visit our website daily were to each purchase two bricks for $5 for the new Charlotte Court House Volunteer Fire Department, the building would have brick on its four exterior walls within about an hour with enough leftover to erect a new sign indicating the presence of the new fire house.
We encourage those who live, work and play in Charlotte County to rally behind the volunteer agency and purchase bricks for the new structure in efforts to have its facade match that of the historic character of Charlotte Court House.
According to a press release from the fire department, volunteers are seeking donations to purchase bricks for the sides of the 7,200-square-foot building.
"Its central location will help the department respond quickly in all directions," officials said in a press release. "The new building is white. In order to help it blend in with the historic character of Charlotte Court House, plans are proceeding to brick it. The chosen brick matches that on the David Bruce Building (the old Health Department) in size and shape. The mortar color will be the same as well. The details over the windows and doors will be copied from those at Randolph-Henry with a buff keystone center. The present challenge is funding the project."
According to the release, $5 purchases two bricks. "Over 20,000 bricks are needed to complete this project."
According to project leaders, donations may be sent to the Charlotte Court House Town Office, P.O. Box 246, Charlotte Court House, VA, 23923.
"If you would like to make a donation in memory or honor of someone special, note that on your donation. A display will be created in the fire house documenting these gifts," officials said.
We thank the organizers and those working behind the scenes of the project for supporting our volunteer firemen — one of our community's greatest assets — and encourage the community to do the same through helping brick the community's newest fire house.
From the Editor's Desk — The 'local stuff' matters in Charlotte County
Big Tech steamrolls newspapers
Editorial — Time to support local news is now
Editorial — Bipartisan budget good for Virginia

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Don't Be a Boardroom Mushroom
10 Alternative Foodservice Formats Impacting the Restaurant Industry
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Are We Relevant?: Questions to Ask During a Restaurant Brand Audit
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Industry Facts
Aaron Allen » Insights » How to Prepare for A Private Equity Restaurant Investment
How to Prepare for A Private Equity Restaurant Investment
The private equity world is currently a sellers' market, but this won't last long. High asset prices, intense competition among bidders, and ongoing geopolitical instability have made deals harder and harder to come by, meaning that there's lot of dry powder looking for safe — and profitable — homes. (In fact, our consultancy has been approached by $3–$4b in buy-side private equity looking for actionable restaurant investments over the last year.) But, with a new recession likely by 2020 and the pace of exits slowing, both high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and institutional investors may begin to shy away from private equity.
Restaurants looking to attract investments should start preparing now in order to secure capital while the market still favors their position.
Signing a deal with a private equity firm can mean a substantial difference in a restaurant operation's valuation, which can have profound effects on the organization. Not only do PE organizations provide the funds necessary to optimize operations, expand into new markets, or build and deploy prototypes, but they also come with extensive management and analytic expertise to guide their partners through these new stages of development.
But the process has its risks. The investment and restaurant teams may disagree on how to reach their goals, as private equity managers might prioritize short-term growth over long-term employee and supplier relationships. Even when buyer and seller agree on strategy, deals can fall apart over valuations, financial records and models, operational stumbling blocks, and organizational challenges.
When done correctly, raising capital from a private equity firm can launch a restaurant operation into its next stage of growth. With shared values, beliefs, goals, and objectives, individual firms come together, the sum of their efforts becoming far greater than its parts.
This guide, which includes an overview of the private equity world and a six-step process to get a restaurant transaction ready, will help the executive team spot red and yellow flags, find good strategic fits, and make the most informed decisions about their companies' futures.
Step 1: Recruit External Experts Who Understand the Process
Most large enterprises — not to mention startups — don't file taxes without consulting multiple internal stakeholders and recruiting some external help. Private equity deals will likely have a more significant impact on a restaurant's long-term success than any one year of tax returns, so a similarly rigorous approach is needed before embarking on a capital-raising venture.
Here are the key members of the sell-side deal team:
Internal stakeholders to make sure the deal aligns with the organization's key values
An attorney to vet letters of intent and bids while offering sound advice about the regulatory environment
An investment banker to help write the pitch book and scout potential investors
A sell-side advisor with experience in restaurant investments to guide the company through each step of the process, help them understand the private equity marketplace, and provide unbiased opinions about the organization's financial, operational, and commercial position
Step 2: Define Deal Breakers Before Taking Bids
Receiving an investment offer is validating: it demonstrates that the investors see the same potential the restaurant operation as its executive team. Combine those positive feelings with the sunk-cost fallacy — which makes humans more likely to make a bad decision after they've spent significant time and money in a process — and you could have a recipe for disaster.
Before putting themselves in that situation, a restaurant's deal team should determine what they want to get out of an investment or sale — and what will make them walk away. Key questions include:
Where will the restaurant be in five to ten years? How do the founder, CEO, and other key players fit into this future?
What's the opportunity? What will create big returns for the restaurant and its new investors?
What kind of partnership supports these goals? Does the executive team want a silent partner or a hands-on collaborator? Will they offer a controlling or minority stake?
What's the lowest acceptable investment?
The sell-side deal team should treat these answers as a kind of constitution, helping them recognize a bad deal for what it is, whether it becomes obvious early in the process or moments before closing.
Step 3: Look for Investors with Similar Values, Goals, and Beliefs
Private equity firms spend a lot of time looking for and studying potential investments before contacting the target organization. Restaurants looking to raise capital should do the same.
When evaluating potential investors, the executive team should consider:
The fund's experience in foodservice
The size and outcome of previous investments and acquisitions
Regional expertise
Strategic orientation
The last point is perhaps the most important. In an ideal scenario, the restaurant and its PE partners have the same goal in mind and agree on the steps needed to get there. By their nature, however, private equity firms are focused on bringing up valuation — if they don't, they aren't meeting their investors' needs. The executive team might end up feeling that some of its priorities, often employee and supplier relationships, are being minimized.
A sell-side advisor can help operators spot these red and yellow flags, ensuring that the restaurant's concerns are addressed before it's too late.
Step 4: Determine Valuation Ratios to Ensure a Fair Purchase Price
There are two ways to make money on a sale: you can buy low or sell dear. When PE firms focus on improving performance and growing a company, they are ensuring that they can sell their stake at a profit. But they also want to buy low, because that will only increase the return on their initial investment.
To ensure it receives a fair offer, a restaurant should determine its value in advance and not let the buy-side deal team control this part of the conversation. Especially important in this process is assessing the value of intangibles, which include intellectual property (recipes, proprietary ingredients, training programs), brand recognition, and customer loyalty.
The four most common techniques for calculating a restaurant's value are:
Discounted Cash Flows
Run rates
Analyzing previous PE deals involving similar companies
Benchmarking the valuation of publicly traded restaurants with similar qualities, such as location, size, and segment
Each has its drawbacks. Cash flows don't include intangible value, and run rates are based on current performance. Neither can account for hard-to-predict changes that can radically affect revenue. For example, when Blue Apron went public in June 2017, it initially planned to offer shares between $15 and $17. But Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods scared off investors, dropping prices to $10, essentially cutting the meal-kit service's valuation by a third.
Private equity deals are, well, private, and the valuations of publicly traded companies go up and down based on market forces. To make sure volatility isn't a factor, benchmarked valuations should be cross-referenced with other methods.
Once a company settles on enterprise value (EV), it will want to calculate valuation ratios, such as EV/EBITDA, EV/EBIT, or EV/Sales. These figures give potential partners a clear picture of the operation's profitability.
Looking at publicly traded restaurants in the US, it's easy to see why there's been so much private equity activity in the foodservice industry.
Since 2008, the median valuation ratio has doubled from 5.3x to 10.9x. Some big winners — like Wingstop and Shake Shack — are even posting multiples in the thirties. (For some stunning valuation figures, look at the food delivery sector.)
Financial advisors on sell-side restaurant deals can help calculate value effectively and assess if the timing is right, so that sellers neither leave too much on the table nor scare off potential investors.
Step 5: Performing Sell-Side Due Diligence Will Surface Obstacles
Investment firms conduct multiple rounds of due diligence, digging into the target company's financial history and future, the industry and market landscape, and its operational strengths and weaknesses. Restaurants seeking private equity financing should do the same before considering any offers.
Having a clear view of an organization's finances and operations, not to mention key industry and market indicators, allows the executive team to identify — and correct —obstacles to the transaction before potential investors discover them on their own.
Proper documentation also streamlines the due diligence process, an incredibly important moment in the investment timeline. Having business plans, pitch decks, balance sheets, corporate agreements, promissory notes, cash flow and income statements, and term sheets provides transparency and protects the sell-side enterprise from last-minute changes.
At the same time, it lets potential investors know that the sell-side team is knowledgeable and confident. This can greatly impact the path of negotiations, because the fund managers will recognize that they are dealing with equals.
Step 6: Use Teasers to Attract the Right Kind of Investors
Once a restaurant has conducted a thorough self-study, locating areas of opportunity and mitigating risks, it's time to start shopping for offers. An investment banker can help write a teaser, a short document that describes why the restaurant will make a sound investment.
The teaser should approach the opportunity from the perspective of the private equity firm, addressing these questions:
What makes the target an attractive investment?
How would its assets and intangibles — which include market share, technology, intellectual property, and expert managers, staff members, and workers — contribute to a firm's growth strategy?
What aspects of the current operation can be leveraged to produce both long- and short-term value enhancements?
How would this deal fit in with the firm's overall strategy?
How will the funds be used? How will the investment affect future plans and forecasts?
What gaps in management or the business plan will private equity be expected to fill?
What are the risks? What risk mitigation strategies can we devise?
What's the exit plan?
Private equity firms will then contact the banker and ask for a Confidential Information Memorandum, which will include more information about the restaurant.
The investment period will likely extend for a few more months, but these advance preparations will speed things along. Recently, some private equity firms have been cutting their due diligence timeframe almost in half, from two to four weeks. (This speed-up likely reflects the difficulty PE firms are having making deals, but from our perspective, it's not in the best interests of either party.) Regardless of the deadline, having these documents ready will make the process easier and instill potential investors with confidence.
The team of external advisors, now experts in the restaurant's history, operations, and goals, will guide the internal deal team through the buy-side due diligence process, negotiations, and closing.
Custom Restaurant Industry Research
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ABOUT AARON ALLEN & ASSOCIATES
Aaron Allen & Associates is a leading global restaurant industry consultancy specializing in growth strategy, marketing, branding, and commercial due diligence for emerging restaurant chains and prestigious private equity firms. We help restaurant operators and investors make informed decisions, minimize risk, and maximize sustainable value. With experience on both the buy- and sell-sides of transactions, we have a robust understanding of trends and factors impacting restaurant chains and private equity funds around the world. We help protect, enhance, and unlock value throughout every phase of the investment lifecycle. Collectively, our clients post more than $200 billion in annual sales, span all 6 inhabited continents and 100+ countries, with tens of thousands of locations.
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SDCC 2019: Amazon Prime Brings Out THE BOYS for Comic-Con
by Erin Lynch | Jun 30, 2019 | All the Rest, Events, Stuff We Like, TV & Streaming | 0
Amazon Prime is making it's return to San Diego Comic Con with a few friend's in toe....
WonderCon 2019: AGENTS OF SHIELD Round-Up
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Marvel's Agents of SH.I.E.L.D. returned to WonderCon this weekend for an exclusive screening...
TV REVIEW: THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE Season 3 Paints a Bleak Picture of a Battered America
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Aida found and trapped Daisy and Simmons in the Framework on the last episode of Agents of...


The Honeycomb is one of the best puzzle platformers for iOS, with a perfect mix of puzzles and adventure.
Bees are kidnapping fluffs to make coloured honey. You will go through an incredible adventure from the meadows to the honeycomb to rescue them all.
+ Create and share your own levels!


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Cayey è una città di Porto Rico situata nella zona sud-orientale dell'isola. L'area comunale confina a nord con Cidra, a est con Caguas, San Lorenzo e Patillas, a sud con Guayama e Salinas e a ovest con Aibonito. Il comune, che fu fondato nel 1773, oggi conta una popolazione di quasi 50.000 abitanti ed è suddiviso in 22 circoscrizioni (barrios).

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


There are many organisations with fantastic potential that fall short due to the lack of expertise the founders have about advertising and marketing or really making a sale. There will certainly be lots of site visitors that come to see the cars, however without that added press, there will be no sales. An internet site without a sales funnel is the very same, which is why you require to purchase Click Funnels in order to get the most number of sales feasible.
What does How To Set Up Custom Domain Clickfunnels Wordpress do?
Click Funnels supply you with a pre-designed as well as well-curated sales funnel which will certainly take your site visitors through a persuading trip that will make them purchase your product at the end. Click Funnels have produced an array of sales funnels that can lead you to achieve your objectives by taking your visitors through a well thought out sales funnels.
A sales channel favorably influences the thought procedure of your visitors to earn the decision to go ahead with your objective. This is essentially considering that little push a salesperson would give up a physical shop to ultimately comprise the way of thinking to go ahead with an acquisition.
Exactly How Do How To Set Up Custom Domain Clickfunnels Wordpress aid boost your profits?
An internet site resembles a virtual shop, as well as the purpose of placing a huge investment right into making a web site is to eventually help boost the earnings of your business. The majority of individuals, specifically the startups as well as the entrepreneurs that are new to the online organisation globe focus way too much on the looks of the design to think about whether it is efficient enough to actually make a sale.
You might invest a great deal of money to employ the very best web developers and also developers, and also they could also supply an excellent looking web site to you, however if you need to think about the sales procedure within the site, your financial investment will only cost you money without a return. This is why you need to purchase Click Funnels. A website developed through that service is laser-focused to supply wonderful advertising as well as sales results from the starting to the end. Complying with are the four major things that a well picked and positioned sales funnels do.
Attracting new visitors to the site is the initial and one of the most crucial tasks that a sales channel does. This is the mouth of the funnel. This phase is narrower and also in the next action of the funnel and ought to be well maintained given that they are most likely to make a purchase in the following couple of stages as long as you keep them amazed.
Closing is the last of a channel where a lead becomes a client. They actively make the order and acquire your item, enroll in your e-newsletter or basically do what you meant them to do by creating the funnel. Next level is customer retention or keeping them thrilled with your item or the purchase, so they end up being return clients.
How To Set Up Custom Domain Clickfunnels Wordpress Prices: Is it actually worth it?
Just what is a Sales Funnel How To Set Up Custom Domain Clickfunnels Wordpress?
If you are an e-commerce organisation owner, getting an excellent expertise of sales funnels and converting a lead to a customer is one of the a lot of fundamental things you must know from the start. To place it simply, a sales channel is the procedure that a potential purchaser goes with from being a visitor/lead to lastly acquiring the product or the solution.
In the beginning, Click Funnels Pricing may make you assume if it is worth it, yet you will certainly require it to earn a fast progression and understanding amongst the customers particularly in the initial few phases of running a business. This service specifically helps the start-ups and the entrepreneurs who are not very acquainted with the marketing and also sales procedure to get the very best out of their marketing techniques by transforming visitors efficiently to be customers.
When you pay a routine web designer to produce a web site for you, the last result may be cosmetically pleasing, however they often do not take note of making a sale through the platform. When it involves any company web site, the reason for any individual to introduce an online space devoted to their organisation is to lead any type of possible client that visits the site to ultimately make a purchase. Click Funnels has actually placed together a number of web site themes that include a complete sales funnels from the welcome screen to the final Thank You screen. It resembles having a salesperson who would take your clients via till the final sale.
Click Funnels have been produced by sales as well as advertising and marketing experts with numerous years of experience in really making sales. Adhering to are some of the pre-designed sales funnels that you can select at the Click Funnels.
You can select these funnels according to the sector you are operating in, the type of solutions that you supply as well as exactly what kind of a sales process that you want your potential clients to undergo. There are samples of all these funnels that you could have a step by step appearance at and also experience the same channeling process that your visitors will experience when you make use of that channel.
All the designs and sales funnels that you enter the Click Funnels service are significantly personalized. You can use your own shade motifs, images as well as texts considering the pointers that Click Funnels use to obtain the finest results. The modifying and also editing and enhancing process is a simple drag as well as drop method making anybody, even without any type of website design experience, to produce the sort of site that you constantly dreamed to have for your service.


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Home » Music News » Maroon 5 Cancels North Carolina Shows, Joins Long List Of Artists Fighting Anti-LGBT Law
Maroon 5 Cancels North Carolina Shows, Joins Long List Of Artists Fighting Anti-LGBT Law
Yet another band has added North Carolina to it's "no-fly" list. Maroon 5 has just announced they will be canceling their shows in the state over an anti-LGBT law, which forces people to use the bathroom that matches the gender on their birth certificates.
So long, North Carolina!
The band, which includes Adam Levine on lead vocals, released a statement on their website to explain their decision.
"This was a difficult decision for us to make as a band. We don't want to penalize our fans in North Carolina by not performing for them, but in the end it comes down to what we feel is morally right," the statement read. "We feel everyone should be treated equally."
The shows were scheduled to take place on September 11 and 12 in Raleigh.
Adam Levine has fronted Maroon 5 since the early 2000s.
A spokesman for the governor's office said bands aren't helping anything by disappointing fans.
"Hundreds of concerts have been successfully performed across North Carolina, including Beyoncé, over the past few weeks since the law passed," he said. "The only people they are hurting by hypocritically targeting North Carolina for selective outrage are their fans and the hardworking men and women servicing these shows."
Read more to see how Bruce Springsteen kicked off the trend and find out who has followed suit:
Adam Levine Bob Dylan Bruce Springsteen Bryan Adams Demi Lovato Herbie Hancock Maroon 5 Nick Jonas Streets of Philadelphia Sun City USA For Africa We Are The World XHamster	2016-05-20
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The Quantum Trax Combos feature a new IM7 high-modulus graphite rod with a comfortable EVA split-grip handle and lightweight DynaFlow aluminum-oxide guides.
The Quantum Trax reels are durable yet light weight, with a strong composite body. These spinning reels also feature TRU Balance rotor design.


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Adjustment Programs in Africa : The Recent Experience
Saleh Nsouli, and Justin Zulu
This paper reviews recent experience of African countries in the design and implementation of adjustment programs supported by use of Fund resources.
Adjustment Programs in Africa
I Introduction
II The Role of the Fund
III The Objectives of Programs
IV Instruments and Policy Design
V Performance Under Programs
VI Case Studies of Somalia and Mali
VII Conclusion
de LarosièreJ. "Economic Adjustment in the Developing Countries and the Industrial Countries: The Need for Complementarity," IMF SurveyInternational Monetary FundWashington Vol. 11(April51982) pp. 97–102.
de LarosièreJ. "The International Monetary System and the Developing Countries," IMF SurveyInternational Monetary Fund(Washington), Vol. 11(November291982) pp. 377–380.
de LarosièreJ. "The International Monetary Fund and the Developing Countries," IMF SurveyInternational Monetary Fund(Washington), Vol. 12(March71983) pp. 73–75.
GoldJosephConditionality IMF Pamphlet Series No. 31(Washington:International Monetary Fund,1979).
GuitiánManuelFund Conditionality Evolution of Principles and Practices IMF Pamphlet Series No. 38(Washington:International Monetary Fund,1981).
HelleinerGerald K.The IMF and Africa in the 1980s Essays in International Finance No. 152(Princeton, New Jersey:Princeton University,1983).
HookeA.W.The International Monetary Fund Its Evolution Organization and Activities IMF Pamphlet Series No. 37(Washington:International Monetary Fund,2nd ed.1982).
International Monetary FundWorld Economic Outlook Occasional Paper Series No. 9(Washington:International Monetary Fund,1982).
Kanesa-ThasanS. "The Fund and Adjustment Policies in Africa," Finance and DevelopmentInternational Monetary Fund and World Bank(Washington), Vol. 18No. 3(September1981) pp. 20–24.
MakalouOumar B. "The Sahel Countries: Some Macro-economic Issues," lecture, Club du Sahel Seminar on Recurrent Expenditures, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, January 1982; summarized in IMF Survey,International Monetary Fund(Washington), Vol. 11(February221982) pp. 50–55.
MakalouOumar B. "Fund Conditionality and Economic Growth," lecture,the University of Montreal,Canada,February81983.
NsouliS.M. "The Role of the Fund in Financing and Adjustment with Particular Reference to the Sahel Countries," lecture, Club du Sahel Seminar on Recurrent Expenditures, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, January 1982; summarized in IMF Survey,International Monetary Fund(Washington), Vol. 11(February221982) pp. 50–55.
NsouliS.M.and Y.Ishiyama "The Relative Income Costs of Balance of Payments Adjustment through Monetary and Fiscal Policies" (unpublished, International Monetary Fund,1979).
Appendix I: Targets Compared with Previous Year1
Chart 1:Economic Growth
Chart 2:Consumer Price Index
Chart 3:Current Account as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 4:Overall Balance of Payments as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 5:Savings as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 6:Investment as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 7:Government Revenue (Excluding Grants) as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 8:Government Expenditure as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 9:Government Deficit (Excluding Grants) as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 10:Net Credit to Government
Chart 11:Credit to Private Sector
Chart 12:Net Domestic Credit
Chart 13:Domestic Liquidity
Chart 14:External Debt as a Ratio of GDP
Appendix II: Actuals Compared with Targets1
Chart 1a:Economic Growth
Chart 2a:Consumer Price Index
Chart 3a:Current Account as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 4a:Overall Balance of Payments as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 5a:Savings as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 6a:Investment as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 7a:Government Revenue (Excluding Grants) as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 8a:Government Expenditure as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 9a:Government Deficit (Excluding Grants) as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 10a:Net Credit to Government
Chart 11a:Credit to Private Sector
Chart 12a:Net Domestic Credit
Chart 13a:Domestic Liquidity
Chart 14a:External Debt as a Ratio of GDP
Appendix III: Actuals Compared with Previous Year1
Chart 1b:Economic Growth
Chart 2b:Consumer Price Index
Chart 3b:Current Account as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 4b:Overall Balance of Payments as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 5b:Savings as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 6b:Investment as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 7b:Government Revenue (Excluding Grants) as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 8b:Government Expenditure as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 9b:Government Deficit (Excluding Grants) as a Ratio of GDP
Chart 10b:Net Credit to Government
Chart 11b:Credit to Private Sector
Chart 12b:Net Domestic Credit
Chart 13b:Domestic Liquidity
Chart 14b:External Debt as a Ratio of GDP
Unless otherwise noted, the countries discussed in this paper are those covered by the African Department of the International Monetary Fund. They exclude Egypt, the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Sudan, and South Africa. The paper does not attempt to draw a distinction between stand-by and extended arrangements. Rather, it focuses on the calendar year during which adjustment programs were implemented.
See Guitián (1981), Kanesa-Thasan (September 1981), Makalou (1982, 1983), and Nsouli (1982).
For a discussion of the relative income costs of adjustment of different trajectories defined by various policy approaches, see Nsouli and Ishiyama (1979).
See Guitián (1981), Makalou (1982, 1983), and Nsouli (1982).
Charts 1–14 are in Appendix I.
See Makalou (1982, 1983) and Nsouli (1982).
Charts 1a–14a are in Appendix II.
The dots on the zero point of the target axis in the charts indicate that no targets were set.
Charts 1b–14b are in Appendix III.
The case studies were prepared by Nur Calika and Lelde Schmitz, respectively.
Somalia has no official national income accounts data. Data used in this article are based on rough estimates by the Fund staff.
In the face of mounting pressures on official foreign exchange reserves and inadequate supplies of imported consumer goods, the Government had authorized importers to obtain imports with their own foreign exchange. The parallel market that had evolved during the 1970s as a consequence was supplied with foreign exchange by emigrant Somali workers and by exporters who underinvoiced livestock exports.
The tax was levied on a lower price than the actual export price.
The only salary adjustment during the period was due to the abolition of the development levy on government salaries, which resulted in an effective average increase of 10 percent in wages of government employees. During 1980–83 civil service salaries declined by about 46 percent in real terms.
This figure excludes obligations to Italian suppliers whose terms of rescheduling were under ongoing discussions during 1982 and 1983.
At the end of 1982, the exchange rate was CFAF 287 per US$1; at the end of 1983, it was CFAF 336 per US$1.
Charts show actual outcome for the previous year on the horizontal axis. The targeted values for the subsequent annual program are on the vertical axis. Points above the 45 degree line represent a higher targeted value than the actual outcome in the previous year.
Charts show the targeted values for the program year on the horizontal axis. The actual outcome for the same program year is on the vertical axis. Points above the 45 degree line represent higher actual values than the targeted values.
Charts show the actual outcome for the previous year on the horizontal axis. The actual outcome for the program year is on the vertical axis. Points above the 45 degree line represent higher actual values in the program year than those in the previous year.
Occasional Papers of the International Monetary Fund
*1. International Capital Markets: Recent Developments and Short-Term Prospects, by a Staff Team Headed by R.C. Williams, Exchange and Trade Relations Department. 1980.
2. Economic Stabilization and Growth in Portugal, by Hans O. Schmitt. 1981.
*3. External Indebtedness of Developing Countries, by a Staff Team Headed by Bahram Nowzad and Richard C. Williams. 1981.
*4. World Economic Outlook: A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. 1981.
5. Trade Policy Developments in Industrial Countries, by S.J. Anjaria, Z. Iqbal, L.L. Perez, and W.S. Tseng. 1981.
6. The Multilateral System of Payments: Keynes, Convertibility, and the International Monetary Fund's Articles of Agreement, by Joseph Gold. 1981.
7. International Capital Markets: Recent Developments and Short-Term Prospects, 1981, by a Staff Team Headed by Richard C. Williams, with G.G. Johnson. 1981.
8. Taxation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Part I: Tax Policy and Administration in Sub-Saharan Africa, by Carlos A. Aguirre, Peter S. Griffith, and M. Zühtü Yücelik. Part II: A Statistical Evaluation of Taxation in Sub-Saharan Africa, by Vito Tanzi. 1981.
9. World Economic Outlook: A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. 1982.
10. International Comparisons of Government Expenditure, by Alan A. Tait and Peter S. Heller. 1982.
11. Payments Arrangements and the Expansion of Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa, by Shailendra J. Anjaria, Sena Eken, and John F. Laker. 1982.
12. Effects of Slowdown in Industrial Countries on Growth in Non-Oil Developing Countries, by Morris Goldstein and Mohsin S. Khan. 1982.
13. Currency Convertibility in the Economic Community of West African States, by John B. McLenaghan, Saleh M. Nsouli, and Klaus-Walter Riechel. 1982.
14. International Capital Markets: Developments and Prospects, 1982, by a Staff Team Headed by Richard C. Williams, with G.G. Johnson. 1982.
15. Hungary: An Economic Survey, by a Staff Team Headed by Patrick de Fontenay. 1982.
16. Developments in International Trade Policy, by S.J. Anjaria, Z. Iqbal, N. Kirmani, and L.L. Perez. 1982.
17. Aspects of the International Banking Safety Net, by G.G. Johnson, with Richard K. Abrams. 1983.
18. Oil Exporters' Economic Development in an Interdependent World, by Jahangir Amuzegar. 1983.
19. The European Monetary System: The Experience, 1979-82, by Horst Ungerer, with Owen Evans and Peter Nyberg. 1983.
20. Alternatives to the Central Bank in the Developing World, by Charles Collyns. 1983.
21. World Economic Outlook: A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. 1983.
22. Interest Rate Policies in Developing Countries: A Study by the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund. 1983.
23. International Capital Markets: Developments and Prospects, 1983, by Richard Williams, Peter Keller, John Lipsky, and Donald Mathieson. 1983.
24. Government Employment and Pay: Some International Comparisons, by Peter S. Heller and Alan A. Tait. 1983. Revised 1984.
25. Recent Multilateral Debt Restructurings with Official and Bank Creditors, by a Staff Team Headed by E. Brau and R.C. Williams, with P.M. Keller and M. Nowak. 1983.
26. The Fund, Commercial Banks, and Member Countries, by Paul Mentré. 1984.
28. Exchange Rate Volatility and World Trade: A Study by the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund. 1984.
29. Issues in the Assessment of the Exchange Rates of Industrial Countries: A Study by the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund. 1984
30. The Exchange Rate System—Lessons of the Past and Options for the Future: A Study by the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund. 1984
31. International Capital Markets: Developments and Prospects, 1984, by Maxwell Watson, Peter Keller, and Donald Mathieson. 1984.
32. World Economic Outlook, September 1984: Revised Projections by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. 1984.
33. Foreign Private Investment in Developing Countries: A Study by the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund. 1985.
34. Adjustment Programs in Africa: The Recent Experience, by Justin B. Zulu and Saleh M. Nsouli. 1985.
International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C. 20431, U.S.A.
Telephone number 202 473 7430
Cable address: Interfund


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Q: Building a webRTC application with Ruby on Rails Backend I want to implement a peer-to-peer video chat feature for a web application I am currently developing. After doing my research, I've decided that using webRTC's Javascript APIs is the way to go. The application uses AngularJS in the front end and Ruby on Rails in the back end. The main issue I'm encountering while conceptualizing this application is linking the front end with the backend, and creating and maintaining the connection between user streams.
For the signaling aspect of the network, I want to utilize ActionController::Live and the Ruby gem em-event source to push live messages from the server to users and indicate which of their connections are online. Then, when they are ready to make a connection, they will create a custom room and the URL will be sent to the user that they wish to connect with, creating their offer. Once the user clicks on the link sent to them, they send back their answer. When the user responds, the ICE candidate process will begin for each of the users. Do you think that this is a sufficient signaling channel to set up the PeerConnection? What other major players am I missing?
From the research that I have done about WebRTC's RTCPeerConnection, once the initial connection is set up, and both users have public IP addresses corresponding to their stream, the connection is sustained through RTCPeerConnection, more specifically getPeerConnection(). Am I wrong? Are there other factors that I am not considering?
WebRTC makes the process of creating MediaStreams very simple with their getUserMedia method. Once these streams are created they can be added to the RTCPeerConnection that was established. Both as local and remote streams.
If you have any other suggestions for me, please let me know. I want to create this feature using webRTC, it seems like so much fun

A: There are certainly many ways to handle the call signaling so I'm not going to comment specifically on your approach. I will say that if you plan on supporting ICE trickling the ICE candidates will start flowing very early in the process so you really need an open signalling channel between your peers almost immediately when trying to connect to a peer.
We developed our solution for WebSphere on top of MQTT which is an open, and very simple pub/sub protocol. You can use any open MQTT broker with the protocol and there are a number of open source components available to make WebRTC development extremely easy including an AngularJS WebRTC module (angular-rtcomm), a core pure JavaScript module and much more. We also released a simple JSON based protocol as part of this open source solution. You can take a look at the signaling protocol. You can also read more details about the overall solution here (www.wasdev.net/webrtc). Here you'll find the base JavaScript libraries as well as a number of open source sample solutions. All of these can be forked on github.
In general you want to build your signaling on a protocol that will allow you to grow over time. It should work well for the web and mobile apps. From our experience it took a lot of time to get all this to work well and our goal was to not only support peer-to-peer calls but to support using media resources like Dialogic's XMS PowerMedia server on the backend for multiway support, record/playback and more. We also needed to support federation via SIP trunking so we wanted to make sure the protocol could be easily translated to SIP signaling while also supporting transcoding between media protocols like VP8 and H.264.
Note that if you're looking to only support peer-to-peer calling between WebRTC clients you can do that with these rtcomm open source components only, including an open MQTT broker and save yourself a ton of time. You can literally get something up and running in a matter of hours. The developer version of the WebSphere Liberty beta with the new rtcomm-1.0 service enabled also includes a built in MQTT broker and supports the open WebRTC signaling protocol linked above. You can use WebSphere for development and deploy a single server of this in production for free. You can also use Ruby on Rails with Liberty as well if you'd like.
Even if you decide not to use Liberty you can use all the open source components along with something like Mosquito (which is an open source MQTT broker) to get a solution off the ground quickly. There are also a number of MQTT clients available for many different programming languages including JavaScript, Java, etc. Check out https://eclipse.org/paho/. If you decide to build you're own signaling protocol you might still find these open source components helpful to see how we approached integration with the WebRTC PeerConnection.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Widespread 'twilight zone' detected around clouds
There is something new under the sun that could complicate scientists' efforts to get a fix on how much the world will warm in the future.
Younger Scots and Welsh may become more likely to support Nationalist parties
Generational change is contributing to a decline in British national pride with young people in Scotland and Wales likely to become increasingly responsive to nationalist parties, a study sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council shows.
Light sticks may lure turtles to fishing lines
Thousands of loggerhead turtles die every year when they get tangled or hooked in commercial fishing longlines meant for tuna or swordfish.
Computer-aided detection with computed radiography effective in detecting breast cancer
The use of computer-aided detection (CAD) with computed radiography (CR) is effective in the detection of breast cancer, according to a recent study conducted by radiologists at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and iCAD in Nashua, N.H.
CT colonoscopy has 90 percent agreement rate with optical colonoscopy
Nearly 90 percent of colon polyps greater than or equal to six mm in size detected at CT colonoscopy were demonstrated to represent true polyps at subsequent optical colonoscopy (the traditional method of viewing the colon and removing precancerous growths), according to a new study by researchers from the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Wis.
Hamilton College researchers discover molecules with potential to treat breast cancer
Hamilton College researchers have identified molecules that have been shown to be effective in the fight against breast cancer.
The state of the editorial political cartoon: an APSA symposium
As the recent protests over the Danish cartoon controversy in 2005 demonstrate, editorial cartoons reflect important issues of the day and make notable contributions to journalism and popular culture.
Nearly 28,000 US infants died in 2004
Preterm related deaths accounted for more than 10,000 of the nearly 28,000 infant deaths in 2004, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
GIOVE-A transmits first navigation message
Earlier this week, GIOVE-A successfully transmitted its first navigation message, containing the information needed by user receivers to calculate their position.
Carnegie Mellon professor elected to National Academy of Sciences
Carnegie Mellon Univesity's M. Granger Morgan has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Older-adult dieting won't lead to reduced physical function, research suggests
Unintentional weight loss in older adults often leads to frailty, a decline in physical function and even death.
Cryoablation is a safe procedure for breast cancer patients, early results indicate
Ultrasound-guided cryoablation of small breast cancer may be a safe procedure associated with minimal morbidity and high patient satisfaction, according to a recent case report by radiologists at the University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics in Madison, Wis.
SLEEP 2007 to present more than 1,100 new findings and developments on sleep disorders
SLEEP 2007 will take place in Minneapolis, Minn., from June 11-14, and bring together an international body of 5,000 leading researchers and clinicians, who will present and discuss more than 1,100 new findings and medical developments related to sleep and sleep disorders.
New imaging techniques avoid unnecessary diagnostic tests for Klippel-Trénaunay malformation
The use of multislice computed tomography -- a latest generation scanner -- or of magnetic resonance in the diagnosis of a vascular malformation of congenital origin -- a syndrome known as Klippel-Trénaunay, avoids the patient being subjected to a series of tests and this saves time and provides greater efficacy in treatment.
High intracoronary attenuation improves accuracy of 64-slice CT-CA
High intracoronary attenuation significantly improves diagnostic accuracy in 64-slice CT-CA of the coronary arteries, according to a new study by researchers from Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria in Parma, Italy.
Study evaluates transcription accuracy in men and women
There is a significantly higher rate of transcription error in women compared to men when using commercial voice recognition applications, according to a recent study.
An ancient bathtub ring of mammoth fossils
Geologists have put out a call for teeth tusks, femurs and any and all other parts of extinct mammoths left by massive Ice Age floods in southeastern Washington.
New procedure allows diagnosis of lower back pain cause
Functional anesthetic discography (FAD), a new diagnostic procedure involving injecting anesthetic directly into a spinal disc, can be used to confirm the presence of injured discs as the source of a patient's lower back pain symptoms, according to a new study by researchers from Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y.
Vascular and biliary complications after liver transplant can be reliably diagnosed when using CE-US
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CE-US) after a liver transplant is highly accurate in showing vascular as well as biliary complications, according to a recent study.
CT and MRI accurate for pre-transplant evaluation of patients with cirrhosis
CT and MRI are highly accurate at determining which patients would be optimal candidates for liver transplantation, says a recent study.
Social behavior differs in children with family history of autism
The baby brothers and sisters of autistic children do not seek emotional cues from adults, or respond to them, as often as other toddlers do, suggests new research from the University of California, San Diego.
Educational expenses for residents equals significant amount of salary
Radiology residents use about 15 percent of their average annual salary for educational expenses, according to a recent study conducted by radiologists from New Jersey Medical School in Newark, N.J.
Springer launches new journal in ophthalmology
Springer will launch a new multidisciplinary journal in ophthalmic research, the Journal of Ocular Biology, Diseases, and Informatics, in March 2008.
Ultra-high-field MRI allows for earlier diagnosis of multiple sclerosis
Ultra-high-field MRI can detect multiple sclerosis lesions better than MRI which can lead to possible earlier diagnosis and treatment, according to a new study by researchers from Ohio State University in Columbus, and Columbia University in New York.
Southeast Vector-Borne Diseases Conference highlights emerging disease threats
A conference at Duke University, presented by the Southeastern Center for Emerging Biologic Threats, will explore the threats of vector-borne diseases in the Southeastern United States, including West Nile encephalitis and tick-borne diseases.
Climate change impacts stream life
Climate change is warming Welsh streams and rivers, affecting the number and variety of some of their smallest animals, a major Cardiff University study has found.
Creating corn for cars
A new variety of corn developed and patented by Michigan State University scientists could turn corn leaves and stalks into products that are just as valuable as the golden kernels.
Diagnostic ultrasound could provide automated method of fingerprint identification
Diagnostic 3-D ultrasound of fingers could be used for biometric identification based on matching paired images using internal fingerprint structures that would be difficult to fake, offering the possibility of a unique automated fingerprint identification system, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Children with autism have difficulty recognizing ordinary words
Young children with autism have a difficult time recognizing ordinary words such as ball, dog and cat and more of their brains are occupied with this kind of task compared to typically developing youngsters, according to new research.
CTA useful in detecting ruptured cerebral aneurysms
CT angiography has a nearly 100 percent detection rate in acute ruptured, cerebral aneurysms, according to a recent study conducted at the Health Sciences Center in Winnipeg, Canada.
Extremely low-dose MDCT useful for reducing hospital stay for patients with acute abdominal pain
Extremely low-dose MDCT of the abdomen and pelvis is useful in providing needed diagnostic information and reducing hospital stay in patients with acute nonspecific abdominal pain, according to a new study by researchers from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA, and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass.
CT imaging can play important role in car crash testing
Crash test injuries analyzed with CT imaging provide valuable data that can help engineers develop safer cars and reduce the severity of injuries during car accidents, according to a new study by researchers from the Ohio State University in Columbus.
Study shows response to financial loss parallels brain's processing of pain
People process information about financial loss through mechanisms in the brain similar to those used for processing physical pain, according to a new imaging study.
Women in their own words: Book collects revealing quotations by women
From feminism to friendship, desire to diversity, and sex to shoes, interesting quotations that embody the empowerment of women are the basis for a new book by a Penn State scholar.
New technology useful for soft-tissue imaging in interventional radiology procedures
Soft-tissue cross-sectional imaging acquired on a flat panel C-arm fluoroscopic unit located in the interventional radiology area is feasible and useful for interventional radiology procedures, avoiding the necessity of sending patients out to a CT scanner, according to a new study by researchers from the Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute in Miami, Fla.
Study uses MRI to determine features of osteoarthrosis
Abnormalities in the ligaments found on the outside of the knee (lateral collateral ligament complex or LCLC) are commonly seen on MRI in patients with knee osteoarthrosis (OA), according to a study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa.
Study shows CT angiography can replace digital subtraction angiography
CT angiography (CTA) alone is an effective, noninvasive means to detect peripheral vascular disease, according to a study conducted by researchers at Charite Campus Benjamin Franklin in Berlin, Germany.
MDCT using dual energy setting may make CT colonography more 'patient-friendly'
MDCT performed with a dual energy setting may allow enhanced differentiation of polyps from fecal matter in an unprepped colon, meaning patients may be able to skip the uncomfortable colonic preparation before CT colonography, according to a new study by researchers from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga.
CT better than plain radiographs in diagnosing lumbar spine fractures
Lumbar spine fractures in a majority of patients with trauma can be detected by routine trauma abdomen and pelvis CT compared to plain radiographs, according to a recent study conducted by radiologists at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Poland becomes the fourth ESA European Cooperating State
On April 27, 2007, Pawel Poncyljusz, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Economy, and René Oosterlinck, ESA Director of Legal Affairs and External Relations, signed the European Cooperating State Agreement in Warsaw.
Mirror neurons: How we reflect on behavior
Mirror neurons, it seems, are of the utmost importance in human mind, and on the tip of the collective psychological tongue.
PET-CT detects muscular lymphoma better than CT
PET-CT is better for early detection of muscular lymphoma than CT alone, according to a new study conducted by radiologists at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Common genetic variation is linked to substantial risk for heart attack
A common genetic variation on chromosome 9p21 is linked to a substantial increase in risk for heart attack.
Gene mutation linked to increased athletic performance in whippets
Whippets are bred for speed and have been clocked at speeds approaching 40 miles per hour.
MR imaging helps predict recurrence in prostate cancer patients
MR images taken of prostate cancer patients prior to treatment that show that the cancer has spread outside the prostate gland capsule help predict whether the cancer will return, according to a recent study conducted by radiologists at the University of California-San Francisco.
Use of MRI and MRS with new surgical technique proves helpful, says study
MRI and MRS can provide a roadmap of the prostate and assist in surgical planning of robotically assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.
MRS shows promise as noninvasive means to determine fetal lung maturity
MR spectroscopy (MRS) of choline levels shows promise as a marker of fetal lung maturity, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of California-San Francisco.
Einstein's Dr. Vern Schramm elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Vern L. Schramm, Ph.D., professor and Ruth Merns Chair of Biochemistry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious honorary society for scientists.
Osborn named Guyton Teacher of the Year by APS
Jeffrey L. Osborn, professor, University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, and science outreach professor of the Appalachian Math Science Partnership, has been named the 2007 Arthur C.
COROT discovers its first exoplanet and catches scientists by surprise
COROT has provided its first image of a giant planet orbiting another star and the first bit of
Antidepressants stimulate new nerve cells in adult monkeys, may have implications for humans
In adult monkeys, an antidepressant treatment has induced new nerve cell growth in the hippocampus, a brain area responsible for learning and memory.
MDCT eliminates need for catheter angiography for aortic injury diagnosis, saving time and lives
Contrast-enhanced 64-MDCT that definitively reveals acute trauma to the aorta does not need confirmation from invasive catheter angiography, which saves valuable time in treating patients in trauma centers, according to a new study by researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
Nighthawks -- Convenience or necessity?
Convenience, value for recruiting, and efficiency were named as key factors in radiologists' use of
NJTC/Howe School conference: The wireless evolution expo -- the next great idea, May 17
New Jersey is in a hot spot of rapidly converging wireless, telecom and media industries.
UCLA imaging study provides clues about inability to imitate and empathize in autistic children
New imaging research at UCLA shows that impairments in autistic children's ability to imitate and empathize can be linked to dysfunction in the brain's mirror-neuron system.
Multitasking is hardest in the early morning
Multitasking seems to come easier for some and is virtually impossible for others, however new research shows that it is difficult for all in the late night and early morning.
Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of liver tumors prove safe and effective
Percutaneous imaging guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of hepatocellular carcinoma is a safe and effective technique, with benefits such as reduced post-procedural pain and length of hospital stay, according to a study conducted by researchers from Changi General Hospital in Singapore.


text:
Q: Status object has no attribute "loading" I am working on a progress bar in Tkinter using object-oriented design, and I'm having an issue.
from tkinter import *
from tkinter import ttk

class Status:
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = Tk()
        self.root.geometry("400x20")
        self.loading = ttk.Progressbar(self.root, length=15, value=0, orient=HORIZONTAL, command=self.start_progress())
        self.loading.pack(fill=X)
        self.root.mainloop()

    def start_progress(self):
        self.loading.start(10)

bar = Status()

I'm supposed to get a progress bar which indefinitely loads, but instead, I'm getting
"self.loading.start(10)
AttributeError: 'Status' object has no attribute 'loading'".

What I want is for the progress bar to automatically update without the use of any button. it should fill up and stop when it is full.

A: Normally you would create a IntVar and set it as a variable for your Progressbar. Then you can trace the changes on your IntVar and stop when necessary.
from tkinter import *
from tkinter import ttk

class Status:
    def __init__(self):
        self.root = Tk()
        self.root.geometry("400x20")
        self.var = IntVar()
        self.loading = ttk.Progressbar(self.root, length=15, variable=self.var, orient=HORIZONTAL)
        self.loading.pack(fill=X)
        self.var.trace("w",self.trace_method)
        self.start_progress()
        self.root.mainloop()

    def start_progress(self):
        self.loading.start(10)

    def trace_method(self,*args):
        if self.var.get() >= 99: #when it reaches 100 it would go back to 0
            self.loading.stop()

bar = Status()


text:
Sikkim/
A separate independent kingdom until 1975, Sikkim has retained much of its special character and charm aided by a cool climate that gives a welcome haven from India's oft oppressive heat.
For walkers and trekkers, Sikkim provides an array of opportunities to savour the stunning scenery with trails leading up into the high Himalaya through lush valleys and tea gardens, across airy ridges and past monasteries decorated with multi-coloured prayer flags. Kangchenjunga, 8,586m/28,169ft, the world's third highest mountain is the undoubted jewel in Sikkim's crown. The classic Singalila Ridgetop Walk, or a more challenging trek to Kangchenjunga, provide ample opportunity to see the towering Himalayan giant in its full glory with a a dazzling display of vermillion-hues on its snow-capped peaks at sunrise and sunset.
You can also enjoy one of the best panoramic views of Kangchenjunga and its surrounding Himalayan peaks on our challenging trek to Green Lake - an area of Sikkim described as little Indian Switzerland.
But don't worry, you won't miss out on the many cultural highlights of the region as our treks combine with time in some of Sikkim's best known and most fascinating cultural centres. Whether it's the colonial hill station of the British Raj at Darjeeling, the Buddhist monasteries at Gangtok or the orchid gardens of Kalimpong, you're sure to find a Sikkim holiday immensely rich and rewarding.


Acting students at Rogue Community College will give three performances of their winter term showcase "Shakespeare!" next week.
Admission is free and open to the public. Performances will be at 12:30 p.m. March 12 and 14, and at 3 p.m. March 16. The show will be in Rogue Performance Hall, RCC's black box theater in the Riverside Campus C Building, 130 E. Eighth St. in downtown Medford.


The Truth Booth Presents: Invest and Protect Conceived by Kiera Boult, The Truth Booth in its latest iteration addresses land ownership. By using the trope of the therapy booth, Truth Booth: Invest and Protect will feature the artist as facilitator for members of the general public who wish to hold private, shame-free conversations about land ownership in relation to race politics, class and intersectional feminism.
Lisa Robertson's Wide Rime is a lyric sequence opening a space of rhyme and echo between Joyce Wieland's film Birds at Sunrise, and birds in the dawn poems of the troubadours, in 12th C Aquitaine. The film traces a vulnerable space for survival in the face of suffering; so too do the poems. The lyric lens insists that the daily celebration of minor, collective joy is an urgent resistance.


text:
Français | Contact Us
Current pageImportant Announcement
Wells Fargo Financial Canada
>Important Announcement
February 1, 2013, National Bank of Canada purchased and became the owner of all active Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada Real Estate accounts. Customers whose accounts were purchased by National Bank of Canada will be notified by mail of this change.
If you have received a notification letter, please direct inquiries to National Bank of Canada at 1-855-892-5399, Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST.
August 31, 2012, Affirm Acquisitions LP purchased and became the owner of all remaining Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services Company Canada credit card accounts. Customers whose accounts were purchased by Affirm Acquisitions LP will be notified by mail of this change.
If you have received a notification letter, please direct inquiries to Affirm Financial Services customer service group toll free at 1-800-259-1167.
May 1, 2012, Aeox Acquisitions Ltd purchased and became the owner of some Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada Retail Sales Finance accounts. Customers, whose accounts were purchased by Aeox Acquisitions Ltd, will be receiving a letter in the upcoming days notifying them of this change.
If you received a notification, please direct inquiries to Aeox Acquisitions Ltd's customer service group toll free at 1-800-259-1167.
March 1, 2012, Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada has sold all of its remaining Canadian Consumer Loan Portfolio, that is, all non-mortgage loans, to DBGS Anthem LP. SST Financial Services will assume all servicing activities for the sold accounts, on behalf of DBGS Anthem LP. Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada will continue to service our existing Mortgage Portfolio.
All affected customers will receive a written notification from SST Financial Services, Inc. the week of March 1, 2012, notifying them of this change. If you received a notification, please direct inquiries to SST Financial Services customer service group toll free at 1-888-201-7617.
October 1, 2011, Wells Fargo Financial Canada Corporation has sold all of their remaining Canadian Auto Portfolio. Carfinco, Inc., a Canadian Based financial services company , has assumed all servicing activities for the sold Auto Loan accounts. Please direct inquiries to Carfinco, Inc., customer service group at 1-855-227-9195
June 9, 2010, Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada discontinued sales of new customer loans, and closed Wells Fargo Financial store locations across Canada. We have shifted our focus to servicing existing real estate, auto, and consumer loan accounts. There will be no change to our customers' existing account terms and conditions.
Show All ResultsShows all answers to frequently asked questions
Hide All ResultsHides all answers to frequently asked questions
Why did Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada stop offering consumer loans?
Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada continuously reviews its operations and makes changes accordingly. In response to recent analysis of our operations, we have made the decision to stop originating consumer loan products in Canada.
I have a personal loan with Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada. How is my personal loan affected?
Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada will notify you in writing of any changes that may affect you. The new servicing company will also be sending you a detailed letter that will provide you with additional servicing information.
Please note that for the safety and security of our customers and staff, cash payments are not accepted.
Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada operates in Quebec as Société financière Wells Fargo Canada
Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada is associated with Wells Fargo & Company, a company that is not regulated in Canada as a financial institution, a bank holding company or an insurance holding company.
TM, Trademark Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada. Ontario Brokerage License Number: 10239
Wells Fargo Financial – U.S.
© Wells Fargo Financial. All rights reserved.


It's a difficult thing sometimes to be a mom who enjoys reading more than almost anything else.
I enjoy my children above all other things on this earth.
And it has been many years since I stayed up into the wee hours because I just could not put a book down.
When you're a mom who puts your kids ahead of everything else, there are plenty of times you don't want to put a book down. There are many times you're annoyed at having to put the book down and there are times you stay up late – even when you know you're going to regret it.
But it has truly been years since I read a book I could not put down. I sat there, mesmerized, turning pages and agonizing over what was going to happen next.
Jennifer Beckstrand's story held me in its grip with an astonishing strength.
It's nearly impossible to believe this is her first published novel. She has a talent that equals authors with years of experience and success.
Her characters are perfectly shaped and, at the same time, expertly flawed. Her story flows seamlessly from scene to scene. Her plot is meticulously crafted and woven neatly around each aspect of the story.
She has created a uniquely wonderful adventure and I feel blessed to have been invited along for the ride.
Kate Weaver was raised in an Amish home and has always been expected to choose baptism and strict observance of the Ordnung. But Kate is blessed with a beautiful singing voice, and when another path leads her to the academy for vocal training, she struggles to understand God's will for her life. She returns to Apple Lake, haunted by a violent encounter with a fellow student, and finds herself drawn to the peace and devotion of her Amish home. But can she give up her dreams? Or will her calling forever separate her from the people and the way of life she holds so dear? Nathaniel King has never wavered in his commitment to the community and the Old Order Amish Church into which he is baptized. He has been in love with Kate for as long as he can remember, and he is devastated when she leaves Apple Lake to attend the academy. When Kate returns, will she make his most profound hopes a reality–or will she break his heart all over again?
And click HERE to visit Jennifer's website.
< Previous Step into An Amish Garden for Love, Faith and Family! Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, Tricia Goyer and Vannetta Chapman are exceptional!