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Steps. Plymouth Today and all about the Mayflower, the Blitz and other
historical events. Page updated 3rd October 2020
Pilgrim Fathers
About Us
Shop Souvenirs
Welcome to Mayflower Steps, if you've come here looking for information about
that fêted vessel, its Pilgrim Father and families passengers, or Plymouth, the port from which it sailed, then you're at the right place!
You'll find a a detailed account of the Mayflower ship, its ties to
Plymouth Barbican, the journey, its passengers, and much more. We hope you enjoy
your visit and look forward to seeing you at the Mayflower Steps in the real world.
Plymouth, the perfect holiday and gateway destination
images from around the Pilgrims
Point archway you can see above
On the 6th of September 1620, the Mayorality of Thomas Townes after
being kindly entertained and courteously used by divers Friends there
dwelling, the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth in the Mayflower in
the Providence of God to settle in New Plymouth and to lay the
foundations of the New England States The ancient Cawsey whence they
embarked was destroyed not many Years afterwards but the Site of their
Embarkation is marked by the Stone bearing the name of the MAYFLOWER in
the pavement of the adjacent Pier.
This Tablet was erected in the Mayoralty of J T Bond 1891, to
commemorate the Departure, and the visit to Plymouth in July of that
Year of a number of their Descendants and Representatives
The Mayflower made its first landfall at what is now Provincetown,
Massachusetts on the 11th November after 66 days at sea.
There the Mayflower Compact, the first democratic document written in
America, was composed and signed.
"And on the 11th
November we came to an anchor in the bay, which is a good harbour and a
pleasant bay.... a harbour wherein a thousand sail of ships may safely
from Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth
Presented May 19,
2000 by the Pilgrim Minument and Provincetown Museum and the town of
Provincetown, Massachusetts
The Honourable Walter Annenberg United States Ambassador to the court
of St. James's Unveiled this tablet on the 6th September 1970. This day
being the 350th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower
Counciller Eric D. Nutall. J.P. Lord Mayor
This tablet was erected by the Plymouth Borough Council to commerorate
the arrival on the 31st day of May 1919 of the American seaplane N.C.4
in Plymouth Sound on the completion of the first Transatlantic Flight
and the reception by the Mayor of Plymouth of the Commander, Pilots and
Crew on their landing at the Barbican
City of Plymouth
This tablet commemorates the departure from Plymouth in May 1839 of the
"Tory", the pioneer ship in the colonisation of New Zealand
October 1939
George S. Stobie, Lord Mayor
Other wall-plaques close to the
From near this spot thousands of Cornish people sailed for South
Australia during the nineteenth century.
Their contribution
to the colony's development, particularly in mining and farming, is
acknowledged with pride by the Cornish Association of South Australia
Unveiled 5th
Spetember 1986
Find out about the
Heritage Fleet
From Plymouth On 13th March 1787, sailed the transport ships
'Friendship' and 'Charlotte' carrying men and women convicts bound for
On 28th January
1788, with nine other ships from England they landed at Port Jackson,
which became Sydney, New South Wales.
There they
established the first British Colony under the command of Captain
Arthur Phillip, R.N. the father of modern Australia.
Plymouth Men Who Helped To Found Modern Australia
Captain Tobias Furneaux charted the coast of Tasmania, and in 1773
became the first Englishman to land there.
Captain John
MacArthur gave Australia prosperity through his introduction of marino
sheep in the 1790s.
Captain William
Bligh survived the mutiny aboard the Bounty to become governer of New
South Wales 1806-1809.
Colonel George
Arthur was Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania 1823-1836.
Major Edmond
Lockyer raised the British flag in Western Australia in 1827.
Both Furneaux and
Bligh accompanied Catain James Cook on the second of his three great
voyages of discovery, all of which left from Plymouth, in 1768, 1772,
and 1776.
Unveiled by His
Excellency Mr. Richard Smith, The Australian High Commissioner 8th
September 1992.
This plaque commemorates the sailing of the six Plymouth Company
vessels carrying settlers from Cornwall, Devon, and Dorset to establish
the settlement of New Plymouth in the colony of New Zealand.


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Having purchased a Hall of Fame ballot, which we'll be filling out in accordance with the wishes of our readers, we're examining the merits—and relative lack of merits—of all 36 players on this year's ballot for the purposes of better informing the electorate, i.e., you. All entries in the series can be found here.
An apple is an apple and a chair is a chair; mutual consent allows us, as a species, to share a vocabulary and a frame of reference. When it comes to abstractions like value, though, particularly as they pertain to an institution as malleable as the Hall of Fame, there are no universally agreed-upon definitions. Reality turns liquid, and starts to slip.
Going by the usual measures of value, which use statistical totals as signifiers, Sammy Sosa is probably a Hall of Famer. Cut loose from those numbers, judged in his totality, he probably isn't. But since the Hall is a self-defining institution—that is, the qualifications to gain entry vary constantly according to the whims of a group of men and women tasked with determining the best and most worthy of enshrinement—there's no real way to say. The process is, inherently, debased.
Chances are, we agree that the current methods of Hall of Fame selection are benighted, unjust, and—again—debased, but my list of glaring omissions is probably different than yours. We're just as guilty of being subjective and even irrational as the voters are. That's excusable because it's inevitable: the people who are supposed to do so have given us no clearly defined standards by which to calculate worthiness. There's nothing to hang our convictions—and now, thanks to Deadspin's cunning, our actual vote—on.
Understanding and embracing the fact that better-engineered sets of rules govern mundane things like buffet etiquette than Hall elections is important to remember when you cast your vote. That applies to this Hall of Fame class especially, rife as it is with players who have been portrayed as cheats, juicers, and liars. The winning slate will consist solely of those players who can withstand the scrutiny of an unapologetically biased electorate blinded not only by the purported wrong-doing of this year's candidates, but by nostalgia and subjectivity, just like the rest of us.
One thing blinding an awful lot of people is the career milestone. Over his 18-year career, Sammy Sosa hit 609 home runs. It's a lot, and puts him eighth on the list of career home run leaders, nestled between the turgid arms of Jim Thome and the contagious, though dangerous, smile of Frank Robinson. But for those who like numbers—I certainly do—we have to get past the idea of letting the figures do all of the thinking for us. Counting stats are quantities, not qualities, and in determining how to vote, we should be more concerned with value than values. There's nothing holy about 500 or 600 home runs, just as there's nothing magical about 300 wins or 3,000 hits. Pete Rose may be the all-time hits leader with 4,256, but the story the back of his baseball card (and the one my father tells) fails to mention that Rose wrote himself into the lineup at the expense of his team's success just to achieve a personal record. Sometimes records are nothing more than a convenient means for thoughtless sorting.
Some will also be blinded, especially in Sosa's case, by the rumors that his mid-career home run explosion was attributable to performance enhancing drugs. Though unconfirmed, they won't stop some of the electorate from making harsh decisions and basing their vote on unsubstantiated whispers.
My best advice for voting, which you may or may not heed since it's your dime, is that we should base our choices on what what we know, not what we think we know. We don't know for sure that Sosa ever ingested something that he thought would make him a better athlete. Even if your willing suspension of disbelief balks at accepting that pumpkinhead-model Sosa was as virgin as a Roy Rogers—mine does—we still don't know how to separate Sosa-natural from Sosa-in-a-can, or from all of the weird ways home runs were cheapened across baseball in his prime.
If you push aside the leaderboards and whispers of needles in darkened clubhouse bathroom stalls to focus on what we do know—the numbers in the box scores, and grids on his Baseball-Reference page—and drill down to the value provided by Sosa, what you'll find is a five-year period in which he hit like Superman. From 1990-1997, Sosa's combined oWAR (that is, wins above replacement considering only offense) was 11.2, good for 126th in the majors. From 2003 until his 2007 retirement, it was 4.6, 221st in the majors. His Hall case is all about the period from 1998 to 2002, when his combined oWAR was 33.9, fourth on the list between Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi.
The best years of Sosa's baseball career shouldn't be discounted; he was a tremendous player who dazzled with his hustle, his arm, and all of those home runs. It was the perfect confluence of player and time, though, and when his major talent benefited from a kind of inflation. It was the home run chase with Mark McGwire in 1998 that really put and kept Sosa on the trajectory that led to his nomination to the ballot, giving him a national level of grandeur that might never have accrued to a player whose main place in history, as with so many Cubs greats before him, was mainly to play for one losing team after another. Though I personally find the narrative to be hyperbolic, the chase is credited as having "saved baseball" from its post-strike doldrums by keeping a waning fanbase tuned in to watch balls leap over far fences.
I would never dispute the greatness of Sosa; I would, however, question the magnitude of that greatness. He topped Roger Maris' formerly unreachable single-season home run record three times, and he hit more home runs over a five-year stretch than anyone in history, but he also won the NL MVP just once and led the league in home runs just twice, because he was playing in an era where everyone else was putting up big numbers, too. The years when he could run and field did not coincide with his most prolific home run years. He wasn't a one-year wonder, but on a pure value basis, he was much closer to Maris than to Bonds.
That takes us back to abstract notions of value and just what kind of player should be in the Hall of Fame. Since there is no clear definition of what a Hall of Famer is, I'll feel free to express a preference for careers of greater depth than breadth. Supposed signifiers of greatness like 3,000 hits and 609 home runs matter very little in their own right, because having a big pile of something isn't always the same as having a good pile, and in any case they are arbitrary standards.
Sosa's five-year career arc is undoubtedly one of the greatest in baseball history, but the Hall, at least in my subjective estimation, is about totality. Sosa had one season, 2001, that ranks in the top 500 single seasons of all time. Everything else, once you file away the gaudy home run totals, was just pretty good. The fact that his career WAR puts him 22nd on the list of the best right fielders in history might be enough for him to get the vote. It very well may not.
Once you contextualize the numbers and shrink them into their proper place, as just a component of a story instead of the story itself, the Legend of Slammin' Sammy Sosa leaves me cold. If you came into this expecting a warm and fuzzy story of a Wrigley Field Bleacher Creature whose life was radically changed by a right-handed slugger violating 293 baseballs at the Friendly Confines, well, I'm sorry to disappoint you. That story is good enough, insofar as the Cubs Hall of Fame goes, but does it have less applicability when it comes to Cooperstown?
I'll let you answer that. It's your vote, after all.
Cee Angi is a freelance sportswriter whose work has appeared at Baseball Prospectus, The Classical, The Platoon Advantage, and 670 the Score, and is currently one of SB Nation's featured columnists covering Major League Baseball. Follow her on Twitter @CeeAngi.
Art by Sam Woolley

subset: commoncrawl


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December 2014
Internet filters and academic freedom: Librarian and stakeholder perceptions and their impact on access to information
David I. Orenstein, City University of New York, USA
Lisa Stoll-Ron, Warren County Community College, USA
David I. Orenstein & Lisa Stoll-Ron
LIBRES, Volume 24, Issue 2 (December 2014), page 62-74
Background. Filtering software is used in libraries to block Web-based content; this includes parts or all of certain websites, ranges of IP addresses, as well as key word level sifting of search results that delete or do not return all possible and alternative content. There are academic institutions that actively do filter access to the Internet for their students, faculty and staff.
Objective. How do librarians and other key campus stakeholders view the use of Internet filters? The data presented in this paper comes from a cross-institutional study which surveyed senior administrators, IT professionals, faculty and librarians to gauge their views related to use of Internet filters.
Methods. The data selected for this article focuses on a comparative analysis of responses to questionnaires completed by both librarians and senior administrators. However, other outcome data will be discussed for all participant groups.
Results. Results suggest that while librarians as a professional group stand firmly for open access and against filters, academic administrators are split on the role filters play in denying access to Internet content. While faculty and IT staff each view the necessity and value of filters with varying degree of approval.
Significance. These perceptions have policy implications related to academic freedom for teaching, learning and for academic libraries and IT departments, as well as their parent institutions.
Edited by Chris Khoo (Nanyang Technological University) & Theresa Anderson (University of Technology, Sydney)
The articles in this section are revised versions of papers presented at the ISIC 2014 Workshop on Information Behaviour on Social Media held at the University of Leeds, 2nd September 2014. Subsequent to the Workshop, the papers were reviewed by members of the LIBRES editorial board and external reviewers, and revised by the authors.
Issues in information behaviour on social media
Christopher S.G. Khoo, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Christopher S.G. Khoo
LIBRES, Volume 24, Issue 2 (December 2014), page 75-96
Background. Social media present a rich environment to study information behaviour, as much of the user interaction is recorded and stored in publicly accessible repositories and on personal devices.
Objectives. This paper surveys the literature of the past nine years on information behaviour related to social media, focusing on social networking sites and online discussion forums. It reviews the characteristics of social media users and use, the predominant types of information behaviour, and new types of information found in user-contributed content.
Results. Studies have found clear age, gender and national differences, and differences between local citizens and foreigners, in the frequency and purpose of social media use, the choice of social media sites, number of online friends, and types of information posted. Social media users typically share experiential and practical knowledge in the context of everyday life. Informational support provided by social media users is complemented with socio-emotional support. Predominant types of information behaviour include asking (i.e. request for information), answering with information, unsolicited information sharing, and information integration. Browsing and monitoring are important types of information seeking behaviour on social media. Users use a combination of information behaviours, information sources, and online as well as offline sources for information needs that are important to them.
Conclusion. Social media are evolving into important sources of information that complement traditional information sources. They provide an opportunity to study types of information behaviour related to human interaction, that are difficult to study in physical environments.
Search delegation, synthesists and expertise on social media
Paul Matthews, University of the West of England, United Kingdom
Paul Matthews
LIBRES, Volume 24, Issue 2 (December 2014), page 97-107
Background. Social media often adds a layer of intermediation between sources and information consumer, with users outsourcing some of the information work to others. Social media "synthesists" have been identified as a group of volunteer information providers fulfilling this role.
Approach. Through a review of evidence from philosophy, information science and knowledge management, this paper explores the implications of cognitive outsourcing, presents quality standards for synthesis and asks how well synthesists meet these. In the process, the role of intermediary is discussed, along with the non-specialist status of the synthesist.
Results. Findings show that social media synthesists fulfil a useful role and that their importance in terms of knowledge translation is clear. While their synthesis quality may fall far short of LIS standards, there are a number of ways that some quality issues can be addressed, including the involvement of the information profession itself on the same social platforms.
Contribution. Through a comparison of synthesis best practice with current informal information behaviour on social media, the paper draws attention to quality issues and new opportunities to address them. This represents an attempt to identify ways to bridge formal and emerging, informal information markets.
Young learners' use of social media for information seeking: Exploring core LIS journals from 2010-2014
Jette Hyldegård, Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen University, Denmark
Jette Hyldegård
LIBRES, Volume 24, Issue 2 (December 2014), page 108-117
Background. Increased use of social media for information seeking and learning calls for more research and knowledge of how these emerging technologies can support students' learning.
Objectives. The focus is on recent studies of young learners' use of social media for information seeking in an academic context.
Methods. The research is based on critical reading of core library and information science (LIS) journals and a selected number of conference proceedings spanning 2010 to 2014. The examination of the selected journals and proceedings was guided by two general questions: 1) Which information seeking activities, strategies and preferences can be identified when young learners use social media for information seeking in relation to course work and other study-related work tasks? 2) What motivations can be identified among young learners for using social media for information seeking in a study context?
Results. Seven studies were identified and reviewed. According to the reported results, use of social media tends to afford certain types of behavior. Specific strategies, tactics and criteria were used when requesting and evaluating information or formulating information needs. The reported factors motivating information seeking were convenience and easy access to information, in addition to the content associated with specific social media types. Students' use of social media for information seeking was associated primarily with their private information landscape.
Contributions. The challenges of using non-traditional social sources for information seeking identified in the studies raise questions of how teachers and information professionals can educate young learners to use social media competently as information seekers and authors of information.
Collectively figuring it out: Foreign-trained health professionals and labor market integration
Nadia Caidi, University of Toronto, Canada
Anita Komlodi, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA
Aline Lima Abrao, University of Brasilia, Brazil
Aqueasha Martin-Hammond, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA
Nadia Caidi, Anita Komlodi, Aline Lima Abrao & Aqueasha Martin-Hammond
LIBRES, Volume 24, Issue 2 (December 2014), page 118-131
Background. Foreign-trained health professionals arrive in the United States and Canada to find a professional environment that is often unwelcoming and complex.
Objectives. We examine the nature of information in foreign-trained health professionals' lives as they attempt to integrate into the North American labor market. We focus on the role that online discussion forums play in channeling the discussions: what functions do these online spaces support (e.g., informational, emotional, instrumental and phatic) and how information is shared (e.g., sharing stories, linking to/reposting resources, contextualizing and critiquing).
Methods. Content analysis was carried out on a sample of postings directed at foreign-trained health professionals in five online forums: AllNurses and Trackitt in the United States; and Canadian Desi, LoonLounge and CanadaVisa in Canada.
Results. The interactions in these forums include requesting guidance and clarification about the North American system, sharing experiences and stories, expressing visceral or affective reactions, offering opinions, and negotiating the norms and etiquette of the forum. The content of the postings mostly revolve around issues relating to the immigration process, certification and employability. Other issues identified can be grouped into three categories: information preparedness, information as support and informational practices.
Conclusion. Foreign-trained health professionals are faced with a combination of unfamiliar healthcare system, terminology, information sources and information-seeking practices. Online communities supported by online discussion forums help these health professionals integrate into the local healthcare system.
Relevance judgment when browsing a health discussion forum: Content analysis of eye fixations
Wenjing Pian, Christopher S.G. Khoo & Yun-Ke Chang
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Wenjing Pian, Christopher S.G. Khoo & Yun-Ke Chang
LIBRES, Volume 24, Issue 2 (December 2014), page 132-147
Introduction. People are increasingly searching and browsing for health information on social media sites. This is a small study of the relevance criteria used by laypersons when browsing a health discussion forum under three conditions—when seeking information for their own health issue, for a friend's or relative's health issue, and with no particular issue in mind.
Methods. An eye-tracker system was used to identify what text users' eyes were fixated on when browsing post surrogates and post content on a health discussion forum. Eye-fixations indicated the text segments that the user's attention was focused on when making relevance judgments. Content analysis was performed on the text segments with eye-fixation, to identify the types of information they contain. These types of information are considered to be the direct relevance criteria used.
Results. Users seeking information for their own health issue focused on case-based information: the poster's symptom and history of disease, demographic information, and feelings about the symptom. They also focused on descriptions of disease and treatments. Participants seeking for other people's health issue focused on factual information: terminology, etiology and description of disease, and description of treatments. Participants browsing with no particular issue focused on topics of general interest such as smoking, and rare or unusual issues.
Conclusion. While the relevance criteria of topicality, accuracy, currency and authority are not unimportant, they are not upper-most in the minds of users when assessing information content.
EDITORIAL BOARD for this issue
Christopher Khoo (Editor)
Bradford Lee Eden
Heather Moulaison (Associate Editor, Research Section)
Ross Harvey
Mary Beth Weber (Associate Editor, Essays and Opinions Section)
Philip Hider
Brendan Luyt (Associate Editor, Special Issues)
Paul Nieuwenhuysen
Yew Boon Chia (Associate Editor, Social Media)
Anthony Olden
Kerry Smith (Editor-in-chief Emeritus)
Vernon R. Totanes
Ann Curry
K.S. Raghavan
Stephen J. Bensman
Brenda Chawner
Donald Kraft
Technical Support


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The Vegetarian Option: Caracas Arepa Bar
Dining out meat-free.
Caracas Arepa Bar
93 1/2 East 7th Street, New York NY 10009 (between 1st & A; map); 212-529-2314; caracasarepabar.com
Cuisine: Venezuelan
Veggie Options: Nearly everything. Most items with meat can be substituted for baked tofu.
Cost: Appetizers $4.50-8.75, arepas and empanadas $4.75-7.50, desserts $3.25-5.25
Caracas is my East Village no-fail. The Venezuelan arepas are authentic, delicious, and reasonably cheap; the atmosphere is casual and friendly. If you're a friend of mine and we've gone out to eat more than once, odds are I've taken you here. And vegetarian-friendly? As much as you could possibly hope for and then some.
As with most great spots in the East Village, Caracas comes with two setbacks: it is insanely popular and insanely tiny. Luckily there are ways to get around this: 1) The take-out-only shop two doors down is decently fast and even has a few tiny tables that you can usually snag, and 2) the Brooklyn location is much less crazy-busy. Added bonus for the Brooklynites: built-in rum bar!
What exactly is a Venezuelan arepa? A round corn flour dough base (like a thick, fluffy corn pita-pocket) is stuffed with some combination of cheeses, meats, beans, plantains, avocado, sautéed vegetables, and so on. It's basically a handful of delicious.
A good start to a meal here is the bright, refreshing passion fruit juice ($3.75). Despite the variety of juices, milkshakes, and even a few cocktails on the menu, the passion fruit juice has remained my favorite. It's like they crammed a sunny Venezuelan day into a glass and added a straw.
The menu also offers some pretty great appetizers. I'm partial to the Tostones Mochimeros ($5.50), fried green plantains topped with a flavorful mojito mayo and crumbly white cheese, served with fresh cilantro. Far more savory than sweet or minty, these tasty two-bites are like a Venezuelan take on crostini.
I also love the Tequeños ($8.75), which are essentially mozzarella sticks but even better; these sticks of soft white cheese are wrapped in dough before being deep fried, and are perfect for dipping and dousing in tons of sauce.
What sauce, you ask? The magical Caracas secret sauce, of course. A little spicy, a little tangy, a little sweet—you basically want to put it on everything. (My significant other has been known to go through half a bottle of the stuff in one sitting.) The ingredients are a guarded secret, but you can buy a take-home bottle so you can get your fix.
Finally—on to the arepas. They're small but well-stuffed: usually I find 1 1/2 arepas to be about right for me—two if I'm pretty hungry. Most meat fillings can be replaced with baked tofu, which essentially gives a vegetarian free reign over the menu, but then I find it difficult to execute that option when there are so many delicious already-meatless menu items to begin with.
Reliably good is La del Gato ($6.25, pictured up top) which has guayanés cheese, fried sweet plantains, and avocado slices. The soft, slightly salty cheese goes quite nicely with the fresh avocado and sweet plantains, but if that sounds a bit too mild for you, a good dousing of secret sauce will perk it right up.
A little more adventurous is La Mulata ($6.25), with a deliciously grilled firm white cheese, black beans, sautéed red peppers, fried sweet plantains, and jalapeños (both picked and fresh, so be prepared for a kick!). With so many components no two bites are quite the same, but those bites with the most fried cheese are definitely my favorite.
Sadly they were out of one of my all-time favorites, La Jardinera (grilled eggplants, sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions and guayanés cheese, $6.25) so you're going to have to take my word that it's delicious. In its place we ordered De Guasacaca ($6.25), which comes stuffed with guacamole and a small sprinkling of paisa cheese. It's basically a guacamole sandwich, which is by no means a bad thing. But fair warning: with each bite the guacamole will attempt to spurt out in every direction possible.
While you may not have room for dessert, the Quesillo ($4.75), the house flan, will do the job. It was on the firm side of the flan spectrum, and every crevice was soaked through with caramelly syrup. It would be wise to share—more than half and I was starting to feel the brunt of its intense sweetness.
Caracas is one of my favorite options for anybody, vegetarian or otherwise. The only disappointments I've ever had involved anything with cheddar cheese. It's the generic shredded un-melted orange stuff, and the other cheeses they use are so fantastic that I don't know why they even bothered. Everything else is reliably delicious.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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By Karen Rubin, Examiner.com
The Colorado Rockies beckon those from lower altitudes to experience the adrenalin rush that comes with ascending to heights, not to mention the view and the prospect of laying tracks in fresh powder.
Our visits tend to be short, though, and we may rush out and not prepare our bodies for the extreme altitude – the result can be altitude sickness, which feels like a nauseous headache.
I know, because it happened to me my first day on the slopes at Keystone, and Eric's first day at Breckenridge (of course, he probably brought on the problem by taking that first day hiking 30 minutes to the summit at nearly 13,000 feet).
Here are some tips gathered from our trips to Vail Resorts in Breckenridge, Keystone, Beaver Creek and Heavenly (there is a sixth resort this year, with the addition of Northstar-at-Tahoe, in California), as to how to prepare for a ski trip so that you get the most out of your adventure:
Preparing for High Altitude:
Proper Clothing
Dress for cooler temperatures but be prepared for sudden weather changes. It's colder at higher altitudes and layers of clothing are a good idea. It may feel colder or warmer depending on whether it's windy or cloudy on one hand, or sunny with still air on the other. It's best to dress in layers and wear breathable clothing, such as smart wool that keeps moisture away from the skin.
Because of the thinner atmosphere and reflection from snow or water, you can sunburn much more easily than most people think. Ultraviolet light is more intense at higher altitudes. Be sure to protect your face and lips with appropriate sunscreen (at least 15 SPF), and protect your eyes with sunglasses or goggles.
Altitude Sickness
Perhaps as many as half the visitors from lower elevations experience some form of altitude illness. The vast majority of cases are self-limited and spontaneously resolve as the body acclimatizes. Symptoms include fatigue, decreased appetite, shortness of breath with minimal exertion, nausea, headache and sleep disturbances. These symptoms are often worse the second day at altitude (but resolve in four to five days). Rest is the key to treating mild forms of altitude sickness.
Avoiding Altitude Sickness:
- Stay Properly Hydrated: Acclimatization is often accompanied by fluid loss, so you need to drink lots of fluids to remain properly hydrated (at least 3-4 quarts per day).
- Avoid tobacco and alcohol and other depressant drugs during acclimation, which can also lead to dehydration.
- Light Activity during the day is better than sleeping because respiration decreases during sleep, exacerbating Altitude Sickness symptoms.
- Avoid vigorous exercise until you acclimate: So, it is best to time your arrival in the afternoon before you ski, spend time getting equipment, doing leisure activities (how about a massage at the spa? or a swim in the pool? or a walking tour of the town), rather than activities that drain you of energy. Limiting exertion is better than using innumerable medications. Activities like running, hiking, lifting, straining etc can worsen the symptoms of altitude sickness. Gradually increase your activity, to give yourself time to adjust.
Symptoms of altitude sickness can include headache, nausea, vomiting, light-headedness, persistent rapid pulse, general malaise, pins and needles, fatigue, insomnia, and/or diarrhea.
Severe cases may be complicated by breathlessness and chest tightness, which are signs of pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs), or by confusion, lethargy, and unsteady gait, which indicate cerebral edema (brain swelling).
The symptoms of altitude sickness develop gradually so that, with proper management, serious complications can usually be prevented, says MDTravelHealth.com.
If you get Altitude Sickness, Remedies include:
- Drink Water: As your breathing is fast and deep, you tend to dehydrate more. So, drink water in considerable amount to keep yourself hydrated. Be at vigilance and check whether the urine is clear and in proper quantity. Alcohol can add to the dehydration problem and so, it is better to avoid it thoroughly, especially when you are climbing at higher elevations.
- Acetaminophen: Rather than using drugs like aspirin, which have side effects, it's advisable to use acetaminophen, a safer drug conferring instant relief from pain at higher elevations.
- Inhaling pure oxygen is a quick fix. The mountain shops generally sell small portable canisters. Products include Altigen™, Oxia and Alpine Oxygen.
Seema Adnani at OrganicFacts.net also suggests some home remedies including:
- Herbal Potion: The potions are made from the common ingredients which are easily found at home. Ingredients include basic and normal things like lemon, water, ginger garlic, honey, etc. Drinking the potion helps in building body stamina, fight cold, cough, fever, headaches, gives energy to combat in high altitude areas etc.
- Lemon Soda: It can be in taken to prevent vomiting, the colloquial tendency. But home remedies are more useful and easy to get. You can take a glass of fresh sweet lemon soda, digestive capsules made of herbs and natural ingredients like green mango, amla, ginger, methi, etc.
- Eat Digestible Food: Avoid eating heavy, oily, junk foods while ascending upwards. You can also eat in small portion. Eat stuff which is easily digestible.
- Ginger: Christopher Hobbs, the renowned herbalist believes ginger to be very beneficial for treating altitude sickness, as it plays a pivotal role in treating mild levels of altitude sickness. It is advisable to mix 20 drops of ginger liquid with half cup of water in case you suffer from altitude sickness.
I was able to get relief after taking Ibuprofin and a generic Pepto-Bismol, but if needed immediate relief, I could have taken oxygen like Altigen™ or Oxia. By the next day, I was back to myself.
Frostbite & Hypothermia
Frostbite results from cooling of body tissues and subsequent destruction of these tissues. This occurs when skin is exposed to cold and windy conditions. Fingers, ears and noses are especially susceptible. The best cure is prevention. Keep the skin covered and warm up frequently. If blisters, occur or if fingers or toes are involved, seek medical attention immediately. Over exposure to cold, wetness or wind can cause a very low internal body temperature known as hypothermia. Warning signs include shivering, fatigue, slowed pulse and bluish lip color. Hypothermia is life threatening. Victims of hypothermia should get to warmth and shelter, remove wet clothes, warm up in blankets, and drink warm, non-alcoholic beverages. Emergency medical attention should be sought immediately.
At 9600 feet, the sun is 40% stronger than at sea level. Apply sunscreen several times a day and always wear eye protection. Sunglasses or goggles with UV protection are a must. Lip balm/Chapstick is also a necessity.
Ski apparel
Appropriate dress can make or break your day on the slopes. It is worth investing in a pair of waterproof ski pants as jeans get wet and do not allow enough movement. It is best to dress in layers as temperatures can vary from day to day. A waterproof shell is your best bet for a jacket, with a fleece and under layers for additional warmth. Contrary to popular belief, the thinnest pair of cotton socks is essential in boot comfort, allowing for optimal circulation and boot fit. Additional comfort can be achieved by wearing highly breathable clothing specifically made for winter outdoor activities. Neck gators, hats, facemasks and goggles are also highly recommended.
First-time skiers and snowboarders are highly recommended to take a lesson with the Ski & Ride School. It is imperative to learn proper technique in order to prevent injury and make the sport more enjoyable. Whether you want to learn a new sport, improve your skills or just want to find the powder stashes that only the locals know, the mountain's Ski & Ride School has the program for you. Many mountains also have early morning guided tours with an "ambassador." Others have guides you can ski/snowboard with. Going out with an instructor or guide or ambassador helps you ski more confidently and also brings you to trails you might not have done on your own. Especially during busy holiday times, it is recommended to book a lesson online, in advance.
Purchase your lift tickets in advance
Breckenridge lets you pre-purchase lift tickets online 7 days in advance and save up to $100 on a 6-day ticket. Plus, you'll get to skip the ticket window and go straight to the lifts. Purchase Lift Tickets Online.
For those coming from a distance, ski-and-stay packages offer excellent value, as do multi-day tickets, which also can be purchased in advance. Vail Resorts' season Epic Pass allows for unlimited skiing at all six resorts (Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly and Northstar-at-Tahoe) plus Arapahoe Basin. Other ski areas often have collaborative tickets with one or more partner resorts.
How to carry your equipment
Walking in ski boots while carrying your skis and poles is challenging. It is best to keep your boots unbuckled until you have arrived at the base of the chairlift. The best way to carry your equipment is to put your skis over your shoulder and carry both poles in your other hand.
Do a little pre-planning in figuring out how to get around mountain area – it can help you decide which hotel or condo is really a better value, considering the amount of time spent getting to the base area, and its accessibility to a shuttle service. Many resorts have free shuttle systems so you don't need a car. Check out the time schedule.
For example, at Breckenridge, while a number of properties are within walking distance of historic Main Street or the slopes, Breckenridge is served by the Free Ride Transportation System. The Free Ride travels routes through Breckenridge connecting the resort's base areas and free parking lots, runs the perimeter of downtown, stops at the Ice Rink, City Market, Recreation Center, Village and Four O'clock Roads, Columbine and Broken Lance Drive and Peak 9.
Keystone also has a superb free shuttle bus system that gets you all around the resort (and after regular hours of scheduled service, you only have to call and the bus comes). The County also offers a free bus to Arapahoe Basin and Breckenridge.
Most mountain resorts these days are casual, so you don't have to bring extra dress-up clothes and shoes (important considerations when you are trying to keep baggage fees to a minimum). Breckenridge, for example, prides itself in being a laid back, casual mountain town. No need to bring your high-heels or dress clothes. Jeans and a sweater/fleece are the norm around here.


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Meh school
Do you use Sandbox in your school? Please share your experiences with us!
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Pipe dreamer: Frederick wants millions (of gallons)
For a utilities director, Thomas Frederick's experience is hard to beat: he's been an expert on the subject for 25 years, most recently in Asheville, that hip enclave in the Carolina foothills.
Last year Frederick was even so bold as to assume control of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority, a position from which everyone else seems to flee: since 2001, four people have sat in the executive director's seat. This game of hot potato results in part from the flood of troubles surrounding the local water supply.
Frederick says that Charlottesville leaders identified water as a scarce commodity as early as the 1970s.
"A lot of people think that water trouble began with the drought of 2002," says Frederick, "but that was only a symptom of other water problems. The latest studies on local water supplies would have occurred with or without the drought."
What those studies turned up is that the Charlottesville urban area, with its current 13 million gallon-per-day water capacity and ever-increasing population– now around 125,000– will need an additional 9.9 million gallons daily by the year 2055. The latest controversy in the water world surrounds a potential source: the James River pipeline.
The proposed pipeline, from the James River at Scottsville to Charlottesville (potentially along Route 20), is one of four solutions to the expected water shortage. Yet the $49.9 million proposal is undoubtedly the one that has sparked the most debate.
"There's a general concern about development along the pipeline," says Scottsville mayor Stephen Phipps. "And of course there are environmental issues to consider."
While Frederick claims that the real estate argument "isn't really fair," he says he takes all public concerns into consideration.
"We're aware that a number of people are opposed to the pipeline," he says. "And we value the public voice."
Frederick must put his years of public utilities knowledge to work in weighing the proposed solutions. In addition to the pipeline, upgrading the Ragged Mountain Reservoir, increasing the height of the dam or dredging the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir are all under consideration. Naturally, Frederick wants to do whatever is most environmentally friendly, provides the healthiest drinking water, and pleases as many people as possible.
Despite the numerous concerns, he remains optimistic that a positive solution can be found.
"The key," he says, "is communication among everyone– the boards, at all levels, and the public."
Age: 48
Why here? Great setting and opportunities for a smaller city, and an opportunity for me to return to utility management
What's worst about living here? Five o'clock traffic
Favorite hangout? Anywhere on the Downtown Mall
Most overrated virtue? Orderliness
People would be surprised to know: As a boy, I wanted to be a NASA scientist.
What would you change about yourself? More time to read for fun
Proudest accomplishment? Reorganization of Water Maintenance Division in Asheville, NC
People find most annoying about you: I'm not easily persuaded by pressure.
Whom do you admire? Sir Winston Churchill
Favorite book? Iron John, by Robert Bly
Subject that causes you to rant? Statements I hear that I know are not true
Biggest 21st-century thrill? The scope of the Internet
Biggest 21st-century creep out? Spyware
What do you drive? Nissan Altima
In your car CD player right now: Diana Krall: The Girl in the Other Room
Next journey? Quebec City for summer vacation
Most trouble you've ever gotten in? Speeding ticket
Regret: Not getting out of the stock market before the bubble burst
Favorite comfort food: Oatmeal raisin cookies
Always in your refrigerator: Tea
Must-see TV: Old James Bond movies
Favorite cartoon: Bugs Bunny
Describe a perfect day. Quality time with a good friend
Walter Mitty fantasy: Become a spy on a secret mission
Who'd play you in the movie? Mel Gibson
Most embarrassing moment? Introducing a speaker with the wrong biographical notes
Best advice you ever got? Be patient.
Favorite bumper sticker? "If we don't change direction, we'll get where we're going"
Thomas Frederick


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NEW YORK – Week Three of the MLSsoccer.com Team of the Week features two players who make a return appearance. The team of MLSsoccer.com editors, who cover every minute of all the MLS action, give you the top players at their respective positions.
Chad Marshall and Tally Hall again came up big for their respective clubs for the second straight week and the forward line knocked in six goals last weekend. New England and Houston each contribute two players in the top XI despite the fact that each could only muster a 1-1 tie.
GK – Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo): A second consecutive nod for Hall, who has singlehandedly earned his team a point in two consecutive weekends.
DF – Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy): His first minutes of the campaign earn him an immediate nomination. Despite playing down a man, Gonzalez and his back line completely neutralized the Union attack.
DF – Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew): Another shutout for the Crew on the heels of another dominating performance by Marshall in the back.
DF – A.J. Soares (New England Revolution): Rookie looks more comfortable with every game. Good timing and positioning helped snuff out more than a few Portland attacks.
MF – Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution): Omnipresent on the field for the Revs. Although he does it all, playing slightly further upfield has helped New England become more of an attacking threat.
MF – Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo): The heart and soul of Houston's midfield. Led his squad in gutting out a road result for a second straight match against an MLS Cup contender.
MF – Simon Dawkins (SJ Earthquakes): The Tottenham loanee makes things happen when the ball is at his feet and he proved he can also finish.
MF – Steve Zakuani (Seattle Sounders): Terrorized San Jose for a good part of their match on Saturday. He continues to be a leader for Sounders FC early on in 2011.
FW – Caleb Folan (Colorado Rapids): The big man showed sublime skill and footwork on his two goals which could be a deadly combination in MLS.
FW – Camilo Sanvezzo (Vancouver Whitecaps): The young Brazilian proved dangerous throughout the match against Sporting. He's earned himself another start.
FW – Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City): His goals against the Whitecaps were superstar quality. He can create his own chances when he's around the box.
Manager – Gary Smith (Colorado Rapids): The champs are 3-0-0 and showed they're not dependent on their star strikers from 2010. That's partly due to Smith's latest great find in Folan.
Honorable Mentions: Adrian Cann (TFC), Eddie Gaven (CLB), Jake Gleeson (POR), Alan Gordon (TFC), Jimmy Nielsen (KC), Alain Rochat (VAN), Mauro Rosales (SEA), Jan Gunnar Solli (NYRB), Anthony Wallace (COL)
Goalkeepers: Tally Hall (Week 2, Week 3), Nick Rimando (Week 1);
Defenders: Danny Califf (Week 1), Omar Gonzalez (Week 3), Zach Loyd (Week 1), Chad Marshall (Week 2, Week 3), Drew Moor (Week 2), Jeff Parke (Week 1), Alain Rochat (Week 2), A.J. Soares (Week 3);
Midfielders: Osvaldo Alonso (Week 2), Kyle Beckerman (Week 1), Geoff Cameron (Week 3), Brian Carroll (Week 2), Davide Chiumiento (Week 1), Simon Dawkins (Week 3), Shalrie Joseph (Week 3), Juninho (Week 1), Javier Morales (Week 2), Marco Pappa (Week 2), Teemu Tainio (Week 1), Steve Zakuani (Week 3);
Forwards: Omar Bravo (Week 1), Teal Bunbury (Week 3), Omar Cummings (Week 1), Caleb Folan (Week 3), Eric Hassli (Week 1), Javier Martina (Week 2), Paulo Jr. (Week 2), Camilo Sanvezzo (Week 3), Chris Wondolowski (Week 2);
Managers: Gary Smith (Week 3), Hans Backe (Week 2), Ben Olsen (Week 1).


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Burn survivor's recovery from explosion gives hope
Survivor: We don't expect to fix anything
A man's carefully documented recovery from a Norwood chemical plant explosion that set him on fire and nearly killed him is giving hope to other people.
Dave Tauber was a healthy, 31-year-old guy working at the Shepherd Chemical plant in Norwood when an explosion rocked his world in 1990.
"I ran down a platform and into another part of the building, and people said when they first saw me they thought that I was just a big ball of fire, so they started to run, and then they saw it was a person," Tauber said.
Tauber said 75 percent of his body was scorched, and his hearing, speech and eyesight were nearly gone.
"For six months, they told my wife every day (before) she went home from the hospital, 'He won't be alive tomorrow,'" Tauber said.
Tauber's wife, Carolyn, put every "tomorrow" in a book to document her husband's good and bad days.
"Everybody's saying he's not going to make it. I said, 'He's here for a reason. You know, all the stuff he went through, we're going to make it.' (We) took it day by day," said Carolyn Tauber.
Twenty-two years later, Tauber, sporting leg braces, cochlear implants, a tracheotomy and too many skin grafts to count, is proof for other survivors in the University Hospital's burn victims support group that odds aren't everything.
"Is your glass half empty or is it half full? Are you worried about the things you don't have? Or are you thankful for the things you have?" Tauber said. "We don't expect to fix anything. It's to help you cope with it, show you that we've been there."


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"Thanks to a $5 million donation from a wealthy casino owner, a group supporting New Gingrich plans to place advertisements in South Carolina this week attacking Mitt Romney as a predatory capitalist who destroyed jobs and communities, adding a full-scale Republican dimension to an assault on Mr. Romney's business background…
"The Bain-centered campaign strikes at the heart of Mr. Romney's argument for his qualifications as president — that as a successful executive in the private sector, he learned how to create jobs — and advances an argument that President Obama's re-election campaign has signaled it would employ aggressively against Mr. Romney.
"'His business success comes from raiding and destroy businesses — putting people out of work, stealing their health care,' said Rick Tyler, a senior adviser to the pro-Gingrich super PAC, Winning Our Future, which recently bought the film, 'King of Bain: When Mitt Romney Came to Town,' after groups backing two other Republican candidates passed up opportunities to use it…
"'If this is free enterprise, then conservatives should have nothing to do with it," [Tyler] said. 'It is predatory paper-shuffling. Mitt Romney was engaged in the engineered destruction of free enterprise,' including raiding workers' pension and health care funds to finance corporate takeovers, he said."
"President Obama's chief campaign strategist David Axelrod today on 'This Week' honed his two-pronged attack on GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney, insisting the former Bain Capital CEO's record and shifting policy positions will undermine his general election appeal.
"'Frankly I don't think bringing a Bain mentality to this economy — to running this economy — makes him a strong candidate,' Axelrod told me. 'I don't think shifting and moving around on positions – fundamental positions – is one that people are going to embrace.'…
"'He is not a job creator he is a corporate raider,' he added. 'Those aren't the values that we want to lead our economy.'"
"The young men in business suits, gingerly picking their way among the millwrights, machinists and pipefitters at Kansas City's Worldwide Grinding Systems steel mill. Gaping up at the cranes that swung 10-foot cast iron buckets through the air. Jumping at the thunder from the melt shop's electric-arc furnace as it turned scrap metal into lava…
"Apparently they liked what they saw. Soon after, in October 1993, Bain Capital, co-founded by Mitt Romney, became majority shareholder in a steel mill that had been operating since 1888…
"Less than a decade later, the mill was padlocked and some 750 people lost their jobs. Workers were denied the severance pay and health insurance they'd been promised, and their pension benefits were cut by as much as $400 a month.
"What's more, a federal government insurance agency had to pony up $44 million to bail out the company's underfunded pension plan. Nevertheless, Bain profited on the deal, receiving $12 million on its $8 million initial investment and at least $4.5 million in consulting fees."
NEWT GINGRICH: Well, I — I haven't seen the film, but it does reflect 'The New York Times' story two days ago about one particular company. And I think people should look at the film and decide. If it's factually accurate, it raises questions.
I'm very much for free enterprise. I'm very much for exactly what the Governor just described, create a business, grow jobs, provide leadership.
I'm not nearly as enamored of a Wall Street model where you can flip companies, you can go in and have leveraged buyouts, you can basically take out all the money, leaving behind the workers.
"Gingrich also repeatedly told viewers to watch a forthcoming anti-Romney movie that Gingrich supporters have bought the rights to. Newt claimed—implausibly—to not have seen it, though he does know that it clocks in at exactly 27 1/2 minutes.
"Newt continued with his bizarre attacks against Romney for being a successful businessman. Seemingly unaware that GOP primary voters worship at the altar of the free market, Gingrich has adopted the DNC attack line that Romney is a modern day Gordon Gekko who delights in laying off American workers to line his own pockets. In Gingrich's world, lobbying for a sleazy quasi-governmental entity that played a role in the U.S. economic meltdown is preferable to creating wealth in the private sector. Good luck with that message in a Republican primary."
"If nothing else, you in the tea party movement have spent the last three years teaching Americans that we are in a battle for the very soul of capitalism. And here comes Romney, the soul of American capitalism in the flesh. Look back over his career as a predator drone at Bain Capital: Isn't it the exact sort of background you always insist politicians ought to have as you wave your copy of 'Atlas Shrugged' in the air?
"It's true that Romney said that the bank bailouts of 2008-09 were necessary, while you regard them as a mortal sin against free-market principles. But you shouldn't hold this against him. Any study of bank history reveals that free-marketeers have no problem doling out, or grabbing for, government money when the chips are down…
"With Romney, a centimillionaire venture capitalist, carrying your banner in 2012, you will finally get to submit your capsized vision of social class to the verdict of the people — the actual flesh-and-blood people, that is, not the corporate 'people' who make up the S&P 500."
"[N]ot only is Romney's Bain record on trial here, so is the whole idea of Schumpeterian, entrepreneurial capitalism where 'creative destruction' creates a massive net benefit for society. This is exactly the idea that the Obama reelection campaign is attacking as promoting unacceptable levels of inequality. (Apparently bad government investments — like in Solyndra — that lose jobs are OK.)"
Via the pro-Gingrich Super PAC Winning Our Future:
"I know what it's like to worry about whether you're going to get fired."
Via Mediaite.


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Rattlesnake Rattles
This Diamondback Rattlesnake's rattle is unbroken (button is present)
A Rattlesnake cannot be aged simply by counting the number of rattles on its tail. The tip of the tail of a new born Rattlesnake ends in a smooth rounded, slightly pear-shaped, "button," which is the first segment of the future rattle. As the young snake grows it sheds its skin, usually several times a year. Each shed skin adds a new, loosely overlapped and interlocked segment to the rattle. Shedding twice a year will add two segments to the rattle. Shedding three times a year will add three segments to the rattle. The more a Rattlesnake sheds, the more segments are added to its rattle. When the Rattlesnake vibrates its tail, the segments click together to produce the buzzing rattle sound.
The tissue that makes up the rattle is rather like a thin brittle fingernail. Just as a human can tear a fingernail, when the rattle gets longer than about 8-10 segments, some may break off and be lost. If the string of rattle segments ends in a smooth rounded button, all the segments are there and the rattle is complete. If the rattle string ends in a squarish or tiered nubbin, the rattle has been broken and some segments have been lost.
These two factors, adding segments several times a year and losing segments through breakage, make it impossible to tell a Rattlesnake's age by simply counting its rattles.