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In October 2009 Dave deBruyn was invited to speak at the Vancouver Real Estate Technology Meetup on the subject of marketing your Real Estate business online. The premise of the presentation was niche marketing – something we feel very strongly about, and a strategy we recommend to clients in order to maximize their marketing dollars.
The folks at Ubertor were kind enough to videotape the event, and also have provided a transcription of the video below. A word of warning – the video is over 30 minutes long, but there are some gems in there. Any questions, comments or feedback? Feel free to get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
Video Transcription
Dave: In the back if you can't hear me just let me know. I've got this big speaker behind my head, so it sounds loud up here. So, basically we do marketing for realtors and developers and over the past years, we've developed a good relationship with Ubertor and we've built a lot of real estate sites on their platform. Tonight isn't a platform specific speech. It's just a bit of a talk about what I think the big benefit is to niche marketing and for realtors to take a bit of a different approach when they try to market themselves.
Quick little obligatory slide here – I know going to have an American audience on the video side of things so I should probably explain that niche is a "Nitch". So if your anywhere in the south of the Canadian border tonight's speech is on "Nitch" marketing. I prefer niche.
A niche is defined as a distinct segment of a market, a situation or activity specially suited to a persons interests, abilities or nature or a special area of demand for a product or service. My favorite definition is the second one. I think that the best fit for a niche in the marketing sense is a situation or activity that's related to you, your core values, your love, the things that you like to do. I will talk a bit more about that later but as long as your values align with your business you'll actually go really far.
The beginning of this presentation is essentially that the mass media is dead. So, once upon a time (specially in the real estate business) it was often thought that he who advertises the most wins. Essentially he who throws the most money at it, will win. For many years that was true in this business. Each & every one of us gets a stack of real estate flyers every week saying they're the best in this area or the top realtor in Vancouver… and they all go straight to the recycling bin. Unfortunately the general public has grown immune to that system and we are essentially flushing our money down the toilet. For all intents and purposes, mass media is dead.
The same thing goes for big business in advertising in television. The general public has started to filter out advertising and there's a good slide showing of where all your realtor post cards and just old flyers are ending up. We have built castles, we've built walls around us and we've try to block out the outside world and the general consensus is that it's very tough to actually reach in and reach people.
The marketing world has changed fundamentally over the last few years. The big thing that's had this impact is of course, the internet. This is kind of a lame slide when you look at it big but basically, this is somebody's little visual map of all the internet pathways and connections that are going on. So, there you go, the info highway and that's what's changing the world as we know it today. So, the big question is. How do I market to these consumers? We're all hiding beyond these walls – apparently immune to mass media, or immune to print marketing, television marketing and that kind of thing. What it really comes down to is now, the way to market people is by referral.
People are social in nature and everybody would now prefer to ask for a referral, and that word of mouth advertising is truly pushing businesses forward today. In the absence of a referral. People seek out Mike Myers (aka love guru) or they seek out the advice of an expert. It's sort of evolving into a world where people ask for advice from their peers first, and in the absence of that referral they look for an expert. What it boils down to is this: if you want to succeed in standing out in your market and want to realize the benefit from your marketing dollars, you have to figure out how to become a leader. You have to figure out how to make people follow you [consensually]. This is where we get into the theory of a niche. Niche marketing means that you are focusing your energy on a very small, specific segment of your market. By focusing your energy, it truly allows you to succeed – allows you to be the best at something. (Even if that something is something small).
There was a good quote I read about niche marketing from Seth Godin…the quote was that the secret to being the best in the world is to make the world smaller. In the real estate business specially, the vast majority people are marketing themselves as a jack of all trades. There is no way any one person can stand up and say, I am the best realtor in Vancouver – I'm sorry it's just not true. There are now thousands, over 4500 realtors in Vancouver. It is pretty hard to stand up and say, I am the best realtor in Vancouver and how many flyers a week do you get, I am the best realtor in Vancouver or Vancouver's west side or which will have you but essentially, what your saying is I am a jack of all trades I'm the best in everything, please send me your business.
The other issue that's facing realtors today is what sets you apart? I know some of the brokers might not like me for saying it but, the reality is there's how many Remax agents out there? (And I'm not trying to pick on Remax, it's just the logo I had handy. There's how many Sutton agents? There's how many Dexter agents? If all that you are relying on for your advertising is your sign or the simply fact that you're a Remax agent, then you are out of luck. Reality check – you are just one of a number (and take a number). You personally are not going to derive any benefit or get any business from that [sorry!]. It adds credibility it adds a system and procedures behind you an that sort of thing which is wonderful but it's not going to be bringing in any business, like it used to in the past.
This is a slide that comes from my Seth Godin presentation. Seth Godin's basic point was that when your drive past a field of cows, everything you see is a cow and nothing is remarkable. BUT if you were to drive past a field of cows and you happen to see a purple cow, that's remarkable, that stands out. In many ways in the real estate business, it's all about becoming the purple cow.
So todays talk is about niche marketing. So I wanted to give a few examples, realtors that I've dealt with recently and some of them I told they we're going to be talked about tonight some of them I didn't, so I hope they don't mind. But basically, these are real examples of people that I see, that are succeeding within the niches that they've created.
First one: this is a website from Chicago that we recently completed. Robert Darrow is the agent behind it and he actually has a number of niches (and a number of sites and a number of blogs). He's really embraced internet marketing and social media. He decided earlier in the year, that he wanted to be the town home king in Chicago and he wanted to build a website that was the ultimate resource for townhouses in Chicago. Chicago, because it's an old city, it's actually a large percentage of their home sales are actually attached, so the town home is really a good niche. What was funny, was that, he didn't realize how untapped the potential of that niche was. Anecdotally, after we built this site he started using the blog on the Ubertor platform that's attached to this site. We call it news, but it's just a blog. And he's gone, and I think he's number 2 and number 3 for Chicago townhouse when you search for it on Google. Wasn't the objective, he was trying to build a resource first but already, the sites only been live for about a month and he's already shooting up the ranks. He's found a niche and he's nailed it. Big component to this site is community information. There's probably 40 or 50 pages hidden on this site that you don't see, the goal is to, as people start to explore, read the information there's more and more, they're deeper and deeper, reading about the communities about the benefits, about the townhouse neighborhoods I guess in Chicago it's sort of grouped by neighborhoods. Benefits of townhouse ownership the pluses the minuses and the legalities of townhouse ownership in Chicago. He's got polls, he's got all of this. All of this is possible on Ubertor, which is nice. But he is really making a difference with that niche. Side-note on this one, he's also in the process on building what's a very sale-able business. If Robert ever wanted to retire, he can very easily trot somebody else in, and they become the realtor behind townhomeshopchicago.com. So if your going to invest a lot of money into something, if your going to take the time to build this thing properly. He hired a copyrighter, he spent about a year preparing for this and he's done a really good job of it. But he has now built a sale-able business entity that brings in leads and brings in dollars and it's been a wonderful addition to his business. So that's one that I wanted to highlight.
Another one I wanted to highlight is in Florida, Inga Wilson is a, I guess you can call her a high-end realtor in Florida. She sells properties on the 1 – 15 million dollar range. A range that many of us would like to be in if we ever had that opportunity. She came upon a need earlier in the year that, she was continually hearing from her high-end customers that they we're very frustrated by how difficult it was to find actual waterfront property. Remember that Florida is sort of half-water. So, we have swamp-front, creek-front, bog-front, we've got pond-front and then we've got canal and we've got actual ocean and it, runs the whole gamut. And if you search the standard MLS, you get sort of waterfront as a click-able, option and that's it. So here's somebody that's searching for place to park their yacht. That's her clientele, they're trying to park their yacht and their having a sift through all these bog-front listings, actually look at it on the map and se is there really space for my yacht. So she said, can we build this site, send it around this demographic which is high-end 1 to 12 million and we want to make sure that every listing that appears on this site, they can park their yacht at this site. So when you go to search, through this site on Florida waterfront. We actually use the third party IDX and we programmed it and it filters out anything that is not marina, It's got marina access, canal access or basically anything that you can drive sort of a 35 and up foot boat to, is the only the listing that will appear on this site. It's worked wonderful for her and it helps reinforce to people that she is the expert and she's gone and she's found sort of a need that the people we're frustrated with. Which, was finding a property to park their boat at and she's sort of bridging a gap and it's really had a big impact about their business.
Another one I wanted to talk about, this is a local example. Telf Maynard is here tonight, Telf and Cheryl Dewson approached me and they were interested in building an equestrian website. I guess you could say that the equestrian property search has some of the same problems that the multi-millionaire yacht property search has, which is, only certain properties are suitable for horses. And there isn't the appropriate categories available on the MLX or the MLS to search for that type of property. So, what they struck out to do was build the website in western Canada for equestrian property. They hand select every listing and make sure that it actually meets their standards for becoming a suitable horse property. Is that a good way to put it? Telf and Cheryl, this is sort of the key that I think is really cool. They're both horse people, so they both go way back in that field, in that industry. They're well known already within that community and they saw this need within the community they were already involved in and thought they would build a tool. And that tool, they've been advertising in that community and it's kind of a wonderful little relationship. And so, that's another good one.
So the question I'm faced with is that a lot of my clients are new realtors, and they're all asking the same question: how can I use the internet to expand my business? I don't want to just put up a website about me, but I actually want to bring in leads, bring in business. My answer to each is pretty much the same. Unless you are an Andrew Hasman or you've got a long track record behind you – pick a niche. The possibilities are endless. And when we start down the (I guess we'll call it niche finding) path with people, we ask them some exploratory questions.
My primary question is, what problem are you going to try and solve? Each of the three examples that I outlined, not only were a niche site, but they also solved a problem. So they weren't a general condo in Vancouver website. They were trying to solve a problem of something that was difficult for people to search for, and by doing that. You then become a resource, and that will give you credibility and bring you business. Who is the target audience demographic and then what we look at is, is that demographic currently responsible for your income or are we trying to sort of, break new ground and get into a new business.
The other thing I want to know is who are you, what are your credentials and what gives you the experience to be best at what you do. The example I gave with Telf Maynard is that they have a lot of experience within the horse industry, within the equestrian industry. They have a lot of credibility within that industry. That experience combined with their real estate experience equals a very wonderful niche for them to work within and I think that's a great fit. The other thing is what do you do differently than your competition. So everybody always asks me why I don't have an idea. You know, somebody's got "kits condos", somebody's got "downtown condos", somebody's got Vancouverhomes.com and your pretty much right. The good domain names and the broad niches are all taken.
That said, there are a ton of niches out there are not taken. I always loved the mobile home, a lot of people laugh, but you know how many mobile homes there are in the lower mainland? I have never seen anyone advertising themselves as the mobile home specialist. <<Audience laughs>> There will be, starting tomorrow. You know what? 2 grand, 3 grand a transaction, turn key, bang them out. It's totally doable. It might not be the perfect fit for your business but you never know, its a niche that is out there.
So knowing that I would be standing up here, I tried to brainstorm some more niches that I think are important and under-serviced at this point. Adult-oriented 55 plus, to me that one is like this big beating beacon here that's somebody's got to serve this niche. I don't know the stats, I don't have them handy , but the vast majority of our population is aging and a huge percentage of those people are going to be 55+. They have special requirements, specific needs, theres specific property for them. Somebody needs to emerge, in my opinion, to lead that charge and be the best at that. i live in White Rock. In White Rock it's huge, and even in White Rock, there is still nobody that is leading the charge for adult oriented. Pet-friendly, you know, like there's a guy in Toronto, who I think the guy and his dog Kong. That's his branding, that's his niche and you know what. He does a phenomenal business by it. Co-ops, I didn't think there was a specific realtor that was just marketing to Co-ops in Vancouver, I was wrong, there actually is a couple. I still think theres huge room. A lot of people don't want to deal with Co-ops. There are a lot of Co-ops in the west end and I say, hey go for it, be an expert in it, deal with it and embrace it, then people with come out of the wood-work. Lease-hold land, there's a few people that have done it, few people that haven't. I don't think anybody has done it right. Cities other than Vancouver, houses with suites, thats a big niche. In Vancouver everybody has a suite, its just kind of been the de-facto here but in other cities, there's a lot of realtors, could make a lot of money by being the granny suite expert, something like that. Country club, absentee owners. Absentee owners is a big one. If you were to align yourself with property management companies and cleaning services and all of these services that an absentee owner would need in order to be comfortable, you would do well. So, homes with pools, farms with barns, agricultural land, green properties. I've seen a couple of guys emerged as trying to do the green thing this year. I still don't think anybody's nailed it. There are a ton of green developments in Vancouver right now and I can't think of a single resource that has them all listed in one place. Simple, all that stuff is out there. Walk-able, cycle-able, golf-course, ski chalets, on-hill. Why not partner with somebody from Alberta and be the on-hill expert, like it doesn't exist. There are people that are looking for on-hill accommodation and it's really hard to find actually, because on-hill off-hill it's kind of hard to search for on the MLS. Airstrip property, kind of funny, but it does exists, not in Okotoks Alberta but right around that area there's one. Just came out, there's this airport property in Florida, airport property in Australia. New niche that's coming is basically they build this homes in a culdesac around the airport.
Marina access we already talked about, but how about homes with helipad? Homes with offices? As the population ages a lot of people are starting to look for homes with proper offices. You know how hard that is to search for? So, there's opportunity there.
The guts of what I'm saying is that, the only way your niche is going to work for you is that if you actually add value to your buyers. So these are just a few examples, walkscore.com if you want to be the the green guy or you want to talk about walk-able property. Walkscore is a little company that embeds little maps that rates your property based on the walkability of that property. very cool little tool and it's free, so you could actually come up with an algorithm where you only ever display properties on your website that display properties on your website that have an 85 or more walkscore score and people would actually comment and appreciate that. It's really getting big in Seattle. Nobody in Vancouver is really doing it that way. Activities and events calendar, that's great if your a community based niche. There's a million communities out there, they all have activities. A lot of people are lacking some sort of a central place to post those kind of activities. It's all doable, Google makes a calendar that's embed-able to anybody's website.
As you establish a niche you can contribute to Wiki. There is an article in Wikipedia about every community in Vancouver. Most of them suck, they're about 1 paragraph long. They're just waiting for anybody to contribute to that. If your the expert, write it. Attend your relevant council meetings, that should be standard practice in anybody's niche or farm area. The key here though is find challenges and provide solutions, there are many many challenges when your finding property. He who provide the solutions, in my mind, will get the income. Google is in the business of making everybody's life easier but essentially, they keep bringing in all these tools and you never know. Google is on a path where one day they can prove MLS listings for all we know. As realtors, you will only survive, if you can analyze the data, process the data, advise on the data and add extra information to the mix.
We don't know where the world is going. We will never sort of, control all of the listings forever, that's not just going to happen. So it would be ice to think of challenges and solutions that a human sort of has to be involved in. Another one that Ubertor is pretty big on and I agree. Publish a blog on your website, update it. The blog should be relevant to your niche, if the blog is relevant to your niche. Guess what happens to your search engine rankings. Google loves real content on a website. If you talk about what you know and what your website is about, you raise your ranking. It's kind of this big wonderful circle. Participate, engage, meet others, for a community and meetup a tribe. That's essentially what we are doing here tonight . There is no reason that anyone of you couldn't pick a niche and then form a little, I guess tribe around that niche and you'd be amazed of the business that would come.
Some helpful tools when I'm working with a client and they're bouncing ideas off as we're trying to refine their niche. I love the Google add-words tool, not just for add-words, and I'll just do a sidebar, for anybody that's interested in add-words training or wants to go down the search engine optimization path talk to Steve after, he has a company called Reachd. They teach you how to do that. I'm not going to get into that except that I use the Google add-words tool for lots of things. The beautiful part is you can type in a tool or type in a term, this one says house for sale, sorry. It ranks your term and similar terms based on the search volume which actually tells you how many people locally, searched for houses for sale in September. 5 million people or 5 million times did somebody search for houses for sale in the Vancouver area, that's huge. The other interesting category is the second one here, which is advertiser competition. So, the greener that bar means you've got more competition if you we're to advertise for that term and even if your not paying for advertising. That tells you how many people your competing with. So if I wanted to be the guy that's best at houses for sale in Vancouver, your pretty much not going to get there. But as you look further down that list I highlighted one, see farmhouses for sale? Still has a decent search volume 5,400 people searched for that in the vancouver area in September. Yet you have pretty much no advertiser competition. So if you play with the Google add-words tool. Type your ideas, think about your niches, you'll see how many people searched for what your talking about and how many people advertise for what your talking about. It gives you a huge idea of where there's room to sort of, enter the market or enter the frame.
Another thing you can do is pick a great domain name. A great domain name is pretty much a key to your niche's success. You want to be memorable, easy to, remember and it's got to relate really well. I used go-daddy with a lot of our clients, when your typing in the domain name your thinking about, it gives you a list of suggestions and just roll with it. Have a glass of wine and like, sit there for a couple of hours. And you'll be amazed on what you come up with but basically, I thought you'll be able to read this better but I typed in condoking.com. I know that ones taken, but it says condo king store, free condo king, condo king now, condo king blog, condos sovereign. condo king today. So it starts making these suggestions and I wanted to pick sort of a, odd ball result, but if you really pay attention to that and start working with that. It's going to come up with some good suggestions. There are paid tools on the internet that do this and do even better, they'll provide you with 250 related terms, they try to imply some intelligence to it. I don't know if you really need to do it, you can get it for free.
Once you've determined what your brand is. I think it's of critical importance that you brand yourself and brand your niche. A strong brand will give you credibility. It becomes easy to advertise and easy for you to, makes you easily recognizable as you start your advertising out in the world. The other beautiful part about picking a niche, specially a tight niche is it allows you to target your advertising. So if I wanted to do dog-friendly property, where would I advertise? Would I spend $25,000 and mail a postcard to everybody in Vancouver saying that I was the best Vancouver realtor? or Would I take a couple thousand dollars and place ads in the dog publications that might have a circulation in my area. Much smarter approach, and if you followed through on their expectations meaning that you had a website that showed why certain properties were pet-friendly, dog-friendly. These people would actually go to your website, find what they were looking for, and your starting to build your business, build your tribe, build your following. The other thing is embrace social media, and i really don't want to go down that path tonight because that's sort of a 2, 3, 4 speeches away. Based on common interest, a niche lands itself well to social media because your talking about what your interested in and people with sort of, surround you to talk about that thing. The nice part is the you become the expert and then everybody wants to hear from you. Successful companies within the new business context within social media, provide content and add value. It's a different model than the, sort of , one direction of advertising in people. New company BRITISH BAY INTERACT?, they help others solve problems. If you take that approach to market your niche and take that approach in social media, you will be successful.
The last big question we get is that a lot of people are concerned that they will be limiting the potential of their business if they focus on a very small niche. All I can do is really say that no, your not. We took that step a few years ago I guess, my back ground is in advertising and marketing. It's obviously, I didn't go to school to real estate advertising and marketing. We just decided along the lines, that real estate is what we're interested in and thats going to be our focus. The phone still rings, with people that are not in real estate, but they have heard through somebody else that your an expert on what you do therefore you must be good at what they want you to do. We try not to go down that road, we still do work with several armed real estate clients, but it's funny. That was my biggest fear, when we specialized and sort of made that public, but it hasn't had a harmful impact on our business. In fact, it was really just open doors that we never even thought were possible. So no, it won't limit your potential clientele. So, the one though I leave you with is basically, what are you going to do to stick out, if you want to stick out yourself as a realtor in this city. You face fierce competition, a lot of people that have been doing it for a great long time.
Put some serious thought to what your doing that's going to make you stick out. That for me, essentially wraps it out and I don't know if Steve wants to say anything else to call it up but.
Steve: Does anybody have any questions? at all?
Questions: Do you use the Google add-words to get the niche market ideas like that research that you have the what people are looking at, what people are actually paying for advertising, do you use those as a reference to do the niche market?
Dave: Google add-words, research tools are great because they're free. I use Google add-words paid or not paid for a number of different things but I use the research tool just to give me stats on how many people are looking for a certain thing. So if I wanted to be Orlando Waterfront Property. I don't think Orlando has waterfront, but if I wanted to be Orlando Waterfront Property. I could type that into the Google add-words tools and it tells me how many times each month somebody searches for that tool and then with that little chart, well, its not scientific but it shows you. If that bar is green, you've got a hundred other people that are spending a lot of money advertising that. You probably want to pick another niche or try a few other words. Maybe not Orlando Waterfront maybe something else. Maybe Orlando Beachfront, type in Orlando Beachfront, wait a minute, nobody is advertising that term but it still gets a lot of searches. So that's how I use that one. The other half of the story is that if you want to start using add-words to actually improve your business and pay for advertising and increase your web traffic, very doable. That's again, a science on to itself, I'll refer you back to Steve not that one they teach classes on how to do that but the tool itself I use for all kinds of research it's just valuable and free.
Steve: Anybody else?
Question: Yeah, with social media, it's such a vast field of players. Does it make sense to focus on a social media group that is talking real estate or does it make sense to put it out there and see what happens?
Dave: In my business, its probably good to focus on a group of realtors that are talking about real estate. In your business it's probably not. If you picked a niche and talked about your niche I'll pick on Telf because he's standing right there but if Telf wants to use twitter and facebook to talk about equist's estates, be involved, be sponsoring horse competitions, be active in the community as people are getting on twitter they want to know, whose talking about horse stuff, they are going to find him, and he's talking about that stuff and they're interested in the community that develops around him that's not real estate related, but horse related. He builds up credibility, he sorts of, part of, part of the team, part of the tribe, they're all interested in the same thing. When they go to look for property, who are they going to look for it's just kind of, that's probably what I'd do, I'd probably take the non realtor approach. Getting to know other realtors online is great, but at the end of the day you might get referrals from it, but that's about it. That's the rest of the world, that's the rest of the public you want to.
Question: I'm thinking of a satellite trulia for example, which is talking about homeowners and they're asking questions and they want to get experts to answer their questions. Dave: Not a bad idea, always good to be an expert. I'm a big fan of the giving freely theory, if somebody asks you a question answer it. Like, we don't have anything to hide at this point. Any information that any of you ever want in this world is available on there, right? You type it in Google and it'll tell you. So, why hide information? Give information people will get to see if you, i guess, know what your talking about or don't or If you develop a relationship, specially a relationship where your giving to people without asking for something back. that's going to go pretty far.
Question: Yeah, I just want to get an understanding of the limitations, I guess, of being able to create a niche online. Have you encountered a problem or has it ever been impossible for you to say, generate a specific criteria set for a particular client? does it ever had, ask for anything or have you had experience where, the infrastructure just isn't there to do what it is anymore, because that's always been a concern to me.
Dave: With this problem, I thinks that people usually go too wide. So, they want to be a commercial drive realtor and unfortunately, people like yourself have been doing that for a long time and you've got a bit of a track record but they could focus that a bit more, I think they could narrow their focus and then it becomes doable. At the end of the day I don't think it's wise to try and chase a big category where somebody's been doing it and doing it well for years. I think that maybe, commercial drive fixer-uppers if that's your specialty, or homes with 6 bedrooms, or something, but you can hyper-focus. Narrow it down a little bit and find your own little chunk.
Question: So if someone wanted to do something, as an example, some little suites, pet-friendly, dogs, cats you can do your stuff? (not sure)
Dave: Well it becomes what you do with it right? If you truly add value to that category just like I don't think commercial drives locked down. Somebody could get in there, if they truly embrace the community and the community aspect and got to know the businesses and really pushed the community side and were involved in that sort of thing, they'd make their way, but for a new realtor, the tighter your focus, the easier it is, the tighter your focus, the easier it is to be an expert, the shorter amount of time is, I guess, that you have to spend on being the expert because your only trying to focus on something tiny, but.
Anybody else? Thank you.


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The host Rovers captured their first sectional team title since 1988 in outdistancing the field at the Rootstown Division III Sectional tournament completed on Saturday.
Rootstown rolled up 212.5 points to easily finishing ahead of runner-up Manchester, which finished with 149 points.
The Rovers also led all teams with 10 district qualifiers, including a pair of champions and three second-place finishers.
It turned out to be a pretty good tournament for two other PTC teams, as Waterloo finished fifth with 112.5 and Mogadore was sixth with 103.5 im the 16-team field.
The Vikings led the field with three champions and four district qualifiers altogether, while the Wildcats had two champions and four total qualifiers.
Garfield finished in 10th place with 74 points and had one champion and one other qualifier.
Leading the Rovers were 170-pound champion Travis Linton, who downed Matt Hardenbrook of Crestview with a 19-3 technical fall and Jake Moore, who won the 220 title with an 11-5 decision over David Jamieson of Brookfield.
Finishing second for Rootstown were Tony Paolucci (113); Tyler Hilliard (132) and Kyle Slaughter (182).
Seth Hayes (120); Jason Sadler (126); and Ryan Zoller (160) took third for the Rovers, while Skylar Montie (138) and Tarren Lowell (145) were fourth.
Waterloo's sectional champions were paced by J.J. Diven, who won the 138 title with a 17-2 technical fall over Garrett Bass of Girard.
Also winning championships for the Vikings were Josh Horning, a 17-7 major decision winner over Tyrell Jethrow of Liberty at 152; and Brandon Brenes, who pinned Dimitri Gregory of Crestview in 2:17 at 195.
Waterloo's Henry Bolanz advanced to the district with a third-place finish at 182.
Mogadore's Josh Tompkins took the 126 crown with an 8-5 win over Anthony Renforth of South Range, and Justin Chew captured the 132 title with a pin of the Rovers' Hilliard in 1:19. In addition Gavin Chew (106) and Dan Sentelik (182) both finished fourth for the Wildcats.
Garfield's lone champion was Kevin Stock, who downed Slaughter of Rootstown, 10-7. Also qualifying for the G-Men was Andy Anderson, who took third at 195.
Kent Roosevelt finished 11th with 32 points and had one district qualifier in Aaron Miller, who finished second at 152.
Miller was pinned by Anthony Collica of Solon in 1:29 of the championship match.
Editor's Note: The Walsh Jesuit Division II Sectional results were not reported to the Record-Courier by press time.


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Jermaine O'Neal had 22 points and 12 rebounds against his former team, and the Miami Heat beat the Indiana Pacers 96-83 on Friday night.
The Pacers traded O'Neal before the 2008-09 season as they focused on rebuilding with younger players. He was animated throughout the game, drawing a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a dunk and later smiling when Pacers fans booed him.
Dwyane Wade scored 32 points for the Heat, who have won their first two games by a combined 35 points.
Danny Granger led the Pacers with 22 points, but shot 6 of 20 from the field. Troy Murphy, Solomon Jones and Luther Head each scored 12 points.
The Pacers, who have opened the season with two double-digit losses, shot 37 percent and made just 4 of 23 3-pointers.
O'Neal looked like the player who finished third in the league MVP balloting in 2004, and nothing like the one who hobbled through his final years with the Pacers. Friday's effort followed a 22-point, 12-rebound performance in the season-opening rout of New York. He posted his first consecutive 20-point, 10-rebound efforts since he was a Pacer in December 2007.
Miami led 49-47 at halftime, then O'Neal scored eight points and Michael Beasley added six in a 16-4 run to start the second half that put the Heat up 65-51. Miami led 79-63 at the end of the third quarter.
Head made back-to-back buckets that cut Miami's lead to 79-69 with 10 minutes to play. The Pacers had numerous chances to cut further into the lead because Miami went cold in the fourth quarter, but the Pacers got no closer than eight points.
Notes: Indiana C Roy Hibbert committed two fouls against O'Neal in the first 2:11 of the game. He finished with five fouls in 16 minutes. ... The Pacers shot 24 percent in first quarter. ... Indiana C Jeff Foster sprained his right ankle in the first quarter and did not return. ... Indiana G Mike Dunleavy (knee) and F Tyler Hansbrough (right shin) sat out.


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NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Friday, September 22, 2017
Sleep Disorders
No sleep in weeks! Having sensitivity
I have insomnia, but the past couple of weeks I`ve been really stressed. My body hasn`t had 8 hours of sleep a day since I can remember. In fact, I haven`t been able to sleep even 3 to 4 hours a night in maybe 2 weeks or more. I feel it wreaking havoc on my body. Today I was feeling a weird pain above my right breast and I also felt sensitivity to the touch on my right forearm and palm under my right pinky. Do you think its due to my nerves and lack of sleep. What exactly is it?
I apologize for the delay in answering your question and hope that I still may be able to offer some helpful advice. If I understood your problem correctly, you have developed difficulty falling asleep recently associated with excessive stress. This would be considered a form of acute insomnia resulting in inadequate sleep.
A large percentage of the population reports insomnia of several weeks duration at least once in their lifetime. The causes are numerous and include social and job stressors, changes in one's regular routine due to work, family obligations, travel, grief, depression, medical illness, bed partner issues, and medications, to name a few.
You mention a distinct period of time for the onset of your symptoms. This is indicative of an event or stressor that may have precipitated the problem. It would be important to review and recognize the possible event or stressor as further evaluation and management of this problem may be needed (such as counseling). In conjunction with management of any underlying problems, medication therapy can be considered for the short-term to help you sleep. A number of effective medications are now available as sleep aids and these are generally well-tolerated. However, they are really recommended for short-term use only and require a prescription from a physician.
An alternative approach to medications would be to attempt behavioral changes, which can be effective as well. Some of these include going to bed only when very sleepy, but maintaining a set wakeup time. In addition, you should get out of bed if you haven't fallen asleep in 15-20 minutes and do something that is not stimulating (i.e. reading in a dimly lit environment or listening to soothing music). Exercise about 5 hours before bedtime can be very helpful. Avoiding alcohol and caffeine within 4-6 hours of bedtime is a good idea as well.
It's hard to know for sure if the other symptoms you have are related to the insomnia or not. Acute sleep deprivation, as you are experiencing, can lead to wide ranging consequences including increased anxiety, feeling poorly, body aches, nausea, etc. However, localized pains and sensations would be somewhat unusual and may point to another problem distinct from your sleep issues.
If you find you are still having problems falling asleep, or the other symptoms seem to be persisting, then you should discuss this issue with your primary care physician. Specific factors in your history may be useful in tailoring a strategy that might work for you. Referral to a Sleep Specialist in your area may also be helpful. To learn more about insomnia or other sleep disorders, please visit the American Academy of Sleep Medicine website. In addition to information, the website contains a list of Sleep Centers across the country so that you may locate one near you.
Good luck and here's to better sleep!
Dennis Auckley, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University


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Randy Travis pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated Thursday, stemming from his arrest where he crashed his Pontiac Trans Am while drunk and naked!
The country music star was sentenced to two years of probation, a $2,000 fine and a 180-day suspended jail sentence. He will face jail if he doesn't complete community service…and behave!
Travis was also ordered to spend at least 30 days at an alcohol treatment facility, complete 100 hours of community service and have an ignition interlock device on any vehicle he operates while on probation.
Randy Travis, 53, entered the plea in a court in Sherman, Texas. The misdemeanor was punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
The troubled singer thanked the court and his fans as he left Grayson County Courthouse.
Travis acknowledged the police officers for "obviously taking care of me that night."
"I'm glad it's behind me," he said of the case.
Randy wrecked his car near Tioga, Texas on August 7, 2012 after hitting several barricades in a construction zone.
Randy Travis was found lying in the roadway buck-naked and was acting crazy while being transported to the local hospital.
Grayson County District Attorney Joe Brown said Travis' punishment is appropriate and "considerably more than is typically received on a DWI case."
"First-time DWI defendants are rarely forced into in-patient treatment," Brown said in a news release. "He will be unable to leave the facility for 30 days. His fine and community service requirements are more than double what is usually received, and his probation term is the maximum available, and longer than the usual 18 months. All of that is appropriate in light of his behavior with the officers."
Travis' lawyers have previously said the singer has a great deal of respect for law enforcement and has stopped drinking alcohol.
Click thumbnails for larger pictures
Images: wenn.com


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Also looking for just any tips or info that will help me along the way.
I have already done a shoulder roast and 4 racks of ribs. I' hooked... I want to smoke everything!!!
The probe just provides a readout of the internal temp of the meat. It is a "dumb probe" and the MES App on your phone is also "dumb" (dumb = non-programmable).
That being said, when it is raining, snowing, or even if wasps are attacking...you can monitor the MES vitals from the comfort of your home.
It's easy to get hooked on smoking. I just smoked my first batch of beef jerky a few weeks ago and it turned out better than I thought it would considering the issues I had to deal with. What I love about smoked food is that if you just leave it vacuum sealed for a few days to a few weeks, the smoke further permeates throughout the food and also darkens the color. What was nicely or lightly smoked food many times transforms into incredible smoked food.
Since I'm a low tech guy, I use the Maverick ET-733 to monitor both smoker and food temps. It's highly accurate. With the MES meat probe, there could be questions as to its accuracy since the temp displayed on a MES controller is often wrong (but not always).
I also recommend that if you're using wood chips that you switch to wood pellets. Much less hassle. To burn the pellets I use an A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker (I also just won a 6" tube smoker which I use in my Weber charcoal grill). There can be some issues with it--especially with cold smoking--but once you get it fully lit the AMNPS can burn pellets for up to about 11 hours and you don't have to keep refilling it every 20-30 minutes like you do with wood chips. There are other smoker devices on the market but I chose the AMNPS. And Todd Johnson, owner of A-MAZE-N Products, provides customer service second to none. A lot of us here use his products, including his wood pellets.
So, you've done your pork should and your pork ribs. Next on the agenda? It's gotta be a beef brisket flat. They're really not that difficult to pull off. Do some reading, and you'll also get plenty of tips and suggestions here. It's how I learned. I've smoked about 4-5 brisket flats and next week I plan to smoke my first whole packer brisket--point and all. I'll be making my first batch of smoked ends. Can't wait.


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California just moved a big step closer to banning the sale of shark fins, with the Assembly voting 62 in favor and 8 assholes opposed.
Assemblyman Mike Eng opposed the bill:
If sharks are an endangered species, and are being imported illegally from abroad, why not start in California and ban the taking of sharks in California? This unfairly targets one community, a community I represent. … and that brings into question the issue of fairness.
Eng makes a valid point, so he should either start working to ban the killing of sharks in California or he should shut his pie hole. (Thanks, Carrie.) Link.


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Eastshore Humane Association is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with a no-kill shelter philosophy. We are the only animal shelter that serves Calumet County. We support operations through adoptions, fund-raisers, contributions, grants, and bequests. ESHA does not receive federal, state or county monies. Shelter staff cares for hundreds of animals each year. Our shelter animals are guaranteed every possible chance for a new lease on life in a loving, caring home.
Appointments can be scheduled after normal business hours if necessary.
1. Animals are expensive to care for. They require food, shelter, toys, grooming, and veterinary health and dental care.
2. Animals require attention. You have to clean up after their messes, protect them from anything that might harm them, and make sure they get adequate play time and exercise. Some require training, which takes patience, love, and commitment.
Adopting a Friend: Adopter will fill out an application to start the adoption process. We don't adopt on a first come, first served basis, but instead adopt based on what we feel is in the animal's best interest. We DO NOT ship animals.
Adoption Requirements:
1. Have verifiable identification
2. Be at least 18 years of age
3. If renting, have landlords consent to bring a pet to your home
4. All adopted pets must be spayed or neutered
5. All pets must leave the shelter on a collar and leash, or in a pet carrier
6. Agree to all terms of the adoption contract; ESHA reserves the right to deny any application
Thank You!
Your message has been sent to Eastshore Humane Association.
You'll receive a copy, too, at to help you keep track of which pets you've inquired about, and which shelters and rescues you've emailed.
NOTE: Some shelters have physical locations you can visit; some of these shelters may only have pets for a limited time, so please do not wait for a reply—just go visit the shelter! Other organizations are rescue groups run by busy volunteers who may take a while to reply. You can find information about the shelter or rescue group caring for this pet, and their adoption procedures, on the pet's details page on Adopt-a-Pet.com.


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Make Yourself Unavailable
Want Her Back? Try Making Yourself Unavailable
You say Ash Lynn loved knowing how you really feel, but the truth is that she loved it only temporarily. Of course she's lost interest in you now. You opened up on your weaknesses and fears and anxieties, which lowered her Interest Level significantly. Now you're out.
What happened, Denton, is that you got my book and studied Challenge, but you didn't carry through and stay with it. This is why you've lost your girl. I can tell that you've been through many women and not many relationships, just the way I can tell that you didn't read my book 15 times, which is what you have to do.
Sadly, you can't keep Ash Lynn now, because she's gone. You're not on any of her lists because you did not heed my warning in "The System" about revealing your inner wussiness. And you're not losing Ash Lynn, my friend — she's already lost. She's gone. You blew it with her a long time ago. And don't worry about her leaving you at some point in the future — she's already left you.
You don't seem to be able to get that through your head. You don't have any last shot at saving this relationship because it's already over. The only thing you can do to possibly put yourself back on Ash Lynn's priority list is disappear. When she calls you, tell her, "I'd like to talk to you sometime, but I have a date and she happens to be in the bathroom right now." If Ash Lynn's Interest Level is at least 51%, that tactic will pull it back up.
Ash Lynn might not like love notes and surprises and bouquets of flowers, but you're beyond all that anyway, Denton. You're talking about a woman from the past now. What you should be talking about is the new girl you're going to meet in the future that you're not going to bring out your inner wussiness with. And like my cousin Sal "The Fish" Love says, "How'd you get conned into that anyway, man?" So don't give a second thought to the tactics that will smother Ash Lynn. You're getting sidetracked onto another issue here. Like my cousin Fast Eddie Love from East L.A. says, "You've got four flat tires and you're talking about a transmission problem."
The only chance you have now with Ash Lynn is making yourself unavailable, Denton. You have to vanish and hope it brings her back.
Remember, guys: romantic love is highly conditional.


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Alumna and Civil Rights Activist Recounts Life Work
A few options are available to students when funding a college education—student loans and parents' pocketbooks being among the most popular. Using money won from a federal court case to earn a master's degree in international education is something that very few people can boast about. Margaret Herring CAS '89 is one of those people.
After battling courts for nearly 20 years, Herring came out on top in a case that overturned sedition laws in Kentucky. The damages paid in the case sent Herring to American University.
Herring's work leading up to her coming to AU had been defined by fighting for her rights, as well as the rights of others. In 1964 she joined the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), registering African American voters in one of the most controversial and conservative areas in the Deep South during that time—Mississippi. Her work with SNCC is now being honored in a chapter of Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in the SNCC.
Herring's story is featured in the book as one of over fifty personal narratives from women involved with the SNCC during the civil rights movement, focusing primarily on how exactly she came to pack up her bags and fight for equal rights in Mississippi.
She first learned of the SNCC and the discrimination in the South at a job she had reading fan mail and typing a journal for Drew Pearson, a writer of the popular column Washington Merry-Go-Round. "I was familiar with what was happening down there from the news media, opening the mail, and reading the press releases from the SNCC, so I had a big sense of how unjust the people of Mississippi were," she says. "You wouldn't believe, [African Americans] were getting beat up all the time, the churches were getting burned."
That's when Herring took the plunge to stand up for what she believes in. She quit her job working for Pearson and started working in the national SNCC office in Mississippi. "It was an opportunity to go and help, so I did," she says. "I knew that this would pass, so there wouldn't be another opportunity after it. When the students got involved in this, it was exposed to the national media and it wasn't hidden anymore."
When she got to Mississippi, Herring helped gain support for the students by calling press in the North, friends of SNCC, and local police stations. SNCC had programs in Alabama, Georgia, and Arkansas, and it was Herring's job to try to acquire as much financial and human assistance for the organization as possible.
But when a new era of the civil rights movement emerged in 1966, she turned the reins over to those whom she considered their rightful owners. The concept of Black Power became prevalent and Herring responded to the calls made by activists like Stokely Carmichael for a stronger, more African American led force. "There was kind of a shift when black people said 'We want to run our own liberation movement, and thank you very much for your help, but it's time to take over,'" she says.
Talks of a coalition between African American and white activists surfaced that called for a later union of the two, once those supporting Black Power had been given enough time to make real progress. Until then, it was suggested to Herring and other white workers that focus be put other aspects of the civil rights movement, including working with poor and working class whites and building opposition to the Vietnam War. "I took that seriously and worked in Kentucky to help get benefits for miners, poor and working people and to stop strip-mining," she says.
She and her husband were met with great opposition when they moved to Pike County, Kentucky in 1967 to combat high poverty rates, unemployment, poor schools and infrastructure. Coal companies there had exploited their workers and polluted the environment by strip-mining, all while raking in enormous profits and never giving back to the community. "They did not like the idea of people coming in and telling poor people they can make their lives better, because that meant that they would lose their political and economic control ," she says.
Then one night, Herring and her husband opened their front door to find a swarm of law enforcement officials that had come to arrest them. "They arrested me and charged me with sedition. It means teaching people how to overthrow the government," she says. "We were red baited. People were afraid of us after that."
At five months pregnant, Herring was taken to jail and her personal papers and documents seized by officials. "They took all the papers out of our house, address lists—all kinds of stuff—our files, my diary, and went through everything," she says. Pike County officials had made copies of hundreds of documents and sent them off to Sen. John McClellan, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
McClellan sent a subpoena for 234 of the couple's original documents. But when they refused to hand over any of their papers, the couple was cited for contempt of Congress.
Then, one night, Herring and her husband were awakened to the sound of massive explosions. "Our house was dynamited," she says. "They wanted to kill us." Herring and her husband left Pike County and watched their friends and their livelihoods fade away as they became a threat to others.
The couple waited 18 years for the issue to be resolved until they won both a criminal and civil case against McClellan and the man who seized their personal papers and documents and had arrested them back in 1967. The case, McSurely v. McClellan, contested congressional immunity in terms of illegal searches and seizures.
Now retired, Herring reflects on her life as an activist and says that the conflicts of the civil rights movement are still present today, but they are just more difficult to see. "The challenge is how to combat racism in white people. You just have to stand up at every chance you get. Racism is more covert and institutionalized, and a lot of white people don't realize they're being racist," she says.
At 75-years-old she still keeps her hand in activism, working for local candidates in Wilmington, North Carolina, and for environmental issues. She is also a member of the NAACP. "If there's something that you really believe—if you believe that black people have a right to vote and to equal accommodation, then you'll stand up for that. You can't just stand by when you see injustice," she says.


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Contact: Sarah Lee, Communications Director
The Center for Competitive Politics
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The American people believe political contributions should be disclosed, but don't actually use the information themselves; they dislike seeing tax dollars used to fund campaigns; and they think that the current $2,500 federal limit on individual campaign contributions could be quadrupled without increasing government corruption.
These were among the findings of a poll of over 55,000 Americans surveyed as part of the 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, and reviewed in Public Perception & the "Appearance of Corruption" in Campaign Finance, released today by the Center for Competitive Politics.
"We found when asked what individual contribution limit reached a level they considered corrupting, the most frequent response was $10,000," said Jason Farrell, a researcher at CCP. "This value is four times larger than what current federal law allows. The limit is out of step with what Americans view as corrupting."
In addition to contribution limits, the survey asked respondents about their views on disclosure regulation.
"People tended to be tolerant or approving of disclosure laws in roughly the same proportion whether they donated to political campaigns or not," said Farrell. "But what was particularly interesting was that it seems that while the general public appreciates the idea of disclosure as a deterrent to corrupt activity, they tend not to use it themselves when making personal political choices."
The poll also revealed a trend Americans are generally opposed to taxpayer-funded "clean elections" programs, such as those that exist in several states. These findings are in direct conflict with statewide polls commissioned by some pro-regulation advocacy groups.
"People are tolerant of some disclosure, dislike the idea of tax-funded campaigns, and don't think that a $2,500 individual contribution limit will impact the appearance of corruption," said Farrell. "We hope Congress and state legislators will keep these results in mind the next time self-appointed reformers demand lower contribution limits, more intrusive disclosure laws, and government financed campaigns."


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Puppy Figure
This little black puppy is called 'Scruffy' and made with fondant. I did him to go with a wedding cake I was asked to do for a friend. She had the ceremony on the beach and their little dog was part of the ceremony, with a white silk bow collar. She wore thongs/flip-flops because of the sand and was still one of the most stunning brides I have ever seen. I placed this little dog at her seating at the reception as a surprise and it nearly brought her to tears!


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TAMPA — A 21-year-old man who turned himself in Tuesday night faces charges in connection with a shooting that injured two teenagers, including one who was pregnant.
Quinton Terrell Thompson showed up at a district police station with his mother and surrendered, Tampa police said. He was arrested on charges of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and aggravated battery.
The shooting Sunday night at Jackson Court Apartments, 3800 Lowry Court in east Tampa, is still under investigation.
Tawanna Williams, 18, who was eight months' pregnant, was shot in the lower back. She delivered a baby boy about midnight Sunday after an emergency Caesarean section. Both were expected to survive, according to Showana Mitchell, an aunt.
James Wade, 15, was shot in the left calf.
Thompson was being held without bail.


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KILN, Miss. — Kickoff isn't for another hour, but the folks at the Broke Spoke are getting ready for the crush.
Stevie Haas, who owns this little bar with wife Mabel, is heating a giant pot over propane. Brian Necaise — Rudy, they call him — drains the swamp water off 60 pounds of preseason crawfish in two coolers. Inside, they're stocking the ice chests with Budweiser and Coors Light.
This is Brett Favre's hometown. His mama lives up the road. His bronze likeness stands beside the bleachers over at Hancock High's Brett Favre Field.
And even if he's quarterbacking in Minneapolis, a half a world away, people in Kiln, population 2,040, know it all started right here.
They rooted for him when he was with the Falcons (1991) and Packers (1992-2007). Some even swallowed their Southern pride and cheered in 2008 when he played for a team in New York.
Now with the Vikings, Favre, 40 and twice retired, is having, arguably, his best season.
He threw a career-low seven interceptions and completed a career-high 68 percent of his passes to lead the Vikings into Sunday's division game against the Cowboys, which is why the parking lot here is beginning to fill, the tailgates are dropping, the televisions are turned up and the beer is starting to flow.
Favre has become something of a myth here.
"His toes is as long as your fingers," says Necaise. "You wouldn't believe it if you saw it."
"He's as tough as a lighter knot," says another Brian Necaise, whom they call Fats.
"That's the heart of a southern pine tree."
Fats graduated a year before Favre, and he remembers watching the gunslinger play under his father, Big Irv, and thinking: This kid is going to be good.
Sure enough.
But it's more than that, the people say. Even if Brett Favre has become a household name, he has never become too big for Kiln.
"He's one of us," Stevie says.
He also has put the Broke Spoke on the map.
When Favre was a Packer, Green Bay fans started trickling into Kiln to bear witness to the people and place that helped create their leader. They always wound up at the Broke Spoke, and locals rolled out the mat.
The visitors signed the walls with names and hometowns: New Berlin, Wis., and Stevens Point, Wis., and Sheboygan, Wis.
Soon, the walls and ceiling were covered by Packers gear and bras and panties and beer-fueled messages to the local boy.
When the Packers went to the Super Bowl in January 1997, the place was jammed. Like, 5,000 people.
"Like Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras," says Fats.
When Favre left the Packers two years ago, something funny happened. The people kept coming.
Tammy and Geno Kok drove from Fox Lake, Wis., in 2007 and wrote their names on the Packers wall at Dolly's gas station across the street. Tammy left her Packers bra at the bar. They liked the folks here so much, they made the 24-hour drive again Sunday, even if Brett is wearing purple.
"He's still good," Geno says. "So you can't hate the Vikings."
They all know this bar in Wisconsin.
"You say the Broke Spoke, nobody asks, 'Where's that?' " Geno says. "They all know."
Pete Damico, 48, drove from Door County, Wis., for Super Bowl XXXI 13 years ago, when the Packers beat the Patriots. He planned to stay a week and wound up staying a month. It was something about Kiln's blue collar that made him feel at home. After Hurricane Katrina, he organized a drive and brought supplies to Kiln from the North. Now he comes every winter, and when he heads north, he hauls pounds of fresh crawfish.
He says it's not easy to root for the Vikings.
"We were born and raised Packers fans," he says. "I'm a Packers shareholder. My brother calls me Judas. He says, 'Your daddy's rolling over in his grave.'
"But you have to root for Brett."
When the game starts, the place is packed. Teens in Vikings jerseys and bikers with braided ponytails and three little old ladies sipping Diet Cokes.
A few minutes in, Favre throws a touchdown and the place erupts. Mabel Haas parades through the bar wearing Viking horns and carrying a hayfork, dishing high fives to strangers. He does it again, and again, and every time, Mabel carries out the ritual.
Outside, they dump the crawfish on a giant table and roll up their sleeves, and they crack the tails without taking their eyes off the TV.
"They show you how to eat 'em?" Stevie asks the Midwesterner hunched over the table.
"I'm doing the best I can," Geno says.
Someone fishes a bottle of moonshine from behind the bar, and it bounces around a group of middle-aged women.
Mabel answers her cell phone.
"That was Brett's mama," she says. "She wanted to do a shot with us."
When time expires, the Vikings have won and are heading to New Orleans next week for the NFC Championship Game. Favre has thrown four touchdowns, and he's running down the sideline, his arms in the air, shirt untucked. He looks boyish. The folks in the Broke Spoke launch into a chant:
"We want the Saints!
"We want the Saints!
"We want the Saints!"
Then the hometown boy's face is on the television sets around the bar. And the room goes quiet, and the people here wonder if he's thinking about them. Favre looks like he's going to cry.
"It's a wonderful moment," he says. "It's everything I thought it would be and then some."
Outside, the clouds break and the sun shines heavy and warm on the Broke Spoke.
"Holy (expletive)," Stevie says, out of breath now and stepping into the light. "Yeah."
Ben Montgomery can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or (727) 893-8650.


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The next T.D.? Broncos hope Torain is for real
Published: November 2nd, 2008 | Tags: Denver Broncos, Ryan Torain
From the moment last summer that Broncos coach Mike Shanahan compared rookie running back Ryan Torain to Terrell Davis, expectations have been high.
Sunday, Denver will get a glimpse of how accurate those comparisons are.
For the first time this season, Torain will be in uniform and on the field Sunday vs. the Miami Dolphins. He is not expected to be in the starting lineup; Michael Pittman is supposed to start. But Torain is expected to split carries with Pittman and, if Torain can prove he is as good as Shanahan and others in the organization have thought, then his workload will increase quickly and dramatically.
But it also should be pointed out that Torain's next carry will be his first in the NFL and his first in 386 days. Before Denver played a preseason game, Torain fractured his left ankle. Additionally, Torain suffered a Lisfranc injury to his left foot at Arizona State against the University of Washington last season. He hasn't played in a game since then.
Now, after practicing with the Broncos last week, the team believes he is ready to play. Torain is a player to watch Sunday — and the rest of the season.


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Looking for booze clues
There's some alcohol-related mischief going on out there, as Justin Timberlake told a Belfast crowd that he had a little incredible juice before the show, the Daily Mail says. "I've had four of five Guinness before I came on — I love that s---." He also downed tequila shots, but to be fair, he did that in Tampa, too. Speaking of the devil's brew, In Touch Weekly says the aforementioned Britney Spears "tossed back glasses of wine" with cousin Allie Sims before going out drinking at Parc in L.A. on April 14. That'd be after her release from rehab. And she lost custody? Who'da thunk?


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Circus Animals Slated To Arrive By Train In Columbus Tuesday Evening
A 53-car steel coach will bring dozens of animals slated for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus later this week.
The train is expected to arrive around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday near Goodale Boulevard and Grandview Avenue, continuing north on Grandview Avenue to Third Avenue, east on Third Avenue to Eastview to Fifth Avenue, east on Fifth
Avenue to Kenny Road, north on Kenny Road to Lane Avenue, east on Lane Avenue to the animal compound, just west of the Schottenstein Center.
The procession is slated to start at about 7 p.m.
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey presentation of Dragons will be held at the Schottenstein Center May 8-12.
The circus will hold an open house to see the animals 90 minutes before each show time.
For more information about the show, visit here. www.Ringling.com <http://www.Ringling.com> or
Watch 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for more information.


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Despite losing 3-1 to FC Lorient in France, Turkish side Denizlispor advanced to the UEFA second round on away goals after the match finished 3-3 on aggregate.
Loko close
The French side's greater urgency was obvious in the opening exchanges and they came close to pulling a goal back after seven minutes when Yohan Bouzin's cross found Patrice Loko, but the former French international striker was denied by an excellent save from Dirk Heinen.
Martini woe
However, the visitors stunned the home crowd by scoring with only their second attack after 19 minutes. Lorient defender Richard Martini misjudged the trajectory of Ilyas Kahraman's free-kick and headed the ball into his own net.
Kroupi leveller
That left Lorient needing to score four, and although initially stunned by Denizlispor's goal, they responded gamely with Loko in particular impressing with his work-rate. They were rewarded after 41 minutes when Zahi Kroupi headed in at the near post from Pascal Bedrossian's fine corner.
Guel restores hope
Within seconds of the restart, Lorient had moved 2-1 ahead on the night. Loko's excellent pass released Tchiressoua Guel, and the midfield player finished confidently from close range. Now only needing two goals to advance, Lorient redoubled their efforts, with Guel leading the charge.
Heinien the hero
However, the best chances they could muster came from set-pieces. Bedrossian twice looked like scoring from free-kicks only to be denied by superb saves from Denizlispor's German goalkeeper Heinen.
Too late for Lorient
Bedarossian was the provider when Lorient finally scored again three minutes into injury time, with his corner headed home by Anthony Gauvin. But it was too little, too late for the home side, and to add to their disappointment, Johan Cavalli was dismissed deep into injury time.
©UEFA.com 1998-2017. All rights reserved.


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THE son of the Rector of the parishes of Tartaraghan and Diamond has received his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award in the prestigious setting of St James's Palace, London.
Jonathan Hilliard was among a large number of young achievers from across the UK, including a sizeable group from Northern Ireland, who received their award certificate from the D of E's patron and founder – HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
Jonathan chose to receive his award in London, rather than Hillsborough, as he is in his second year studying electrical and electronic engineering in the University of Bath. He attended the Royal School, Armagh, where he achieved his Gold Award.
There is a well established Duke of Edinburgh's Award group in the Royal School, led by David Cunningham and a team of other trained teachers. Jonathan was one of six former Royal School pupils who received their certificates at the ceremony in November, in the presence of their parents, and was pleased that his teacher was also present at St James's Palace.
Jonathan worked tirelessly through the five sections of his D of E programme to achieve his Gold Award. His activities included swimming with Portadown Amateur Swimming Club, playing the clarinet with the South Ulster Youth Band, and helping with the sound and recording system in Tartaraghan church – and being a leader at Scripture Union and New Wine summer camps.
His Gold expedition was in the Scottish highlands. Throughout his D of E, Jonathan was able to prove himself to be a great team member, leader, and decision maker. Jonathan is also an enthusiastic 'bog snorkeller', a fun sport that involves snorkelling in bog drains. He regularly competes in Peatlands Park.
The Gold Award presentation is a celebration and recognition of the achievements of these young people in completing their Gold programme, to mark the hard work, determination and perseverance required. Young people will achieve a Duke of Edinburgh's Award if they show persistence, commitment and personal development over a period of time. Every activity must be successfully completed and assessed. The result is the world's leading achievement award for young people, recognised by employers and universities alike.
Jonathan also achieved his Silver Award through the Royal School, and before that he achieved his Bronze Award through Tartaraghan (5th Portadown) Boys' Brigade company. Currently there is a Duke of Edinburgh's Award Group in Tartaraghan Parish Hall, called 'Target', and led by Frances Kerr, a teacher in Clounagh Junior High School. Frances offers young people in the local area the opportunity to take part in the award at all levels.


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London's Earls Court was transformed into a vibrant showcase of the very best in complementary and natural healthcare products and services last month, as camexpo celebrated its tenth anniversary edition on 20-21 October with 5,492 total attendees.
Although currently on maternity leave, event manager Zoe Campbell, who has worked on camexpo for the past seven years, was back on duty (alongside senior sales executive Georgina Baker and marketing manager Amy Muddle) to help ensure the show's 10th anniversary celebrations went with a bang!
"We have just had our best camexpo ever," commented Campbell. "I would like to say a huge thank you to all of our exhibitors, visitors, speakers, and supporters, for making this year's milestone anniversary show so very special. It was fantastic to be able to celebrate – not just ten years of camexpo – but the achievements and growth of the CAM industry as a whole – in such great company."
If you weren't able to attend, here's just a taste of what was on offer…
To read the full post-show press release, please visit www.camexpo.co.uk/camexpo-celebrates-successful-10th-anniversary-show/.


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July 16th, 2011
This post may contain affiliate links, see my disclosure
Walgreens Back to School Deals: July 17 – July 23, 2011
Here are all the back to school deals this week at Walgreens:
School Supplies $0.09
2 pocket folders
Splash Mini Highlighter
School Supplies, $0.19
No. 2 Pencils
Mechanical Pencils
School Supplies, $0.39
One Subject Notebooks
Crayons, 24 pack
School Supplies, $0.49
Poly Binder, 1 in.
School Glue (4 oz.) & Glue Sticks
Sheet Protectors, 10 pack
Color Tabs, 5 pack
E-mail me if you find anymore great back to school deals. Happy Shopping! Stay tuned for the rest of this week's Walgreens deals.
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Q: A petabyte walks into a bar, and the bartender says?
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This is the eighth installment of the DMA "See Data Differently" series as part of our newly relaunched National Center for Data-Driven Marketing (NCDM).
Join us at our annual "big data" conference, NCDM: Where Marketing Meets Big Data, and SEE DATA DIFFERENTLY.
The National Center for Data-Driven Marketing program features new keynotes and exceptional speakers. Join us at NCDM: Where Marketing Meets Big Data. December 9-11, 2013, Las Vegas, NV.


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Sennheiser's expanding its gaming headset lineup with four new sets o' cans—the flagship Sennheiser PC 360, the surround sound PC 333D and PC 163D, and the PC 330 G4ME. Hey, if they're good enough for your music...
Then they probably will make your games sound pretty great too. The flagship PC 360s have been available overseas for awhile, but now they're making their way stateside for $299. They use Sennheiser Open-Aire speaker tech, have a volume control on the right ear cup, and their mic can be muted simply by lifting it up. Easy.
The $209 PC 163Ds have virtualized 7.1 surround sound so no one will sneak up on you in the game and an open ear design so no one will sneak up on you in real life. The $239 PC 333D also has pseudo 7.1 surround with a closed cup design, as well as a noise canceling mic, and rounding out the set is the PC 330 G4ME for $169.95. [Sennheiser via Engadget]


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Nokia will have another chance to stop a lawsuit brought by chip
maker Qualcomm in the latest twist in a long-running patent battle
between the companies. A US appeals court has ordered a
reconsideration of an earlier decision in Qualcomm's favour.23 Oct 2006
The dispute centres on patents owned by Qualcomm which it sought to protect in a court case begun last November. That case asked for a block to be put on Finland's Nokia's sale of mobile phones which Qualcomm claimed used technology that infringed its patents.
Nokia has tried to resolve the situation by the use of an arbitrator and had asked for the law suit to be delayed pending the outcome of arbitration.
A Californian federal court denied Nokia the right to a stay of the case in March this year. The US Courts of Appeal for the Federal Circuit has just ruled, though, that that decision must be re-considered.
The Appeals Court has ruled that the lower court "did not perform the correct inquiry" and must re-consider whether or not to allow Nokia to delay the court action until arbitration has run its course.
The case involves 11 Qualcomm patents and one belonging to its subsidiary SnapTrack. The case was filed just a week after Nokia joined with other companies to complain to the European Commission about Qualcomm's use of patents for third generation mobile phone technology.
Nokia, Panasonic, Broadcom, NEC, Texas Instruments and Ericsson claimed to the Commission that Qualcomm violated Europe's anti-trust regulations
An administrative judge ruled earlier this month that Qualcomm infringed some patents belonging to Broadcom. That judge did find, though, that not all of Broadcom's infringement claims were justified.
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When Karen Jacob turned 50, she asked herself an important question: "You know you've lived over half your life. Do you want to keep living that way, or do you have things to do?" Karen is Prevention's Research Director and has worked at Rodale on and off since 1975. And when she makes a decision, she really moves—in March 2013, Jacob will be leaving her post to volunteer with the Peace Corps in Malawi, Africa for 27 months. "If I heard 'Wow' once, I heard it a hundred times," she said, speaking about the reactions of her friends, family, and coworkers. Karen and I have spent many an afternoon discussing deep wrinkle treatments and hair color woes by the mailboxes. But ever since she found out she would be leaving her comfortable Western life for a hut without a bathroom, her opinions on what's truly important in this life have drastically changed. Here, the beautiful inspirations of a woman who reinvented her life after 50, and hopes to help the lives of others halfway across the world:
Volunteering. I have always volunteered. Even when I was a stay-at-home mom, I would volunteer while my son was at school. I used to meet once a week with women to help them study for their GED, I've lended a hand at local hospice, and now I'm going Malawi to volunteer with the Peace Corps. It has always made me feel good about myself.
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My son, Ryan. I love being so involved in what he does. We talk almost every day. For Christmas he gave me the best gift: a book of photos of him at school, and then a video. It started off serious, him showing me what the school looked like, and then transitioned into stupid college life stuff, like him at a party. I love that, at 28, he's comfortable sharing all of that with me. That's pretty special for a mother-son relationship.
Vacations with girlfriends. That's huge for me. We do it really indulgent—all-inclusive, we even had a butler last time. We get our own rooms so we can have our alone time, but I love the company of women my own age for the beach or dinner or whatever.
Being on the beach. I will end up living on or closet to the beach one day. I don't know if it's the sand or the water, but it's my favorite place to be and it makes me so happy.
Monthly spa rituals. Since I'm leaving for Malawi, I've bumped these rituals up to every two weeks! I see an esthetician and a masseuse, and I feel completely relaxed for the rest of the evening—not just for that hour or so. It's like my little cleanse. You just have a different mindset after something like that! At least, I do.Tags: beautyCopyright © 2017 Rodale Inc.
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Who wouldn't wanna win free groceries for a year? Right now, you can enter your rib recipe into the Dibs on my Ribs Cookoff and you just may get those groceries! You have until August 12th to enter and you'll need to have the following in your recipe to be qualified as an entrant:
- Spare Ribs
- A McCormick Spice/Seasoning
- A Kraft Sauce (if a sauce is used in recipe)
While I'm not entering, I have some cooking supplies to help me make some delicious ribs at my next cookout!
We cooked out just the other day and made a nice slab of spare ribs using McCormick's Sweet and Smokey rub. I wasn't sure I'd like it but we all loved it! We topped them off with Kraft BBQ sauce of course and all I could hear was the sound of everyone sucking the sauce off their fingers once they finished the ribs!! LOL
Now go forth and enter your Spare Ribs creation into the Dibs on My Ribs Cookoff! I'd love to hear what rib recipe you use and if you're entering! 6 finalists will be chosen! Good luck!
Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.


text: Yeah, I'm really interested to see the other materials/patterns for the binoculars shirt this season. I'm definitely going to have to pick one up this time around. David, I do not have pics of this shirt but can tell you that the binocular shirt will be available in White Chambray, Vintage Black Chambray, Blue Plaid Poplin and Orange Plaid Poplin (I think it is the one posted but not sure) Hope this helps. Gary


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Need Appliance Repair Help? Ask a Technician for Answers ASAP
Whirpool Senseon Model # XXXXX
The lint filter is on the door. I put the dryer on and it seems to work, but no heat is coming out. I have tried it on all the cycles and choices.
Do you have a volt meter to check for voltage at the dryer and check a few parts,Heres the breakdown ,
Well we can look at a few parts ,Take the bottom panel off ,Theres a clip at each corner,I will send you some info on that dryer ,But you really need a volt meter
Home Depot $ 30.00
Inglis, Whirlpool and Kenmore style dryer - no heat problems:
Electric dryers - See the "how to take apart" section first if needed. Always check the power supply first...if one house fuse blows or 1/2 of the breaker trips, it is possible for the dryer to run with no heat. If you have a volt meter, you should read 240 volts between the red and black wires, 120 volts between the white and black and 120 volts between white and red, check for this at the main power connection. If you have 240 volts to the dryer, remove rear access panel, turn dryer on and test for 240 volts to the *heating element wire connections (#4). If you have 240 volts there and no heat = bad element, the element must be broken physically to be bad. If you have no power at the heating element, remove power, remove wires to the heating element and isolate them so that they can't touch anything. Reinstall power and check each wire for power from the wire to the dryer cabinet, one wire will probably show 120 volts and the other will show zero. Make note of the color or # XXXXX the wire that has no power, remove power to the dryer and check the wiring diagram that comes with the dryer to find out where that color or # XXXXX goes to. EG: - wires might be yellow and red, if the yellow wire (example only) was the one that had no power, look at the wiring diagram to find out where that goes to and check only those parts, no need to check the other colored wire parts as they are working. Things to check are, *thermostats, timer contacts, selector switch, motor switch heat contacts ( 1&2 on the motor switch ) and *thermal fuse. If the wires to the heating element are the same color, just remove power after test and slowly follow that wire that has no power with your hand to see what parts it goes to. If live volt testing scares you, try the ohm check instead.
*#1-Thermal fuse that controls heat. If the dryer overheats, this fuse will blow. One shot fuse. Does not reset.
#2-Canister for the heater element.
#3-Hi limit thermostat. This thermostat is a safety thermostat in case the dryer severely overheats. When this safety thermostat is defective, it should raise a red flag for air flow problems.
#4-This is the terminals of the heater element that is inside the canister.
#5-Thermal fuse that controls motor run.
#6-Control thermostat. This is the thermostat that controls the cycling of the heater in high heat mode.
#7-Heater for low heat. When you select low heat, 110V is sent to this heater that the control thermostat sits in. The heater helps cycle the control thermostat faster, therefore you get less heat than the high heat mode.
Look at the few parts you can ,See if the element is broken,Any burntwire,But a meter
Is so handy


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Contact InformationTown & Country Transportation Co
191 Arch Street
New Britain, CT 06051
Other InformationEntity Status: Active
Type of Entity: Stock
Entity Creation Date: Jan 11, 1982
Days in Business: 13038 days
Company Description
Town & Country Transportation Co is located in New Britain, Connecticut and is listed as an active Stock. Town & Country Transportation Co was started on Jan 11, 1982 which was 13038 days ago.
EmployeesAndrea Lemnotis: Secretary
Peter A Lemnotis: Pres-vice President
Irene Sklavouris: Treas
Registered AgentJohn A Barbieri Esq
New Britain
Ct, CT NONE
Edit ProfileEdited: 12/1/2011
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