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Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Bungle in the Jungle: A Harry Potter Adventure
Down By the Waterhole
5 ReviewsHow much trouble could you possibly get into just by going shopping in a Brazillian marketplace?
Acknowledgements - You'd acknowledge IP82, Sirius009, ChuckDaTruck, Smeagolita and FairyQilan if one of them would help you get to the bathroom or kill whoever is trying to wake you up.
Chapter 6 - Down by the Waterhole
"Oh looks like somebody had a rough night!" A voice says laughing. You really wish it and the person behind it would go away.
"Guess you didn't pay attention when I said that you probably should avoid drinking any alcohol? Bet you wish you had listened?" The voice is attached to arms, which are shaking you. You pray Voldemort will just come and finish you off now.
"Go away!" You protest in vain. The shaking continues. Your head is throbbing. You try rolling away from the infernal shaking - right off the bed onto the floor. Your highly trained professional grade seeker reflexes fail you as you impact with a nice thick sounding thud. One of your eyes manages to open. You groan. There is no immediate escape. The bed frame goes all the way down to the floor otherwise you could roll under there. The arms are no longer shaking you. They have been replaced with a foot that is prodding you.
You decide to face the music and pray that it isn't too loud. The other eye has managed to open - it's the little victories that are important. Things look more blurry than your piss poor eyesight usually provides. You roll over and use the palm of your hands to push yourself upright leaning back against the nightstand. There in front of you is a blurry, but obviously amused Bill Weasley.
"So how does freedom feel this morning?" He's taunting you. Who the hell does he think he is, Malfoy?
"My head hurts." Three words strung together correctly, it's an improvement.
"I'm sure it does."
"Can you do a sobering charm?"
"I could, but that would be ruining today's lesson." Bill says as you fumble for your new glasses.
"What lesson is that?"
"It's called 'just because Bill is a cool guy, doesn't mean I should go out and get shit faced - especially if I have something to do for the expedition the next day.'"
"Okay, so what's next?" Damn, no sobering charm.
"Well you get your sorry ass up off the floor, get into the shower and get rid of that stench. Then we go down to get breakfast. Maybe some nice greasy sausage, mmmn tasty." He says watching you turn green. "Then after you suffer through watching a Weasley eat a large breakfast, we head to the marketplace and along the way I may just let you off the hook and do a sobering charm."
"Would be quicker to just do one now." You mutter.
"Ah, but if you want to be treated like a man then, you'll face the consequences of your own stupidity like one." Oh crap, Bill just called you out and you're in no shape to really argue.
There's only one thing to do, stagger to your feet, grab some clothes and stumble towards the bathroom. Bill tells you he'll be back in twenty minutes and says that you should drink some water for your headache. It doesn't help all that much. The shower helps a bit. You feel about the same as any time you've ever woken up in the hospital wing at school. You bet Poppy would give you a sobering charm. She's got a sweet spot for you. Of course once you were sober, you'd have to listen to a lecture so maybe this is for the best. On the other hand it probably wasn't as bad as her sex-ed lectures at the end of the fourth year. You didn't pay that much attention, still being a bit upset about an incident in a graveyard, but what you do remember was it was boring as Binns, creepy like Snape and stern like Professor Kittycat.
Feeling slightly refreshed, you bumble your way through brushing teeth and donning your clean clothes. You still feel like 'Death Warmed Over', but you at least look like 'Death Freshly Heated and Ready to Serve.' You start to lie back down, but one good whiff of the sheets makes you realize the error of that idea. Instead you settle onto the couch by the window and desperately try to grab five more minutes of sleep.
Not thirty seconds after you close your eyes, Bill comes into the room. "And I guess you are ready for some tasty breakfast?"
You stand up still a little wobbly.
"Curious to know how I knew you were ready?" Bill asks. For the sake of not arguing, you simply nod. "Okay, turn on your glasses and look down there." He says pointing at the doorframe to the bathroom about ankle level.
You humor him and turn on the glasses, with only a brief pause to remember how to do it. In the empty space is a thin line of reddish string-like material suspended between four squiggly lines floating in the air.
"What's that?"
"The first thing I am going to teach you when you are capable of learning something today. It is a temporary intruder alarm. Here hold my wand while I cross it. There, feel the wand vibrate slightly. That lets you know that someone or something crossed your ward. Since it was drawn in the air, it won't last but maybe forty-five minutes. Later, I can show you how to carve it into stones and they last much longer. It's also one of the basic triggers to a trap. The runes date back to when the Tigris was the 'Cradle of Life', instead of sending a signal to a wand; it could activate a second set of runes that could make what few seconds of life you have left utterly miserable."
Damn, now Bill is driving the guilt home on you. You're out here to learn things not get falling down drunk. You give him a knowing nod and lean down to get a closer look at the runes in front of you.
"How do you get rid of one?"
"Temporary ones can be cancelled like any other spell. Ones that are carved into stone are a bit harder. The hardest ones to beat are scribed into metal, gemstones and bones of magical creatures. Move your hand through the field a few times. Close your eyes and feel the tingle of the magic as you pass through it. It's faint, but you should be able to feel it. There is no other magic around here, but eventually you can train yourself to sense a ward even in some place like Diagon Alley, which has magic everywhere. Even if you don't have your glasses on, you need to know when you trip a ward. It may save your life or give you time to shield yourself."
"We'll do this again later, after you do the grocery shopping." Bill said canceling the ward in front of you with a wave of his wand. "Come on lets go get some food in your system. Did you at least eat anything while you were drinking last night?"
"Nachos." They were pretty good actually.
"Well every little bit helps." He says guiding you towards the elevator. Once inside he takes a look at you and waves his wand. Your head clears. You feel closer to human than you have all morning. The sobriety charm is actually a derivation of the cheering charm. The gifted instructors at your school refuse to teach it before the seventh year. The seventh years hoard that knowledge like it was their last knut, though the buttnugget twins seemed to be quite proficient with it ever since their fourth year.
"Thanks. I thought you weren't going to do it until after breakfast."
"Nah. You should have gotten the point by now. The girls you went out are probably down there. They'll expect you to look like the walking dead. When they ask you how you are doing, you can tell them about your amazing ability to 'bounce back'. This way, you'll save a little face and boost your reputation. Consider this a gift, next time I won't be so forgiving."
Sure enough you get three very surprised looks from the blonde trio. You give them a smile and a quick wave as you go to fill up your plate. Bill purposely chooses a table next to the girls. You shake your head as you head on over.
"Well if it isn't the 'Dancing and Drinking Machine'? We weren't expecting to see you at least until early afternoon." It was one of the twins, Heather or Melissa. All three were laughing. You wonder if you could get away with pranking them.
"Good morning." You smile.
Amy looks up. "I have to ask, you were pretty hammered last night. What's your secret?"
"I exercise a lot. It helps, I guess." Pretty lame excuse, but even now you are nowhere near one hundred percent. "So what trouble are you ladies getting into today?"
"Well corrupting innocent British boys was fun. Today, we are going to do some shopping and some of this and some of that. Sadly, we have to go to a dinner for Dad's business, so no dance clubs tonight. How about you? Shopping for your trip into the jungle?" You wonder exactly how much you told her. You can see Bill thinking the same thing.
"Yeah. We're going to see some of the ruins. It's Bill's specialty. We're probably heading out tomorrow."
"Oh too bad. We're coming back in the middle of August if you are still around. I liked your story last night about fighting Dark Wizards much better, but Archeology is cool too."
"Apparently James gets very imaginative when you give him a little alcohol. We'll be in and out between now and October. You can leave a message for us at the desk." Bill says looking at you rather sternly. You wonder if he is going to cancel out the sobriety charm. Can that be done?
"Yeah that's a good one, Dark Wizards. Imagine that?" You mumble.
Breakfast continues. The girls were already almost done. They leave. Amy waves and one of the twins blows a kiss at you on their way out the door. You look over at Bill's disapproving face.
"Do I even need to say how badly you fucked up last night?"
"No, I think I get the picture."
"Good. I'd hate to obliviate them. If this was England, I would have done it. You might still have a chance with one of them when they come back in August. Just remember this next time someone offers you alcohol."
"I will Bill. I will."
After breakfast, the two of you head over to the magical village. Bill stops you and tells you to activate your curse breaking glasses. You see concentric bands of yellow and blue emanating almost ten meters from a pair of stone columns.
"Muggle repellers and notice-me-not charms to keep away the normal folk. Diagon alley and most magical places use these."
You nod taking a close look at the runes on the two columns. You see a small cluster of runes sending out the yellow and blue. Above them is a different rune with little silver lines running to each one. Six identical runes channeled silver energy into it.
"Bill, what's that one?"
"That's the controlling rune. The six around it are the charging runes. This keeps the wards continually powered."
"How do the charging runes draw power?"
"Most magical sites are on what are called ley lines. The charging runes draw magic out of the ley line. People can also use their own magic to power a charging rune."
"So Hogwart's is on a ley line?"
"Yes, so are most of the magical schools - Diagon Alley and Azkaban as well. Do you want to know a secret? You ever wonder how come students are so tired coming out of Muggle studies or history of magic?" You wonder where he is going with this.
"Because History is boring and Muggle studies is taught by a pureblood who acts like he knows how they live?"
"Partly, but those two classrooms, most of the dorm rooms and where the house elves sleep have runes carved into them that tap into the magic of the students in the class or sleeping in the dorms. They siphon off a bit of everyone's magic and power the wards, along with the main power drawn from the ley line. Azkaban works pretty much the same way, with the prisoner's own magic helping to power the wards that imprison them. Ironic isn't it? Fortunately, the siphon runes can't draw that much power from a person. Arthimancers and Rune Masters have tried coming up with a rune that would draw more power, but no one has ever succeeded. I know it sounds sinister, but it's not really. You're not supposed to be using magic in those classes and during your sleep. It's just taking a tiny bit of magic that you rejuvenate quickly anyway, but a tiny bit of magic from four hundred plus people adds up after a while."
It's a lot to take in. All the students, who are running around through the year are helping to power the wards of the castle, like little batteries. At this point, you wouldn't put anything past Albus Dumbledore like 'borrowing children's magic'. In fairness to the old geezer, it sounds like everyone else does it.
"So these are what siphon runes look like?" You ask point at the six.
"No those are the charging runes that can draw power form the ley lines. They're similar, but not completely the same. Charging runes don't need a ley line to draw power, they will just charge slower based on what ambient magic they can absorb. Most magical traps are powered by charging runes. Ones that aren't directly around ley lines can be overwhelmed, when their discharge rate exceeds their charging rate."
"How many runes are there?"
"Thousands though some are repetitive. Most of the ones you'd see at school are the Norse, Celtic and Egyptian variety, but the Americas, India, Eurasia and the Orient have a whole bunch of different runic types as well."
"You're right. Your job does sound cool."
"Well it's not all fun and games. You spend most of your time carving runes, designing a runic scheme or looking up unknown runes and trying to figure out what they do. Hell, for the first two months I was in Egypt my main job was to set the 'critter wards' up on the bulk transfer system every time they moved large quantities of money from other branches with rodent infestations. I was Bill 'The Better Mousetrap' Weasley."
"Bulk transfer system?"
"It's a portal to move money between branches. For the longest time Singapore and Calcutta had rat problems. It's taboo to kill a rat in some cultures."
"So tell me, what's the best part of being a cursebreaker?"
"Opening a tomb that no one has been in for a long time. The feeling you get when you know that you beat, the wizard or witch that set the wards there. You think quidditch is competitive? Try curse breaking! Some warders leave a signature rune as a trophy, for the day when someone beats their scheme. One of the witches I trained under showed me a signature rune that she had from a tomb she had beaten and I shit you not, she beat Rowena Ravenclaw."
There's Bill's competitive streak! Originally you thought this might be up Hermione's alley, but the more you think about it your traitorous male ex-best friend would enjoy it too with his love of chess and all that.
"Okay, what's the worst part?"
"Well working for Gringotts, it has to be everyone thinking I am some kind of effing accountant. Sure, I have picked up some along the way and I know how to run my own finances, but that's like saying someone who works in a quidditch stadium selling refreshments knows how to manage the team! The twins wanted me to run their books for their business for them. I warded their shop for them, but Merlin I don't do the books. That's what the Goblin's do. I'm a ward crafter not a bean counter. The only reason I know as much as I do, is all my work for Dumbledore. It's a running joke among us Gringotts cursebreakers; the moment you tell someone you work at Gringotts there is some kind of compulsion that forces whomever you are talking to, to start babbling about their investments and finances. My version of estate planning is how to protect your bloody home from people getting in, not how much to leave to your irritable nephew with the body odor problem. Sorry, didn't mean to go off on a rant. It's just a sore spot with me."
Come to think of it, you always thought Bill was some kind of super wizard accountant. You wonder how many other people suffer from that misconception.
"No problem Bill. If you could do all that and balance the books, why would we need goblins anyway?"
"See that's exactly what I am talking about!" Bill says glad to have someone agreeing with him.
You turn off your glasses, after starting to feel a twinge of pain at having them on for the five or ten minutes you have been standing here looking at the perimeter wards. Bill shows you the tiny siphon rune on the glasses where it draws on your power to make the glasses work. You add it to the list of things that someone probably should have explained to you long before now. The two of you head into the town to do some grocery shopping and pick up some additional last minute supplies. Bill said he would start working on apparition with you this afternoon. Walking the last five minutes, he begins explaining the theory behind apparition. It doesn't sound so hard and you have already felt what it is like from the side-alongs you have been doing. With any luck, you'll have it mastered fairly quickly.
You pull out your shopping lists. It's easier to do most of the grocery shopping here rather than in the muggle world. You don't have to keep doing all the currency conversions. Plus there are lots of ingredients that they just don't have in the non-magical world. The economy must be better in England. Your galleons are going much further than you imagined.
Bill shows you how to cast a basic translation spell. It's not prefect, but you can now understand a bit of what is being said around you. Bill tells you to turn on your glasses and look at his ears. You see a faint shimmer of magic around them from the translation spell. Bill goes over to some of the other shops while you do your shopping in the market. There's a good deal of fish and meat. You think of last night's meal of feijoada, a hearty meat and black bean stew. It was very good. You managed to get a recipe for that one and are picking out the ingredients needed to make it along with the other dinners for the first week in the jungle. Bill explained that every weekend, when they weren't moving camp you would be able to portkey or apparate (once you learn how) back here to restock on your provisions. You asked him about being out until October. He said that Dumbledore requested that if there was no real progress by the middle of that month that Bill return to England. You immediately ask him what he is really after out there. Bill told you 'not here and not now', but promised you an answer in private.
"Please Paulo ..." A young woman pleads with the merchant. She is pretty, with straight black hair and bronze skin. She looks like she is in her early to mid twenties.
"I am sorry Karina. I cannot extend you a tab. I know that you are in a bad way, but the Colastos would not be pleased with me if I did."
"Fine, you are the same as all the rest! Begging the favor of that family. I will find another way to feed my boy!" The woman's angry words cowed the merchant slightly. You wonder about the back story to all this.
"Karina, come back later tonight when I have to get rid of the fish that will spoil before the weekend. It is all that I can do without risking their anger."
You don't know why you do half the stupid shit that you do. Funbags calls it your 'saving people thing'. Hooknose calls it 'your constant need to inflate your bloated ego'. Nevertheless, you reach into your pouch and pull out a dozen or so galleons. You think about some boy out there, who has a mother willing to beg to get him food. As the young woman turns away from the counter you touch her arm. She looks at you confused with a face flushed full of anger and embarrassment. You press the coins in her hand and see her eyes open wide.
"Take this. Feed your boy." You say quietly.
"I.... I cannot accept this." She stammers in English.
"I know what is like to be hungry. Take it."
She looks into your eyes for a moment. Girls at school always talk about your eyes and how much they like them. You've never seen what the big deal is. They're green. You certainly never have seen the 'windows to your soul' crap they babble on about. Maybe this woman does. She nods, smiles at you, pockets the money and leaves in a hurry.
The merchant regards you carefully as you step to the counter to pay for your goods. He is surprised at the sheer amount of goods you are purchasing. Your bill comes up to a little under nine galleons. From the looks of things you probably gave her about two months of grocery money if she spends frugally.
"You should be careful how you spend you money." The shopkeeper says quietly while bundling and shrinking you packages.
"Why is that?"
"Karina had protection. She does not anymore. She has displeased a very powerful family with great influence. You are a foreigner, so our ways are unfamiliar. It would not be good for you to meddle in things you do not know about and should not concern yourself with."
You want to be angry at the man, but his tone is without malice. It's not like Malfoy spouting his usual hate and venom about muggleborn not being allowed in school. He is stating a fact. The man is actually giving you a warning. You slide the sickles and back towards him and drop a galleon on top of it. You smile at him.
"Then it would be best if no one learned of my meddling, wouldn't it?"
The merchant smiles at you and sweeps the coins into his hand before wishing you a good day. You leave market and catch up to Bill, who is waiting for you. He takes the shrunken food parcels and tells you to go down to the magical only beach while he apparates back to the hotel and stores the food.
You walk down to the beach and sit watching the waves crash in. Some of the local boys are playing football on the beach. Dean Thomas would probably have joined in. You were never that good. Too bad you don't see a quidditch pitch around, but then again the Dragonfly is back in your hotel room, so it's just as well. The fresh ocean air does wonders for clearing the last reminders of the previous nights tomfoolery. Your peaceful relaxation is interrupted.
"I wanted to thank you again. You are most kind." Karina says kneeling next to the rock you are sitting on.
"You're welcome. I don't like the thought of children going hungry." You say distantly.
"What is your name?"
"James Black."
"I am Karina Machado."
"Mama! Mama!" A young boy maybe four or five, comes half running half stumbling across the sand towards the two of you. The neutral expression on Karina's face melts into a smile as the boy falls into her arms. You watch as she hugs the boy and ruffs his hair.
"Are you having fun out here today, Chico?" You follow her speech though you can tell by the slight delay that the translation spell is now working again.
"Yes! Mama! I am building a sandcastle! It's going to have a quidditch pitch and a dragon pen! It will be better than the Colastos's house." You see her smile falter a little. She removes one of your galleons from her pockets.
"Francisco, go to the ice cream vendor. You may get a scoop of chocolate. I would like a scoop of vanilla in a cup. Make sure to put the change into your pocket. Mr. Black would you like some?" She says switching to English.
"No thank you." You answer politely. Ice cream sounds good, but your stomach isn't really up to something sweet. You watch the little boy run to the Ice Cream stand like he is recklessly chasing a snitch. He falls twice and you hear Karina's warm chuckle as she watches him.
"He is such a handful." She says sighing.
"Do you think your ice cream will get back intact?" You ask certain that if you had placed an order, at least one would not make it back.
"Oh, Chico is very careful when it comes to his ice cream. He takes his desserts very seriously."
You watch as the young boy comes back carefully across the sand. Delivering the paper cup containing his mother's dessert proudly. She rewards him with a kiss on his forehead.
"Francisco, this is Mr. James Black."
"Mama! Only you can call me Francisco. Everyone else has to call me Chico!" The boy protests causing you to laugh.
"I promise I will only call you Chico." You say and the boy gives you a toothy grin.
You watch him attack his chocolate ice cream cone with a vengeance. He reminds you of a miniature Ron Weasley, except Chico seems to be more mature. You look back out at the waves and see swimmers splashing while a pair of dolphins leap into the air.
"They are from a large family of animagus. They go down to the regular beaches every now and then to play with the tourists. They are also sources for some of the local legends about shape changing dolphin people, in the freshwater rivers inland." Karina says. You turn and watch her. For some reason, you are drawn to the vanilla glaze around her lips as you watch her eat her ice cream. You normally like chocolate, but suddenly vanilla looks very tasty. You shouldn't be thinking about some boy's mother like this. You're a bit of a pervert, aren't you.
"Did I get some on my face?" She asks. Shit you're busted!
"A little right on the corner there." You lie as you watch her tongue sweep across her lips removing the glaze. She touches the spot with her finger and asks if it's gone. You nod like the idiot teenager you are.
"So what are the magical schools like here?" You ask, more interested in trying to look casual than really wanting to know the information.
"We get three years from our government. After that it is up to us to either learn on our own, find someone to teach you, or go to a private school. How about you?"
"We go for seven. The first five are mandatory. You have to pass exams at the end of the fifth to take your sixth and seventh years. At the end of your seventh you take NEWT exams, which help you get a job."
"What year are you in?"
"I'll be starting my sixth year this fall, err in September. I guess the seasons are different down here."
"When does Chico start school?"
"Not until he is ten. I'm counting the days though. I'll be able to catch up on my sleep then." She says smiling. Chico had devoured his cone and now had a wide rim of chocolate ice cream on his cheek. "Chico, let me get a cloth to wipe your face."
The boy responded by taking the front of his shirt and wiping his face with it. "I got it Mama!"
"Oh Chico, you always do that!" Karina said pulling her wand out and using a twisting curling motion. The boy's shirt peeled itself off of him forcing his arms up into the air.
She then uses a water summoning charm to rinse the stain out of the shirt. The giggling boy makes her spray him with her wand. For the fun of it, you pull your wand out and spray Chico with a jet of water from your wand. Karina's is a small steady stream. The one from your wand is a strong jet. You pull it away for fear of knocking the boy to the ground. Instead you shoot it into the air and let it rain down on him.
"That is a powerful water charm you have there. You must be a very strong wizard."
"Sorry, I didn't realize it would come out that strong."
"Oh, it would have knocked poor Chico back ten feet and he would be begging you to do it to him for the rest of the day. Trust me. Francisco, go back to making your sandcastle. Stay where Mama can see you."
"Yes, Mama." You watch Chico run off while Karina lays his shirt out to dry. You ask what charm she used to take his shirt off. She demonstrates it for you and helps you with the wand motions, explaining that it her grandmother taught her this and many other 'Nanny Charms'. You smile knowing that it has great prank potential. After five minutes you have it mastered including the incantation.
After a minute of silence you ask, "Please forgive me for asking, but the man in the market. He said that you had made some very powerful enemies and that I should be careful?"
"Until two months ago I was the Colastos family governess. The youngest male of the family was named Renaldo. He was Francisco's father. There was a dispute with some of the other families and Renaldo was killed four months ago. Renaldo's wife barely tolerated my presence when he was alive. After his death, the family decided that Francisco and I no longer had a place there. They also ensured that no one else would want to employ me. I returned to the small house my grandmother left me and have been there since. The Colastos's maintain much of the magic that makes Rio such a magical destination for the normal people. They place charms throughout the city to make the tourists feel more enjoyment. The family is well compensated by those in the city that are aware of our presence."
It's a sad story. You could probably top it with the whole Boy-Who-Lived spiel, but this isn't about who has had the worst deal, is it? "That's awful." You are not sure what else to say.
"It is reality." She says simply.
"Hey James." Bill says coming out onto the sand. "Making more friends I see."
"Bill Weasley, this is Karina Machado. Bill is my cousin." You say introducing the two of them.
"Are you ready to try apparating?" Bill asks.
"Sure. Where do you want to do it?"
"How about right over there?" Bill says gesturing to an open area that no one seems to be using.
"Do you mind if I watch?" Karina asks. You wonder if she knows how to apparate. You get the suspicion that she doesn't.
"No problem," Bill answers.
Bill begins explaining the theory again and using a stick, he draws two circles about 3 meters apart. He then demonstrates apparating as slowly as he possible can, back and forth between each circle. Next, Bill takes you side along back and forth about five times instructing you to concentrate on the sensation of apparating. He informs you that you need to recreate the feeling, while focusing on your destination.
Finally, he lets you try. You clear your mind, as best you can. It never really worked for Occulmency, but what the hell! You concentrate on finding your magic and recreating the feeling to move yourself from one circle to the next. For five straight minutes you concentrate with nothing happening. Bill interrupts and does side along with you again three more times, before turning you loose to try it again.
Fifteen more minutes in the warm sun and you feel something, a grinding crack followed by pain.
"Shit. You splinched!" Bill says running over to you. You are missing half your left forearm, but at least most of you is over in the destination circle. You stagger over back to your starting point as Bill starts to work on reattaching your arm while you enjoy the feeling of shock coursing through your body. Reversing a splinch is rather painful, but considering the variety of curses you have experienced, it's not too bad. Karina helps him by holding you steady while he reverses it. It doesn't help that Chico has moved closer and is laughing at you.
"Mama! He forgot his arm!"
"Chico, quiet! Hold still Mr. Black."
After reattaching your arm, Bill asks Karina to go get some drinks. She walks off with her son. You sit kind of dumbly on the rock opening and closing your left hand like you just got a new one. Well, technically you just got it back.
"So what's her story?" Bill asks.
"She worked for a powerful family. One of them fathered her kid. He died and they didn't want her around anymore. They also decided that no one else should hire her. Reminds me of certain families back home. I'm guessing she doesn't know how to apparate. She was in front of me begging the man in the market for a way to feed her boy and I ..."
"You gave her some money." Bill says smiling and shaking his head.
"Yeah. Sorry, I probably should have minded my own business."
"You've got a big heart. That's what I like about you, Harry. Just be careful that people don't use you." Bill stops for a second. "Actually, make sure that more people don't use you."
"I'll try."
"If she invites us to dinner go ahead and accept. I'll stay for a bite and to make sure it isn't some kind of scam, but I have to go and meet our hitwizard escorts."
You look confused. A scam? How would that? Why would? That's not possible, is it?
"Different places, Harry. Different rules. This isn't even close to some of the shitholes I have been in before, but the real world is a beautiful and dangerous place. I'm going to put a tracking charm on you so that I can locate you." Bill says sagely.
"Okay." You feel the tingle of magic as Bill places a spell on you. "You'll have to teach me that one."
"I promised to teach you as much as I can. Thundercloud looks like he will help. I wouldn't bother asking Sanchez. As for the hitwizards, I'll do my best to convince them. That said, they may not want to have anything to do with you."
"I can live with that. I take it you don't care for Sanchez either."
"She came highly recommended."
"Maybe the person that recommended her hopes she gets killed? Did you say this was a high risk assignment?"
"Good point. Oh looks like your new friend is coming back. How do they keep all the girls off you at school?"
"Mostly through all the rumors and lies that are spread about me. Speaking of which, we should pick up some snakes."
"My language gift." You say hastily as the mother and son return.
Bill obviously gets it. "Oh that's right. They can get in through cracks and scout ahead. I think I'm going to like having you around."
"I was thinking about using them as guards at night too."
"That would work."
Karina looks confused as she only caught the last bit, but she quickly lets it drop. The drinks taste good. Bill has you wait twenty minutes before trying again. In the meantime the three of you chat and spray water at Chico. Finally, you try again. You make significant progress. If only taking a minute to splinch yourself counts as progress. You fall over in the destination circle and try to hop back to the missing right foot, spitting the sand that got into your mouth out on the way back. You suffer through a second reversal and the pain that accompanies it. Third times a charm isn't it? No, it's not as you turn around to fetch both of your hands. Even Karina is laughing openly at you.
"That's enough for today. I thought you were making progress, but losing both your hands is a definite sign to stop for the day. We'll try again, or maybe I have our guide work with you after we make camp." Bill then plays an inappropriate game of keep away with your two hands. He then asks you if you want to play catch or watch him practice juggling. After torturing you, much to Chico's delight he reattaches your hands.
"Would the two of you care to join us for a home cooked meal?" Karina asks looking at you. Bill's eyes do a Dumbledore like twinkle as if to say, 'I told you so'.
"That would be nice."
"Francisco, take Mr. Black and Mr. Weasley back to our house. I will go get something to prepare for dinner."
"I won't be able to stay," Bill says. "I have another obligation I must attend to."
You watch Karina walk away. She has a nice way of walking, doesn't she? After a moment Bill and you follow Chico towards a small group of what can only be described as hovels. The house that shall no longer be named, but belongs to Bill's family would be a veritable castle. None of them look 'pretty'. Chico manages to lead you to one of the worst looking ones. You notice Bill checking with his wand and shaking his head as Chico leads you in.
"What?" You have to ask.
"Exactly. Nothing! Not a single ward at all. No visitor wards, no identifier wards, no wards at all. I'm not even sure the place has any preservation charms on it."
The inside is clean and appears well kept. The furniture is old, crude and in the case of two of the chairs - about to fall apart. It has one main room, which serves as a living room, kitchen, dining room and master bedroom. There is a small bedroom, which appears to belong to Chico and a bathroom.
Chico insists on showing you his toys. Some of them look new and somewhat expensive. It was probably all they were allowed to take when the Colastos family kicked them to the streets. You wonder how long before Karina will be forced to sell them. Bill steps outside while you entertain Chico. About fifteen minutes later Bill and Karina come inside. She seems embarrassed about her living conditions, but launches into some serious cooking charms almost immediately. She's making a fish dish. It already smells pretty good.
Bill hands you a smooth shaped rock with a big grin on his face. "Portkey back to the alley behind the hotel. The activation phrase is Splinch Me."
"Oh that's hilarious. You should have been a comedian."
"I'll come over when you get back and we'll talk about the expedition and what we are after when you get back. Okay, I've got some wizards to meet. Let me get some coins from your pouch. I'm a little short right now." Bill says taking your money pouch and removing most of the currency. He raises his voice, "Karina, Chico it was nice meeting you."
Bill apparates away and you watch Karina work the kitchen. She is quite good. She offers to show you some of the charms. You take her up on the offer and almost immediately regret it as she slides behind you hooking her arm around your waist and holding your wrist. Somehow it seems a bit more intimate that whenever any female has assisted you with spell casting. Then again, the people assisting you usually consisted of Hermione and Professor Kittycat. You've only recently started thinking about Hermione that way and hell will freeze over before you entertain those kinds of thoughts about your transfiguration teacher. It's hard to concentrate.
"No. That is not quite it. Here switch with me." She says sliding around in front of you. You try and stand awkwardly behind her. You remember during some of the DA meetings that some of the girls, namely Lisa Turpin, Hannah Abbott, Ginny the wonderslut, and a fourth year Claw named Marcia would freeze every time you were behind them and touching them. You think you know the reason why now.
Karina grabs your arm and puts it around her waist. Her shirt is a little short and a portion of your hand ends up on bare skin. "You have a very strong grip, James."
You lean into her to avoid pressing your waist into hers. There are things going on south of the border that you don't want to think about right now. After a couple of tries, you stammer that you are pretty sure you know how to cast that particular charm now, even though you don't exactly know the incantation, wand movements or what the purpose was to begin with. Is it warm in here or is it just you?
Recovering your dignity or at least a tiny portion of it. You sit at the table and watch her continue to cook. Two meters is a much safer distance to watch from. You make small talk about the types of spells she was taught. Apparently, nothing really destructive is taught in their basic schooling. She does know the patronus mist, to drive off lethifolds and her most offensive spell is the basic cutter diffindo.
Dinner consists of fish on a rice bed and steamed vegetables. It is very tasty. Karina whips up a lemon butter sauce to drizzle over the fish. You feel a bit guilty that she is going to all this trouble just to feed you with money that she should be hoarding to feed Chico. You make certain to compliment her on everything. She smiles at the flattery and thanks you for helping clear the table. After dinner you and Karina play a board game for an hour with Chico, who seems to be having a wonderful time. After three games, Karina sends him off to the bathroom and then to bed. She kisses the boy goodnight and puts him in his little room. After shutting the door, you watch her use a silencing charm on Chico's door.
"Would you show me some of your spells?" She asks.
Her expression makes it hard for you to refuse. You transfigure a paper plate into a target and show her the arrow curse. She struggles with it. You realize her wand is second or third hand and probably doesn't suit her well. Even with a proper wand you doubt she would ever give any of the DA members a run for their money, but she is enthusiastic in her efforts. When she manages to cast the curse successfully and hit the target she jumps up and down excitedly and pulls you into a hug. You ask to see her shield and her form and the result were awful. You work on correcting her stance and her form. At first, her spell doesn't work at all; it was almost like tearing down what she learned and starting from scratch.
It takes about thirty minutes and you seem to forget your discomfort around her. You're in familiar territory, teaching someone how to defend herself. She's a willing student, but with very little to work with. Still, her shield is much better by the end. It should actually block something now. She has a bit of sweat on her forehead from her efforts.
"That last one was much better. I think you have it now. We should stop. You look worn out. Coming from a guy who managed to splinch himself three times today, that is saying something."
Karina envelops you in a hug and whispers into your ear. "Thank you so much!" You feel the caress of her lips across your cheek. She moves across your frozen lips. You're not imagining this. Hot Mama is kissing you! Still a bit creepy, but no time to worry about that. Stop standing there like a statue and do something! You start kissing her back and feel her hands moving up and down your back. Your arms start working on autopilot as you concentrate on kissing Karina. You start wondering if she sent Chico to bed early or if this is his normal bedtime. She's grinding against you and breathing heavily. You don't want her to feel how you are responding, but her hands pull your waist into contact with her and press your naughty bits into rather close proximity.
She breaks away from you and steps back. "James, use the charm I taught you this morning."
What charm did she teach you this morning? How in the hell is she expecting to you to remember something like that? The only thing you remember is when she showed you the charm to take Chico's shirt... . Oh that charm! You start to point your wand at her and stop.
"We shouldn't do this." You can't think of a real reason why at the moment. You are pretty sure that one of you is required to make this lame denial.
"Please. The last year of Renaldo's life, he tried to make nice with his precious Nina and he would not touch me. He wouldn't let anyone else touch me, either. Now that I have been cast out no one will touch me. I liked to be touched. I want to be touched. Please touch me."
Now that's what you call a convincing argument! You cast the charm and watch her shirt rise off her body. She's not wearing a bra either. She should really have cooling charms in this house, well actually certain parts of her look like they are cold.
"Now for your next lesson, use the same charm, but focus on my skirt." It's not the Imperius curse. You could resist that. This is something completely different. You cast the charm again with a lump in your throat. Well there are other lumps elsewhere too! She raises her wand with a wicked smile on her face and your shirt lifts off your chest. She casts again and the shorts remove themselves.
"I'll show you another charm I know." She moves her wand across her lips and they glow slightly. Her lips tingle when they touch yours. The feeling is, well you are sure that if you had some time to really think it through, you could come up with something really descriptive. For now you just have to settle for good, really good, damn good or don't stop doing what you are doing good.
She's touching you all over. You should reciprocate, shouldn't you? Holy Merlin! She just touched you there. You nearly jump out your boxers. Her hand is not moving away from that area either. She brings her wand to your lips and says the same incantation. You the same tingle across your lips and she pulls your head down to her breasts. Your new name is Harry "The Funbag Inspector" Potter. She pulls you down onto the couch.
The next three hours pass in a blur as Karina show you things. You don't last very long from just her touching. She apparently expected that. The spell she just taught you is called the Icy Lips charm. She asks you to apply it and shows you how to kiss her down there. You follow direction well. Karina seems to really enjoy it. She's getting very descriptive about how much she likes it. This must be what the silencing charm was really for! Turnabout is fair play and she doesn't last very long either. She reapplies the spell to her lips and start kissing you - down there. This is starting to sound like one of those stupid articles Dean and Seamus would read from their periodicals. They usually start with, 'I never believed it could happen to me...'
It's about one am when you finally get back to your hotel. You shared an awkward goodbye with Karina. She told you, that it would be okay if you came by to see her again. She thanked you for 'touching her'. You've got a stupid grin on your face, don't you? You left the rest of your coins on the counter, while she was in the loo. They'll do more good there.
You knock on Bill's door. He opens it and looks at the clock on his nightstand. "Just getting back, Harry?"
"Urm, yeah."
"Did you have - fun?"
"Come on in. Grab a seat"
You see Bill was still awake. There are several maps on the table and more than a few books open. You sit down. Bill looks over at you grinning.
"She rode you like a cheap broomstick didn't she?" Your cheeks flush and you can't seem to get rid of the stupid grin.
"Uh, yeah. I guess you could say that."
Bill's smile disappears. "Did she use the contraception charm?"
Your stupid grin disappears. "I don't... I don't know."
There's a pause. Bill looks at you with concern. You're pretty stupid aren't you? "Relax Harry, I made her do it before I left. Right before the two of us came inside."
"You knew what was going to happen?" Suddenly, you realize why Karina seemed a bit flustered when she came in with the groceries.
"I had a good idea. I've been around. You're not stupid Harry. You are ignorant. It's a wild world beyond Hogwarts. Some good things, some not so good. I'll do my best to show you - not just magic, but show you things about life."
"How did you know?"
"She was eyeing you like a side of beef. You'll have to learn how to pick up on things like that."
"I guess I'm a bit thick, when it comes to that."
"No worries. Hell, for the amount of money you gave her she probably would have done us both."
"What? She isn't a ..."
"No. She's not. She's a very grateful mother. Did she say she wanted to see you again?"
"Then it probably wasn't just about the money. You gave her the rest of your money didn't you?"
"I left it on the counter, while she was in the loo."
"That's why I took most of it before I left." Damn! How does Bill know all these things?
You are hit with the realization that you pretty much just paid for sex. It's a sobering moment. You don't feel young and innocent any more. It's a lot to digest.
"Lets change the topic, Harry. I'm going to tell you why we are here. Harry, have you ever heard of a Horcrux?"
Author's notes - As always join the discussion thread up on Darklordpotter(dot)net. I have to take a break from writing to study for a very intensive professional certification exam. For you computer geeks out there it is the CCIE Written, so you know it's not a walk in the park! I have to be done with it before July 24th. So, the regular updates to both my stories will recommence at that time. If I get some free time from studying, you may see an irregular update before then, but I am making no promises. Sorry, but Network Engineering pays the bills. -- Jim


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Pet Washing & Grooming in Interlachen, FL
Helpful Definition for: Pet Washing & Grooming
Pet washing and grooming will not be the easiest of tasks, the first thing that is needed is to do is be sure that all of the grooming supplies are nearby and easy to reach. The pet washing and grooming supplies are available in Interlachen shops, that include nail clippers, grooming scissors, a towel, grooming shampoo, a brush, and a comb.
In Interlachen there are various places where these services are provided. Some dogs are particularly high-maintenance, though, and it does not matter how much, it may still be best to let an experienced groomer in Interlachen handle long, thick, or heavy coats.
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Read reviews (28)
Rate recipe
Buttered onions are a great addition to the lemon sauce of this easy supper. Best of all, it takes only a few minutes to brown the lightly breaded chicken on the stove top. -Kay Shimonek of Corsicana, Texas
This recipe is:
Diabetic Friendly
Nutritional Facts 1 chicken breast half with 3 tablespoons sauce equals 213 calories, 8 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 70 mg cholesterol, 614 mg sodium, 10 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 25 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 fat, 1/2 starch.
Originally published as Lemon Thyme Chicken in Light & Tasty April/May 2006, p19
Full-Bodied White Wine
Enjoy this recipe with a full-bodied white wine such as Chardonnay or Viognier.
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Reviewed on Mar. 08, 2013 by lurky27
This is sooooo good! Packed with flavor & easy to make. We'll be making this again!~ Theresa
This is sooooo good! Packed with flavor & easy to make. We'll be making this again!
~ Theresa
Reviewed on Feb. 26, 2013 by zippygaj
I have made it a ton of times already!!! It is one of my favorites!!!
Reviewed on Jan. 13, 2013 by Debann507
Good recipe. I added sauteed mushrooms to the dish. The tang of the lemon was prefect on rice.
Reviewed on Oct. 26, 2012 by Micheal Michele
loved it.
Reviewed on Sep. 27, 2012 by SailorKing
use real broc and onions next time.. then out chicken or steam cook.
Reviewed on Feb. 02, 2012 by ecatch31
Delicious with fresh thyme and lemon juice!
Reviewed on Jan. 24, 2012 by shirlmygirl
If you don't like the flavor of thyme, you will not like this. My husband and I did not care for this at all.
Reviewed on Jan. 03, 2012 by Needtips
it got my 11 year olds approval - nuff said :)
Reviewed on Jan. 03, 2012 by PrincessM7
Good, healthy and easy. Great weeknight dinner. Tastes great served over rice. Will make again.
Reviewed on Aug. 09, 2011 by prente
healthy and yummy :) perfect for dinner. We ate it with toasted garlic bread :) still gooooood :)
Reviewed on Jul. 07, 2011 by jmckee50
This is one of my family's favorite dishes! We love the lemon sauce and put it over rice! Add green beans or broccoli as a side and it's a wonderful well balanced meal!
Reviewed on Apr. 04, 2011 by kat83
Next time I will use less thyme. It was overpowering to me, but everyone else said it seemed fine. Just a ok dish, not fantastic
Reviewed on Dec. 31, 2010 by gcovalt
Very easy and tasty recipe
Reviewed on Dec. 26, 2010 by momamary8
Very easy to make, and tastes delicious! The onion was a great additon to the lemon/chicken broth sauce.
Reviewed on Nov. 02, 2010 by Daniell
I've made this a few times. My husband and I enjoy it, but the kids just won't eat it because of all the onion and lemon. You can add too much lemon to the dish as well.
Reviewed on Oct. 11, 2010 by shif77
Wonderful recipe, so simple. I flatten chicken to save some cooking time, great flavoer! I made the side dish of Rice with Summer Squash with it and it was a perfect combo!!
Reviewed on Aug. 14, 2010 by darqmiko
I'm making this again!
Reviewed on Apr. 17, 2010 by daisyshae99
Very tasty dish! I pounded my chicken flat before flouring and cooking it. This made it very tender and cooked much faster. I'm excited to have another way to make chicken!
Reviewed on Dec. 17, 2009 by 1Bockey
I have made this many times and my family loves it. It is delicious and also freezes well. I usually double the recipe and put one in the freezer.
Reviewed on Jul. 10, 2009 by natv
This is a great dish! So easy to make and so good!And Sharon I just used the olive oil in the skillet. No need for cooking spray.
This is a great dish! So easy to make and so good!
And Sharon I just used the olive oil in the skillet. No need for cooking spray.
Reviewed on Jun. 04, 2009 by maryilich
This was SUCH a flavorful recipe! It was very easy and quick to make. I served it on a bed of brown basmati brown rice. The sauce was a perfect blend for both the chicken and rice.Mary IlichTemecula, CA
This was SUCH a flavorful recipe! It was very easy and quick to make. I served it on a bed of brown basmati brown rice. The sauce was a perfect blend for both the chicken and rice.
Mary Ilich
Temecula, CA
Reviewed on Apr. 16, 2009 by SharonColyer
The Lemon Thyme Chicken recipe says to spray skillet with cooking spray, but right after that says to cook chicken in oil. Looks like it would be one or the other. Do you need to do both?
Reviewed on Mar. 30, 2009 by briandean
So So So So good! I can't wait to make this again! It was super easy to prepare and my son gobbled it up too!
Reviewed on Nov. 07, 2008 by jexa2jade
Just made this recipe and it came out wonderful! My boyfriend gave it a 9 out of 10!
Reviewed on May. 28, 2008 by Anitaaz
This is a wonderful recipe. I made it but instead of chicken I made it with fish - tilapia. Excellent - oh, and I also just sliced my onions - just because I didn't read the recipe carefully enough but that turned out great too.
Reviewed on Feb. 20, 2008 by jetluvs2cook
can't veiw this one....
Reviewed on Feb. 20, 2008 by dkovacic
Very easy to make
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Detailed structure and explanatory notesISIC Rev.3.1 code 6023StructureHierarchy
Explanatory note This class includes: - all freight transport operations by road: · logging haulage · stock haulage · refrigerated haulage · heavy haulage · bulk haulage, including haulage in tanker trucks including milk collection at farms · haulage of automobiles · transport of waste and waste materials, without collection or disposal This class also includes: - furniture removal - renting of trucks with driver - freight transport by man or animal-drawn vehicles This class excludes: - log hauling within the forest, as part of logging operations, see 0200 - operation of terminal facilities for handling freight, see 6303 - crating and packing services for transport, see 6309 - post and courier activities, see 641 - waste transport as integrated part of waste collection activities carried out by specialized enterprises, see 9000 Click here for complete correspondences for this code. Click here to see the alphabetical index for this code Click here to see the Registry entries for this code Would you like to leave some feedback? (on this code, this classification, the site in general or any other issue) You can include contact info (optional) |


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Academic Courses
Course Descriptions
Course | Course Title | Credit Hours |
CAP 265 | Advanced Competitive Ice Carving | (1-3) 3 Cr. Hrs. |
Course Description
Advanced carving ability incorporating joining, assembling and multi block will be covered. This course is for students who wish to further their culinary artistry by entering individual or team competitive ice carving events. This is an elective course.
(A requirement that must be completed before taking this course.)
- CAP 260 or consent of department.
Course Competencies
Upon successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:
- Identify safe carving procedures.
- Demonstrate safe practices to the instructor.
- Demonstrate ice fusing techniques.
- Develop an original and achievable design template.
- Determine the exact requirements necessary to perform the original design template.
- Construct a multiple block sculpture.
- Demonstrate proper ice carving transportation.
- Utilize proper care and sharpening of hand tools.
- Apply advanced judging techniques for fused carving pieces.
- Apply advanced judging techniques for multi-block ice carving pieces.
- Produce a practical ice carving sculpture.
- Evaluate a practical ice carving sculpture.
Note: This course may not be offered every semester.
Please check the CAP section of the current course schedule for availability.


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The Hartford Democratic Town Committee "Convention": A Hot Mess
Because I have a twisted idea of what constitutes fun, I left work early on Thursday to attend the Hartford Democratic Town Committee's nominating convention. That's the chaotic process by which the supposed leaders of the local Democrats pick their … Continue reading


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2013 Kicks Off
Happy New Year while it's still a little new.
Many things have kept me busy and away from the website, including of course the overwhelmingness of the holidays. Woven in and out of that have been real estate activities, some travel, and fighting off a flu which seems to have overtaken the city.
Here is a photographic narrative of what I've been doing since my last post which I hope will redeem my absence.
Santa still delivers to the Saver household. We must have been good.
Christmas morning with the boys. Seahawks fans!
Strolling at midnight. New Year's Eve on Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena while the Rose Parade floats begin to line up.
Curbside for the gorgeous Rose Parade bright and early New Year's morning. This was all sorts of awesome.
Newport Beach. a gondola in the harbor, warm weather prevailed.
Showing a property with exceptionally (ridiculously?) tall sinks.
At escrow, signing closing documents. First closing of the new year. Hooray!
Best news of all: I sold my listing at 9500 Hilltop Drive in Bellevue. Very busy it was over there once we came on the market with showings almost every day. We received two offers after only 18 days of market time (one of which was Christmas, another New Year's day). Astonishingly active! The day after New Year's the sun came out and we could finally get a good shot of Mt. Rainier from this magnificently sited property. A blue sky day to properly start January 2013. Love it.


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Chad Leaves Dodgers Hanging As Dodgers Fall To Angels
It's the second half of the Freeway Series!
I checked my phone as I got out of a screening of Pixar's BRAVE and did a little dance. The Dodgers, who just got swept by the Oakland Athletics, were up 5 – 0 on the Angels in the bottom of the second inning. The second inning! And Bobby Abreu had started the party off with a three-run jack on the first pitch he saw in the first inning. That's magical. That's more than the entire A's series.
Well, whatever magic the Dodgers had imploded and definitely went away. Chad Billingsely blew a 5 run lead and the Dodgers eventually lost to the Angels 8 – 5. After a successful squeeze play on behalf of the Angels, Billz threw a pretty nice pitch down in the zone to Mike Trout. In case you were curious, Mike Trout is really, really good at baseball. He hasn't had the hype that Bryce Harper has had going in, but he's really going to be something special. Anyway, Trout blasted the ball into center field and that was pretty much that. The Angels would add on more runs but the Dodgers would fail to answer with anything for the rest of the game.
I really can't wait until Matt Kemp comes back. I think that is going to be a big boost to the Dodgers lineup. There's no timetable on Kemp and I think that's for the best, too. He helped give the Dodgers a huge boost in their great record, and hopefully the Dodgers will continue to play at a .500 clip without him to maintain going into the All-Star Break.


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What the heck does "Stick View On Top" do? It seams that it doesn't do anything. Any of you know what it does?
What the heck does "Stick View On Top" do? It seams that it doesn't do anything. Any of you know what it does?
Last edited by erikbjur; 2006-05-03 at 09:56 PM.
I believe the symbolic stick line in all of the framing families is defaulted to the center of the member when this parameter is off. Checking the Stick View On Top parameter simply moves this symbolic line to be at the top center of the framing member. It's similar to the analytical projection plane parameters only less options. I don't think this really does anything for you one way or the other in the plan views but works nicely for framing elevations set to coarse display.
We typically have our levels defined at TOS and when you first place a framing elevation you'll notice that in coarse view display all of your floor framing members are offset from the defined TOS level. Highlight the horizontal members -> right click properties and check this parameter on and the stick symbol will jump to the TOS level. I used to wonder why the parameter wasn't defaulted on for this very reason but soon realized that since the bracing uses these same families you're going to have to adjust this parameter for something in your elevations regardless unless you now show these in medium or fine detail.
Thanks for the reply. That helped a lot. I was hoping that it was something else. I need the ability to show beams that hang of of other things, to show pulled away. This I know revit does well. However, I also need the ability to show when beams bear on a column (not hang off of it) to show the beam extended over the top of the column.
Paul is correct. I learned about this a few days ago through Autodesk support.
"Stick view on top" is of immense help when yo have framing on a sloping floor. The drawings don't look quite right when the option is unchecked (the stick view is in the middle, some distance away from the deck), especially at the edge of deck, or where you have skewed beams.
But enable the option for "Stick view on top" and voila! Everything looks the way it should. I think I'm going to start using this option by default; I can't think of any reason I wouldn't want to.
As for braces, we only use course detail on plans. Elevations are always fine (or hopefully if I create them, medium)
In that case, I would actually drag the end of the beam (the actual end point, not the shape handle) beyond the centerline of the column. After all, the beam will actually extend an inch or so beyond the column, and not end at the centerline.Originally Posted by erikbjur
You could modify the beam in elevation (fine or medium detail) or in plan (with fine or medium detail)
<"Stick view on top" is of immense help when you have framing on a sloping floor.>
Thanks for that. I have had that problem on many occasions, and could not quite figure it out. That will make a difference on roof plans too.
Tom Weir
Los Angeles


text: The RAM-B-174-A-GA41 Garmin GPSMAP 62 62s 62st Short Motorcycle RAM Mount is a Marine Grade Aluminum Mount with a Motorcycle Brake/Clutch Reservoir Base and RAM Custom Plastic Cradle. The mount is designed with a RAM 1 inch diameter patented rubber ball and socket system that has adjustment point at the cradle and base. With a twist of the short arm knob, you can move the Garmin GPSMAP 62 62s 62st mount to your optimum viewing position.


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Tributes paid to Rossendale historian and avid cricket fan (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Tributes paid to Rossendale historian and avid cricket fan
3:30pm Tuesday 17th July 2012 in News By Chris Adams
TRIBUTES have been paid to a prominent Valley historian and avid Cricket fan.
Ken Simpson, curator of the Bacup Natural History Society Museum, died on Friday, aged 86.
He was well-known in the town as a fanatical supporter of Bacup Cricket Club, attending matches at Lanehead for decades.
A former insurance and security worker, his love of history saw him take over the reigns at the Yorkshire Street museum in 1994.
The museum's general secretary Ken Bowden was friends with Mr Simpson for almost a quarter of a century. He said: "He had a massive fund of local knowledge and loved sharing it with people. He appointed me to my current position in 1999. Together we developed a scheme whereby the society could bring all of its work to a much greater audience. We shared some great times and I will miss him terribly.
"He had lost a lot of weight in the last 12 months after a supposedly successful operation on his nose."
He is survived by son Craig and daughter-in-law Melanie. She said: "It's been a terrible few days. Craig cannot come to terms with this. He will be missed by so many people."
Mr Simpson, also a follower of Bacup Borough Football Club, was most recently resident in the Ashlands Nursing Home, in Turnpike, Newchurch.
After the Second World War he served in the Army during the 1948 Palestine war which resulted in Israel's independence. He was also a qualified football referee, a local bowls league administrator and involved with Stacksteads Band.
Coun Jimmy Eaton, who knew Mr Simpson through local refereeing circles, said he 'always had a smile on his face'.
Bacup Cricket Club chairman Chris Hayhurst said he clearly loved the club. He said: "I got to know Ken's face, as you do at cricket grounds, and he was always very friendly. He has been coming for many years and everyone at the club knew him."
The club paid tribute to Mr Simpson on their Twitter feed, calling him a 'true Bacup CC supporter'.
His funeral will be at Burnley Crematorium on July 20 at 10.40am.
Comments (1)
8:37pm Tue 17 Jul 12
Hacked off too says...
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My File System
December 30th, 2005
Here's a tree view of my computer's file system, courtesy of SequoiaView. The big yellow block is M4A music files; the big green one is MP3′s, the gray rectangle in the upper right hand corner is pagefile.sys
, and the gold-gray-and-blue fishscales in the middle near the bottom are the Windows system DLLs. Pretty.


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Other Formats
- nsa x 59,188Not seasonally adjusted
- usa x 55,030United States of America
- nation x 39,666Country Level
- frb x 4,853Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- weekly x 1,989
- deposits x 357
- checkable x 59
Related Categories
Need Help?
Total Checkable Deposits (WTCDNS)
2013-05-06: 1,358.8 Billions of Dollars Last 5 Observations
Weekly, Ending Monday, Not Seasonally Adjusted, Updated: 2013-05-17 8:04 AM CDT
Source: | Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System |
Release: | H.6 Money Stock Measures |
Demand deposits plus other checkable deposits. Calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. |


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Designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee has shot down rumours that he is designing Aishwarya Rai's wardrobe for the Cannes red carpet.
"I don't know from where this news is coming. I am not styling Aishwarya for Cannes red carpet," Mukherjee told IANS.
It was reportedly said that the newly turned mom, who received criticisms from some quarters for her post pregnancy weight, will don a creation by Mukherjee during her appearance at the 65th Cannes International Film Festival.
The actress will be in Cannes May 24-25 where she will attend L'Oreal Paris - amfAR (The American Foundation for AIDS Research) dinner that will help raise funds for the fight against AIDS.
In the past, Ash opted for gowns made by some of the international designers including Elie Saab and Armani Prive.
More information about formatting options
Can't wait to see what Ash wears.
Cannes has so far been boring! With Ash things will start to spice up.


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Mini Golf, Go Karts & Other Rides & Attractions in Fort Worth Area
Please read below for the latest height, weight, and size information as well as ride availability. Certain rides and attractions, including new rides, may not be open at all times due to weather, maintenance, and other circumstances. Please contact the park directly for the latest availability.
NOW OPEN!!! Battle Zone Laser Tag at Mountasia!
Come on by and visit our newest attraction! No where else in the Metroplex will you find Laser Tag, Go Karts, Mini Golf, Rock Climbing and Bumper Boats all in one location!
Mini Golf
Tee it up and test your skill against family and friends on our two mountain adventure mini golf courses. Play around cascading waterfalls, by raging rapids and through caves and caverns. Each exciting hole will lead you on an adventure of skill and test your patience too!
Go Karts
Jump behind the wheel of our go karts and navigate the sharp twist and turns of the track. Gear up for some wheel-to-wheel racing and see who ends up in the winners circle. Our two seat go karts offer the younger enthusiast a chance to join in the fun.
Height requirement for drivers: 56 inches or taller for drivers and 36 inches to 56 inches for passengers. To carry a passenger, the driver must be a minimum of 18 years old and hold a valid driver's license.
Bumper Boats
Cool off in Mountasia's Wetland! Bumper Boats are great to splish, splash and bash other boaters.
Height requirement for drivers: 44 inches or taller for drivers and 40 inches for passengers. Maximum weight of 275 lbs per boat.
Arcade Games
Race, roll, toss and even fly in our interactive arcade. Win, Win , Win with all the awesome prize games and take home some fantastic reminders of your visit.
Earn arcade games tokens for good grades. Kids are encouraged to bring their most recent report cards to receive one arcade game token for every "B" and two arcade game tokens for every "A"! Limit twenty tokens per student. Visit Our NEW Arcade Games page to see a selection of the new arcade games.
Batting Cages
Step up to the plate and swing big in our Batting Cages. Our nine batting cages offer a variety of baseballs or softballs pitched at varying rates of speed.
Height requirement: Parents' discretion. Closed-toed shoes required. Helmet and bat provided with photo i.d.
Feeling adventurous? Tackle our 30 foot tall Rock Climbing Wall. With three difficulty levels everyone can enjoy the thrill of the climb!
Minimum 45 lb & Maximum 250 lb weight restrictions.
Kid's Rides
Our Kids' Playland Rides include the Taxi Fuel Station to take the little ones up and down and round and round or they can bounce-bounce-bounce on the Frogger as they reach for the sky and then drop all the way down.
For your safety, rides have height, weight, and size restrictions. Seating safety devices must close as intended by the ride manufacturer. Many children can ride several of our adult rides. We recommend that you have your child's height measured early during your visit. Ride height restrictions are subject to change without notice.


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There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all.
Edward de Bono
As regular readers know, this column is devoted to uncovering innovation in the most unlikely places. Today: the Olympics. One of the pleasures of watching this quadrennial festival is to discover sports that you might not have expected to exist in international competition. In the Olympics—the moral equivalent of war—proud nations do their utmost to demonstrate their prowess in unexpected ways. Here are my favorites from the 2012 Games.
Much more demanding than the 5K or the 10k, the 401K was introduced to test long-term resilience. Contestants are given a notional flow of funds and asked to grow their 401K to provide a manageable retirement income, during a series of randomly generated booms, busts, bankruptcies, downsizings, recessions, financial meltdowns, currency swings and interest rate manipulations. Far more grueling than the marathon, the 401K stretches candidates to the limit. Many don't complete the course. Unexpectedly the gold medalist this year was a contestant from Madagascar who kept a hidden stash of cash under his mattress.
Similar to Angry Birds, Angry Managers is a contest played out on an iPhone app. Contestants are allotted a staple of notional employees and are required to find ingenious ways to aggravate them while they are trying to get their jobs done. Points are awarded for the number of employees aggravated, the degree of aggravation and the arbitrariness of the aggravation. The gold medalist, Boris Vasilyevich from Russia, attributed his success to a long tradition beginning with Ivan the Terrible.
Often confused with the javelin throw, Java is inspired by the path-breaking recruitment practices introduced by Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook. Contestants are required to complete fifteen separate java scripts while downing a shot of vodka after each script. Points are awarded on the basis of the integrity of the Java code and the time taken to complete it. Contestants who throw up during the contest are disqualified. Unsurprisingly, the medalists this year are from three different nationalities, all working in Silicon Valley.
Succumbing to intense lobbying and financial contributions from Wall Street, the International Olympic Committee finally agreed to include an event for financiers who have long felt left out of the quadrennial festivities. The Banking competition provides opportunities for every variety of financial chicanery. Contestants are given a notional allotment of cash and invited to lend, borrow, fiddle the funds, and gamble with other contestants to increase their stake. The winner is determined by a score based on the amount of money made combined with the judges' assessment of the elegance of the chicanery deployed. Points are awarded for going as close to the line of legality as possible. Extra points are given for going over the line without being caught. In this team sport, the gold medal this year was shared equally by Switzerland, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas.
Regrettably, the above events were not included in NBC's 2012 prime time coverage. Please help get them included in 2016!
And read also:
Steve Denning's most recent book is: The Leader's Guide to Radical Management (Jossey-Bass, 2010).
Follow Steve Denning on Twitter @stevedenning


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- Publisher: Ubisoft
- Release Date: Dec 13, 2000
- Critic Score
- Most active
- Publication
- Most clicked
Players who are ready to experience online racing with all the bells and whistles should purchase this title immediately. And if you hope to beat anyone, you'd better do it quickly. There are a lot of fierce competitors ready to chew you up and spit your humiliated carcass out.
90The game is a visual feast. If it controlled a little better this would be a perfect score, but as is, this game is still a hell of a good time.
88Just one big SINNIN' SANDWICH! You bite into that and Satan'll have you hooked faster than Michael Jackson on painkillers.
75While we've never actually driven a pickup or an old-school Cadillac, we would be willing to bet that it would be a lot easier to drive them in real life than it is in Speed Devils Online.
75Playable racer that's lifted above the herd by its online mode. A tad slow when racing on US servers, but the European version will hopefully be a treat.
72Overall, the betting options and character records make this a pretty compelling experience, and SDO is certainly the best online racer available for the Dreamcast at present.
70The online play takes this game over the top, as you no longer just win money from your game console's unlimited bank, but you actually get to grab it from other human racers.
70It's hardly frustration free, but there's enough payoff in Speed Devils Online to make it worth your time.
60This will gain friends more because of it's online compatibility than the quality of the actual game which is a very average and graphically unimpressive racer-by-numbers.
60It offers what other better-looking racers hint at, but have so far failed to deliver on Dreamcast: fast, playable and competitive head-to-head racing against four other players via online connectivity that seldom lags or gets disrupted.
User score distribution:
Positive: 3 out of 3
Mixed: 0 out of 3
Negative: 0 out of 3
AkumaX9It's a great game! They need to make a another one.
Joe420W.10Best game ive ever played.
KyreC.10It's wicked.


text: We offer Poly Bags on a Roll in 44 different sizes. These bags help keep anything you store safe from dirt and dust and moisture. They are clear to be able to view what is stored inside of them. All of our bags are USDA and FDA approved. The feature easy tear-off due to perforation.


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Welcome, guest
August 26, 2008
A reversal in financial stocks and commodities, especially energy, led the median U.S. long/short equity fund to decline 2.29% in July, according to data from Absolute Return. The month's loss puts the index back in the red, at -2.14% for the year so far. Global long/short equity funds were hit even harder, losing 2.98% in July to bring the...
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