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Washi Dress for ME!!!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
washi love, washi love!!! it's taken me forever to finally get the armholes of my washi dress done but i finally did!!! yay! i used a vintage mustard bias trim and love it! it's a fun pop of color just for me on the inside of the dress. i wore my washi out for my hubbies xmas work party this past weekend and before you judge the pics above let me tell you they were taken at midnight after the hubs and i had (some...ahem) drinky drinks. this momma was not feeling any pain and boy was it amazing to be out with the hubs without our children for a night. it was sooooooo nice. we don't get to go out very often (i mean like 1-2 times a year) so it's a big treat for us to go out for an adult evening :)
i loved that i could wear a dress that i made. it was such a thrill! i love this dress....i love it so much i've worn it about 3 other times since saturday...haha. i know the pics above are crappy lighting and the dress is wrinkled but i couldn't resist sharing them. they felt real. they felt like me...being a goof and capturing a moment for me when i was feeling free and content with my body. i love that rae's washi dress makes me feel like that. it hides my flaws and shows off my good assets. i have never felt more comfy in a dress before. it's a fab feeling!
i plan on making the tunic version next and will be trying out rae's version with the elastic on the waistline instead of the shirring. i had a tricky time with the shirring placement for my body. it's the only negative for me with this pattern and that's me being very, very picky. i never seemed to get the right amount for it to hang right over my hips an butt and i made the mistake of sewing the side seams before trying on the back to see if the shirring was good. i had to rip open a section of the sides and try to add lines of shirring and take away some and it was a nightmare. they still aren't perfect but i don't care. i love it anyways.
i'm also leaning towards doing the peter pan collar for my tunic and a few other of rae's tricks like the longer sleeve. i can't wait to get started on it. the nice thing about being done the first washi is that i have already made a muslin and a dress and can just make as many as i want knowing they will fit :) the paunch is hidden and the girls (aka my boobs) are happy in the bodice.
the washi i made was done using the dress pattern and i did the short sleeves and the fully sewn down yoke and hemmed that bad boy short. well short for me. i really wanted to wear this with tights and/or leggings and found the shorter length was way more flattering and slimming on me than the at knee or just above length that i normally wear. it slimmed my legs and made me look taller. so i'm so happy i dared to make a big change like that from what i would normally wear. it suits my wardrobe better now and is way more versatile for me to wear with different shoes and boots with the shorter length. i'm also thankful for all the lovely compliments and helpful suggestions on tight colors to choose from when i posted a sneak peek instagram shot. you ladies are AWESOME! you can read the convo here which has a pic where you can see the length of the dress better. i'm still on the hunt for some colored tights like suggested (mustard or teal) so in the meantime the grey has been a great match for brown shoes and boots.
i made a size xl and did not have to do a full bust adjustment. the xl fit me perfectly. the darts were right where i wanted them and there was no armhole or back neck gaping which is a problem i always have with garments. thank you rae! i love that this dress helped me to get over my fear of sewing a fitted bodice for me. i highly recommend doing a muslin before you make this dress and taking the time to get a great fit. you can find out lots of information about doing a muslin and sizing etc from this great post rae has written and also from the pattern itself.
- anna maria horner's print fine feathered in colorway pomegranate from her new line field study from fabricworm.
- vintage mustard colored pre-made bias tape for armholes.
- washi dress by rae hoekstra (made by rae)
- size made: XL
- full bust adjustment: none
- length: mid thigh
- helpful link: sewing women's clothing post from rae (great for tips on sizing and muslins)
have you made a washi dress yet? what version did you make? have you made a dress for yourself before? what is your fave pattern to use? spill the beans...i'm dying to see your washi's ladies!
17 comments:
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS POST!!! I have had my finger hovering over the "buy this nownownow" button repeatedly - I just love it and you are SO VERY cute in it.ReplyDelete
I love what you had to say about it and I really appreciate that you like it so much and are so positive about it. It's really wonderful.
Good for you my dear - this may just be my january project :).Replies
Aw thanks Christy! You are too sweet!Delete
I totally think you should "buy now, buy now buy now!!" You'll love it and it's quick to make too!
Happy holidays luv!
I am so excited to finally see this in action!!ReplyDelete
You are so cute and adorbs...and I'm thrilled this fits you. Grr about the shirring issues, but yes, so it goes.
Thanks for writing such sweet things about the Washi!! I'm so thrilled you love it.
Look at you and your cute self! You look A-dorable.ReplyDelete
I keep wanting to make a few things for myself but they just keep getting pushed onto the back burner...one day...
You are so stinking cute Shannon! Love your washi, and I love that you took the time to sew something for yourself, and I love that you took pics slightly under the influence. Of yes you did. And I love you for it!!!ReplyDelete
You rock on :)
Awwww....love you guys :) xoxoxoxox you made my day :)ReplyDelete
I bet you are so proud of this. It's lovely! The fabric is lovely too!ReplyDelete
Emma x
Cute!! Looks great! Can't wait to see the next version =)ReplyDelete
It's GORGEOUS!!! Oh my goodness, from the fabric choice to the fit, it's just perfect!ReplyDelete
Beautiful work, as always. I'm dying to make my own Washi, especially in a maxi length, but I'm still searching for the perfect fabric. I love your combination of the shorter dress with tights.ReplyDelete
Super cute! Love the fabric and it's very flattering!ReplyDelete
It's so happy and pretty! I love it!ReplyDelete
You look great! It must feel pretty great to rock something of that magnitude that you made for yourself. And yay for getting out and having fun! I hope you got to be (carefully) ripped out of your Washi. MuahahahaReplyDelete
It's looking like the XL is going to be a pretty perfect fit on me as well, I'm nervous I may get gaping at the back neck, but that's with just the bodice/skirt so we'll see. Wish me luck! ;) I do think I'll have to be careful in it with my posture, poor posture will have me looking preggo for sure. I really really like how the bodice fits though!ReplyDelete
Your Washi looks great on you. I just finished my first one the other day and I *love* it so much. I still have to take some pics though. I totally agree that it hides any parts you might want to hide and highlights others.ReplyDelete
It looks so great!!ReplyDelete
hello, just me catching up on my feeds which i apparently hadn't cleared out for a few weeks. couldn't let this post pass without me telling you how amazing you look in the washi, and i'm glad i'm not the only one that has done slightly buzzed dress modeling in blogland! hehe. hope you're enjoying a nice holiday break!ReplyDelete


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Rampage literally will not step into a gym prior to this fight if its not at 205.
Rampage literally will not step into a gym prior to this fight if its not at 205.
what a terrible promo...wait for the end when they do their stand off and are talking shit - Tito tries to clown Rampage by making him flinch and rampage was in the process of looking down to shake his hand. Tito looks all awkward and just shakes his hand. See Tito, thats what happens when you dont follow your script. You look like a clown in the process.
I feel like I'm watching late 90's era WCW when all the old washed up WWF wrestlers went over there to fight.
There are many paths to freedom, not all are peaceful
God that was hard to watch
Hey I am not going to lie, I got goosebumps when Tito was announced. I thought it was a cool way of doing things but then again I am a long time pro wrestling fan. I wish sometimes the UFC would do stuff like that instead of doing everything over Twitter.
Will I pay for this fight? Nope but I will probably go to Hooters to catch it.
Dude, Im a wrestler. Im the best wrestler in MMA. Wrestling IS, was and always has been the most dominate form of mix martial art on the planet. Thats all there is to it. We all know it, some people want to fight it, some people want doubt it but wresters rule the MMA world. -
Ben Askren
They both looked pretty lean to me for guys who aren't actively training for a fight.
You say shark I say hey man, Jaws was never my scene and I don't like Star Wars
LOL wow I was stunned to see Tito walk out.. But this fight is kind of a joke to me. It will be a good fight and i'd watch it for free but you couldn't pay me enough to buy it if it's PPV, lmao.
Hopefully it's a 5 round fight so we can actually get a clear winner and see them both gas..
Don't get me wrong both guys are still really great fighters but are just to irrelivant now.
Fedor Emelianenko is the Greatest P4P MMA fighter to ever walk the earth, hands down.
Did Tito have some surgery done around his eyes?
He looked very strange last night; almost like Wandy after scar tissue removal.
You say shark I say hey man, Jaws was never my scene and I don't like Star Wars
That explains everything.
I just assumed that plastic surgery was so routine in his household that it wasn't even a big deal.
You say shark I say hey man, Jaws was never my scene and I don't like Star Wars
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subset: commoncrawl


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18K white gold and sea blue chalcedony multi-row bracelet with round cut blue topaz, sapphire, and diamond starburst center detail
Material: 18K white gold, chalcedony, topaz, sapphire, and diamond
Brand: Garrard
Established in 1735, Garrard is the world's oldest jewelry house. Founded by George Wickes, the goldsmith to the Prince of Wales, Garrard received the honor of Crown Jeweler from Queen Victoria herself in 1843. Since then, the company has crafted opulent earrings, engagement rings and bridal jewelry, bracelets, necklaces, and other pieces for generations of British monarchs and dignitaries. Currently under the directorship of award-winning designer Stephen Webster, Garrard offers a full collection of women's jewelry as well as men's cufflinks, silverware, and perfectly cut gemstones that epitomize timelessness and elegance.


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All about the good life.
The Signal Vita Park Women's Snowboard is made for good times all over the mountain. It features traditional camber for powerful turns and big ollies, a soft flex that is a blast to butter and jib inside the park and out; it's durable enough to survive life on the streets, too.
- Traditional camber is poppy and powerful
- Triax glass provides a soft yet controlled flex
- Iso-Sub 4160 topsheet provides a softer torsional flex
- Poplar core is strong and snappy
- Twin shape for easy switch riding
- Sintered base is fast and durable
- Park Profile features a thinner core at the tip and tail for reduced swing weight


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I don't see the significance of the origin of the instruments.
What about Stalin? Even his inner circle was terrified. Well, the brilliance of the Soviet regime was not just that you relied on few people, but that there were lots of replacements. In a tsarist system you have to rely only on aristocrats, but in a Soviet system everyone can be your supporter. This puts your core circle on notice that they are easily replaced. That, of course, made them horribly loyal. The Mob are very good at this.http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/01/quick-study-alastair-smith-political-tyranny
19.01.2013We have finished all vocals and choirs for the new album. This means that we slowly come to an end now. Until the end of the month we have to finalize the sound, the booklet and the two bonus songs. This time we also have an English speaker who contributed with some spoken words for two songs. At the end of this month give the master CD to napalm records and fix the release-date which probably will be in march or April.


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Posts Tagged 'sugar snap peas'
MMMMM Short Ribs & Sugar snap pea salad
I love a great short rib. I love beef ribs period.
I was craving some short ribs and had some company for dinner so it was a great night to make them.
Hovey's Gourmet meats is where I got these beauties that had some terrific marbling and a good amount of beefy goodness.
I generously seasoned them with Traegers Prime Rib Rub and some additional sprigs of rosemary. Onto the grill for 3 hours at 250F.
While the ribs were getting happy I made a side salad. Sugar snap peas shelled, blanched and shocked.
Then I made the dressing. Thinly sliced red onions, segments of orange all marinated in a mixture of Kozliks Amazing Maple mustard, Sunrise Vinegar by Mr. Vinegar, salt, pepper, summer savory, and chives.
Tossed together and rested for a couple of hours in the fridge it was a nice fresh pairing contrasting the decadence of the ribs:
Due to the heat wave we are experiencing we are eating dinner outside much later (thats my excuse and apology for the poor pictures). The ribs after 3 hours at 250F had some great color. I added 2 cups of low sodium vegetable stock to each pan and covered them to let them braise and tenderize for another hour. I removed the pan juices and reduced them by half. I added some port and some grilled mushrooms. Served on the side. They were lovely and delicious.
We paired the meal with a wonderful riesling!


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1 Gentoo
11 = Leicestershire County Council
|Peter Walls and Lucy Malarkey discuss the work Gentoo has done to be named the Employer of the Year in the 2014 Workplace Equality Index.
|Claudia Brind-Woody discusses the work that IBM has done over the past year that's enabled it to be named Global Employer of the Year in the 2014 Workplace Equality Index.
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24 Metropolitan
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40 Royal Bank of Scotland Group
41 = Cheshire Constabulary
|Andy Woodfield, PwC Partner, Head of International Development Consulting talks about the work he's done to be named Senior Champion of the Year 2014
|Andrew Murphy and Tracy Ward from Leicestershire County Council talk about the work the LGBT Workers' Group has done to be named Employee Network Group of the Year
61 = Riverside
*N.B. Those with = signs have joint ranking by score
86 = Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Click here to download the report and full analysis of the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index
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Capel Rugs 0850QS08001100350 Mill Creek Concentric Indoor/Outdoor Area Rug
Product Description
This Capel Rugs concentric indoor/outdoor area rug is offered in black satin. Comes in a 8-ft x 11-ft size.
Mill Creek is part of the Capel Anywhere™ collection of indoor/outdoor braided rugs. Fresh colors in solid or heathered yarns keep pace with today's casual home trends. Rugs are made of 100% polypropylene and won't shrink, are colorfast and resist water, mold and mildew.
- 100% reversible.
- Hose off and hang in sun to dry.
- Made in the USA.
|100% Polypropylene
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Virage Low Lead Compliant WaterSense Double Handle Wall-Mount Bathroom Faucet with Metal Lever Handles
Elegantly twisted forms create a hand crafted work of art for the bath. Spout features water-efficient, hidden laminar flow aerator. WaterSense Certified: 1.5 gpm @ 60psi, 5.7L/min @ 413kPa.
Faucet Features:
- Two handle lavatory faucet for concealed mounting in 3 hole wall applications.
- 8 1/2" solid metal spout.
- Control mechanism shall be of the rotating ceramic cylinder type with 90? (1/4 turn) rotation.
- 8" centers, 4" distance between holes.
- Recommend 1 1/2" hole size.
- Adjustable roughing in dimensions: 2 1/8" to 3 1/4".
- 1/2" I.P.S. inlets.
- Metal grid strainer with overflow included.
- Optional grid strainer without overflow (RP60467), push button pop-up with overflow (RP52487) or push button pop-up without overflow (RP52488).
- Maximum flow rate 1.5 gpm @ 60 PSI.
Faucet Specifications:
- ADA Compliant: Yes
- Low Lead Compliant: Yes
- WaterSense Certified: Yes
- Spout Reach: 8.5"
- Faucet Centers: 8"
- Faucet Holes: 3
- Flow Rate: 1.5
- Flow Rate (GPM): 1.5
- Number Of Handles: 2
- Handle Style: Metal Lever
- Handles Included: Yes
- Drain Assembly Included: Yes
- Escutcheon Included: No
- Mounting Type: Wall Mounted
- Valve Included: Yes
- Valve Type: Ceramic Disc
Brizo Faucet Technologies
- WaterSense: The WaterSense label signifies Brizo's commitment to working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to encourage the efficient use of water and actively protect the future of our nation's water supply. WaterSense labeled faucets use 20% less water and perform as well or better than their less efficient counterparts.
- Water Efficient Product meeting CALGreen standards:
- Kitchen Faucets: Flow Rate of 1.8 gpm or 1.5 gpm versus Industry Standard ASME.A112.18.1/CSA.B125.1 of 2.2 gpm.
- Lavatory Faucets: Flow Rate of 1.5 gpm versus Industry Standard ASME.A112.18.1/CSA.B125.1 of 2.5 gpm.
- Showerheads and Handshowers: Flow Rate of 1.5 or 2.0 gpm versus Industry Standard ASME.A112.18.1/CSA.B125.1 of 2.5 gpm.
- Brilliance Finishes: Brizo Brilliance Finishes are designed to not corrode, tarnish or discolor for a "like-new" look for life. Through a process known as Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) finish molecules are embedded deep in within the surface of the faucet, creating a bond that is virtually indestructible with an incredibly reflective shine.
- CA/VT Compliant: Product that meet California AB 1953 and Vermont S152 requirements.
Additional Brizo Links
Our SKU: Brizo 65830LF
This product is listed under the following manufacturer number(s):
- Brizo 65830LF-PN
Brilliance Polished Nickel
- Brizo 65830LF-BZ
Brushed Bronze
- Brizo 65830LF-BN
Brushed Nickel
- Brizo 65830LF-PC
- Brizo 65830LF-RB
Venetian Bronze
*Denotes a finish or option that has been discontinued
Brizo 65830LF-RB Product Specifications
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|Escutcheon Included
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|Bathroom Sink Faucet
|Flow Rate (GPM)
|Handle Material
|Handle Style
|Handles Included
|Installation Type
|Wall Mounted
|Low Lead Compliant
|Manufacturer Warranty
|5 Year Limited Commercial, Limited Lifetime Residential
|Mounting Type
|Vessel, Wall Mounted
|Number Of Handles
|Pop-Up Included
|Spout Reach
|Spout Type
|Valve Included
|Valve Type
|Ceramic Disc
|Water Efficient
|WaterSense Certified
Installation Resource Center
Whether you are installing the product yourself or hiring a professional, our installation Resource Center has everything you need to get your project done. Visit the Installation Resource Center to get started.


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Banks Cite Superfund Ruling in New Bid to Beat FHFA Claims
Three hold-out banks that have refused to settle with the FHFA—Nomura, HSBC and Goldman Sachs—rehashed old arguments to defeat claims that they misled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about the riskiness of billions of dollars in securities backed by home loans.
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Don't ever be truly alone in the dark with this helpful walkthrough!
Written by
Just Adventure
January 1, 1994
Walkthrough (from INTERPLAY)SOLUTION TO ALONE IN THE DARK 2 [PRESENTATION]December 24th 1924. Hell's Kitchen. California.Night enveloped the sinister manor. A north wind howled and leaden cloudsrolled across the sky, chasing what little light was left. Sallow rays ofsun were swallowed in the choking blackness that embraced this unhappycorner of the world. The yellow taxi with its bright chrome seemed aninsolent intrusion into this universe of gloom. The car came to a haltsome hundred yards from the gates to Hell's Kitchen and, as soon as thelone passenger had gotten out, hastened back towards the safety of thecity. Edward Carnby watched the taxi disappear round a bend. The branchesof some trees flickered briefly in the beams of its headlamps, likedoomed souls jerking in the eternal fires. Carnby walked to the gates,happily unaware that he was embarking on a trip into terror. He did knowthat he was all alone; were hell to break loose inside the house, hewould have to face it without help from outside. That night, in thathouse, hell broke loose. Now, as this troubled century draws to a close,many enigmas posed during the night of December 24th in a bleak manorhouse somewhere in California remain unanswered. INFOGRAMES invites youto listen to some extracts from that spine-chilling adventure, as told byEdward Carnby himself in his memoirs. The memoirs of one man alone in thedark Which chapter of Edward Carnby's memoirs would you like to listento?1) In the Garden of Hell's Kitchen2) The Demon's Abode3) The Forgotten GalleonACT 1: IN THE GARDENS AND UNDER THE GROUND THE ENTRY TO HELL'S KITCHEN ======================================================================(A loud explosion)I entered Hell's Kitchen with quite a bang. My bomb blasted open the gateand blew the guard off his feet. Before he could gather his wits, Isqueezed off a couple of 44 slugs into his no-good carcass and rid theworld of a bad guy. That's when I realized this night was going to bekind of ghoulish: you see, his body sank under the ground all by itself.I picked up his Tommy gun and a flask and wondered what the future heldfor grave-diggers. Well, I was in! Going along the alley, I got as far asa bench when two gangsters, who obviously heard my bomb, arrived to bidme a warm welcome. The formalities did not take too long. We exchangedseason's greetings and a lot of bullets. Then they lay down because theywere feeling dead.THE GARDENWhoever took care of the gardens in that place would have been aninteresting person to meet. I did not get a chance to although I did runinto quite a few people. It seemed as if the Homicidal Maniacs Club hadjust declared open season on Carnby. I remember a whole lot ofpump-action shotguns all eager to empty themselves into my guts! I amafraid I was forced to terminate those folks. I have never feltcomfortable in a garden since that night. I found time to pick up a fewuseful items: some ammunition for my Tommy gun, a rope, a few flasks anda grappling-iron. I also came across a strange enigma: four giant playingcards, each of them an ace! The only thing I could think of was thatdiamonds were One Eyed Jack's emblem. So I crossed my fingers and steppedonto the ace of diamonds. The next thing I knew, I was lying on my backin some kind of an underground tunnel.IN THE GARDEN UNDERGROUND-I forgot all about being winded; after all, I had just discovered asecret underground tunnel! Wasting no time, I walked along the galleryand soon came face to face with a very weird character. Was he trying tokiss me or what? He sure didn't look like he wanted to kill me. In fact,he was following me around like a puppy-dog. Now, I'm a broad-minded guy,and I might have allowed this bozo to hang around except for one thing:he smelled bad. Oh boy, did that guy stink! It was just so nauseating Iwas forced to head-butt the creep into eternity. I sure hope they havedeodorant. I made a quick visit of the tunnel complex, finding only aflask, an illegible fragment of a notebook and a chest with a wood-wormproblem. I thought I could make out something shiny under the chest, so Itried pushing it. There was a scraping sound behind me. My hand flew tomy Tommy gun, but there wasn't anybody to shoot: I had in fact activateda mechanism of some kind. Before my eyes, an altar rose from the floor! Ipushed the chest some more and uncovered a metal jack of diamonds. Thatdidn't seem like a whole lot of use, so I put it down on the altar.Imagine my surprise when a ladder appeared on the wall opposite me! Thatwasn't the only thing that appeared. I also saw a shapelesssemitransparent creature. Not waiting to decide if I was scared, I ranover and started punching it, whatever it was. Well, I guess that was theright thing to d it quickly vanished, leaving me with a rusty piratecutlass. I'd had about all I wanted in those tunnels, so I climbed up themysterious la dder. To be honest, I thought I was going up into the housethrough a secret passage in a chimney. However, I found myself back whenI had found the rope. Well, they do say being a private eye means takingthe tough breaks on the chin, whatever that means. All that greenery wasstarting to get on my nerves, so I made my way towards the statue of OneEyed Jack, whose top I could clearly see.BEFORE ONE EYED JACK'S STATUE -Getting to the statue wasn't all that easy: there was a giant root in myway. I had to use the sword I won underground to hack a way through. Thenext thing I noticed was that the statue was very well guarded. A littleguy was gazing at it as if it was a bagful of hundred dollar bills. Thelittle character was the notorious Shorty Leg, so called because he wasshort and had a wooden leg. I could not remember what else he was famousfor. Then he kindly demonstrated: that wooden leg was pumping a hail of44 caliber slugs at me. Shorty had his technique down to a fine art, andto eliminate him, I had to shoot at the precise moment he raised his leg.Before sinking, like his buddies, beneath the ground, he left a scrap ofjournal that made for fascinating reading. It was in fact the immortalitypact of a certain Music Man, also known as Sean O'Leary. This piece ofpaper could turn out to be a weapon worth all the Tommy guns in theworld! I took a good look at the statue Shorty leg admired so much. Ieven thought how nice it would be to turn into a pigeon for long enoughto express my feelings, but there wasn't much time for dreaming. I turnedto walk away when I remembered a photo a dead hoodlum had left behind. Itshowed One Eyed Jack and some of his henchmen standing in front of thestatue. The sculpture was a good likeness, which didn't say much forJack. There was a detail, however, which caught my attention: thestatue's arm wasn't in the same position as in the photo! I breathedslowly and got to work. I knotted the rope to the grappling-iron. Then Ithrew the grappling-iron over the statue's arm. I got lucky: my firstthrow was good. The arm came down. I heard a click and Open Sesame! Therewas a secret opening under the statue. Silently thanking whoever it wasfor discovering photography, I went down the hole.THE UNDERGROUND BENEATH THE STATUE OF ONE EYED JACK-The ladder that led down below the statue would have scared the pants offa monkey. It looked like a well and felt bottomless. And the deeper Iwent, the worse the smell got. A sickening stench of putrefaction! Theair was thick with it. The ladder was getting greasy and dangerous.Suddenly, a rung broke! I scrabbled for a grip but it was no use. Thebottom came up fast and hard. Luckily, no bones felt broken. Somebody upin the sky must have been on my side that night. But my weapons were lostand there was no going back. I was on a stone platform in the middle of ahuge underground room. All around me there was thin air, so I couldn'tafford to foul up. The only way forward was along a wooden plank whichacted as a bridge to another stone platform just visible in the darkness.It didn't look too promising but there wasn't any choice. Before walkingthe plank, I picked up a crank, a nickel and a paper bag that happened tobe sharing, the platform with me. I made it across to the other platformand almost tripped over something soft. I took a closer look at thislatest obstacle. It was Ted, Ted Striker, my best, maybe my only friend.A lousy place to die, buddy. After a couple of minutes, I was steadyenough to search him. All I found was a torn page from his investigationnotebook. By holding it against the other fragment I'd found, I was ableto read the following message: "Carnby, if you `re reading this, I `mdead. The Sanders girl was kidnapped by One Eyed Jack In spite of whatone paper claimed. The man is a monster, obsessed with gambling anddeath. Hell's Kitchen is a warren of secret passages. I'm sure that forone of them, the answer lies in the cards. Remember all those pokernights we had. Something else: the gang makes hooch in the basement andtransports it by boat at high tide from a cave in the cliff-face. Carnby,you've got to kill that monster and get the girl out of there. It's timefor the pupil to show his teacher how it's done!" Before leaving Ted forthe last time, r took his pipe-cleaner. Maybe his wife would like it as akeepsake. The only way out was an armored door that seemed locked. Itried the handle. It was locked all right! It was a shame to let a doorprevent me from saving the Saunders kid. So I used the old paper underthe door trick. You know the idea: you slide a sheet of paper under thedoor. Then you stick something thin like a pipe-cleaner into thekey-hole. If you're lucky like me, there's a key on the other side; youpush it out with the pipe-cleaner and it falls onto your paper! You pullthe paper back out from under the door, grab the nice key and feel proudof yourself. Well, that's what I did. The door opened with a creak thatreminded me of Derceto.THE BASEMENTThe basement guard and I had something in common: a passion for opera! Iwould have loved to discuss Puccini with him but he looked like he'drather fill me fill of front-row tickets to a Heavenly Choir recital. SoI took out my paper bag, blew into it, making a big balloon which I thenpopped with an ear-splitting bang! The guard naturally raised hispump-action shotgun in my direction. We looked into each other's eyes foran instant. What I saw in his encouraged me to pull down the nearbylever. A keg helped him all the way to the cliff's edge. He sangsomething on his way down but it didn't sound like Puccini. I took hisshotgun, flask and a manuscript he'd been considerate enough to leave forme. After all, we music-lovers have to help each other out. As I took alook around, a clock caught my attention. What was it doing there? On oneside there was a delightful little hole that exactly matched my crank! Ididn't hesitate to join the two in wedlock and they were so grateful.They showed me an attractive secret passage beneath the barrels! I'm notone to look a gift-horse in the mouth, so I went through there like ashot. In front of the service-elevator, I came across a box of cartridgesfor my shotgun. I was just slipping some into my grateful weapon when thedoor of the hoist closed and I heard the motor start up.THE GROUND FLOOR HALLWAYIn the ground-floor hallway, I was greeted by an interesting individual.He held a weapon that was as grotesque as it was deadly: an accordion.Noticing that his left hand had been replaced by a hook, I had a cleareridea of the kind of music he played. For the moment, he was interpretinga very rhythmic piece that also managed to punch six-inch holes in thewall behind me. This just had to be the one and only Sean O'Leary. Howprivileged I was to have him play specially for me! His life story wasremarkable. Dublin-born, this son of Erin was destined for greatness as aharpsichord player. But his hopes of a fine career were dashed when somemembers of an audience suggested he should learn to play with more thanone finger. Naturally, he threw them out of a window. The authoritieswere most unfeeling and young Sean was forced to flee over the water toScotland. where he joined the 3rd Highland Regiment. He lost his musicalhand at Gibraltar and deserted before he lost the other. O'Leary studiedaccordion under the stern gaze of that fine teacher, Sancho Fernandez,the mad weaponsmith! Saying low in the Leeward Islands, the talented Seanwas forced to undertake he most atrocious tasks to earn a meager crust.The poor fellow was almost lynched on the Night of the Red Knives. Hesought refuge with One Eyed Jack and proved himself worthy of hisleader's trust during the massacre at Cao Bang. In spite of he deeprespect his music inspired in my soul, I felt it was time for Sean toretire and was about to blow his head off when an idea came to me:instead of wasting my precious cartridges, I took out the Music Man'sImmortality Pact and tore it in two before his horrified eyes. Good-byeSean and thanks again! I inherited his hook. Well, maybe I'd need curvedtoothpick someday. All of a sudden, there was gunfire! Strange as it mayseem, no one was firing at me! I carefully opened the door, to find outwho was doing the shooting.THE LAUNDRY ROOMA wide staircase led from the laundry room up to the first story, but Idecided the basement was the place for me. The gunshots were gettinglouder; they seemed to be coming from the next room. Before opening thedoor, I grabbed a battledore (that's a clothes beater, in case you didn'tknow).THE SHOOTING GALLERYI had no trouble walking into the Firing Range unnoticed. The two firerswere making enough noise to drown out a charging herd of drunk mammoths.These two geeks had a view of the world that began and ended on thefiring range wall. Wondering if they could possibly be robots, I lookedfor a switch but they didn't have one. So it looked like I was going tohave to turn them off some other way. Now, these lads were armed to theteeth and covered in very impressive muscles. That called for a sneakyapproach to the problem. I seized my chance when one of them stopped toreload his weapon. I took out the other gangster with my only bullet andused the first guy's frozen surprise to empty all my cartridges into hisunattractive face. Can you believe, he didn't want to go down! I had tobeat him to pulp with my trusty battledore. Never take a clothes beaterfor granted, my friend! I picked up the package of cartridges for theshotgun, and found myself taking potshots at the targets on the wall.Well, you aren't going to believe this, but the cards repositionedthemselves to form an ace of diamonds! Not only that, but a secretpassage opened up before me! And there was a guard pointing his gun at meand pulling the trigger. Repeatedly! I treated him to a little battledoretherapy. Poor guy never stood a chance. The way ahead was clear.THE CLANDESTINE DISTILLERYMy target practice had just led me into a distillery! There was enoughillegal whisky there to last your lifetime and mine. I was thirsty butthis was no time for fun, so I grabbed a bottle and told myself I'd drinkit later on in honor of Ted. However, I did drink the contents of a flaskI found on the shelves, and felt a whole lot better. I also discovered abook, which told me a lot about the activities of one of the residents, acharming son of a gun called Tom Flaherty, better known as T-Bone. Havingset fire to the tavern of one Donovan, Tom sailed the China seas. At YenT'ai, he teamed up with a pair of sushi specialists with a lust for gold,and called them his Cookies. This jolly group was held responsible forthe raid on Madam Jojo's gaming house. Well, the three buckaroos brokeout of Macao jail and ended up signing on for One Eyed Jack. Being a wilybird, T-Bone managed to liquidate the head cook and take his place. OldTom was a dab hand with blowpipe and used it to slaugh ter the crew'sdinner. His two helpers did the rest. Was I going to meet these lunatics?I found one more thing in there: a book by a senator called Grandt, allabout how to play pool. It didn't teach me a whole lot, but since itmentioned a "one-armed bandit", I was tempted to spend my nickel. And Iwon the jackpot! Well actually, I won two tokens. The alcohol fumes werestarting to get to me, so I decided to return to the Shooting Gallery.There was a surprise waiting for me: something fat and wearingundershorts tottering in front of the gallery door and drinking somethingthat looked lethal. His eyes had given up trying to work as a team, butone of them looked like it saw me. That heaving sack of drunken stuporcouldn't attack me, even with my help. And I wasn't about to shoot him:what if he exploded in my face! Offering him my bottle of whisky seemedas sure a method as any. I don't know what those boys put in their hooch,but that guy went out like a light! I had a look in his bag. There was aSanta-Claus outfit in there! Were kids going to sit on that beast's knee?How could Santy have fallen so low? Shaking my head more in sorrow thanin disgust, I put on the costume. My next objective was to get to theground floor.THE GROUND FLOOR HALLWAYClearly. the gangsters were used to having Santa Claus in the building,as the cookie I met outside the kitchen didn't appear the least surprisedto see me. Something about the way he walked puzzled me for a fewmoments. Then I figured it out: the cookie was being very careful to walkonly on the white floor-tiles. I did the same thing. Just as I was aboutto enter the kitchen, my foot was clumsy enough to step on a black tile.I knew I was in trouble when a loud click sounded in the corner of theroom; the statue of Neptune fired his trident at me! I jumped back, andlet the cookie take over my target duties. He was perfect: the tridenttook him right in the belly; a painful end, but richly deserved, in theopinion of many edible animals. Before going into the kitchen, I went upto the statue of Neptune and usurped his crown.THE KITCHEN-Hardly had I set foot in the kitchen, when the head cook, none other thanT-Bone, waved at me to sit down and eat the fried eggs that were on thetable. This warmed me to the fellow, but the eggs weren't cooked. How cananyone not fry eggs right? Still, not wishing to be an ungrateful SantaClaus, I swallowed them. Maybe it was the way I didn't sway drunkenly.Maybe it was my pump-action shotgun. Whatever the reason, T-Bone soonfigured out that I wasn't the Santa Claus he knew and loved. He grabbedhis blowpipe and was soon spraying me with poisoned darts. I fended themoff with a handy fry-pan, and soon he was out of ammo. Now it was anstraight-forward classic duel: fry-pan against fry-pan. I'll admit thatmy fencing skills were of limited value. I had played a little tennisthough, and soon managed to smash convincingly. At least T-Bone thoughtso. Having cooked his goose, I turned to face the inevitable assault ofsavage hordes attracted by the clang of cooking utensils. But no one hadcome. As a matter of fact, somebody somewhere was laughing heartily,oblivious to the havoc being wrought in the kitchen. I inspected theplace and found a vial of poison, which I promptly poured into a halfbottle of wine. Before leaving the kitchen, I noticed a dumbwaiter, anelevator for food trays. It was activated by a little bell.Unfortunately, I was too big to get in it. I left the kitchen and came toa double door that I reckoned should open onto the guard-room.THE GUARD ROOMThe double door near the kitchen had a serving hatch which I was able tolook through. In the room beyond, two guards were twiddling their thumbsin boredom. Those boys were more than happy to play along. I placed thebottle of poisoned wine in the serving hatch The hatch opened and thebottle vanished. After a short while, the hatch opened again. Those guysmust have eaten something real bad, because they collapsed in a veryunhealthy way. I was just about to go in, when an old friend dropped by;my boozing buddy from the Shooting Gallery was back in business. I wasafraid he was going to invite me for a drink, but I needn't have worried.He had other things on his mind. From his undershorts, he pulled out hisrevolver and started waving it at me I couldn't afford the scandal, so Ibopped him into never-never land with my y-pan. Furniture-wise, the GuardRoom was a fine example of the almost-nothing style, except for a barrelorgan and a foldaway bed. The door at the other end of the room waslocked. Being a music lover, I was curious enough to push tone of thetokens I'd found into the organ's coin-slot. The token, which was yellow,triggered some loud music and a brief noise off to my left. I looked overand saw a gold doubloon spinning on the floor. I picked it up, glad to bemaking some money at last. I felt I should try my second token, a brownone. No gold doubloon this time. But the Dormitory door opened, which wasa welcome surprise.THE DORMITORY-Not being sick in that dormitory was about as easy as keeping your cigardry in the shower. The place was musty, dusty and damp. with paperhanging off the walls. What kind of creepy nut would want to sleep thereMy visit wasn't wasted. though I can tell you! I found a bullet-proofvest on the first bed. On the floor, I picked up a Tommy gun and an ammoclip. Feeling ready for battle, I made for the second-story hallway.SECOND STORY HALLWAYI was received on the second story by a nut who was going to be tough tocrack: a deadly sharpshooter by the name of Alister Fein, alias BlackHat. This charm-school graduate began his life of crime at age eight!Little Alister missed his daddy, so he placed a teddy-bear stuffed withgelignite at the gate of Killarney jail! He and I had similar methods.Nine bodies were carried out from the smoking rubble. All that remainedof captain Dickson was a fine black hat. Alister kept it as a souvenirand decorated it with very sharp blades. His exploits made an outlaw ofhim and he was soon in Trinidad, where he studied hard and became anacknowledged expert in firearms and manhunting. One Eyed Jack couldhardly pass over this kind of talent, now could he? Black Hat and Ididn't get much of a chance to chew the fat, I'm sorry to say. My Tommygun just wouldn't shut up, and then it jammed. But not before giving poorold Alister his very last belly-ache! Having no one else to pass the timeof day with, I sauntered over to the pool room.THE POOL ROOM-In the pool room, there was a pool table all right, but no balls. Thistall character was looking at me, his right arm stretched out in mydirection. An ally at last? Somehow, I didn't think so; I mean, bestbuddies don't normally point derringers at each other. Then he threw itdown on the pool table. The man was challenging me to a duel! I didn'tfeel too happy about that, believe me. I'm a good shot with any weapon,even dueling pistols, but give me machine guns and dynamite any day. Now,according to dueling code, I was supposed to fire the first shot. Hedidn't hold with old-fashioned notions like dueling codes and emptied hisgun at me. So, when he stopped to reload, I played the same trick on him.I lied about being a good shot: I aimed for his heart but could onlymanage to drill him between the eyes. Oh well. He left me his swordstick. A gentleman to the end. I had a look around and found only half ofa parchment, which meant I couldn't read it. I kept it anyway. There wasalso a book there, all about the criminal adventures of some of One EyedJack's gang. De Witt was heavily featured; he was the party I had justexterminated. It also talked about Black Hat, and two others I hadn't yethad the pleasure of meeting. I closed the book and headed for thebedroom.THE SECOND STORY BEDROOMAn oppressive atmosphere hung in the air of the witch's bedroom. My skincrawled. It even tried to get the heck out of there, but the rest of mewas braver and so my skin stayed, under protest. Sticking out of the wallwere two arms, and they were waving a sword. Well, I had my swordstick,so we were soon locked in mortal combat. Guess who won. And I won a newhalf-parchment. Illegible, of course. I was nearly going to say somethingshocking like Dag blast it!" when a bright idea pushed a button somewhereinside my slow-moving brain. Feverishly, I superposed the parchment onthe one I found in the pool room. Hey presto! The message read: "If thewhite queen seeks the throne, the king must empower her. May the amuletlaid in the center of the sign open the doorway to space. That is the keyto the royal gambit." At first, that meant about as much to me as the OldTestament in medieval Mongolian. But as I gazed about the room, my eyewas attracted to an ivory bust facing me. The young woman's milky eyesseemed to wink at me. was she the one I was supposed to "empower"? How doyou give power to a queen? I didn't know too much about royalty, but howabout if you crown her? I tried it. with the crown I took from theNeptune guarding the kitchen door. Immediately, I heard a tinkling soundfrom the next room. I went in there. That chamber of sorcery was evenscarier than the bedroom. It was narrow and dark. On the floor, in themiddle of a big flat stone, lay a beautiful amulet, shimmering with athousand lights. I couldn't help myself: I snatched it up and was struckby what felt like a lightning bolt. I wasn't able to move a muscle! To myhorror. my feet rose from the floor, and I began to float up towards theceiling. My chest was being crushed by some invisible force. I couldn'tbreathe! So this was the end of the road for E. Carnby! I hadn't donemuch better than Ted, after all. What really made me mad was failing theSaunders girl death stole over me like a black shroud. Then, all of asudden, the pressure lessened. 1 could breathe again, even flex mymuscles. I was suspended horizontally in mid-air two yards above thefloor. Then I was released. "Ouch" is a nice way of putting it.THE LOFT TELEPORT ROOMThe room I was "transported to after I took the amulet had no furniture.The only things I found were a flask and a message addressed to One EyedJack from Christmas Acme Limited. They were sorry they couldn't deliver ared pool ball, but hoped he would accept a case of champagne as a mark oftheir esteem. How did those guys stay in business? The door wasn'tlocked, so there was nothing stopping me from looking for more trouble.THE ATTIC HALLWAY-The hallway in the attic was empty of people. An old wooden pirate'schest caught my eye. What I found inside it was better than any treasure:a cute little Tommy gun and a clip of ammo. I hardly had time to strokeit lovingly before a crazed acrobat jumped in from someplace and startedtwirling all around me. This weirdo would have been great in a circus,but I wasn't in the mood and he was making me dizzy, so I weighted himdown with some lead. Meanwhile a huge blob of a guy had waded into theact. Now, this clown was in no shape to try acrobatics, so he just fireda lot of bullets at me. I got into the spirit of the thing, and firedback. For a while there, we were really communicating. Then he got cutoff, leaving only a key for me to remember him by. The twirling dancerwas the next to pass away, and he left a grenade behind. That wasconsiderate, because I love explosions. My next move was to inspect thejunk closet the blob person had come from.THE ATTIC JUNK ROOM-The attic junk room contained quite a lot of piled up junk. Onebrightly-colored object stood out: a jack-in-the-box. There was nothingunusual about it, and yet I couldn't help feeling it was watching me!Don't ask me why, but I had a sudden urge to insert the gold doubloon Ifound near the dormitory into the jack-in-the-box. Naturally, its headsprang out on a spring. Something struck my face! I searched for myaggressor, but it was only a little pompom from the clown's hat. I put itin my pocket and went over to the only closed door in the attic.THE ATTIC BEDROOM-The room I entered contained nothing but a child's bed. Slouched againsta wall lay a puppet. It was the only note of joy in this depressingplace. I turned to leave the room when a noise caused me to look back.The puppet was standing up, observing me! There was something speciallychilling about that puppet. It didn't attack me, it just danced around,doing a disjointed jig. I have a relational problem with that particularkind of puppet, so I felt it would be better for both of us to separatewhile we were still good friends. Next door was a charming littleinterior garden, sadly neglected. The resident snakes made it clear theydidn't appreciate being disturbed. So I went to the door very gently,followed by my puppet pal. I threw the pompom in among the snakes, and asI had hoped, the puppet ran in to fetch it. What a dope he was! With thesnakes being so busy, I turned my attention to an idea I'd been playingwith for some time. My sense of direction told me the garden was abovethe ground-floor dining room. The two rooms shared the same chimney! Witha jolly "Ho ho", Santa Claus dropped his grenade down that chimney. Ithink the boys below got quite a kick out of it! Having announced myarrival, it only remained for me to go down the chimney myself.THE GROUND FLOOR DINING ROOMThe grenade I had sent down from the attic had thinned the enemy's ranks.Only three gangsters were left to enjoy the Christmas present Santy hadbrought them. When the smoke finally cleared, I was tickled to see thosehardened killers had actually decorated a Christmas tree! Underneath itall, they were just lovable rascals. A shiny ball on the tree attractedmy attention: it seemed to weigh down the branch more than it should. Itturned out to be a pool ball. Weird. I thought of the message fromChristmas Acme Limited informing One Eyed Jack they couldn't deliver ared pool ball. But there was another connection that my brain refused tomake. I went through all the objects I had collected. The included quitea lot of written documents: books. parchments journals; but nothing Icould use now. Then I read this message: "The ball of fire opens the gateto Hell". That was it! The ball of fire had to be the red pool ball, andthe gate to Hell was surely a secret door of some kind. I ran out ofthere and up to the pool room like a bat out of Hell's Kitchen! I triedout my theory on the pool table. Nothing! I did every damn thing withthat ball, but no secret door opened. Well one more good idea that turnedout bad. Then I noticed the Chinese billiards table. Two seconds later, Idropped the ball inside. Bingo! The bookcase creaked open. My secret doorbeckoned. It was locked but I had a key, the one I took from the bad guyin the attic.ONE EYED JACK'S SECRET ROOM-As soon as l set foot in One Eyed Jack's secret room, I sensed thedanger. That place was a dark as the inside of a shark's belly. My nosehit something hard. Then a ghastly laugh froze my blood. Then a blindinglight blinded me. After a few seconds, I was able to squint: no doubtabout the man with the gun. This was One Eyed Jack himself! I would havejumped on him, only I was stuck in some kind of bird cage. Jack wassmiling down at a little girl. That's right, there was Grace Saunders,happily playing next to one of the great psycho-killers of history. OneEyed Jack wasn't in any hurry to put me out of my misery. That suited me.He sensed the solemnity of the occasion and decided to tell me the movingstory of his dastardly deeds. When that was over, he raised his revolver,no doubt feeling it was time for me to meet my maker. I glanced one lasttime at the poor little infant I had been unable to save from theclutches of this heartless evildoer. As you can imagine, it all happenedvery fast. As Jack lovingly squeezed the trigger of his gun, Grace ranstraight out of the room! jack hesitated between finishing me off andrunning after the girl, and decided to finish me off. Only kidding!Actually, he sprinted after the little girl. I thanked the powers that befor my reprieve, unlocked the door of my prison with the hook I won fromthe accordion player, and ran after One Eyed Jack and the Saunders child.I bounded down the stairs and heard the front door open. If the gangstersintended leaping into a car, then it was all over. But that's not whathappened. The front door was shut. I rushed into the guard room, whereI'd noticed some windows. The howling wind at my back made me turn round.Elisabeth Jarret was a very decorative dame. But what a lousy sense ofhospitality! She came at me, and she meant business. Being a gentleman, Istepped back a pace or two and would have kept on going if the wallhadn't stopped me. Well. I tried one of my relaxed grins. She grinnedright back. The next thing I knew. I was floating up in the air. My headfelt like it was inside a bell, doing the ringing. I lost consciousness.ACT 2: THE GALLEON ==================IN IRONSWhen I came around, I was in irons deep in the hold of a ship. Beside mewas the poor little Saunders girl, exhausted, no doubt in deep shock fromthe horrors she had witnessed. Then I saw Elisabeth Jarret. Her cold eyesbore into mine, and I felt she was rummaging through my soul. In herhands, she held a doll, and it looked like someone I knew very well. Me.My first thought was "voodoo". She then told me her life story. `Morethan two centuries ago, Elisabeth Jarret arrived in Haiti. I was aninnocent little girl then. But my new tutor, Henry Cotton, taught me fearand contempt. But in hiding, a slave from the plantation taught me toride the shadows. Soon the pupil grew stronger than the master... AndCotten felt the weight of my revenge... and became my creature. Soldierscaptured us, but did they recognize Cotten? The Flying Dutchman was myprison. I was thrown into the hold with my creature... I could "see" thecaptain kept the spare key to my irons. My spirit wandered... One-EyedJack "heard" my call and knew what reward awaited him. My soul guidedhim... Death is my ally. One-Eyed Jack signed the pact and he and hiscrew became immortal. Every hundred years, we had but to sacrifice aninnocent girl: she would grow old instead of us... At long last, I feltthe breath of freedom.' Her story was over. As she flew off, the witchcontemptuously twisted the doll she held. Pain seared through my body. Mymuscles felt like they were tearing apart. After an eternity she relaxedher grip. Every ounce of energy had been wrung from me. As I slipped intooblivion, I saw Grace pushing a plank.THE GUARD ROOMGrace tiptoed into the Guard Room. She was welcomed by a parrot withthings to say. A little birdseed was enough to get him singing. Gracelistened with great care to this little rhyme: If it is the staff you'relooking for, It has been hidden, what a bore, In the cabin of theone-eyed man. That's where you should seek it, if you can. If you please,Do not sneeze. Grace managed to find a sandwich to eat, and a pepperpot.On the wall, she saw a useful plan of the ship, which indicated, amongother things the position of the captain's cabin on the first level. Shealso noticed that in the ship's galley, a small service elevator forfood, called a dumbwaiter, communicated with the kitchen up in the house.THE SECOND LEVEL CORRIDOR-Grace now had to get to One Eyed Jack's cabin, by way of he north ladderto the first level. She had just left the Guard Room when the sound offootsteps came from her right Grace instinctively ran of to the left. Itwas a dead-end! Both doors were locked. The footsteps were gettingcloser. Grace hid under the steps and held her breath. Just in time, Theguard turned into the corridor and stopped. He seemed to hesitate.Turning his back to her, the guard gave Grace a chance to escape: she randown the corridor and scrambled up the ladder to safety. From the firstlevel, Grace was able to climb another ladder to the deck.THE SHIP'S DECK-The deck of the Flying Dutchman was littered with reminders of a bygoneera: coils of rope, cannons and kegs, not to mention quite a few drunkenseadogs singing shanties no fragile young ears ought to hear. Veryslowly, Grace slipped from hiding-place to hiding-place, making her wayto the captain's cabin. A thunder of applause made her look at thepirates. They were cheering the acrobatic feats of the amazing Mr. Eye.In the excitement of the moment, no one noticed him drop his tinderboxlighter. No one except Grace, that is. It lay beside a hiding-place, soshe was able to get it without any of the pirates seeing her. The littlegirl finally made it to the hatchway that looked down onto the captain'scabin. They say that fortune favors the brave. Well, Grace had been braveall right, and now she got a lucky break: a rope was hanging inside.Grace disappeared through the hatchway and slid down the rope.ONE EYED JACK'S CABIN-Once inside the captain's cabin, Grace noticed his staff lying on thebed. She took it and went to leave. The rope to the hatchway had becomeunhooked. The only way out was the cabin door. Judging from the coarselaughter nearby, the trip wasn't going to be easy. Grace stayed very calmand worked out a devilish scheme. She opened a chest that lay on thefloor and found a miniature cannon. She positioned it carefully in frontof the door to the corridor. Then she shook her pepperpot inside thebarrel of the cannon. Finally, threw a crystal vase from the bookshelvesonto the floor. The nearby laughter stopped. The door was thrown open andlight flooded in. A threatening figure stood in the doorway. Grace litthe fuse with her tinderbox lighter. The figure kept coming, until atlast the cannon fired a cloud of pepper in his face. He sneezed so hard,he banged his head on the door-frame and went down for the count! Gracesearched him quickly and discovered a little bell, which she kept. Shesilently went along the corridor. When she got to the galley, she heardfootsteps, and they were coming her way. Praying nobody would see her,Grace slipped into the galley.THE SHIP'S GALLEY-The galley, for that's what a ship's kitchen is called, was a smallishroom. Grace peeked through the door and saw two men climbing the southladder. Oh no! They were cooks, obviously heading straight for thekitchen to prepare Christmas dinner. There was no time to lose. Thelittle girl looked for the dumbwaiter. There it was! She went up to itand rang her little bell. The result was almost immediate: thedumbwaiter's little door opened. Grace had just enough time to grab achicken foot and a key from the table, before she squeezed into thedumbwaiter.THE HOUSE KITCHEN-After a rather scary ride up in the dumbwaiter, Grace Saunders arrived inthe kitchen of the house. Luckily, she was alone. Outside, a man stoodguard. How was she going to get past him! Grace examined the kitchen.There were lots of sharp and pointy things, but Grace didn't like theidea of blood, so she looked for something else. Opening a closet, shesaw the solution to her problem: a pot of molasses and an ice-bucketfilled with ice cubes. She carefully covered the floor with the icecubes, then went over to the door. Sticking her tongue out at thestartled guard, Grace backed into the kitchen. The guard sauntered afterher, fairly confident of his ability to defeat her in single combat. hethen stepped on an ice-cube and gained a whole new perspective on thesituation. His very ugly head smacked sickeningly on the floor. Graceheaded for the first story.THE SECOND STORY HALLWAYQuiet as a mouse, Grace crept up the stairs to the second story. Theguard who was pacing up and down didn't look very friendly, and when hesaw the girl, he rushed forward to get his hands on her. Meanwhile, shefancied a little molasses, but OOPS, spilled it on the floor! That sillyold guard just kept right on coming. When he decided to avoid the stickystuff, he was already in it. While he learned how a fly feels when he'sstuck on fly-paper, Grace went into the billiards room.THE BILLIARDS ROOMInside the billiards room. found a token in one of the pockets of thebilliards table. Then she skipped along to One Eyed Jack's desk, whereshe found out there were lots of drawers she couldn't open. It waschild's play to insert the captain's staff into the matching hole in thedesk. There was a pleasant little click and the top drawer slid open. Itcontained a key to nice Mr. Carnby's shackles which Grace naturally took.Next stop: the witch's bedroom.THE WITCH'S ROOMAs soon as Grace entered the witch's room, she felt very nervous. Allthat spooky stuff, the skulls and weird masks. It was too much like thescary stories the bigger kids sometimes told her. This time, though itwas more than just a story and all of a sudden she felt very much alone.But she also knew that her immediate enemy was fear, so she fought itdown and walked into the chamber of sorcery. There, she placed thecaptain's staff on the flat stone in the center of the room. The staffimmediately began to dance and twirl, becoming the staff of Loas, apowerful Voodoo object. Grace, keeping her imagination in check, took thestaff once more, not knowing what it was.THE GUARD ROOMGrace had one objective. To get to Carnby and free him. She figured allshe had to do was go back the way she came, by going to the kitchen andtaking the dumbwaiter down to the ship's galley. The trouble was thearmed guard near the kitchen door. Grace had a bright idea. As silentlyas she could, she made her way into the Guard Room, where she hadpreviously noticed a foldaway bed. She placed her teddy-bear exactlyunderneath, then went to the barrel organ. She hid between the machineand the wall, then inserted her token. When the music started, the guardrushed in, saw the teddybear and went to pick it up. When he leaned over,the bed fell on him with a resounding thud! The way was clear. Grace raninto the kitchen, rang her little bell in front of the dumbwaiter andwaited. A few instants later, the little door opened and she climbed in.When she got to the ship's galley, she was met by a small welcomingcommittee. It seemed the two cookies didn't like little girls taking freerides in their dumbwaiter. They seized grace and made the mistake oftaking her down to the lockup where Carnby was chained in irons.THE LOCK-UP-I had trouble believing it. The Saunders kid had actually brought me thekey to my chains! For the moment, she was being roughed up by a bad guy,who was kind enough to turn his back on me. I used the key Grace threwover to get free. My Houdini act was kind of noisy and the pirate whirledround with a dangerous glitter in his eye, and a shiny cutlass all readyto strike! Well, I had been boiling with rage and frustration for sometime, and beating the brains out of this bozo was the perfect way toexpress those emotions. I rushed headlong at him and attacked like atornado. The scurvy dog came to a painful end. I was roused now, and thisship was about to get cleaned out! I picked up the cutlass and went tothe next room, where a noisy parrot covered the oaths of my second victimin as many minutes. Going through the hall, I took the left-handcorridor. Somebody tried to stop me. I don't even remember what the swinelooked like. But he did leave me a short fuse and an old-fashioned pistol.THE SHIP'S LIQUOR STORE-The next door I opened was to a room filled with kegs and bottles. Theseguys drank to much, even for thirsty cutthroats! Naturally, the place wasguarded. Why, it was none other than Shorty Leg, my old friend from thestatue of One Eyed Jack. "History keeps repeating itself", as the sayinggoes. Not wanting to contradict the wisdom of that fine proverb, I killedShorty Leg again although this time, I cut him to bits with swordplay.Before making his exit, old Shorty managed to drop a pistol, some leadbullets and a coat of chainmail. I pushed one of the barrels, to find asecond coat of chainmail and a bottle containing an extract from the bookof marvels. I didn't want to spend too long in that room, so afterputting on the chainmail, I left, heading for the first door on my right.It wasn't locked, so I gave it a gentle shove. It opened onto whatappeared to e the ship's holdTHE SHIP'S HOLD-Things went pretty quickly in the ship's hold. I didn't see Black Hat atfirst, so he had all the time in the world to aim his pair of pistols atme. The bullet that should have killed me just bounced off the chainmail.It was his turn to taste cold steel. I stabbed and hacked `til he wasforced to fall down dead. In his will, he left me some bullets for mycharming old pistol. My work in the hold was done. Next stop, theblacksmith's.THE FOUNDRY-Inside the foundry, the heat was intense. The two blacksmiths, on theother hand, eyed me rather coldly. Their fine blades would have turned meinto bite-size chunks, if my footwork hadn't been as good as it was.Flashing my well-known daredevil grin, I wielded my own sword, impressingthose hamfisted lugs with the elegance of my deadly technique. They diedat the hands of a master! I calmly inspected their workplace. Thewood-burning furnace was blazing away merrily. Taking great care, Ilifted the white-hot poker that stood before the furnace door. A nobleinstrument and a kind weapon, since it wounded and cauterized its victimwith the same stab. I must admit, however, that I felt more adventurousfighting with a cutlass. I decided to take along the excellent pair ofpincers that lay on the workbench behind the furnace. They looked likethey needed a change of pace. On the floor, I came across a key. Thewords "powder magazine were scratched into it. My heart sang with joy;gunpowder has always been one of my great loves. The key fit the end doorperfectly.THE POWDER MAGAZINE-Like a lot of the rooms I'd visited in Hell's Kitchen. the powdermagazine was guarded. The fellow who now faced me was no stranger: I hadalready killed him. De Witt. you'll recall was a keen duelist, and setabout me with a flashing bade and some very classy moves. Unfortunatelyfor him, he never lived long enough to put my lessons to good use. He hadno use for his bag of sand. his little barrel of gunpowder and his book,so I inherited them. Having done about as much damage as I could down inhe hold of the ship, I decided to climb the metal ladder up to the firstlevel. The first door I looked through opened onto a room containing aship's cannon. The foundry on the level below connected with this roomvia a large opening in the floor. I was intrigued and went in.THE CANNON ROOM-Inside the armourer's, the guy who was supposed to be guarding the cannonwas in fact catching up with his beauty sleep. He had a lot of catchingup to do. He wasn't the only one snoring around there. More sleeperscould be heard in the room opposite. I pushed open the door. As Ithought, this was the dormitory. Three pirates, lying in bunk-beds, wereprobably dreaming about smoke and plunder on the high seas. They lookedso happy, I hadn't the heart to wake them up. In fact, I felt it onlyright to give those boys all the sleep they needed. I put the little kegof powder down facing the big cannon over in the armourer's. Then I wentinto the armourer's and, taking out my pincers, set about cutting throughthe chains that held the cannon in place. Everything was going fine, theonly sound was my pincers cutting through tough steel. And the guard hadstopped that horrible snoring. I silently thanked him, then felt thehairs on the back of my neck running for cover. I span round just in timeto see the guard prepare to impale me. I hate being impaled; its notdignified. So I had no choice but to kill the guy. Once the chains werecut through, I turned the cannon round to point directly at the littlepowder keg. Pushing that cast-iron monster wasn't easy but the next bitmade it all worthwhile. I put my short fuse onto the firing nozzle.Everything was ready. I silently wished the sleepers happy landings, andlit the fuse with my poker. That little barrel of gunpowder lived up toexpectations. The only things I found in the smoking wreckage of thedormitory were a flask and a small bag of gold coins. That last item gaveme an idea, so I headed for the galley to try it out.THE SHIP'S GALLEY-As I neared the galley, I heard high-pitched laughter. The door waslocked, but that was no big problem. I just shook my bag of gold coinsand waited. What pirate of the name can resist the sound of pieces ofeight? Sure enough, the galley door flew open and out waddled two tinycharacters wielding hatchets. I chuckled at them but they didn't see whatwas funny. As a matter of fact, they put up quite a fight and I almostfelt sorry when my sword finally ended their very short existence. I wentthrough to the pantry where I ran into an old sparring partner. T-Bonewasn't looking too healthy, even if his blowpipe still sprayed poisoneddarts. But in close-quarter fighting, blowpipes start to look kind ofsilly. As he died, he left behind a strange item: a metal jack ofdiamonds. I decided it probably functioned as a key. Opposite thekitchen, I had noticed a door and so I went back and tried the metal cardin the door's unusual lock. It worked! I entered the room beyond.THE CAPTAINS ROOM-Even as I stepped into the captain's room, something didn't feel right.My fears proved to be justified when, a couple of seconds later, my feetfloated off the floor. A sense of duty made me test my muscles: they wereall out to lunch. The really scary thing was that I could still see andhear. And I saw a very welcome sight: Grace Saunders grinning from ear toear. She tiptoed over to the captain's statue and placed the staff ofLoas in its outstretched hand. It wasn't much of a surprise to see apassage open, leading into Elisabeth Jarret's room. Miss Jarret was sobusy deciding what nasty thing she wanted to do with the doll she held,she never noticed Grace. The little girl had read in a book she'ddiscovered that a simple chicken leg was all it took to defeat voodoomagic. Moving towards the witch, Grace held up the drumstick, looking asthough she actually believed everything she read. I'll never sneer at achicken again. It was as if all the witch's occult powers had turnedagainst her. Jarret rose in the air and melted before our astonishedgaze! Jarret's death abruptly ended the spell that held me up in the air.Luckily my nose was there to cushion the fall. I picked myself up and wasabout to do the same to Grace and bring her back to her mommy and daddy,when a bad thing happened. From the floor in front of me emerged acreature that was hideous. Worse, it was big, with muscles that rippledlike the surface of a swimming pool just after many elephants dived in atthe same time. I fixed the beast with a masterful stare that workssurprisingly well on smaller dogs. Then I fled up the ladder to theship's deck.THE SHIP'S DECK-After the unspeakable monster in the captain's cabin it was quite arelief to face the host of bloodthirsty pirates I ran into on the deck.My fear now turned to irriation, and Music Man was the first to bepunished. He had made little progress in his music, I was sorry to see.This time, I had no pact of immortality to tear up, so I just shot him inthe head. His buddies soon joined him in death. I had become a proficientswordsman and these adversaries were no more than musing playthings. As Isent them on their way into eternity, I watched Bubble-Blade scramble upthe mizzenmast and Mister Eye climbing up to his lookout post in thecrow's nest. When I had finished on deck. I followed Mister Eye. Theother mast had no ladder and if I did descend from apes they can't havebeen the tree-dwelling type.THE LOOKOUT POSTThe lookout post was perfect for anyone looking for the best way to breakyour neck. This tiny little platform sixty feet above the deck was hometo Mister Eye. Let me fill you in a his background. He was born atNouamghar, and ended up being deported to Haiti. A meaningless existence,until he made Miss Jarret's acquaintance. She initiated him into voodooas her servant. After the attack on December 25th, he was made lookoutbecause of his exceptional view. He also handled the harpoon withremarkable dexterity. I managed to best him, though, forcing him on thedefensive with thrust and parry, until finally he just stepped back intothin air! Bubble-Blade was still alive, which was a situation I intendedto correct. I was up the mainmast, and he was over on the mizzenmast. Hewas in no hurry to come to me, so I had to take the initiative. And therewasn't much time to lose: One Eyed Jack was down on deck, getting Graceready for sacrifice. Inwardly swearing at fate for landing me in thismess, I used my hook to grab a dangling rope, closed my eyes and leaped.THE FOREYARDThere we were, Bubble-Blade and I, standing on a horizontal pole highabove the deck and about to fight a duel. My adversary tried to bolstermy confidence by performing cute acrobatic tricks that should have beenimpossible. He was also an expert with a sword. Thinking that I might aswell get it over with I attacked first. Bubble-Blade was surprised bythis; he clearly expected me to be paralyzed with fear by this time.Anyhow, he hesitated for a second, just to show me how disgusted he was.I didn't want him to change his opinion of me, so I attacked again, withall the violence I had in me. He wasn't used to getting killed that way,and he took it real badly. Well, the time had come at last for myshowdown with the evil boss of all that murderous riffraff, the infamousOne Eyed Jack himself Leaping to the deck, I went to where captainNichols' sword stuck up from the deck. I had read that this weapon alonecould put an end to Jack's evil career.THE FINAL COMBATWith captain Nichols' sword in hand, I walked with a firm step to whereOne Eyed Jack waited. He did not attempt to stop me from cutting throughGrace's chains with my pincers. She scampered to temporary safety, asJack and I squared off to decide her fate. He slashed at me. I dodged theblow with a split second to spare. My enemy's one good eye stared at mestonily. His two swords twirled in the air like dancers. I parried asbest I could. The fight went on, deadly and bitter and hard. I wasgrowing tired. Soon, I was bound to make a mistake and then Jack wouldstrike like lightning. I had to gamble on a sudden attack; it worked!Jack stared at me in disbelief, then crumpled to the deck. I closed myeyes and laughed with relief. Another laugh, bloodcurling, the cackle ofthe tomb, echoed round that cavern. One Eyed Jack was back on his feet.He lashed out at me with the power of demons. Where I found the speed andstrength to parry that attack I will never know. Maybe I had come too farand seen too much to let that scumbag beat me. Maybe it was the thoughtof getting Grace back to her home for Christmas. Or maybe it was becauseTed Striker was one of the few friends I ever had. Maybe it was all ofthose. One Eyed Jack couldn't be allowe d to continue his reign ofterror. I found the energy I needed, and destroyed him. There was no timeto lose. I grabbed Grace and jumped into the lifeboat. We werepractically out of the cavern when an explosion reverberated through theair. The ghostly figure of One Eyed Jack was firing the ship's cannons.Huge lumps of rock fell from the cavern walls and smashed into the shipbelow. Giant waves dashed against each other. Our rowboat was tossed outonto the ocean. Outside, the sea was calm. We were safe at last. The sun
was peeping over the horizon. It was going to be a beautiful day.
32,000 hit points:Wait until you are in the house. Go to the kitchen. Take the frying pan. Take the poison that is next to the dumb waiter, and the other poison on the counter. Create poisoned wine. Drink the wine. Hold the [Enter] until the "Inventory And Actions" list appears again. Your hit points should be lower than -1000. Repeat this process until your hit points are out of the negative range. You should have approximately 32,000 hit points. Use the frying pan to keep sober.


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Bill Daley defends brother's record on schools after Emanuel jab
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter firstname.lastname@example.com September 5, 2012 7:00PM
President Barack Obama announces that Bill Daley (right), his White House chief of staff, is leaving his post in January 2012. | Susan Walsh~AP
- Sweet Blog: Rahm quits campaign role to raise Obama SuperPac funds
- Election news: Conventions, local races, more
- The Sun-Times Politics blog
Article Extras
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Updated: October 7, 2012 8:08AM
CHARLOTTE , N.C. — Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley on Wednesday defended Mayor Rahm Emanuel's handling of negotiations with Chicago teachers poised to strike, but disagreed that students "got the shaft" under Daley's brother.
"The mayor has to lead. He's been out there leading. He puts things on the table. He challenges people. That's what leaders do. If you're gonna drive a bus from the back of the bus, it isn't gonna go very straight or very fast," Bill Daley said.
"There's always rhetoric around a strike or potential strike and negotiations that get heated. But, the mayor's comments have been very measured — unlike some others."
Barring an 11th-hour agreement, Chicago teachers are scheduled to walk off the job on Monday for the first time since 1987.
They authorized a strike by a 90 percent vote, fueled by their anger against a mayor who canceled a previously negotiated, 4 percent pay raise and tried to rush implementation of his signature plan for a longer school day and school year without consulting teachers about how that extra time in the classroom should be used.
Bill Daley recalled that his brother, former Mayor Richard M. Daley, was similarly "criticized and beat up" after the Illinois General Assembly gave the mayor control over Chicago Public Schools in 1995.
Bill Daley and Rahm Emanuel are longtime friends and political allies.
Bill Daley succeeded Emanuel as White House chief of staff. Emanuel followed Daley's brother as mayor after a campaign the Daley brothers pretended to stay out of, even though it was an open secret they were four-square behind Emanuel.
But, since Emanuel took office, the shadow dance with Richard M. Daley has been a constant sub-plot.
Emanuel has criticized or "turned the page" from many of the things his predecessor did.
On the day that Emanuel publicly defended his decision to cancel the 4 percent raises, he said teachers got the gold mine and students got "the shaft" with not a minute longer in the classroom.
The mayor's "got the shaft" remark infuriated teachers. Bill Daley didn't agree with that assessment of his brother's tenure, either.
"I don't think he gave away too much [to teachers]. He gave the opportunity for kids in Chicago to have a better education. That's what he fought for. They had more investment by the taxpayers in the schools of Chicago," Bill Daley said.
The former mayor's brother said Emanuel "has to lead a city with shrinking revenues and growing demands. That's a tough thing to do. Rich did that for 23 years and did it, in most voters' minds, pretty well. He's proud of his record, and we're proud of him."
Earlier this week, thousands of teachers marched around City Hall calling Emanuel a "liar" and a "bully."
During a whirlwind, 36-hour trip to the Democratic National Convention shortened by the impending strike, Emanuel refused to take the bait.
"I've been in politics long enough. They can say what they want about me. It's not about me. It's not about anybody else. And it's not a personality fight. It's about our children," he said.
The mayor was asked whether he can relate to the anxiety of parents whose kids attend Chicago Public Schools when his own children attend the private and pricey University of Chicago Lab School.
"Yes. Because I also have children," he said. "People didn't make a decision to vote for me or not vote for me based on my own children, but based on what I can do for their children."
The mayor said there's still plenty of time to avert a strike and he "didn't miss a beat" by making the quickie-trip to Charlotte.
"If everybody stays at the table and works through the issues as we have through the weekend making good and steady progress, our kids should stay in the classroom," he said. "Every day they're not there is a day that's been taken away from them. And it's not necessary."
Pressed on whether he is willing to take a strike if that's what it takes to achieve his ultimate education goals, the mayor said he doesn't believe in "negotiating in public" or "setting expectations."
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, a former Chicago Schools CEO, was equally hopeful.
"They're still talking. They've got some time. ... I'm very hopeful folks will work this out and do the right thing for kids and for the city. I've got a lot of confidence in adults that they'll figure things out," he said.


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The Atlanta Fire of 1917
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|Copy prints | StillImage
|The Atlanta Fire of 1917
|View of an unidentified area of Atlanta, Georgia during a fire.
The Great Atlanta Fire of 1917 began downtown in a warehouse on Decatur Street. In less than ten hours it destroyed over 2,000 homes, businesses, and churches. Much of the damage occurred in a neighborhood known as the Fourth Ward. Only one fatality was reported but nearly 10,000 people were displaced. Losses totaled $5.5 million
|Fires--Georgia--Atlanta | Dwellings--Georgia--Atlanta | Disasters--Georgia--Atlanta | Smoke--Georgia--Atlanta | Churches--Georgia--Atlanta | Atlanta (Ga.)--Buildings, structures, etc. | Atlanta (Ga.) | Fulton County (Ga.)
|Atlanta History Center
|Online Publisher:
|Atlanta, Ga. : Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center, 2006
|Original Material:
|1 photograph : b&w ; 5 x 7 in. | Steve B. Campbell Atlanta Fire Department Photographs
|Rights and Usage:
|Cite as: MSS 587, Steve B. Campbell Papers, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center
This material is protected by copyright law. (Title 17, U. S. Code) Permission for use must be cleared through The Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center. Licensing agreement may be required.
|Persistent Link to Item:
|Related Institutions:
|Atlanta History Center
|Collection Information:
|Steve B. Campbell Atlanta Fire Department Photographs, 1882-1972


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ALBANY, N.Y. -- We're learning more about what firefighters believe was the primary cause of Friday's massive fire on Dove Street.
They cannot officially confirm yet, but firefighters tell us they believe a kerosene heater was left unattended near some frozen pipes. That may have sparked the fire that ripped through three homes, creating a cloud of smoke over Albany. They say someone living in the home was trying to thaw out the frozen pipes when the fire began.
Demolition began Saturday on three homes all deemed a total loss. The fire displaced nearly two dozen people. The Red Cross is currently providing food and shelter for 22 people, including eight children.
As one official tells us, recovering after a fire is a long process.
"Unfortunately, the people affected by this fire, their lives are going to be disrupted for a long time now and it's gonna take everything they can do. They'll have help from their friends and family and the Red Cross will be there to help them with resources to rebuild their lives, but it's very serious, it's very unfortunate," said Caroline Boardman, Red Cross Director of Communications.
Boardman says she expects more people to reach out for help as the days go on. She says they'll be able to help more when social services re-opens on Monday.
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I'm looking to add a compass or compass/thermometer to my EDC on my keychain. All the ones I see on amazon are quite bulbous and look like they have too much bulk for the function. Can anyone recommend a flat, thin (say 1/4" to 1/8" thick) fob to add to my keychain?
asked Oct 02 '11 at 12:27
I believe you're looking for something like this? http://www.leevalley.com/US/home/PrintPage.aspx?p=45180&ap=1
Not thin, but I still use my father's 40-year-old one.
You may prefer: http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?c=&cat=1,42363,42356,55733&p=55733link
answered Oct 10 '11 at 19:15
Courtney Ostaff
The Suunto Comet seems to be pretty darn small, but I don't see thickness in any product descriptions. It looks like they're no longer making this unit. If you like, get one quickly.link
answered Oct 14 '11 at 21:35
I own this one and it's pretty small and thin (and cheap):
answered Oct 17 '11 at 03:46
maybe the Brunton 9041 Glow Mate Compass less than $10 on Amazon with reasonably good reviews.link
answered Oct 16 '11 at 17:22
bruntonoutdoor.com says that the 9041 is a 0.5 inches thick. The 11HNL is 0.4. I believe that's the thinnest one they make.
It seems difficult to make a functional compass that is as thin as @kodemage would like.
3 years, 2 months ago floatingbones


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NFPA 58: Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code and Handbook Set, 2014 Edition
|Item # 58SET14
Don't do jobs halfway. Team up for compliance with the 2014 NFPA 58 Set and get the latest LP-Gas rules PLUS expert application advice!Only one team fully prepares you to meet today's LP-Gas challenges and guard against failures, leaks, tampering, fires, and explosions -- the exclusive 2014 NFPA 58: Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code and Handbook Set. At 15% savings over what it costs to purchase them separately, it's your best value on invaluable knowledge that covers all the LP-Gas safety bases so you can do jobs right and pass inspections the first time, avoid costly job delays, and maximize protection against deadly hazards.
Put the combined power of these essential industry resources to work for you to save time, money, and lives!
- The 2014 NFPA 58 provides today's criteria for all aspects of the safe design, construction, installation and operation of the full range of LP-Gas piping, equipment, and venting, along with highway transportation of LP-Gas. Added protections in this edition include new and revised rules involving container appurtenance requirements, vehicular barrier protection, qualification of personnel, tank heaters and vaporizers, and corrosion protection for underground piping systems. (Softbound, 133 pp., 2014)
- The official 2014 LP-Gas Code Handbook is your all-in-one source for answers on how to apply new rules correctly. Everything you need to comply right is here! The complete text of the 2014 NFPA 58 is enhanced by authoritative commentary that discusses the intent behind provisions plus provides practical insights and application advice. There are also hundreds of full-color graphics -- not in the Code -- that clarify concepts, FAQs, and more. In addition, valuable supplements add to your knowledge about important topics, including preparing propane companies for natural disasters, cathodic protection for underground tanks, home fires involving grills. And to help you see what's new at a glance, vertical rules identify changes, just like in the Code. (Hardbound, 624 pp., 2014)
When it comes to making sure propane installations are safe and up-to-code, two resources are better than one! Order the 2014 NFPA 58 and Handbook Set today and get total knowledge for total compliance.


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I've seen similar styled pop-ups before and thought a heart would work really well.
The card is also really minimal (which I love) and take about 20 minutes to make (that includes the card, insert and envelope).
Step 1: Print and cut insert template
Step 2: Cut and score your card
You can score the card with your craft knife (just don't press too hard). Alternately you can use a compass point or even a pin!
Step 3: Start folding
Step 4: Slowly fold card in half
Step 6: Make outer card
I left mine blank (I really dig the minimal look) however if you want to decorate the outside then you can!
Step 7: Make envelope
i love the idea but i am kinda confuse in what to do tho
Sweet :)
Great idea and nice instructable. I was inspired to make some for my daughter's preschool class, but making 20 in one evening was a bit overambitious! I stayed up nearly all night, but had fun. Some of the kids were appreciative, too.
This card is so cool! I love it! Thank you!!!
These are untested, for use with Silhouette devices. They are untested because of a conflict I am having with Instructables, and because I do not care for the closed system Silhouette forces upon their customers. But for anyone willing to give them a try, be my guest.
I made it and it was a success!!! the only thong is I did put some backing but it was slightly larger thatn the card proper so it will not go into the envelope (doesn´t really matter because it so pretty on its own! (I justo closed it with a kiss (sticker)
very fun project, wife should love it when she finds it in morning!
Awesome and surprisingly simple. The envelope was a nice addition. Thank you for posting!!!!
Very cute! Thanks :-) I'm halfway through making 17 of these for my son to take to school on Valentine's day. I even found some cute pixelated heart tape!
Awesome! What a cool card! I'll have to try this one next year with my kids!
So cool. I just made a card for my wife. Thanks. :-)
And I performed all cutting and folding using my Swiss Army Knife, which my wife sees as a toy, not real tool. ;-)
I used scissors and small blade for cutting, and large blade for lifting the heart up.
TIP: For easy folding, just scratch lines that not should be cut, with tip of a blade or with a needle.
this is legit, and has given me so many ideas for other applications.
dude 2 year back but still fresh
Thank you for sharing the world's most awesome card! <3
Thank you so much, i made it for my girl friend. She goes UK for studying, i stucked in how to make her feel happy. today, i see your instructable..... it s an awful gift. I greatly appreciate your sharing.
sweet! another gift for my lil valentine :3
thanks for sharing and it really is great :D
super cute!!
I can print other PDFs from here, but Adobe Reader crashes when I attempt to print. Can you post a version which does not use the fancy fonts, so I can see if that is the cauuse?
I uploaded one without fonts to my site. Link as follows:
If you have further problems then let me know what version of adobe reader you are using.
I found out it wasn't fonts, but my new HP printer, which has their "web tools" feature, to direct print any image (think snag-it)
It couldn't handle the idea of using Adobe to print PDFs - go figure.
I uninstalled all Adobe products, rebooted, reinstalled Reader, still failed.
Uninstalled the HP tool, and your original worked!
Sorry to put you through the rework for nothing....
Glad you sorted it.
No worries...it only took a few minutes...
Since we've been together for 31 years, that's saying something special!
Hope you had an ace valentines day. My hubby likes his card too so that's cool!
The mrs loved it soooo much! :)
oh, and i also combined the idea with the "Woven together Valentine" ible...


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I'm writing a technical book, and I want to split my book up into about 3 to 6 very broad sections, each of which would have several chapters in it. Is there a standard name for these broad pieces that are bigger than a chapter? Unit? Part? Section?
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Usually it's called a part. A section is typically a cohesive chunk within a chapter. Nobody would know what "unit" means.
But grab a handful of big-ish technical books to see what they call the chunks.
Generally for books, part works, but for a technical book, if each bit can be treated as a single lesson in the topic, then Unit works well.
If they are merely different parts of a whole, and are different sizes, I would stick to part.
I don't see a big difference between "part" and "section". However, I would suggest something more descriptive than "Part One" or "Section 1". What do the chapters have in common? Why are the grouped together? It helps the reader if you could call them something like "Part One: Networking".


text:
Monday, December 29, 2014
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In the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut school shootings, our children's safety in schools is at the forefront of many people's minds. A meeting was held Thursday in Orange County, where local leaders and school officials discussed just that. Elaina Athans has more.
ORANGE COUNTY, N.Y. -- "It's not really doable on a regional basis because it represents millions of dollars that simply don't exist," said Orange County Undersheriff Ken Jones.
No funding and a need to enhance school security after the Newtown, Connecticut shooting. More than 15 districts and scores of Orange County officials met to find ways to keep kids safe in classrooms without spending a lot of money. Ideas tossed out that some districts and departments could be implementing. One to bring in trained, retired police officers and hire them as school resources officers. Another, make security upgrades to schools exteriors.
"Hardening facilities so that it's more difficult to gain access. That's a one shot cost," said Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips.
The Department of Mental Health also looking to develop a mental health first aid course.
"So that our school personnel, our gate keepers, those who spend time with our children and youth can recognized when someone is symptomatic," said Orange County Department of Mental Health Commissioner Darcie Miller.
Just last week, before this countywide discussion, Orange-Ulster BOCES reinstated two police officers to patrol the campus. The school is paying for the entire cost of the armed uniform presence. Salaries and benefits could cost up to $100,000 for each officer.
"They do provide services that are not available through any other means," said Orange Ulster BOCES Chief Operating Officer Terrence Olivo.
But what BOCES did, not many other districts can do. And there are concerns security mandates from the state are coming down the line.
"We are already losing our shirts. We're cutting staff. We're cutting programs for kids," said Middletown City School District Superintendent Ken Eastwood.
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