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Do you know how long the current global downturn will last? "We are convinced that we can overcome this crisis in a period of 18 months," said President Bush and the other leaders attending the APEC summit in a joint declaration this weekend. "We have already taken urgent and extraordinary steps to stabilize our financial sectors and strengthen economic growth."
That's good to know. But does a year and a half seem too long to you? "Certainly, some in the region may think that recovery may take 18 months," said Dan Price, one of Dubya's aides, as he and his boss winged their way back to Washington. "President Bush believes that the actions we are taking now will begin to produce results in the much nearer term."
Thank you, Mr. Price, but, frankly, no one pays much attention to what the American president says these days about the economy. And I'm not just referring to the Bush-bashing community. People intuitively know that politicians and economists are clueless when it comes to the greatest downturn they have ever witnessed. For example, this morning Bill Kristol noted that Senator Chuck Schumer does not have a "well-grounded view" or even a "well-informed clue" about how much stimulus is needed, a subject on which the New York senator pontificated in front of ABC's cameras yesterday.
Forget Schumer. I know how much stimulus is needed. The amount is not "between five and seven hundred billion dollars"–his answer. The answer is none at all. Stimulus, in a situation like we are now facing, just postpones necessary change and makes the eventual reckoning even more painful. This economy needs to deleverage, eliminate failing participants, and wring out imbalances. And until it does all these things–which will take far longer than 18 months–it will continue to falter. Japan tried to stimulate its way out of its massive problems last decade only to prolong agony. China is now going the stimulus route, and it will suffer an even worse fate.
We do not need optimistic words–of the type President Bush reflexively makes–or serious-sounding pronouncements-which Senator Schumer is so good at delivering. We need Trumanesque plain-speaking. There's no point in talking to us like we're children, especially because most of us sense the worst is yet to come and that the period of adjustment will take years. Because our elected leaders won't tell us the truth, we have to speak honest words to one another. Pass the message along.


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Rituals and Attachment
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My name is Anna Kudak, and I am a faculty member in the Communication Department at the University of St. Thomas. I am conducting a research project focusing on the effect of rituals on marriage. Results of this study will help me learn more about marital relationship ritual patterns. Anyone over the age of 18 who is currently married is eligible to participate in this study.
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Social Networking Is Going Mobile
Like peanut butter and chocolate, if ever there were two trends that were meant for each other, Social Networking and the Mobile Internet are them.
Cell phones and smart devices are inherently social devices to begin with, and unlike home and office locked PCs, they can blend virtual and physical social networking in all environments.
While I've written previously that cell phone usability and their current data plans have held back full development of the Mobile Internet, the iPhone and the Blackberry (and all its clones) are beginning to turn the tide.
From a recent study, eMarketer is predicting that that mobile social networks will rise from 82 million users in 2007 to 800 million worldwide by 2012.
Much of this growth will come from existing social networks shifting their coverage to the mobile space.
According to Brandon Lucas at MySpace, who is their senior director of mobile business development, MySpace recorded over 7 million unique visitors to MySpace Mobile in the US in the six months since launch. "It wasn't until we rolled out m.myspace.com that we got a sense of how powerful demand was for MySpace on cell phones".
There are also dedicated mobile social networks that are growing as well. For a complete list of 38 different mobile social networks, check out this post by Social Media Trader.
With the ability of mobile devices to operate in many different social spaces, both virtual and real world, the expectation that mobile will be the future of social networking is not as far fetched as it seemed only one year ago.
2 comments
- 1 Patrick Lord - MobiLuck { 05.09.08 at 3:17 am }
Another key point is that mobile phones bring location and proximity detection into the mix, allowing people to bring together online and real-world interaction through social networks. This enables your online social networks to be automatically updated with information from your real-world movements and social interactions, or for real-world encounters to be precipitated by the detection of one of your Facebook friends nearby…
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MINNEAPOLIS - Xcel Energy crews are concentrating on restoring power to the final Minnesota customers still without electricity after last weekend's storms.
Xcel said Tuesday afternoon that crews have finished work in St. Cloud and the eastern Twin Cities. Crews are now focusing on getting power back on for 7,000 customers mainly in Minneapolis and its suburbs.
The Minneapolis-based utility says 610,000 customers were without service at the peak of the outages.
Xcel Energy says it expects to restore power to the vast majority of its customers who are still out by late Wednesday night.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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American Legion makes bingo, line dancing fun
Some of the most beautiful spots in Waxhaw were open to the public on the Waxhaw Woman's Club Holiday Home Tour this past weekend. Each home was just so interesting, including the history of them, the lovely decor highlighting the era in which they were constructed. And, of course, the metal sculpture, as well as all other art featured, whether it be interior, or on the grounds of these homes, was just fascinating. The Tour Committee did a fine job in making their selection. Also good to see were the local restaurants filled to capacity with the ladies from the tour.
This past Friday was the 71st anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I always say that day not only kicked off a horrendous war, but it commenced the colossal changes in the world. Probably due to the fact that we were just getting a "grip" following the Great Depression, everything changed drastically. Most of us didn't have much, materially, anyway, but everyone seemed so happy. Then our boys began to ship overseas, into a war that was unbelievable, which expanded, by the United States going to fight in Europe. Things still come back in my mind, like seeing the GI's in the Bataan Death March, only in the movie theaters, as there was no television. At a young age, I thought perhaps it would never end, maybe we'd always live with car headlights painted black on the top half, our special window curtains to block the light from possible enemy aircraft, the air raid warden checking to see everyone was following the rules, etc. What a strange four and a half years! Finally, it ended, and people were dancing in the streets But the fatalities, the wounded. I will always remember in 2007, traveling to Normandy, seeing the cemetery there, on the North Sea. The thousands of graves. A hope of mine is to never again experience wars such as those we have in the last 71 years. Remember our vets!
Enjoy food and drink while you shop at Stewart's Village Gallery each weekend prior to Christmas. If you have not visited Stewart's, you do not know what you are missing.
Have you played Bingo at the American Legion on Tuesday evenings beginning at 7 p.m.? Well, Bill and I have, and Bill won! It was so much fun, we keep meaning to get there again, but we're both usually busy on Tuesdays. Also, Line Dancing is quite popular on Friday evenings at the Legion, also beginning at 7 p.m. Not only fun, but you get some exercise too.
I hope you are reading this article early in the day, as the Waxhaw Christmas Parade begins at 3 p.m., right down on Main Street, Waxhaw. It is always good, as everything else in Waxhaw. Hurry down, before your space at the curb is taken. It is always a good time.
Vivian Riegelman recently returned from a trip to Austin, Texas, visiting her son and daughter-in-law for Thanksgiving. Can you imagine she drove by herself all the way there? Vivian had a wonderful time. You go, girl.
Happy to say that Phyllis Rosen is coming along quite well recuperating from her surgery. Both Phyllis and Larry went up to Long Island to celebrate Phyllis's 70th birthday. I wish you at least 30 more, Phyllis.
The Waxhaw Business Association Christmas Breakfast meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 19th at the American Legion, 8 a.m. Sounds like a great meeting.
The Waxhaw Woman's Club Christmas Dinner is scheduled for Tuesday, December 18th. Your reservation should be in, very shortly, so be sure to send your check on time!
St. Gabriel Church Women's Club has scheduled its Christmas luncheon for tomorrow, at 11 a.m. The Catholic High School Choir will perform.
Sure hope you will do your shopping locally. It helps our shopkeepers pay the rent. My husband reminded me that I can purchase gift certificates at the barber and his favorite restaurants. Practical gifts, but better than something you can't use.
Have a good week, remember to smell the roses, schedule your mammo, but most important, keep in mind how much "fina" it is to wake up in Carolina.


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No headline - in_the_garden
Naples Botanical Garden, 4820 Bayshore Drive, Naples, offers events for a variety of interests. The Garden is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays.
Regular admission prices: $12.95 adults, $7.95 ages 4-14; free for members and ages younger than 4.
For more information, call 239-643-7275 or visit naplesgarden.org.
Here's what's happening this week:
Special Garden Events
Night Lights in the Garden: 6 to 8 p.m. through Dec. 23 and Dec. 26-30, the Garden comes to life, aglow with magical lighting vignettes to celebrate the holidays. Live musical performances and festive sweets and treats. Admission: $7 members/$3 member child; $15 nonmembers/$5 nonmember child.
Naples Orchid Society's Plant Doctor: 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday — Bring in your plant or reliable photo for diagnosis and learn tips to encourage your orchid to grow healthier and bloom more beautifully. Free to the public.
Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday
Dogs in the Garden Walk: The family and the family dog can visit the Garden and enjoy the canine-friendly atmosphere (except the Children's Garden) during designated dog walk hours.
Cost is $7.95 for nonmember dogs
Sunday: 9 to 11 a.m.
Tuesday: 8 to 11 a.m.
Thursday: 3 to 5 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday
W.O.N.D.E.R. in the Garden: 10:30 a.m. — This month's theme is "Animal Tracks." Animal Tracks tells you more about an animal than just the number of toes it has. Discover what can be learned from an animal track and learn how to identify the tracks of some common Florida animals. Smith Children's Garden; no registration necessary.
Yoga in the Garden: 10 a.m. — The Garden hosts a weekly outdoor yoga class, led by a Bala Vinyasa Yoga instructor, on the Kapnick Caribbean Garden lawn. Admission is $10 for Garden members; $15 for nonmembers (includes admission to the Garden).
Early Bird Hours, 8 a.m. — Every Tuesday, we open our gates at 8 a.m. for the "early birds." Whether you choose to paint, take photographs, use the miles of walking trails or just come out to bird watch, we invite you to join us during these special morning hours. Artist guidelines: All easels and tripods must be kept off pathways and out of the butterfly house; artists/photographers are responsible for supplies/set-up/break-down; eco-friendly paints only and tarp/canvas required to be laid down for artists work areas. Regular Garden Admission; free to members.
Walking Group, 9 a.m. — Show up at the Garden for a special get-moving program to help guide you in the right direction with health and fitness instruction and activities.
Master Gardener's Plant Clinic: 9 a.m. to noon, 1 to 5 p.m. — Visitor's Center. Master Gardeners answer your questions about plant health, landscaping and more. Free to the public.
Tai-Chi in the Garden: 10 a.m. — Instructor Karen Atkin hosts this energy-flow exercise on the Water Garden stage each Thursday. Admission is $10 for Garden members; $15 for nonmembers (includes admission to the Garden).
Subscribe to the Naples Daily News
Need Help? Call us at 1-888-878-6842.
Monday-Friday: 6am-6pm / Saturday: 7am-3pm / Sunday: 7am-2pm


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Working with Interpreters
This information is part of an online guide, Resources for Mainstream Programs
Many deaf and hard of hearing students may receive some form of interpreting support at school. Reviewing the use of interpreting support and knowing ways of working with interpreters are crucial to monitoring and supporting the progress of students who use interpreting support for all or part of the school day.
Information about Working with Interpreters


text:
A plugin for the Lightbox clone - Colorbox. Automatically creates image rel tags and gallery groups based on post ID.
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If the midterm elections do indeed produce gridlock for the next two years, the task of jolting the economy back to life will largely fall on the Federal Reserve, which isn't hamstrung by politics. (See Ezra Klein's analysis on this in his Washington Post "Wonkbook" column online.)
That may or may not be a good thing for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. If the central bank's policies at stoking economic growth work, he'll deserve much of the credit. (More on that in a bit.) If they don't, and inflation ensues, politicians of every stripe will place the blame on him.
Wednesday afternoon, we'll find out the Fed's course of action when its Federal Open Market Committee releases its latest statement. Since December 2008, the central bank has kept its short-term interest rate target at 0.00%-0.25%. But since that target can't go any lower, Fed watchers are expecting the FOMC to announce a new round of "quantitative easing"–buying long-term Treasury securities to keep their interest rates down and spur lending. It's a highly controversial practice–the result could be inflation–but it also seemed to help revive the economy in early 2009.
Most economists, as well as Bernanke, are expecting the economy to be in better shape by 2012, although growth is likely to be moderate. GDP growth has been in positive territory since the third quarter of 2009 and the unemployment rate hasn't gone higher than 10.1%, a level it reached in October of last year.
But if the economy does pick up by the time the next election rolls around, don't be surprised if both President Obama and Republicans in Congress fight to take credit for it–leaving Bernanke out of the spotlight.


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Study: Shutdown hit national park hard
The impact of the partial federal government shutdown has hit a national park with tourism from western North Carolina particularly hard.
The repercussions from the closing of national parks could, however, have a positive effect on state parks, such as Chimney Rock State Park.
Steve Morse, director of Western Carolina University's Hospitality and Tourism program said the closure of the park costs nearly $1 million per day in money not being spent by tourists in North Carolina to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
In a recent study, Morse projected nearly $33 million in lost visitor dollars in both Tennessee and North Carolina over the first 10 days of the shutdown. That figure climbs closer to $40 million as the shutdown concluded its second week Monday.
That impact does have correlation to counties that don't border the park, including Rutherford County.
"There is going to be people going through Rutherford and Buncombe counties on their way to the park," Morse said. "There is going to be an impact on spending on those counties as well."
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the country, drawing nearly 9.6 million visitors each year. That doubles the average number of visitors to the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
Morse said Great Smoky Mountain National Park has lost close to 400,000 visitors since the shutdown began.
One potential benefit to the closure of the national park is the spill-over that could have on visitors looking to go to places like Chimney Rock State Park.
State parks are not directly impacted by the current shutdown.
"It could have a positive impact on places like Chimney Rock and other state parks," Morse said. "In Tennessee, I have heard that the state parks have seen an increase in attendance."
James Ledgerwood, superintendent of Chimney Rock State Park, said the park has received an increasing amount of calls regarding camping at Chimney Rock; however, the park does not offer camping sites.
"Our attendance, as far as I know, hasn't increased," Ledgerwood said.
While Ledgerwood said attendance due to the shutdown of Great Smoky Mountains hasn't impacted Chimney Rock State Park, one thing this week certainly will.
On Monday, the elevator leading to 315-foot monolith was reopened. Ledgerwood said it will close again on Wednesday for service work but it will reopen for the weekend.
"With that back open, it is definitely easier to get up to the rock," Ledgerwood said. "With the fall colors being present, I would imagine we will see a good crowd this weekend."
In addition to tourism dollars being lost is worker's wages. Morse calculated the closure of Great Smoky Mountain National Park costs over $1 million per day in lost wages to workers in and around the park.
"Those waiters and waitresses won't get back-pay once this is resolved," Morse said. "This is hitting local tourism very hard."
If the shutdown continues, Morse said it won't be just the Great Smoky Mountains National Park affected. The fall foliage viewing season is also nearing its peak in October.
Regions around Rutherford County experience a 3-3.5 percent increase in hotel occupancy during the month of October. Morse attributes that increase to visitors looking at the fall foliage turnover.
"We just completed a study on the fall foliage season in North Carolina and we found October is the No. 1 occupancy rate month for hotels in western North Carolina," Morse said. "It's amazing what the fall foliage season means to tourism and especially small businesses."


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updated: 8/24/2005 11:44:23 AM
Fort Wayne-based Mullinix Packages, Inc. says it will invest $18 million to expand its operations and will add 60 jobs over the next 18 months.
The manufacturer of plastic packaging for the food industry says the expansion will include a building addition, equipment and computer hardware.
Source: Inside INdiana Business
Press Release
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (August 24, 2005)— Governor Mitch Daniels announced today that Mullinix Packages, Inc., a Fort Wayne-based manufacturer of thermoformed plastic packaging for the food industry, will invest $17.95 million in expanding its manufacturing facility at 3511 Engle Road in Fort Wayne. The expansion will include a building addition, as well as the purchase of machinery, equipment, and computer hardware. Approximately 60 new jobs will be added to the current workforce of 300 full-time employees.
"Strengthening Indiana's manufacturing base is essential to our economic recovery," said Governor Daniels. "The talented workforce we have in Allen County and in counties throughout the state is essential to our efforts to help companies like Mullinix decide to expand operations in Indiana."
The Mullinix Packages facility in southwest Fort Wayne currently includes 180,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space and a recently opened 200,000 sq. ft. warehouse and distribution center. The expansion will add 10,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space to the existing building and also include manufacturing machinery and equipment valued at $12 million and computer hardware worth $125,000. New employees to be added through 2006 include engineers, supervisors, electricians and operators, in addition to various product packers.
"Customer satisfaction continues to drive increased demand for our products and services, and we are thrilled to begin yet another expansion here in Indiana to meet this demand," said George Lueken, chairman of Mullinix Packages, Inc. "Mullinix has long been based on providing our customers in the food industry with the collaboration and expertise to meet each customer's unique packaging needs."
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), in partnership with the city of Fort Wayne, the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance, and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, worked together in providing an incentive package to lure the Mullinix expansion to Indiana.
The economic development incentives offered by the IEDC include:
Approximately $145,000 in training grants from the Skills Enhancement Fund (SEF) to train Indiana resident employees;
Up to $50,000 in training grants for technology professionals through the Technology Enhancement Certifications for Hoosiers (TECH) fund;
Up to $375,000 over 10 years in Economic Development for a Growing Economy tax credits (EDGE);
"The impressive growth of Mullinix Packages is a reflection of the company's sharp focus on customer satisfaction and product innovation," said Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard. "We are glad the company continues to benefit from the advantages offered by this community in logistics, workforce, and its overall business environment."
The Fort Wayne City Council will consider tax abatement on eligible real property improvements, in addition to production, IT and logistics equipment purchased as part of the expansion project.
About Mullinix Packages
Incorporated in 1970, Mullinix Packages, Inc., designs and manufactures innovative food packaging solutions for automated applications, specific product shapes and designs, particular performance characteristics and precise selection of materials. Mullinix produces packaging made of dual ovenable crystallized polyethylene terephthalate (CPET) for freezer to oven use, amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (APET) for clear containers and polypropylene for microwave-only applications. More information is available at www.mullinixpackages.com.
Individuals interested in a position Mullinix Packages may submit resumes to the WorkOne Center at the joint DWD/JobWorks office located at 201 East Rudisill Boulevard. Individuals may also email resumes to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Source: Indiana Economic Development Corp.


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America can be a very strange place sometimes. Harvey Fierstein, whom I remember as Jeff Goldblum's coworker in Independence Day but who is apparently a lot more famous as a playwright, went on Christopher Hayes' MSNBC show the other day to vent his anger. Fierstein was fired up, you see, because he thought that several of the recent guests on Hayes' show had been insufficiently critical of Russia's awful treatment of homosexuals and insufficiently willing to take the Russian government to task.
Who were these disgusting apologists for Putin about whom Fierstein was complaining? Did Dmitri Peskov make a guest appearance on MSNBC? Well it might surprise you to learn that the one person who really got Fierstein angry was New Republic editor Julia Ioffe, someone who would not be taken for a Putin apologist by anyone with more than a handful of functioning brain cells. I don't agree with Julia on much when it comes to Russia, and she would say the same thing about me. Which is fine. People can and should disagree because it makes life a lot more interesting and is intellectually healthy. However, it takes not just passive ignorance but active, willful stupidity to see Ioffe as anything other than a passionate and determined opponent of Russia's current government.
But how could Feirstein have possibly confused one of America's most persistent and eloquent critics of the Kremlin with a defender of the anti-gay crackdown? The two following exchanges present the crux of the matter:
Hayes: "Do you think there's something hypocritical or misplaced for Americans to turn the attention to Russia, particularly if the way that the median Russian voter perceives that is as these nefarious outsiders telling them what to do?"
Fierstein: "No, you need to fight injustice wherever it is"
Hayes: "She [Ioffe] is making a point about what the cultural reception of these protests is likely to be"
Fierstein: "I don't care"
Fierstein wants to get caught up in a debate over the morality of Russia's anti-gay crackdown, something which he repeatedly compares to the Nazi campaign of anti-Semitism in the 1930′s. That's a debate that, for all intents and purposes, doesn't exist in the United States. Not one of the people whom Fierstein criticized (and certainly not Julia Ioffe!) is saying "Russia's banning of public expressions of homosexuality is totally acceptable. In fact, it seems like a pretty good idea!" You only encounter such sentiments when you wander really far off of the reservation and end up on the most rabid parts of the right. It's a testament to how much our society has changed that even the GOP now eschews anyone expressing blanket condemnations of homosexuality and that naked prejudice like that which undergirds Russia's law is now widely understood to be unacceptable. In other words anyone of consequence in the United States, anyone would even be considered for an appearance on a cable news show like Hayes', already understands that Russia's crackdown on gay rights is an unjustifiable abomination.
The real debate, the debate to which Fierstein proudly proclaims his indifference, is not whether we should oppose Russia's anti-gay laws but precisely how we should do so. Fierstein's impassioned denunciation of Russia lacked any suggestions of how foreigners can meaningfully impact the law or work to undermine it. Instead the discussion was all about blanket statements of "fighting injustice," "answering evil," or "being heard." But how do you "fight injustice" in a country over which America has almost no leverage? In what way do you "answer evil' in a country where almost nine in ten citizens support the "gay propaganda" ban. What do you say to "be heard" in a country with a culture that is very different from America's?
These might seem like unimportant or unnecessarily technical points, but they're not. A discussion about the tactics of opposing Russia's anti-gay laws separates the people who simply want to feel good about themselves from the people who want to actually change Russia's treatment of homosexuals. By getting caught up in denunciations of Russia's obviously indefensible law, Fierstein detracted from the debate that we should be having, the debate that might develop a method for actually helping the people who are being harmed.
Just in case anyone misses the point, it's not that Fierstein's impassioned pleas are wrong it's that they're irrelevant. It should hardly come as a revelation that the Kremlin doesn't care if it gets bad press on MSNBC because the political constituency to which it's trying to appeal is in Russia, not the West Village. And almost nine in ten Russians support the anti-gay crackdown. If you want to change the Kremlin's behavior you need to find a way of applying pressure to it and to its interests in a way that outweighs the substantial domestic political gain that anti-gay posturing has earned it. That's an incredibly difficult and arguably impossible task, but it's a necessary one.
Follow me on Twitter @MarkAdomanis


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Sherman County Boys
Some boys that Sharon had gone riding with were careful drivers. Randy Watt wasn't one of them. He liked to drive with just one hand on the wheel, and his steering was a little vague. The truck drifted across the center line now and then, which didn't matter for the first few miles out of Grass Valley since there was no one else on the road. It bothered her more when they got to the curvy part where the road edge dropped off into the canyon. No guard rails. But he still drove with one hand.
Because she didn't have a car, boys were the best way for Sharon to get out of the house, away from the museum where, if she lingered on a summer day, her mother or father could always find some chore for her to do. Or, worse, her father might try to get her excited. "Sharon, look here! If somebody were to clean up some of these old switch locks and keys, they might make a nice exhibit." Fortunately, her little sister had the genes or the virus or whatever it was that made people crazy about steam locomotives. That took some of the pressure off. But still, the best thing was just not to be home.
The problem with boys was their expectations. Ben Smits had expected that if she rode around in his rig long enough, she would eventually have sex with him. Michael Krutz had been the same way. That was why she didn't ride around with them any more, because there was no completely guaranteed way to have sex without some risk of getting pregnant. That would ruin everything. Her life would be over, right there, and she'd be stuck.
Randy was just a friend. He'd been going with Megan Smits, Ben's sister, and Megan was skinny, not at all like Sharon with her hips that were getting too wide and breasts that were too big and a little too much weight everywhere.
For fifteen miles, neither of them had said a word.
"I got accepted," Randy said at last. An oncoming sedan made him steer back into his lane. "OSU."
"That's good," Sharon said.
"Don't know how I'll pay for it."
A familiar problem. Farm and ranch families looked richer on paper than they really were. And her own parents sure wouldn't have tuition money for her in two years, not unless some crazy rich person wanted to buy the museum.
"I don't know if I can go," Randy said.
"You'll go."
"I want to."
"You will."
They didn't say anything else until the turnoff for White River Falls State Park. Then Randy said, "Forest management. That would be my major."
Sharon didn't say anything, but it seemed like a stupid idea. If it was going to be hard for Randy to go to college, then why study something like forest management? He might end up with a job right around here. He could still spend his whole life in sight of Mount Hood.
The parking lot at the trail head was empty except for the ranger's trailer. Randy parked in the shade. "Leave the windows open. Nothing to steal anyway." Sharon brought the knapsack.
They stood on the overlook to watch the falls, then walked down the dusty trail, past the old generating station. Randy said it was too bad the BLM had boarded it up. You used to be able to go inside and look at the turbines. He started to describe them.
"Is that all boys care about?" Sharon said. "Machines?"
"I guarantee you," he told her. "That is not all that boys care about."
"Well, I knew that."
His face got red. She supposed hers did, too.
They sat on the sand, in the shade of a tree growing right next to the water. They could hear the falls from here, but would have to wade upstream if they wanted to see them. Just hearing them was nice. Was enough. Sharon got her book out of the knapsack, but didn't open it. She took out an orange and peeled it, then gave half of the peeled orange to Randy.
"This place is so different," Sharon said. "On the weekend, there's always a mess of kids and dogs." A big bird flew past just above the water. She didn't know what kind.
"It's nice," he agreed. "I used to come here with Megan."
Sharon noticed the used to, but said nothing.
Randy said, "Can you keep a secret?"
She thought about it. She had one great big secret herself. The only foreign language they taught at Sherman High School was Spanish. Limited Spanish, at that. When Sharon tried out a Castillian accent in oral performance, Mr. Dunning marked her down. You just concentrate on learning what's being taught here.
Spanish was hardly foreign enough to suit her. On a family shopping trip to The Dalles, she browsed the used books at Klindt's Booksellers and rejected German, French, and even Japanese. Then she saw a little volume sitting by itself. The spine said ANGLICKO-ČESKÝ ČESKO-ANGLICKÝ. There were British flags on the cover. She bought it for two dollars. It wasn't until she had spent some time with the book at home that she was sure of what she had. It was a phrase book and dictionary for Czech speakers learning English.
At the school library, she looked for web sites about the language. Czech was perfect. First of all, it was hard. Good. People who knew how hard it was would be impressed, and everyone else would be impressed because it was exotic. Half the people in Grass Valley or Moro didn't know where the Czech Republic was, and the other half thought it was still Czechoslovakia. Someday on a scholarship application she would write, Taught myself to read, write, and speak fluent Czech. Someday, she would sit in a cafe in Prague and be about as far away from Grass Valley, Oregon, as a person could be.
She told no one. On another family shopping trip to The Dalles, she used some of her birthday money to pick up another book, one that she had to special order. She hurried across the street to buy a sweater, too, so she'd have a bag and something to show when her mother and sister and grandmother asked what she had bought.
She read the new book and looked up words in the dictionary in her bedroom, with the door closed. She sounded out words at a whisper. She copied lists of phrases.
One day in December, her grandfather asked her to walk over to his and Gram's house. He had something for her. When she got there, he went to his room to fetch a paper bag, then led her outside where no one could see or overhear them. He was smiling.
"Okay," he said. "Vay say lay va note say."
He said it again. "Vay say lay va note say." When she didn't say anything, he said, "Maybe I'm not saying it right." He showed her a slip of paper. Veselé Vánoce! He said, "Merry Christmas. In Czech." He handed her the paper bag, then put his finger over his lips and winked.
Inside the bag were books and audiotapes. Teach Yourself Czech. Colloquial Czech.
She wanted the throw them at him. Her secret! How did he know? She ran back to her house, slamming the front door, slamming the door to her room. How could he possibly know?
Later, she realized that he must have seen some of her practice pages, the same lines written over and over. Vítám vás v Praze! Vy jste Američanka? Ano, já jsem Američanka… She always buried them deep in the trash, but sometimes coyotes tore open the garbage bags. Her grandfather would have recognized her handwriting, and the strange words would have been a challenge to him.
When she had calmed down, she went back to thank him for the gift and beg him not to tell anyone. He promised. "My lips are sealed." But he was who he was. She couldn't rely on him. He might blurt out her secret the next time he went crazy.
Sitting on the sandy bank of the White River with Randy, Sharon said, "I can keep a secret unless it's taken from me."
"What's that mean?"
"I can keep a secret, Randy." She looked him in the eyes. "Trust me."
"Okay." He was silent then. Working up his nerve?
"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to," she said.
"It's not the money," he said. "Why I might not be able to go to college. Megan might be…" He couldn't get it out before he started to cry. But she knew. It could only be one thing. Sharon put her hand on his shoulder.
Randy leaned against her and sobbed into her neck.
Sharon's eyes brimmed with tears as she held him. Tears of sympathy. You poor thing. You poor stupid boy. She would guard his secret. It would get out anyway, if Megan really were pregnant. Around here, there was no slinking away to a doctor who would fix your mistake and give you back your life.
He shook. She held him tight. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she said over and over, grateful that it wasn't her.
Bruce Rogers teaches fiction in the Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA program, has won a Pushcart, and lives with cats, as he believes any proper writer must. http://www.shortshortshort.com


text: Prev | Next Purchase this photo Billy Summers/The Putnam Herald Lady Bison Head Coach Darrell Moore has no trouble hugging his entire team on Thursday afternoon, May 29, 2014, after their fourth straight state softball championship win in Vienna. Gallery: Putnam in Pictures, Friday, June 6 Jun. 06, 2014 @ 03:53 PM The Herald-Dispatch / 2015 Did you miss something in Putnam County this week? Chances are, one of our photographers was there. ()


text:
Police: Numbers don't tell full story on searches
The Durham Police Department doesn't dispute statistics that suggest more black motorists than white are pulled over and subject to searches.
"We just can't," Deputy Chief Anthony Marsh Sr. told members of the Human Relations Commission on Tuesday night. "They're our numbers."
But numbers don't tell the whole story, Marsh said during his presentation. Information in a report produced Oct. 17 by the Fostering Alternatives to Drug Enforcement (FADE) coalition is "at best inconclusive," he said.
There's no pattern, practice, culture or tolerance for bias-based enforcement, he said. However, he acknowledged that it happens.
"We don't presume to say bias-based policing doesn't exist," he said.
No two traffic stops are alike, Marsh said, but "behavior, not race, is the deciding factor" in whether an officer asks to search a vehicle.
Also, he noted that the department deploys its resources "where the problems are and where the community has asked for it."
Each year, officers are required to complete an online course in racial sensitivity, but it is not specific to police work, Marsh said. The department wants something that addresses police interactions with community, he said, "but I can't promise you we're going to find it."
Chief Jose Lopez explained that any new sensitivity training would supplement what the Police Department already uses.
"We do have quite a bit," he said.
In the past five years, Marsh said, the department has received nine official citizen complaints pertaining to bias-based enforcement. Of those, three were sustained because officers had forgotten to fill out necessary paperwork. Five were exonerated. One was deemed unfounded by a federal judge.
Some say that the low number of complaints suggests a problem with the department, he said. "We think it speaks to the caliber of the work rather than signifying a problem."
Marsh encouraged anyone with issues with how they've been treated by the department to file complaints, either in person or online. Even if one complaint isn't sustained, flags might be raised by multiple complaints about the same officer, he said.
"The fact you don't get the answer you want does not mean you shouldn't raise a complaint," Marsh said.
The FADE coalition's report includes several recommendations to the HRC to forward to Mayor Bill Bell and the City Council:
• Mandate written consent before any and all consent searches conducted by Durham police.
• Require open repudiation of racial profiling and selective enforcement in both traffic stops and drug enforcement.
• Knock marijuana down to the lowest priority for law enforcement in Durham and boost availability of pre-trial diversion programs.
• Mandate racial equity training for department leadership and rank-and-file officers alike.
• Create a task force of HRC members, FADE members, PAC chairs, police department representatives and people "directly affected by police misconduct."
The FADE report singled out the department's High Enforcement Abatement (HEAT) teams as a source of friction with the community.
Lopez told HRC members that HEAT team assignments vary from district to district, depending on problems identified within the community, ranging from drugs to burglaries to robberies.
Marsh described the HEAT units as proactive and said those officers go through extensive training on "how not to violate the 4th Amendment and properly write a search warrant."
A follow-up meeting is expected in December, at which Police Department officials are supposed to provide stop-and-search data on a district-by-district basis, racial makeup of the department rank-and-file and executive staff and updates on the search for additional racial sensitivity training opportunities.
Eventually, the HRC plans to take information from focus groups and draft final recommendations to the City Council.
The department's complete written response to the HRC should be online at durhampolice.com
no later than today, Marsh said.
Follow on Twitter at @HS_WesPlatt. Connect on Facebook at facebook.com/wesplattheraldsun.


text:
1. center - noun
· an area that is approximately central within some larger region; "it is in the center of town"; "they ran forward into the heart of the struggle"; "they were in the eye of the storm"
Synonym(s): centre, middle, heart, eye
2. center - noun
· the piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher; "he hit the ball to deep center"
Synonym(s): center_field, centerfield
Hypernym(s): tract, piece_of_land, piece_of_ground, parcel_of_land, parcel
3. center - noun
· a building dedicated to a particular activity; "they were raising money to build a new center for research"
Synonym(s): centre
Hypernym(s): building, edifice
4. center - noun
· a point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure
Hypernym(s): point
5. center - noun
· the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"
Synonym(s): kernel, substance, core, centre, essence, gist, heart, heart_and_soul, inwardness, marrow, meat, nub, pith, sum, nitty-gritty
Hypernym(s): content, cognitive_content, mental_object
6. center - noun
· the object upon which interest and attention focuses; "his stories made him the center of the party"
Synonym(s): centre, center_of_attention, centre_of_attention
Hypernym(s): object
7. center - noun
· a cluster of nerve cells governing a specific bodily process; "in most people the speech center is in the left hemisphere"
Synonym(s): centre, nerve_center, nerve_centre
Hypernym(s): neural_structure
8. center - noun
· the middle of a military or naval formation; "they had to reinforce the center"
Hypernym(s): formation
9. center - noun
· (basketball) the person who plays center on a basketball team
Hypernym(s): basketball_player, basketeer, cager
10. center - noun
· (football) the person who plays center on the line of scrimmage and snaps the ball to the quarterback; "the center fumbled the handoff"
Synonym(s): snapper
Hypernym(s): lineman
11. center - noun
· a place where some particular activity is concentrated; "they received messages from several centers"
Synonym(s): centre
12. center - noun
· politically moderate persons; centrists
Hypernym(s): class, stratum, social_class, socio-economic_class
13. center - noun
· (ice hockey) the person who plays center on a hockey team
Hypernym(s): hockey_player, ice-hockey_player
14. center - noun
· the sweet central portion of a piece of candy that is enclosed in chocolate or some other covering
Synonym(s): centre
Hypernym(s): sweet, confection
15. center - noun
· mercantile establishment consisting of a carefully landscaped complex of shops representing leading merchandisers; usually includes restaurants and a convenient parking area; a modern version of the traditional marketplace; "a good plaza should have a movie house"; "they spent their weekends at the local malls"
Synonym(s): plaza, mall, shopping_mall, shopping_center, shopping_centre
Hypernym(s): mercantile_establishment, retail_store, sales_outlet, outlet
16. center - noun
· the position on a hockey team of the player who participates in the face off at the beginning of the game
Hypernym(s): position
17. center - noun
· (American football) the position of the player on the line of scrimmage who puts the ball in play; "it is a center's responsibility to get the football to the quarterback"
Hypernym(s): lineman
18. center - noun
· a position on a basketball team of the player who participates in the jump that starts the game
Hypernym(s): position
19. center - verb
· center upon; "Her entire attention centered on her children"; "Our day revolved around our work"
Synonym(s): focus_on, center_on, revolve_around, revolve_about, concentrate_on
Hypernym(s): refer, pertain, relate, concern, come_to, bear_on, touch, touch_on, have_to_do_with
20. center - verb
· direct one's attention on something; "Please focus on your studies and not on your hobbies"
Synonym(s): concentrate, focus, centre, pore, rivet
Hypernym(s): think, cogitate, cerebrate
21. center - verb
· move into the center; "That vase in the picture is not centered"
Synonym(s): centre
22. center - adjective
· equally distant from the extremes
Synonym(s): halfway, middle, midway
23. center - adjective
· of or belonging to neither the right nor the left politically or intellectually
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text:
NASA's NEXT ion drive breaks world record, will eventually power interplanetary missions
- By Sebastian Anthony on December 28, 2012 at 11:29 am
- Comment
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Proving yet again that Star Trek was scarily prescient, NASA has announced that its NEXT ion drive — NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster — has operated continually for over 43,000 hours (five years). This is an important development, as ion thrusters are pegged as one of the best ways to power long-term deep-space missions to other planets and solar systems. With a proven life time of at least five years, NEXT engines just made a very big step towards powering NASA's next-gen spacecraft.
Ion thrusters work, as the name suggests, by firing ions (charged atoms or molecules) out of a nozzle at high speed (pictured above). In the case of NEXT, operation is fairly simple. Xenon (a noble gas) is squirted into a chamber. An electron gun (think cathode ray tube TV) fires electrons at the xenon atoms, creating a plasma of negative and positive ions. The positive ions diffuse to the back of the chamber, where high-charged accelerator grids grabs the ions and propel them out of the engine, creating thrust. The energy to power the electron gun can either come from solar panels, or from a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (i.e. a nuclear battery, just like Curiosity).
The downside of ion thrusters, though, is that the amount of thrust produced is minuscule: State-of-the-art ion thrusters can deliver a grand total of 0.5 newtons of thrust (equivalent to the force of a few coins pushing down on your hand), while chemical thrusters (which power just about every spacecraft ever launched) on a satellite or probe deliver hundreds or thousands of newtons. The flip side of this, though — and the reason ion thrusters are so interesting — is that they have a fuel efficiency that's 10 to 12 times greater than chemical thrusters. Obviously, for long trips through space, fuel efficiency is very important.
With such puny thrust, a NEXT-based ion drive would need to run for 10,000 hours — just over a year — to reach a suitable speed for space travel. Dawn, a NASA probe that's powered by previous-generation NSTAR ion thrusters, accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in four days. As a corollary, ion thrusters only work at all because of the near-vacuum of space; if there was any friction at all, like here on Earth, an ion drive would be useless. The good news, though, is that the (eventual) max speed of a spacecraft propelled by an ion drive is in the region of 200,000 miles per hour (321,000 kph).
Moving forward, it now remains to be seen if NASA will use the NEXT on an actual spacecraft. In 2011, NASA put out a request-for-proposals for a test mission that will likely use a NEXT engine, and presumably, following this successful engine test, we might soon hear more news about that. Other space agencies, including the ESA, are also working on spacecraft propelled by ion thrusters.
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Neon Frank
NEXT ion drive
You mean Steve Jobs never patented this?
Never heard of the iON Drive? :)
william reynolds
NeXT is the company Steve Jobs started after being kicked out of Apple. That's what Frank was referring to here.
He's aware. He's making a joke about the "Apple/Steve Jobs way" of naming products — iTunes, iPod, iPad and — wait for it — iON drive. Small "I" in front of the product. And "ion" already has an "I."
Richard Alexander
I'm trying to figure out what "Star Trek" has to do with any of this development?
Lol me too – this ion drive would take centuries to reach another star.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1223563048 Angel Ham
*Ahem* Star Trek ships use them as a means to travel at non-FTL speeds.
http://www.mrseb.co.uk/ Sebastian Anthony
Yay! someone got it!
http://www.classicdosgames.com DOSGuy
Geek fail. Starfleet uses two types of sub-FTL propulsion — impulse engines and thrusters — neither of which use ion propulsion.
According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, impulse engines are nuclear fusion engines that use the plasma from the fusion reaction to power a massive magnetic coil to propel the ship. It is a form of magnetohydrodynamic or magnetoplasmadynamic thruster. Thrusters, on the other hand, are closer to the designs of a high-efficiency reactant propellant (i.e. a sophisticated rocket engine).
Star Trek did eventually get around to mentioning ion propulsion. The Dominion (ST:DS9) and the Iconians are said to use ion thrusters. The Iconians are first mentioned in the ST:TNG episode "Contagion", but it was hardly prescient to talk about ion propulsion on March 20, 1989. Electric propulsion was first described in 1906 and published in 1911 (by different people), the first working ion thruster was built in 1959, the first suborbital flight took place in 1964 (it operated for 31 minutes), and the first orbital flight took place in 1970. All but one of these milestones occurred before the original Star Trek series debuted, and ion propulsion has barely been mentioned since the first mention on ST:TNG.
If you're going to claim that something was predicted by Star Trek, you'd better do your research or the nerds will be all over you like zits on a Trekker. Starfleet vessels do NOT use ion propulsion, and ion propulsion wasn't mentioned in any Star Trek series until decades after they became a reality.
Lol i had that technical manual when i was a kid!
Dang, I am really old, I had the blueprints and Technical Manual for the original Enterprise from the original series. I have no idea what happened to them, I'm sure some younger cousins or nephews made confetti out of them. Probably worth big $ on E-Bay now…
Lol! I actually think it's pretty cool that they make technical stuff for fictional spaceship, and people like us buy it!
http://www.mrseb.co.uk/ Sebastian Anthony
Darn, I got out-geeked.
Seems to happen fairly often, actually. Probably a good sign that our readership is rather intelligent :)
Aziz Dhanini
That's bad ass, DOSGuy whipped out the Star Trek Technical Manual.
http://twitter.com/technegro Techngro
^ This is why I love the web, and sites like Extreme Tech in particular. Only on sites like this would the comments devolve into Trek nerd rage.
http://www.facebook.com/mircea.banu.7 Mircea Banu
Still not the first to imagine it, but it was at least in 1968 in the Start Trek original series, "Spock's brain" episode. Some aliens raid Enterprise in a very fast shuttle using "ion propulsion" causing much surprise to the Enterprise crew who considers this to be far more advanced than everything the Federation had :-)
Right, Scotty was in awe of their Ion Drive. He was practically weeping over it… Lol
Figures it would take a Trekkie to clear this up: In 1968, in the original Star Trek series, in the episode titled "Spock's Brain", the ship used by the alien that stole Spock's brain was powered by an ion drive. Star Trek did NOT, therefore, "predict" the future application of ion drives in space travel, but rather, the series' writers were cognizant of the then-current, cutting-edge trends in space exploration R & D. That's not to say that science fiction hasn't predicted some modern tech – but in this particular instance, it was the other way around.
Uh no. "Impulse drive" is fusion and in one TOS episode Scotty makes the comment that "ion propulsion" was centuries ahead of them.
Greg Esres
Wasn't that in the cartoon version?
Greg Esres
Wasn't that in the cartoon version?
Nope. It was the one where they stole Spock's brain as I recall.
http://www.facebook.com/RDeliscious Rj J Jones Jr
Centuries ahead in that it would take some really innovative system to match the practicality of chemical propulsion, let alone that of a matter/anti-matter fusion reactor, at least from the perspective of an alternate universe wherein they developed a means of harvesting anti-matter more efficiently than creating ions.
http://www.facebook.com/RDeliscious Rj J Jones Jr
yeah, if I recall, the impulse drive used vented plasma from the anti-matter reactor. and the warp coils used that plasma to power them. Neither of these required a stream of ions, just a lot of anti-matter and a buttload hydrogen harvested from the bussard collectors on the warp nacelles.
Never realized how nerdy I can sound until just now.
Richard Coleman
If I had to guess, I'm going to say that the article is giving a nod to the Enterprise's "five year mission."
I know this is technically good news – but i find it depressing! For space travel, even light speed is incredibly slow – 4 years to Alpha Centauri, 100,000 years to travel across the galaxy.
Sure, 200,000 mph would be nice. But it's only a fraction of light speed – 180,000 miles per second! We need warp drives!
http://www.mrseb.co.uk/ Sebastian Anthony
Aye. We really do need to get pretty close to the speed of light for space travel to mean anything.
Or we just have to play the veeeeery long game…
Yeah it's pretty much impossible with conventional travel. I think NASA said it'd take a few million supertankers of nuclear propellant to get about 10% of light speed, and you'd literally spend half the journey accelerating.
Antimatter might be promising, apparently a bit the size of a pound coin is enough to put a rocket in orbit! We just need to find a way of mass producing and storing it.
And of course the holy grail is bending space in a higher dimension, it probably won't happen in my lifetime but i remain hopeful.
Antimatter has the inherent problem that even if we made it at 100% manufacturing efficiency it requires as much energy as it will store, is incredibly unstable, and mutually anhiliates on contact with matter. Sure we could store tons of it due to the density of it's energy, but we'd be much better off if we could use dark energy or another source of power that is present in space. Dark energy is a good one as an engine powered by that would work much like a jet, collecting more fuel the faster it got and multiplying it's own power output as a result, as well as sucking up one of the major resistors of our acceleration in space.
Does dark energy even exist tho? I mean, has it been proven yet? I know there's theories about this, isn't it also called zero point energy? But yeah, we certainly need something like this for future travel as the energy requirements are so phenomenally high!
Anti matter might become easier to store as technology improves – for the foreseeable future it's probably the best option we have. I'd imagine we'd develop anti matter engines before dark energy, wouldn't you? Still, even with anti matter, the travel time will still be decades to even the nearest star. I certainly hope we find another source.
Developing a simple antimatter engine could be much the same as a large combustion engine. It would be refinement of existing tech (to magnetically carry a stream of antiparticles around an otherwise pretty straightforward jet style motor or generator (to incidentally power a large electric, possibly ion engine)) rather than development of a new invention. Its a compelling idea, but to me it's not really feasible. It takes billions of dollars to synthesise a milligram of antimatter, and that milligram is unstable enough to destroy a large portion of new york if you so much as tap it out of it's magnetic field or it is exposed to anything whatsoever.
The thing is, that cost may go down, but it hasn't gone down in the last 80 years since that discovery was made. The world has decided that antimatter is a dead end and I agree, because it must all be synthesised. Even if we develop an engine with great efficiency the fuel will cost far far far more per joule than anything else, and that was with me actually skipping the real problem. Mutual Annihilation releases energy of all forms. Kinetic, broadband EM including light, radio, gamma etc, heat. To harness the energy that we used to create it with anything near even 10% efficiency we'd need to absorb some of all forms. To improve on that technology we'd have to improve on out tech for solar panels (light absorption) and conventional internal combustion engines/nuclear/jets (thermal/kinetic absorption). This basically means that every time we make a better antimatter engine, we also make a better solar panel for our electrical/ion engines and a better engine for our nuclear and liquid fuels. And the specs never stack up in antimatter's camp.
Dark energy/matter may or may not exist. If it doesn't then a lot of questions must be asked about what happens to all the energy lost at the death of a black hole if energy is finite and constant. (The old energy cannot be destroyed, only transferred conundrum). If we find out what it is that took 80% of the universes energy and it isn't dark energy, we should probably use that.
For me, if we want to really send these things far out into the universe, pick the fuel type with the longest range, then build engines in parallel. Even if you can't get them all off the ground at once, you can leave them in orbit, then attach them together on the MIR or something.
Regarding antimatter, I don't think your knowledge is accurate. For a start, NASA already has plans for this type of engine, and we've also found that it's in Earths atmosphere. It could be that in a few decades we'll have more ways to trap it and store it safely.
I remembered – dark energy is the force causing the universe's expansion to accelerate. Dark matter is matter that we can't see that accounts for the mass needed to hold galaxies together. Zero point energy is the theoretical energy in the vacuum of space – I think this is a quantum physice principle. If this does exist, it may provide an unlimited and renewable source of energy.
Yeah, black holes fascinate me, they also baffle me lol! It's where the rules of our universe go to seemingly impossible numbers, I don't think science currently agrees on exactly what happens in them. There's some doubt on Stephen Hawkings theories, some people also now believe in a holographic universe due to the way things become 2d as they enter a black hole. Truly strange things!
We found antimatter in the earth's atmosphere? Interesting! Do you have a link I could read as a curious soul?
Your condescension is noted.
I wasn't being condescending. You asked for a link, there's several there to read. I usually read a couple of versions of a story.
If I'd wanted to condescend, I would have provided this link: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=antimatter+earth+atmosphere
My bad then.
Interesting approach…
And you need just as much power to decelerate once you reach your destination, (notwithstanding that the universe is now deemed to be accelerating in it's expansion?)
Ultimately, yes (you need the same energy to decelerate). Realistically, no. Use orbits and skate stratospheres of planets if you need to decelerate a manned vehicle, even if you have to drop the passenger off in some sort of lander to do it without subjecting him to huge G forces or long waiting times for deceleration without melting the craft.
I don't think any orbits will help you slow down from interstellar travel though. The energy required to build up to a significant fraction of the speed of light is phenomenal, and it'd take a hell of a lot to slow it back down.
You're right, but it depends on how much mass it has to slow down imo. You can leave a lot of the mass you took behind and send that at something it can comfortably orbit, like a black hole or neutron (a star would have the gravity but would likely be too hot) while you worry about slowing down without subjecting yourself to too much g forces or heat. That's obviously the main concern as humanity is an incredibly fragile species to accelerate to even c/10.
In my opinion, using your own power to stop yourself would be terribly inefficient, when you can use friction, gravity and a multitude of other forces in your locality to do it for you, much in the way that ships already use Earth's orbit to catapult themselves towards pthier targets.
There is a huge difference between sling shotting around our solar system, and trying to do it between stars. I really don't think you know what you're saying here – what exactly do you think is between us and another star?
I can tell you – the vast emptiness of space. Billions of miles of nothing. What gravity do you think would slow you down?
Black holes and neutron stars. The nearest one is only 88AU away, not to mention the effects of multiple close orbits can have very much the same gravity shaving effects.
Take a planet with no atmosphere and you can slingshot far more effectively, earth is actually pretty poor as a gravity potentiator in this context.
Look I am not trying to say it is possible right now like I am some NASA rocket scientist, but I am trying to say that the future will likely use gravity as a brake simply because it's going to be abundant around anything we really want to observe at human speeds.
If a planet has no atmosphere, it also has weak gravity, so that defeats the point.
Anyhow, I really don't think that you understand the concepts here. The solar system has planets pass between each other at regular intervals, so it's a completely different setup to travelling to distant stats that are light years in between each other. But I won't go on and I'll leave it at that.
False. If a planet has no atmosphere it has no atmosphere. There are many reasons, such as an interaction with another planet with strong gravity (like Mars is theorised to have had when Jupiter was growing), or having such strong gravity itself that it's own pressures force the solidification (or compression otherwise) of all matter, like neutron stars.
For an atmosphere to exist, a planet must have enough thermal motion on it's surface to heat the surface matter to a gas form. There are planets out there without the rotational velocity or heat from local stars to do that.
I will admit however, that I did not necessarily use the term "planet" correctly, as I should have said "body".
Yes, atmosphere can leave a planet for a number of reasons. But it takes a planet with enough gravity to hold on to an atmosphere, that was my point. And it wasn't false.
No offence, but I've tried explaining politely how utterly retarded your ideas are, but you're not grasping it. No, they will never be using planets to slingshot ships for interstellar travel. The whole idea is retarded. It works in the solar system for the reasons I explained above.
I'd suggest that you pick up a physics book or two, and read up on the distances involved. Because at the moment, you're coming across as a bit of a tool.
Look, bro. I never spoke of using planets to slingshot ships to other solar systems, you obviously forgot what I was talking about entirely. I spoke of using planets to slow us from interstellar travel as an alternative to just fuel. I spoke of it being similar to the slingshotting we already do, but in reverse. If you didn't put 2 and 2 together, I was actually referring to using atmospheric friction as a brake and remarking about how careful one would have to be not to burn up the fragile humans inside.
Go and actually read what I said again.
And yes, that makes YOU the tool for completely forgetting what we were talking about and answering to what you wanted to hear, and not what I said. Why? Because should we EVER get to the stage of interstellar travel, unless we are folding space-time and thus generating our own gravity we will definitely use planets to 'at least' assist in our deceleration. To ignore that would be stupid as it costs us nothing and makes good use of the available resources.
I don't even know why I got involved in your atmospheric rant when half of my theory involved the use of atmospheric friction to slow us down. Anyone with an IQ over 70 can see that you are arguing with fundamental laws of physics is an inane and silly way.
What you are failing to grasp, is that your silly idea would probably only make about 0.000000001% difference to the energy required for such a trip, and that's assuming that the planets are lined up nicely in the destination star system.
As I said, you have literally no clue as to the distances and energies involved, this is clear from your utterly useless suggestion. But why don't you forward your idea to NASA – I'm sure they have a sense of humour!
http://www.scophi.com/ scophi
Agreed. If my math is correct (or even close) traveling at 200,000 mph would still take many thousands of years to reach the next star.
Yes warp drives. And related technology like using worm holes, and the folding of space and what not. But then on the other end of that, I think somebody said in their theory that if you travel fast enough , time takes on the effect of going backwards. So maybe not 100K years. And what about that Star Gate technology ? Seconds and minutes to be across the galaxy? I'm just saying. There may be other approaches that are more viable and cost effective?
Anubhav Singh
Special Relativity only postulates that time goes backwards if you are travelling faster than the speed of light, something that's impossible as the equation seems to require a complex (Number system) mass. Time slows down definitely as we approach the speed of light (from the lower side :P) but not in your frame of reference, you would still take 100K years, its just that for the people back on Earth, millions of years would have gone by that time….Sad but true, we can't escape the conventional distance-speed limits w/o something like a warp drive.
At the speed of light, time is thus frozen, and in a truly empty gravity, that allows instantaneous travel, however, it also requires infinite energy to move that mass (as you are technically moving at infinite mph in a time frozen setting), limiting us to just below the speed of light. However, the effects close to the speed of light should distort time enough to allow slowing of the passage of time to make our relative speed in a true vacuum faster, would it not? That of course requires us to find a true vacuum both devoid of energy, mass, gravity and any other time distorting influences, which is impossible as the vessel itself would require mass.
ian hickey
But as you get closer to the speed of light, time slows down so at least you wouldn't age in that time.
Wow thats pretty cool man, to the moon Alice, warp 7
So this has WHAT to do with warp speed? Nothing…so how come the person you paid to spam Digg mentioned that in the title/description?
Ion engines were around during the days of Star Trek TOS so it's hardly being prescient when they mentioned them. NASA built a working one in 1959 and they'd been theorized as far back as 1911. Anybody seen "Idiocracy"? The internet is going to take us there at warp speed.
Idiocracy is a great movie, the worrying thing is that it seems to be coming true.
Jeff Jones
Is this really a world record? How long did the previous Ion Engine run? Or has this Ion Engine simply run longer than it did since the last time it was turned off? Has this thing been setting world records every minute for the last 525,949 minutes?
This world record sort of seems to be along the same lines of the first woman to give birth in 2013 or the first time they made colored contact lenses.
Nobody seems to have mentioned it yet so I'll put it here.
Put a pair of solar panels on your ship and this thing will run on a thimble of xenon for a decade. Sure, power output per second might not be great, but in open space where there's no wind resistance and inertia is near unlimited this engine will allow formuch llighter rockets which would have gone further and faster than their chemical counterparts even if they weighed the same.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=554676479 Anthony J. Mitchell
The speeding up to a suitable speed is one thing. It is the slowing down, or need to rapidly change direction when a unforeseen hazard is identified in the relative flight path that concerns me.
Space is pretty empty. The voyager Spacecraft have been travelling at 40,000 mph and not hit into anything in 30+ years.
Debaditya Chatterjee
is it still running? or did it just finish a 5yr long run? and who's the runner-up?
Am I missing something but isn't this answer to all our energy needs?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeff-DeWitt/1354140669 Jeff DeWitt
You're missing something, these engines need electrical power fed to them to operate.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeff-DeWitt/1354140669 Jeff DeWitt
You're missing something, these engines need electrical power fed to them to operate.
Am I missing something but isn't this answer to all our energy needs?
this is facinating and exciting. just think, people are really going to go to the outer planets and maybe even out of the solar system. This is stuff that was just dreamed of 20 30 years ago
NASA has been doing this Ion Engine PR a good 15 years. Nothing but gas flumes. No engine yet! Maybe they should just want the old re-runs of Star Trek to finish the engine huh!
NASA should go back to the nuclear engine develop that was shelved in the 1980s. That prototype is still ahead of it time. Good for up to 15 years and speeds over 250K per second.
NASA name Ion Engine is not the same term used in Star Trek's description of an advanced starship engine hundreds of years beyond their current technology. NASA ion engine max speed is 200K per hour; not the 15-20 wrap speed of an true ion drive engine.
The Federation as of early 25th Century still has not have an ion drive in any Starship. The particular year is 2410! Other more advance races do have advanced ion drive starships; but they tend to avoid The Federation so their is no technology exchange to have an ion engine for The Federation. A couple of races that the Federation is at bad terms with has early ion drives. The Federations fastest starship is The Prometheus Class design for battle only!. Forgot to add that the Borg has an primitive ion engine drive technology. The Prometheus Class starship was built with the Borg in mind!
The Borg uses an instant warping technology called "Transwarp" drive. Unlike The Federation warp drives that need time to built up to the maximum warp speed; the Transwarp drive is almost instantaneously but it speed is limited to warp 9.99! The Prometheus can go up to 9.98+ but needs 30 hours to achieve that speed.
After the Prometheus came out; The Borg's Tactical Cube was discovered – which has is built for battle. It has stronger weapons and heavier shields then the Borg Cube with no assimilation station facilities.
tom cotter
The US government had a very tough history in developing -nukes for space-.
Not just the disarmament politics of the late 50s early 60s; but the inter-agency management of the total program. Nuclear energy & spaceflight (government style) don't speak the same language. It wasn't Physics or engineering that killed these programs…it was absence of 'national man-date' & 'funding'. The Russians had similar organizational problems.
Apollo legacy practices of 'top-funding' & safe, proven slow but reliable was the mantra for NASA. You want nuclear propulsion, let somebody else go first. DoD is probably the only agency who could 'organize' this… but since NASA was chartered for 'spaceflight'… the military has no justification to develop 'nuclear spaceships' until NASA tries and retires a program… and since NASA isn't going there… no spin off.
Interstellar travel? Sign me up!
http://www.facebook.com/martywolfofredbay Martin Wolf
How about cranking up to 1000 N just for kicks?
http://www.scophi.com/ scophi
Perhaps the author meant Star Wars, not Star Trek, as the TIE fighters were twin-ion engine crafts. The ION engines would never allow them to maneuver the way they did and I would hardly call Star Wars prescient. But that's the only SF connection I can make.
suspect zero
Now we know what's on that 'secret drone' launched recently (and spent two years in space) they rev it up here on earth, let it reach peak power, and give it a try in zero-G….Do you doubt it?
tom cotter
Ion propulsion systems have great potential; limited only to wattage & operational erosion of it components. A very concentrated amount of energy in a low mass package is what it needed. With the development of advanced nuclear power pack cells, power in the megawatt range below 1/2 a metric ton is conceivable. The target velocities should be between solar escape velocity and up to .01c>2? Not an interstellar hot rod, but the solar system transit times 'shrink' from years/decades to days/weeks/months! Manned missions to Neptune & Pluto one-way could be done in less than a year?
if the limit on ion's through a drive are small then make smaller drives and combine them together to make a sev look ?
Uhh, that was actually star WARS that prominently featured ion drives. They were what powered tie fighters.
I volunteer to go.
Excellent were getting closer to the means of putting on the Islamic extremists on a starship. Ironically heading for Mars. They'll fit right in. We'll send them with an instruction manual to keep clicking there heels 3 times saying , "There's no place like home.".
Robert Schreib
??When DARPA was experimenting with laser rifles, they found that if the laser rifle was shot at a mirror or reflective surface, the laser beam would 'repercussion' throughout its length and knock the rifle out of the soldier's hands. Could NASA create some kind of laser projector in frequency synch with their ionic propulsion drive's ionized Xenon atoms, to use 'repercussion' to propel the atoms to make this system far faster and more fuel efficient than before?
Ko Gib
I don't understand how these engines that use thrust would work in the vacuum of space with nothing to push against.
Carlos Brandz
for this project require the fusion of particles, to travel at the speed of light, and explore other galaxies not think anything is wrong not war!:
Robert Schreib
?? When DARPA, which is the weapons research branch of the US Army, was experimenting with laser rifles, they found that if the laser hit a mirror, the laser beam would 'repercussion' through out its length to knock the rifle out of the soldier's hands. Would it be possible to add this 'repercussion' effect to the ionic drive, by using lasers to propel the ionized Xenon gas further and faster, so this device could attain an unprecedented speed and fuel efficiency?
http://www.facebook.com/australopethicus.afarensis Viva Barbarella
Can Ca-48 or Thorium be used to power it? Thorium has a half life of 14.05 Billion years, and Ca-48 has an incredibly long half-life.
Todd Phillips
Yep, still 13382 years give or take to closest star. We will do better! This takes time. At least it is a start.
Well i imagine they will be keeping some sort of chemical engines, for like slowing down and turning in emergency. "Quick we need to turn to avoid that rock!!… well lets just crank up the ion engines… "
Petar Posavec
So why not use these right now on various state of the art probes that would be similar to Voyager for exploration of the solar system and beyond?
The amount of data we would acquire about our own background from using state of the art equipment in more or less real time would likely be enormous.


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I recently wired up my Vader Service Droid, but I'm not happy with the resulting rats nest of jumper wires. The mess is partially due to the pre-fabed jumper wires. I'm stuck with jumpers that are tool long in a lot of cases and too short in others. I managed to cluge it all together using some header pins and with solid wire, but the result feels...less than optimum.
Has anyone had success in building their own F-F and M-F jumpers to custom lengths?
Dear LMRians,
10% Off On All New Arrivals, Enjoy it Now!
Coupon Code: 5ics ($5 OFF $50); 15ics ($15 OFF $100)Discounts Valid until March 15, 2014. The price of the on sale items is not included.
I have a handful of chips I use that fit that .6" DIP category still-The ISD 17xx and now the Parallax chips. The thing is it kind of sucks putting them on a breadboard-you end up lopsided and don't usually have enough tie points on one side to work with, and most chip designers don't put all the "necessary" connections on one side. Now there are pictures of a "collector's item" breadboard made for this type of package:
tl;dr version: Go take advantage of a screw-up in store while you can.
In the days leading up to Exmas, I found myself wandering around the nearby shopping mall wistfully trying to get into the spirit by watching the better-than-average Santa deal with behavioural problem kids. Of course I stopped in at the Shack to see if there were any clearance bargains or deals I couldn't say no to. I noticed this:
Well, as ALF got retired and the motors are not available anymore I am going to build another ALF, but this time XXL.
The prototype is already breadboarded and working. The beam is made of two disposable chopsticks (what else when you live in China...LOL)
But a picture says more than a thousand words...
...and that's a nice ass...
My first instructable :)
I plan to use 5V at 2A (10W) with this breadboard. It`s pretty small and cheap but I`m afraid it might not be able to handle 10W.
Hiim having trouble getting the propeller tool to recognise my breadboarded propeller chip.ive set the chip up according to the schematic below except the eeprom has been ommited.the propeller tool is telling me that nothing was found on the com ports
Yup, that's:no blacknot so brownredorangeyellowgreenbluevioletgreywhitestill no blackbrown, finally
As anyone who has seen any of my earlier posts may have noticed, I am very problem-prone. I am, however certain that all my problems branch from my inexperience, could anyone with a bit of spare time look over the circuit and code I have below and spot the obvious mistake that must be there (missing capacitor, resistor, etc.)
this circuit is loaded with (note that there is a buton in-between the 5v and pin6)this should make the light be on when I press the buton if I am to believe the simulation, intead it is always on.
So I've decided to build my first robot which not the LMR "start here" one (that one is going to be my second one) and im using this circuit- http://costaricabeam.solarbotics.net/Circuits/Vores/555%20Photovore.png . I've tried about 10 different designs for the body but its just not working. When i cover the left photocell with my hand and the other one is exposed to light the speed of the motors is the same and same with the right photocell. has anyone tried the circuit? did it work?
I have been using my PICAXE 28X1 board with success for a while now, and I decided to move on. I have breadboarded a PICAXE 28X1, but programming success is a little iffy. 99% of the time, the download page comes up with a normal downloading screen, but only one dot loads.
and then...
Hi, I have a spare PICAXE 28x1 and L293D that I want to use for my first custom built circuit. But i have no clue what to do!!! The diagrams on the Picaxe website are so confusing and the ones in the manuals only show the pinouts. Can I just hook up 4.5 volts? Or do I need fancy shmancy support circuitry like capacitors and stuff?
Thanks guys!
I have a diagram of the L293D and it is nice to have, but very confusing.
This came up with the need of having the arduino permanently installed on the robots, I´m tired of having to remove the arduino from one bot to the other, and then rewire everything, and then reupload the code everytime I have a new idea, or everytime I want to show the bot to someone. I followed the ITP Physical Computing tutorial, and it works like a charm, no I want to try to upload code with the FTDI cable, and If I have success on this I can start making my custom Arduino boards. :D
I've got a pair of GM10 Solarbotics motors with very thin wires. I want to connect them to a breadboard - what's the best way of doing this? For now, I'll probably solder them to some connectors cut off the jumper wires I normally use, but was wondering if there are any better suggestions?


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Schubert and Schumann
The coming week brings more Schubert and Schumann to Daniel Barenboim's performance schedule as 2010 comes to an end. On November 4th and 5th he will appear in Baden-Baden and Basel with an all-Schubert recital program, and on November 7th, Thomas Quasthoff joins him for Liederkreis and Dichterliebe in the Schiller Theater in Berlin.
Correction Nov. 8th: due to personal reasons, Thomas Quasthoff was unable to sing on November 7th and was replaced by Roman Trekel.


text: CASE STUDY HOUSE #01 Follow the progress OUR PORTFOLIO See our work. Journal Entries See what we've been up to. Case Study House #01 – THE BACK STORY by andrew | Apr 28, 2014 | 3141 Searsmont Pl, Design + ConstructionThe adventure begins! A quick back story…we currently live in College Park, MD. We love our house, mostly love the neighborhood, but several things are pulling us to move on. Schools – our kids elementary school, Hollywood Elementary, is... LEAVING THE BIG CITY! by andrew | Jun 27, 2013 | Blogroll... 2013 Memorial Day Cabin Trip! by andrew | May 28, 2013 | Bywater's Stories2013 – May – Cabin with Friends, a set on Flickr. Had an AWESOME time up in West VA with our friends the Hunsaker's and the Mason's. Detour to Black Water Falls, Hiking down to the river, trip into the BIG CITY of Elkins for church and a stop... THANKSGIVING 2012 in West VA by andrew | Dec 10, 2012 | Bywater's StoriesIMG_2335.jpg, originally uploaded by The Bywaters. As usual – another great trip out to the cabin in West VA – so great to get away from EVERYTHING for a couple days! But, I think Osa enjoyed the cabin more than anyone on this trip! Free roaming through... FUN IN THE LEAVES! by andrew | Dec 10, 2012 | Bywater's StoriesIMG_1955.jpg, originally uploaded by The Bywaters. On the way to our car after church one day we saw the most pristine field of newly fallen leaves – and couldn't resist! Luckily we had our camera for some quick... MEET – OSA by andrew | Sep 10, 2012 | Bywater's Stories, JournalAfter almost 10 years of begging…yes TEN years…Sophia finally got her wish! A PUPPY!! Sophia did the legwork finding our puppy. She hunted in books and online for the right kind of dog for our family and then found the breeder we ended up getting her from... THREE school kids! by andrew | Sep 9, 2012 | Bywater's Stories, JournalI can't believe we have THREE kids heading to school this year. Sure takes a lot of bread to keep their lunch boxes full each week!! We lucked out with teachers again this year – although – it seems really any of the teachers at their school this... Justin & Jennie's Wedding Photography by andrew | Sep 5, 2012 | Photography, PortfolioTwin Falls, ID Temple :: Friday, August 10, 2012. Our future garage! by andrew | Jun 6, 2012 | inspirationHouzz Tour: From Garage to Play Pavilion in Seattle Houzz– Kitchen Remodel, Bathroom Remodel and More » Browse Lighting on Houzz- For Example: Bathroom Lighting And Vanity Lighting · Ceiling Fans · Ceiling Lighting ·... « Older Entries


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Let's face it. Danger lurks inside every enterprise network, and when it hits, addressing the crisis with manual processes that are inefficient and error-prone can take days – or even weeks – to resolve. If you've ever been in a situation like this, minutes can seem like hours. You're aware that not only is fast problem resolution critical, but that the displaced effort and incremental time incurred by you or your staff in resolving the issue is detrimental as well. Crisis preparation can help. But fire drills often don't compare to the real thing. To avoid constantly reacting to problems, many enterprises are harnessing automation to gain greater visibility into their network infrastructure to proactively manage and defeat danger before it occurs.
What you don't know can hurt you
Tags: automation, installed base, network inventory, smart net total care, SMARTnet, SNTC


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On a much more positive note - this shirt! I've been planning a bleach-dye project for awhile, and this shirt came along via my Mom. I got a wild hair this weekend and bleached it. The jeans are newly thrifted. Here's the question for the day -
Monday, October 17, 2011
DIY Monday
On a much more positive note - this shirt! I've been planning a bleach-dye project for awhile, and this shirt came along via my Mom. I got a wild hair this weekend and bleached it. The jeans are newly thrifted. Here's the question for the day -
13 comments:
Sorry you are having a bad day. You would think people would come out of the woodwork for volunteers. What about your local library, dog shelter, homeless shelter or a nursing home? Good luck! Hopefully something will come up for you soon.ReplyDelete
On a happier note your shirt is so cool! I would definitely love to see a DIY on this. Me and the little one like to tie dye, so this might be fun. Love the zippers on your jeans too. Heather
The shirt and harness look fab together :-)ReplyDelete
Sorry about the volunteer work situation, but I'm sure something wonderful is in store for you! :-)
The shirt turned out well. Sorry that you're having trouble finding a spot to volunteer.ReplyDelete
Cool t-shirt Megan. I'm really sorry that you are having such a hard time. I hope it all works out!ReplyDelete
Awww, I'm sorry you're having a bad day. Boo on Monday! Hopefully, you'll find the coolest volunteering job EVER.ReplyDelete
In the meantime, you are rocking a fabulous look. So there's that, right? Right!
I can't believe you are having such a hard time volunteering...seems ironic that places who need volunteers are so picky. I'm just sayin'...ReplyDelete
I love your top - great tutorial too.
That is a pretty sweet DIY you've got there!ReplyDelete
Sorry to hear that you're having a rough time, hon. Hang in there!ReplyDelete
Awesome bleaching on your top! I did something similar back in the 80s, to a pair of purple jeans.
Does it have to be for an organization or can it be for a neighbour / family? There'd certainly be less bureaucratic processes!ReplyDelete
THe shirt turned out well!
sorry you're feeling frustrated and that no one will give you a volunteer gig. that totally sucks! but that top is adorable and as always, i love your harness! such a great look.ReplyDelete
you have nice blog and that shirt is so cute,folower :)ReplyDelete
- Jennifer SOctober 18, 2011 at 6:47 AM
How about volunteering at an animal shelter?ReplyDelete
I love the harness and love that you can always pull it off. :)
Hang in there!
Soup kitchen? You usually can do it same day.ReplyDelete


text:
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Appliance Assault by Grandpa
Posted 23 July 2010 - 08:57 PM
I get a call for a noisey Amana Washer. I get to the customers house and customer says his washer is noisey in spin. Grandpa says his washer sounds like the noise is coming from inside the washer. Customer seems nice, just another service call.
Sooo, i promptly turn timer to spin and sure enough i hear this metal on metal noise.. I open the lid and sound slowly winds down and stops. I'm thinking something in between the tubs or bearing or something. Anyway, as soon as i open the lid i see this nail wedged between the inner and outer tubs. Pretty obvious this is the culprit.
I grab my long nosed pliers and pull this wedged nail out.
I close the lid and hey noise is gone.. So i'm pretty happy at this point, i'm gonna be able to fix this for just a trip charge. Happy me and happy customer (so I thought).
I call the customer to the utiltiy room and explain what i've found. Customer acts indifferent to what i found. Says he wants the belt replaced. I explain that i don't carry this particular belt but i could go and get one even tho his belt looked fine. At that exact moment he grabs me by the shirt and pushes me into the wall.. I'm shocked and react by pushing him off me while asking him what the hell does he think he's doing. He says he's a retired A/C repairman and what kind of tech. doesn't have a belt for his washer.
I grab my bag and and call the police.. Police come and ask the guy if he did grab me and he says yes and no excuse for not having a belt for his Amana washer.
Now i could have put this guy in jail. Nice police guys wanted to teach him a lesson. He was in his late 60's and to this day i can't figure out what the heck this guy was thinking. I let him off the hook with just an apology and a service charge.... What would you guys have done???
Posted 24 July 2010 - 02:07 AM
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Posted 26 July 2010 - 02:20 PM
My first thought would probably be to pimp slap the man, but I probably would have done the same thing you did. Calling the police is probably the only reason he paid you the service call unfortunately.
That was what alot ofr tech's have told me i shoulda done....bitch slap the guy....hahahhaa so funny when u put it like that.
Posted 26 July 2010 - 08:53 PM
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Posted 29 July 2010 - 05:22 PM
Posted 30 July 2010 - 06:38 PM
This is logged as a formal police report and is likely not the 1st for this guy. Your call to the police will likely pay dividends to the next person that crosses path with this unstable nut. In a really serious criminal case--it can be legally argued and demonstrated to a jury that this walking temper-tenatrum has demonstrated a *pattern* of open hostility and unprovoked assault towards others.
Retaliating by beating a customer can get you in a world of civil and criminal court trouble (except in self-defense--ie, on-going attack).
In my 29 years of appliance service--I've only had two "incidents".
The first occurred when I was a rookie servicer sometime in the early 80s---an "older" guy (mid 30s) yelled into my face an inch from my nose (spit and all) that he was NOT GOING TO PAY NO SERVICE CHARGE TO DIAGNOSE A WASHER THAT WASN'T WORTH REPAIRING!
He was in his underwear. Turned and stormed up the steps to the bedroom.
His wife paid the bill and apologized most sincerely for hubby's outburst--explaining that he had just lost his job at Conrail (railroad).
The second was more recent--about 8 years ago. A timid grandmother (60-ish) that went viral (possibly bi-polar) when the new Frigidaire washer we sold / installed had a faulty bearing problem. This required removing the "new" washer and installing another--but on the next day.
No-can-do says grandma. She ABSOLUTELY NEEDS A NEW WASHER TONIGHT AND TONIGHT ONLY!
We politely inform grandma that we are indeed sorry for this unforeseen inconvenience---but assure her that tomorrow will bring success (less than 24 hours).
Grandma rambles on & on & on ad infinitum about things we cannot comprehend.
I interrupt & say bluntly : "Good night ma'am--we're going to return this dud washer back to the distributor." (Not really intent on returning--either.)
Washer gets loaded back into truck----at this point grandma had left the townhome and drove off---or so we thought. Squealing tires can be heard at the intersection to her community and as we climbed into the truck and closed the doors---grandma's Toyota comes wheeling around the corner and screeches to a halt in from of our truck. Effectively preventing our exit.
Rolls down the window and declares (screams) to the entire neighborhood that: SHE CANNOT BE WITHOUT A F**CKING WASHER!!!
I observe her exiting the Toyota and walking past my driver-side door while yelling and babbling---and then she enters her home but leaves the front door open. Through my side view mirror--I can see her rocking in her rocking chair.
I call 911. I also inform my father who was with me this particular day--- that if this woman comes out with any type of weapon--we will plow thru her Toyota to remove ourselves from possible danger--so I kept the engine idling--just in case.
Police arrive--I explained all that transpired. The officers appear unsurprised and walk into the home and instruct this--now docile grandma--to remove her vehicle from the front of our truck--or she faces arrest. She does and we depart.
Very strange episode but very likely due to a woman with mental health issues.
Musty odor
L-O-N-G cycle times
Dingy/yellowing whites
Suds error message
Slow spin speeds
Intermittent water leaks (from rear of washer)
And other annoying symptoms which vary brand-to brand.
Read below:
The *correct* amount of HE (High Efficiency) detergent that should be used in any front load or agitatorless top load washer with tub sizes 3.0 cu ft and larger is as follows:
HE: (2) Tablespoons Per Wash Load
HE 2X: (1) Tablespoon
HE 3X: (1) Teaspoon
Perform a TUB CLEAN CYCLE every (4) months.
Use: "Tide Washing Machine Cleaner"
Posted 31 July 2010 - 04:35 AM
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Your Sometimes-Lucid Host:
"If I can't help you fix your appliance and make you 100% satisfied, I will come to your home and slice open my belly,
spilling my steaming entrails onto your floor."


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...and the pace was higher with Dani beating the lap record.
Rossi may have had trouble with the CRT's in Valencia but I'm sure he creamed the Superbikes in Aragon...