text:
Hold down Control (PC) or Command (Mac) key + mouseclick to select more than one option
|Avg. Dinner Entrée
|Greater than $25
|$18.01 - $25
|$12.01 - $18
|$7.01 - $12
|Less than $7
Posted by Linero on 02/01/2009
Somethings gone wrong at Dojo. It used to have a fresh feeling with the food and polite, but slow service. The prices were and are very low, but now the food is greasy and dry and the service has gone from slow to rude. A waitress told me off yesterday when I asked her about my cappuccino that had been sitting on the bar for 5 minutes. And along with that, the bathroom was very unpleasant. Not going there anymore.
Posted by Anonymous on 01/14/2009
The food's ok and I thought that's ok, because you get what you pay for BUT a charge (75 cents) for getting food "to go" especially when I'm picking it up?? Outrageous and totally not worth it.
Posted by digby on 11/13/2008
Yes it's enexpensive, but that doesn't mean it's a great deal. I have given this place a few chances and while I don't care about the service (the place has less to it than a Diner) my problem is the food is really bland and generic. Aside from the great carrot dressing everyone talks about, nothing is too good. To get a plate of Yakisoba is going to cost you at least ten bucks after tax and tip and it is no better than lo mein from any corner chinese spot. The fries are tasty but what shoe string fires aren't? The burger is a thin frozen patty cooked to death.
Posted by Saoirse on 08/27/2008
Ehh the service is pretty bad but the food is worth it. It's depressing there's no more dojo dip but the dip for the chicken fingers appetizer is really good. The tahini dressing is the best thing in this world.
Posted by Anonymous on 08/26/2008
I love the food at Dojo. Its healthy, cheap, and quick. However my favorite menu items are missing too on the new menu. Chicken Sukiyaki salad and Dojo dip sandwich? Please bring them back!
Posted by Anonymous on 07/25/2008
I used to go to Dojo all the time for the Dojo dip and the shrimp/vegetable tempura combo. Neither of those things are on the menu anymore! The house dip, come on.... It's good food and cheap, but those were two of the best things on the menu and the lack of consistency is no good.
Posted by s on 07/15/2008
i go here at least once a week after classes at nyu. there is something for everyone and the prices are really cheap. the service is...well...the service is pretty terrible sometimes, but if you can deal with that, this place is gold.


text:
Availability of specified field of study does NOT indicate that major/minor credit will be granted. Students must consult with major/minor advisor regarding coursework for major/minor credit.
Bilbao, Spain - Universidad de Deusto
Madrid, Spain - USC Semester in Madrid
Latin America:
São Paulo, Brazil
Salvador da Bahia, Brazil
Santiago, Chile

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Query: Spence
From: James Stewart
Fuquay Varina, NC 20744
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
I am looking for the date and location for both the marriage and death of my great grandfather, Bud Spence. He was likely married sometime around 1910, and lived in either Durham or Fuquay Varina, NC. One of his daughter's birth names was Lillian Spence. Thanks.


text:
A wireless transmit/receive unit comprising a radio frequency signal measurement device that is configured to produce a value indicating a radio frequency signal, noise and interference received power at an antenna connector. An average noise plus interference measuring device is configured to produce a value indicating a measured average noise plus interference metric. A received signal to noise indication calculation device is configured to calculate a received signal to noise indicator from the value indicating a radio frequency signal, noise and interference received power at an antenna connector and the value indicates a measured average noise plus interference metric.
1. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising:
a radio frequency signal measurement device configured to measure a radio frequency signal power;
an average noise plus interference (ANPI) calculation device configured to produce an ANPI value based on a noise plus interference metric value; and
a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI) calculation device configured to derive an RSNI value by subtracting the ANPI value from the measured radio frequency signal power and dividing a result of the subtraction by the ANPI value.
2. The WTRU of
3. The WTRU of
4. The WTRU of
5. The WTRU of
6. The WTRU of
7. The WTRU of
8. The WTRU of
9. The WTRU of
10. The WTRU of
11. The WTRU of
12. The WTRU of
13. The WTRU of
14. The WTRU of
15. A method for use in a wireless communication comprising:
measuring a radio frequency signal power;
producing an average noise plus interference (ANPI) value based on a noise plus interference metric value; and
deriving a received signal to noise indicator RSNI by subtracting the ANPI value from the measured radio frequency signal power and dividing a result of the subtraction by the ANPI value; and
transmitting the RSNI.
16. The method of
17. The method of
18. The method of
19. The method of
20. The method of
21. The method of
22. The method of
23. The method of
24. The method of
25. The method of
transmitting the RSNI in a management frame.
26. The method of
27. The method of
28. A wireless device comprising:
a radio frequency signal device configured to produce a received channel power indicator (RCPI);
an average noise plus interference device configured to produce an average noise plus interference metric (ANPI); and
a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI) calculation device configured to calculate an RSNI value that is directly related to (RCPI-ANPI)/ANPI.
29. The wireless device of
30. The wireless device of
31. The wireless device of
32. The wireless device of
33. The wireless device of
34. The wireless device of
35. The wireless device of
36. The wireless device of
37. The wireless device of
38. The wireless device of
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/729,332 filed on Dec. 5, 2003, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/440,073 filed on Jan. 14, 2003, which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
The present invention relates generally to wireless communications. In particular, the present inventions relates to measurements with respect to such communications.
This specification includes the following acronyms:
The current IEEE standard 802.11 is entrusted with the task of providing interfaces, measurements, and mechanisms to support higher layer functions for efficient network management. Presently, the 802.11 standard has defined several physical parameters, none of which is completely suitable for network management purposes. One example of a measurable parameter is received signal strength indicator (RSSI), which is a reportable parameter for each received frame but is not quantified in the standards, and is not fully specified. The standards do include certain definitions in the context of RSSI, but it remains that RSSI poses certain limitations for use in network management since RSSI parameters from different stations (STAs) may not be uniformly defined and thus are not comparable.
A second suggested measurable parameter is the signal quality (SQ), which also happens to be an unquantized indicator of code synchronization, but is only applicable to the DSSS PHY modulation and is not applicable to OFDM PHY modulations. Yet another measurable parameter is the RPI histogram, which, even though quantized and specified, cannot make target measurements on any AP. RPI histograms measure channel power from all sources including the 802.11 sources, radars, and all other interference sources, which is not helpful for relying on the RPI histogram as a controlling parameter.
Current standards define received signal strength indication based mainly on measurement of AP signals:
(1) on the same channel, same physical layer, and same station; and
(2) on different channels, same physical layer, and same station.
Significantly, measurements involving different physical layers and the same or different stations, even though required, are not presently addressed in the standards.
Network management needs comparative PHY measurements for use in handoff decisions, for example. The following types of comparative PHY measurements are made.
1. To compare AP signals on the same channel, the same PHY, in the same STA.
2. To compare AP signals on the same channel, the same PHY, in different STAs.
3. To compare AP signals on different channels, the same PHY, in the same STA.
4. To compare AP signals on different channels, the same PHY, in different STAs.
5. To compare AP signals on different PHYs in different STAs.
6. To compare AP signals on different PHYs in the same STA. Comparative measurements are crucial to handoff decisions for Network Management.
RSSI, as currently defined, only addresses categories (1) and (3) above. The RSSI is a measure of the RF energy received by the DSSS PHY or the OFDM PHY. RSSI indications of up to eight bits (256 levels) are supported. The allowed values for RSSI range from 0 through RSSI maximum. This parameter is a measure by the PHY sublayers of the energy observed at the antenna used to receive the current PPDU. RSSI is measured during the reception of the PLCP preamble. RSSI is intended to be used in a relative manner, and it is a monotonically increasing function of the received power.
CCK, ER-PBCC: the 8-bit value of RSSI as described in 126.96.36.199.
ERP-OFDM, DSSS-OFDM, the 8 bit value is in the range of 0 to RSSI maximum as described in 184.108.40.206.
Some limitations of the RSSI indicator are: RSSI is a monotonic, relative indicator of power at the antenna connector, which indicates sum of desired signal, noise, and interference powers. In high interference environments, RSSI is not an adequate indicator of desired signal quality. RSSI is not fully specified: there are no unit definitions and no performance requirements (accuracy, fidelity, testability). Since so little about RSSI is specified, it must be assumed that widely variant implementations already exist. It is not possible to compare RSSIs from different products and perhaps not even from different channels/bands within the same product.
Although RSSI has limited use for evaluating AP options within a given PHY, it is not useful in comparing different PHYs. RSSI must be rescaled for DSSS and OFDM PHYs. RSSI is clearly not useable by network management for load balancing or load shifting and RSSI from one STA does not relate to RSSI from any other STA.
A wireless transmit/receive unit comprising a radio frequency signal measurement device that is configured to produce a value indicating a radio frequency signal, noise and interference received power at an antenna connector. An average noise plus interference measuring device is configured to produce a value indicating a measured average noise plus interference metric. A received signal to noise indication calculation device is configured to calculate a received signal to noise indicator from the value indicating a radio frequency signal, noise and interference received power at an antenna connector and the value indicates a measured average noise plus interference metric.
A more detailed understanding of the invention may be had from the following description of preferred embodiments, given by way of example and to be understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
It is desirable to provide a method of network management, considering comparative measurements of AP signals in all varying situations including different physical layers and the same or different stations.
Described hereinafter is a demodulator-specific, subjective estimator of perceived S/(N+I) specified by means of a quantized FER indication. The following is noted in the context of the description of the exemplary embodiment.
All digital demodulators use tracking loops and complex post-processing to demodulate received symbols. Many internal demodulator parameters are proportional to perceived S/(N+I). Some examples are:
PSK: baseband phase jitter, base band Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)
DSSS: spreading code correlation quality
OFDM: frequency tracking and channel tracking stability
Demodulator internal parameters are available on a frame-by-frame basis. Demodulator parameters proportional to analog S/(N+I) are invariant with respect to data rates. The same parameter may be used at any data rate.
Demodulator internal parameters may be specified and calibrated in a controlled environment with respect to actual FER performance at two or more operating points defined by rate, modulation, and FEC. Such demodulator internal parameters estimate FER performance in both interference environments and interference-free (noise only) environments and may be used as the basis for PSNI. For PSNI to be a useful indicator it is not necessary to specify which demodulator internal parameter to use as the basis for the indicator, but it is sufficient to only specify how the quantized indicator relates to FER.
The following features are to be noted in connection with the inventive use of PSNI for network management:
PSNI is specified like RSSI as an 8-bit unsigned value, monotonically increasing with increasing S/(N+I).
PSNI is logarithmically scaled to perceived S/(N+I). PSNI is based on a demodulator internal parameter which provides a fast estimator for FER.
Specify PSNI output indication across a range defined by two signal quality points: first point at a minimum useable signal quality level, second point at a maximum signal quality level.
Specify the output value and accuracy of the output value for at least two FER points, and at least one FER point for each valid modulation, FEC, and data rate combination.
PSNI range may span the lower 40 db portion of the operating range of S/(N+I) to cover high FERs at data rates from 1 to 54 Mbps, but higher or lower range spans may be used.
The PSNI indicator is a measure of the perceived, post-processing signal-to-noise-plus-interference (S/(N+I)) ratio in the demodulator. The allowed values for the Perceived Signal to Noise Indicator (PSNI) parameter are in the range from 0 through 255 (i.e., eight binary bits). This parameter is a measure by the PHY sublayer of the perceived signal quality observed after RF downconversion, and is derived from internal digital signal processing parameters of a demodulator used to receive the current frame. PSNI is measured over the PLCP preamble and over the entire received frame. PSNI is intended to be used in a relative manner, and it is a monotonically increasing, logarithmic function of the observed S/(N+I). PSNI accuracy and range are specified at a minimum of two different FER operating conditions.
Therefore, in a high performance system, there is only a minor difference between the signal to noise ratio at point A and that at the input to demodulator 16 and tracking loops. In a low complexity and low performance system, the signal to noise ratio difference between point A and the input to demodulator 16 may be significant. The signal to noise ratio at the output of demodulator 16 (point C) is only indirectly observable by means of the bit error rate (BER). The BER at point C relates to the signal to noise ratio at point B according to a theoretical demodulation performance curve which is adjusted to account for actual demodulator implementation losses.
Similarly, the BER at the output of FEC decoder 18 (point D) relates to the FEC decoder input according to a theoretical FEC decoder performance curve which is adjusted to account for actual FEC decoder implementation losses. The frame error rate (FER) at point E at the output of the frame check function 20 is a direct mathematical function of the BER and the error distribution statistics at point D. There are normally no implementation losses associated with the frame check. In general, for low BERs, the FER is equal to the BER multiplied by the frame size in bits.
The frame check function 20 of receiver 10 in
The output of the FEC decoder is generally correct. Therefore, this output is obtained and stored (steps S1 and S2). The FEC encoding rules are used to create a replica of the correct input bits (step S3) and each bit is compared to the corresponding bit that was actually input to the FEC decoder and stored (step S4). A count is increased for each comparison (step S5). Each disagreement (step S6) represents an input bit error (step S7) which is accumulated. This derived BER (steps S9, S10) may then be used with the actual performance curve of the FEC decoder to estimate observed FER (step S11). The comparisons (error or no error—step S6) are continued until a count N is reached (step S8), at which time the count at step S7 is identified as the BER (step S9).
In this way, using the actual implementation losses with the theoretical performance curves allows one to relate the signal to noise measurements at any point to the signal to noise measurement at any other point.
From a network management point of view, the signal quality delivered to the user is best represented by the actual FER or observed FER (point E). The PSNI concept provides an indicator which directly relates to observed FER for all STAs, regardless of each STA's different implementation loss. This is accomplished by 1) basing the PSNI on the measurement of an internal demodulator parameter, 2) specifying the PSNI indicator values with respect to observed FER at particular data rate/demodulation/FEC combination points, and 3) adjusting the internal demodulator parameter measurement to account for actual FEC decoder losses which occur downstream from the measurement point. By using a measurement point internal to the demodulator, the measured signal quality already includes the effects of the STA front end losses. By specifying the PSNI indicator with respect to observed FER, actual demodulator losses are included. By adjusting the demodulator measurement to account for actual FEC decoder losses, the validity of the indicator is preserved for all FEC decoders which the STA may use.
Since PSNI is based on an internal demodulator parameter, it can be measured and reported on a frame-by-frame basis. BER or FER measurements at points C or E require thousands of frames for accurate measurement. Therefore PSNI is a practical, fast, and available indictor of observed signal quality.
Measurements of analog signal to noise at points A or B can be performed quickly, yet without also knowing the sum of all the implementation losses further downstream, they cannot be accurately related to observed FER at point E.
In these ways, the inventive use of PSNI for network management is more practical to implement, faster to measure, requires no knowledge of STA implementation, and is thus an improvement over the alternatives discussed here.
The advantages of PSNI over RSSI include the following: The definition of PSNI meets the requirements for RSSI in that the PSNI is an 8-bit unsigned value (for DSSS PHYs) and is proportional to received signal power. PSNI may be reported in any data field calling for RSSI, which makes the PSNI indicator broadly applicable as an interlayer frame quality measurement. PSNI MIB entries and reporting/posting may further be mandated in 802.11 to make the PSNI improvements available to higher layers.
The foregoing is a description of an exemplary embodiment of the PSNI indicator and method of network management. It is envisaged that the invention is applicable to all modes of transmission including TDD, FDD, CDMA, and other modes without exception. It is also conceivable that variations of the described PSNI indicator and method with suitable modifications are conceivable. All such modifications and variations are envisaged to be within the purview of the invention.
At point C, the quality of the output of the demodulator and tracking loops 906 can be measured as a bit error rate (BER) at each data rate from each AP. For some physical layer implementations, a forward error correction (FEC) decoder 908 is used. At point D, the quality of the output of the FEC 908 can be measured by the BER as well. A frame check device 910 checks each frame of data for errors, such as by using a circular redundancy check (CRC). A quality at the output of the frame check device 910 can be measured as the frame error rate (FER) at each data rate from each access point.
An average noise plus interference (ANPI) value is measured by an ANPI measurement device 918 at the antenna connector 914. Although illustrated as being measured at the antenna connector, the ANPI may be measured at another point in the physical layer processing and extrapolated to represent the value at the antenna connector. The ANPI is a value representing the average noise plus interference power on the measured channel. In one embodiment, ANPI is measured during the measurement duration when NAV is equal to zero or, in other word, when the virtual carrier sense (CS) mechanism indicates an idle channel. A preferred value for ANPI is defined in dbm using the same units as for RCPI. In one embodiment, ANPI may be derived as a summary metric from the noise histogram by calculating a weighted average of the histogram bin power levels. In an exemplary embodiment, ANPI may be calculated by a weighted average for the reported RPI densities assuming noise power to be the mid range value for each of the nine defined ranges for the RPI levels, such as defined in Table 1, although other ANPI calculation techniques may be used.
In an 802.11 environment, it is difficult to derive a neutral interference power measurement, due to the CSMA/CA and time-varying interference levels that other wireless systems typically do not have. By converting the interference power histograms into a scalar value provides a more meaningful useful measure of the
Using the measured RCPI and ANPI, a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI) is measured. The RSNI value is a received signal to noise measurement for a received frame at the antenna connector 914, such as the currently in use antenna connector. This value is preferably reported in an RSNI field, such as to an access point. The RSNI is added to a beacon report, frame report and reassociation response. The RSNI is the received signal to noise plus interference ratio derived from the measured RCPI and ANPI. Preferably, the ANPI is the most recent ANPI value measured on the channel used to receive the frame; however, other techniques may be used. An exemplary embodiment of a derivation of RSNI is a ratio of the received signal power (RCPI−ANPI) over the noise plus interference power (ANPI), expressed in db, such as in half db steps. For a preferred range of −10 db to +118 db, RSNI=[(ratio in db)+10)*2]. The ratio is (RCPI−ANPI)/ANPI. This ratio is preferably defined at the medium access control (MAC) layer.
In some implementations, RSNI can be used as an effective comparative tool to evaluate the delivered signal quality between stations. Because RSNI is measured at the antenna connector it provides a fair evaluation between stations. Various stations may have different RF/demodulation implementations, which can skew the results downstream. Although FER measurements at point E in
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text:
Find My iPhone updated to include Email notifications
Apple has quietly updated its Find My iPhone application to include a couple of very handy new features. After you have updated the app, when you try to locate one of your devices that is currently offline, you will receive an email to tell you when it has reconnected to a network.
You can also now delete a device that is attached to your account, without the need for it to be online. Previously you could only do this from the MobileMe web portal. If you don't have Find My iPhone you should get it as soon as possible. It is completely free and gives you an easy way to locate your iOS device, remotely lock it or completely wipe it, if it is stolen. We have a guide to show you how to set it up right here.
[Free – iTunes Link]
Have something to say about this story? Leave a comment! Need help with something else? Ask in our forums!
Reader comments
Find My iPhone updated to include Email notifications
Is there a way to turn off the email notifications? I've looked in all of my settings and don't see a place to turn that off. Thanks!
I do not like the email notifications! When parents are trying to locate teenagers we do not want them to receive an email that their iphone has been located! How can I turn the email notification off?
This app is indeed very handy. I've decided to download it after reading a few find my iPhone stories here. Anyway, it is very useful in case your phone is lost or stolen. As far as for notifications, they must have an option to be turned off.
To be more clear, we have 2 iPhones & one iPad 2, all hooked up & working fine so far on the Find My Phone app., but yesterday, one of the iPhones showed up as "offline" on the app., and was able to find the other two. How is this possible? Is there a way to shut you iphone down to "offline" from this app?
If I log into "Find My IPhone" on my phone to check up on the location of my teenage girls does it send an email to my wifes email which all of our phones are registered under? Or does it send any kind of alert to their phones? Thank You.
You should have the right to turn off the email notification if you choose!! Tracking a kids phone and they get the email not cool


text:
Contact me to book event coverage or learn more about my services.
Documentation is tailored to your organization, the nature of the work and the desired use for archival, educational or promotional purposes. Images are captured with a high-end DSLR (Canon EOS 5D Mark III) and professional studio lighting equipment. A color managed workflow ensures accurate representation of the work. Images are delivered in formats suitable for print, web and email. We also offer an integrated set of services that includes digital asset management, archiving and cataloging.
Contact me to discuss your art documentation and archival needs and learn more about my services.


text:
I have an iPhone 5 that I got it on the first day it luanch in Canada from Apple Store at Sherway Garden, and the carrier that I have the phone is with Rogers.
What happen is that yesterday when anyone call me or if I call them the person on the other phone will hear my voice cutting off, but not all the time though....
So today I decided to call Rogers and see if it's a network problem, and the first time I called them they asked me to do a hard reset and they told me they will do something from their side. That one didn't fix, so I called them the second time and this technical support asks me to turn my phone off and he will do the network update from his side again, and told me if it didn't fix I should try restore the phone.
I did what he told me and after that I've tried again and the problem didn't resolve, so I decided to do a fresh restore to iOS 6.0.2
Now my problem is that after the restore I'm stuck on this screen says
"Sim Not Valid"
Only compatible SIM cards from a supported carrier may be used to activate iPhone. Please insert the SIM card that came withyour iPhone or visit the supported carrier's store to receive a replacement SIM card.
I called the technical suport again and this guy told me that my SIM card is affected one and I should get a replace SIM card from Rogers store, but today everywhere closed at the time I called, and tomorrow also they will be closed
So I thought that my brother also using iPhone 5 with Rogers so I borrowed his SIM card and try to activate the phone and no luck even with his SIM card it still gives me the same error.
Now I'm wondering what could be the problem?
The Apple Activation server's problem maybe? or the phone?


text:
Faculty Referral
Common reasons faculty refer students include: excessive absenteeism, poor participation and/or
performance on exams, challenges with study skills and/or preparation for class, and other problems
(financial, health, personal, etc.) that are affecting class performance. Once a student is referred,
staff contact the student and assist the student with accessing appropriate services. As needed, referred students are monitored through the semester to ensure services are accessed and improving the student's academic experience and success at Pacific.
To refer a student in need, simply email email@example.com. If you have questions, call 209-946-2177.
Urgent Referral: If you feel the student is in need of urgent support, please consider the following
immediate action items before submitting a referral center form:
Medical Emergency: For a medical emergency, dial Public Safety's emergency number: 209-946-
Imminent Self-Harm and/or Threat to Others: If you are concerned about a student engaged in
imminent self-harm or threat to others, please notify Public Safety immediately at the emergency
number: 209-946-3911. It is recommended you save it as "A_Public Safety Emergency" in your cell
phone so that it is at the top of the phone contacts list.
For a description of emergency therapy services available to students, visit the Counseling and
Psychological Services (CAPS) website.
Disruptive Behavior: If a student becomes confrontational or disruptive, do not become
argumentative but notify Public Safety immediately. Public Safety will respond and document this
behavior and it will be forwarded to the Office of Student Conduct for further action. You may
also choose to arrange a one-on-one meeting to discuss these outbursts with the student and how
they will not be tolerated along with possible consequences for further outbursts. Public Safety is
available to have someone present if you are concerned your safety or can use additional support.
Please keep Public Safety's number in your cell phone and carry it openly so you can call
immediately if there is an issue. The emergency number is: 209-946-3911 and it is recommended
you save it as "A_Public Safety Emergency" in your cell phone so that it is at the top of the phone
contacts list. You can also call Public Safety using a blue light phone.
Victim Advocate: provides free and confidential information, advocacy and support to students and
employees who may be victims of crime, violence or abuse. A confidential sexual assault report
form can be accessed on the Victim's Advocacy Program website and the Victim Advocate is on-call 24/7 at 209-403-0250.


text:
View more of Marla J. Brenner's plein air paintings in this online exclusive gallery, which expands upon the print feature in the April 2007 issue of American Artist.
To read the feature article on this artist, check out the April 2007 issue of American Artist.
© 2015 F+W All rights reserved.Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms and Privacy Policy, updated March 2007


text:
by Kristofer Schwetzer, Animal Control Officer
Bailey is a female German Shepard mix that came across some unfortunate circumstances. On January 12, 2013, the CCSPCA received a call from the Fresno Police Department requesting assistance at an apartment complex in southeast Fresno. The Fresno Police needed to conduct a welfare check at an apartment after the management notified them that the current tenant had been evicted. However, the management had not heard from the tenant and they could hear barking coming from inside the apartment. It was reported that the dog had been left in the apartment for at least one week, possibly two, with no care.
When a CCSPCA Officer arrived on scene, they found a very scared and malnourished Bailey. The Officer was able to gain Bailey's trust and took her to the CCSPCA animal care center. The apartment had obviously been cleaned out. There was trash and feces all over the floor in every room. It appeared Bailey was surviving on whatever she could find to eat in the apartment. Bailey weighed 35 pounds and for her size should weigh at least 45 to 50 pounds.
A further investigation revealed that Bailey was a Service Dog and was well trained. Not to mention, she was very sweet, loves to play fetch, is leash trained and very intelligent; playful yet gentle. Bailey was cared for by the CCSPCA. She had contracted hook worm and kennel cough and was treated for both. A desperate attempt to locate the owner had failed. Bailey was taken out for walks and played with by CCSPCA staff on a daily basis. It was not too long before the entire staff at our animal care center fell in love with her.
After approximately a month of attempts to locate the owner of Bailey, it came time to come up with other options for her. Bailey had been a victim of a horrible crime of animal cruelty and abandonment. It was clear that the owner had no concern or intent to claim her. It was looking bleak for Bailey, but then her luck suddenly changed.
On February 9, 2013, a citizen of Fresno reported that his dog had passed on from old age. He and his wife were devastated. They are both in their 80's and wanted a companion. The male citizen was a retired US Naval war Veteran. He and his wife were both animal lovers. It seemed as though fate may have changed for Bailey.
The citizen did not have any form of transportation, so Bailey was brought to the citizen's residence at their request for a meet and greet. It was love at first sight. Bailey quickly bonded with her new Mom and Dad. Arrangements were made at the CCSPCA to get Bailey altered, cleaned, and groomed. Bailey has been rescued and adopted by this compassionate war hero and his loving wife.


text:
Maipu Travel Guide
HotelChatter Video Tours / HotelChatter Reviews / Photo Gallery / Argentina Hotels / Wine Hotels / Mendoza Hotels / Jetsetter / → All Tags
Inside a Room at Hotel El Aguamiel on the Outskirts of Mendoza, Argentina
June 27, 2012 at 2:02 PM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)
Have you ever been standing in the middle of a sun-drenched field or garden and just wished you could plop a bed right there in the middle of it all and take a nap? Well, the Hotel El Aguamiel took that yearning to a higher level and plopped a 6-room hotel in the middle of a vineyard, in Argentina's wine country just outside of Mendoza.
Yesterday we toured you around the restaurant, pool and grounds, but today we'll actually go inside our own room on the property, # 6.


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As the Dallas Cowboys prepare for Peyton Manning and the undefeated Denver Broncos (4-0) the Cowboys are shaking the starting lineup. The Cowboys have benched second year weak side linebacker Bruce Carter in favor of veteran linebacker Ernie Sims.
Ernie Sims says he's starting at weak side linebacker this week. Been taking first team snaps over Bruce Carter— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) October 3, 2013
Orlando Scandrick will get the start over Morris Claiborne which will place Claiborne as the third corner on the depth chart. Scandrick, according to Pro Football Focus is allowing only 5.8 yards per reception in his coverage area that is tops in the NFL.
In other Cowboys news wide receiver Miles Austin did not practice today due to a nagging hamstring issue. George Selvie also did not practice as he is still dealing with concussion issues.
Selvie declined interview req. Wed. Not working today. That's concussion stuff. Tap your brakes on 'sourced' promises hes ready Sunday— mike fisher (@fishsports) October 3, 2013
Linebacker Justin Durant and backup defensive end Edgar Jones didn't practice as they are both nursing groin injuries.
Special teams/wide receiver Dwayne Harris was limited in practice but seems like he will play in Sunday's game.


text:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.
The Notebook
The Notebook
How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806 - 1861
The Notebook
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1772 - 1834
All thoughts, all passions, all delights, Whatever stirs this mortal frame, All are but ministers of Love, And feed his sacred flame. Oft in my waking dreams do I Live o'er again that happy hour, When midway on the mount I lay, Beside the ruin'd tower. The moonshine, stealing o'er the scene, Had blended with the lights of eve; And she was there, my hope, my joy, My own dear Genevieve! She lean'd against the armèd man, The statue of the armèd Knight; She stood and listen'd to my lay, Amid the lingering light. Few sorrows hath she of her own, My hope! my joy! my Genevieve! She loves me best whene'er I sing The songs that make her grieve. I play'd a soft and doleful air; I sang an old and moving story— An old rude song, that suited well That ruin wild and hoary. She listen'd with a flitting blush, With downcast eyes and modest grace; For well she knew I could not choose But gaze upon her face. I told her of the Knight that wore Upon his shield a burning brand; And that for ten long years he woo'd The Lady of the Land. I told her how he pined: and ah! The deep, the low, the pleading tone With which I sang another's love, Interpreted my own. She listen'd with a flitting blush, With downcast eyes, and modest grace; And she forgave me, that I gazed Too fondly on her face! But when I told the cruel scorn That crazed that bold and lovely Knight, And that he cross'd the mountain-woods, Nor rested day nor night; That sometimes from the savage den, And sometimes from the darksome shade, And sometimes starting up at once In green and sunny glade— There came and look'd him in the face An angel beautiful and bright; And that he knew it was a Fiend, This miserable Knight! And that, unknowing what he did, He leap'd amid a murderous band, And saved from outrage worse than death The Lady of the Land;— And how she wept and clasp'd his knees; And how she tended him in vain— And ever strove to expiate The scorn that crazed his brain;— And that she nursed him in a cave; And how his madness went away, When on the yellow forest leaves A dying man he lay;— His dying words—but when I reach'd That tenderest strain of all the ditty, My faltering voice and pausing harp Disturb'd her soul with pity! All impulses of soul and sense Had thrill'd my guileless Genevieve; The music and the doleful tale, The rich and balmy eve; And hopes, and fears that kindle hope, An undistinguishable throng, And gentle wishes long subdued, Subdued and cherish'd long! She wept with pity and delight, She blush'd with love and virgin shame; And like the murmur of a dream, I heard her breathe my name. Her bosom heaved—she stepp'd aside, As conscious of my look she stept— Then suddenly, with timorous eye She fled to me and wept. She half enclosed me with her arms, She press'd me with a meek embrace; And bending back her head, look'd up, And gazed upon my face. 'Twas partly love, and partly fear, And partly 'twas a bashful art, That I might rather feel, than see, The swelling of her heart. I calm'd her fears, and she was calm, And told her love with virgin pride; And so I won my Genevieve, My bright and beauteous Bride.
The Notebook
Sonnets on Love XIII
Jean de Sponde
"Give me a place to stand," Archimedes said, "and I can move the world." Paradoxical, clever, his remark which first explained the use of the lever was an academic joke. But if that dead sage could return to life, he would find a clear demonstration of his idea, which is not pure theory after all. That putative spot exists in the love I feel for you, my dear. What could be more immovable or stronger? What becomes more and more secure, the longer it is battered by inconstancy and the stress we find in our lives? Here is that fine fixed point from which to move a world that is out of joint, as he could have done, had he known a love like this.
The Notebook
I Love You
Sara Teasdale, 1884 - 1933
When April bends above me And finds me fast asleep, Dust need not keep the secret A live heart died to keep. When April tells the thrushes, The meadow-larks will know, And pipe the three words lightly To all the winds that blow. Above his roof the swallows, In notes like far-blown rain, Will tell the little sparrow Beside his window-pane. O sparrow, little sparrow, When I am fast asleep, Then tell my love the secret That I have died to keep.


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The New York Review at 50
The New York Review of Books celebrated its 50th anniversary last night with a party featuring Joan Didion, Mark Danner, Michael Chabon, Mary Beard, Daryl Pinckney and Daniel Mendelsohn, among others.
Capital New York's Lauren Kirchner went and seemed to really enjoy it.
Joseph Epstein, the essayist and Weekly Standard contributing editor, was not invited and thought less of it.
Please see the Comments FAQ if you have any additional questions or email your thoughts to firstname.lastname@example.com powered by Disqus


text:
Jean Hilliard
this wiki
Real Name: Jean Hilliard
Case: Medical Mystery
Date: December 20, 1980
Location: Lengby, Minnesota
Details: Jean Hilliard is an attractive 19-year-old resident of Lengby, Minnesota. One night as she was heading home, Jean's car became stuck in a ditch and she decided to walk the final distance home in the below twenty-five degree weather. The following morning, Jean was discovered frozen solid and near death in her front yard. She was frozen solid, none of her limbs would bend and she was unconscious. She was rushed to the hospital where everything was done to save her life, but the outlook appeared grim. If she survived at all, it was likely she'd come out of it with possible brain damage, but after 49 days in the hospital and in defiance of everything known about frostbite, Jean made an astonishing recovery and suffered no later ill effects.
Suspects: None
Extra Notes: This segment first ran on Unsolved Mysteries in the February 9, 1996 episode.
Results: Unsolved


text:
Friday, March 28, 2014
Bluffton had five hits in the final inning Wednesday to blow open a close game and earn a 6-1 victory at Ashley Ridge.
The game was scoreless through four innings and the Lady Swamp Foxes only trailed by 2 runs entering the seventh. Ashley Ridge put out the first two batters of the inning, but the Bobcats rallied to push the lead to 6-0.
After Bluffton pitcher Courtney Smith fanned the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh, Ashley Ridge pitcher Cam Alverson hit a home run just to the left of the flag pole in center field to give the Lady Swamp Foxes hope. Taylor DeLeon followed by reaching on an error, but the next batter struck out to end the game.
Smith only allowed three hits in picking up the pitching win. The other two hits came off the bats of leadoff hitter Val Frank and No. 9 hitter Alyssa Ateniza.
We made contact with the ball, but we just couldnt get it in the holes, Ashley Ridge coach Chelsie Lisenby said.
Blufftons Kim Kirby was 2 for 4 with a triple, two RBIs and a run scored. Smith was 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI. Morgane Parker was also 2 for 4, with a run scored.
The game was the Region 8-AAAA opener for Ashley Ridge. The Lady Swamp Foxes travel to Fort Dorchester March 28 for a 7 p.m. game.
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text:
See definition in Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryLine breaks: shred|der
Pronunciation: /ˈʃrɛdə/
Definition of shredder in English:
1A machine or other device for shredding something.
Example sentences
- In general, all garden shredders have a high watt motor and come with silent crushing system.
- Urschel Laboratories Inc. designs and manufactures cheese shredders.
- These tire shredders are incapable of shredding tires in excess of size 17 due to the diameter of the wire in the tire sidewall.
1.1A device for reducing documents to small unreadable strips: most shredders can handle at least five sheets of paper at a time
More example sentences
- Shredders are available for as little as £10.
- "You might as well throw these in your shredder," she said, digging some papers out of her brief case.
- Ideally, use a shredder with a cross-cut action, as these turn paper into tiny pieces of confetti.
2A musician who plays a very fast, intricate style of rock lead guitar: the guitarists are skilled, but not the fastest shredders around
More example sentences
- In the blusterless world of modern indie rock, she's something of an anomaly: an honest-to-God shredder.
- When the house lights go down this fall, a new generation of axe shredders, drummers and fearless frontmen will come together and rock.
- The Massachusetts-based Cave In originated in the mid 1990s as a brutal, dynamic, metal-tinged hardcore band akin to influential shredders like Converge, Coalesce, and Botch.
3 informal A snowboarder.
Example sentences
- When not on the snow, this 16-year-old shredder can be found refining his skating style.
- It would be a private oasis, a white, fluffy heaven: Valhalla for the true shredders.
- Upon arriving in Seattle we linked-up with snow shredders B.J. Kaiser and Tim Carlson.
Words that rhyme with shredderbedder, cheddar, Edda, Enzedder, header, Kedah, shedder, spreader, tedder, threader, treader, Vedda
Definition of shredder in:
- US English dictionary
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
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= trending


text:
Shows how to develop an interactive video gallery for the web in Dreamweaver using HTML5 with a Flash fallback, CSS, and the open-source JavaScript library jQuery.
"I often watch the lynda.com videos on my laptop while working out on a stationary bicycle. The short length of the video segments helps to keep me motivated: "I'll quit at the end of this chapter." So far I have lost 25 pounds!" —Gail P.
more from our members »


text:
Newsletter Archive
Issue 18 : Autumn 2004
Dr. Deborah Swallow, the newly appointed Director of the Courtauld Institute took up her duties at the beginning of the Autumn term, 2004. She succeeds Prof. James Cuno, who has become the Director of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Dr. Swallow read English at New Hall, University of Cambridge, and gained her PhD in Social Anthropology at Darwin College, Cambridge. From 1974-1983, whilst being an assistant curator at the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, she was Lecturer and Director of Studies in Anthropology at Girton College and was also Fellow of Darwin College.
Since 1983, she has served as Assistant Keeper, Acting Keeper, and Chief Curator of the Victoria and Albert Museums Indian Department, and Senior Chief Curator of the Museum. Most recently, as Director of Collections, she has had strategic responsibilities including acquisitions, research, assistant curator training, regional policy and outreach, and national and international relations. As Keeper, Dr. Swallow was responsible for the management of the Asian Department.
Dr. Swallow is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of the Advisory Board of the Nehru Centre (High Commission of India) and an Executive Trustee for the Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the V& A. She is a specialist in the history of the relationships between British, Indian and South-East Asian textiles and dress, and in the ways sectarian and cult affiliation have been expressed through the patronage of art and the endowment of religion, both in its built and material forms and as ceremonial and ritual performance. She has published widely on these subjects.
Of Dr. Swallow, Nicholas Ferguson, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Courtauld Institute said, "Dr, Swallow brings to the Courtauld the right combination of skills and experience to lead us into the future. She is a proven leader and committed to the highest standards in teaching and research."
Before she took up her post as Director, I had a conversation with Deborah Swallow about her attitudes to art, history, and her experience, both professional and academic, which makes her such an exciting appointment at a time when the Courtauld Institute faces fundamental questions about its role in art and cultural history.
" 'Woman museum curator, with non-art-historical background, with oriental expertise becomes director of western-oriented art-historical university. You would seem to be an unusual choice to supervise the next period at the Courtauld."
"I have worked in contexts where being a woman is not an issue. Anthropology at Cambridge was peopled with leading lights who were women, and that has been the case since the 1930s. At the V & A. I never had a sense of a distinction between male and female. It is a balanced institution which had a female director for several years. On a personal level, a feminine slant is not at the forefront of my consciousness.
"As to a non-art-historian — the Courtauld may seem to have taken a brave step! My first degree was in English literature, my next social anthropology. Approaches to the study of the non-western material world in anthropology have become much closer to those of the art historical world and both disciplines have learned hugely from each other. My anthropological colleagues might see my writing recently as art history. There is no dilemma there for me.
"Much of my non-western interest in recent years has been related to the interplay between east and west, and to the impact on India of western art and architecture in the 19th and 20th centuries. Amongst other things, I have collected work by modern artists from the Indian sub-continent for the V & A. In the 20th and 21st centuries it is impossible to treat these as isolated traditions.
"I have discovered that Courtauld already relates to traditions beyond Europe and the Western world. The work of the Research Forum has a broad range. So do the exhibitions in the Hermitage Rooms. Aspects of the work of several of the staff of the Institute reach into the middle eastern traditions, and the Roman expansion into the larger near-eastern world. Issues facing European medievalists have direct parallels in other parts of the world. From the other end, archaeology has been finding further evidence of Roman trade into India, and studies of the Greco-Roman influence in Gandhara in north-west Pakistan have led to increasingly sophisticated discussion about indigenous and imported traditions and the social contexts of stylistic transmission through west central Asia and Iran to mainland Greece. I would argue that we need to move beyond a view of the world, which simply counter-poses East and West. They are all interconnected in multiple ways. The same disciplines, applied with the same intellectual rigour, are required for their study.
"I feel privileged to be joining an institution with such a great reputation, with its outstanding scholars and students, with the exceptional benefit of a superb collection under its care and with its promise of a dynamic future. I look forward to strengthening established relationships and to initiating new partnerships between the Courtauld Institute and other institutions of artistic endeavour."
We wish her well in her future with the Institute.
Jane Ferguson
Editor, CIA News


text: (13 May 1907-17 October 2001). Kyoju dairi in Daito-ryu aikijujutsu. B. Semi, Yamagata Prefecture. Began practicing judo while a middle school student. While preparing for his university entrance examination in Kyoto, studied judo intensively at the Butokuden. Later, received a 2nd dan in judo directly from Jigoro KANO at the Kodokan. After enrolling in Takushoku University in Tokyo, took up the study of karate under Gichin Funakoshi and also devoted himself to zazen practice. About 1929 in Semi, first met Sokaku TAKEDA and became an enthusiatic student of Daito-ryu in his hometown. Certified as an instructor by Sokaku in 1935. Not active in martial arts after his training was interrupted by military service.


text:
Shopping in Brasov
Brasov's main shopping street is the pedestrianised Republicii Street.
It starts at the northeastern end of the Town Hall Square (Piata Sfatului) and leads towards the Central Park "Nicolae Titulescu".
You find all sorts of shops here, including clothes, books, souvenirs and even art. More shops can be found on the Mursenilor Street.
Also a visit of the stylish Galeria Corona shouldn't be missed, although you probably won't buy anything here.
The gallery houses many exclusive and exquisite Romanian designer boutiques. A free toilet and the Turabo Cafe can be found here as well.
The Galeria Corona is located in the historic Hirscher House at the Town Hall Square. The history of this former trade center dates back to the 16th century.
Galeria Corona: http://www.galeriilecorona.ro/
- Budget Travel
- Backpacking
- Trains
Shopping Street
Brasov is equipped with all the facilities of a modern city and is capable of catering to all the needs of present-day city life. It is famous for its traditional handicrafts and jewellery, which are considered among the best to be found in the entire region of Transylvania.
- Road Trip
Virus: Funny!
There is this shop in Brasov that is called VIRUS and we couldn;t help laughing outloud!!! THey said they offerred 10% discount, and we wondered was it for the virus of influenza, HPV or flu, and would the ebola or (God forbid!) aids patient get a greater discount... Morbid black humour, but c'est la vie... better to laugh tnah cry!
Star department store: Your one-stop shop
From clothes to luggage to aftershave, Star is a multi-level department store that has it all. Prices are higher than other stores, but convenience is its main selling point. If you need a battery for your camera or a video cassette for your camcorder, you can find it at Star.
Str. Republicii: The shopping core of Brasov
This is the shopping street of Brasov.
You can buy all sort of stuff here, from shoes to clothes to antiques or art.
Something I bought here is some Gerovital products. A brand of Romanian made beauty products that are made only of natural ingredients. Very reasonably priced and you can find them in any Pharmacy.
Good option if you run out of moisturiser!
Star: Star
Star is a three floor supermarket selling various things
In the basement you will find the food, cosmetics, drinks and home supplies.
Ground level you will find women clothing (Steilman, TinaR, Wrangler) handicrafts, ceramics, glass, suitcases and lady bags, brand name perfumes, flowers, stockings
First floor you will find the men's stuff and the toilets. It will cost you 1 lei to use the toilet however.
- Women's Travel
- Seniors
Corona Galleries: Luxury shopping
Very elegant store with well known brands...If you're looking for "Furla" handbags or "Catalin Botezatu" dresses or "Mihai Albu " shoes...then you are at the right place!
What to buy: women, men or kids clothes, handbags, shoes, gifts
What to pay: high quality things ...at (very) high prices, of course:)
The best area for shopping is the Old Center and there Republicii Street and Muresenilor Street. Republicii Str. starts in Sfatului Square.At the end of Republicii str. you'll find Star which is the biggest store in town.
On the road to Bucuresti you'll find Selgros cash & carry and Practiker.
On the road to Sibiu you'll find Metro Cash&Carry.
--------: Flowers and decortv.
this is a small place on Muresenilor street where you can find very interesting flowers presentations and not only. old fashion very styleish
- 1
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text:
In the last couple of weeks I have been talking to you about issues we will be addressing at our Business Summit on 17th of October.
Now it is only just around the corner and it is my pleasure to give you a 'look through the key hole' into the third speaker at the Summit.
Alister Cameron is the person who has encouraged me to get into the web as a participant rather than an observer or consumer. He has a way of making things 'make sense' which I have found helpful and refreshing. I'm really looking forward to his, session so here's a preview.
From Alister's Desk
I'd like to invite you to consider two very different ways of looking at the fast and furious developments we're seeing on the internet…
We can look either from the vantage-point of the average "user", or from the perspective of the marketer. But since all good marketing starts with a really deep and comprehensive answer to the question "Who is my customer?" we had better first understand the former… not just as observers but as participants.
Frankly, what's happening online these days is way too fun and exciting to remain on the sidelines as an observer.
More things to do
First off, there has never been so much to do online.
The web is full of attractive, engaging, entertaining and consuming experiences, for almost every age-group. Kids are flocking to Neopets, teens are socializing on MySpace, young adults are throwing sheep at each other on Facebook, photographers are sharing photos on Flickr and everyone is checking out the latest funny video on YouTube.
And far from passing fancies, these online communities boast massive and ever-growing memberships of fiercely loyal and "busy" participants.
More people to know
In case you somehow hadn't noticed, the web is social.
No major new website or online services can launch these days without the obligatory "friend" features or hooks into Facebook and MySpace. Most of us arrive at our email inbox each morning to face at least one email inviting us to accept a friend request from someone-or-other. And it's no surprise that the web is "going social", since we humans are relational animals, and the web is shaping more and more around what we are like.
As a fairly committed "netizen" I note that of the few programs on my computer that I always have running, a good number of them connect me to other people, including Skype, Firefox, my email program and Tweetdeck (a Twitter program… never mind!).
More fun for marketers
Seen from a marketers perspective, this maturing of the World Wide Web, and this "social" emphasis — this humanizing of everything — is exciting and laced with opportunity. I say this because the best marketing takes advantage of "human nature" and how humans behave, and now — more and more — the web is allowing humans to behave more "naturally".
If we have more to do online, and if we can do it more relationally, then the web is going to feel more and more natural to us. It follow that we're going to feel more and more comfortable online and will spend more and more time there, in productive and pleasurable activity. And the research tells us this is exactly what's happening.
Participate or perish
My encouragement to marketers is to get into it! As I will discuss at the Summit, there is no better way to come to a mature and accurate understanding of the "social web" than to get involved. Here are some ways to do that:
- Wikipedia is an online user-maintained encyclopedia. Squidoo and Google's Knol are (sort of) similar — they're all "wikis". If you're an expert in some given subject-matter, sign up to one of these sites and contribute your knowledge. It's a great way to meet others with similar passions. And you'll be amazed what brainiacs are out there.
- Find a friend or family member who knows their way around Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or similar, and ask them to give you the "guided tour". Ask them to help you get going with your own user account.
- "Google"/research keywords and terms that correspond to your company's products and services. Is your company mentioned anywhere? Are your competitors? What mentions are positive and which are negative? How many mentions are on blogs and how many are in the "professional media"?
Much has been said — and continues to be said — about the way that the "social web" requires marketers to abandon monologue, in favour of a conversational approach. Of course, that sentence needs a lot of explanation and unpacking. But the point I want to leave you with now, is that all this will not "sink in" for you unless you dive in yourself. You need to become a participant yourself!
There are many "a ha!" experiences ahead for you, but they start with the determination to try something new. So go for it!
If you're looking for me online, here's where you can find me!
At the One Sherpa Summit, Alister will likely be our most popular speaker and every time I've seen him share, he has a way of connecting with the crowd. I guess that's why he is one of Australia's foremost bloggers and a great marketer.
See you on Friday…


text:
Prospective Students | Class Registration
Call Us At: 1-909-558-1000
by Stephen Vodhanel, PhD
Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy welcomes 77 new students with the meaningful tradition of the White Coat Ceremony. The White Coat Ceremony recognizes the professionalism required in the field of pharmacy, and the School of Pharmacy wants the new students to appreciate the symbol of whole person clinical care that it brings.
The ceremony, which presents all first-year professional pharmacy students with a white lab coat embroidered with their name, is similar to the one given to medical students and other health professionals. The pharmacy custom started in 1995 at the University of Kentucky, and has been a tradition at Loma Linda University since the first class in 2002.
As a student of pharmacy, professionalism means to practice with excellence and accountability, and to always act with respect, honor, and integrity. During the ceremony the students recite the Pharmacy Professionalism Pledge in which they commit to the covenant between health professionals and a society that entrusts those professionals with their care. The students will wear a white coat representing their commitment to whole person care and service.
Photo: LLUSP 2016 students celebrating their white coats.


text:
Read an Excerpt
A CHUNK OF HELL (Begin Reading)
Some men are born in Hell, others are dragged to it. Rick Conner found his way there by accident. It began in the wee hours, in Brooklyn, New York. The Little Caughnawaga neighborhood was home to ironworkers transplanted down south from Canada. They were mostly Iroquois, and they came for the jobs. Whole families migrated to the city. Sometimes only the men would remain, sending their pay back to wives and children living on the reservation, and visiting them when they could. There's a myth about the Iroquois having no fear of heights. Conner doubted it. The men took pride in hiding their fear, acting with warrior spirit, proving themselves day in, day out. That's what put the salt on their meat.
Made life taste good.
It was something Conner appreciated.
He'd spent the night drinking in an Indian bar with a half-French, half-Mohawk named Lucien Deerhouse. They'd met in the Marine Raiders and fought at Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. These days Lucien built Manhattan skyscrapers, walking six-inch beams on high steel in the clouds. He wasn't exactly a talker, and when something important needed to be told, he took even longer getting to it. As the sun readied to light up the Atlantic, Conner waited for another kind of illumination. He wanted to know why his friend had called.
Lucien's Bethlehem Steel hardhat rested on the bar next to a full glass of beer. He drained the glass. Set it back on the mahogany with a loud click.
"Up in Montreal I hear stories."
"What kind of stories, Luc?"
"Sort of thing you been doing since we dropped the bomb on the Japs."
"Missing people?"
Lucien nodded. But there was more.
He needing nudging and Rick obliged.
"I work for hire, cash paid up front, and I'm not cheap," Rick said.
"You look for lost property, not just people?"
"That's right." Rick lit a cigarette and blew out smoke like years of dust. "Old buddy, just tell me what we're talking about. I'll tell you if I'm your man."
The ironworker leaned back on his barstool. Seeping smells – yeasty beer, damp bricks, and sawdust – conjured a crowd of men who sweat for their pay. Rick, Lucien, and the bartender were the only three present. The bartender brought out a mop and bucket. He filled the bucket with steaming bleach water and pushed it on squeaky wheels into the bathroom's dimness. The door closed.
Lucien said, "Couple friends of mine are working a thirty-floor apartment job on the Upper West Side, two blocks from Central Park. It's a weird building."
"Weird how?"
"They say the plans make no sense."
"Luc, you could fit what I know about architecture in a thimble and still have room for your thumb."
Lucien shook his head. "It's not technical, nothing like that. The construction – well, it's like there's a building within the building. Running up inside, like a tower." Lucien used his hands to shape a box around his empty beer glass. "No access except from the penthouse. Once the job's done, a tenant could move into any of the other apartments, live there for years, and never stumble on the tower, or even suspect the thing existed. Damn clever when you think about it – the twisting passageways, windowless rooms. A spiral staircase connects them all up, neat and tight. More tricks than a magician's cabinet. The steps lead down to the basement, a sub-basement, and another one under that."
"A sub sub-basement?"
"We think it connects to tunnels under the city. Sewers, maybe, or old underground transit rails. Nobody goes down that deep. Funny thing is, we can't find out who did the foundation work. First day, when my friends arrived on the site, the project was already up to street level."
"Sounds like your friends might be pulling your leg."
"They brought me there. I saw it with my own eyes."
"No kidding?"
"We went at night. Hopped the fence, took a couple of flashlights, and followed the stairs down."
"What did you see?"
"Bottom of the steps, there's a gate with a lock on it big as your head. Everything's wet. The walls thick with slime. We got out because of the rats."
"Big ones, huh?"
"Never actually saw them. But they were making a racket. The stink. The splashing around. You could hear them rubbing against the walls. Sounded like a team of horses coming for us."
"But it must've been rats."
"That's what we said. Rats."
"What'd you do?"
"We hightailed to the surface, and that's when they caught us. He did, anyway. He was the only one there. We practically ran into him before we saw him."
"Night watchman?"
"No, the doctor."
"I don't –"
"He's the owner of the building. A doctor."
"Oh," Rick said. "Maybe he can fix this crick in my neck."
"Not that kind of doctor, he's a philosopher or something. He's the one who's going to be living in the penthouse."
"Sounds more like a witch doctor."
Lucien didn't laugh.
"We figured he'd call the cops. Throw us in jail for trespassing. My buddies would get fired. Even worse, the doc had a pistol strapped to his leg."
"Did he let you inspect the barrel?"
"He talked to us. Friendly, acting like he didn't care we were down there snooping around. He brought us over to the watchman's shack and gave us coffee. Says he can't sleep, so he comes to the building at night. He didn't have a radio in there to pass the time, not a magazine, or a dime store novel. Nothing."
"That's all that happened?"
"We talked for about an hour. Then we went home."
"What'd you talk about for an hour?"
"Boy," Conner chuckled, "I never would've guessed that in a million years."
"He asked me if I would call you."
Conner gagged on his last sip of beer.
"Me? How'd he know my name?"
Lucien shrugged. "I don't remember telling it to him. Maybe you got a reputation. He's looking for something that belongs to him, but it's been lost for a long time, far away from here. He thinks this thing is in the city now. Rumors are going around. Other people, rivals of his, are interested."
"And he wants me to find it before they do?"
"You'll have to ask him. Want my opinion? Stay away. But I thought I'd leave the choice with you. He's a rich man."
"I like the sound of that." Rick drummed out a soft rhythm on the bar.
Lucien reached over, put his big calloused hand on Rick's arm, squeezed.
"One of my friends is missing. Nobody's seen him for two weeks."
"Want me to look?"
Conner was puzzled. "I'll talk to your other friend."
"No, you won't." Lucien let go of him. "They're calling it an accident. He was distracted by his missing pal. Out of sorts, saying strange things to the rest of the crew. The jobsite is temporarily shut down for a safety investigation. They aren't going to find anything. A clear morning, the weather good. Lady across the street saw him from her bedroom window. Said he didn't look down, just walked off the end of the beam. She said he was smiling."
"I'm damned sorry."
Lucien took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket, slid it along the bar.
"That's the doctor's address."
Conner took the paper, read it.
"Dr. Lazlo Belzoni." He frowned. "The doc's got the money to own an apartment building and he's living here?"
"That's where he finds what he needs."
"Meaning what exactly?"
"You'll see when you meet him."
The conversation was over. His friend picked up his hardhat and tucked it under his arm. His gaze found the floor, the walls, the doorway – anything but Rick Conner's face.
Jungle fighting. Hand-to-hand combat.
Luc pulling a Jap officer with a samurai sword off his back.
Yet Conner had never seen this.
Lucien Deerhouse was scared.
The place was in a slum, no other word for it. The building he was looking for – when he finally found it at the back end of the last weedy lot abutting the river – seemed abandoned. A spiked fence encircled the property. He grasped one of the spikes, felt the pits and rough scabs of rust. A heavy chain coiled around the gate above the latch. The chain was bright, new.
He squinted through the twilight.
Maybe somebody does live in there.
He heard a cough and turned in the direction of the water. Conner wasn't worried about running into any unsavory denizens of the riverfront. He had a knife hanging in a scabbard between his shoulder blades. His jacket was loose and his hands were quick. He'd killed men before. Not in anger either. And he'd do it again. Rick Conner was a sleek deadly machine, as cool as if his parts were made of oil and gears instead of blood and bone. Action was his gasoline.
The barrier on the river side of the street was wood, most of it missing, probably burned for heat or cook fires. He heard the cough again.
Dry, nearly breathless.
The river didn't smell like water anymore, but from the things people put into it that they wanted to float away.
He stepped closer to the snaggletooth fence, boards split and cracked.
A low shadow shifted, filling up a hole. Knee-high.
Conner's eyes locked on it. In two long strides, he stood near enough to kick it backward into the flowing umber sludge.
It was a man.
Conner didn't speak.
Because it was clear he wasn't going to get a response.
The man wasn't dead. Not quite. Not yet. It was impossible to tell his race or age. He was a creature raised from the mud, of the mud. There was no meat on him. His bones were jumbled sticks, unable to stand, but sufficient to crawl. Which is precisely what they did. A knobby head, boiled to the bone, beard dragging – pressed into the gap, staring right at Conner.
Hot glaring eyes. Unblinking. Tears streaked the grime on his cheeks.
The look said pain. It said misery.
Finally, I can't look away.
And neither could Conner.
The man coughed. His toothless mouth muttered silently. Conner didn't know what he wanted. It wasn't food or drink. He was beyond that. He wants me to kill him, Conner thought. He couldn't determine why he thought it, but he knew instantly and deeply, it was true. He's begging me to kill him. Why?
Conner backed off.
The man didn't have the strength to crawl through the fence.
But his eyes – jittery, red-rimmed, and highly alert – followed Conner's every movement. The man's trembling fingers searched his own face. Traced his splayed eyelids, touched his eyeballs.
Conner moved left, then right, then far to the right.
The eyes stayed with him, never closing, never blinking. The man was trying to stop them with his fingers. He poked and prodded with his filthy digits. He coughed, weakly. His hand fell to the soil and dug in. Like polished binocular lenses, the trained eyes of the half-dead mud crawler never left their target.
Behind Conner metal creaked.
The chain was gone. The gate swung wide open.
So they were watching me. And you distracted me, Conner thought. But when he looked for the man all he saw was a drag mark in the clay.
Time for my appointment.
Someone waited on the porch. Beckoned in the new darkness with a light.
From the wavering, it was composed of flame.
The servant holding the lamp was a giantess, at least a foot taller than Conner. She wore a fez and a purple tunic, and was surprisingly light on her feet as she led him through a maze of corridors, gliding under interwoven streams of rippling fabric tacked to the ceiling; her broad shoulders parted curtain after curtain of multicolored glass and painted wooden beads. At the terminus, in an octagonal room, the floorboards of which depicted an astronomical nebula, she halted. She ushered him over the threshold but did not cross it herself.
He walked in.
Sweet smoke ghosted from a ball censer hung at eye level.
The giantess motioned to an empty chair, one of only two furnishings in the otherwise barren room. Then she retreated.
Conner listened to the fading clicking of beads.
"I am so delighted you telephoned me. Last night I dreamed you ended this frustrating ordeal. I hope it is prophetic," said a baritone voice.
Conner hadn't taken the chair offered to him. He stood in front of a heavily draped window, his back to one of the eight corners of the parlor.
"I don't encourage unrealistic expectations, Doctor."
Belzoni reclined on a divan piled with silk cushions. His head was shaven so closely it gleamed. From the eyebrows down, coarse raven hairs grew thick as an enchanted Russian forest. Out of the forest shined two chips of cobalt glass.
"You should!" The doctor laughed. "Come and sit, please."
Stubby black candles melted in sconces. Luminescent paint used in the galactic floor art interfered with Conner's depth perception. He sensed each step might take him through the boards into a void. Vertigo made him nauseated.
"I would offer you a drink, but I'm afraid we don't have any alcohol."
"I can get a whisky on my way back to the subway. What is it you wanted to talk to me about, Dr. Belzoni?"
"Down to brass tacks, eh?" The doctor had an accent. Brazz tucks.
"I got the impression your time was valuable. I know mine is. I'm trying to save some for both of us." Conner took off his hat and wiped his forehead. They must've had the boiler glowing cherry-red in the cellar. The floating waves of incense made it look how it felt – like a steam bath.
"If only we could abolish time, then what would our desires be?"
Belzoni didn't wait for an answer. He sat up and planted his black marching boots firmly on the border of an exploding star.
Conner noticed a holster belted around the doctor's ample waist.
He nodded at the revolver.
"You worried about me?"
Belzoni tutted. "I have enemies, sadly. But I suppose it is a habit formed when I captained a steamboat on the Amazon. You never know when you will meet up with a jaguar." He laced his fingers, flexing his stout arms.
"Or an anaconda," Conner said.
"Exactly," the doctor replied.
"My friend told me you were looking for –"
"A stone box, Mr. Conner. I am looking for a stone box smuggled into New York Harbor last month. It is highly collectible. I paid for the box years ago, though its delivery was…incomplete. In short, I was the victim of a confidence game, a grifter. This criminal did not know the significance of the artifact. He assumed it was, like he, a fraud. My exuberance at finding the stone box in such excellent condition after so many hoaxes and false hopes proved my vulnerability. He tricked me into paying him a second time. A much greater sum, of course."
"And you refused?"
"He died prior to the transaction."
"And the box wasn't with him."
"Unfortunately, no." Belzoni made a sour face. "That unforeseen complication led to a series of others, which brings us to the present. I have verified the box currently in question is mine. I am also willing to pay its possessor, a Rhodesian gentleman." Belzoni handed Conner a card with a number written on it.
Conner whistled.
"I have that in cash, available immediately."
"You want me to be your go-between?"
"It's more dangerous than a courier job. The trader who holds the box plans to have an auction, illegal since he is not the true owner, but I won't argue the point. My problem is several other collectors may have resources I do not."
"Looks like you're flush to me."
"I will not risk it." Belzoni leaned into his pillows. "Money is not the only resource I'm talking about. At least a dozen men have been murdered while searching for the whereabouts of the stone since it was brought ashore. That is why I am willing to pay you half the amount on the card to acquire it for me. I see you are surprised. Don't be. Tell me, what do you know of the occult?"
"You mean like voodoo, tarot cards, reading palms?"
Belzoni scoffed. "More con games. We are beings of spirit as well as flesh and blood. To tap into the mind of man, there is a challenge; to erase fear and grow our powers beyond former limits. With the right knowledge and training, the mind muscle, for years contracted into a knot, expands."
"What's in the box?"
The doctor smiled. "What do men dream of when no one is looking?"
Conner heard a grunt from one of the corners. There was someone standing there, silent and motionless until this moment.
"Who's that?"
Without turning, Belzoni answered, "One of my children."
The figure in the shadows was too large to be any child.
"Why can't you deal with the broker yourself? Or send one of your children?"
"There are rules, as in everything."
Conner said, "Pay me the full amount on the card. Half now, or I walk."
"Your money is in a suitcase waiting by the front door." Belzoni seemed satisfied. With himself or the deal, Conner didn't know.
Conner got up from the chair and went over to the person standing in the corner. He grabbed him, pulled him under one of the sconces. The man didn't resist or struggle.
An Indian.
His face cut-up, stitched back together inexpertly, lopsided. Too baggy and too tight. Fat toady eyes. What was wrong with his mouth? (Candlelight flickered; a door opened somewhere in the house.) The top lip was missing, and wet teeth smiled without smiling. The muscles in his face were dead. He stood there like a wax dummy in Madame Tussaud's museum. Luc was right.
It would be better not to look for his friend.
Conner released his grip.
"Find me the stone box, Conner. I can bestow rewards beyond this world's. What other men dream, you shall live," Belzoni said.
Conner backed his way to the room's entrance. The giantess was already there to guide him out. Belzoni rose to his feet. He wagged a finger.
"This smuggler – he is a liar and he is a murderer. Be wary."
"That I am, Doctor," Conner said. "That I am."
Seven days.
Conner tracked him down. It was like following a blood trail in the jungle. Red leaves, and more red leaves. The smell of Death closes around you like a tightening net. Your senses amplify. The edge of this world draws near.
Then you see him. And finish it.
He laughed in his face when Conner told him Belzoni's offer. "Don't waste my time, idiot. I won't even unlock the trunk for that pittance. Now get out." And then he threatened him. That was fine. But he never should have pulled the gun. It was a cheap move, but it cost him everything.
The Rhodesian smuggler pawed at the blade sticking out of his back. It was an F-S fighting knife, nickel-plated – a nasty beauty. He was having a time with it. Dancing around and knocking over the furniture. A lamp here, a chair there. He fell on top of the trunk and died. That was one itch he'd never scratch.
Conner kicked him to the floor. He returned the dead man's gun, took the key from his pocket, and opened the trunk.
Well, he hadn't lied after all.
The stone box.
Conner lifted it, and placed it inside the army duffel he'd brought for just that purpose. He repacked his clothes around it and linked the hook closure.
"That wasn't so bad," he said.
The smuggler didn't argue.
"I'll need my knife back."
He did something the dead man couldn't do with two hands, and then he cleaned the blade on the sap's Savile Row suit. He put him in the trunk. Locked it. He'd drop the key down a storm drain on his walk to the motel. He pulled the window shades and set the furniture upright.
He stuck his arms through the duffel straps and lit a cigarette.
A curious Conner sat on the edge of his motel bed. His newly acquired stone box lay propped on one of its sides. The nature of the shape made it appear a sharp and crooked thing, offending to the eye – a double pyramid. The surface gleamed evilly. He straddled the foreign relic dug up years ago from the desert and carted out on camelback. He wetted his lips. Beneath the object's surface, figures were trapped in strata resembling translucent black ice. He detected Byzantine markings, hieroglyphs, and odd spirals. Layers floated under layers. So much depth it made him dizzy. He traced his finger along six columns of carvings, an alphabet of daggers. What was it Belzoni had said?
"The mind muscle, for years contracted into a knot, expands…"
The mad professor sure could spin tales. He had the eyes for it. Wild, dreamy, arrogant bughouse peepers and that Continental voice of his, all saliva-doused explosives and fricatives. Boy, he could sell it. Meaningless drivel…but still.
How many people had died because of this hunk of dry lava?
Conner counted sixteen he'd heard about or witnessed himself.
Another hundred and fifty-four if he added all hands lost aboard the Kagachi Maru when it sank, inexplicably, in calm nighttime seas a month ago. The stone box had been in the cargo hold; made it out unscathed according to a swordfisherman who scooped it up from an unoccupied life raft six days later.
And who, come to think of it, was also dead.
One seventy-one.
Conner's head hurt.
He was sweating.
He'd been smoking too much since his arrival. The place smelled like a match factory burned down. Conner opened the window and leaned out, hoping for a breeze. He swung his leg up on the sill and dangled his foot over the fire escape. Indian summer is what he guessed it had to be. Funny he hadn't noticed the heat this morning. Leaves flickered their reds and oranges at him. A rank coolness blew off the river. No sun up in the sky.
Sure was hot in his room though.
Steam floated up from the alley. They were frying the chow mein at a Chinese restaurant next door. He wasn't hungry, but could go for a drink. Maybe at that beer joint around the corner. Knock a few back, relax. Beer was the only thing the Krauts did right.
The walls were thin. He had slept just fine, but he could hear them now, voices murmuring below intelligibility but there nonetheless, like a pulsing beat that almost seemed to be coming not from the other rooms on his floor but from under the floor, under his bed it seemed. Under the stone.
A fluttering at the window.
He turned too slowly to see it. But he felt it…them…wings…
Down in the alley, long low shadows darted through the steam.
They were awfully big mutts, if that's what they were. More like wolves.
He shouldn't have taken the stone.
Those voices he'd heard were coming from inside it.
Conner didn't speak demon. Didn't want to learn, either. He sat there transfixed. Waiting, watching…
What were these things he'd brought on himself?
They couldn't be real. Yet somehow he knew that wasn't going to matter.
When they got to him, they'd be real enough.
The Winged Ones were back in view. Sleek, quick as spilled ink, and larger than any birds he'd seen before. Swooping over the rooftops. Cutting the dusk into parabolas. Getting closer.
And the wolves?
The wolves were climbing straight up the bricks…
Conner stuffed the box in the army bag and ran for the door. He slammed it behind him just in time. A heavy weight crashed into the other side. There was a scratching that started at the top of the doorframe and went all the way down…a long sound…he could imagine great strips of wood peeling away.
It stopped.
He heard a chuff of breath. Frustrated, angry. And something punched the closed door – and kept punching, one blow after another, like two fists, but wider, flatter, and full of claws. Echoes rang in the hall.
Next came a distinct and horrible cracking.
The door splintered.
He had to get out of the hotel.
He took the stairs; at the first landing, he leapt the railing. Don't trip, brother. Fall down now and you're good as dead. Losing the box wouldn't save him either. Belzoni was his best option. He had to make it to the doctor. At the bottom of the stairwell, Conner didn't hear anything following him. But he wasn't about to stop and stare. A diamond-shaped porthole cut into the door connected to the hotel lobby. He pressed his face to the glass, scanned the room. Beige carpet, brown couch. An ashtray stand and a floor lamp. On the opposite wall he encountered two eyes staring at him – his own. A mirror. He pushed through.
All quiet.
To his left, the hotel front desk. No one behind it.
Right was a vestibule and beyond that, the street.
Daylight spilled on red and black checkerboard tiles.
People were walking past. Normal people on their way to ordinary places.
He decided to join them. The stone box had finished talking, or maybe he couldn't hear it over the sound of the traffic and his own heartbeat. He walked south with the crowd. Out from under the hotel awning, he let himself glance up. Fuzzed gray shadows soiled the building facades. Every cranny dripped gloom.
"Watch where you're walking, bud!"
Conner skirted around a couple of tipsy red-eyed sailors.
He looked up again.
A silhouette skittered down the concrete.
Did nobody else see it?
Conner picked up his pace. He dodged mothers pushing baby carriages. Shouldered through clogs of businessmen plodding homeward from the office. The sidewalk suddenly felt too narrow. Stepping off a curb, he lost his footing and went to his knees on the broken pavement. In an adjacent alley – among garbage cans and torn newspapers – the huge skulking wolves bounded for him.
Conner ran.
The Winged Ones chased him too. They were using the traffic to camouflage themselves – darting between the cars and trucks. He spotted a jet-black blur tucked under a city bus. Hooked talons snatched at the duffel bag. His jacket ripped. Blood spurted from his elbow, soaked his sleeve.
The subway.
He sprinted down the steps. Turned a corner. More steps. He went down and down. The station office was empty. He didn't have any tokens. He hopped the turnstiles. More stairs, web-cracked and crumbling – he took them. A long arched walkway, so dimly lit he wondered if it was still in use; but he heard a rumble at the other end – a train was approaching the station.
He rushed the platform.
The wood bowed under his weight, soft enough he thought it might break.
He looked in the tunnel for the train.
Sulphorous yellow light gilded the bricks.
The train pulled in. Hissed.
He climbed aboard.
Some trap had sprung and Conner was in it.
He knew that much.
The shadow creatures ran him straight to the pit. Before the subway car left the station, he'd seen them, lined up on the platform: wolves and fliers.
Their mission ended.
He was alone on the train. He searched the cars, back to front, and returned to the rear car again. No conductor. No other passengers. He cupped his hands around his eyes and stared at the receding track. The glass was dirty, scaled with something like mineral salts. Too dark for details. When the car wheels sparked, he caught glimpses like in a lightning flash: standing puddles of water, brick walls coated in layers of iridescent grease, and rats. Plenty of rats.
He picked a seat in the middle car.
Sat down.
Smoked a cigarette. Then another.
The train rolled for what seemed like hours. Conner's wristwatch had stopped. He didn't know when, maybe when he fell in the street. Maybe when the voices in the box started talking again. He took the cursed thing out of the duffel and threw the bag across the car. He put the stone box on the seat beside him. It gave off vibrations, humming like a small electric motor. It might've been the motion of the speeding train, but Conner thought the box moved now and again. Tiny shifts. Smooth little turnings, wobbles; the kind a compass makes.
As the train finally slowed, Conner brushed the ashes from his pants. He grabbed one of the poles and ducked his head to gaze out the windows. Torch flames bent in the train's wind, yet still made things brighter. He wasn't that surprised when the next platform came into view.
Or when he saw who was waiting.
Belzoni rested his hands on his hips, clutching an enormous ring of keys in one of his fists. The gate behind him was open. Conner spied the steps going up, up into what would be the doctor's new building and his cleverly hidden tower.
The brakes wheezed, hissed.
The doors slid haltingly.
Belzoni boarded. He was beaming.
"Excellent job, Mr. Conner. You are as good as your reputation." He noticed the bloodstain on Conner's elbow. "Ah, I will fix you up. I'm not a physician but I can apply a bandage. I have painkillers. You won't feel a thing."
"I'd like to get off this train," Conner said.
The doctor shook his head. "Swallow these." He pressed two black oblong pills into Conner's palm. "I'll have someone bring a dressing later. We have a long journey ahead of us. An amazing journey, as you will soon see. Once in a lifetime for most people. But with a difference in our case. We have roundtrip tickets. Say, you don't look so good. Sit down, relax. I'm sorry if my pets hurt you. But it was necessary. How else could I have brought you here so quickly?"
The train jerked forward a few inches.
Belzoni leaned out over the platform. "Come, my children, all aboard."
Conner saw the scarred Indian in the crowd. The giantess was there too. The silent lot of them blocked his access to the steps, their lines beginning to file in as ordered.
Conner bolted. Knife out. Racing along the subway carriage.
If he made it through to the end of the train, he could jump and run down the tracks. He'd take his chances with the rats.
He stopped at the end of the car. The door wouldn't budge.
Luc was on the other side. Holding it closed. Eyes like stones.
Killer's eyes.
"Damn you!" Conner shouted.
Saving a man's life doesn't give you the right to steal it back.
He raised the brass butt of his knife to break the glass.
"There is no reason to run," Belzoni said from behind him. "Where would you go? Where else, Mr. Conner, do you belong?"
Conner slumped against the exit. He left a red streak.
"Think about what you'd be missing," the doctor said. He had his revolver pointed at Conner's chest. "I'd hate to deprive you by killing you first."
Conner looked at Belzoni, then back at Luc.
A rat climbed up the collar of Luc's shirt and bit his face. Luc didn't blink.
Conner ate the pills.
Belzoni holstered the gun and patted him on the shoulder.
"Good choice."
Conner followed him to their seats.
His body was going numb. He felt encased in an ice block.
Belzoni sat next to him, the stone between them. "You figure out how it works? No? I will have time to explain."
The train jerked again.
And the doors closed.
Conner tried to speak, but his lips weren't moving.
Belzoni said, "We will meet Them in all their dark glory. I've only read about it in books, you know? And seen medieval paintings, Bosch and all. And we will bring Them back."
Conner closed his eyes.
The train moved forward, and then like a rollercoaster, down.
A CHUNK OF HELL Copyright © 2010 by Steven Sidor


text:
The Calgary Centre Council regrets to announce that the Calgary Centre has lost one of its long time members. Dick Lowndes passed away suddenly on Saturday, December 29 in Calgary. Dick and his wife Marg were regulars at almost all of Calgary Centre's events. In addition to his regular volunteering at public outreach events, Dick was an active member of the Calgary Centre's Council for years, including a role on the Executive as our Treasurer. He and Marg have also been distributing our newsletter, the StarSeeker, for as long as I can remember; first in print form and more recently electronically to our entire membership.
Dick's passing was completely unexpected. An avid hiker and camper, Dick and Marg continued to pursue an active lifestyle throughout their retirement and to all of us he appeared a healthy and strong man.
A Memorial was held on January 5 for Dick and was attended by family and friends exceeding the capacity of the venue; a small reflection of the number of people he touched. His obituary is accessible via this link.
<http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Richard+%22Dick%22-Lowndes&lc=3600&pid=162070474&mid=5363025&locale=en-CA [2]>
Dick will be sorely missed by all of us who had the pleasure and privilege to know him.
Robyn Foret
Secretary, Calgary Centre
[1] http://www.rasc.ca/news/category/across-rasc
[2] http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Richard+%22Dick%22-Lowndes&lc=3600&pid=162070474&mid=5363025&locale=en-CA