text:
Why did you choose this product?
I put this storage shelf in a small hallway outside my bathroom and bedrooms to store linens, extra rolls of toilet paper and tissues. It's great for that purpose and has held up to regular use....
ITEM#: 14175294The Manchester 3-drawer brown storage shelf unit is the solution to your storage needs. It is crafted from solid pine wood that is finished in a lovely dark brown. It has 2 spacious drawers and a large pull out cabinet that feature lovely wicker detailing. This storage unit is a welcomed addition in any room.
- Color: Dark brown
- Materials: Wood
- Finish: Dark brown
- Dimensions: 47.6 inches high x 17.7 inches wide x 13.8 inches deep
|Pine Wicker Wood
|Cabinets Chests
|Brown Finish
|Furniture Frame Material
|Furniture Pattern
|47.6 in. H. x 17.7 in. W. x 13.8 in D.
|Model Number
|Country Of Origin
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Good quality and function
I put this storage shelf in a small hallway outside my bathroom and bedrooms to store linens, extra rolls of toilet paper and tissues. It's great for that purpose and has held up to regular use.Read More
Perfect choice!
This is very sturdy and looks extremely nice! I am very happy with this buy!Read More
Safavieh Marcia 3-drawer Brown Storage Shelf
I bought this as a laundry basket. It works really well and looks great in my hallway. The only disappointing thing is it only comes in black. I stripped it and repainted it to match the Safavieh Jackson unit I already own.Read More
Manchester 3-drawer brown storage shelf
This piece is exactly what I thought I was looking for. Only problem is that it's not quite a good fit with the rest of the aesthetics of our house. My husband doesn't like it. But I really like it for its practicality, and it looks fine. Easy tilt-down hamper. Baskets above for other items. So now we're just trying to figure out where to put it so that I can make good use of it while not bugging my husband too much.Read More
Just what I was looking for!
This fit perfectly in our bathroom and looks great. The drawers are nice and deep - the hamper is not huge but big enough to hold maybe a load and a half of laundry. My husband does not like it that the hamper section closes automatically - but I like it because otherwise he would probably leave it open all the time!Read More
Damanged Stock
This piece arrived with very obvious damage. In fact, it was so well packed, the damage could only have happened BEFORE it was packed. That means that the manufacturer KNEW it was damaged and still sent it out. I'm extremely disappointed in this deception. When I reported the damage I was told that the product was out of stock. I was offered a measly $45 compensation. The damage is a massive chip to the edge of the top drawer that could only have been made with heavy force and a sharp implement. I doubt it will fix as the wood is separated and won't come together again. Be careful ordering from this supplier.Read More
Manchester storage
The storage hamper is a great idea but the quality is poor. Trim is cracked in 3 places and the basket has a large crack on the trim that you can tell was already that way when packaged. I find that things bought from China are poor in quality and I would not have ordered this if I had realized it came from China. Worth $59 not the $200 I paid. Shame on me for not doing more research.Read More
Ultimately a great purchase...
I read the reviews and knew there were some issues with this cabinet. However, the style, the features and the size were so perfect for the space I needed to fill with it, I was willing to give it a shot. Overstock had to send me a replacement, but in the end, I'm very happy with the purchase. This is a fairly heavy piece of furniture - the cabinet is all wood and this was a nice surprise. Both the hamper and the drawers have a little metal mechanism that catches them so the drawers will not fall out and the hamper will not fall to the floor when opening. The stop mechanism can be pushed up in order to remove the drawers or completely release the hamper to the floor if desired. The first cabinet arrived with several areas of damage - both drawers were cracked and there was a gouge in the face frame of the hamper. In addition to this, the drawers were different colors (one was noticeably darker than the other). I've been a customer of Overstock for a long time and I have had only a few issues with items over the years - and this time, as always, Overstock made it right. A new cabinet was immediately shipped to me and the carrier will pick up the damaged product. I was really worried when the second box arrived, because it had very obviously been opened and then repackaged. It looked awful - but the cabinet was in near perfect condition (some bruises on corners in back which I can live with). I actually think someone in the warehouse may have opened to inspect prior to sending the replacement. It's really a great cabinet. I'm not sure if the problems are with Safaviah's QC or with the packaging. I think these were probably boxed for pallet shipments to a retailer and not for individual shipping (not over-boxed and not in a reinforced box - only some styro panels placed around the cabinet within the box). But then again, the first box looked perfect, but the cabinet was a mess - then the second box looked like an ape had opened and then taped it up and the cabinet was in good shape....so who knows. In closing - if you like the looks and the price of this cabinet, can manage your expectations and are willing to work with Overstock in case of damage, I would recommend going for it!Read More
Questions & Answers
great buy
because of function
some reviews noted that product had been packaged and shipped with damage already present in product. Also, buyer did not get full refund or proper replacement. How would you handle this problem?
Hello flogales, we appreciate your inquiry and can understand your concern. It is our policy to stand behind every product we sell. Therefore, if you ever receive receive a product that is damaged, we will either send a replacement (if it is in stock) or refund your purchase. Without knowing the full details of a previous purchase, it is difficult to say why it was handled in a particular way. For more information on our returns policy, please click on the Shipping and Returns tab. Please feel free to contact us with any further information. We hope this information has been helpful. Thank you for shopping with us. Have a great day!
Loved this product. Beautiful and functional.
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History of Attitudes towards Contraception
While the desire to avoid pregnancy or an STI is an individual choice that has multiple positive benefits for population, gender and disease issues, the ethics of contraception remains a polemic and hotly debated topic, notably amongst Roman Catholics and other Christian denominations. Historically, controversy has surrounded contraception for as long as people have used it, and to some extent the framework of contemporary debates was established many centuries before the technological advances and rapid expansion in use of contraception in the twentieth century. This article will trace the historical origins of the objections to contraception amongst Christian theologians and examine the ethics of contraception from policy and moral viewpoints.
- 1 Contraception, Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals
- 2 Objections to Contraception: the Origins
- 3 Twentieth-Century Objections: Casti Connubi and Humanae Vitae
- 4 Modern Catholic Practices
- 5 Other Religions' Attitudes towards Contraception
- 6 References
- 7 See Also
Contraception, Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals
Access to contraception is not just a "woman's issue" but one that impacts her family, and has important consequences for gender equality, poverty, national economic development and health resources. International organisations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have stressed that access to contraception is a human right and is essential to protecting women's health. The UNFPA estimates that contraceptives prevent 215, 000 pregnancy related deaths each year, and the loss of 60 million years of healthy life. In 2008, however, 200 million women who wished to delay or avoid pregnancy were unable to access contraception with the majority concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of contraception exposes women to the risk of unsafe and potentially fatal abortions: approximately 68, 000 women died in 2008 from an unsafe abortion. 1/3 of all maternal mortality deaths could be avoided with safe and effective contraceptives.
Universal access to contraception is one indicator of the fifth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) focusing on maternal mortality. This is due to the proven correlation between improvements in maternal health and poverty reduction, with associative benefits for gender equality (MDG 3). The United Nations estimates that this target may not be reached by 2015: "access to reproductive health remains a distant dream in many countries". As the UNFPA argues, public and international investment in contraception services and programmes can effectively contribute to progress towards MDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6:
"By reducing needed spending for public services and allowing governments and households to invest more in each child, contraceptive services help governments achieve Goal 1 (eradicating extreme poverty and hunger), Goal 2 (achieving universal primary education) and Goal 4 (reducing child mortality). Contraceptive services, including the provision of male and female condoms, help prevent HIV transmission (Goal 6). Helping women gain control of the number and timing of their children promotes Goal 3, women's empowerment and gender equality."
Objections to Contraception: the Origins
These benefits of contraception have come up against strong criticisms from religious groups concerned by its implications for sexual morality. Abstinence, the religious counterweight to contraception, is advocated instead as a solution, evoking equal degrees of controversy and ire amongst pro-contraception campaigners, especially those working in developing countries. The following section will trace the history of Christian objections against contraception.
Biblical Interdictions
There are no explicit statements about contraceptive practices in either the Old or New Testament. Anticontraception campaigners refer however to the following passages as justifications for their objection:
a) "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Genesis 1: 28): this has been interpreted within the anti-contraception context as signifying that procreation is divinely ordained and commanded. By employing an artificial barrier between God's will and procreation, the couple is committing a serious sin. Objections to this interpretation state that the passage refers to God's blessing rather than an expressed command.
b) "And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, "Go in unto thy brother's wife and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; therefore He slew him also." (Genesis 38: 8-10). God's wrath has been interpreted as punishment for Onan practicing coitus interruptus, 'spilling the seed'' without allowing it to fulfill its procreative function.
Medieval Commentaries
Despite the lack of any biblical interdictions, early Christian writers objected to contraceptive practices as part of their broader condemnation of non-procreative sexual acts and general denigration of sexuality, even within the confines of marriage. The fifth-century Church Father, Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (d. 430) argued for instance that while there was no sin committed when a married couple had sex with the intention of procreation (without mutual pleasure or enjoyment), it was a grave sin to perform any sexual act designed to avoid getting pregnant. His contemporaries agreed and by as early as the sixth century, the acceptable times, places and positions of marital sex were defined. The missionary position was advocated as the most acceptable due to the erroneous belief that the sperm would 'spill' out in any other position. Sex during pregnancy was forbidden since it could not lead to procreation.
The moral criminalization of all forms of contraceptive sex established the framework for subsequent Christian denunciations. Married couples who performed contraceptive sex were occasionally accused of being "parricides", that is, killers of their (future) children. The association of contraception with homicide was widely held amongst theologians by the late Middle Ages, with only isolated pockets of criticism pointing out that not each sexual act produces a child. Contraception (referred to as "poisons of sterility, a term borrowed from Aristotle, see below) was defined as a "sin against nature" (it perverts God's will), a mortal sin that demanded extensive penance (for homicide, fornication or lechery depending on the confessor's discretion) in order for the penitent sinner to be forgiven.
Remarkably, medieval theologians of this period realized that couples often made recourse to contraceptives for reasons other than out of sexual immorality and sinful lust. Poverty is first listed as a factor for using contraceptives in the early fourteenth century when the Dominican Peter de Palude (d. 1342) notes that coitus interruptus may be employed by some husbands "to avoid having more children than he can feed". (Noomen, p. 220). The possible health risk to a woman's life was also recognized as a motive (though not a justification).
Knowledge about Contraception in the Middle AgesThe theological interest in regulating sexual acts within marriage during the central middle ages was to a large part fuelled
In Book II of the Canon of Medicine, Avicenna lists the contraceptive properties of several plants: for example, mint "placed as a suppository before the hour of coitus prohibits impregnation". Avicenna was widely read by European theologians, including Albert the Great (1206-1280), bishop of Regensburg and the teacher of the Dominican Thomas Aquinas. While there was a general prohibition on disseminating information on contraception, it would appear from the popularity of Avicenna in medieval medical schools and the numerous Latin commentaries by notable and respected theologians that this prohibition was not entirely respected or followed. As the historian of contraception Noomen argues, however, while knowledge of contraceptive practices may have been known amongst medical circles, it is difficult to discern to what extent this was shared with patients: " An … important restraint on use would have been the unwillingness of doctors or druggists to provide the information to patients. There is nothing to indicate that an ordinary physician would not have considered contraception a sin and his cooperation in the sin immoral… but one cannot believe that all physicians or apothecaries observed the proclaimed Christian standard." (Noomen, p. 213)
Twentieth-Century Objections: Casti Connubi and Humanae VitaeWith the advances in reproductive technology by the mid-twentieth century, Christian churches were under pressure by internal reformers to revise the prohibition on contraceptive sex. The case of reformers was strengthened by the development of the oral contraceptive pill by the 1950s which mimicked a woman's natural period of infertility during the menstrual cycle. The Church of England at its annual Lambeth conference in 1930 declared that "the Conference agrees that other methods may be used, provided that this is done in the light of Christian principles." By 1958, Anglicans were allowed to use contraception provided that it was done in line with Christian princniples and consciousness.
Reacting to this reversal of the Anglican church on contraception, the Roman Catholic Pope Pius XI (r. 1922-1939) published an encyclical Casti cunnubi, which reiterated the ban on contraception:
"any use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power to generate life is an offence against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin."
One concession made to married couples was the practice of "the rhythm method" since the sexual act during a woman's natural infertile period did not contradict God's will. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) was convened to address a number of urgent issues facing the Church, amongst which contraception was ranked highly. There was significant division amongst the leading theologians: for example, Dr. Hans Kung of Switzerland (who taught theology along with Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, at the University of Tübingen), argued that there was no good theological or scriptural basis for a ban. The issue was eventually not discussed at the Second Vatican Council due to the level of debate and instead, the decision was left to the succeeding pope, Paul VI (r. 1963-1978). In his encyclical, Humanae Vitae, Paul VI confirmed the ban on contraception stating that:
"Each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life."
Even in instances of the "greater good" may be considered, Paul VI argued that:
"Neither is it valid to argue, as a justification for sexual intercourse which is deliberately contraceptive, that a lesser evil is to be preferred to a greater one, or that such intercourse would merge with procreative acts of past and future to form a single entity, and so be qualified by exactly the same moral goodness as these. Though it is true that sometimes it is lawful to tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater evil or in order to promote a greater good," it is never lawful, even for the gravest reasons, to do evil that good may come of it" - in other words, to intend directly something which of its very nature contradicts the moral order, and which must therefore be judged unworthy of man, even though the intention is to protect or promote the welfare of an individual, of a family or of society in general."
This definitive statement on contraception has been upheld by subsequent popes. For example:
"By describing the contraceptive act as intrinsically illicit, Paul VI meant to teach that the moral norm is such that it does not admit exceptions. No personal or social circumstances could ever, can now, or will ever, render such an act lawful in itself" – Pope John Paul II, Moral Theology Congress, Rome, 1988
Pope Benedict XVI attracted international protest in his March trip to Africa where he declared that condoms were not only the wrong answer to the continent's problems with HIV/AIDS, but that they in fact aggravated the problem (thereby going against conclusive scientific evidence proving the contrary - see WHO fact sheet below).
Modern Catholic Practices
According to a 2004 study examining modern catholic sexual practices, the organization 'Catholics for a Free Choice' found high usage of contraceptive practices in predominantly catholic countries:
- Between 1990 and 1999, 74% of Argentine women used some modern method of contraception.
- Approximately 70% of married Catholic women in Bolivia have used some form of modern birth control.
- Over 90% of Catholics in Columbia have used modern contraception at some point.
- Between 1990 and 1998, the number of Chilean women using contraceptives increased from 19% to 26%.
In addition, the study found that
- In Kenya, 40% of Catholic women admitted to using modern contraceptives;
- In Mexico, 91% of polled Catholics agree that adults should have access to contraceptives;
- In the Philippines, 94% of respondents said it is important "to have the ability to control one's fertility or plan one's family."
Other Religions' Attitudes towards Contraception
Buddhism is not against contraception provided that it occurs prior to conception. For Buddhists, consciousness begins with the fertilization of the egg and any practice that kills the fertilized egg (emergency contraception) is not permitted. Although there is little regulation on sexual activity in Buddhism, Buddha's teachings disapproved of the pursuit of sensual pleasure: this has been interpreted as signifying that Buddhists should not use contraception for the pursuit of sexual satisfaction.
Contraception is permitted in Judaism although conditions are imposed depending on schools of Judaism. The Genesis story of Onan influences the approach to contraception: provided that the seed is not 'spilled', liberal schools of Judaism have no objection. For this reason, the contraceptive pill is recommended since it does not damage or hinder the sperm. Orthodox Judaism allows contraception in cases of family economic constraint, potential health risks to the mother, and family planning.
Eight out of the nine classic schools of Islamic law allow contraception, and indeed, knowledge of contraception has a long history in Islamic thought and culture as the works of Avicenna (see above) attests. Concerns about sexual immorality have however led more conservative Islamic leaders to publicly forbid modern contraceptives. They found their views on the following passage from the Qur'an: "You should not kill your children for fear of want" (17:31, 6:151). While contraception is not in theory outlawed, permanent sterilization is seen as sinful since the purpose of marriage is to beget children.
There are no prohibitions against contraception in Hinduism.
- Goal 5: improve maternal health, MDGs
- UNFPA and the Guttermacher Institute, "Contraception: An Investment in Lives, Health and Development", In Brief, (December 2008).
- Catholics against contraception
- Catholics for Choice, "Catholic Attitudes on Sexual Behaviour and Reproductive Health" (2004): "Truth and Consequence, A Look behind the Vatican's Ban on Contraception", (2008). [access on www.catholicsforchoice.com]
- John Noonan, Contraception: A history of its treatment by Catholic Theologians and Canonists (Harvard University Press: 1965)
- James Brundage, Law, Sex, and Christian Society in Medieval Europe (Chicago: 1991)
- Buddhism and contraception, BBC
- Catholic arguments in favour
- "Be fruitful and multiply"

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Service plans to shutter many centers while improving performance and cutting costs
Rob Wolborsky is the chief technology officer of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). Last year, he was appointed director of the Navy data center consolidation task force. Wolborsky, who joined SPAWAR in 1996 as a commercial satellite communications lead engineer, quickly put together a team that will help the Navy modernize its data centers, improving security and efficiency while closing nearly half of those facilities.
Defense Systems Contributing Editor Terry Costlow spoke with Wolborsky before a speech he gave at AFCEA West 2012 that addressed the Navy's efforts to save money by closing data centers. Wolborsky discussed SPAWAR's plans for data center consolidation and how enterprise architecture and manpower reductions influence that strategy.
DS: Could you give us an update on the goals you're pursuing?
Wolborsky: Our initial focus is to understand what we have. We have a lot of information on our databases and a high-level understanding of our assets. But we don't have a detailed, comprehensive understanding of what we have and what we're running. We need to have a handle on this for our consolidation efforts to move forward.
Related coverage:
Navy adds structure to networks
One reason we want to consolidate is that we'll save money by being more efficient. We expect to see over $1.4 billion in cuts, so all resource sponsors have to be more efficient.
The second is that we have data all over the place in facilities that have varying levels of capability and security. We'd rather have it in fortresses where we can protect it. The data in these centers is critical to the Navy; we need to treat it as such.
A third is that we'll have a more robust operation that can provide continuity of operation. We want to ensure that when there is a disaster, we can respond as necessary.
DS: How are you moving forward with plans to close inefficient facilities?
Wolborsky: We've put together 10 teams, all from SPAWAR, to go out to designated data centers. There are 120 data centers that support the Navy and Marines. The teams will go out to give us an understanding of what it costs to run the centers. We have done 30 assessments, seeing what's there and what the costs are. In parallel, we'll see what's being done at three SPAWAR sites. For all these analyses, we've built cost models so we truly understand what we're saving.
This year, our target is to set up a metric for closing sites. We're planning to close 58 of them. We're looking at closing 18 to 22 sites this year, mostly the smaller ones. There are many of these small facilities. These sites have anywhere from five to 1,000 servers.
It's hard to say what the total payoff will be. The savings over 58 sites could be hundreds of millions of dollars. There are a lot of other cost savings opportunities. We have a lot of applications that overlap, and we've got a lot of legacy network that can be retired without really curtailing our ability to perform efficiently.
DS: One issue that's highlighted as a problem for these data centers is that they run as many as 20 different operating systems. Is there an effort to reduce the number of variants?
Wolborsky: We want as few operating environments as possible. We're working with groups to help them consolidate on that front, too. There are standards that these operating entities can adopt. I'm not responsible for that aspect; I'm managing the transition to fewer data centers.
DS: There's always going to be skepticism when the Defense Department talks about reducing manpower and facilities. In fact, some earlier data center consolidation efforts have yielded little. What's been put into place to ensure that your efforts will bring real reductions?
Wolborsky: What's different now, versus the past, is that now everybody is aligned with a move to an enterprise architecture. They know that IT has blossomed the past several years, and that we need to improve our continuity operations and disaster recovery plans.
The other thing is that VADM [Kendall] Card has given us resources to address the enterprise issue for the Navy. I'm resourced for this, which is something that wasn't done in the past. We have funds to invest this year and next year. The motivation for these operating entities to work with us now is much higher. If they don't work with us, they may find themselves on the list of facilities that will be cut.
Another things they didn't have in the past was the ability to build a government IT workforce. I'm building a team within this task force.
We're letting those with IT experience in the Navy run IT and letting other resource sponsors run their IT. We're providing a significant amount of funding to support IT for each of the resource sponsors while we're consolidating.
DS: What are the biggest obstacles you're facing?
Wolborsky: Wow, that's difficult. One of the biggest is the ability of my staff to ramp up fast enough. There are also risks and challenges in ramping up our staff. At all the sites, there will be dramatic manpower reductions. We have to staff up to support SPAWAR's three data centers and the enterprise. Overall, we will have way more people taken off the payroll than we'll be adding.
The whole NEDC Task force is joke. SPAWAR (besides NOLA) doesn't run datacenters. They closed the best run datacenter, SPAWAR PNS and now are trying to close the second best datacenter, NETPDTC. Its a farse, a sham. SPAWAR years ago decided to outsource thier IT to NMCI / EDS. They are now trying to regain creditability by taking the enterprise services. IMHO, SPAWAR should be brac'd and IT hosting should transfer to DISA or the AirForce. Sorry Navy, you gave up IT years ago, your cisco WAN engineers don't know how to run data centers.
Having been the recipient of one of these 10 teams, I can assure you it wasn't a pleasant experience even through we had been trying to move applications prior to this latest effort.The team didn't know anything about the architecture that would be built and the "hotwash" telcon confirmed that the folks back home at SPAWAR didn't know either. The only thing they seemed to be able to offer was that they would patch operating systems. Application patching, and common services (database hosting, sharepoint hosting, etc.) will be left to the "donating" activity. In other words, there will be negative cost savings since the same site people will still be required, only they will have to do more work remotely with costly delays and loss of efficiency. Since the majority of our servers are already in a blade/virtualized environment all the "savings" have already been squeezed out.Yet, the big gaping wound here is that Netwarcom / C10F hasn't liked or approved of the hosting environment leaving donating activities with unaccreditable systems.
I think this article is a little misleading. It does improve security of some networks and it "might" save the Navy money in general but a lot of the cost os being levied on the commands to move. For example, our command is being charged to use these facilities and the cost os almost double what we pay for services now and we will get less resources than we currently have. Additionally, DOD long ago mandated security standards and if servers don't meet them they are shut down so the notion that we have a bynch of unsecured data centers isn't accurate.
So why did they (SPAWAR) build a new data center in Charleston with BRAC money unknown to anyone when DISA has excess unused capacity - Hmmmm.
Wonder what was the process to select the members of these 10 teams - who (who is the prime?) got the contract to do that?
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text:
Pratik D mehta wrote:I think you meant class .
Marco Ehrentreich wrote:I thought my explanation helped to make it clearer
If you declare a class "Human" which has a member of type "Heart" (a class too) you can instantiate those classes and you get an object of type Human which contains an object of type Heart. Better now?
Marco Ehrentreich wrote:No problem
Hopefully it helped to clarify at least some of your doubts...


text:
Sports Market Report Online
2012 Gridiron Football Card Values from the PSA SMR Price Guide. Articles, prices, and auctions for cards in the 2012 Gridiron set.
SMR Online > Football Card Values > 2012 Gridiron
2012 Gridiron
Notes about 2012 Gridiron
* Editor's note: plus (+) beside a price indicates that the price has increased in the past month. A minus (-) beside the price indicates that price has decreased in the past month.


text:
this wiki
This article is about the creature. For the character, see Elias Finch.
Phoenixes are powerful beings who appear human, and are very rare in existence, so rare that, much like dragons, they are believed to be mythical even by veteran hunters like Bobby or Samuel Colt. They have the power to burn anyone into ash with a simple touch of its hand. Even though a Phoenix is immortal and powerful, it is still vulnerable to iron like many other supernatural creatures. Like almost all creatures, a Phoenix can be killed, by being shot with the Colt.
They combust upon death; their ashes can kill Eve, the Mother of All.
Phoenixes are so obscure in the world of the supernatural that even angels didn't know of their existence, as evidenced by the way Castiel said "this phoenix creature." Sam and Dean Winchester travel back to 1861 to retrieve the ashes from a phoenix that will be shot by the famous hunter Samuel Colt. They arrive just as Elias Finch is hanged, and he "dies" swearing vengeance on the sheriff, judge and deputy. That night Elias rises from his grave. The judge is the first to die, incinerated by Elias' touch. The sheriff dies soon after in the same fashion, despite shooting Elias several times with his gun. The next day, Elias finds the deputy cowering in a jail cell, protected by Dean.[1]
Elias explains to Dean that he was framed for the murder of his wife. While the couple were visiting the town, the deputy tried to rape Elias' wife, and when he intervened the deputy shot her and Elias. She died in Elias' arms however, being a Phoenix, the gunshot didn't harm him. The deputy then conspired with the Judge and Sheriff and accused Elias of killing his wife. He was unable to escape as he was bound with iron shackles.[1]
He is unable to get to the deputy due to the iron bars surrounding him, so he grabs a gun and shoots the deputy instead. Dean flees and runs into Sam, who has retrieved the Colt from Samuel. Dean and Elias face off in classic cowboy style, resulting in Dean killing Elias. The shot from the Colt causes the phoenix to burst into flames before leaving a pile of ash. The brothers were brought back before they could retrieve the phoenix's ashes. However, Samuel Colt arranges for a package to be delivered to Sam in 2011, containing the ashes.[1]
Later, Dean packs the ashes of the phoenix into 5 shotgun cartridges. The contents of one he drinks with an ounce of whiskey. Later, he then tricks Eve into biting him, causing her to ingest blood that is mixed with phoenix ash, thus poisoning and killing her from the inside.[2]
Powers and AbilitiesPhoenixes are amongst the strongest and most durable of monsters, they are quite powerful, and almost impossible to kill.
- Incineration Touch - A Phoenix can incinerate anyone/anything with a single touch, their ability is so strong, they can reduce a whole man to ashes in seconds.
- Immortality - A Phoenix is immortal, meaning that it does not age at all. A Phoenix is immune to death by natural causes and aging. Based on Elias's comments, it seems before the Colt, there was no known way to kill a Phoenix, although the fact it was known that they combust upon death, implies there are other ways to kill them.
- Invulnerability - Phoenixes are nearly completely invulnerable, they can take repeated shots in the chest and not even react. Although significant force, such as being hanged can knock them out for a while.
- Superhuman Strength - Phoenixes are incredibly strong. One Phoenix was strong enough to break out of its coffin, after it had been nailed down and buried.
- Regeneration - Phoenixes can heal/regenerate from most injuries, however not if shot by the Colt.
- The Colt - Since this gun was created to kill almost anything, a Phoenix can be killed using the Colt. Dean kills one with it.
- Iron - Dean figures out that a Phoenix can't touch Iron, as like many creatures, it burns their flesh, it also couldn't escape iron handcuffs.
- Death's scythe - Death's scythe can kill anything.
- The First Blade - Can kill anything.
- Leviathans (possibly) - Whether Leviathans are or aren't weaknesses of Phoenixes can is is being debated.
- Angels (possibly) - Whether Angels are or aren't weaknesses of Phoenixes can is is being debated.
Known Phoenixes
- Season 6
- Frontierland
- Mommy Dearest (mentioned only)
- According to Andrew Dabb in Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 6, the phoenix is like a cancer. It was born from Eve's body but it's toxic to her. She cast it out, and it's hated by all monsters because it's poisonous to their mother. The phoenix has been on the run for thousands of years.
- While Phoenixes are stated in mythology to appear bird-like, on Supernatural they have the form of a human.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Frontierland
- ↑ Mommy Dearest


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Once you've gotten SIAM up and running, you may have devices that does not already have a SIAM service.
This section provides information to enable developers to write SIAM instrument services for new instruments and other devices. It's also a good starting point for understanding SIAM internals and architecture. Topic in this section include
Integrating new sensors can be one of the most common and yet time-consuming and technically risky activities associated with maintaining an observing system. Developers of varying degrees of experience and familiarity with the language and internals of the observing system write and test new code, potentially introducing errors that degrade performance.
If the observing system doesn't expose facilities for fundamental and common activities like data logging, timestamping, and resource management, these may be reinvented many times over, which is at best very inefficient. SIAM aims to reduce this time and risk with its instrument service framework.
The framework encapsulates common operations and data collection strategies used by many COTS and custom instruments, allowing developers to focus on writing what they understand best: device-specific APIs.
|The package diagram describes the contents of top-level SIAM software packages.
|The component diagram above provdes a view of the relationship between key SIAM software components and interfaces.
|ISF Strategies
|Instrument Service Framework class diagrams: Data acquisition strategies (polled, streaming...)
|ISF Configuration
|Instrument Service Framework class diagrams: Service configuration (Attributes)
|ISF Input/Output
|Instrument Service Framework class diagrams: Input/Output
|ISF Scheduling
|Instrument Service Framework class diagrams: Scheduling mechanisms
|ISF Logging
|Instrument Service Framework class diagrams: Logging mechanisms
|ISF States
|Instrument Service Framework state diagram: Instrument service states
The Instrument Service Framework simplifies the process of writing new instrument services by providing most of the basic facilities needed to acquire and log data. Use this example to write a complete functional instrument service that collects data through a serial port from a dummy instrument, the Fake-O-Tron.
Read the HelloSIAM example
Like most frameworks, SIAM is intended to be flexible and extensible; there are many ways to do things with the SIAM framework. This section presents general information and practices that may be helpful when using SIAM.
One structural pattern that has worked well for some SIAM instrument services is to encapsulate device-specific protocols and constants (what you may think of as driver software) into a class (or set of classes) that are indendent of SIAM. This makes it possible to write non-SIAM applications to use the device interface completely outside the SIAM software stack. This has the advantages of making testing easier, isolating the device logic from the service logic, and making the device software more reusable.
An instrument service or test utility creates and uses an instance of the hardware abstraction class, supply the hardware abstraction object with a serial port. One or more interfaces exposing/hiding parts of the device API are created. The service may implement the defined interface(s) by simply wrapping the the hardware instance with the required method calls. Utilities then may use this interface to invoke remote methods on the hardware via the service.
The following diagram illustrates this pattern:
Examples of this pattern can be found in the following services:
Most SIAM services that extend the InstrumentServiceAttributes to include service-specific configuration parameters, do so by defining the attributes as an inner class. It is sometimes useful to define them as a stand-alone class. The only potential disadvantage to doing so is that it increases the number of classes and source files, but it enables the attributes to be more easily shared among other objects. This is especially useful in the context of virtual services that manage objects that all depend on (and need to share) a single instance of the service attributes.
InstrumentServiceAttributes attributes are primarily intended to be used to provide a mechanism for configuring service defaults (in the instrument service JAR) and for dynamically changing run-time service configuration. This infrastructure feature is very useful, providing type validation and metadata updates automatically, and the ability to assign callbacks when values change. They can also enforce policies for required and optional parameters.
There is a dependency between the InstrumentServiceAttributes and configuration syntax, since the configuration information is provided by uses as text (for example in in a JAR makefile/script, or from the setProperty command line). The current infrastructure supports fully supports alll attributes that are primitive data types, and there is also support for some mnemonic types (where the user supplies a mnemonic that represents a numeric value). Other complex data types (classes) are not generally supported, though SIAM could be extended to do so.
SIAM natively supports PUCK protocol
While instrument services do not generally need to use this facility directly, they have access to PUCK contents, namely service.properties (which are used to set instrument service attribute default values when the service is loaded) and service.xml. There are not any facilities in SIAM for XML data bindings that allow instrument services to programatically use the contents of service.xml.
It is useful to include a packet parser in new instrument services. Packet parsers are a component that parse data into named fields with units, so that the data may be displayed in human-readable format or used programatically. Several utilities (SamplePort, getLastSample, logView) can optionally (and automatically) display parsed data if a parser exists. In addition, data streaming via DataTurbine is supported by packet parsers.
The relevant classes are these:
Instrument services that generate multiple types of data packets may need more than one parser; in this case, one structural approach is to write a parser for each packet type, and that an additional parser be written that determines the packet type and delegates to an appropriate parser instance.
An instrument service can declare an instance and override getParser() to return a PacketParser:
/** PacketParser instance */
PacketParser _stateParser=null;
/** Return a PacketParser (create one if an instance doesn't exist). */
public PacketParser getParser() throws NotSupportedException{
// lazy-create the parser
_packetParser=new CO2SubsystemMonitorParser(_attributes.registryName,",");
// return the instance
return _packetParser;
The service produces comma-delimited ASCII data, so the parser extends DelimitedStringParser.
There are only a few methods to implement: a constructor, an initializer (not required, just how this parser does things), and a method to fill create a PacketParser.Field for each data element, depending on its data type:
public class CO2SubsystemMonitorParser extends DelimitedStringParser{
static private Logger _log4j = Logger.getLogger(CO2SubsystemMonitorParser.class);
public static final int INDEX_BASE =0;
public static final int VOLTAGE_24V_INDEX =INDEX_BASE+0;
public static final int CURRENT_24V_INDEX =INDEX_BASE+1;
public static final int HUMIDITY_INDEX =INDEX_BASE+2;
public static final int TEMPERATURE_INDEX =INDEX_BASE+3;
public static final int FAN_STATE_INDEX =INDEX_BASE+4;
public static final int WATER_SENSOR_1_INDEX =INDEX_BASE+5;
public static final int WATER_SENSOR_2_INDEX =INDEX_BASE+6;
public static final int FAN_CONTROL_INDEX =INDEX_BASE+7;
public Vector fieldNames=new Vector();
public Vector fieldUnits=new Vector();
private static final long serialVersionUID=1L;
/** No-arg constructor needed to instantiate via class loader (e.g. by logView) */
public CO2SubsystemMonitorParser(){
public CO2SubsystemMonitorParser(String registryName, String delimiters){
protected void initialize(){
fieldNames.add(VOLTAGE_24V_INDEX, "voltage_24v");
fieldNames.add(CURRENT_24V_INDEX, "current_24v");
fieldNames.add(HUMIDITY_INDEX, "humidity");
fieldNames.add(TEMPERATURE_INDEX, "temperature");
fieldNames.add(FAN_STATE_INDEX, "fan_state");
fieldNames.add(FAN_CONTROL_INDEX, "fan_control");
fieldUnits.add(VOLTAGE_24V_INDEX, "volts");
fieldUnits.add(CURRENT_24V_INDEX, "amperes");
fieldUnits.add(HUMIDITY_INDEX, "percent");
fieldUnits.add(TEMPERATURE_INDEX, "deg C");
fieldUnits.add(FAN_STATE_INDEX, "~0:on ~4096:off");
fieldUnits.add(WATER_SENSOR_1_INDEX,"1:off 0:on");
fieldUnits.add(WATER_SENSOR_2_INDEX,"1:off 0:on");
fieldUnits.add(FAN_CONTROL_INDEX, "0:on 1:off");
/** Process the token, whose position in string is nToken. If
token corresponds to a Field, create and return the field.
Otherwise return null. */
protected PacketParser.Field processToken(int nToken,String token)
throws ParseException{
//_log4j.debug("parsing token ["+token+"/"+nToken+"]");
switch (nToken) {
case VOLTAGE_24V_INDEX:
case CURRENT_24V_INDEX:
case HUMIDITY_INDEX:
case TEMPERATURE_INDEX:
return new PacketParser.Field((String)fieldNames.get(nToken),new Double(token),(String)fieldUnits.get(nToken));
case FAN_STATE_INDEX:
case FAN_CONTROL_INDEX:
case WATER_SENSOR_1_INDEX:
case WATER_SENSOR_2_INDEX:
return new PacketParser.Field((String)fieldNames.get(nToken),new Integer(token),(String)fieldUnits.get(nToken));
throw new ParseException("invalid field index ["+nToken+"] parsing CO2SubsystemMonitor packet",nToken);
The Instrument Service Framework supports data streaming (pub/sub) using Open Source DataTurbine. BaseInstrumentService includes an instance of Turbinator (org.mbari.siam.dataTurbine.Turbinator). When DataTurbine support is enabled in a service, the Turbinator parses SensorDataPackets and publishes them to a DataTurbine server.
To use DataTurbine support, the instrument service has to provide a PacketParser (org.mbari.siam.distributed.PacketParser), and override the method getPacketParser() defined in BaseInstrumentService. The PacketParser must be capable of parsing any packet types that are to be published to DataTurbine. DataTurbine servers are configured individually for each instrument service; the instrument service must define the property rbnbServer.
The SIAM registry is a publish-subscribe mechanism that allows data to be distributed to software components within the SIAM JVM (i.e. remote pub/sub is not currently supported).
To publish to the registry, a component must have a unique registry name. DeviceService declares a service attribute called registryName for this purpose. By default, it us null, and to use the registry, instrument services must configure a service attribute called registryName with a unique name; usually this is done where the instrument service JAR is configured. When this is done, SensorDataPackets are automatically sent to subscribers via a callback method (see below).
To subscribe to data from a registered service, components must implement the InstrumentDataListener interface (org.mbari.siam.registry.InstrumentDataListener). The interface defines two methods:
/** Callback for new data record
@param sensorData - SensorDataPacket that instrument logged
@param fields - Result of passing sensorData to PacketParser.parseFields()
if registered DeviceService is an instanceof BaseInstrumentService. Else null.
public void dataCallback(DevicePacket sensorData, PacketParser.Field[] fields);
/**Action performed when service installed */
public void serviceRegisteredCallback(RegistryEntry entry);
EventManager is a mechanism for notifying objects of system level events. The EventManager is implemented as a singleton; it is typically started by the NodeManager. It has a Queue member field, which implements the event queue thread. Once created, the EventManager waits for events to be posted. An EventDispatcher thread is created and allocated, one per listener. When an event comes in, it is posted to each EventDispatcher that handles an event of that type. Objects may register as listeners of various event types, or post events to the EventManager queue. All event types must be extended from NodeEvent, which extends java.util.EventObject.
There are a number of events that may be published/subscribed to in the system:
Objects receive event notifications by implementing the appropriate listener interface methods, and registering with the EventManager via the addListener method. To publish an event, the EventManager postEvent method is called.
There are no guarantees about the timeliness or ordering of messages, except that they are dispatched in the order received.
SIAM provides a number of utilities that communicate with the node and its instrument services.
Node utilities (clients that use the Node interface) may make use of the NodeUtility class (org.mbari.siam.operations.utils), which provides a framework for creating new node clients.
Port utilities (clients that interface with a particular port (service) ) may make use of the PortUtility class (org.mbari.siam.operations.utils), which extends NodeUtility, adding methods for acting on one or more instrument ports (services).
Similarly, the DeviceLogUtility class (clients that interface to SIAM service data logs) may be based on the DeviceLogUtil class (org.mbari.siam.operations.utils).
The typical pattern for constructing these types of utilities is to
It is often convenient to write custom services to manage instrument-specific functions of an instrument service, for example perform diagnostic functions. There are a couple of approaches to this. One way is to use ServiceAttributes to trigger operations. This technique is rather limited, since this mechanism doesn't make it easy to pass multiple arguments (particularly complex data types) and get return values.
A perhaps better approach is to write a utility that uses JAVA Remote Method Invocation (RMI) to execute remote methods on service stub obtained from the node service.
The pattern for constructing such utilties looks like this:
The FOCE CO2 subsystem monitor is an instrument service that monitors environmental conditions inside of an electronics housing; it also controls a CPU cooling fan. A utility was written to operate the cooling fan, turning it on or off. The following interface, CO2SubsystemMonitorIF, is declared in siam.distributed.devices:
public interface CO2SubsystemMonitorIF
extends Remote{
/** Fan state constant ON */
public static final int FAN_CONTROL_ON=0;
/** Fan state constant OFF */
public static final int FAN_CONTROL_OFF=1;
/** Set the CO2 cooling fan control bit. valid state values
are FAN_CONTROL_ON, FAN_CONTROL_OFF
public void setFanControl(int state) throws Exception,RemoteException;
/** get the CO2 Subsystem monitor state */
public PacketParser.Field[] getMonitorState() throws Exception,RemoteException;
The CO2 subsystem monitor service (org.mbari.siam.foce.devices.subsys.CO2SubsystemMonitor) also implements this interface, as well as the methods declared by the interface:
public class CO2SubsystemMonitor extends PolledInstrumentService
implements Instrument, InstrumentDataListener, CO2SubsystemMonitorIF{
// CO2SubsystemMonitorIF methods //
/** Set the CO2 cooling fan control bit. valid state values
are FAN_CONTROL_ON, FAN_CONTROL_OFF
public void setFanControl(int state)
throws Exception{
boolean bstate=true;
switch (state) {
case FAN_CONTROL_ON:
case FAN_CONTROL_OFF:
throw new Exception("Invalid state ["+state+"] in setFanControl. Use FAN_CONTROL_OFF and FAN_CONTROL_ON");
// the logic sense is inverted, so
/** Read the monitor state, but do not log the sample */
public PacketParser.Field[] getMonitorState()
throws Exception{
_stateBytes=new byte[getMaxSampleBytes()];
int bytesRead=readSample(_stateBytes);
_statePacket=new SensorDataPacket(getId(),getMaxSampleBytes());
_statePacket = processSample(_stateBytes,bytesRead);
return _stateParser.parseFields(_statePacket);
The utility subclasses PortUtility, and overrides the methods necessary to process command line arguments and to perform the utility business logic.
Method processCustomOption() processes command line arguments specific to the utility (PortUtility parses the node URL and port arguments):
/** Process application-specific option. */
public void processCustomOption(String[] args, int index)
throws InvalidOption{
for(int i=0;i<args.length;i++){
// process fan command option
String test=args[i+1];
// set command to ON
// enable fan setting
}else if(test.equalsIgnoreCase("OFF")){
// set command to OFF
// enable fan setting
}else if(args[i].equals("-q")){
// quiet option: disable state reporting
Method processPort() performs the utility action for the port(s) specified on the command line:
/** Perform the utility logic */
public void processPort(Node node, String portName)
throws RemoteException{
try {
// the node provides a reference to a Device
device = node.getDevice(portName.getBytes());
} catch (Exception e) {
System.err.println("Exception looking up port " + portName + " : " + e);
// Ensure that the Device implements CO2SubsystemMonitorIF
if (!(device instanceof CO2SubsystemMonitorIF)){
System.err.println("Service on port ["+portName + "] is not a CO2SubsystemMonitor. Exiting.");
// Cast service as CO2SubsystemMonitorIF
_CO2Subsys = (CO2SubsystemMonitorIF)device;
// do operations with via CO2SubsystemMonitorIF interface
// call remote method to turn fan on/off
}catch (Exception e) {
_log4j.error("setFanControl failed:");
// call remote method to report state
// (displays a parsed SensorDataPacket)
PacketParser.Field[] fields= _CO2Subsys.getMonitorState();
for(int i=0;i<fields.length;i++){
System.out.println(" "+fields[i].getName()+" "+fields[i].getValue()+" "+fields[i].getUnits());
}catch (Exception e) {
_log4j.error("getMonitorState failed:");
The main method is required to run the utility from the command line:
/** Main method (so utility may be invoked from command line) */
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Configure log4j
// get utility instance
CO2SubsysUtil util = new CO2SubsysUtil();
// process command line arguments
// do utility action
Recently, a new class of service is being developed under SIAM: "virtual" instrument services that aggregate data from other services to perform new services. For example, a closed loop control service is being implemented for FOCE. This service collects data from many different instruments and controls pumps, valves and motors to maintain a constant pH within an experimental apparatus in the deep ocean.
A detailed presentation of this architecture is outside the scope of this document, and in fact, the implementation is still being tested and developed at this time. But it does use many of the structural patterns described here, as well as using the data pub/sub mechanisms SIAM provides to gather data from various sensors.
The following packages and classes relate to the FOCE control system:
|Package contains implementations for control service classes
|Control service client utility
|Control service test harness
It is often required to integrate data from devices that are not traditional serial instruments. For example, platforms may have COTS or custom digital hardware with memory mapped I/O, or accessed via a hardware bus.
While SIAM doesn't include generic mechanisms for such devices, there are examples of interfaces that have been developed for various platform-specific applications at MBARI.
|Related Material
|Dual Port Adapter (DPA)
|Custom digital I/O card, interfaced via SPI bus and memory mapped I/O. A Linux kernel-space driver was written to expose the SPI bus and memory mapped I/O through the linux dev file system.
|MOOS mooring controller (MMC)
|Ricoh RTC
|Real-time clock interface for a Ricoh RTC clock chip
|MOOS mooring controller (MMC)
|FOCE digital I/O
|Interface to PC104 A/D and Digital I/O cards. Here, a linux application was written with drivers for several different digital I/O cards. SIAM instrument services were written to access the linux app through a TCP/IP socket interface.
|FOCE Controller


text:
According to media reports, Apple's new iOS devices sales is more impressive in shopping season, which involves at least four new products: the iPhone5, the fifth-generation iPod Touch, fourth-generation iPod Touch and iPad Mini.
In the past, there is a huge gap between the 3.5-inch Touch and the 9.7-inch iPad. Now the screen size involves four inches, 7.9 inches and 9.7 inches.
iPad Mini
It's price is from $329, with a memory of 16GB (Wi-Fi version), the 4G LTE version is $130 higher than the regular edition.
Advantages: the right size; as portable as Kindle; fully compatible with all iPad and iPhone applications; good battery life; fairly low price.
Disadvantages: This is the only new iOS device without Retina Display, whose speed is not as faster as the updated and larger iPad.
Who should buy the iPad Mini? Obviously those who want to save money, because the cost of the equipment is less than the fourth-generation iPad. If you do not mind to have Retina Display, or are considering a second-generation iPad, or if you have children, or if you often take a commuter car, then the device is a good choice for you.
The fourth-generation iPad
Sales price is from $499, 16GB memory (Wi-Fi version), LTE version is also $130 higher than the regular version.
Advantages: fast speed; beautiful Retina Display and impressive game graphics.
Disadvantages: heavier; larger (relatively speaking), nearly the same with the previous generation iPad.
If you've never owned iPad, then the fourth-generation iPad is a good choice. This is an excellent portable device, a Tablet PC which is an easy to read and watch, also can become a "game machine", in short, it is a multi-functional device. However, if you have a third-generation iPad, then there is no need to buy the fourth-generation iPad.
Recommended storage: Given the size of many high-definition video and gaming, 32GB or more memory.
Fifth-generation iPod Touch
Starting at $299, 32GB memory (Wi-Fi Edition), no LTE version.
Advantages: 4-inch Retina Display; camera with LED flash; good battery life, similar to the iPhone's functions; 32GB memory; slim and small.
Disadvantages: speed not as fast as iPhone 5, no LTE version.
Who should buy the fourth-generation iPad? The iPhone users do not need to buy. It's for those who are music lovers, like ultra-portable devices, large screens, large storage space, and want to buy the cheapest iOS devices. The device can be used as electronic readers and web browsers, but not as versatility as the iPad.
Recommended storage: If you want to play games or watching video, 32GB can. If used as a video camera, you need to 64GB.
To sum up: If you're a Windows user, curious about the iOS, if you have a MacBook Air and iPhone, or if you want to use the best e-reader on the go, and then you can select the iPad Mini. If you already have an iPad, then also buy the iPad Mini. If you value speed and performance, or if you have a desktop and want a laptop, or you want to buy the first iPad and want to buy the best, you can select the fourth-generation iPad. If you want to save money, then select iPad Mini or consider the iPod Touch. If you are a melomania, but don't have the iPhone, consider to buy the iPod Touch. If you only use for music, video and photo, considere the fourth-generation iPod Touch. If you want the best camera, or you have a smart phone then buy the iPod Touch. If you want the Retina Display, but do not want to pay a lot of money, then you can consider the used third-generation iPad.
One Response to "Which one to buy, iPad mini, iPad or iPod touch?"
Sorry but if you want the best 7″ tablet right now, it would not be the iPad Mini but the Nexus 7 for so many reasons. Maybe that will change in 2013 but right now the mini is a sub-par device.


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Changing jobs and losing short-term disabilitySave as Favorite
I have been dealing with an incurable cancer diagnosis for over two years now. I have recently had some very unpleasant issues arise with my long-time public sector employer (county government) of 7 years. I would like to find a new job. If I look for a new position within my current employer, I can retain my short-term disability coverage. However, I would much rather leave. But, leaving means I would lose my short-term disability coverage because the majority of policies have language that excludes preexisting conditions. I feel like I'm trapped because it would be foolish for me to lose my STD. I wanted to get a second opinion to confirm if my logic makes the most sense, i.e. that keeping my STD is what I need to prioritize even if it means severely impacting my emotional well being? I have an interview this week with another employer that looks very promising and suspect I will need to make a decision soon.
2 CommentsLeave a comment
Julie Jansen on Apr 22, 2014
Career Coach Comment:
Hi Jennifer,
I am so sorry that you are going through this. Your situation has many dimensions including the practical aspects of choosing to leave or stay, as well as the psychological and emotional aspects. Admittedly because I am a career coach, my perspective tends to focus on the importance of being gratified, feeling productive and meeting your core values. Yes, a paycheck and benefits are necessary for most people, and in your case STD is indeed a huge benefit.
This said, what I do know is that not only are you dealing with the huge burden of dealing with an incurable disease but you also are dealing with the stress of what sounds like a toxic environment. If you choose to continue to work in these conditions, your self-esteem and confidence will erode and the longer this goes on, the harder it will be to recover, even when you actually do leave your job. This will certainly not help your health.
So, I vote for going on interviews and taking charge of your career. If you need more help in the process, please don't hesitate to write again. Good luck Jennifer!
Take care,
Rebecca Nellis on Apr 22, 2014
Cancer and Careers Staff Comment:
Hi Jennifer,
I think it is smart to think the way you are thinking, and it is going to be a very tough call because you are right it would be very difficult to get access to disability insurance for you now (possibly impossible). Do you feel like you may need to use it in the nearer term? Have you discussed this with your healthcare team to get a sense of what they see your disease progression looking like? Have you reviewed the policy you are on now? You might want to reach out to one of the legal resources listed on the National Cancer Legal Services Network to discuss your specific policy (http://www.nclsn.org/). Julie is right to bring up the questions of do you want to spend your time in such a toxic space, and that can't be underestimated but neither can access to a benefit like short term disability. I would advise learning as much as possible about what you have now, and getting a sense of what your trusted team of healthcare pros thinks so you can feel as confident as possible about your ultimate decision.
Lastly, you don't happen to live in CA, HI, NJ, NY, RI or Puerto Rico by any chance? Those places all have state disability insurance, which you pay into out of your paycheck.
Good luck, and don't hesitate to respond with additional questions.
Rebecca V. Nellis
VP, Programs & Strategy


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The Young Man and His Vocation (1925-26): Lesson 24: The Vocational Outlook
For background and links to chapters in this series, see here
Now that we are about to complete the lessons with the relation of the young man to his vocation, let us take a little time in summing up to see just what the situation is as it affects each one of us. What have we learned during the course? What is our attitude toward the various vocations? What are the conditions in which each of us finds himself vocationally/ what are we going to do about preparing ourselves for our chosen work? What is going to be our attitude toward helping all of our associates and friends to become well situated vocationally?
A Living Versus a Life
In the first place we must know that gaining a living is not all there is to life. Although it is necessary for most of us to spend the larger part of our time acquiring the means to support ourselves and those who are dependent onus, we shall be making a very great mistake if we allow this activity completely to dominate our thinking and our living. Life should be much bigger than the mere earning of a living. It should leave room for the higher things that come to this generation as a heritage from ages past – for religion, for art, for music, for social contacts, for civic services, and for the numerous other activities that make man more than a beast of burden and make the world something greater than merely a huge work shop. The very emphasis that we are now giving to the vocations should be a means of earning the necessary living with less effort and this should give to us the desirable leisure that will enable us to live the fuller life.
Material wealth is very important to the world, but human welfare is even more important; in fact the chief value of wealth is the contribution which it makes to welfare.
The Choice
Probably most of those who have gone through all of these lessons are convinced that their own interests, as well as the interest of the community, can best be served if they choose some definite vocation – one that is suited to their particular situation and capabilities. It should be lain that they will do well to begin early and prepare themselves thoroughly for the calling of their choice. Doubtless all realize by now that the choice of a vocation is something more than haphazard guesswork that something more than accident should enter into it, and that there are, growing out of modern psychology, much more exact methods of testing capabilities than were known formerly. Since the choice of a life's work is so tremendously important the need of the most careful consideration of the question has become apparent, and certainly every young man is anxious that in his own case at least every known help may be available to assist him.
Pseudo Guidance
Before leaving the subject one warning word should be spoken against the great array of false tests that are imposed on the public as means of helping young people to find their life's work, or to find a suitable companion in marriage. This is a day of exact science and it is no longer necessary to resort to the superstition or the ignorance of the middle ages. In spite of this fact there are still those who would use palmistry, phrenology, astrology, or physiognomy in determining vocational adaptations. There are persons who go about the country giving very definite advice based entirely on these unsound and wholly unreliable indicators.
Many attempts have been made to work out relationships between the shape of the hand or its lines and the character of the individual but these attempts have been unsuccessful. Even in this day there are some people who try to correlate mental qualities with the bumps on the head, but repeated scientific tests have shown practically no relationships of this kind exist, so that people who attempt to use these methods of character analysis are very much misguided. Books have been published recently which advise all those of light complexion to go into one set of occupations and those of dark complexion to go into another, the matter of complexion being one of the chief factors considered in vocational guidance.
It is hoped that the M.I.A. workers will stay clear of these false tests
After a wise selection is made the chief attention should be placed on preparation for one's great work in life. The foundation for any occupation is the building up of a strong body and the acquiring of health habits that will enable the worker to keep fit for his tastes.
An item that must be kept in mind is the securing of just as good a general education as it is possible to get and then to supplement this with such special training as the particular vocation requires. Thoroughness in preparation is always reflected in ability to reach greater heights in one's profession.
If one is reasonably sure of what is going to follow, it is a tremendous advantage to begin his preparation as early as possible – not that he should devote himself to it to the exclusion of other things, but if a person may be securing some of his special training while he is getting his general education he has a great advantage over the person who must delay until later in life and special training for his life's work.
The Opportunity
No young man in this day can complain that he does not have a chance. There are so many opportunities for training one very hand that any person with good health and the least ambition need not hesitate about going forward with a reasonable assurance that he can prepare for almost any occupation for which he has the physical and mental aptitude. No longer need poverty be the bar to education. There are so many courses offered in correspondence; there are so many "opportunity" schools and night schools; there are so many books to be borrowed from public and private libraries; and there are so many scholarships open and so many opportunities to work one's way through college, that it is almost a reflection on a young man who allows himself to drift year after year from one temporary occupation to another without planning for something permanent and without burning the midnight oil, if necessary, in order to carve out for himself a place of independence and usefulness in his community.
Under the old hit-and-miss system of employment most anyone had a chance to get a job. Sometimes the man without training secured a better position than the man who was well prepared; but with the coming of the new position of employment manager which is rapidly being adopted in most of the larger industries, the question of preparation and merit will be given much greater attention than formerly. This will mean the establishment of rating scales with added compensation for the man who is prepared to do the job.
The Final Word is to urge every young man of mutual Improvement Association age to be a man of achievement. The industrial outlook has never in the history of the world been brighter than it is today. There has never been a time when a young man without material resources had a better chance to succeed than right now, provided he is only willing to pay the price. After all, achievement is merely a matter of effort; we get what we pay for. If we put forth only the effort necessary to become a cobbler, only a cobbler can we be; but if we are willing to put forth sufficient effort to become a great engineer we shall receive proper reward for that effort also.
With the greater opportunity that has been made available in the modern world there is a corresponding disgrace for failure to achieve. No longer can a man be held in high respect in his community, who, because of his own neglect, is incapable of adequately providing fort he material needs of those who are dependent on hin.
1. Give a list of the subjects of each lesson.
2. Which three lessons have you enjoyed most?
3. Distinguish between living and earning a living. Which is more important?
4. Give some of the false tests that are sometimes used in attempts to guide the choice of a vocation.
5. List the steps necessary in the preparation for several vocations.
6. What are some of the industrial opportunities unknown to your grandfather which are open to you?
7. What do you consider to be the greatest vocational need of your community?


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Archive for Thursday, May 20, 2004
Bits and Pieces
Borrowed advice for departing graduates
It's that time of year when the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance" are echoing down the highways into small towns and large cities, into school gymnasiums and auditoriums, as well as impressive ivy colored halls throughout our country. It's graduation time for thousands of high school and college students.
Two of my grandchildren are graduating high school this year. I attended the first ceremony Sunday in Ottawa. My granddaughter, Andrea Laws, looking lovely, healthy and self-assured with long, curly hair blowing around her face, strode into the stadium in Ottawa and took her place among her classmates. Along with the others, she waited patiently through the ceremony, which will allow her to pursue what is over the hill -- quite literally -- at Kansas University.
In the gymnasium of Eudora's new high school Sunday, my grandson Parker Laws will wait through much the same kind of ceremony. The challenges of high school have not come as easily for Parker as they have for Andrea, and with a great deal of pride in his achievement will come an additional sentiment. As he collects his diploma, his family will be thinking of Parker and Andrea's grandfather, Don Laws, a long-time teacher in Eudora, who will be watching at both graduations in "absentia" as they say. He died in 1992. How proud he would be of both of his grandchildren.
In a search for wisdom to impart to these young people who are leaving the security of a system that has been home to them for 13 years, I turned -- as I so often do -- to real writers of either prose or poem. I didn't have to think hard to come up with something that I found fitting.
I mentioned a book previously in this column titled "A View from the Heartland," by David Chartrand. I will defer to this author and hope that both Andrea and Parker will find something here to carry with them on their journey into whatever they choose to do.
The following are excerpts from Chartrand's book from a piece on graduation titled "Dear Graduate -- Remember Who You Are."
You'll know right off that this isn't high school anymore when you wake up and realize there is no one telling you:
¢ To get out of bed. To get back in bed.
¢ To turn off the television. To avoid strangers.
¢ To go to bed (and I swear I am not kidding this time).
¢ To quit picking your nose. To wipe your nose. But not on your sleeve.
¢ To help with the dishes. To comb your hair, cut it, or get it out of your eyes.
¢ To make your bed. To stand up straight. To speak up.
¢ To clean the pigsty in your room. To come here right now before I count to three.
¢ To look at your mother when she talks to you. To not look at your mother that way.
¢ To eat your dinner. To take out the trash. To settle down. To grow up.
¢ To stop growing up so fast. To get in the bathtub. To walk. To hurry up.
¢ To check your shoes for mud. To go ask your father.
¢ To dress warm. To say thank you. To say you're sorry. To look both ways.
¢ To wipe your hands. But not on your clean shirt.
¢ To kiss your mother good-bye. Because I said so.
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System memory featuresThe board has two DIMM sockets and supports the following memory features:
To be fully compliant with all applicable Intel® SDRAM memory specifications, the board should be populated with DIMMs that support the Serial Presence Detect (SPD) data structure. If your memory modules do not support SPD, you will see a notification to this effect on the screen at power up. The BIOS will attempt to configure the memory controller for normal operation.
Memory and system bus speed considerationsThe Intel® Desktop Board DG41TX supports multiple processor and memory speeds. It is important to understand that not all memory speeds are supported with all processor speeds. The table below shows the processor and memory speed capabilities.
Configuring memory for 1333 MHz
Tested memoryThird-party tested memoryThe table below lists parts which passed testing during development. These part numbers may not be readily available throughout the product life cycle.
This applies to:
Intel will not provide future software updates to support new operating systems or improve compatibility with third-party devices and software products.


text:
- Pittsfield Elementary School - http://pittsfield-nh.com/pes -
Pittsfield Elementary School Improvement Team
Posted By Clayton Wood On October 31, 2013 @ 9:14 am In Programs | Comments Disabled
We are seeking parents and community members interested in participating on a school improvement team. Please consider joining us.
Article printed from Pittsfield Elementary School: http://pittsfield-nh.com/pes
URL to article: http://pittsfield-nh.com/pes/6039/pittsfield-elementary-school-improvement-team
Click here to print.
Copyright © 2009 Pittsfield NH Elementary School. All rights reserved.


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Fox Chase Cancer Center Testing Anti-Angiogenesis Drug
PHILADELPHIA -- Patients with multiple myeloma whose disease has returned or has not responded to prior treatments may be eligible for a phase II clinical trial evaluating an investigational drug. The drug SU5416 is specifically designed to block angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is the growth of new blood vessels, which is necessary for cancer growth.
An estimated 13,700 Americans will be diagnosed with multiple myeloma this year. About 11,400 Americans are expected to die of the disease. Multiple myeloma is cancer of the plasma cells, which are an important part of the immune system. It multiplies and spreads throughout the bone marrow.
"The drug SU5416 is designed to cut off the supply of blood to the tumor," explained Mitchell Smith, M.D., Ph.D, director of the lymphoma service. "It is not a chemotherapy and we expect it will be less toxic than the standard chemotherapy treatment for myeloma."
Smith added, "While chemotherapy is often effective in treating myeloma, it rarely, if ever, cures the disease. Since SU5416 works in a totally different way than usual chemotherapy, we hope it will be active even in patients with multiple myeloma whose cancer is not responding to the current treatment."
Although researchers do not know exactly what causes multiple myeloma, age appears to be a significant risk factor. The average age at diagnosis is about 70. Only 2 percent of cases are diagnosed in people younger than 40. In addition, multiple myeloma is about twice as common among African Americans as white Americans, but the reason is not known.
Unfortunately, multiple myeloma does not typically cause symptoms until after it has reached an advanced stage and can be difficult to detect early. Symptoms may include bone pain, osteoporosis, bone fractures, anemia, as well as severe pain, numbness and/or weakness of arms and legs.
To learn more about this study please call Fox Chase Cancer Center at 1-888-FOX CHASE (1-888-369-2427).
Fox Chase Cancer Center, one of the nation's first comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute in 1974, conducts basic and clinical research; programs of prevention, detection and treatment of cancer; and community outreach. For more information about Fox Chase activities, visit the Center's web site at: www.fccc.edu.
Fox Chase Cancer Center, part of the Temple University Health System, is one of the leading cancer research and treatment centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation's first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center's nursing program has received the Magnet recognition for excellence four consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. For more information, call 1-888-FOX CHASE or (1-888-369-2427).


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Plans for North Huntingdon recreation center 'still alive'
Though voters in November rejected a proposal for a new community recreation center in North Huntingdon, the idea might still become a reality if the YMCA adopts it.
The YMCA, Excela Health and the Norwin Area Community Recreation Commission will meet on Feb. 23 to discuss the feasibility of a scaled-down project.
Gary Nowading, district vice president for the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, said the meeting will be "exploratory."
"The YMCA's interested," he said. "We're not in the position right now to build a YMCA in North Huntingdon. ... The thing we would have to look at is how we would get the dollars to build the facility."
There's still a strong public interest in the project, but the community doesn't want to back the building with tax money, said Roy Lenhardt, interim chairman of the Norwin Area Community Recreation Commission, a volunteer group.
"The project is still alive," Lenhardt said. "And we look forward to working in collaboration with Excela and the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh to hopefully make this community-requested recreation center a reality."
Nowading said the YMCA would want the community to raise half of the money for the project so that the YMCA wouldn't have to bear a debt service on the entire building.
A scaled-down version of the initial $16 million to $18 million proposal would leave the facility at a cost of about $12 million or $14 million, he said.
The question would be whether the community, through corporate and foundation donations, can raise about $6 million to help fund the building, Nowading said.
Excela's offer to donate a 10-acre parcel of land for the proposed center is still on the table, said Jennifer Miele, vice president of marketing and communications at Excela Health. The property is on Barnes Lake Road near the new Wal-Mart.
Excela is interested in the project because "it's a matter of community health," Miele said, citing obesity, heart disease and diabetes statistics. In addition, the site is near Excela's under-construction medical facility.
Excela has not discussed whether it would donate money to the project, she said.
If the YMCA takes on the project, the volunteer recreation commission won't control the building's design. Lenhardt said he hopes the facility would turn out similar to what the commission originally considered.
Traditionally, he said, YMCAs include a basketball court, a swimming pool and exercise rooms.
In addition, the commission wants the building to include community meeting rooms providing space for events like Scout meetings and baby showers.
If the YMCA wants to get involved, they'll build their own center with no tax money, unless tax money is needed to fund community-run activity space, Lenhardt said.
Some YMCAs do have community rooms, Nowading said, but it's too early to talk about how they could be funded.
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Excitement pulsed through my body. After four whole years, stuck here, in the Realm of Humans, I would return home. My hand trembled as I drew a circle on the floorboards of my room, and drew the 'Tiana', which would protect me from any outside disturbances during the journey . I tried lighting a matchstick, succeeding only in the third attempt, I quickly lit three candles. I blew out the matchstick and threw it over my shoulder. I placed the three candles at equal distances from each other on the circle, and again with a piece of chalk drew lines, connecting them to make a equilateral triangle. I sighed, and picked up a knife from behind me, and closing my eyes tightly cut myself on the shoulder. The pain was stinging but I still got up and collecting my blood on my index finger, I drew another circle inside the one I made of chalk. I tied a piece of cloth tightly around my arm after I finished. Then I sat on my bed admiring my work.
I remembered the last time I drew an 'Oliac', like it was yesterday, when I had just become a full fledged Wizard. After ten tiring years as an apprentice Wizard. Usually we became Wizards at the age of fifteen, but I was just thirteen when I was ready to become a Wizard. Wizards never stay in their Realm, as soon as they think they're ready they move to a different Realm, and until they find a Realm that they're satisfied with they keep on moving. I immediately decided I was ready to travel Realms, maybe my head was swollen, because I was one of the youngest Wizards in the history of my Realm. I wanted to go to the Realm of Fatonies, but I was too inexperienced, and I made mistakes. Huge ones. And I ended up here. Now I was seventeen and I was ready to travel Realms again.
I was certainly not satisfied with this Realm. The people were ignorant and foolish. They thought they were developed because they traveled to their own moon. They weren't even aware of the existence of Realms. They didn't know much about their own Realm. Heck, they didn't know much about their own planet. They had no idea that their 'Bermuda Triangle' was an entry, into different Realms, I would have used it but my limbs would have been torn apart. I couldn't live among such people, for 'a million dollars'.
It was hard to collect all the ingredients for the ritual to travel to another Realm. After four years of traveling from country to country, continent to continent, planet to planet. I managed to collect all the ingredients. I doubted it would be half as hard to collect all the ingredients in any other Realm then it was here.
I had to give it to these humans for one thing, they knew, in their subconscious about the existence of Realms, and people there. That's where the idea of Wizards, Vampires, Werewolves, Unicorns even Medusa came from.
I wiped the sweat of my forehead, and decided to take a quick 'shower' and then leave. But first I'd complete the Oliac. The next step was simple, I picked up a huge bowl and dropped all the ingredients I had collected over the years in it. Substances humans were unaware existed on their planet, and universe.
I picked up a grinder and started mashing them and smiling I sang:
Oliac, Oliac the time has come,
And then I sprinkled the greenish-blue powder on the Oliac.
I grabbed a towel and walked in to the bathroom.
* * *
I wrapped my black cloak around me and taking a deep breath in I walked into the circle. The candles had been burning for more than half and hour now, and were standing in a pool of hardened wax. Perfect. I glanced at the circle of blood, it was dry at places, but mostly wet, and the circle made of chalk hadn't rubbed off. The inscriptions inside the circle were intact as well. Taking a deep breath in, I said in a sharp, orderly voice, "Allensa" which meant "Now!"
I felt a sinking feeling, as if I was falling down with the Oliac under me. And then sudden pull, as we started accelerating horizontally. I felt a sharp pain in my chest. And my legs grew so weak, I had to crouch down and hold on to the floor board with my hands too.
And then, suddenly, everything went black.
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