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Public agencies have to make important and complicated decisions to develop effective P3 programs and projects - often under intense public scrutiny. P3s tend to be large and complex projects that present unique challenges to decisionmakers. As a result, policymakers must make difficult decisions with limited information and few points of reference.
Once a public sector agency has decided to enter into a P3 program or project, as enabled by State legislation, policymakers must consider:
While the types of decisions and the tools and processes used to make these decisions are similar for all States, approaches to P3s and types of projects vary significantly by State. Many States evaluate P3s on a project-by-project basis. These States sometimes rely on the private sector to help identify opportunities to develop projects as P3s or developing a project as a P3 once other approaches to financing and delivering a project prove insufficient. However, some States are now starting to apply a more programmatic approach that identifies P3 opportunities early in the planning process. States have used different methods to evaluate the value of the P3 approach. Some States have allowed public toll authorities to compete with private bidders. Other States have developed value for money analyses that use financial models and risk assessments to compare different models of project delivery.
While the structures of individual P3 agreements have evolved as the P3 market has developed over the past 25 years, they vary greatly depending on State's internal financial and legal structure, appetite for risk, market conditions, and other factors States have employed different lengths of term, methods of compensation, risk allocation, and performance management processes in P3 agreements to create public value and incentivize performance. There are also variations in how States have procured P3 projects to select the best partner and negotiate the best final agreement. These differences provide a rich pool of experience and lessons learned on which policymakers can draw when considering future P3 projects.
The first section of this chapter discusses decisions associated with initiating a P3 project or program. The second section discusses methods public agencies can use to identify potential P3 projects. The final two sections discuss the issues that policymakers face in developing P3 project agreements and selecting an appropriate private partner.
States generally require enabling legislation to begin using a P3 procurement model. P3 authorizing legislation sets out the legislative mandate and legal framework for P3s (see Chapter 1). The P3 legal framework may preclude or constrain potential agency decisions regarding P3s, although executive agencies may benefit by coordinating with the legislature on the initial legal framework to allow flexibility in the procurement model due to the unique nature of the proposed projects. Decisions that are typically addressed in the legal framework include:
Decisions regarding the identification, development, and implementation of specific P3 projects are often left to the implementing agencies.
Table 2-1 describes how three States have set different parameters on public agency's authority to enter into P3s through legislation.
|Entities with authority to enter into P3s
|Commonwealth of Virginia, local governments, and specified transportation agencies and authorities.
|Texas DOT, the Texas Turnpike Authority, Regional Mobility Authorities, and Regional Tollway Authorities.
|Any expressway authority, transportation authority, bridge authority, or toll authority.
|Eligible P3 projects
|Any road, bridge, tunnel, overpass, ferry, airport, mass transit facility, vehicle parking facility, port facility, or similar commercial facility used for the transportation of persons or goods.
|Twelve highway projects specifically named in legislation.
|Projects programmed in the DOT's adopted 5-year work program or projects in the 10-year Strategic Intermodal Plan that increase transportation capacity and are greater than $500 million.
|Allowable Agreements
|Any lease, license, franchise, easement, or other binding agreement transferring rights for the use or control of a transportation facility by a responsible public entity to a private entity for a definite term during which the private entity will manage the facility in return for the right to receive all or a portion of the revenues of the facility.
|Agreements that provide for the financing, design, acquisition, construction, maintenance, or operation of a designated transportation facility.
|Agreements that allow the lease of existing facilities as well as financing, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of new or expanded tolled facilities using either annual availability payments or toll-based payments.
Once P3 authorizing legislation is in place, public agencies can take different approaches to identifying and evaluating potential P3 projects, conducting procurements, and managing contracts. A public agency's approach to P3s may depend on the enabling legislation in the State, an agency's commitment to and expectations for P3 projects, and an agency's existing traditional processes for developing and delivering projects, the use of internal and external resources, among other things. An important initial decision is whether to pursue P3 opportunities on a project-by-project basis or to establish a P3 program.
Some public agencies have pursued P3 projects on a project-by-project basis as opportunities arise. For example, Florida and Texas have each been very active in using P3 procurements but do not have established centralized P3 programs. Project champions in Division Offices (Florida) or regional mobility authorities (Texas) initiate P3 projects in these States, with some oversight and technical support from the State DOT. A project-by-project approach to P3s can allow a public agency to be responsive to local demands and to allocate resources as needed to support project opportunities as they arise. In some cases, the approach to P3s may evolve. Virginia DOT (VDOT), for example, started developing P3 projects on a case-by-case basis. In 2010, Virginia's governor created the Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships, which is now responsible for developing and implementing a multi-modal statewide program for P3 project delivery.
If a steady stream of projects is expected, a permanent P3 program can improve identification of P3 opportunities, reduce transaction costs, and educate stakeholders. An established P3 program could potentially instill private sector confidence. If the private sector sees public agencies investing in a P3 program, then potential bidders may have added confidence that the agency is serious about carrying P3s from inception to deal-close and beyond. This can improve the number, quality and competitiveness of interested bidders on a proposed project. In addition, a permanent P3 program or agency may allow staff to accumulate institutional knowledge and to proactively identify future opportunities where P3s may be beneficial. However, setting up a program office in an existing or new agency is a significant undertaking that may not be worthwhile unless there is an expectation of a significant pipeline of P3 deals to evaluate and manage.
States may establish P3 programs within an existing public agency, such as a DOT, or, through legislation, in a new independent agency or authority. Institutionalized P3 programs establish policies and processes for identifying, analyzing, and implementing projects and dedicate resources and staff to carry out those processes. States and territories with institutionalized P3 programs include Virginia, Georgia, Arizona, and Puerto Rico.
In some countries with well-established P3 programs, such as Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom (UK), specialized P3 agencies have broad authority over a wide range of social infrastructure including highways, schools, water and sewage treatment facilities, and energy plants. Having broad authority to implement P3s across an array of social infrastructure expands the set of potential P3 projects and may lead to lower transaction costs and faster procurement processes. P3 programs in these countries are often located within a treasury agency or within an agency exclusively dedicated to the evaluation and implementation of P3 projects. In Canada and the UK, some P3 agencies are set up as P3s themselves and work on a fee-for-service model, with implementing agencies paying for the P3 expertise of the centralized P3 agency. Such a centralized program might limit the ability to respond to regional or local issues, and be more difficult to implement in countries such as the U.S., which has a long tradition of State and local governments retaining broad authority over project implementation.
States with ongoing P3 programs typically establish goals, policies, and standard processes that guide and facilitate the development and implementation of P3 projects.
Georgia P3 Program Goal Statement
"The goal of the P3 program is to create a fair, transparent and reliable process to support a climate for private sector innovation and investment in a manner that provides value and benefit to the State's transportation system."
Clear program goals can guide agencies in establishing policies and making decisions related to identifying projects, structuring agreements, and selecting partners. In general, public sector agencies enter into P3 arrangements when they believe there can be added value for the public sector as compared to more traditional development options. Specific program goals may include:
Decisions regarding the specific mechanisms to achieve the goals of a program are made at the implementation level. P3 programs need sufficient human resources to identify and develop projects and monitor contract performance. P3 programs often draw from political, technical, financial, legal, and managerial skills from throughout a transportation agency and sometimes within other public agencies. P3 programs sometimes establish working committees and steering committees to assist in the identification of P3 opportunities and to coordinate the resources necessary to develop P3 projects. In addition, P3 programs typically engage private advisors as needed to provide specialized technical, financial, and legal skills. Figure 2-1 shows how Virginia's Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnerships is structured to use cross-agency committees and private advisors.
Figure 2-1. Virginia's P3 Program Structure
Not all projects are suited to P3 project delivery, so agencies need a way to identify which projects have the best potential to succeed as P3s. Agencies may identify projects with the help of the private sector through unsolicited proposals or a call for nominations, or projects may be selected through programmatic project screening. In some States, such as Texas, potential P3 projects are limited to those that are specifically identified in State enabling legislation. In States where public agencies have broader authority to enter into P3 agreements, public agencies may choose to identify and solicit projects themselves or they can permit the private sector to submit unsolicited proposals. Several States, including Virginia and Florida, consider both solicited and unsolicited proposals. Public agencies can also issue a call for proposals that meet specific criteria (e.g., toll projects or projects that increase capacity) or that meet specific policy goals or needs as identified in transportation plans. Other public agencies have defined project screening processes that lead to the development and solicitation of specific P3 projects. The process for screening projects is discussed further below.
Unsolicited Proposals: Georgia DOT
Georgia DOT initially accepted unsolicited proposals. Several unsolicited proposals were submitted but only one project was advanced to project development. Ultimately, that project was terminated due to public opposition. In 2009, the State passed new legislation that established a framework for Georgia DOT to identify projects and solicit proposals through a P3 program. The program has subsequently identified a network of interconnected managed lanes around the Atlanta metropolitan area that the Georgia DOT may develop as P3s, some of which the State is pursuing.
The typical unsolicited proposal process allows a private party to submit a conceptual proposal. The public agency evaluates the proposal as to whether it is legally permissible, technically feasible, and, most importantly, meets the agency's policy goals. If the public agency decides to go forward with the unsolicited proposal, it typically publishes the conceptual outlines of the proposal and provides a time period for other private parties to submit competing proposals. This time period varies by State but may range from 60 to 135 days. Public agencies typically charge a fee for reviewing an initial unsolicited proposal ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.
Table 2-2 provides State examples of requirements for accepting unsolicited proposals for P3s.
|Puerto Rico
|Review Fee
|$50,000 ($10,000 for concept; $40,000 for detail)
|$25,000 ($5,000 for concept; $20,000 for detail)
|Period to submit competing proposals
|120 days
|90 days
|120 days
|90 days
Agencies may allow unsolicited proposals to inject private sector innovation into project selection and implementation. For example, in 2003, VDOT received an unsolicited proposal for the design of the I-495 Capital Beltway HOT lanes in Virginia that reduced right-of-way takings from several hundred homes to less than ten. The redesign was estimated to reduce the project cost from $3.2 billion to $846 million, in part by reducing the number of breakdown lanes from eight to four and deferring improvements to several interchanges. The design innovations in the unsolicited proposal made the project financially and politically feasible. However, by the time the project was under construction, the estimated cost had risen to about $2 billion, as a result of inflation and design enhancements, and the concessionaire needed about $400 million in State grants to make the financial plan work.
Unsolicited proposals can be problematic in several ways. They can be perceived as uncompetitive and non-transparent, although most public agencies that accept unsolicited proposals require a period of competition to allow competitors to offer alternative bids. Unsolicited proposals often derive from planned projects that for whatever reason the public sector has not seen through to implementation. Some observers have questioned whether projects that do not fit into existing public agency transportation plans or priorities should be pursued as P3s, even if it can be demonstrated that those projects are commercially viable and create benefits for the public. Others have expressed concerns that unsolicited proposals allow concessionaires to "cherry-pick" profitable projects that might otherwise generate revenue for a public agency. In addition, unsolicited proposals may face significant delays and scope changes in the environmental review and preliminary design process. These delays and scope changes may make a project less commercially attractive and suitable as a P3. Finally, unsolicited proposals commit the public agency to staff resources to review the proposals, and depending on the result of that review, to conduct a competition with competing proposals. The resources needed to respond to unsolicited proposals can be substantial. For example, between 1995 and 2011, VDOT received more than 50 project proposals but is only moving forward with a small portion of them. As a result, VDOT charges a $50,000 fee to review a proposal - intending that only the most serious of concessionaires will propose.
A call for nominations is a more controlled form of getting creative proposals from potential concessionaires. In a call for nominations, a public agency requests proposals from the private sector for a specified number or set of projects. For example, in 1989, California passed AB 680, which allowed up to four private concessions in the State. The first P3 projects in California - 91 Express (Orange County) and South Bay Expressway (San Diego) - were two of the four projects identified through that process. The other two nominated projects did not proceed to implementation.
Public agencies can manage the flow of P3 proposals if they take a programmatic approach to identifying potential P3 opportunities. A programmatic approach may allow policymakers and agency staff to coordinate and streamline decisionmaking processes across the agency. Several State DOTs now conduct programmatic project screenings to identify potential P3 projects, including Georgia and Virginia.
When planners can identify projects with P3 potential during the development of long range planning documents such as the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and Transportation Improvement Programs (TIPs), it puts transportation agencies in a better position to facilitate project development and consider the financial implications of using a P3 approach. To identify potential P3 projects, transportation projects in the STIP or TIP can be evaluated across established criteria to determine the feasibility of advancing a project as a P3. This process can be repeated on a regular basis as projects enter the planning process and can also be used to prioritize and schedule potential P3 procurements. Project screening criteria may include:
Virginia uses a process to identify potential P3s through the normal project development pipeline or through unsolicited proposals (see Figure 2-2). To identify planned projects that may be appropriate to deliver as a P3, Virginia has established a Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA) Program Steering Committee that includes representatives from each transportation agency and is chaired by the VDOT Commissioner. The Committee works with the P3 Office to apply established evaluation criteria to systematically screen and prioritize potential projects. Once the Committee has prioritized a project, the P3 Office coordinates project development activities, develops the scope and design concept, prepares cost, traffic, and revenue estimates, and conducts an initial value for money analysis. If, after further project development and evaluation, the project is still judged to be appropriate as a P3, the P3 Office begins a procurement process through which a proposal is ultimately selected and a final contract negotiated.
When an unsolicited proposal is received, the P3 Office reviews the proposal to ensure that it satisfies a public need, is identified in a current transportation plan, and is consistent with Commonwealth transportation goals. The Committee ultimately makes a determination whether to advance the project to detailed screening. The proposal is then considered for prioritization, development, and procurement alongside planned projects.
Figure 2-2. Virginia's Process to Identify and Evaluate Potential P3s
Source: Virginia's PPTA Implementation Manual and Guidelines
Once public agencies have identified a project as having the potential to be a P3, they typically conduct a series of progressively more rigorous evaluations to determine the best approach to delivering the project. These evaluations help decisionmakers choose how best to structure and procure a potential P3 project. There are several analytical studies and tools used by public agencies to conduct these evaluations:
These tools are often used in combination to assess potential procurement approaches, agreement structures, and private sector bids. T&R studies and cost estimates serve as inputs to a financial model. Risks identified in a risk matrix inform any sensitivity analysis conducted with the financial model as well as with the VfM analysis. A thorough VfM typically incorporates material from a financial model as well as a risk matrix. Figure 2-3 shows how these tools interrelate. The following sections provide additional details on each of these tools.
Figure 2-3. P3 Evaluation Tools
T&R studies are used to forecast traffic on toll roads under various toll rate structures and macroeconomic scenarios. Agencies typically hire consultants to prepare T&R studies, which are important in determining how to structure toll rates, deciding whether to transfer, retain, or share revenue risk, and understanding what to expect from private sector bids. T&R studies are critical inputs into financial models, but their limitations need to be clearly understood. T&R forecasting involves subjective estimates of the future behavior of millions of people with respect to housing and business location decisions and choices of transportation. There is tremendous uncertainty associated with these forecasts, and a good study will be transparent about pointing out the uncertainties.
Agencies need to have a reasonable understanding of the costs to design, build, operate, and maintain a facility in order to make a meaningful comparison of anticipated revenues and costs. Preliminary designs will also identify the risk factors in a project (e.g., geotechnical, right-of-way acquisition, hazardous materials).
Agencies use risk matrices in evaluating a P3 to identify project risks, risk mitigation strategies, and the appropriate allocation of risk. The risk matrix provides a format for capturing information on risks, the probability of risks occurring, the consequences if an event accounted for in the risk matrix does occur, and strategies to reduce the probability of negative events occurring or to mitigate the consequences if a negative event were to occur. For example on the Downtown/Midtown/Martin Luther King project VDOT conducted several pre-procurement risk assessments and then conducted a risk assessment with the private sector partners so it could identify and mitigate identified risks. While many risk matrices include only qualitative information, agencies can take the risk matrix a step further by quantifying the probability of risks and assessing the potential consequences in monetary terms. Agencies can then use the risk matrix to perform a sensitivity analysis on the project's financial model to assign an equivalent monetary value to each risk. A risk matrix can help a public agency decide which risks to transfer to the private sector, which to retain, and which to share. Figure 2-4 is an example of a simple risk matrix used for the Florida I-595 Express Lanes project that does not try to quantify the risks.
|Risk Category
|Risk Allocation Concessionaire
|Traffic & Revenue
|Permits/Government Approvals
|Operations & Maintenance
|Force Majeure
|Change in Law
Source: Florida Department of Transportation
Agencies use financial models to understand potential project value and cash flow requirements under different agreement structures and macroeconomic scenarios. Financial models include assumptions about revenue, project costs, financing costs, tax and inflation rates, and discount rates to estimate potential concession fees and/or project subsidies and estimate appropriate toll rates, if the facility is tolled. Public agencies use financial models primarily to gain a better understanding of cash flow requirements, but they can also use these models to better understand private sector's perspectives and incentives. The private sector is primarily concerned with net revenues and the internal rate of return on invested capital (for more detail, see Chapter X: Finance).
A financial model will typically rely on these factors:
These factors will usually have a range, and the financial model will allow the agency to conduct a sensitivity analysis based on uncertainties regarding critical inputs. Establishing accurate levels for these inputs can be extremely difficult. The discount rate for future cash flows, for example, can have a major effect on the net present value of the project. Unfortunately, there is no industry consensus as to the appropriate discount rate for infrastructure projects. It can also be difficult for public agencies to estimate long term project costs because public agencies often lack historical data or benchmarks. Finally, it is difficult to estimate the probabilities of uncertain events or risks that may affect revenues and costs.
A VfM analysis compares the projected risk-adjusted life cycle costs of a project delivered through a P3 to a public sector comparator (PSC). A PSC is an independent, objective assessment of project costs if delivered solely by the public sector, against which potential and actual private sector contract bids and evaluations may be judged. It is important to recognize that there are inherent limitations with developing a PSC, including the difficulties of evaluating taxable vs. generally cheaper (but potentially unavailable) tax-exempt financing and the lack of reliable information about private sector efficiencies.
VfM analysis generally follows these basic steps:
VfM is used to guide decisions regarding potential P3 projects, including which procurement approach to take, which risks to allocate to the private sector, and which private sector bid to accept. Agencies employ VfM to compare the costs of different project delivery options by assessing the value of transferring risks to the private sector, as well as the value of any efficiency gains that may be obtained through P3s. Agencies can also use VfM to evaluate the extent to which higher financial costs and risk premiums associated with P3 delivery are offset by efficiency gains from the transfer of project risks and costs to the private sector. When comparing procurement options, the procurement approach which has the lowest cost - after lifecycle cost, risks, competitive neutrality, and other items are considered - would have the best "value for money."
Examples of VfM Analysis
While VfM analysis seeks to quantify the value of risk transfer and any efficiency gains under different procurement methods, a comprehensive VfM also considers factors that can influence procurement decisions but may be difficult or impossible to quantify. Such factors may include:
Alternative methods for valuation exist, including comparative market analysis, discounted cash flow analysis, shadow bidding, and auction. Texas, for example, has used shadow bidding, whereby public agency engineers and consultants make detailed estimates of long term projects and those estimates are compared to private sector proposals. However, in countries with well-established P3 programs, including the UK, Canada and Australia, VfM is considered a best practice and in some cases, legally required. In the United States, Virginia DOT (VDOT) and Florida DOT (FDOT) regularly conduct VfM analyses of potential P3 projects.
Once policymakers have identified a project as having the potential to be delivered as a P3, they can prepare a project for procurement, which typically involves scoping and designing the project and specifying elements of the agreement.
As with any transportation project, scoping and design considerations will involve evaluating:
With a P3 project, agencies will have additional factors to consider such as the timing of facility expansion, setting toll rates (if applicable), and identifying other non-toll revenue opportunities such as air rights or rest stops. With these special considerations in mind, a public agency may wish to structure agreements to retain flexibility in the definition of key project characteristics to allow for private sector innovation.
Agencies typically develop the conceptual structure of an agreement before procurement. The optimal structure of an agreement depends on the characteristics of a project, the goals and capabilities of the public agency, and the incentives and capabilities of potential private partners. Key elements include:
Building, operating, and maintaining a major transportation project involves risk. P3s derive much of their value by structuring contract agreements that transfer many of the long-term risks that are traditionally retained by the public sector to the private sector. To ensure the best value for the public, the procuring agency needs to perform a thorough risk analysis to determine which risks it should manage internally and which the private sector should handle.
Table 2-3 describes typical risks associated with P3 transportation projects. Risks tend to be highest at the beginning of a project, at the time of major investments, since there is greater uncertainty about long-term costs and revenues. Once construction is completed, risks tend to ebb, and, after an initial ramp up period, costs and revenues tend to stabilize. The change in risk over time has important implications for how agencies value P3 projects and structure and manage their contracts.
|Project Phase
|Risk Type
|Project Development and Construction
|Site Risk
|Acquiring land required for infrastructure development can result in delays or cost overruns; geological, hydrological, environmental or archaeological, cultural resource discoveries can cause delays.
|Design Risk
|The design can have flaws that are not identified or realized until after construction gets underway.
|Construction Risk
|Unanticipated construction delays or obstacles can add time and cost.
|Financial/Economic Risk
|Cost inflation and/or interest rates can be greater than anticipated.
|Operations and Maintenance
|Revenue Risk
|Revenues can be less than expected.
|Performance Risk
|Operations and maintenance costs can be greater than anticipated.
|Appropriations Risk
|Expected funds may not be appropriated.
|Regulatory Risk
|Regulations can be changed in a way that affects project costs or revenues.
|Contract Risk
|Contract can be interpreted differently than expected by either party.
|All Phases
|Force Majeure
|XA catastrophic event such as a natural disaster or terrorist attack can occur.
The goal of a P3 is not to transfer all project risks - rather, it is to transfer the risks that the private sector can manage most efficiently. The private sector does not take on risk unless it expects to benefit. For each risk transferred, there is a cost that the project owner must pay. Higher perceived risks for a project will result in higher costs being attributed to those risks - called risk premiums. A risk may be priced differently by the public and the private sector, depending on their capabilities. It may be financially inefficient to transfer risks that are difficult to assess or that the private sector will have a difficult time managing.
The Port of Miami Tunnel and Access Improvement Project is a $900 million P3 project that will connect the Port of Miami with I-395 via a tunnel. Building the tunnel involves significant geotechnical risks. Unforeseen ground conditions could cause significant delays and increased costs. To manage this risk in a way that preserved performance incentives without scaring off investors, FDOT negotiated the following risk sharing provisions:
FDOT also agreed to extend construction deadlines in case the boring equipment required to dig the tunnel was damaged in transit.
To determine the optimal allocation of risk, an agency should compare the public sector's ability to manage each risk to the ability of a potential private partner to do the same. Risks that the private sector is more capable of managing should be transferred; risks that the public agency is more capable of managing should be retained. Where possible, the party with responsibility for managing the risk will seek to mitigate or avoid that risk. If a risk is difficult to assess or manage, it may be appropriate that it should be shared between the public and private sectors. An effective risk allocation should create incentives for the private sector to supply quality and cost-effective services.
While the concept behind optimal risk allocation is clear, the practice of how agencies allocate risks is more of an art than a science. There are methods for assessing the probabilities and costs of risks as well as various rules of thumb that may be applied. Typically, the public sector will be expected to take on site risks and regulatory risks. The private sector will be expected to take on risks arising from the building, operation, finance, and management of the project. The concessionaire may choose to further delegate risks to other private parties by selling equity stakes, holding subcontractors responsible for performance, and/or insuring against certain risks.
Different compensation mechanisms put different risks on the government and private partners, with significant implications for the cost and structure of a P3 deal. P3 compensation mechanisms include:
|P3 Agreement
|Revenue Sharing Agreement
|I-495 Capital Beltway HOT Lanes
|Gross revenue sharing of 5 to 30 percent if traffic and revenue exceeds projections and when project is refinanced.
|Gross revenue sharing of up to 75 percent of revenue exceeding projections and when project is refinanced.
|North Tarrant Expressway
|Gross revenue sharing of up to 75 percent of revenue exceeding projections and when project is refinanced.
|State Highway 130
|Gross revenue sharing of up to 50 percent of revenue exceeding projections and when project is refinanced.
|Midtown Downtown MLK Tunnel
|Gross revenue sharing of up to 60 percent of revenue exceeding projections and when project is refinanced.
Determining which compensation model to use depends on the agency's goals for the project, the capacity of the project to generate revenues, the financial structure within the State, and the willingness of the private sector to take on revenue risk. In deciding which model to use, a public agency should determine:
In P3 models that involve the concessionaire taking revenue risk, the government may choose to ease that risk by including revenue sharing provisions and/or revenue guarantees. These are described in greater detail in Chapter X (Finance).
Concession terms (i.e. period of performance) vary widely depending on the economics of the project and requirements of the contract. A typical length for a P3 contract is 35 to 40 years, but some contracts have terms of as long as 99 years. In the United States, private firms tend to prefer terms of 50 years or more because they can then capture the potential tax benefits as the asset depreciates. If the concession term is equal to or exceeds the facility's remaining design life, then the concessionaire can be treated as the facility owner for tax purposes and can write off the annual depreciation. Longer concessions can provide the public sector greater certainty regarding asset life-cycle costs and standards of service but can also reduce the public sector's flexibility to allocate resources to other projects, adjust performance standards, or change the delivery model. Concessions of less than 50 years are more likely to correspond to the design-life of a transportation facility, the term of financial instruments, and the time over which an agency can reasonably assess risk. No matter how long concession contracts are, however, there are always provisions to modify the contract over time as needs change, but these modifications may come at a cost.
There are ways of incentivizing concession lengths that better align with public sector policy goals. Where a shorter concession length is preferable, procurements can be structured so that shorter concession length is one of the proposal factors. The length of a concession can be used as a way to manage revenue risks as well. Agencies can use flexible-term contracts to manage revenue risks while maintaining incentives to manage long-term costs.
Some factors that should be considered in setting concession length include:
In setting performance standards for a P3, agencies need to consider:
Details relating to performance standards are covered in Chapter X (Performance Management).
Given the risks and complexity involved in using non-traditional methods of transportation project delivery, choosing the best partner(s) requires due diligence on the part of the public sector. Because of the size, complexity, and length of term of P3 agreements, special procurement processes are needed to ensure there is sufficient and qualified competition. Some of the methods used to identify, qualify, and attract private partners are discussed below.
A well-structured procurement should generate competition and allow the public agency to select the partner that will best help the agency meet the project goals. Bidding firms may spend more than 1 percent of the bid value to develop bids. They are more likely to place a bid if they have confidence that the procurement process will be fair, competitive and that it will be seen through to completion. In addition, most bidding processes are structured so that the public agency can use ideas contained in one proposal while selecting a different bidder. To encourage competition, defray bidding costs, and compensate proposers for the value of ideas that might be used, some public agencies offer stipends to pre-qualified bidders. Bid stipends rarely, if ever, cover the entire cost of a proposal, and the value of an idea that is used in another proposal may be well in excess of the stipend amount.
As described above, public agencies may use unsolicited proposals as a way of accessing private sector ideas about potential projects that could be commercially viable. Agencies that allow unsolicited proposals have developed various processes to introduce competitiveness and transparency into the procurement process.
A public agency may conduct industry outreach to gain a better understanding of private sector capabilities and interests with regards to a particular project. This process may occur prior to the procurement process or once an agency has selected a short list of qualified bidders. This can help an agency understand how to structure a commercially viable project that will generate competitive bids. Agencies may hold information-sharing meetings or workshops with industry representatives in order to describe the basic attributes of the project and potential agreement and asks for participant feedback. Agencies may also issue a formal "Request for Information" as a precursor to procurement.
To create a competitive and fair procurement environment, agencies often use a multi-stage, "best value" procurement process that includes a request for qualifications (RFQ), followed by a request for proposals (RFP), followed by negotiations with the preferred bidder. Figure 2-5 illustrates how this process could occur.
Figure 2-5. Example of a Multi-Phase Procurement Process
The agency can use an initial procurement period to prequalify bidders by issuing a request for a letter of interest or a request for qualification from prospective bidders. The RFQ typically asks prospective bidders to provide information demonstrating:
In addition, the RFQ may ask for a conceptual project development plan and/or a conceptual project financial plan.
After selecting a response from qualified bidders through the RFQ process, the agency then invites those short-listed qualified bidders to submit a second binding bid through a request for proposal. Bidders are typically required to submit a proposal that includes both technical plans for how the project will meet the design, construction, maintenance, and operational requirements as well as a financial plan demonstrating the financial feasibility of the proposal.
Public agencies can structure bidding so that bidders bid on different aspects of the project. Bidding can be based on different criteria, such as: the dollar value of the offer, the lowest subsidy or availability payment required, the lowest length of the concession term, or the lowest net present value of gross revenues required. The decision to select an appropriate partner often comes down to whether to choose the qualified bidder with the lowest dollar value ("low bid"), or whether to consider bid price in conjunction with other factors ("best value"). To determine the best value bid, the public agency may conduct a VfM analysis. Sometimes, the decision to choose the lowest bid or the best value bid is mandated by State or local law.
In the U.S., the negotiation stage generally does not include negotiations on key commercial issues or scope, which should be identified during the bidding process, so that all bidders have the opportunity to provide a bid on similar terms. Yet negotiations with the preferred bidder can allow both parties to establish a mutually-agreeable, project-specific solution to issues identified after the procurement process. This requires skilled legal counsel, ideally with expertise in developing long-term, enforceable agreements between the public and private sectors.
For example, the public and private sector may negotiate methods for verifying gross revenues as part of ensuring that the public sector receives appropriate toll revenue shares. The negotiation process can help to ensure mutual understanding on the part of both parties regarding the details of an agreement and the smooth implementation and oversight of a project. However, there are potential disadvantages to addressing items in negotiations with the preferred bidder. For one, the bargaining position of the public sector may be diminished at this point in the process (after substantial sunk costs in procurement). Secondly, there may be a perception of unfairness if the items negotiated are basic elements of the concession that could have changed the outcome of the selection process. For example, if provisions regarding revenue share or concession length are left to negotiation after selection of a successful bidder, other bidders who might have been willing to offer higher levels of revenue sharing or shorter concession terms than the preferred bidder offered might feel that they were unable to offer their best value in the competition. Thus, the basic elements of the concession are usually either established earlier in the procurement process, and are the same for all bidders, or bidders are allowed to use them to differentiate themselves in the bidding process. Provisions that may be left to negotiation generally relate to the implementation, oversight, and monitoring details of the concession - for example, the payout schedule for a revenue share, or how the revenue share will be calculated.
While the basic elements of an agreement are typically established early in the procurement process and, for reasons of fairness, bidders will expect provisions related to the core value of the agreement to remain unchanged, many of the details of agreement provisions may be subject to negotiation with the preferred bidder. Negotiating issues may include:
To date, there have been few long-term P3s procured in the United States, so policymakers have few examples from which to draw. As more P3 agreements are made, researchers will have an opportunity to observe short- and long-term performance of the project with respect to the public and private sector's goals.
The following is a list of research questions to be answered:


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|No such thing as a small change
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I love music (especially Runrig), but when I sing people find it very disturbing, and children can get quite frightened. I once tried to join a local church choir, but when he heard my voice the guy in the white frock threw an artifact clean through a stained glass window.
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text:
Eddy Chandler
Wild Brian Kent
Lazy polo player Brian Kent (Ralph Bellamy) sweet-talks Betty Prentice (Mae Clarke) and her Aunt Sue (Helen Lowell) into providing him with room and board. But when he learns that a crooked realtor (Stanley Andrews) is plotting to seize their ranch, Brian springs into action -- and falls for Betty. Howard Bretherton directs this 1936 Western, based on the novel The Re-creation of Brian Kent by Harold Bell Wright.


text:
Mensch Infant Bodysuit
By Merchify.com
It may be too soon to know, but one can hope he will be a mensch (good person).
Printed on the Rabbit Skin 4400 with 100% combed ring-spun cotton.
Please allow 2 weeks for delivery. This item can not be shipped using an express shipping method.


text:
<big>1</big>

The true life is not reducible to words spoken or written, not by anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking, feeling, lost in memory, dreamingly selfaware, the submicroscopic moments. He said this more than once, Elster did, in more than one way. His life happened, he said, when he sat staring at a blank wall, thinking about dinner.
An eight-hundred-page biography is nothing more than dead conjecture, he said.
I almost believed him when he said such things. He said we do this all the time, all of us, we become ourselves beneath the running thoughts and dim images, wondering idly when we'll die. This is how we live and think whether we know it or not. These are the unsorted thoughts we have looking out the train window, small dull smears of meditative panic.

The sun was burning down. This is what he wanted, to feel the deep heat beating into his body, feel the body itself, reclaim the body from what he called the nausea of News and Traffic.
This was desert, out beyond cities and scattered towns. He was here to eat, sleep and sweat, here to do nothing, sit and think. There was the house and then nothing but distances, not vistas or sweeping sightlines but only distances. He was here, he said, to stop talking. There was no one to talk to but me. He did this sparingly at first and never at sunset. These were not glorious retirement sunsets of stocks and bonds. To Elster sunset was human invention, our perceptual arrangement of light and space into elements of wonder. We looked and wondered. There was a trembling in the air as the unnamed colors and landforms took on definition, a clarity of outline and extent. Maybe it was the age difference between us that made me think he felt something else at last light, a persistent disquiet, uninvented. This would explain the silence.
The house was a sad hybrid. There was a corrugated metal roof above a clapboard exterior with an unfinished stonework path out front and a tacked-on deck jutting from one side. This is where we sat through his hushed hour, a torchlit sky, the closeness of hills barely visible at high white noon.
News and Traffic. Sports and Weather. These were his acid terms for the life he'd left behind, more than two years of living with the tight minds that made the war. It was all background noise, he said, waving a hand. He liked to wave a hand in dismissal. There were the risk assessments and policy papers, the interagency working groups. He was the outsider, a scholar with an approvalrating but no experience in government. He sat at a table in a secure conference room with the strategic planners and military analysts. He was there to conceptualize, his word, in quotes, to apply overarching ideas and principles to such matters as troop deployment and counterinsurgency. He was cleared to read classified cables and restricted transcripts, he said, and he listened to the chatter of the resident experts, the metaphysicians in the intelligence agencies, the fantasists in the Pentagon.
The third floor of the E ring at the Pentagon. Bulk and swagger, he said.
He'd exchanged all that for space and time. These were things he seemed to absorb through his pores. There were the distances that enfolded every feature of the landscape and there was the force of geologic time, out there somewhere, the string grids of excavators searching for weathered bone.
I keep seeing the words. Heat, space, stillness, distance. They've become visual states of mind. I'm not sure what that means. I keep seeing figures in isolation, I see past physical dimension into the feelings that these words engender, feelings that deepen over time. That's the other word, time.
I drove and looked. He stayed at the house, sitting on the creaky deck in a band of shade, reading. I hiked into palm washes and up unmarked trails, always water, carrying water everywhere, always a hat, wearing a broadbrimmed hat and a neckerchief, and I stood on promontories in punishing sun, stood and looked. The desert was outside my range, it was an alien being, it was science fiction, both saturating and remote, and I had to force myself to believe I was here.
He knew where he was, in his chair, alive to the protoworld, I thought, the seas and reefs of ten million years ago. He closed his eyes, silently divining the nature of later extinctions, grassy plains in picture books for children, a region swarming with happy camels and giant zebras, mastodons, sabertooth tigers.
Extinction was a current theme of his. The landscape inspired themes. Spaciousness and claustrophobia. This would become a theme.
Copyright © 2010 by Don DeLillo

Continues...

 Excerpted from Point Omega by Don DeLillo Copyright © 2010 by Don DeLillo. Excerpted by permission.
 All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.


text:
by Staff Writers
Canberra, Australia (UPI) Nov 12, 2012
Australia will sign on to the next phase of the Kyoto Protocol climate treaty, a government official said.
The announcement comes as nations prepare for the U.N. Climate Summit in Doha, Qatar this month.
The Kyoto Protocol, set to expire at the end of this year, required wealthy nations to limit greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2 percent on average for the period 2008-12 from 1990 levels.
Agreement on a new globally binding agreement isn't expected until 2015.
The next phase of the Kyoto agreement would effectively function as a bridging deal until a long-term plan can be agreed upon.
Australia's Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the government would commit to limiting its greenhouse gas emissions from 2013 to 2020 "with a Kyoto target consistent with the bipartisan target of reducing emissions to 5 percent below 2000 levels by 2020."
But Combet outlined some conditions for Australia's commitment.
"For Australia, there must be continued progress toward this new agreement by 2015, from both the developing and developed countries alike," Combet said in making the announcement Friday.
The Kyoto agreement mainly targeted wealthy nations, requiring them to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, and excluded developing nations -- such as China and India, which are now considered the heaviest emitters.
"The Kyoto Protocol is not enough on its own -- it will cover less than 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and only from a number of developed economies," Combet said.
"So to be effective, the new 2015 agreement needs to cover all the major emissions sources."
The United States never ratified the Kyoto agreement because the treaty didn't impose targets on developing nations such as China and India. Japan and Russia have said they wouldn't sign an extension of Kyoto because it fails to cover enough of global greenhouse gas emissions.
"The government's decision will help bolster international efforts to secure a new legally binding agreement to cover all major emitters by 2015," Erwin Jackson, deputy chief executive officer of The Climate Institute, said in a statement.
"A second round of targets under Kyoto is a critical lever to achieving a new legal binding agreement that covers all major emitters."
Just a few hours after Australia's announcement Friday, New Zealand said it was abandoning its pursuit of a second phase of Kyoto.
The country's International Climate Change Negotiations Minister Tim Groser said New Zealand "will be aligning its climate change efforts with developed and developing economies which collectively are responsible for 85 percent of global emissions," including the United States, Japan, China, India, Canada, Brazil and Russia.
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Hall d'immeuble by frenchtrotter
Quartier du canal Saint Martin, PARIS
Quartier du canal Saint Martin, PARIS
Scored 40 points on Saturday 27 February 2010 for being noticed and being the first noticing in the neighbourhood.
Taken in Faubourg du Temple Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France.
Noticings was a Tom Taylor and Tom Armitage production.


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Scott Royce Hatfield, 71, of Preston died at his home on Aug. 13, 2014.
He was born on Feb. 23, 1943, in Austin, the son of Leona (Scott) and Royce Hatfield.
He grew up on a farm in Florenceville, Iowa, and attended Cresco High School.
He served in the United States Navy for seven years as a cryptologic technician and was stationed in the Azores, Turkey, Morocco and Italy.
On Sept. 6, 1969, he married Mary Jungers in Minneapolis. They moved to Sparta, Wis., in 1971.
He worked as a digital office technician for CenturyTel for 37 years and retired to Preston in 2005.
An avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, four-wheeling, training dogs and socializing with friends and family. He was a gifted scrimshaw artist and gunsmith.
He is survived by Mary, his wife of 45 years; daughter Jen Gaudette and her partner, Paul Secord of Bellevue, Wash.; son Glen and his wife, Sabrina, and their son, Claudio of Baltimore, Md.; and three sisters, one brother and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by one sister and one brother.
A celebration of his life will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at Thauwald Funeral Home in Preston from 4 to 7 p.m. Dress is casual; camo and blaze orange are optional.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to the local DNR or National Trout Center.


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Jake N' Maggie, Plus Other Siblings Who've Been Nominated For Oscars
Jake Gyllenhaal has been through the Oscar nomination rigamarole—he got a nod in 2006 for "Brokeback Mountain." So he knows exactly what sister Maggie, who was just nominated for Best Supporting Actress in "Crazy Heart," feels. He was on hand when Maggie's phone started ringing off the hook the morning nominations were announced. After a bit, Maggie wanted to go back to bed. "Don't go back to sleep, this is amazing!" said Jake. "Have a coffee with me, and I'll make you pancakes."
Now that it's been a few days, Jake has given Maggie some advice. She told People, "He said, 'It's a lot of fun, and enjoy it in that spirit. If you make it too much more than that, you'll probably go astray.'" Interestingly, their mama Naomi also had her Oscar moment—in 1988 she got a Best Screenplay nomination.
So which other famous siblings have Oscar running in their bloodstream? After the jump, find out.
- Joaquin and River Phoenix. You're probably guessing that River was nominated for "Stand By Me." Nope. He got the nod from the Academy two years later, for Best Supporting Actor in "Running on Empty." You're probably also guessing that Joaquin got his first nod for "Walk the Line." Wrong again. His first nomination was for Best Supporting Actor in "Gladiator." These are actually the only two brothers in history to both get acting nominations.
- Meg and Jennifer Tilly. In 1985, Meg was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "Agnes of God." Eleven years later, her big sister was nominated for her performance in "Bullets over Broadway." Neither won. But Jennifer will always have the consolation prize of being the "Bride of Chucky."
- Julia and Eric Roberts. Julia won Best Actress for "Erin Brockovich" in 2001, and her acceptance speech squeals still send shivers down my spine. Her older brother Eric was nominated back in 1985 for his supporting role in "Runaway Train." Oh, and Eric just happens to be the father of Emma Roberts, whom we have high hopes for.
- Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty. Yeah, I didn't know these two were siblings, either. Surprise! Man whore Warren has been nominated a zillion times—his first was for Best Actor in "Bonnie and Clyde," but since then he's gotten three more acting noms, plus three nominations for Best Director and four for Best Screenplay. He makes older sister Shirley look like a slacker for just winning Best Actress for "Terms of Endearment" in 1983.
- Jane and Peter Fonda. In the '70s, pre-spandex era, Jane Fonda won two Oscars, for Best Actress in "Klute" and "Coming Home." Her brother Peter was nominated twice, once for Best Screenplay for "Easy Rider" and later in in 1997, for Best Actor in "Ulee's Gold." Pops, Henry Fonda, also got a golden man in 1981 for "On Golden Pond."
- Lynn Redgrave and Vanessa Redgrave. In 1966, these two sisters went head-to-head against each other for Best Actress—Lynn for the movie "Gregory Girl" and Vanessa for her role in "Morgan." D'oh. Both of them lost to Elizabeth Taylor.
- Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine. Twenty-five years before the Redgraves, these two sisters battled it out for Best Actress. Olivia, whose most famous role was as Melanie in "Gone with the Wind," was nominated for "Hold Back the Dawn," while Joan got the nod for the Alfred Hitchcock flick "Suspicion." Younger sister Joan was the victor.
- Ethel and Lionel Barrymore. These two are the only brother/sister pair to win Oscars—Ethel, Best Supporting Actress in "None But the Lonely Heart" in 1944 and Lionel for Best Actor in "A Free Soul" in 1930. Brother John got no Oscar love, but we're hoping Drew can win another for the Barrymore clan someday.


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Cookbooks for every food lover
Our chief restaurant critic picks the year's best culinary tomes.
Tue Dec 10 2013
Photograph: Virginia Rollison
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- Coffee-table stunners
- Kitchen-counter workhorses
- Night-table reads
Coffee-table stunners
I Love New York: Ingredients and Recipes
(Ten Speed Press, $50)
The story: A locavore paean to New York State's bounty, from the dynamos behind Eleven Madison Park, Daniel Humm and Will Guidara. The book is organized alphabetically by ingredient—from apples to walnuts—with portraits of local producers and nearly 150 home-kitchen recipes, like swiss-chard roulade and refreshing tomato soda.
Point of interest: Not afraid to dirty his chef's whites, Humm spent weeks crisscrossing the state to meet the farmers and taste the ingredients featured in this book.
Dish to make: Humm's renowned foie-stuffed bird at the NoMad has made him a roasted-chicken rock star; his version here gets apple-and-chestnut stuffing piped under the skin, before being cast-iron roasted until golden and crisp.
Dish to inspire: Maple-smoked sturgeon uses seemingly every part of the tree except the syrup; the fish is cured with maple sugar, laid on a maple plank and smoked over maple-wood chips.
D.O.M: Rediscovering Brazilian Ingredients
(Phaidon, $49.95)
The story: Alex Atala is to Brazilian cuisine what René Redzepi is to New Nordic. With 65 recipes from his acclaimed São Paulo restaurant, D.O.M. (Domino Optimo Maximus), and profiles of beloved indigenous ingredients, Atala's book captures a cuisine and a chef as compelling as any we know.
Point of interest: Atala isn't just using Brazilian foods, he's cultivating them. For 15 years he has collaborated with scientists to seek out new crops from the Amazon and develop viable production methods for rare native produce.
Dishes to make: The recipes are involved, but some are more easily doable—like cod with bone marrow and kale—and don't necessitate trekking into the jungle for native produce.
Dish to inspire: Oddly enough, the simplest recipe in the book is perhaps the one you're least likely to make: "Place a piece of pineapple on top of a serving dish and top with an ant."
Coi: Stories and Recipes
(Phaidon, $49.95)
The story: With 70 restaurant recipes more suited to ogling than attempting, Coi is, at its heart, an intimate portrait of the same-named San Francisco fine-dining institution. The introspective, witty narrative is penned by a pioneer of modern California cuisine, self-taught chef Daniel Patterson.
Point of interest: Patterson's infectious reverence for seasonal produce will have you eager to cruise your local farmers' market.
Dish to make: Popcorn grits: Inspired by a "cross between grits and a movie theater," this recipe simmers popcorn, instead of the traditional cornmeal, with water and butter.
Dish to inspire: As Patterson readily admits, most of these dishes are not meant for the home cook. To wit, his recipe for lichen-encrusted beef begins: "If, for some crazy reason, you decide to make this dish, then we'll need to have a talk about the lichen powder. It's not that much fun to make."
Historic Heston
(Bloomsbury, $200)
The story: In this dazzling tome, a chef known for his futuristic food dives deep into the past. Unpacking the culinary and social histories of 30 captivating British dishes (starting in the medieval period), Heston Blumenthal unearths the wildly creative and iconic recipes of ye olde England and reinterprets them in his cutting-edge kitchen.
Point of interest: Blumenthal's innovative cooking is the stuff of legend, but it can't compare to this: The 15th-century manuscript that inspired him to write this book includes a recipe for a sleeping chicken that looks as if it was roasted, but wakes up and runs down the table when guests try to carve it.
Dishes to make: Unless you have a science lab of a kitchen and preposterous amounts of free time, it's best to leave the cooking to Blumenthal.
Dish to inspire: There's culinary sorcery at every turn, but none more striking than Blumenthal's "meat fruit," a take on a 14th-century dish in which he encases a sphere of meat paste in mandarin jelly, making it a dead ringer for an orange.
(Ten Speed Press, $50)
The story: Chef David Kinch's modern transformations of hyperseasonal ingredients—he has an exclusive partnership with a farm down the road in Santa Clara, California—have earned Manresa two Michelin stars every year for five years running. His lushly photographed debut book chronicles the conceptual, food-as-art dishes—like "a winter tidal pool"—that brought the restaurant to the forefront of California cuisine.
Point of interest: If not for a chance meeting with Thomas Keller when Kinch forgot his bag after dinner at the French Laundry, Manresa may have never existed. Ready to rent a bigger restaurant space, Kinch changed course based on Keller's advice to commit himself to a piece of land and buy his own place. He did, and Manresa was born.
Dish to make: Occasionally, Kinch sets his studious mind on the simplest of dishes, like an old-fashioned omelette infused with black truffle. The trick: Not salting the eggs guarantees a custardlike texture.
Dish to inspire: In a dish called "shellfish in seawater," Kinch uses tomatoes and three kinds of seaweed to make edible ocean water that he pours tableside.
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- Night-table reads
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Monday, December 14, 2009
House Of Cards
The Christmas Card is my favorite part of Christmas. I erupt glee when I open the mailbox, peer inside and see a Card from a friend or a family. And when I open the Card, I look at the picture carefully and examine the differences from the previous year. If there's a letter, I read it carefully and note the progresses and successes. (Notice how no one sends a card with the failures? No one sends this: Johnny (18) started wetting the bed again, Jane (16) ended up with one of those, you know... diseases and Hank (29+12) just cannot give up the pot. It's been a bad year.)
Once I open and admire the Christmas Card and photo (if there is one), I attach it with magnets to the garage door. (The door that goes out to the garage, silly, not the actual garage door. Hello wind? Those precious mementos wouldn't last on the garage door. Speaking of garage door, Spouse fixed ours. Yippee! Several points for Spouse.)
Here's the current Garage Door:
Notice the sparseness. Come on now, send 'em already, would you? Or are you one of those send-cards-only-to-those-who-send-first kind of people? The prize for the best card goes to Megan of Holdsworth Photography. Finely fabricated, my friend. Finely fabricated. Also notice that the Governor sent us a card. That's right, the Governor. I'm sure he hand-picked us as recipients.
Anyway, since I receive this spectacle of joy and jubilation from The Christmas Card, I figure it's my duty to give back. We send The Christmas Card. It's a year-long process wherein I puzzle over the concept for The Photo. It takes many months to nail down the Family Frontispiece for the Christmas Card. Many months. For The Photo must represent the family and the year.
Thanks to Spouse and his dispensed happenings, last year was prolly our best Christmas Photo ever. We appreciate Spouse for surrendering six months of walking so that we could have the best Christmas Photo ever. (The story is recapped in this Series of Fortunate Events post, just in case you're new and didn't get to go through that drama with us.)
Here's that photo:
In years past, I have hand-crafted The Christmas Card. Spouse and the Yahoos help. It's a great family affair. This process usually begins in November and takes many hours. Also in years past, I have hand-printed a little special something for all 100+ of our recipients (we think we're more popular than we are.)
Hand made and hand printed! You might say that each Christmas Card I send is a little bit of love stuffed into an envelope and topped with a stamped star. Star-Stamped Love.
Incidentally, did you notice how I said, "in years past" twice?
Two times, I said, "in years past." That's a bit of foreshadowing. You know like Faulkner (yawn) and Twain (giggle) and Shakespeare (no way!) use the foreshadowing to let you know something bad is about to happen.
Something bad is about to happen. We are not going to hand-make the Christmas Card or hand-print a special little something in all of the Cards. Being as Spouse and I spent the last two weeks of November way over there, on the other side of the world - it just cannot happen. There is no time for hand-making or hand-printing or hand-anything.
The good news, however, is there will be a Christmas Card. And this card will have The Photo. And a signature, printed by a printing machine. I mailed a chunk of them today.
Would you like a sneak peak of The Photo? Hah! Sorry.
You'll just have to see it in your mailbox. (Or you could send a meTunes gift certificate.)
10 comments:
- Jessica said...
The pressure is on. I don't know that anyone can match your cards.
And may I add: Falkner (confusing).
- December 14, 2009 at 8:35 PM
- Sparks said...
Kid-you-not, I dropped your card in the mail this morning on the way to Northern Nevada Medical Center to do the things that I do.
I am quite literally hopping up and down in anticipation of this year's picture. It is impossible not to smile looking at the one in this post.
- December 14, 2009 at 8:37 PM
- megan said...
Oh My Goodness!! I won! really? I've never ever won anything before! I was so excited to see it on the door!! :) I'm glad to see that someone else takes an entire year to plan their card out (I've already started crafting mine for next year...). I need to write about this Christmas Card OCD'ness also...funny that I first heard about you from your card 2 years ago...strange. Wish I had been on the list last year to receive that card.
- December 14, 2009 at 8:53 PM
- Lars said...
Look Jessica, it looks like Rabid's Yahoo may also be part of the curly club. Better sway him to your ways as well, you missionary you.
Best expressions ever.
- December 14, 2009 at 8:58 PM
- The MacMizzles said...
I can't take the pressure, or anticipation. That's it. Christmas is ruined.
Wait, that is Christmas.
- December 15, 2009 at 8:41 AM
- Lauren and JC said...
Christmas cards are the best! Don't hold your breath waiting for ours though ... we decided that no one wanted to see a fat lady on a card this year. But, you'll get something from us in February when JC Jr. decides to make her debut. Stay tuned ... and you better send us one of your Xmas cards in the meantime.
- December 15, 2009 at 9:35 AM
- Staci said...
Christmas cards are my favorite thing about Christmas too. No one sends me mail any other time of year but Christmas, yes. Funny, I was thinking the same thing about the sparseness. I was wondering if everyone lost my address or something. Is everyone just late this year? Or maybe I did something really offensive to drive everyone away. Then again, I haven't mailed out mine. That's just like me to want to have something from everyone else when I haven't done it myself. My picture, letter, and list is all done just waiting for assembly.
- December 15, 2009 at 9:47 AM
- Winder said...
You little tease. I really thought I would see this year's photo. Will you send your card already I am dying. You see I saw mine on the door.
I'm waiting!
- December 15, 2009 at 1:11 PM
- Rae Lynne said...
That photo definitely wins best Christmas Photo ever. Hands down.
- December 15, 2009 at 5:40 PM
- Becca said...
Lucky me! I got mine today. And it did not dissappoint. Never does actually. My whole family loved it. I however might just be a big fat dissappointment because I am dragging my feet on the whole Christmas card issue. I was thinking of not doing them--but now you have me thinking twice! I think my biggest issue is that I too had the perfect picture to go with the card last year-though not as perfect as yours-but I don't like the pressure of matching that. Any ideas?
- December 15, 2009 at 8:39 PM


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Volunteers' fine examples: Leaders take note
As in all counties in Pennsylvania, Armstrong is a series of small boroughs and townships and of school districts that cross those municipal lines.
Against this background, there are several things we do exceptionally well. Some examples:
• Relay for Life volunteers are some of the best fundraisers in the nation, creating an enthusiasm to raise contributions for cancer-related programs that is unequalled for its size. It crosses municipal boundaries.
• Volunteer youth sports programs provide enormous opportunity for local kids, involving hundreds of adults from all communities.
• Despite difficult economic times, volunteers have created and maintained an excellent network of trails on former railroad right-of-ways. And the local area has raised the funds and created a very impressive new YMCA facility. Both are regional enhancements.
• The ARC Manor drug and alcohol counseling and treatment center continues to enhance its services in the area and is constructing a new building in the West Hills.
Now, if we could just get our elected leaders to work together with the same enthusiasm and creativity.
Our area is not unique in limited intergovernmental cooperation. But given the examples set by their constituencies, we believe a little networking would not go amiss — perhaps officials visiting one another's meetings to explore synergies to address problems as expenses rise on overburdened taxpayers.


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Today's Devotional
Living for JesusWhat are you thankful for as you consider what Jesus has done for you?
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www.MtMoriahMusic.com www.WalterMartinJude3.com Psalm 139 teaches us we are valuable to God. This passage of Scripture showcases His endless love for his children, born and unborn. God calls us, as Christians, to rescue those being led away to slaughter...Proverbs 24:11. We are commanded to defend the innocent and the most vulnerable among us. We are called to take a stand for God's little ones, threatened by abortion. As my father, Dr. Walter Martin, once said, "Controversy for the sake of controversy is sin. Controversy for the sake of the truth, is a divine command." For those who are suffering the loss of a child, by way of abortion, God's love assures us there is pardon at the foot of the Cross for all who believe in the name of Jesus and repent of their sin. "Blessed is he who trusts in the Lord." ~~Proverbs 16:20b~~
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Detailed step by step diagnostic DIY ... dead battery ... parasitic current drain
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Seek to understand,^Value
Location: San Jose, California
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Originally Posted by
PS 90ma is a little on high side but not that it should cause a problem. I believe it should be around 45ma.
I wish I had done the parasitic drain test when things were working OK, so that I'd know what the nominal quiescent values are for my bimmer - because 90ma seems about double what it should be - but - as noted, it's not all that bad.
The good news is that I think I'm getting closer to the culprit. The problem appears to be intermittent, so the longer I spend diagnosing, the more I am learning.
For example, see this 30-second video taken a little while ago when I returned from an errand and started checking the parasitic drain again.
All of a sudden, the active current began fluctuating between 2.27 amps and 11.53 amps!
Here are those same clicking sounds, about every 3 seconds, taken from the cockpit just after the video above (they seem to be coming from behind the MID but I can't really be sure).
Notice the audible clicks coming from the front of the car, behind the dash somewhere, where each time you hear a click, the quiescent current jumps from about 2.27 amps to about 11.53 amps!
In that 30-second video, the current fluctuates at about 3 second intervals from:
2.27 amps
11.53 amps
2.27 amps
11.18 amps
2.27 amps
11.35 amps
2.27 amps
11.10 amps
The fluctuating current is different depending on whether the bimmer is in the initial active phase (first 16 minutes) or in the quiescent (computers off) phase (after 16 minutes); but here are two back-to-back photos taken of the current fluctuation when the clicks were heard:
Note: I was getting worried about my 10 amp meter because the current was as high as 14 amps during these regular click cycles.
To further debug:
I moved the passenger seat aft & lowered the back as far as it would go
I disconnected the battery (so that sparks wouldn't fly)
I removed the underglovebox panel (breaking the white tabs in the process)
I located the FSU in the tunnel but decided to remove the fuse instead since I have never done that before.
Here is a picture of the FSU in situ:
I desperately tried to disconnect the three harness connectors in the way
These diabolical things could foil Houdini!
How on earth does that big one disconnect?
(If we could disconnect it - we'd have an easier time with the two fuses!)
Since I couldn't remove the three harness connectors for the life of me:
I pushed up the closest (furthest aft) F76 yellow fuse with a screwdriver
And, then I reconnected the battery to test for parasitic drain.
Guess what?
First 16 minutes: Active current = 1.89 amps
After 16 minutes: Quiescent current = 80 milliamps
In summary, the parasitic current data is hugely inconsistent depending on whether the "clicking" sound is heard.
However, I'm pretty sure the intermittent huge fluctuating parasitic current is due to the ACM
FSU I bought in 2/2/2009
going bad.
With the fuse F76 removed, I'll keep an eye on the parasitics for a few days - but the
evidence seems to implicate the aftermarket ACM FSU.
Meanwhile, since I KNOW it will be difficult to get F76 back in,
does anyone know HOW to get those three harness connectors off
(especially the largest one, which would make access muuuuch easier when removed)?
The connector seemed similar to that of the ABS control module connector, in that there is a u-shaped slider - but I could only move it so much - and then nothing else moved.
A video of someone smart enough to remove that connector would be a blessing to see!
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Crossing and Weighted Crossing Number of Near-Planar Graphs
Cabello, Sergio and Mohar, Bojan (2009) Crossing and Weighted Crossing Number of Near-Planar Graphs. In: Graph Drawing 16th International Symposium, GD 2008, September 21- 24, 2008, Heraklion, Crete, Greece , pp. 38-49 (Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00219-9_5).
Full text not available from this repository.
A nonplanar graph G is near-planar if it contains an edge e such that G − e is planar. The problem of determining the crossing number of a near-planar graph is exhibited from different combinatorial viewpoints. On the one hand, we develop min-max formulas involving efficiently computable lower and upper bounds. These min-max results are the first of their kind in the study of crossing numbers and improve the approximation factor for the approximation algorithm given by Hlinˇny e´ and Salazar (Graph Drawing GD 2006). On the other hand, we show that it is NP-hard to compute a weighted version of the crossing number for near-planar graphs.
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My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals / Portraits, Interviews, and Recipes
1 Recommendation
GourmetGlam's recommendation
Chefs have been playing the âMy Last Supperâ game among themselves for decades, if not centuries, but it had always been kept within the profession until now. Melanie Dunea came up with the ingenious idea to ask fifty of the worldâs famous chefs to let her in on this insiderâs game and tell her what their final meals would be. My Last Supper showcases their fascinating answers alongside stunning Vanity Fairâstyle portraits. Their responses are surprising, refreshing, and as distinct from each other as the chefs themselves. The portraitsâgorgeous, intimate, and playfulâare informed by their answers and reveal the passions and personalities of the most respected names in the business. Lastly, one recipe from each landmark meal is included in the back of the book.
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Elevate to New Heights at the Summit of Mount Everest
Published by Kristin Cowles, Editor-in-Chief
Country: Nepal
The Experience
When to Go to Mount Everest
Want a Guide?
- Kailash & Everest Adventure - GAP Adventures
- An incredible overland journey across the roof of the world to Asia's most sacred mountain, Kailash, with a side trip to the legendary Everest Base Camp before descending to Kathmandu. Amble through colourful bazaars, see Mt Everest from many different angles, and circumnambulate Mt Kailash - a completed kora cleansing the sins of a lifetime.
Places to Stay Nearby
Search over 900,000 global hotel deals from over 30 merchants. Book via Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Priceline and the websites of popular hotel chains.
More Experiences Nearby
- Learn the Secret Behind Ramen at the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum
- Making instant ramen noodles at home isn't overly exciting, but visit the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in Osaka, Japan and making them will take on a whole different experience. Here, you get to become a part of the instant ramen noodle-making process, right from scratch. Sound interesting? Well here you are your own cook, designing your new favourite noodle and experimenting with various flavors. The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum houses a wide collection of the instant ramen sold over the ages. From the packaging materials to the types of instant ramen noodles, everything is on display. Though the ...6037 miles away.
Video Wall
Books and DVDs
- Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
- A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster.
- Everest: Mountain Without Mercy - National Geographic
- When David Breashears agreed to climb Mount Everest with an IMAX camera in order to film from the summit, he had no idea that his little expedition would become embroiled in a tragedy that would make headlines around the world. On May 10, 1996, two expeditions led by experienced Everest guides Rob Hall and Scott Fisher summited the mountain, only to suffer the loss of eight members--including the two leaders--on the way back down.
- Nepal Travel Guide - Lonley Planet
- Shangri-la exists. Trek to the top of the world, or share a smile with a Buddhist monk; raft down a mountain gorge, or glimpse a living Hindu goddess - in Nepal adventure and culture go hand in hand. With this definitive guide, you'll tread lightly through the best of the Himalaya.
- National Geographic Video: Surviving Everest (Full Screen)
- Surviving Everest, produced by National Geographic, bills itself as a "collector's edition" and is really three videos in one. The first segment of a half-hour's length is titled "Surviving Everest" and features informative interviews with men who have made it to the summit and back.
Elsewhere on the Web
- Mount Everest - Wikipedia.org
- Mount Everest, also called Chomolungma or Qomolangma (Tibetan: ???????????) or Sagarmatha (Nepali: ???????) is the highest mountain on Earth, as measured by the height of its summit above sea level, which is 8,848 meters or 29,028 feet.
- Mount Everest By Climbers
- This site was originally set up to cover our expedition in 1999. The expedition was successful and we received almost 4 million hits from around the world during the 3 months that it lasted.
- Everest Online - PBS.org
- Explore the most popular route up Everest, on the South side, including QTVRs (360-degree images) of key points along the way.
- Everest (29,035ft/8,850m) Nepal - Alpine Ascents
- Mount Everest, rising 8,850m (29,035ft) above sea level reigns as the highest mountain on Earth. For decades summitting Everest has been considered one of the greatest mountaineering achievements. In the spring of each year, we embrace this intense challenge by taking a group of qualified climbers to Nepal to climb Mt. Everest via the South Col route.
- Summit Bling
- Below is the gear list Scott Parazynski prepared for his trip to Mt. Everest:
- Travel Report Nepal - Voyages.gc.ca
- Ascent Routes - Mount Everest.net
- We saved the best for last. Pete Poston has created an outstanding map of all the routes on Mount Everest (including the Central North Face). Click the image to view larger, and then mouse over the route symbols and the fatality symbols for statistics (by AdventureStats).
- Panorama View from Summit of Mount Everest - Panoramas DK
Media References
- Everest 50 - National Geographic.com (magazine)
- Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the First Ascent of Mount Everest (1953-2003)
- Everest 50 Years and Counting - National Geographic.com (magazine)
- Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first two. Since them, 1,200 men and women from 63 nations have reached the summit. What does it take to stand on top of the world?
- Nepal Puts Everest Off Limits During China's Olympic Torch Relay in May - NY Times.com (newspaper)
- There are two routes to the world's highest peak, and both are scheduled to be off limits to mountaineers this spring, as Beijing strives to inaugurate the Summer Olympics free of pro-Tibetan protests.
- In Rarefied Air, Rarefied Company - NY Times.com (newspaper)
- IN the 50 years since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first conquered Mount Everest, on May 29, 1953, more than 1,650 climbers have stood atop the world's highest peak. Eighty-nine people did it in one day alone, May 23, 2001. (The total for that year was 182.)
- The Man Who Stood on Top of the World - Time.com (magazine)
- For one who had reached such a lofty height, he was a strange mix of confidence and modesty. A beekeeper from New Zealand, Sir Edmund Hillary was an aggressive amateur mountaineer drawn, he said, by the appeal of "grinding [competitors] into the ground on a big hill."
- An Interview with the Last Adventurer - Time.com (magazine)
- In 1953 Mount Everest was conquered, and the names of an Auckland bee farmer, Edmund Hillary, and his Sherpa climbing partner, Tenzing Norgay, joined those of Peary, Amundsen and Lindbergh atop the hill of 20th Century adventuring giants. With the death of Hillary at age 88, the all five are gone.
- Everest 2007 Photo Essay - Time.com (magazine)
- Reflected Summit The peak is seen in the glasses of a climber at a base camp in Tibet, China.
- The Sherpas of Mount Everest - National Geographic.com (magazine)
- The cheerful smiles and legendary strength of the Sherpas have been an integral part of Everest climbing expeditions from the very beginning. Indeed, very few significant successes have been achieved without them.
- The Everest Decade: 1996-2007 - National Geographic.com (magazine)
- In 1996, a storm brought tragedy to the world's grandest stage. Ten years later, the spectacle is as bizarre, disturbing, and heroic as ever.
- How to climb Everest - The Observer.co.uk (newspaper)
- The gear you'll need to tackle the highest mountain in the world.
Travel Insurance. Simple & Flexible.
Language Guides
Hindi is one of the languages spoken in Nepal. If you know of a freely available phrase book or podcast for one of the missing languages, let us know!
Experienced this and have something to share? Experienced something like this somewhere else? Looking for advise or travel companions? Use this space to leave your mark. Our writers and editors are more than happy to help answer your questions.
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BUSINESSES can support the district's hospice by receiving personalised Christmas cards.
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/6/2013 (1503 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A woman was attacked Monday night at her St. Vital home by two men who then stole her vehicle, but Winnipeg police have caught the perpetrators.
The woman, who was returning home about about 9:30 p.m. when the incident occurred, was taken to hospital with non-life threatening, upper-body injuries.
Police located the stolen vehicle a few hours later at abut 12:30 a.m. in the area of Doncaster Street and Ubique Crescent. A media release stated "several people" were taken into custody.


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Photos and interviews by Ashley Finden
"My New Year's resolution is to go skydiving
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"I'm (going to) keep my wife happy after her surgery and take care of her and keep doing my great job I'm doing."
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Recipient first and last name must be entered in Name on Card when card values is greater than $1,000. Recipient first name and last name cannot be a message (for example John Smith is acceptable but Thank You is not) and recipient physical address is also required.
Run to your computer to order this great gift card for the runner in your life. Whether they run cross country or track and field, this is the perfect gift to support what they are passionate about. This card would also make a great graduation gift.
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