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The University of Minnesota Medical School.
Glen Stubbe, Star Tribune
MED SCHOOL MONEY$847 million
Annual funding$231 million
Federal research money$86.5 million
State aid
Note: Dollar figures are for Fiscal 2010
Money crunch wounds University of Minnesota Medical School
- Article by: TONY KENNEDY
- Star Tribune
- May 1, 2011 - 7:14 AM
At the University of Minnesota's Medical School, there's no national search in the works for a crucial position in the Department of Medicine, nor will there be soon. Money is too tight.
Big plans for a research park in the shadows of TCF Bank Stadium have been scaled back, and a nationally acclaimed professor is leaving because his pay was slashed.
Inside the dean's office, a discretionary fund for hiring and innovative projects is tapped out and U President Bob Bruininks is subsidizing the Med School budget with a recurring allocation of $2.85 million.
Those are only some of the signs of financial stress gripping one of Minnesota's most vital academic and research institutions following an ill-fated arms race in recent years for prestigious faculty -- a push that sent costs soaring just as some of its key revenue sources declined.
"We've had a challenging three years," said Dr. Wes Miller, a bone marrow transplant physician who was moved to the Medical School's administration in 2008 to help stop the bleeding of cash.
The 123-year-old school, which performed the world's first successful open heart surgery, is the biggest single source of physicians in Minnesota and has been an important factor in the creation of the region's biomedical industry.
As the state's largest public medical research institution, its faculty members not only see patients, they work on new treatments and cures in areas that include cardiology, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, stem cell science and HIV/AIDS.
Now, although finances have stabilized, the school is still in the midst of a difficult retrenching.
Between 2005 and 2009, cash reserves were depleted by $34 million. That serious drain occurred partly for reasons that were out of the U's control, such as a decline in federal research funding. But it also was the product of an expensive hiring spree in the hunt for growth and more prestige. To cover the Med School's sudden deficits, the U's central administration took an extraordinary step: It authorized an internal loan of $16 million.
"It was the first time we'd done it for that purpose," Med School Chief Financial Officer Pete Mitsch said.
At a faculty meeting last fall, microbiology Prof. Patrick Schlievert warned that the financial malaise could lead to teaching resignations -- a statement that foreshadowed his own departure after 31 years at the U. Effective July 1, Schlievert, a pathogen expert who discovered the cause of tampon-related toxic shock syndrome, will be the new head of microbiology at the University of Iowa's Carver College of Medicine.
His federally funded research at the University of Minnesota has led to patents and the formation of two companies. He was first to describe the flesh-eating disease that killed Muppets creator Jim Henson and has been involved in discoveries relating to at least 18 diseases.
"I don't feel like the Medical School or the department was personally picking on me," Schlievert said last week. "It's just that the basic science departments are cut to the bone. The only thing we have left to burn is the furniture."
Schlievert, a cherished collaborator at the Minnesota Department of Health, said he went looking for a new job after the U couldn't assure him that his pay would be restored and stabilized after it was cut last year by $24,000. The reduction was directly tied to the Medical School's financial difficulties, he said.
"The financial crunch is a big one," said Schlievert, a member of the U's Academy of Distinguished Teachers. "Do we really have an organized direction, or are we just in salvage mode?''
A financial recovery plan published one year ago said recurring expenses at the school outweighed recurring revenues by a withering $10 million a year.
"This situation is not sustainable," the report said. "Without aggressive programmatic changes and more careful financial planning, the Medical School will be unable to invest in its most important activities or to develop new programs and initiatives."
The Medical School also is in a vulnerable financial position at a time when the Legislature is considering deep cuts in state spending.
Race for rankings
The Medical School's difficulties resulted in part from outsized ambitions. The hiring spree --which lured new department heads with expensive "dowries" -- was a tactic employed under then-Dean Deborah Powell's push to reclaim a top 20 ranking among medical schools. The school's current ranking is 29th; the top 20 goal has been shelved.
The rankings are based on federal research dollars that a school receives. The plan was to beef up faculty, win more grants and climb the chart.
In 2006, 2007 and 2008, the Medical School recruited six department heads and three directors of major research institutes. Their incentive packages, or "dowries," consisted of allowances to build research programs with additional faculty. Mitsch said the recruitment packages exceeded $120 million over seven years.
The hiring of Dr. John Schreiber exemplified the times. As incoming chair of pediatrics in 2005, he received a six-year, $18.7 million package that included money for several new division directors, retention of a lung specialist and a smattering of new faculty members. He left after three years, before all the money was paid out.
The overall expansion under Powell and then-Senior Vice President for Health Sciences Frank Cerra backfired when supporting revenue streams from federal grants, the state, the university and clinical partners didn't evolve as hoped. And with the stock market tanking, there also were shortfalls in payments from some endowments.
"To make a long story short, the additional resources garnered were not sufficient to cover the commitments," Mitsch said.
Getting out of the mess required a restructuring that dropped $8 million of the commitments and extended an additional $29 million into future years. Mitsch said the changes were negotiated between the dean's office and the recipients of the packages.
A visible impact of the financial crunch was the "Biomedical Discovery District" adjacent to the U's new football stadium. A glimmering plan for four new research buildings and a pair of parking ramps has since been downsized to two new facilities and a round of lab renovations.
Another lasting result is a holding pattern -- not a freeze -- on new hires.
It could be more than a year, for instance, before a national search begins for a new chairman of the Department of Medicine. The job will require a recruitment package that the school isn't ready to fund.
For now, the U can lean on Miller. He and other department chairs have directed turnarounds with a combination of belt-tightening, increased research funding and more money from the hospitals and clinics that benefit from patient care provided by faculty physicians.
"We're building it back,'' Mitsch said. "The Department of Medicine had the biggest issues, and they have recovered totally.''
Playing 'small ball'
In Miller's brand of "small ball," manufacturing results with hustle and moxie, he intensified the mentorship of junior faculty to help them secure research grants. The result has been a 30 percent increase in funding from the National Institutes of Health.
He consolidated divisions in the department to help strip out $1 million in administrative expense and negotiated new deals with the school's patient care partners that helped boost clinical earnings by $20 million. Miller also bargained for six months to cut faculty clinical pay by 2 percent for one year.
"We demonstrated the will to make difficult choices,'' Miller said.
Mitsch said financial results in fiscal year 2010 have helped return the school to a steady position sooner than expected.
But red ink could flow again as quickly as fiscal 2012, "depending on how big of a hit we take from the state,'' he said.
The school's cash reserves were spent down beginning in 2005 by more than half. The reserves rebounded last year to $38.7 million, but Mitsch said the cash balance is still undersized for an enterprise the size of the Med School.
With a budget of nearly $850 million a year, the Med School is by far the biggest single franchise at the U. It derives funding from three similarly sized sources: research grants; the practice of medicine by faculty physicians, and a bucket of other revenue that includes state aid, tuition and gifts. Last year, state aid was 10.2 percent of the school's funding, or $86.5 million, including more than $13 million from cigarette taxes.
Annual enrollment at the Med School is 920 students, including 240 in Duluth. The students pay among the most expensive public medical school tuition in the country, but the sum of those payments is less than half of what the school receives in state aid.
Dean Aaron Friedman said the Med School could probably withstand a 5 or 6 percent cut in state funding without losing programs. But if Senate discussions of an 18 or 19 percent cut materialize, the school will have to drop operations that aren't essential for accreditation, he said. He would aim first at nonessential programs that help deliver health care and physicians to outstate Minnesota.
"We'd have to reduce those services in the next fiscal year,'' Friedman said.
Another potential hit could come from a state-funded program that pays hospitals, clinics and other health care providers to train medical students. A potential trickledown effect would be a shrinking of Med School enrollment for lack of training positions.
The U president's recurring $2.85 million allocation to the Med School also is subject to reduction depending on the size of the state cut. That subsidy is separate from the $16 million internal loan that is being paid back at a rate of $2.3 million a year.
Tony Kennedy • 612-673-4213
© 2017 Star Tribune


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CafeMom Veteran
Our little man came 6 wks...
Ingrid is our first kid....
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I used to be a nanny. I met my husband at a coffee shop I used to work at. I want to live in Berlin someday. I like coffee and doing crosswords. My daughter is a sassy little thing. I'm due in January for #2. I love cloth diapers and baby carriers, both of which I have too many.
Hey!! We're going great here! In the process of buying a house..so far it's been a big headache. I'm just ready to move in already lol.
Congrats on being preggo! When are you due?? I do NOT miss vomiting all day, every day...so I don't envy you one bit right now lol. (altho, i wouldn't mind having another, Justin still refuses lol)I'm going to msg you my facebook page, because I'm on there much more than the cafe!
Hey! Long time, no talk!! How are you guys doing?!?! I don't even remember the last time we talked...we moved to MD in Sept. I can't believe it's already March! Anyway, just wanted to pop in and see what's new! Ttys!
I am interested in the fuzzi bunz. I would love to get her number from you.
They are a bunch of wild ones..I remember last summer when all they did was roll around. Those were the days! So how are you guys doing? Ingrid is such a little cutie!
Thanks for letting me know... I am going to wait until I know that I like them. No baby yet.
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The View from the New World Trade Center Is Simply Stunning
The gorgeous new One World Trade Center (formerly known as the Freedom Tower) is still under construction but it's looking more and more gorgeous everyday. What's more gorgeous: the view of New York City when you're on top of the new giant skyscraper. Wow.


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Carol Linnitt | October 16, 2013
By Carol Linnitt • Wednesday, October 16, 2013 - 12:18
The hotel rental for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's September visit to New York City cost Canadian taxpayers a total of $65,582.91 according to documents recently released by CTV News.
"Canada and the U.S. are making important progress on enhancing trade, travel and investment flows between our two countries, including securing our borders, speeding up trade and travel, modernizing infrastructure in integrated sectors of the North American economy, and harmonizing regulations," Harper said at the event. "But there is much more that can be done, and must be done, to make our economic relationship more productive and seamless."
The event, organized by the Canadian American Business Council, gave Harper the opportunity to tell an audience of American business executives that he wouldn't "take no for an answer" on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, planned to carry tar sands crude from Alberta to oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.
The hotel bill for the luxurious New York Palace Hotel, which was mistakenly sent to CTV's Washington bureau, suggests Harper's speaking engagement was a staged promotional gathering for the Keystone XL, rather that a typical guest speaker event which are usually paid for by the host.
The hotel charges include coffee services for $6,650.00, room rental for $33,500.00 and audio visual services of $14,709.15. An overall service charge for the room and coffee came to $9,234.50.
According to CTV, the event was co-hosted with the Canadian American Business Council, which claimed to 'share' the costs for the event with the Harper Government.
Maryscott Greenwood, senior advisor for the Council said, "the costs were shared…we paid for pieces of it."
On their website the Canadian American Business Council claims to be "the voice of business in the world's most prosperous relationship. Established in 1987 in Washington, D.C., the Council is a non-profit, non-partisan, issues-oriented organization dedicated to elevating the private sector perspective on issues that affect our two nations, Canada and the United States."
Membership to the Council requires a $5,500 annual fee, with conference sponsorships running up to $25,000 per event. Members of the Council include the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Canadian Embassy, the Government of Alberta and TransCanada among many other major oil and gas companies.
In 2012, the Council listed "Approval of the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring Canadian crude oil to the U.S. gulf refineries" in its top ten 'list of issues.'
Andrew Shaw, who works for the Council, is also a registered lobbyist for the Keystone XL pipeline with KcKenna, Long & Aldridge. Shaw was hired by TransCanada to lobby on the topic of "permitting issues regarding the Keystone XL pipeline," lobbying disclosure documents show.
According to further lobbyist documents, Shaw was also hired by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Canada's largest oil and gas lobby firm, to speak with members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives about American environmental legislation or policies that might have implications on the development of Canada's tar sands.
A recent white paper report released by DeSmog Canada shows TransCanada has spent $2.78 million on in-company lobbyists and $1.26 million on U.S. based lobby firms, including McKenna, Long & Aldridge, since 2010.
The white paper also shows that since 2010-2011 the Harper Government's spending of taxpayer funds to promote the tar sands and Canada's environmental performance has increased by 7000 percent with plans to further increase in the 2013-2014 year.
For more information on lobbying for the Keystone XL, see this backgrounder put together by Friends of the Earth or read about the pipeline on DeSmogblog.com.
leave it to beaver replied on Permalink
Can Leaks
Information from the Harper unwaranted information database was found on a thumb drive lodged in the backside of a Canadian goose (don't ask) they ignore international boarders and most people who walk in the park and want to wear sandals. This well greased information slipped into the hands of the media. From the files of resident 174857364 1/2
Sometimes he can be arrogant. He's very bad at playing guitar, but you know, he thinks he can sing pretty nicely. He likes an embarrassing amount of honey in his tea. When he hikes in the forest, he likes to run. he writes poems on napkins and receipts and scraps of paper and most of the time, he loses them; maybe you've found some. he don't make his bed. Even though he thinks they're silly, sometimes when it's laundry day he resorts to wearing animal print underpants.


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You can try these similar gifts instead.
Door of Happiness Necklace
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"When one door of happiness closes, another one opens" - Helen Keller - Created by This inspirational piece is a great reminder, that no matter where you are in your journey happiness abounds. Crafted of fine pewter.


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PVMAC Summer Pylon Race
This Race is drawing closer and the plans are being finalized for this race. Please put it on your schedule you west coast pilots!!!
We Found an error in the parkzone rules as to the type of course we will be running . This class will be a two pole course just like the other two classes.
Also note that the F4F WildCat may be subject to a prop change and or throttle subtrim adjustment.
The Pomona Valley Model Airplane Club is Hosting an EF1/424/Parkzone Warbird Two Pole Race on July 28th at thier Norton Airforce Base Site in San Bernardino. This is a great site for some pylon racing. This is a new venue for us , so lets get out there and support this race. This race will count for season points for Lee Von Der Hey's Whittier series of races. The Flyer and parkzone rules are posted below.
The course will not be 3 pylon course described in the published rules. It will be the same 2 pylon course that the other classes will fly. Pylons will be 400 feet apart at distance of about 330 feet from the pilot stations. Pilots will stand behind the fence in the usual Norton pilot positions. All pilots and callers must wear hard hats.
Also If you are bringing an F4F Wild Cat , This Model may be required to run a smaller prop (Possibly an 8x4 to slow it down) or you may be asked to dial down your subtrim on your Throttle. This plans is substantially faster than the other Warbirds and we need to level the playing field for this plane. The Idea of the Parkzone class is for the new racers to feel competitive with the experienced racers speed wise.
Parkzone Foam Warbird Racing
Racing Rules:
The ParkZone Foam Warbird Class is intended to provide a relatively low-cost avenue for the average modeler to experience the thrill and excitement of R/C Air Racing! This class combines the good flying characteristics of the ParkZone Warbirds, the ease and simplicity of an almost-ready-to-fly electric airplane, and the variety of classic Warbird designs to bring Scale air racing to a size and budget that most modelers can achieve.
Racing Rules and Procedures:
Racing will be conducted according to general AMA guidelines and in accordance with the NMPRA's EF-1 racing procedures. They can be found at NMPRA's website here: http://www.nmpra.org/rules/EF1NewRules_5_%5B1%5D.pdf
In general,
-Airplanes will be raced around the 2 pylon course with 400' between pylons 1 and 2
-Races will be 10 laps
-Races will use a racehorse start from the ground or a hand launch.
-Pilots and callers will stand at the regular pilot stations.The course will be out in front of the pilots aprox 330' from the Pilot stations. Pilots and callers must wear hard hats.
-A pylon cut will be penalized with a drop of one finish position per cut. More than 2 cuts will result in disqualification for that heat race.
-Races will be up to four planes per heat. 1st place will be awarded 4 points, 2nd place 3 points, and so on. Winner of the event will be the pilot that accumulates the most points in all of the heat races. Ties in points for the top 3 positions will be broken by a head-to-head flyoff.
Aircraft Rules and Eligibility:
Aircraft must be a ParkZone brand Warbird with stock motor. No airframe modifications that affect performance will be allowed. (Clipped wings/tails, smaller canopies, etc.) Any 3 cell lipo battery may be used with a capacity between 1300-2700mah. Electronic sped controls (ESC) must be the same general capacity as supplied with the airplane, or recommended by ParkZone. This is intended to be a fun racing class, not a cut-throat competition. Entrants that stretch the rules will be severely handicapped or possibly disqualified at the discretion of the Contest Director!
The airplanes that are eligible are listed below with the restrictions/provisions for each airplane.
T-28 Trojan: Must use stock 480 motor and stock 9.5x7.5 prop. Landing gear may be installed or removed.
F4U Corsair: Must use stock 480 motor and stock 9.5x7.5 prop. Landing gear may be installed or removed.
P-51 Mustang: Must use stock 480 motor and stock 9x6 prop.
F4F Wildcat: Must use stock 480 motor. Prop size to be determined.
Bf-109G Messerschmitt: Must use stock .15 motor and stock 3 bladed 10.6x7.8 scale prop. Landing gear must be installed.
Spitfire Mk IX: Must use stock .15 motor and stock 9.5x7.5 prop. Landing gear must be installed. If retracts are installed, they must remain extended in the down position during the race.
P-47D Thunderbolt: Must use stock .15 motor and stock 9.5x7.5 prop. Landing gear must be installed. If retracts are installed, they must remain extended in the down position during the race.
Revision 9/8/11
Last edited by PylonDave; Jul 13, 2012 at 11:04 PM.
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Synapse has announced a December release date for the 1995 UK horror anthology Chiller. Take a look at the official release details and cover art:
The television series Chiller was a five-episode horror anthology that aired in the UK in 1995. Presented here for the first time in the U.S., these supernatural shockers feature malevolent spirits, a brutal serial killer and a haunted house set in contemporary England. Starring many of Britain's leading actors like Nigel Havers (Chariots of Fire, TV's Coronation Street), Martin Clunes (UK's Men Behaving Badly), Sophie Ward (Young Sherlock Holmes) and Kevin McNally (Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series), this compelling collection will leave you chilled to the bone! Episodes include PROPHECY, TOBY, HERE COMES THE MIRROR MAN, THE MAN WHO DIDN'T BELIEVE IN GHOSTS and NUMBER SIX.
Directors: Lawrence Gordon Clark, Bob Mahoney, Rob Walker
Stars: Nigel Havers, Martin Clunes, Sophie Ward, Kevin McNally
Full Screen 1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono
Street Date: 12/11/12
Format: DVD
Two discs
265 minutes


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My Nonprofit Reviews
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Review for Easterseals New Jersey, Inc., East Brunswick, NJ, USA
I was an intern at Easter Seals last summer from May - August. It was a great learning experience. I was exposed to many different areas of a nonprofit. I was placed in the Marketing Department and saw all the hard work this non-profit puts into their events to help raise awareness.
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Did the organization use your time wisely?
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Role: Volunteer


text: >-----Original Message----- >From: dokuwiki-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:dokuwiki- >bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Myron Turner >Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2008 11:09 AM >To: dokuwiki@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >Subject: [dokuwiki] Re: DokuWikiFCK version 23 Released > >Thank you for sending me the full page. Since neither of us could >replicate the problem, it's hard to know exactly where it originated. >But I was able to create a similar error using another page and was able >to find something in some legacy code that I inherited which I believe >is the culprit. So that should be fixed. > [JS] Good. I'm not sure my users want or need DokuWikiFCK; I think they should, but those that update pages are probably used to the native editor. >About the unordered list. It's not altogether surprising, since you are >importing complex native DokuWiki document into the FCKeditor. But I >didn't see this problem myself. I tried the document in both an earlier >2008 release candidate (rc2008-03-31) and in the current release >(2008-05-05). In both cases the document displayed and saved without >any issues. > [JS] I was afraid of that. >About the conflict message. This will be fixed in the next release. >DokuWiki checks keyboard activity to see if you are working; if not, >after a time-out period, it issues a time out warning. If you are >active at the keyboard, it renews your lock on the file. But DokuWiki >is not aware of the keyboard activity in the FCKeditor. So, unless a >work-around is implemented, you would get timeout warnings while >working at the keyboard. The workaround is not perfect and so will >result in the conflict message, if someone else gains access to the file >while you are working on it. Version 24 of DokuWikiFCK fixes this >problem. > [JS] Understood. I think I read some comment about that on the list. I think it would scare the daylights out of my users, do I'm going to keep my testing to a minimum for now. >DokuWikiFCK is not really set up to be installed from the plugin >manager, so it has to be uninstalled manually as well. > [JS] I had trouble figuring out how, to be honest. I'm no longer adept with cpan, but I did manage eventually. >Best, and thanks again for your help, > [JS] Thank you for your contribution. -- DokuWiki mailing list - more info at http://wiki.splitbrain.org/wiki:mailinglist


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When federal judge Roger Vinson ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional in early 2011, law professor Karl Manheim took to the airwaves and declared it "radical decision" that represents "a resurrection of the old states' rights, Southern right argument."
Got that? You're probably for Jim Crow, or even slavery if you're against the individual mandate. It's worth noting that Manheim is an Obama donor. That's worth noting not because it explains why he would so tendentiously defend the mandate, but because it helps explain why, back when Obama opposed the individual mandate during the 2008 primary season, Manheim argued that a mandate might be unconstitutional.
Manheim wrote in March 2004:
Are health insurance mandates constitutional? They are certainly unprecedented. The federal government does not ordinarily require Americans to purchase particular goods or services from private parties.
And as far as Obama's argument that a health insurance mandate is just like an auto insurance mandate, Manheim dispatched that:
But in such cases, the "mandate" is discretionary — you don't have to drive a car or build a house. Nor do you have a constitutional right to do so.
But Americans do have a constitutional right to live in the United States. Accordingly, neither federal nor state governments can require you to purchase health insurance as a "condition" for residency. The Supreme Court has drawn a distinction between requirements that are flat-out imposed by government and those imposed as a condition for discretionary benefits.
How about the "It's-just-a-tax" argument? "Government cannot simply delegate its taxing powers to private business," Manheim wrote. It's a good article.
And keep this in mind as liberals argue today that it's radical to find the mandate unconstitutional.


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A laser-driven device can read an object's reflected light to decipher its substance.
Column: We know a lot about life on Earth, but we're still learning fundamental insights all the time.
Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to return from a long space journey, greeted friends after 4-1/2 months.
Rather than replace coal-fired boilers, one university opts for an ambitious geothermal system.
NASA takes it slow and steady as team installs batteries.
US automakers think small in a downsized economy.
NASA begins 202nd spacewalk by Americans since the Apollo 11 lunar excursion.
A Hollywood film restoration company took television video copies of what Apollo 11 beamed to Earth 40 years ago and made the pictures look sharper.
Endeavour is poised to take off for the space station Wednesday evening, along with seven astronauts. Forecasters put the odds of good weather at 60 percent.
Dell Inc. said Tuesday that the U.S. personal computer market has reached its low point but that the timing of a global turnaround in the technology industry remains anyone's guess.
The latest update to the popular productivity package takes a shot at Google, offering free web-based companion versions of Word and Excel.
Human activity in deserts is causing more dust to settle on alpine meadows and mountains, speeding snow melt.
The share of Americans who see science as the nation's greatest achievement is down sharply, even as the public continues to hold scientists in high regard.
Stormy weather could stall this weekend's launch of space shuttle Endeavour. Forecasters on Wednesday put the odds of acceptable weather at just 40 percent for a Saturday evening launch. Conditions improve only slightly on Sunday.
Column: Especially when it comes to outer space, there's a lot to be learned from reexamining old science.
The race for better batteries has spurred venture capitalists.
AnthroTronix's glove allows the wearer to control objects such as robots and video games with hand motions.
A new layering process renders prototypes that pop.
Column: This amazing breakthrough rewrites man's ability to play with biology.


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WNY Auto Racing: Williams boosting NASCAR diversity
WATKINS GLEN – As part of NASCAR's Whelen Euro Series, drivers Ander Vilarino and Frederic Gabillon are not exactly household names to Western New York race fans. But their car owner – Arcade native Troy Williams and his Troy Willimas Racing contingent – for this weekend is well known to many veteran area fans.
Williams and his team – featuring Vilarino of San Sebastian, Spain, driving the No. 12 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Dodge, and Gabillon from Uzes, France, steering the No. 86 Tepac/NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Chevrolet – came here Friday seeking a victory in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Bully Hill Vineyards 125.
Unfortunately, due to a late morning practice crash Friday, Vilarino's weekend was stopped before it barely began. Gabillon qualified 24th out of 26 cars for the Bully Hill Vineyards 125 and finished 12th. Scott Heckert won the race.
"Through NASCAR I've been doing a lot of driver development for three different countries – Mexico, Brazil and France," said Williams. "This is all through contacts within NASCAR. We're big on diversity projects and driver development. Ander and Frederic are talented drivers.
"I remember many years ago when I drove my local asphalt Late Model at Holland, Lancaster and Lake Erie. I did it for 15 years and won a lot of races."
Williams also ran a limited K&N Pro Series East schedule from 2002 through 2005, running in 10 series races over that time. He had an overall K&N Pro East Series career average finish of 23rd. He retired as a driver a few seasons ago.
The TWR team held a test session on Wednesday at Holland Motorsports Complex for both drivers in preparation for The Glen.
Before his crash Friday, Vilarino talked about his association with Williams and his experience at Holland.
"I like being here with Troy Williams Racing," said Vilarino. "They are open and nice. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series director chose the Williams team to race with here for us. I think he chose well. Troy is working very hard for us. I liked the high banking at Holland too."
Friday's appearance of the K&N Pro Series East was the first here since 2009. No driver entered in this year's Bully Hill Vineyards 125 has ever raced previously with this series at The Glen.
Over on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series side (NSCS) at The Glen, this season 16 NSCS drivers who have at least one win and are in the top 30 in points after the 26th race of the season at Richmond, Va., Sept. 6, will make the final 10-race, season-ending Chase for the Cup. If there are not 16 winners at that point, those non-winning drivers who are highest in points will complete the Chase field.
If there is a repeat 2014 season winner in Sunday's race here, which is the 22nd NSCS point event of the season, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola and Kurt Busch would clinch Chase spots.
"No doubt, we want to definitely get locked in," said Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M's Toyota Camry.
"I feel like we're sure enough to make the Chase, but like I said, I think that just us, we want to be able to win."
Drivers who have already clinched their Chase spots coming to The Glen are Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.
A.J Allmendinger is racing in the NSCS this weekend in the No. 47 Scott Products Chevrolet. With a win in the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen Sunday, Allmendinger would put himself into a Chase qualifying position. What would he do if he were running a very close second coming into the last lap of the race Sunday?
"I've been doing this for a while, and it's a tough sport unless you're Jimmie Johnson or someone like him," said Allmendinger. "I don't get that many opportunities to win a race. I'll do whatever I have to do to win, but I'll be the first one to say that I don't want to win in any controversy either. I want to go out and say I earned that win the right way."
The NSCS held a pair of practice sessions Friday. In the initial practice Harvick was best, hitting 68.652 seconds at 128.474 mph. In the second practice Allmendinger emerged with the best recorded lap of 68.538 at 128.688.
The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) also held two practices sessions Friday. Keselowski was best in the first session at 72.123 at 122.291 mph. Marcos Ambrose, at 71.595 at 123.193 mph, was at the top of the time chart in the second NNS practice.
Today's schedule here is highlighted by NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 qualifying at 9:40 a.m. followed by NSCS qualifying at 11:40 a.m. The Zippo 200 gets the green flag at 2:15 p.m.
email: email@example.com


text:
We don't get much chance to focus on younger sister AJ Michalka, but let's do that today, shall we?
AJ was strutting about town in a see-through beach dress that revealed her shiny bright bikini beneath. Hardly scandalous, but still quite a nice visual ride into the bikini body and booty of the 22-year old starlet in her own right.
Yes, we have become quite accustomed to seeing the Michalka sisters always out and about together, but maybe it's time for us to start dividing our fantasies among AJ and Aly. A bold, radical move, but something I believe our libidos will accept after seeing AJ's nice bikini tush today. Enjoy.


text:
John Houston snr & jnr, lease 1691. Court 1699-1701
In reply to:
Re: Searching for more details on the Wm. MOODY of Pittsburgh linked to this fam.
Maxwell Ledlie 10/27/07
re book "Joseph Ledlie and William Moody, early Pittsburgh residents" by Ledlie Irwin Laughlin.
It mentions John Houston Jnr., John Houston.
In 1691 Capt. John Houston of Castlestewart, co. Tyrone, Ireland, leased property to Pettigrew, Wallwoods and Ledely.
In 1698 property was divided, Ledely taking Carnan, Arboe Parish, co. Tyrone.William Carley ejected the Ledlies.
James Pettigrew as mortgage-holder joined the Ledlies in suit.
Plaintiff was Patrick O'Devillen.
The Ledlies may have won the case as in 1728,
PRONI file D847/6/9A/1, there were
William Ledlie and Gilbert Ledlie, sons of John (of ?) Carnan.
In 1737 there was another file D847/6/3/2, naming
Ledlie, 3rd son of Gilbert John Ledlie, Carnan, Arboe Parish.
In 1695, PRONI file D1618/2/7, there was a townland
of Carn, part of the manor of Castle Stewart.
About 1672 - 1683 William Houston purchased part of
the Manor of Castlestewart from Lord Howard, Earl of Suffolk who m. the daughter of Stewart.I am not sure if John Houston snr was brother of William Houston or his son.
I would be very grateful if you would you please look in your book for the full extract on the Houstons. Thankyou.
More Replies:
Re: John Houston snr & jnr, lease 1691. Court 1699-1701
Maxwell Ledlie 6/28/09


text:
Democrat Dan Malloy is moving closer to 50 percent in the race for governor against Republican Tom Foley.
Quinnipiac University released a poll on Friday morning showing Malloy with 49 and Foley with 42 percent among likely voters.
"Democrat Dan Malloy has moved ahead slightly and given himself some breathing room, but there are a lot of undecided voters and voters who could change their mind - and there are almost three weeks for them to decide," Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said.
Foley's numbers have not changed from a Sept. 29 Q-poll, but Malloy has gone up for 45 percent.
"Tom Foley's 42 percent share of the vote for Connecticut governor has not moved in two weeks. With less than three weeks to go, the Republican better start moving soon," Schwartz said.
The survey shows 7 percent of likely voters are undecided and 20 percent of people who name a candidate said they might change their mind before Election Day.
Malloy also has a higher percentage of women supporters, 55 - 35 percent. Men back Foley, 49 to 44 percent.
"After the debates and the latest ads, both candidates are better known, but Malloy is better liked. Both candidates have been on the attack, yet interestingly neither candidate's overall image has been damaged," Schwartz said.
You can read the entire poll here.


text:
In a corner booth this week at a Corner Bakery Cafe in Dallas, the chief executive tasted some of the newest menu offerings: buttermilk pancakes and a roasted pork sandwich with cucumbers and pickled jalapeños.
Across the room he spotted a new manager who was handing out samples from the chain's staple of sweets.
She and a new franchisee, who were in Dallas for training this week, will open the first of 10 franchised Corner Bakery Cafes in northeast Florida later this year.
The additions — new food and new franchisees — form the twin planks of Corner Bakery's growth platform.
Eight years after it was sold by Brinker International, Corner Bakery is looking to double its number of restaurants within four years. It also hopes to push the annual sales per location beyond the current $2.3 million, which already is one of the highest in its market segment.
"By the end of 2017, just on the franchising side, you'll probably have 180 more cafes," said Boston native Mike Hislop. He's been chief executive of Corner Bakery Cafe since it was purchased in 2006 by the parent of Il Fornaio, a full-service Italian restaurant and bakery. "That's aggressive growth, but it's controlled."
Also, he said, since the chain of 165 locations is open for three meals a day and offers catering, "I think we … can drive these cafes to $2.5 million pretty easy just by having the product innovation. It's pretty exciting."
Launched on a Chicago corner in 1991, Corner Bakery Cafe initially served as the bakery arm of the Maggiano's Little Italy chain. Brinker, the Dallas-based parent of Chili's Grill & Bar, bought Corner Bakery and Maggiano's in 1995.
Maggiano's remains Brinker's only non-Chili's brand. In 2006, when Corner Bakery had grown to 89 locations, Brinker sold it to Il Fornaio, which was then owned by private investment firm Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. of New York.
In 2011, Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta-based private equity firm, acquired Il Fornaio (America) Corp., which included Corner Bakery.
The chain's Windy City birthplace is its second-largest market, behind Southern California, with more than 30 locations.
There are 19 in Dallas-Fort Worth. All are company-owned and -operated and are west of Central Expressway. A location in Denton is expected to open this fall.
Sales in 2013 were $322. 9 million, up nearly 40 percent from 2009.
Nearly two-thirds of the chain's customers are women, drawn to offerings such as spinach salad with strawberries, oranges and grapes, and turkey and bacon paninis.
New salads
This week, the restaurant added two new salads: a quinoa and pico salad with corn, black beans, tomatoes and jalapeños, and a toasted sesame seed kale salad with shredded carrots and ginger soy dressing.
The salads are expected to be a hit at lunch, which accounts for 60 percent of non-catering sales. Breakfast and dinner account for about 20 percent each. To boost early and evening traffic, the company has added items such as buttermilk pancakes and toasted sandwiches.
It's also added pasta dishes, which Hislop says will help increase catering orders. Catering now makes up 22 percent of sales.
So far, Hislop said, the pancakes are selling like, well, hotcakes.
"Pancakes for us was a grand slam," he said, with sales especially brisk on weekends. "We have many stores selling 40 to 50 orders a day."
New kitchen equipment, including a "flat-top" cook top, helped the company expand the menu.
Online ordering, upgraded last year, is expected to increase the to-go business.
To-go and catering combined account for about half of sales, he said.
Next the company will try to increase catering sales. Business customers now account for 90 percent of catering sales, he said.
"We're just now getting into more of the social catering. Party platters. Groups watching the Final Four," he said. "That's sort of untapped. It's even a bigger opportunity for us."
Attracting franchisees
The ultimate aim is to boost sales at each location. Sales per location is known in the industry as average unit volume. Increasing that number can make a chain more attractive to potential franchisees.
"The exciting part for us is that we've been able to continue to build the sales," Hislop said, as the dining room at the Plaza at Preston Center location filled with the lunchtime crowd. "I think we should be doing more. With what we're doing for breakfast and dinner, there's capacity there to grow."
Corner Bakery competes in the $34.5 billion fast-casual restaurant segment, the fastest-growing portion of the restaurant industry. Fast-casual restaurants average $1 million a year in sales per location, according to Technomic Inc., a Chicago-based research firm.
Panera Bread, the leader in the bakery cafe segment that also includes Corner Bakery, brings in on average $2.46 million annually per location. That chain has nearly 1,800 U.S. locations, including 919 owned by franchisees.
Hislop said "a good number" of his locations top $3 million.
"Higher unit volumes are enormously attractive," said Jonathan Maze, editor of the Restaurant Finance Monitor, a trade publication. "If you have higher unit volumes, a franchisee can more easily make a profit. In general, all other things being equal, you're going to want to go to the higher volume store than a lower volume one."
Like many restaurant chains, the Corner Bakery store count is growing primarily by franchising. This year, the company expects to open 25 franchised cafes. Next year, there probably will be 40 locations opened as franchises. In 2016, look for 50.
The company's 29 "franchise partners" have signed deals to open more than 350 locations in the next eight years and will expand the chain into markets including Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Tennessee.
Camille Lee-Johnson, the new franchisee who wrapped up training in Texas this week, will be opening her company's first Corner Bakery location in Jacksonville, Fla., in September.
"The ability to expand the catering program and the addition of forward-thinking technology" is part of what attracted her, she said. She also was impressed with Corner Bakery's food quality and culture of supporting neighborhoods around the restaurants. "I think Corner Bakery has the potential to get to that $2.5 million" figure, she said.
By the numbers:
1991 Corner Bakery opens in downtown Chicago.
300 Number of refrigerated vans used for catering
3,500 to 4,000 Average restaurant size in square feet
$10,000 Average weekly catering sales for many Corner Bakery locations
$9.75 Average check per person


text: Johannesburg - The CEO of the UK-based Islam Channel was moved from the hospital to police cells in Pretoria on Tuesday morning, the Media Review Network (MRN) said."He was there until this morning (Tuesday) when the doctors discharged him and he was taken back to his holding cell at the Moot police station in Pretoria. That is where [he] is being held currently," said MRN chairperson Iqbal Jassat.Muhammed Ali Harrath, 47, was arrested on arrival in South Africa on Sunday when his passport was scanned and showed a red flag notice.However, he was admitted to hospital with a heart ailment after his arrest.He is the CEO of Islam Channel, a UK-based television channel broadcast on DStv.The MRN, in co-operation with the non-governmental Organisation for the Protection of Constitutional Democracy, applied early on Monday morning for an interdict to prevent him from being extradited to his home country Tunisia.Jassat said Harrath was a political refugee who sought asylum in the UK, after leaving Tunisia about 20 years ago."He is a refugee who didn't commit any crime apart from being a human rights activist back then."Jassat said the government had until Wednesday to file a replying affidavit to contest the court interdict.Hawks spokesperson Musa Zondi said he would not comment on Jassat's statement that Harrath was innocent of any crime.


text:
This is how life is when you work in landscaping and laying bricks. You get up in the morning, put on your jeans and your boots and go do a job.
Tap Dogs Broadway touring company
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30
Where: Classic Center, 300 N. Thomas St., Athens
Cost: $28-$58.
Call: (706) 357-4444
You sweat a lot. You have a crew of guys you work with. Some of them are great. Some of them are a pain. By the end of the day, you've built something that will last, and there's a lot of satisfaction in that.
That was life for Dan Clemente, a nice boy from New Jersey, who, besides installing lawns and working as a bricklayer, had taken tap dancing lessons since he was 3. All that changed when he went to an audition of ``Tap Dogs'' in New York.
The show, which originated in Australia, had been playing in New York for months. When Clemente first heard the show was in town, he didn't know what it was and didn't go see it because he had heard it wasn't very good.
``Somebody said, `Who told you that?' ''
He wound up auditioning for the show and was hired immediately, along with fellow cast member Chris Erk.
``We were putting on boots that night. It was, `Ma, I got an apartment in New York. See ya!' ''
The boots are tough, Tasmanian-made Blundstones, favored by Australian construction workers. The costumes are jeans and shorts, T-shirts and undershirts that tend to come off once the sweat starts pouring. The set is industrial steel and wood that the six-member, all-male cast ``builds'' during the show. The music is a driving rock score.
Dancing in water, on beams hung from ropes, on ladders and upside down, ``Tap Dogs'' is tap at its loudest and most athletic. Far from fluid and elegant, Tap Dogs is gritty and non-stop. Gene Kelly would have loved the way this style of tap chews up and takes over the stage.
``Most tap dancing is pretty traditional,'' Clemente said, ``not that it's not enjoyable to see. But people have seen it over and over. `Tap Dogs' is inventive, industrial tap dancing. There's a pretty basic story line people can follow. It's rough. It's fast. We sweat. We work hard.''
While the show has a story - a day at work with bunch of guys at work - there is no script or dialogue beyond the occasional grunt or yell. Whatever these guys communicate is done with body language.
Each cast member has a character to play - Clemente is The Enforcer, the bully who pushes people around. He's joined by The Foreman; the Second in Command, or 2IC; the Kid; the Rat; and Funky, the sassy one out of the bunch who always has to show he's a little different.
The history of the show is as fascinating as its presentation.
Creator/choreographer Dein Perry grew up in Newcastle, Australia, and began tapping in a makeshift dance school when he was 4. At 17, he earned his union papers to work as an industrial mechanic, which he did for six years.
Tap dancing in sequins for shows like ``42nd Street'' was not cool with his crowd. With a grant from the Australian Council, he developed Tap Brothers. In 1995, his show, ``Hot Shoe Shuffle'' won an Olivier Award in London for best choreography.
``Tap Dogs'' was a major breakthrough, creating a new kind of tap that thrives in individual expression in a more relaxed, casual form than the traditional style. Since then, the show has toured extensively, drawing reviews with headlines like ``A hunk-a, hunk-a burning tap.''
This is tap with an attitude. As one Australian critic wrote, ``It bites the butt of contemporary dance.''
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text:
Homicide detectives are investigating what led to a 2-month-old boy being hospitalized in extremely critical condition.
Witnesses tell NBC10.com that the child's father came out of his home along the 6200 block of Old York Road in the Ogontz section around 4 p.m. on Friday and screamed for help.
The man was yelling for someone to drive him to the hospital as the child laid limp in his arms. Blood could also be seen coming from the boy's ear, said one witness, who asked not to be named.
That witness then rushed the man and baby to nearby Albert Einstein Medical Center in their own car. Police say the boy was then transferred to St. Christopher's for Children where he remains in extremely critical condition.
Detectives found the injuries to be suspicious and decided to bring the father in for questioning at Philadelphia Police Headquarters.
Police say the mother was at work at the time of the incident.
Back at the home, crime scene investigators removed a bassinet as evidence. Family members tell NBC10.com that they believe the injuries were sustained when that bassinet toppled over.
Still, the investigation continues.


text:
Leyte is home of not only that famed bridge called San Juanico Bridge, but of bridges whose number can be so easily noticed, recurring every 5 minutes of your time on a road trip. These bridges over rivers link cities and towns of this very mountainous province.
The last time, which was last year, I traveled by bus in Leyte. I made it a point to capture its bridges along the way. I have seen and often forgotten they exist for the many times I've visited the province maybe because land trips could be so tiring, and I mind too much gathering energy for the next stop. But it changed last year. I did capture about 20 bridges or anything close to that, I couldn't be too sure.


text:
tag:www.lispnyc.org,0000-00-00:brian Brian Gruber 2011-07-23T17:10:00Z Brian Gruber combinations thereof Brian Gruber Pebble The clojure web-dev ecosystem just gets better and better Brian Gruber tag:www.lispnyc.org,2011-07-23:brian/1311441000000 2011-07-23T17:10:00Z 2011-07-23T17:10:00Z
I was just working on making a few small changes to LispNYC's website. Did you know the full source to our site, in Clojure, is available on github? Anyhow, while I was working with it, I decided to streamline stuff by moving to the relatively recent lein-ring plugin.

The plugin is simply great. By abstracting away common web development requirements, it allowed me to remove explicit servlet declarations, the 'main' function, dependencies on 2 ring libraries that really should have been development dependencies in the first place, and the need for a separate plugin to generate war files. If you're doing web development in Clojure, I highly suggest you check it out. James Reeves (the author of lein-ring and many other clojure web-development technologies) has a great and simple instructions for getting started. If you're using compojure (like we are!) realize that <tt>defroutes</tt> generates a ring handler, so you can just use that as the symbol you hand off to the plugin (though for more recent versions of compojure you probably want to use the result of <tt>compojure.handler/site)</tt>.
 The Summer of Lisp rolls forward Brian Gruber tag:www.lispnyc.org,2011-03-11:brian/1299869775257 2011-03-11T18:56:15Z 2011-03-11T18:56:15Z
So today is the day we finalize our application for Google Summer of Code. Fingers crossed, next week I'll be able to blog about how after a two year absence, LispNYC will have been accepted into the program. I really hope we are, because the projects that are shaping up look great and could go a long way in both helping the Lisp community and burnishing its reputation. As a sometimes-computer-musician, I'm particularly excited by the involvement of Project Overtone. It looks like David Liebke of Incanter is getting involved as well.

We're also happy to announce additional support from our friends at Brandorr Group. To show their commitment to open-source, Brandorr has agreed to offer a free Business Class Virtual Machine on Amazon Web Services to any LispNYC students for use on their Summer of Code project.
 This post was written in Emacs Brian Gruber tag:www.lispnyc.org,2011-03-01:brian/1299023363770 2011-03-01T23:49:23Z 2011-03-01T23:49:23Z
Before I really get started on posting blog entries for this, it was imperative I figure out a way to blog from Emacs. Cause really, what self-respecting Lisper blogs from a tiny text field in a web browser? Madness.

So, if you also want or have a blog on this site and want to do it in emacs:

go get weblogger.el I just used ELPA, but there's a later version available.

Once you've got that loaded, do M-x weblogger-setup-weblog. When it asks you for the Server Endpoint, enter http://www.lispnyc.org/blog/xmlrpc. The other parameters (username, password, blog name) should be self explanatory.

Profit

There are some issues. Authentication is plaintext, I have to manually type the entries in HTML. But it's still better than a web form!


text:
Robinson optioned to make room for Ludwick
Robinson optioned to make room for Ludwick
CINCINNATI -- After Sunday's 3-2 Reds win in 13 innings over the Padres, outfielder Derrick Robinson was optioned to Triple-A Louisville and left fielder Ryan Ludwick was activated from the disabled list.
Robinson, who was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in the game, batted .254 in 84 games this season. He had been up since the second game of the season after Ludwick went on the DL when he tore the labrum in his right shoulder on Opening Day.
"That was a tough decision to send Robinson back," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "But he will be back in a couple of weeks and on our playoff roster. His shoulder was bothering him some and we gave him a couple of days off. He was the only one who had options. Sometimes, you can't make the moves that you want."
Robinson made 35 starts, including 28 in left field. The other reserve outfielder, Xavier Paul, isn't as good defensively than the speedy Robinson, but he was out of Minor League options.
Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Mark My Word, and follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Are you moving or shipping to Sydney Australia, the magical city that's known around the world for its stunning harbor and iconic Opera House, office furniture or household goods? No matter which exciting Australian city is your final destination, let All Around Moving Services Company act as your agent in Los Angeles and Oakland San Francisco in California to help you create a stress-free shipping and moving adventure to the world down under.
Perhaps you are under the spell of Melbourne, the most cultural city in Australia, teeming with migrants from every country in the world. If that's the city you will soon call home, look no further than All Around Moving for overseas shipping and world-class international moving services originated from Los Angeles and Oakland San Francisco CA. Whether you are shipping office furniture, household goods or your car, we can safely arrange to load 20' or 40' overseas shipping containers scheduled to sail to Australia, or arrange for consolidation from LA or San Fran. Oakland terminals.
Please fill out a quote form. A representative will respond promptly or call us directly at 646.723.4084.
Brisbane is the capitol of Queensland and one of the major business hubs in Australia and, yes, All Around Moving Services will ensure professional international movers, fast and effortless moving and shipping services if you are expanding your offices there or if individually relocating to Australia.
How about shipping to Townsville on the tropical coast or Darwin in the northern territory, you ask? All Around Moving's licensed forwarders and well-trained agents and NVOC's will help you as well with all the papers and packing services you may need. In fact, shipping from Oakland California and Los Angeles was never this carefree. We'll arrange for door-to-door service, whether it's for your office cargo or the contents of your home and household goods.
Please fill out a quote form above. A representative will respond promptly or call us directly at 646.723.4084.


text:
Bayer HealthCare reports positive regorafenib trial dataPharmaceutical Company Product News
Bayer HealthCare has published positive new clinical trial data supporting the efficacy of its new drug regorafenib for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST).
Results from the phase III Grid trial showed that Bayer's treatment was able to significantly improve progression-free survival rates among patients with metastatic or unresectable GIST who have been unable to benefit from prior therapy.
It was able to meet its primary efficacy endpoint in the study while also demonstrating safety and tolerability performance in line with expectations.
Data from this study will be used to support regulatory applications for regorafenib in this specification, while the drug is also in development as a metastatic colorectal cancer therapy.
Dr Kemal Malik, head of global development and Bayer HealthCare executive committee member, said: "These findings may represent important progress in this difficult-to-treat disease with high unmet patient need."
Last week, the company also published clinical data from a new phase III study of Xarelto, showing its efficacy among pulmonary embolism patients.See all the latest jobs in Pharmaceutical


text: Art and Poetry Workshop: A Dialogue of Identity LocationThe Barber Institute of Fine ArtsCategoryArts and Law, Corporate Services, Research, Students DatesSaturday 25th May 2013 (13:00-15:30) Download the date to your calendar (.ics file) ContactTo book, contact 0121 414 2261 or firstname.lastname@example.com www.barber.org.uk/art-poetry Calling all poetry lovers!.. Explore the link between the visual arts and poetry with renowned poet Philip Monks. The day will consist of a two-hour workshop, following a brief tour of the Barber's permanent collection. Participants will choose a work of art that inspires them an be guided to write poetry, based loosely on the theme of identity, and then share their work and ideas with the group. Part of the 'Art in the Heart' scheme, selected poems may be featured in a publication that will launch in autumn 2013. All levels of experience welcome. Free, but booking essential (limited spaces available).


text:
|Print [1]|Text Size: ||
Time to check your pantry again! The recent salmonella outbreak traced to a small peanut manufacturing plant could now affect dogs and their owners. PetsMart [3] is recalling Grreat Choice dog biscuits because of a link to Peanut Corp. of America in Blakely, Ga. Animals are at less risk than people, especially kids, who handle the treats. However, if your dog acts lethargic or has bloody diarrhea, seek immediate veterinary care. For more info, read "Pet Treats Recalled in Salmonella Outbreak." [4]
|Print [1]
[1] https://thebark.com/print/722?page=show
[2] https://thebark.com/category/author/julia-kamysz-lane
[3] http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=196265&p=factset16
[4] http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/21/peanut.recall.treats/index.html?iref=newssearch
[5] http://www.SpotOnK9Sports.com


text:
My Trackers
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MWHIIITE's Blogs
Thursday, June 14, 2012 2 comments
Guys, I've been so horrible about trying to lose weight since 2 weeks before graduating.. For the past month I haven't worked out or watched what I ate. Luckily, I haven't gained anything. Which is a bonus..but it's not good enough. I haven't lo...
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Lots of change!!
Monday, June 04, 2012 1 comments
I am sorry that I haven't posted on here in a month.. My life has been so crazy busy!!! For starters, I am officially a high school graduate :) It's so crazy to say that. I went on a vacation with my senior class to the beach last weeke...
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I haven't blogged in forever.
Saturday, May 05, 2012 0 comments
This week has been crazy. Really, this month is crazy. It seems like almost every day I have something to do..blegh. I miss not having a life! :P Eating wise, I've done a really good job. I've been having a lot less calories on the days I k...
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Guys..big progress.
Monday, April 23, 2012 2 comments
I've always HATED shopping for clothes. Seriously.. normal stores never had my size and I hated the way I looked in everything I wore. My senior class is taking a group photo tomorrow so I decided I needed to buy a new pair of jeans because...
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Triple C.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 1 comments
Cake pops, carbs, and caffeine. That has been my life for the past 5 days. My class has to make and sell cake pops for an economics project.. Anyone that has made cake pops before knows that making cake pops takes a crapload of time and e...
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Prom #2!
Monday, April 16, 2012 0 comments
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Prom #1!
Saturday, April 07, 2012 1 comments
Last night was my first prom.. it was so much fun!!!! I wasn't excited about going before.. Last year it sucked and I didn't want to relive that again haha. BUT I'M SO GLAD I WENT!!! :) Okay, so I've never said anything about this before...
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Tuesday, April 03, 2012 0 comments
Hello, all. I thought I'd give an update since I haven't really been blogging very much lately.. For starters, I have lost 24.6 lbs since January 21st. :) I am very happy about it but I think I've let myself start to slip. At first, I ...
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Monday, March 26, 2012 0 comments
Last Thursday I went to the doctor because my gash was turning red around the edges and tender.. She said it was definitely infected so she gave me prescriptions by mouth and a prescription antibiotic ointment. While there, she "cultured" my wou...
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Tuesday, March 20, 2012 2 comments
Last night after I posted on here, I decided to do a workout DVD because it was storming incredibly bad here. (I couldn't walk to the workout room because it was storming so bad.) I didn't want to not work out.. so I grabbed my handy dandy Lesli...
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This girl has been injured.. :(
Monday, March 19, 2012 3 comments
I haven't worked out in 4 days and I can feel myself falling off the boat. I'm going to workout in a few minutes.. Pain or not. I need to workout. I hate this feeling. It's not like I've totally eaten bad the past few days since being hurt.. I j...
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Monday, March 12, 2012 0 comments
These past few days have been incredibly busy. I'm sorry for not posting anything :( I can't wait till next weekend.. Hopefully I hit my 20 lb mark AND hopefully I will be under 200 lbs for the first time in years :D I'm quite excited. ...
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Weekly survey..
Sunday, March 11, 2012 0 comments
Day three: Do you count calories? What is your daily calorie goal/allowance? I do count calories a majority of the time. I allow myself to eat up to 1100 calories a day. Day four: Do you work out? How many times a week? Yes. I love work...
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To be or not to be, interview, and being a senior.
Wednesday, March 07, 2012 0 comments
Gaaaah.. In my english class we had to memorize Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech. I have been soooo nervous the past few days about it. (I'm the biggest procrastinator in the world..) I finally performed it today and I was SO RELIEVED when I...
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Day 2.
Monday, March 05, 2012 1 comments
Day two: What is your MAIN reason for wanting to lose weight? (Be honest.) I have a lot of reasons for wanting to lose weight. I haven't been skinny since I was 5 years old.. so I don't know what the "skinny me" looks like. I want to know what...
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Lionel O Gauge Boxed No. 6-27220 L&N Double Door Box Car (circa 2006-07)
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- Source: eBay UK
This auction is for an O gaugeDouble Door Box Car, No. 41237 of the L&N line, manufactured by Lionel between 2006 and 2007. The car itself is in as near mint condition as you are likely to find. There is no wear to be seen on any of the wheels whatsoever and it appears to have never been run. The car comes complete in its original Lionel box, with the original plastic inserts, plastic wrapper and Lionel instruction leaflet. Even the small packet of silica gel is present.This is a large box car measuring approx 33cm long (excluding couplings) and 10 cm high. It has opening double doors on both sides. The box has picked up a few minor scuffs, mainly to the back, but is still in very clean and presentable condition. My 2010 Greenberg pocket price guide for this car indicates that it is worth around $70 so at a "Buy it Now" price of only £40 you should be getting a bargain. The postage/shipping cost for this item to a UK address, by Royal Mail 1 st Class post, will be only £6.42 and includes free packaging. Overseas buyers from France, Germany, the USA or Canada, are welcome to bid for this item too. Buyers from other overseas countries should contact me first before bidding, for a shipping quote. I will accept payment via Paypal, or personal cheque (subject to clearance).


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Two members of The Rotary Club of Holbeach have travelled to India and Nepal to help provide a better life for children who live there.
Their first destination was to India to spread the word about National Polio Immunisation Day .
The club's president Colin Scott and Rotarian David Dye visited a village near Badaum, with a 7,000 population and just 500 homes, to help a team vaccinate hundreds of children.
David said: "We were treated with the utmost amazing friendliness."
The following day the team visited homes to check children had been immunised, marking the doors of those who had and offering the vaccination there and then if they hadn't.
Polio remains endemic in three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. With the ease of travel today immunisation is essential in order to eradicate Polio completely.
Then David and Colin had another visit to make, in Bharatpur, a six-hour drive from Khatmandu, Nepal, to the Shree School.
The Rotary Club of Holbeach and eight others in our area hope to improve the lives of hearing and speech impaired students.
David said: "The school is a very poor unit with 140 hearing pupils and 14 deaf pupils.
"The dedicated headmistress, Mrs Dallakoti, wants to make the school a beacon of excellence for educating the deaf in the whole of Nepal.
"If you are a deaf child you are deemed useless and have no future, other than to be exploited and labour on the land."
The 14 teachers want to extend the school's accommodation so pupils can move to Bharatur for this education.
David said: "Once they are taught sign language it empowers them and improves their future."
The Rotary Club of Holbeach is leading the project with the other clubs to raise a total of £10,000, enough to apply for a Rotary global grant of £35,000.
The only money the school gets from their Government is teachers' salaries.
This funding will help their vision to improve sanitation, repair the school and purchase equipment.
David and Colin completely self-funded their visit to establish the cost of the work.
Before committing, they are waiting for the plans and figures to come back.
They met engineers, staff, Bharatpur Rotary Club and representatives of the Nepal Trust, who could manage the project.
David said: "It is a new project for us and we hope to get it off the ground."


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Dec 31, 2010 - 3:11 pm
Anyone else who had a lumpectomy, is your breast still very tender. Mine is, especially around the areola which is where the tumor was removed from. I had chemo and radiation. It got a lot more tender after radiation. Just wondering if this is normal and if anyone else has notice the swollen and tenderness still especially since its been a year since I had the tumor removed.
Dec 31, 2010 - 3:54 pm
It will be one year in March since my lumpectomy. I also had chemo and rads. I have been very tender esp. since rads. I asked my Onc. and he said it was normal. The nerves are still healing and regenerating. My breast still feels a little swollen too. My incision was on the outer part of my breast but it is still tender. Hope this helps. God Bless
Dec 31, 2010 - 5:00 pm
I had surgery almost 3 yrs ago..and yes still tender..esp. if i lean against something..or reach/stretch to get something...NOT painful but reminds me of surgery there. I had lump and radiation
Dec 31, 2010 - 5:00 pm
I had surgery almost 3 yrs ago..and yes still tender..esp. if i lean against something..or reach/stretch to get something...NOT painful but reminds me of surgery there. I had lump and radiation
Dec 31, 2010 - 5:05 pm
Surgery will be 3 years ago in April, and I still have a lot of tenderness in the incision area. My oncologist told me that some people never lose the pain in that area. (Something to look forward to, huh?) Sounds like lots of people have the continued tenderness, so nothing to worry about. Just keep telling your doctor when you have your visits to keep him aware of your condition, or if it gets worse. Hugs, Judy
Jan 01, 2011 - 6:08 pm
My 3 yr anniversary for surgery is April as well...the 3rd...
I never mentioned to dr..but reading here i feel better..NOT JUST ME
Jan 01, 2011 - 6:09 pm
My 3 yr anniversary for surgery is April as well...the 3rd...
I never mentioned to dr..but reading here i feel better..NOT JUST ME
Jan 02, 2011 - 1:39 am
I am not glad that all of you have this tenderness too, but, glad that I am not alone. Mine is still tender too, and, my rads oncologist said it was because of rads. However, he said it might go away. It isn't that bad, not really painful, just noticeable.
Dec 31, 2010 - 5:51 pm
and still very tender. Some days it is worse than others. I can't go out in the cold for any length of time because it hurts and the pain goes into my chest from nipple to nipple. I'm going to my rad. onc. next week so I'm checking with her, but she did tell me that it would be a good year before it was all gone. Every now and then I get a shooting pain, but mainly just aches now. I had lump and rads.
Hope this helps,
Dec 31, 2010 - 5:56 pm
My right breast is still tender. I was told by my oncologist as well as my surgeon that it was due to the radiation. They both said that it would be tender FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! So, I guess I better get used to it because I plan to be here for a very long time.
Dec 31, 2010 - 8:29 pm
I am about 1 1/2 years out and I am very tender! The way my Radiation Oncologist explained it to me was that the radiation will actually 'shrink wrap' your tissue inside. So that everytime you move or poke the area, it 'pulls' on the tissue and causes pain. It only takes the slightest touch to 'move' the tissue that doesn't want to 'give'. To me, it's like having PMS in that boobie ALL the time...ache, ache, ache! So now I am in the process of learning to live with it in case it never goes away (which is a possibility). It can be an unfortunate long term side effect of radiation.
Jan 01, 2011 - 2:51 pm
THANK U, THANK U, Everyone, I feel so much better now, knowing that its I guess normal.
Love u all
Jan 01, 2011 - 2:55 pm
Thanks for this thread. My breast was just fine until after radiation was over (Dec 1). Now it aches and is tender. Since it didn't hurt b4 radiation, I figured it was related to the rads, but it is really helpful to know this. "They" didn't tell me about this!
Jan 01, 2011 - 10:34 pm
A year in December and I have soreness and even pain at times.
Jan 01, 2011 - 11:22 pm
Still very tender here too... lumpectomy in May/June of 2009 radiation finished October of 2009 and I'm still tender... It really does make me feel better to know that I'm not the only one... although I'm not real happy to know that some of our sisters more than 3 years out are still tender... ugh... Okay, now I want to know.... is there anyone who has had lumpectomy/radiation that is not tender/sore ... and how long has it been for you??? Gotta give us girls something to look forward too!
Jan 01, 2011 - 11:31 pm
It will be a year in March and for a while I felt nothing, but the nerves are regenerating and now I get kind of stabbing pain sometimes and the breast is always tender. I notice it mostly at night because I'm a stomach sleeper:)
But........it's far from horrendous, certainly a pain I can live with, and if that and the Arimidex is the extent of my problems, I will be a happy woman.
Jan 07, 2011 - 1:16 pm
My breast is still tender too from my lumpectomy and probably rads too. I am glad also to know I am not alone in this.
Sue :)
Jan 02, 2011 - 11:56 am
Dear Pink I just completed one year and three months of Chemo and Radiation this past Friday,I experience pain 24/7 around the breast area and rib cage, my arm is still swollen and feels like a log sometimes.I feel the most pain during the night,I can't seem to get fixed in the bed just right to prevent this pain,any position I sleep in just doesn't work for me. However,I feel this is something I can certainly learn to live with after all I have been through this past year and a half. My doctor did say however that this pain may very well be there for years to come. My life is beautiful, I feel brand new again just minus a boob.
Jan 02, 2011 - 12:16 pm
Seems like we are more than pink sisters.....my lumpectomy was on April 3, 2008, the same as yours. Looks like we have a lot in common. Coming up on three for us, and still I feel like crap...how about you? Happy New Year to all. Hugs, Judy
Jan 02, 2011 - 9:45 pm
I am very lucky and greatful...no side effects from radiation at all...no fatigue, no burning, drying, not tired etc..worked full time and did treatments on my lunch...
I found out on here that if very uncommon...the more i read..which makes me more greatful..
Happy New year to you too..
Jan 02, 2011 - 9:45 pm
I am very lucky and greatful...no side effects from radiation at all...no fatigue, no burning, drying, not tired etc..worked full time and did treatments on my lunch...
I found out on here that if very uncommon...the more i read..which makes me more greatful..
Happy New year to you too..
Jan 02, 2011 - 9:51 pm
I appreciate this info sooo much as I am coming up on a year since surgery, finished chemo and then rads in July. I am still tender. Have first mammo since dx on Wed. and have been a bit anxious as I wasn't sure if tenderness was normal. Thank you all.
Jan 04, 2011 - 9:54 pm
I am SO jealous...I am still have side effects from radiation. I feel like crap!!! I just had Christmas Break off and have been back 2 days...came home both days and slept for an hour because I felt like I was carrying around an extra 500 pounds and my legs felt like noodles, borderline migraine and nausea...yuck.
I may be jealous, but I truly wish that everyone could say the same thing as y ou!
Best wishes,
Jan 07, 2011 - 11:45 pm
Mine is tender too. My rads oncologist and plastic surgeon said it was normal, and, not to be concerned about it. We have to remember all that we have put our body through. It just takes time for it to rejuvenate.
Hugs, Angie
Jan 07, 2011 - 1:48 pm
It's the same for me. I can feel the scar tissue, too. How did your surgery go? I hope your surgery and recovery were/are uneventful. Take care, God bless.
Jan 09, 2011 - 12:41 pm
My breast is tender, but, I just had another lumpectomy a few months ago. The lump was benign, but, now I have bruising every now and then. Not sure if anyone else has that or not?
Hugs, Diane
Jan 07, 2011 - 5:50 pm
It will be one year since my lumpectomy in March 2011. Yes, I am still tender in the area of the incision due to the scar tissue from surgery and from rad treatments. If I lean over and bang into something or accidentally get bumped, I really feel it. The shooting pains, sort of like little shocks that went straight to the nipple have stopped.I still have an area on the back and underside of my underarm (axilla) that is numb. Breast swelling is much less now but it is due to lymphedema in the breast and upper arm below the sentinal node excision site.My Medical Oncologist and surgeon say this is all expected as they are "post surgical changes"= scar tissue.
Jan 19, 2015 - 3:09 pm
Wondering how many of you have a larger breast in the one with the lumpectomy? I had a lumpectomy and radiaiton a little over 2 years ago and my breast is still tender and larger than the other one. My surgeon said it is not uncommon. Sorry all of you are having the same painful problems but I'm not as worried about it now. Just wondering how many of you have a larger breast along witht he pain? Most people I know that have been thru this have a smaller breast! Going to be hard buying new bra's. Thanks for any input......
Jan 19, 2015 - 10:27 pm
I'm 6 months post op and my surgical breast is larger. It was larger to begin with, now there's even more of a discrepancy. I was really hoping it would decrease some post op but hasn't happened.
Jan 20, 2015 - 10:33 pm
Mine was the left breast and the tumor was at the outside ....the cut took a lot out and I ended up with a perky harder breast with a nipple that points the wrong way....while my other old boob is now beginning to sag a bit so I'm pretty lop sided. I stopped wearing bras and just layered my clothing and bought those camesol stretchy tops which seemed to work.... UNTIL I began to have a rash underneath the saggy one & the cream for it costs $40 a tube.... YUK So after a lot of years I found a bra that worked...it is the Bali Revolution and is stretchy itself and has a very thin pad which covers up my different shapes and the nipples that are in the wrong place. I found this bra at a store but then ordered the rest of them online. I hope you can find a solution and so sorry for your pain. Prayers for strength and courage. Glo
Jan 19, 2015 - 9:02 pm
And it still hurts too much to touch or wear a fitted bra :(
Jan 21, 2015 - 7:12 pm
Aaahhh yes, very normal unfortunately. You may notice a bti of difference based on mestrual cycles etc. I sometimes even have what I call "phantom pains" where for lack of a better description its like my breast is looking for the part they took away. Almost like shooting or throbbing pains directly to the area they removed.
Ive found different levels of relief by either applying or removing support or pressure and or hot and cold packs,, depending on the feeling. One piece of advice I took seriously from my doctor was to do whatever I had to do to make myself comfortable no matter how strange it seems to others. I may have a soft sweater with the bra on the outside because I need the soothing support but be completely naked otherwise because Im having hotflashes.. LOL
Best of Luck!
Jan 22, 2015 - 5:57 pm
Its been over five years since radiation and chemo and lumpectomy and still really tender.
Jan 28, 2015 - 7:37 pm
Yes still tender, itchy nipple, onc said the itchy comes from nerve endings. My port area is more sensitive than the breast and I'm always uncomfortable with the lymphedema.
Jan 29, 2015 - 12:14 pm
I had a lymph node under my arm removed in April of 2012. I had both chemo and radiation. Finished radiation in November of 2012. My breast is still tender to the touch although not as pronounced as it was post-radiation. My skin healed well and I never had any blisters. It just looked and felt sunburned. It still feels a little burned. The area of my chest where I had the port is sometimes tender too. It feels like there are some adhesions there that pull a little when I move a certain way. The radiation oncologist said that my skin would probably be tender for about two years but it still is at almost three years. It is definitely better than it was though.
Jan 29, 2015 - 1:15 pm
I have had two lumpecomties on the same side and still tender after 6 yr and 3 yrs..
Feb 02, 2015 - 9:21 pm
Hi Lisa here, I was diagnosed in March of 2013 and had a mastectomy of my left breast in October the same year. To date i am still very tender, sore, sometimes swollen and numb. My oncologist and my surgeon both said it is normal. Exercise that arm every day for at least 10 minutes and a few times a day if possible. I do it in the shower, it feels great, and I also do it right before bed. Hope this helps....this too shall pass they say.


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Web safety tips so that cheaters can prosper
This Digital Life
After the Ashley Madison hack during which details of 32 million people signed up to the infamous website were released, the importance of keeping your data safe has never been more important.
Even for seemingly secure sites like Ashley Madison, hackers can still find a way in - so taking care of your personal information is something to think about on every site.
Use different passwords: User's passwords were released in the Ashley Madison leak, but they were encrypted. However, despite the bcrypt algorithm being a very secure way to store passwords, it's still possible for hackers to 'crack' the code.
This means people could potentially then go into the accounts if they are still active, and look at private messages between users.
And if the users used the same password across lots of different websites, as many people do, getting their Ashley Madison password could also let them in to their email account, online banking and social media profiles.
Using longer, memorable passwords containing symbols, capital letters and numbers, and using a different one for each site you visit is a good idea.
Using a site like Zoho Vault to securely store complex passwords.
Use dummy emails: A lot of websites require an email address if you want to use their services, and some are less reputable than others. If your curiosity gets the better of you, then it's possible to use websites like Mailinator or Easy Trash to quickly create a trash inbox.
Many of these sites allow you to create an inbox just for a few minutes - allowing you to enter an email in a website, quickly verify yourself, and have the whole account self-destruct so you haven't given your real address away.
This works well to keep away spam, and protects your real details if you're on a less secure website.
Take advantage of private browsing. Internet history stored in your browser can be useful when it comes to auto-filling forms or remembering passwords, but it's also a bit of a security risk.
It's not very practical to browse in private constantly, but in certain situations (such as visiting Ashley Madison) it can give you peace of mind.
Use two-step authentication: Some sites, such as Dropbox, Gmail and Microsoft, can use two-step authentication if you want them to.
Every time you log in, you'll also get a unique code texted to your phone which you also need to enter. Unless a potential hacker has your email address, password and phone, they won't be able to get in without this unique code. This can be a bit inconvenient, but it works well where you need extra security.
Belfast Telegraph


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" Brand: Converse / Type: Sneaker "
I do a lot of walking about during the day and I like to wear flat comfortable shoes. As I'm tall I rarely wear heels because I don't need the extra height, and I save my heels for special occasions. Converse type trainers are one of my favourite wardrobe staples and I have a number of different styles and colours in my shoe cupboard that get worn frequently. I saw these Marrimekko Spotted Ox trainers on the ASOS website www.asos.com and just had to have them! I paid the full RRP of £60.00 but they're currently reduced in the sales.
Product description: "These All Star trainers by Converse feature an original 1960s Marimekko print and have been crafted with a canvas upper and a rubber sole. The details include: signature styling with 6-eye lace-up closure, logo branding to the tongue, a contrast toe cap and a chunky contrast sole."
These shoes are from the Converse All Star Marimekko line and feature the iconic All Star Ox design which has been brought up to date with an all-over printed fabric. Converse have been making stylish sports footwear since 1915 and in 2011 they teamed up with Finnish textile designers Marimekko to form a collaborative collection. My Spotted Ox trainers came in some gorgeous packaging, with a special Converse <3's Marimekko shoe box, and a matching spotted fabric drawstring bag to keep the shoes in. I also received two sets of shoe laces; one white pair and one red pair. I like that I can easily change the look of my shoes by switching the laces over, and think it was a nice touch for an extra pair to be supplied.
I absolutely love this dotted pattern, and the attention to detail is lovely. On the outside the main background of the fabric is white with roughly shaped black dots, and the lining is also patterned with a white background and red dots. This slight twist on the classic polka dot is a fun feature and the monochromatic shades mean that the trainers match a variety of different outfits. They feature the traditional rubber sole and toe cap in a bright white colour. This can be prone to getting scuff marks but cleans up easily, especially if you use my friend's top tip of scrubbing with a bit of Cif cleaner!
These Ox trainers are the ultimate in comfort and are perfect for wearing all day if you need to be doing a lot of walking. The lace fastening means that I can get a nice tight fit on my feet, which is good because my feet are quite narrow and sometimes shoes can feel a bit loose without having lacing there to tighten them up properly. The laces are a little thicker than normal and very easy to adjust and tie. I find these shoes are incredibly comfortable to wear and I am able to walk around for hours without getting tired or sore feet. The sole is quite thick and gives a nice solid base to the shoe, as well as having a decent tread pattern to offer grip during the less than ideal weather that we are all too common with over here. Inside the shoes feel well fitted and cushiony and they do not rub at all even when worn for a long time and after doing lots of walking.
I can highly recommend these shoes as they're practically perfect in every way. It's definitely worth looking out for this collaboration if you like Converse trainers and want something a little different with the Marimekko pattern. I love these shoes and would definitely buy others from this range.


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The Brites-Constellation Project: Entering a New Era of Nanosatellite Astrophysics ... or ... Why I'm heading to the Great White (French) North
|Friday, 05 Apr 2013 from 4:10 pm to 5:00 pm
|Room 3
|Massimo Marengo
The Brites-Constellation project is a network of six nanosatellites of which the first two launched successfully earlier this year on February 25th. These satellites are designed to take high precision differential photometry of the brightest stars in the sky (V < 4.0) . While the number of targets is small (~600), over half these stars are O and B stars which are extremely difficult to observe in general as they will saturate the detectors of similar space missions. In addition, though small in stature these satellites offer several distinct advantages over larger current missions including the ability to do multicolor photometry. This talk will be an introduction to this unique astronomical mission and hopefully into a new era of nanosatellite astrophysics. I will also elaborate on my individual plans as the newest member to the Brites team.


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