text:
When we decided to take a scuba diving holiday "somewhere in the Pacific" Fiji immediately ranked high on our list and one island called out to us in particular. Diving off Savusavu boasted frequent hammerhead sharks, the world class Namena Marine Reserve and hints of having the soft coral capital of the world. Being only two hops away sealed the deal and we were soon booking flights from Auckland straight into the heart of the tropics.
What we didn't expect was although we were on the doorstep of these magnificent places we would find ourselves facing a battle. Our dive shop (pre-booked) preferred to force us onto the bombed-out vacant house reefs rather than take us to the holy places (even if we were willing to pay!), and they did this by using the excuse that cyclone Winston had destroyed them.
That was crap but the house reefs do possess a hammerhead shark dive which is an epic consolation… for a day or two. After that we pushed and pushed and found out that Winston had done little destruction and an extended day trip to Namena and the Somosomo Strait lives up to the legend. It is certainly worth the wait, and even the hassle.
So here's our honest view of diving off Savusavu, how it ranks compared with other dives we've done and a few tips thrown in for good measure.
'Dreamhouse' is Savusavu's local blue water dive that we were eager to drop into. It's the only decent local dive site and is barely 15minutes putter from the dive shed. Within its football field shaped reef is a school of 250+ scalloped hammerheads who are year round residents. What's incredible is that if they happen to ascend from their depths to 30m you are likely to get a good sighting. You're not guaranteed to see them of course but you've got great odds if you are prepared to give it a couple of tries. The owner of our dive operation didn't seem confident in reading his tide charts but we get the gist that an outgoing tide will give you the best hammerhead sightings alongside schooling pick handle barracudas and a heap of predatory fish too!
We spent 3 dives at 'Dreamhouse' and were incredibly fortunate. On one dive we saw no hammerhead, on one a rogue solitary hammerhead was extremely agitated and curious and on another the school rose up from the depths to 30m and we were circled by 20-30 hammerheads for over a minute. During the dives at 'Dreamhouse' we regularly saw big reef sharks and large school of barracuda. It really is a very special place.
Currents: Mild
Depth: 30m
Dive style: Blue water dive
Visibility: Varies between 15m-30m
Prue and Becks Score: 9/10
Namena Marine Reserve is the closest dive Becks and I have ever had to swimming in the film set of Finding Nemo. 'That was like massaging the soul' Becks confessed as she surfaced from the longest, most beautiful safety stop at 'Grand Central.' Namena Marine Reserve is 21 Nautical miles south of Savusavu requiring a 1.5 hour boat ride. Some of the coral fringes of Namena Island was horrifically blasted by the recent cyclone as was, bess it, the entire island. There were rumours while we were here that its reefs had been destroyed and so it was tough to convince our dive company to take us out there but I am glad we pushed. Honestly we can tell you that Namena Marine Reserve, despite what damage it has endured by the cyclone, has one of the best, most colourful and vibrant ecosystems we've ever seen.
Descending down onto a sheer wall with 40m+ visibility was the dramatic entrance that welcomed us to 'Grand Central.' It's dive site name describes the hustle and bustle of fish compared to Grand Central station. The name couldn't be more fitting. Damsels, wrasses, basslets and anthias zipped about the wall which plummeted far beyond our vision. Pink, purple and yellow soft corals adorned the wall which housed shy gobies, nudibranchs, hawkfish and many other things I know I didn't have the chance to spy. I have an excuse, I was constantly distracted by the 5 reef sharks patrolling the ledge of the wall and one of the divers even spotted a scalloped hammerhead off in the blue. Huge tuna scoured the depths and mackerel lurked close by ready to strike at any unsuspecting fish. We're told mantas frequent the area and to be honest, it's a dive site that at peak tidal change would explode into a feeding frenzy. I would definitely like to come back for that. As our bottom time whittled down our course changed away from the wall and up onto the sandy plateau where huge coral pinnacles protruded towards the surface. These bommies were extremely vibrant and active so we spent the rest of the dive slowly circling upwards to finish on top for our safety stop. An awesome dive!
Rumour had it that 'Chimneys,' a renown dive site in Namena Marine Reserve, had been destroyed but as we dropped in on the first of the two chimneys everyone relaxed. It was spectacular. Each of the chimney's is like a Christmas tree which has been indulgently decorated by a bunch of over excited children with unlimited supplies. Soft corals dripped from every ledge, gorgonian sea fans protruded from bumps and whip corals grew out from all the nooks; it was as if the chimney's had celebrated Holi and had held on to all the vibrancy and colour. In all the nooks there would be anemones, nudies, pipefish, sea spiders, squat shrimp, cleaner shrimp and all the other eyes that poke out from the dark holes. The sea life close to the bommie was playful with pinks, blues, purples and oranges of flashing colour darting to and fro. Further from the wall rainbow runners danced, silversides whirled and the iridescent fusiliers frolicked in the soft surge. Beyond that small silver mackerel and blue fin trevally were continually playing chase creating a momentum and liveliness to the schools of colourful fish. Exploring the two chimney's was an absolute delight and will go down as one of the prettiest and most healthiest ecosystems we've ever seen.
Currents: Mild-Strong
Depth: 15m-40m
Dive Style: Walls, coral pinnacles
Visibility: Varies between 15m-30m
Prue and Becks Score: 10/10
Similar dives on a 40m visibility day: 1. Richelieu Rock, Similan Islands, Thailand. 2. Manta Point, Pemba, Tanzania. 3. Keruo Channel, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Off the shores of Taveuni lies 'Rainbow Reef,' an elongated reef system which claims the 'White Wall' as it's premier site. If you speak to anyone about diving in Fiji, the 'White Wall' will be on the tip of their tongue as it's known to house the best soft coral in the world. With an introduction like that, it was obvious that we we're willing to fork out a little extra for fuel to get us the 30 nautical miles east from Savusavu. Convincing our dive centre was tough but with an extra diver wanting to joint plus an added $50AUD each we were on our way to the shores of Taveuni.
Diving the 'White Wall' requires a little planning on current. Too much and you'll whip through the dive too quickly, too slow and the soft coral polyps would have already retracted. Jumping into the stunning azure reef system, we were immediately guided to a wide chimney passage leading down to the max depth of 30m. The swim through was fantastic and we were surprised how intact the gorgonian sea fans were and how abundant the soft corals were in such a well dived area. This was the favourite part of my dive and better yet, it's often you get to do this passage twice.
We were a little late arriving and reached the wall at slack tide so at the beginning we got to see the magnificent purple, white and red corals fluffy catching the last of the nutrients from the passing water but by the end most of the polyps had retracted leaving an astonishingly stark wall behind. Off in the blue we saw a few big grey reefs, barracuda and tuna while up close it's all about enjoying the abundance of soft coral. Very very pretty indeed.
Currents: Mild-Strong
Depth: 15-30m+
Dive Style: swim throughs, wall dive
Visibility: Varies between 15m-30m
Prue and Becks Score: 8/10
These are all local dive sites, a 10-20minutes drive from Savusavu. I'm not sure what the dive sites were like before cyclone Winston but these are extremely bombed out and we seriously wouldn't recommend them. The fish life is poor, the coral cover is poor and other than a couple of leaf scorpion fish and some anemone's there isn't much to see. Although we must admit, Turtle alley offers an almost guaranteed sighting of Hawksbill and green turtles- we saw loads!
Currents: Mild-None
Depth: 8m-25m
Dive Style: swim throughs, sloping reef, rock pinnacles
Visibility: Varies between 15m-30m
Prue and Becks Score: 1/10
We dived with KoroSun Dive, after 5 days of diving we did get to do everything we wanted but were exhausted from fighting the management every step of the way to get us to the places we wanted (even if we were willing to pay extra!). My experience diving with this company was terrible and I've never seen a more disorganised, uninspired, unsafe and RUDE dive centre. No joke, there was no oxygen nor first aid kit taken on any of their boats, owners yelled at staff in front of us but then again, barely spoke a pleasantry to us either. I have been fun diving for 7 years, have worked in the industry for 4 years and have never seen anyone else come close to their lack of respect for guests nor lie about the state of the reef because they couldn't be bothered to go.
My advice for anyone diving off Savusavu is to book your accommodation and diving separately. Approach all the dive companies in the area and accompany the trips that suit you and the dive sites you want to visit. Even better, go to the local pub and meet up with other divers and approach a company as a group for bit of muscle. Oh and avoid the local reefs bar 'Dreamhouse' at all costs.
For a 2 dive day the cost is upward of $270FJD for local house dives incl. 'Dreamhouse.' For 3 days of 2 tank dives at the local reefs it's $770FJD. Be prepared to pay upward of $350FJD per day to get out to Nemena Marine Reserve or Somosomo Strait for a double dive.
Hi Guys,
I came across your website when researching about fiji n savusavu, we're going there this coming july and august and will spent about a week in savu savu. At the moment i'm deciding on who to go with for diving there. Recently I have been writing articles of my trips for the local publications and really want to maximised my chance of seeing hammerhead and the coral reefs of Namena marine reserve and somosomo strait (is this a totally different divesite altogether or is a part of the Namena marine reserve ?) . Did u also go with other dc than the one you went with in savusavu or hear experiences of others going with other dc there ? Thanks for the info. This is a very helpful and comprehensive article, thanks for sharing !
So glad I've found this article! We are off to Savusavu this weekend and were looking at Koro Sun so this is very helpful advice! We can't wait to explore the area though, definitely taking on board what you have said. I know Cyclone Winston has done a lot of damage in certain areas so we hope to be able to get to some great dive sites in the area. Thanks for this!
Thanks for the great post. I snorkled Namena reef a few years ago and now that I'm certified it's been on my short 'bucket list ' to get back to for a dive. Very helpful…thank you.
Where did you stay?
Awesome post. Love your very honest evaluation of the dive company. And I know if you guys said it, it has to be true. Hope to go to Fiji soon.
I did diving once, but girls, I really wanna do it again! Thanks for awesome tips!
Wow, that kind of attitude from a dive center is inexcusable! Are they intentionally chasing away business? Or trying to get extra money out of you?
Amazing pictures and a solid facts. Thanks for the adventure ladies!
I think you've very brave to not be terrified of the hammerheads… I've never swum with big sharks like that. I love Becks' soul massage comment- I know exactly what she means with that one. Sorry about the shoddy management, it sounds like a nightmare. The people are generally super friendly on Fiji, but we did have an issue in our hostel in Nadi- i broke a pipe somehow, told the manager, he was watching the rugby and it resulted in the flooding of the entire top floor. There was a waterfall down the stairs! Anyway, a story for another time. I'm glad you had a holiday! Sounds like you've deserved it. 🙂


text:
Our stay at the Hotel Leon Bianco was perfect from start to finish! Our room faced the plaza and was directly in line with the stone cistern (well) that was filled with money from around the world. The room was comfortable and warm, the bathroom was exquisite, the windows were thick and locked the noise out. But we love the noise, so we kept them open.
We enjoyed the daily breakfast, quality foods were offered as well as espresso, cappuccino and teas. The last day, the market was setup throughout the village, offering colorful clothing and home goods.
What a great hotel in a stunning destination, we will return!!
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- A holiday at Hotel Leon Bianco, ancient hotel run by the same family for more than thirty years, is a step back in time: it is located in one of the most beautiful squares of the historical center, Piazza della Cisterna, inside an ancient palace surrounded by majestic towers of the Middle Ages.The Leon Bianco has maintained the fascination of its ancient origins: the simplicity that binds to the taste and to a warm welcome.Guests staying at the hotel Leon Bianco enjoys the best location, right in the heart of the historic center, to revive the atmosphere of the medieval village and to be able to explore San Gimignano, its typical little streets, the beautiful fortress of Montestaffoli, and all the wonders that this town offers then, he is in the position to visit the most important cities of Tuscany.At dispousal of our guests also a jacuzzi 5 sitz in the terrace, a fitness and a billiard rooms. ... more less
- Reservation Options:
- TripAdvisor is proud to partner with Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Orbitz, Hotwire, Cheap Tickets, Cancelon and TripOnline SA so you can book your Hotel Leon Bianco reservations with confidence. We help millions of travelers each month to find the perfect hotel for both vacation and business trips, always with the best discounts and special offers.
- Also Known As:
- Leon Bianco Hotel
- Leon Bianco San Gimignano
- Hotel Leon Bianco San Gimignano, Italy - Tuscany

subset: commoncrawl


text:
3 responses to "iPhone 5 Camera vs iPhone 5s Camera (8 pics)"
- Anonymous said...September 13, 2013 at 8:23 AM
- jowdjbrown said...January 7, 2015 at 10:27 PM
We've all obtained at the least a person cellphone each and every, proper? We've almost certainly bought about 3 or 4 at present, which counts providing your outdated Nokia 3310 to the Mum a couple of a long time in the past.But now the globe has changed, and from Apple to Samsung to HTC to some host of up-and-coming names, choosing your up coming finest smartphone is really a challenging process.This is often where by we help it become simple: we extensively examination a huge selection of leading smartphones and possess uncovered the 10 greatest it is possible to devote your cash on. mobile rates in pakistan
- historypak said...August 29, 2017 at 5:42 AM
I admire what you have done here. I like the part where you say you are doing this to give back but I would assume by all the comments that this is working for you as well. Cracked Phone Screen


text:
Website Development
Make a great first impression. A beautiful, easy-to-navigate website speaks volumes about your company's professionalism and personality.
Thoughtful digital management for a complex industry.
With our experience at the community, regional, and corporate levels, we understand the challenges faced by senior living communities. We know your potential customers are often worried or stressed, trying to find any information they can to assure them that their loved ones are in safe hands.
Let us build your digital presence to be as professional and approachable as your business. We will construct a website which highlights your community's philosophy and key differentiators. We'll perform SEO tasks to help you rank well organically so you're easy to find. Our team will also optimize your social media profiles to encourage engagement and give family members another window into your community.
Our service offerings are highly customizable, so we can find the right fit for your unique needs.
Make a great first impression. A beautiful, easy-to-navigate website speaks volumes about your company's professionalism and personality.
A strong social media presence showcases your values, gives your residents another place to connect, and provides family members with an additional view into your world.
SEO strategists address your online presence from the ground up, optimizing your local listings and capitalizing on valuable keywords to help your users find your company more easily.
A steady stream of fresh content will help you attract new site visitors and give previous visitors a reason to come back. We'll combine our research on your industry's trends and key topics with our knowledge of your company to address your audience in your own authentic voice.
We can help you find the right media outlets to spread the word whether you're celebrating a website launch, community event, or changes to your business.
Designed and built by our in-house team of developers, we use FourLabs to create custom landing pages for senior living facilities.
Templated CMS's can only take a business so far. And custom websites can be too pricy—particularly if your business or industry needs the same solution executed multiple times. Foursite is the business-focused solution to this common conundrum.


text:
The Governor stated this at the weekend through his Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Mallam Abdulkarim Abdulmalik.
Bello was reacting to the letter written by the State Executive of All Progressives Congress, APC, to the national leadership of the party, where the party passed a vote of no confidence on him. The state APC said of the over 40 appointments made by the governor, none was recommended by the party. On the contrary, the party accused the governor of appointing PDP members into government.
The Governor said he was yet to be informed by the National Secretariat of the APC about the petition, adding that he is running an all-inclusive government.
He said the APC leadership are free to recommend any body for any appointment provided the person meets certain criteria for such positions.
He said his government is working towards unity and as such his doors are always open to accommodate every body irrespective of religion, ethnic and political differences.
The Governor accused the State Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Haddi Ametuo, of hiding under the party to play clanish games and PDP card against his government because his favoured choice, Honourable Jimoh Lawal, was removed as Speaker of the House of Assembly by the lawmakers.
Bello said his administration has demonstrated commitment towards rebuilding the state and unite the people for peaceful co-existence through people-oriented policies and programme.
This according to him attested to the warm reception accorded him at Okene where he was recently received by a large crowd that thronged the city Square to rejoice with him over his victory at the polls.
"I will not behave like the past leaders, who now regret not doing the right thing while in office due to selfish pressure mounted on them by some people. Anybody with impeccable credentials and feels that he has something to offer the state can come forward," Governor Bello stated.
The Governor further explained that his government will continue to accord respect to every citizen of the state adding that the day of ethnicity and inter-tribal crisis are over.


text:
Adam Archuleta & Austin Merrick
Category: Bareback, European, Uncut Men
Pornstars: Adam Archuleta ,Austin Merrick
We are having quite an international week this week, we present today a scene with American model Austin Merrick and Adam Archuleta. 2 Notes from GDuroy: For those who criticize GD for featuring non white models Austin is mulatto and for those who are upset of Americans using condoms, we simply do not know the sexual history of the American models.Read more »
View other Bel Ami Online videos
Photo Gallery (Click Thumbnails to Enlarge)
1 Comments
jack512 Feb 14, 2013 at 13:17
Austin and Adam are two beautiful smokin hot guys. Awesome together!


text:
Category Archives: 1946
Baby Boomer Trivia From December 1946: UNICEF Begins, It's A Wonderful Life, Flamingo Las Vegas Opens UNICEF was formed in In December of 1946, when the United Nations General Assembly unanimously voted to establish an international Children's Emergency Fund. The purpose of the new UNICEF fund was to provide relief from the famine and disease faced […]Read More »
Baby Boomer Trivia From August 1946: Jockey George Woolf, Adolf Eichman Escapes, CIA Established On January 3, 1946, Canadian jockey George Woolf "The Iceman" fell off his horse Please Me during the fourth race at Santa Anita Park, his home base racetrack. Suffering from a concussion, Woolf was taken to hospital and died the next […]Read More »
Baby Boomer Trivia From November 1946: First BAA (NBA) Game, JFK Elected Congressman, Thurgood Marshall Escapes Lynch Mob On November 1, 1946 the New York Knicks (short for Knickerbockers) basketball team played the Toronto Huskies at Maple Leaf Gardens. It was the first game of the newly-formed BAA (Basketball Association of America), which would evolve into today's NBA. […]Read More »
Baby Boomer Trivia From October 1946: First Cannes Festival, Canada Savings Bonds Debut, First Space Photos The first Cannes International Film Festival in 1946 ran from September 20th – October 5th, 1946. On the closing day October 5, 1946, among the movies that won the Grand Prize of the Festival were Brief Encounter (1945) by […]Read More »
Baby Boomer Trivia From September 1946: Joe Garagiola Night, Evelyn Dick Charged, Nazi Leaders Sentenced 20-year-old Major League Baseball rookie Joe Garagiola took to the home field on Joe Garagiola Night on September 5, 1946 for the St. Louis Cardinals, his home town team. St. Louis fans were proud to see a hometown boy make […]Read More »
Baby Boomer Trivia From August 1946: AEC is Formed, Dominican Tsunami, & Booker T. Washington Commemorative Coin On August 1, 1946, U.S. President Harry Truman signed the McMahon/Atomic Energy Act, effectively establishing the civilian Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and giving it significant powers of regulation for nuclear science and technology. The new AEC acquired control […]Read More »
Baby Boomer Trivia From July 1946: Sam Snead Wins 75th Open; Spock's Baby Book; 44 Dachau SS Sentenced to Death American golfer Sam Snead won the 75th Open Championship on the historic "birthplace of golf" Old Course at St. Andrews, in Scotland on July 5, 1946. Due to World War II, this was the first […]Read More »
Baby Boomer Trivia From June 1946: Bikini Debuts, Joe Louis Wins Title, First Mobile Phones French designer Louis Reard is widely credited for inventing the bikini so loved by baby boomers. The name was inspired by the U.S. nuclear bomb testing on the tiny Bikini Atoll after World War II. Reard debuted his bikini at a […]Read More »
Baby Boomer Trivia From May 1946: Battle of Alcatraz, Japanese Canadians Deported, First King of Jordan The Battle of Alcatraz – Convicted 46-year-old bank robber Bernard Coy had been in the island prison of Alcatraz (above photo) for 8 years of his 25-year sentence on May 2, 1946. That day, Coy attacked guard William Miller […]Read More »
Baby Boomer Trivia From April 1946: Hawaiin Tsunami, Jackie Robinson Breaks Baseball's Colour Barrier Today's senior citizens may remember the April 1, 1946, Aleutian Islands, Alaska earthquake that triggered a Pacific Ocean tsunami with waves up to 130′ high. The nearby Scotch Cap U.S. Coast Guard Lighthouse was destroyed and it's 5 crew members killed, […]Read More »


text:
Eric owned many residences, most of them outside of the country. More often than not he ended up resting in a hidden space underneath the bar, but he also owned two houses in the Shreveport area. One was registered in his name and the other was in the name of his corporation. He planned to take Sookie to his house in a nice subdivision about ten minutes from the bar.
The smell of sunshine clinging to her suggested that Sookie enjoyed being outdoors. There was a pool out back for her to spend time at during the day. Mostly he was hoping she would be too worn out for that, but his instincts told him that Sookie would be a challenge. Glamouring her into giving him her blood and all the sex she could take wasn't going to work. He had no doubt he was charming enough to sway her his way, but that would take time.
And time wasn't something they had an abundance of.
If their story of her being his pet was going to be believable, his scent was going to have to be all over her, and in various ways. That close proximity thing wasn't going to work more than once. There was also the matter of making sure she knew how a proper pet should behave. He suspected she did because she spent so much time around vampires, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
Eric took his time driving to the nearest grocery store. Sookie was going to need certain things that his house wasn't currently stocked with. Food, for starters, but there were personal hygiene items she would need as well. Items he probably didn't even know about, if he was being honest.
"When is the last time you had a pet?" Sookie asked, breaking the relatively comfortable silence that had settled between them.
"Not since the late 1700's," Eric answered. "Back then it was a necessity. Not just for feeding purposes, but for shelter. The problem with pets is that they can only be glamoured so many times before their brains only operate on the most basic levels."
"I'm aware. I've been in the minds of pets like those. It's scary."
"You're lucky you can't be glamoured."
"You know, sometimes I wonder if that's actually true," Sookie confessed. "I mean, how do I know for absolutely certain that I can't be? I felt it when you were trying earlier, but without another telepath around to scan my brain for those black holes I don't know for sure. I certainly never thought I'd grow up to be a professional telepath."
"What did you want to be?"
"I don't know… a teacher, maybe. I like learning. I read a lot. School was just a nightmare for me because there were so many other people around that it was hard to concentrate. If I had been homeschooled that probably would have been better for me, but my grandmother had to work two jobs to support my brother and me, so there wasn't enough time in the day for something like that."
"You lived with your grandmother?"
"My parents died in a flash flood when I was eight. My Gran took my brother and me in and raised us the best she could. The only way I was ever going to go to college was if I got a scholarship, but I didn't get good enough grades for that since it was so hard to concentrate."
Eric pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store and easily found a parking space.
"Do you have a fully stocked kitchen, or am I limited to a microwave?" Sookie asked as she took off her seatbelt.
"Pam stocked my kitchen to look like a normal, human residence when I moved in." It was all for show since the only appliances he ever used in the kitchen were the fridge and the microwave.
"Good to know."
The two of them got out of the car and went into the store. Sookie pushed a shopping cart with Eric following along. Eric watched her pick produce, smelling the different fruits to see how ripe they were. He remembered the wild berries his sisters used to pick by the basketful in the summertime. If he thought about it hard enough he could remember the sweetness of them.
"I wonder if strawberries still taste the same," he said randomly, leaning down to smell them.
When Eric closed his eyes he could see his sisters running in the sunshine, chasing each other and playing games until their household responsibilities would force them back indoors. Even though Eric's father had been a chieftain, his mother had insisted their children be brought up the same as less privileged kids would be. Someday his sisters would be wives, mothers and overseeing their own homes. They needed to know how to do all the things the woman of the house should be able to do.
"I can't help you there, Sparky," Sookie said with a smile in her voice. Eric opened his eyes in time to see Sookie grab a pint of the berries from the display.
She was wrong about that. In fact, Eric could think of several ways he could find out if strawberries tasted the same, but all of his favorite ways involved getting her naked.
He watched her pick out apples, bananas, green beans, and a few other things before they moved on. Eric remained quiet, opting to observe Sookie and the way she moved. She was graceful and moved with confidence. He could hear the swishing of her skirt with every step she took while his eyes focused on her hips. Hips that were perfect for carrying children.
That last thought gave him pause. The idea of Sookie carrying a child made him… feel things. Godric had always told him it was a mistake to get emotionally involved with humans. Their lives were so temporary, and even if he turned his lover, a day would come when she would want to go off and explore all the things the world had to offer. The lesson Eric took away was that feelings in general were a waste of his time.
But the image in his mind of a belly rounded with child made him… angry? No, it wasn't anger. What was it? Disappointment? No. Frustration? Maybe a little. That was the one thing he knew he could never give her. So if Sookie ever found herself pregnant, it wouldn't be his child she was carrying, but why should he care about that?
Why did it bother him? He didn't even know her.
Eric took note of all the things she picked out. He told himself that it was because he should know basic things about her if she was going to play the role of his pet and nothing more. Yes, he was curious about her and he definitely wanted to fuck her. She was exactly his type. If Eric was going to build a woman from scratch, she would end up looking just like Sookie.
When it came time to check out, Eric moved to pay for her things, but Sookie stopped him.
"The Authority is paying for this," she said, producing a black Amex with her name on it. She swiped the card and made sure to put the receipt in her purse.
Expense reports, no doubt.
Eric helped her load everything into the trunk of his car, and then they were back on the road, headed for his house. Sookie fired off a few text messages on what Eric was sure was an encrypted, untraceable phone.
"You should probably give me your cell number," Sookie said.
"I'll do you one better when we get to my house," Eric said, the corner of his mouth lifting just a little.
No way in hell did he want the Authority listening in on their conversations. They weren't the only ones with access to encrypted, hi-tech cell phones. Eric owned several businesses, and he was a major investor in a technology research firm. The phones he used were all prototypes created by that company. He knew if they talked on the phone provided by the Authority, the line was most likely bugged.
His personal life was none of their damn business.
A few minutes later Eric pushed the button on the remote clipped to the visor and by the time they turned into the driveway the garage door was open. Eric pulled into the garage and as soon as the car was parked, he closed the door. There was a second car parked in the garage and he made a mental note to leave the keys for Sookie in case she needed to go out the next day.
"Do you have a car in Bon Temps?" Eric asked as they unloaded her purchases from the trunk.
"I do. Usually I drive a reinforced, virtually death-proof car that belongs to the Authority," she revealed, and followed Eric into the house.
The interior of the house had been professionally decorated by a 'friend' of Pam's. The woman had done a nice job of incorporating Eric's personality into the overall look of the house. The first floor looked almost like a hunting lodge with all of the wood walls and iron furniture. The house had character.
"You have a lovely home," Sookie said as she followed Eric to the kitchen.
"Thank you." Eric put the bags up on the island.
Sookie got to work putting things away in the refrigerator and freezer. Eric left her in the kitchen while he went upstairs to get one of the spare phones he had in case of emergency. He activated the phone on his laptop and double checked to make sure the GPS tracker was engaged, along with the call monitor. He programmed not just his number into the phone, but Pam's as well.
By the time Eric got back down to the kitchen, Sookie was finished putting things away. He handed her the phone and said, "Call me with this phone. I don't want the Authority sticking their nose in my business anymore than they already do."
Sookie took the phone from him and asked, "Is this bugged?"
"Already you don't trust me?" Eric leaned against a counter.
"I need to know because if I have to return to headquarters they're going to search all of the devices I'm carrying to make sure I'm not relaying confidential information."
"The phone is encrypted and has a GPS device implanted in it," he told her.
"Got it," she nodded.
He wasn't sure what that meant, but Sookie knew better what would get confiscated than he did.
"How about a tour of the house? I need to scan you into my security system anyway."
"Lead the way," Sookie gestured, and followed behind when Eric started walking.
Stop staring at his ass. Stop staring at his ass…
Sookie hoped if she kept repeating that sentence her eyes might actually listen. So far, they seemed to be playing dumb with the commands coming from her brain. Eric's house was beautiful. It wasn't entirely her taste, but it screamed of him. She liked the distressed furniture; it reminded her of some of the older pieces hidden away in Gran's attic.
There were paintings on the walls and little artifacts scattered throughout the house. The house wasn't nearly as big as Sookie was expecting it to be. There were three bedrooms upstairs, one of which had been turned into an office. The master bedroom had a large en suite bathroom and a little sitting area. The linens were ruby red and black. The bed frame was iron and ornately shaped at the headboard.
There was a lot of red in the master suite, but it looked good. The spare bedroom was modestly decorated, compared to the master suite, but it was still nice. Sookie had assumed the spare room would be hers, but she was wrong.
"You'll stay in here," Eric said while Sookie was looking at a painting in the master suite.
The hairs stood up on the back of Sookie's neck as she asked, "But isn't this your room?"
"It's a decoy. I have a resting place in this house, but it's not in here," he informed her.
Sookie felt simultaneous relief and disappointment at that. Of course this room was a decoy. A vampire as old as Eric would know better than to be so obvious about where he was resting during the day. Vamps were good about building secret rooms, or adding reinforced basements to their homes. Since the Great Revelation there were tons of companies specializing in making homes light tight during the day so vamps would be safe. No doubt Eric had hired such a company to makeover his house.
"So then we won't be sleeping together," Sookie said in a voice that didn't sound like her own.
"Vampires don't sleep," he said with heat in his eyes.
When was she going to stop setting the pins so Eric could bowl them over?
"Well this girl does," Sookie informed him in a snappy tone that had more to do with her frustration at herself than Eric's lines. "And she prefers to sleep alone."
What she didn't want to discuss were the concessions she was going to have to make if this whole scam was going to work. Sookie was well aware of vampires' advanced reflexes and much keener senses. She knew why a vampire kept a pet as well as she knew the sort of behavior that would be expected of her. Sookie was known for being generally kind, but for having sass to her as well.
She didn't tolerate vampire bullshit very well, and she didn't buy into their superiority bullshit either. Vampires weren't invincible. While Sookie could agree that in many ways humans were a more fragile breed, vampires certainly had some pretty serious vulnerabilities and all any human needed to exploit them was a sunny day.
"That's a shame," Eric said bluntly. Once again his eyes were traveling over her. He had no qualms about blatantly eyefucking her, and Sookie supposed she had better get used to it.
"Look, Eric, I'm no stranger to how the vampire/pet relationship works. I've seen it in the heads of pets more times than I can count. I've seen some of the depraved things vampires expect of their pets, and I'll admit that's part of what's kept me from getting involved with a vampire romantically. But I also know that not all vampires treat their pets like drinking fountains or fucktoys."
Sookie could have sworn she heard him growl a little at the use of the word 'fucktoy,' but she ignored it.
"I can be the quiet, subservient pet that only speaks when spoken to, but I won't tolerate being disrespected by other vampires. I won't tolerate it from humans either. I won't let you mark me, but I realize that there will be questions if other vamps can't smell my blood on you, just like they'll question why I don't smell of you in certain ways. So to avoid the question of why I don't smell like you sexually, it makes sense that I would be on punishment." Sookie was mostly thinking out loud, but her suggestion made perfect sense. She could also claim to be marked by Eric in places that no one but him could see.
"That's an acceptable explanation," Eric said after a moment. Sookie smiled with relief, but then he added, "Of course we could just have sex and then there would be no reason to lie."
So. Close.
She had been so close to sidestepping a comment like that. Sookie bit her bottom lip and did her best to shove the mental images out of her head. Eric wasn't going to make this easy on her. It was obvious that with him, if she gave an inch he would take a mile. Her senses rallied again and she decided it was time to let the sass out.
"I may have to lie about the sex, though," Sookie pulled a sympathetic face. "There are lots of vampires that think they're amazing in the sack, but could really stand to learn a thing or two."
In the blink of an eye Eric had Sookie caged up against the wall with his fangs close to her throat. The odd thing was that Sookie wasn't threatened by his sudden burst of aggression… It was hot. She felt his nose graze against her skin and heard him inhale her scent. Sookie held her breath and felt her heartbeat in her ears. If Eric had a pulse she was sure she'd be feeling heat radiating off of him, but all she got was his silence.
That lovely, black abyss she had been able to leech onto in the supermarket to keep the other voices at bay. Her eyes closed and Sookie finally allowed herself to take slow, measured breaths. She could sense all of Eric's movements, but stayed still. Neither of them spoke for about two minutes.
Finally, Sookie opened her eyes and looked right into Eric's. "Does this mean I hit the nail on the head?" she smiled just a little.
"Why don't I show you, and you'll know firsthand?" Eric countered.
To her credit, Sookie didn't look away from him. Her cheeks flushed but she held her ground. There was definitely a little voice in her head screaming, "Yes please!" at his offer, but she refused to let the words pass her lips. Getting involved with Eric that way would just complicate things. Her mission would end and she would go back to the Authority to pick up a new job.
Eric backed off and said, "You'll change your mind. Before you finish your investigation, you'll know for yourself if you were right."
Sookie wanted to sass back that he was wrong, that she could withstand whatever sexual advances he threw her way but her libido was hopping around, pleading with her to let the reigns go loose. Honestly, did she expect to stay a virgin for life? It was way past time to take that step into adulthood.
"Come with me and I'll get you scanned into my security system so you can come and go from the house without a key," he said and turned to leave the bedroom.
Once again, Sookie's eyes went straight to his backside as he walked away. It seemed Eric wasn't the only one doing the eyefucking.


text:
Notice to Prospective Buyer
Form Name:Notice to Prospective Buyer (Form ID: OP-C)
Effective Date:10/10/2011
This notice acknowledges that the buyer has been advised by a license holder to have the abstract covering the property examined by an attorney or to obtain a title insurance policy. It also gives information regarding statutory notices that are required if the property is in a Utility District.
Related Terms:Contracts, Forms & Applications, Other Forms, Real Estate Sales Agent, Real Estate Broker Individual, Business Entity Broker


text:
At last an eye cream that has a sunscreen element to protect you from damaging UVA & UVB rays.
This eye cream not only has a firming effect but also has hydrating and skin repairing properties that firm and brighten the eye area.
Eye Refining Serum works to visibly reduce fine lines and dark circles, leaving eyes looking brighter and less tired.
This high-powered anti-ageing serum contains a unique blend of ingredients including Vitamin E to hydrate, Almond Oil to repair and protect against the signs of ageing, and Lactic Acid which has gentle resurfacing properties to diminish the appearance of crow's feet and visibly improve clarity and tone. Titanium Dioxide provides sun protection to guard against further damage to the fine, delicate skin in the eye area.
A small amount of this light, creamy, delicately textured cream should be applied to the eye contour area morning and evening – patting from the outer corner of each eye gently with your fingertip.
Titanium Dioxide for sun protection
Yeast extracts for collagen production.


text:
Cleanroom and Aseptic Manufacturing Disinfectant Validations: What Are They All About?
Posted on: February 12, 2012
Cleanroom and Aseptic Manufacturing Disinfectant Validations: What Are They All About?
The terms "cleanroom disinfectant validation", "disinfectant validation", and "cleaning validation" are bounced around by quality managers in the pharmaceutical, biologic and aseptic manufacturing industries all the time, but how many of us really understand what they mean and why they are important?
These validations are critical to assuring that your company complies with current good manufacturing practices (cGMP). They are also crucial to assuring that you are in control of the production environment and are effectively limiting the potential for contamination. Most importantly, these validations are regularly being reviewed by auditors during inspections. Having a validation in place assures you are in compliance with regulatory requirements and ensures that you know how the products you've chosen to disinfect your manufacturing environment perform when used according to your SOPs.
What is a cleanroom disinfectant validation?
A cleanroom disinfectant validation is a formal evaluation and validation of the products and procedures you use to disinfect your cleanroom. It should minimally include the key surfaces in your cleanroom (epoxy or tile flooring, stainless steel, glass, plastics) and key organisms (vegetative, fungal and spore formers, as well as specific environmental organisms from your site). A good guideline to consider is USP <1072>. This document provides information on how to select disinfectants for use in your cleanrooms as well as suggested testing methodology and acceptance criteria.
How is the testing done?
Standard and environment-specific test organisms are grown by the testing laboratory in a fashion that assures they are healthy, pure cultures. On the day of test, the organism suspension is applied to carriers representative of the surfaces in your facility.
The inoculated organisms are dried onto the surface then treated with the disinfectants in a manner consistent with the application procedures outlined in your internal SOPs. If you have not yet developed a procedure, ATS Labs suggests following the instructions for use on the disinfectant label. Following treatment, the surviving organisms on the carriers are enumerated and compared to a population control to determine the percent and log reduction achieved by the disinfectant. USP <1072> indicates that for bacterial spore formers (eg.,Bacillus subtilis), a minimum of a 2 log10 reduction should be demonstrated. Likewise, for vegetative bacteria (eg.,Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus) and fungal organisms (eg., Aspergillus brasiliensis or Penicillium chrysogenum) a minimum of a 3 log10 reduction should be demonstrated.
When should a cleanroom disinfectant validation be performed?
The short answer is that a disinfectant validation can be performed at any time. However, ideally a disinfectant validation should be performed at the time that your procedures for disinfecting your cleanroom are developed, and before you begin manufacturing product. At a minimum, this validation must be done before a FDA cGMP audit occurs. Additionally, if there have been changes to your disinfection procedures or if new materials have been introduced, you should consider verifying that the changes made do not impact your ability to disinfect the area. Finally, you should consider revalidating your procedures or verifying efficacy if you begin to consistently recover specific isolates during routine environmental monitoring.


text:
Banana Republic F/09 Brn Dolman Shrug Cardigan NWT! S
Sold for:
Start Free Trial
or Sign In to see what it's worth.
- Sold Date:
- Source: eBay
Banana Republic Fall 09Size: Small This listing is for a brown silk dolman shrug cardigan sweater. New with tags! Be sure to add me to your favorites list ! Bust: 32" - 34" fabric & care 55% Silk, 45% Cotton. Dry clean. Imported. overview Short sleeves. Ribbed at sleeves, neckline and hem. Hits above the hip.
Shipping Discount For Multiple Items:I would love to combine items to save you on shipping. Each additional item ranges from $3.00 to $5.00 depending on the weight and location w the items will be shipped too. All items are marked to prevent store return fraud. Items must ship to the same address. US Shipping: All items will be ship within 24 to 48 business hours. We will send out an email with Tracking number after shipment, please make sure your email does not block our emails. We will report ALL unpaid item regardless of the circumstances. Please make sure the ' shipped to ' address you enter during checkout is correct. Due to Ebay seller protection policy, we can not change the shipping address once payment is made. We must ship to the provided ' shipped to ' address. we are not responsible for any typo or undeliverable addresses. We will only ship to confirmed addresses, if your address is unconfirmed, I will have to refund your money and report a unpaid ... read more


text: When did U.S. political parties first develop party platforms at their nominating conventions? February 23, 2012 by Pamela Landy · Filed Under: American History The first party platform was negotiated by the Democratic Party for the 1840 election. Related PostsHow many times have the major political parties held their national conventions in Los Angeles?Who were the first women to head the two major political parties in the United States?What was the first political party in America?How did the phrase Upside Down develop?What was the second country to develop atomic weapons and when did it do so?


text:
Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
Other Sellers on Amazon
+ $4.82 shipping
+ $3.99 shipping
Learn more
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Paperback – April 3, 2007
|New from
|Used from
Kindle Book
"Please retry"
Audible, Unabridged
"Please retry"
|Free with your Audible trial
Mass Market Paperback
"Please retry"
Audio CD, Audiobook, CD, Unabridged
"Please retry"
Unknown Binding
"Please retry"
The Amazon Book Review
Author interviews, book reviews, editors picks, and more. Read it now
FREE Shipping
Frequently bought together
Customers who bought this item also bought
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant. Gladwell, the best-selling author of The Tipping Point, campaigns for snap judgments and mind reading with a gift for translating research into splendid storytelling. Building his case with scenes from a marriage, heart attack triage, speed dating, choking on the golf course, selling cars, and military maneuvers, he persuades readers to think small and focus on the meaning of "thin slices" of behavior. The key is to rely on our "adaptive unconscious"--a 24/7 mental valet--that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea.
Gladwell includes caveats about leaping to conclusions: marketers can manipulate our first impressions, high arousal moments make us "mind blind," focusing on the wrong cue leaves us vulnerable to "the Warren Harding Effect" (i.e., voting for a handsome but hapless president). In a provocative chapter that exposes the "dark side of blink," he illuminates the failure of rapid cognition in the tragic stakeout and murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. He underlines studies about autism, facial reading and cardio uptick to urge training that enhances high-stakes decision-making. In this brilliant, cage-rattling book, one can only wish for a thicker slice of Gladwell's ideas about what Blink Camp might look like. --Barbara Mackoff --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Best-selling author Gladwell (The Tipping Point) has a dazzling ability to find commonality in disparate fields of study. As he displays again in this entertaining and illuminating look at how we make snap judgments—about people's intentions, the authenticity of a work of art, even military strategy—he can parse for general readers the intricacies of fascinating but little-known fields like professional food tasting (why does Coke taste different from Pepsi?). Gladwell's conclusion, after studying how people make instant decisions in a wide range of fields from psychology to police work, is that we can make better instant judgments by training our mind and senses to focus on the most relevant facts—and that less input (as long as it's the right input) is better than more. Perhaps the most stunning example he gives of this counterintuitive truth is the most expensive war game ever conducted by the Pentagon, in which a wily marine officer, playing "a rogue military commander" in the Persian Gulf and unencumbered by hierarchy, bureaucracy and too much technology, humiliated American forces whose chiefs were bogged down in matrixes, systems for decision making and information overload. But if one sets aside Gladwell's dazzle, some questions and apparent inconsistencies emerge. If doctors are given an algorithm, or formula, in which only four facts are needed to determine if a patient is having a heart attack, is that really educating the doctor's decision-making ability—or is it taking the decision out of the doctor's hands altogether and handing it over to the algorithm? Still, each case study is satisfying, and Gladwell imparts his own evident pleasure in delving into a wide range of fields and seeking an underlying truth.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product details
Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?
Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Customer reviews
Top customer reviews
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
If you're interested in why things work out the way they do, this book is it. Remember the New Coke campaign? It goes into details here about first impressions and other group studies about the campaign that flopped. Gladwell even writes of Kenna, a semi-famous but very talented singer who just doesn't quite make it on the radio waves. There's the statue story of where just about everyone believed they had the real thing on their hands, but to find out it was a forgery long after they've spent millions of dollars on this "find." Gladwell takes these stories and dissect them bit by bit and talks about the unconcious. He explains why some of these people have a nagging feeling that something isn't "quite right" and how they've stumbled onto the answers that eventually proved their points.
This book also explains how economics and marketing come into play as well, why some campaigns fail and why others succeed. It even attempts to explain why some athletes are more successful than others. There's even a chapter on why people pick people to be their CEOs or even their president (Warren Harding is used as an example). It is just purely fascinating and interesting! Definitely worth a read!
It is a guaranteed conversation starter for any get-together! If you like nonfiction and psychology, you'll like this one!


text:
Closing Time Trailer (1996)
01 February 1996 81 mins
A down-and-out scriptwriter spends his days and nights in the bars of Tokyo. When he is thrown out of a joint because it is closing time, there is always a willing lady to spend the rest of the night with. In the street he has countless semi-philosophical discussions with fellow drinkers, male and female, (shot in black-and-white, as prologue to the different chapters) but in the end it often comes down to one thing: the bottle of whisky that has to be finished. An encounter with a homeless young man with AIDS marks a turning point in the life of the writer.
Watch the official Closing Time 1996 trailer in HD below or find more Closing Time videos on Vidimovie.


text:
Open-Source at Spot – 10 Months Later, How Have We Done?
Nigel Young
Very few trading firms, which I know of, give back to the open-source community. Until March 2014, Spot was no different from most of the trading firms out there; we took, but we did not give back. Conversely, we realized that our platform would not have been where it was without open-source. As an engineering team, we are "standing on the shoulders of giants" – not giving back felt wrong.
"If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants."
– Sir Isaac Newton
So we decided to embrace the open-source community by contributing back. We shared some of our software, launched a blog, and talked openly about our approaches to a variety of difficult problems that we have faced.
Our objective was to give back, stimulate thinking and promote collaboration. Getting this effort off the ground was not easy. It required a lot of support from our leadership team, and was harder than I had first expected.
The first challenge, was what to open-source? Like most companies, we have code that we believe gives us a competitive advantage in our industry. So, how do we separate intellectual property, from the commoditized software that everyone else in our industry is busy producing?
We did something relatively unusual in the finance industry; we trusted the judgment of our engineering team. We focused on software that does not give us an edge, but is vital to our operation. Over the long haul, it is our collaborative culture, rather than a particular toolset, that provides our competitive advantage. Service orchestration and dependency management is a common problem shared amongst many firms. Subsequently, we decided to open-source Zoom.
The biggest hurdle we faced was balancing commercial demands with our open-source objective. This is where we have continued to struggle the most. Building the generic solution was really hard, and we ended up satisfying our pressing business need over a generic solution that could be easily used elsewhere.
Although as it stands, Zoom isn't easily transferrable, we see the following as areas that would make Zoom more generic:
- Use dependency injection to abstract 3rd-party (and internal) classes with respect to event notification, data storage, and logging
- Fully automate the build process using NPM, Bower, and PIP package managers, and a task runner such as Grunt
- Create a test instance via a script (or better yet, Grunt task)
- Provide better documentation using Markdown and APIDOC
So how have we done?
On the blog front, we have had a consistent stream of posts going out, with key engineers at Spot sharing their experiences in this and other external forums. With over 19,000 unique page views on our engineering blog, it's gratifying to know that we have had a lot of people interested in our perspective.
Overall, we have made solid progress with our open-source efforts over the last 10 months, and I am proud of what we have achieved. We have an active healthy code base out there, and a solution that we love. It has provided a tremendous amount of benefit to our firm, and we are passionate about its evolution.
Conversely, we have struggled to balance the insanely competitive demands of our industry with our original open-source objective. Zoom is not generic enough, and cannot be easily leveraged by others. From that perspective, our goal was noble – but we have faltered in our execution.
We continue to wrestle with this dynamic, as we are resource constrained, but our objective is to continue to refactor Zoom to be more "open." However, if either our industry or the open-source community championed Zoom, we could work through these challenges together.
In Summary
Many people have worked really hard at Spot to enable us to contribute back and collaborate more. Our HR and Compliance teams have helped us overcome a number of hurdles. Albert Yu has been our chief proofreader and poster on the blog.
Nick Moskwinski, Justin Lee, Jack Miner, Jose Jurado, Mike Sanzo, Paul Dapolito, and David Shrader have been the primary creative minds behind Zoom. Andrew Girin and Rezi Andoni continue to act as the Product Owners for the solution.
David Shrader, with his pioneering engineer's perspective, has been a key driver behind our overall open-source momentum.
We are committed to continuing down this "open" road, and I am really excited to see where we are in 10 months' time.
Questions or comments? Email us at firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Nuts are a good source of protein and healthy fat. And all birds love nuts! (Spoiler: Especially macaws!) Give your birds a mixture of almonds, pistachios, shelled peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, macadamia nuts, palm nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts and cashews, and watch them forage away. Almonds are high in Vitamin E and manganese, as well as walnuts, which are also high in copper. Nuts are a good source of zinc, vitamin A, folic acid and more.
Nuts are also a good way to encourage your bird to forage. If the nut comes in a shell, such as a pistachio or walnut, give it to your bird to open. Some birds will spend a lot of time working on cracking the shell to reach the nut.
Dried Fruits & Vegetables
Fresh fruit and vegetables are great for your bird and you. Veterinarians recommend pet birds get 30- to 40-percent vegetables and fruit in their diet. But most birds seem averse to trying fresh fruits and vegetables, like kids trying new foods! That is where dried comes in. Vegetables and fruits are usually offered separately from the main food bowl, which could discourage your bird from trying it. Some birds, like cockatiels, seem to dislike fresh, wet foods, which might be natural instincts: they often don? get fresh foods in the wild. Offering your bird dried fruit and vegetables (sulfite free, please), intermixed with its normal diet, can be a healthy substitute while you work on getting your bird to try the fresh items.
Another reason to offer dried fruits and vegetables is to change the texture of a healthy food. Cooked corn is squishy, but dried corn is chewy. Apples are crunchy and juicy, but dried apple is chunky and chewable. The different textures will delight your bird. Who knows which one it will prefer!
An added benefit of having dried fruits and vegetables available is that they store so easily. You cannot leave fresh produce inside the cage for more than a few hours, while dried fruits and veggies can be left in all day.
Tip: Use a piece of dried fruit or veggie as a trick-training treat.
Watch TiPaul, an African grey, eat a nut.
Want to learn more about bird food?
The Scoop On Feeding Cereal To Pet Birds
Introduce Healthy Foods With Frozen Foods
Good Table Foods For Birds


text:
- This event has passed.
Gold Wings & Ribs Festival
June 2 - June 3
Event Navigation
The annual Meigs County Gold Wings & Ribs Festival in Pomeroy, Ohio is held along the river front area. Pomeroy is nestled on the bank of the Ohio River. The festival is an area wide event and will provide tours of several of the area's great communities and attractions, as well as some of the most beautiful country in the United States.Your friends will like this interesting post.


text:
Difference between revisions of "M465:16S rRNA gene lab work"
(→Part C: Clean Up of pcr product using Epoch BIoLabs GenCatch PCR CleanUp Kit)
|Line 149:
|Line 149:
Make sure your pcr product is clearly labeled. Your instructor will measure the new DNA conc. using the nanodrop and post those concentrations for you in ng/μL. In the next lab you will use
Make sure your pcr product is clearly labeled. Your instructor will measure the new DNA conc. using the nanodrop and post those concentrations for you in ng/μL. In the next lab you will use products for the . <>
Revision as of 11:10, 3 February 2014
Creating Lysates from your Isolates
One of the big advantages of the molecular revolution in microbial ecology is that we can actually find, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the identity of your isolates. In order to do that, we will follow the protocol below which first involves liberating the DNA in your isolate, then amplifying the 16S rRNA gene, then sequencing it. The bioinformatics analysis of this sequence will be covered next time we meet.
Isolate Genomic DNA From Your Sample
Please wear gloves during this protocol
1. For each of your isolates, label a 200 ul PCR tube and fill it with 100 ul of water.
2. Using a sterile loop, transfer a small bit (barely visible) of your isolate into the 100 ul solution in the PCR tube - make sure to shake the isolate off the loop so that it is in the water
3. Cap and vortex the PCR tube for 10 seconds.
4. Place in the PCR machine at 95C for 10 minutes.
Storing DNA:
Because you've just made a lysate of your isolate, remember that this solution contains all cellular contents, including DNAses -- enzymes that break down that very DNA we are trying to amplify. You can store your lysates at -20C in the freezer in the lab but make sure to create new ones if you freeze-thaw them more than once.
We will next attempt to amplify only bacterial rRNA genes by using "universal" bacterial primers :a forward primer, Eub27F (5′–3′:AGA GTT TGA TCC TGG CTC AG) , and a reverse primer, Eub1492R (5′–3′: ACG GCT ACC TTG TTA CGA CTT). These primers are short sequences of single stranded DNA that are complementary in sequence to areas of the 16s rRNA gene. The 16S rRNA gene sequence is particularly good target gene for amplification because this gene (encoding a ribosomal subunit) contains conserved sequences of DNA common to all bacteria (to which the primers are directed) as well as divergent sequences unique to each species of bacteria (allowing identification of the bacterial species from sequence databases and sequence identifying software). Our "universal" primers will anneal to most bacterial DNA and initiate an exponential amplification of the 16s rRNA gene from the template DNA. After 30 cycles of polymerase chain reaction in a thermal cycler, the result will be a pcr product containing hundreds, if not thousands, of the 16s rRNA gene.
PCR Amplification of 16s rRNA genes from Universal Bacterial Primers
To review how the polymerase chain reaction works and how it exponentially amplifies specific sequences of DNA, go to the following web site:
PCR animation http://www.dnalc.org/resources/animations/pcr.html
All PCR reactions require a thermal cycler to elevate and reduce the reaction temperature quickly and keep it at a specific temperature for a prescribed amount of time. There is a basic pattern to these temp. cycles, but there are differences, so you must be sure to program the cycler with the correct time and temperature for your specific amplification. Traditionally, pcr used Taq polymerase, a heat stable DNA polymerase originally found in a extremophilic bacterium, Thermus aquaticus, that lives and reproduces in boiling hot springs. We are not using Taq for our pcr but a different polymerase, Finnzyme's Phusion High-Fidelity Polymerase, a proprietary reagent that uses a novel heat-stable Pyrococcus-like enzyme. Phusion DNA Polymerase generates long templates with a greater accuracy and speed than with Taq. The error rate of Phusion DNA Polymerase in Phusion HF Buffer is determined to be 4.4 x 10-7, which is approximately 50-fold lower than that of Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase, and 6-fold lower than that of Pyrococcus furiosus, another proof-reading DNA polymerase.
Therefore, our pcr product DNA will have far fewer "mistakes" in the sequences that are replicated from template DNA. Our polymerase will also work much faster so our ~20 cycles will require less time than conventional Taq based pcr.
Protocol for PCR
Obtain a tiny 0.2ml pcr tube from your instructor. All of the ingredients listed below in the table, except the template DNA, have been added together previously and kept on ice for you in these tubes.
Label it with a fine tipped Sharpie on the top and side with the code name for your isolate. Do not use tape.
you will add 4 μL of lysate to your PCR tube with master mix. Since your pcr tube already has 10μL master mix, 4μL DNAase free water, and 1μL of each of 2 primers, the total reaction volume for everyone will be 20μL.
It is very important to pipet these tiny volumes accurately. Use the P10 or P20 pipettes. Look at the tip after you draw up your measured volume to make sure you have liquid there.
Dispense the template DNA into the liquid directly, watching to make sure that the liquid has left the pipette tip.
Tap the bottom of the tube (VERY GENTLY!) and flick the tube to mix. Do not treat these tubes roughly as they are quite thin-walled and can break or crack.
Bring your tube to your instructor; they will show you where the thermal cycler is located in JH 022. Your instructor will start the reaction when everyone's tubes are loaded.
Component TABLE
| amt. in a 20 μl
|Final Conc.
| Purified
DNAase free
| 4 μL already in tube.
Want to achieve
total of 20 μl reaction vol.
Add from 0 - 3μl
|2x Phusion Master Mix
|10 μl
|27F primer
|0.5 μMolar
|1492R primer
|0.5 μMolar
|template DNA
|4 μl
|optimum is 100ng of DNA/reaction
The cycling program is shown below.
Thermal Cycler Program:
3 step program
|Cycle Step
|# of Cycles
|Initial Denaturation
|5 min.
| Denaturation
| 10 sec
30 sec
30 sec
|Final Extension
| 10 min
While the 16S rRNA genes from all of the bacterial species in your DNA are being amplified in the thermal cycler, you will have about an hour to work on any other parts of your project.
After the PCR reactions are complete, you will need to complete a "Clean-Up" of your pcr products (remove the unused dNPTs, primer dimers, salts, etc. The instructions for using a kit to purify your pcr products and get them ready for sequencing next time. You will also need to set up a gel to assess the purity of your pcr product and the success of your amplification.
Agarose Gel Electrophoresis of Clean PCR product
To see if you successfully amplified the 16s rRNA gene and not anything else, you will "run a gel" on your cleaned pcr products. To run a gel means that we will perform an electrophoretic separation of the DNA fragments in your cleaned up pcr product, using a small fraction of the volume of your pcr product applied to a 1% agarose gel stained with Sybr Safe DNA stain. Your instructor will photograph the gel, label it with your amplicon id from the template and post the gel photo on OnCourse so you can evaluate your success at 16S rRNA gene amplification. You should see a single band of ~1.5kb indicating that the only dsDNA in your pcr product came from amplification of a ~1500bp gene fragment. Can you explain how we know the size of our amplified gene fragment?
Protocol for making a 1% agarose gel
In order to run out your PCR products you will first pour a 1% agarose gel. The recipe for the gel is 1.0% agarose (w/v) in 1x TBE buffer (10x=890mM Tris, 890mM Boric Acid, 20mM EDTA) with SybrSafe™ stain. Your instructor will add the SybrSafe stain to your molten agarose after you prepare it. Before you start, prepare your agarose gel, comb, and reservoir as you are instructed
1. Using a graduated cylinder, fill a glass, 250 mL flask with 100 mL of 1x TBE buffer.
2. Using the top loading balance, measure out 1 gram of Agarose
3. Pour the agarose into the flask containing the TBE buffer and stir to mix. The agarose won't go into solution here but needs to be heated
4. Place the flask inside the microwave and heat for 1 minute, maximum power. At the end of the minute, swirl the solution to mix and place back in the microwave.
5. Heat for 1 minute again, this time watching closely to make sure it does not boil. At the end, swirl to mix and bring to your instructor for the sybersafe dye
6. After your instructor adds the SyberSafe, pour your gel into the mould. It will take ~ 25 minutes to set.
DNA is uniformly negatively charged and will,therefore, move toward the positive electrode. The separation is determined by the size or mass of the molecule or fragments of DNA.
Procedure for Agarose Gel Electrophoresis of PCR products
1. Load 5 microliters of your PCR product on your gel by placing the 5 microliters of your pcr product as a spot on a small piece of parafilm and adding 5 microliters of loading dye (0.25% XC, 30% glycerol, 0.1mg/ml RNAase). Mix the loading dye by pipetting up and down on the spot, on the parafilm, before loading all 10 microliters into a lane of the 1% agarose gel.
2. Record which lane is loaded with which product. Be sure to leave the first two lanes and the last lane empty for the 1kbp ladder, the positive control and the negative water control.
- Note that Loading dye contains glycerol to keep our sample in the lane rather than floating away and will have one of 3 marker dyes (bromophenol blue, xylene cyanol, or orange G) that facilitate estimation of DNA migration distance and optimization of agarose gel run time. 1x TBE buffer is used in this electrophoretic separation (89mM Tris, 89mM Boric acid, 2.0mM EDTA. The gel will be run at 120V for approximately 30 minutes.
- Note that Loading dye contains glycerol to keep our sample in the lane rather than floating away and will have one of 3 marker dyes (bromophenol blue, xylene cyanol, or orange G) that facilitate estimation of DNA migration distance and optimization of agarose gel run time. 1x TBE buffer is used in this electrophoretic separation (89mM Tris, 89mM Boric acid, 2.0mM EDTA. The gel will be run at 120V for approximately 30 minutes.
Clean Up of pcr product using Epoch BIoLabs GenCatch PCR CleanUp Kit
Before we can sesquence our bacterial 16s rRNA genes, we must remove interfering dNPTs, primers, and other small degraded DNA. We will use a column that separates DNA by size. Since the reagents and column materials in the kit we will use are proprietary, we won't know exactly what is going on at each step but, basicially, we will apply our pcr product to a column of a particular density, wash away elements too small to be trapped in it, and elute off the larger fragments of DNA (that should be ~1500bps if our pcr amplification of the 16s rRNA genes in our soil genomic DNA was successful).
Notes before Starting:
95% ethanol has been added to Buffer WS before first time use (see bottle label for volume).
All centrifuge steps are carried out at 17,900rfc (~13,000 rpm in a microcentrifuge) in a conventional tabletop microcentrifuge at room temperature.
1. Measure 500 μl of Buffer PX using your P1000 and add part of it to your pcr product and the rest to a clean microfuge tube. Using your P200 set to 200 μL, remove all the pcrProduct/buffer mix in the pcr tube and add it to the PX buffer in the microfuge tube. Close the cap of the microfuge tube and mix.
2. Place a GenCatch™ spin column in a provided 2 ml collection tube.
3. Load all of the pcr product/bufferPX mixture created in step 1 (up to a maximum of 700μL total volume) to the spin column and centrifuge for 60 sec.
4. Discard flow-through. Place the spin column back into the same collection tube. (Collection tubes are re-used to reduce plastic waste.)
5. If you applied all the pcr product to the spin column in step 3, skip this step and proceed to step 6. If you had more than 700 μL volume of pcrProduct/bufferPX made in step 1, apply the remaining volume to the spin column and centrifuge for 1 minute. Discard the flow-through and place the spin column back in the same collection tube.
6. Wash the spin column by adding 500 μL Buffer WF to the spin column and centrifuge for 60 sec. Be careful to use WF buffer!!
7. Discard flow-through and place the spin column back in the same collection tube.
8. Wash the spin column by applying 700 μL of Buffer WS. Note that WS Buffer is different than the buffer used in step 6!!! Centrifuge the column for an additional 1 min. Check that ALL the buffer is in the flow-through, if there is buffer remaining in the spin-column, re-spin if needed. Discard the flow-through.
9. Centrifuge the spin-column in the same collection tube at full speed for 3 more minutes to remove ALL ethanol residue. It is crucially important to remove all ethanol residue; residual ethanol may inhibit subsequent enzymatic reactions.
10. Place each spin column into a new, clean 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube (not a collection tube).
11. To elute DNA, add 50μl of the Elution Buffer EB (10 mM Tris·Cl, pH 8.5) to the center of each spin column membrane. Let it stand for 2 minutes to allow it completely adsorb and then centrifuge the spin column in the microfuge tube for 1 min at 17,900 x g (13,000 rpm).
Keep your pcr product on ice until your instructor tells you that it's time to load the gel in order to determine the success of this amplification and clean-up.
IMPORTANT NOTES for using this kit: Ensure that the elution buffer (EB) is dispensed directly onto the spin column membrane for complete elution of bound DNA. The average eluate volume is 48 μl from 50 μl elution buffer volume.
Elution efficiency is dependent on pH. The maximum elution efficiency is achieved between pH 7.0 and 8.5. Store DNA at –20°C as DNA may degrade in the absence of a buffering agent.
Make sure your pcr product is clearly labeled. Your instructor will measure the new DNA conc. using the nanodrop and post those concentrations for you in ng/μL. In the next lab you will use these amplified products for direct sequencing via the BigDye reaction.


text: 99% of the time my H performs flawlessly. But then something happens that makes me lose my trust. It's like having a dog that has bitten you. You never trust it again. A few things: I have noticed that the mp4 video and jpg still shots that get recorded on my micro sd card have the correct day but not the correct time. The date and time on my ST16 are correct but these when I look at the files on my micro sd cards, the files do not show the correct time. Tonight I shot the videos at 6:00pm and it showed 11:00am. Has anyone else noticed this? I called Yuneec about it and spoke to Andrew and he told me to reformat my sd card. First he told me to use the ST16 by going into Settings/Storage. I did not see an option to format the card there. So he told me to do it on my Mac. So I reformatted my micro sd card and put it back in the H and shot a video. When I went to open it, it would not open in quicktime like all the other videos I have shot. I am gong to try it again and see what happens. Also when landing the H this evening I was in Turtle mode. (I usually do not fly in Turtle mode). It was looking like a smooth landing but as soon as it was down it jumped back up about a foot off the ground. I brought it back down and this time it landed and started to tip forward. I was able to shut it down with the red button and it settled in. This could have been a crash. I want to love my H but I just don't trust it.


text:
What's new - Equo
You can enter events online via Equo. Register FREE to enter quickly and securely. Once you are registered you can book rallies from our Equo booking page >>
Compete for the club
Fancy representing the club in dressage, jumping or eventing? Every year we go up against other clubs in a bid to compete at national competitions. Interested? Visit our teams page.
Volunteer hours
We need your help to run events. Each year you need to do four hours. From setting up, to writing for the judge, there's loads to be done. Contact Jac Smith to book your hours in now.
Hat tagging
From 2016 all members will have to have their hats tagged with a new orange label before competing in any BRC qualifiers or championships. Read more >>
What's on
We've got a packed schedule of events with rallies, talks and shows suitable for everyone. You can pay your rally entries online.
View upcoming events >>
Your committee
We're here to help make sure run things smoothly. We organise your programme of events and manage membership. If there's something you like to see us do, let us know.