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I was invited to join an artist blog back in the summer, called "ArtColony,"
and we just encourage each other, and watch and see what is going on with everybody...what we are painting, etc. Jane Freeman, the one who started it, was featured on the Artists Magazine Blog. http://artistsblog.artistsnetwork.com/
Christmas we drew names and sent paintings to each other. That was such fun! Now I have a wonderful painting from Mollie Jones, from the Tyler area. Ellie Sethman in California, has one of my paintings.
You can click on it to read about it, plus you can go to the blog and see some awesome work from all over the US, and outside the US.
I feel very honored to be part of such a group.
This is a blog of my art journey. It has been such fun, and God has blessed me with art. If you want updates of my posts, fill in your email address below. Most everything is for sale, so if you are interested, just email or call me. Everything is my original art and can not be copied or printed. The Copyright belongs to me.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Hobbs NM Demo
Lil Red Bike
Yesterday was the demo in Hobbs NM, and it was a lot of fun.
The Art Asc. members there were very friendly, and put me at ease.
The Demo is 18"x24", and I just got started, and was time to quit.
I realized after I was through that I didn't start with big enough pieces, plus,
I started out w/ the wrong papers. I intended to use black and white, and I was putting down red and white! It was because I was nervous I guess!
I worked a little over an hour on it, and it looks like nothing! I will post it when I am finished.
I was excited to sell another little collage. The Lil Red Bike was a muddy watercolor to begin with, and I collaged over it, matted it with red and white, and put in a black frame.
So the Lil Red Bike has a home in Hobbs now!
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The Singer
This man was Lauries Goldstein-Warren's photo. She is teaching the online course. For me it is hard to copy some one else's drawi...
This Past week end I spent Friday and Saturday and half a day Sunday working on a collage. they ask me to come and demo during the...
I started this last Friday at the Lubbock Arts Festival, and worked on it all day Friday, Saturday and half a day Sunday. It took me all ...
I am back to collage again for a while. Getting ready for another workshop coming up March 7-9th. There may be a couple of openings if you a...


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88 Journal of Regulatory Compliance Vol. I
suspicion of the direction of agency action, caution the real estate developer
to think twice about buying blue extinguishers knowing the agency has a
track record of bluntly imposing the red requirement on all extinguishers
regardless of their shape. Alternatively, the lawyer may have reliable
intelligence that the agency will soon be changing its rules to drop cylindrical
and leave just the qualifying color red to apply to all fire extinguishers
whether they be cylindrical, cubic or octagonal and likewise advise not
buying the blue extinguishers.
This is everyday lawyering, helping a client manage risk and anticipate
where enforcement is headed. In a lawyering process, the advice is given and
the client decides what to do. The lawyer gives the advice and goes home at
night to turn their attention to other matters and may never give the question
of cubic extinguishers another thought. A compliance officer, however, takes
that advice and cannot go home to put their thoughts aside. A compliance
officer must implement that advice and formulate a clear company 'position
for controlling that risk. This is done through a policy, a clear statement of
position. The company will need to choose a policy on how it will live with
peculiar regulations.
Policies must at a minimum meet the law, but as noted above, they are of
little worth if they merely restate the law. An effective policy takes the law
and describes how the law will be lived in and by the organization. A policy
frequently goes beyond the law in order to manage real risk or anticipated
risk. Or sometimes the policy goes beyond the law because the company
must go far beyond the obvious controls a law requires in order to meet the
company's organizational, cultural or even political structure. In the case of
color of fire extinguishers, the compliance program may adopt a policy which
states that the company will only buy red fire extinguishers. Even if the blue
fire extinguishers are cheaper than the red fire extinguishers and there is a
strong argument that buying, installing, and maintaining blue fire
extinguishers meets the law, it is a company decision to only buy red
extinguishers. This manages risk and makes it easier on the company's
workforce to know what to do. If anyone is tempted to buy blue fire
extinguishers for the latest housing development, even for the noble goal of
meeting a tight budget, it matters not that the buyer can point to the law and
accurately identify that there is nothing violative of the law in the blue
extinguishers. The company has made a commitment to buy red fire
extinguishers. End of story. The buyers must conform their actions to the
company's decision.
Policy in the sense described above is a type of regulation, albeit a
privately adopted regulation. It is not a privately adopted regulation in the
way that private insurance companies are allowed to issue legally binding
local coverage determinations when they have the fortune of being CMS
contractors. It is a privately adopted regulation in the sense that it is the

subset: commoncrawl


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Teen Amateur Porn Video Of StepSis Bella Rose Giving Dick Service.
Hot step sister Bella Rose lost her bet to her stepbrother.
As per the agreement, she had to clean her step brother's bedroom. So, she is here with a sexy maid outfit to clean the room.
Watching his stepsis in this sexy outfit, the stepbrother got horny and starts filming her moves by the phone.
Then suddenly, the stepbrother stands up behind the caucasian girl and puts his big dick in teen pussy of the teenage stepsister.
He gave a good fuck to her blonde stepsister and unloaded his cum over her pussy.
This is basically the teen amateur porn video about.
Watch this step sister video- https://amateur8teens.com/amateur-teen-blowjob/cute-teen-step-sister-performing-blowjob-to-her-sneaky-step-brother/
In this video, incredibly hot teen babe fucked in various poses.
Date: August 9, 2018
Actors: Bella Rose


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Our Solar Power System
When my husband & I moved to Hancock, NH from Colorado, we were already in the mode of seeking out alternative energy options. We bought one of the earliest model of the Prius when it came out in 2003 ~ and are still driving it today eleven years later. The home where we now reside was my grandmother's, Thelma Babbitt. Her husband bought this home in 1945 and my grandmother spent much time here on the weekends and holidays prior to moving here fulltime in the mid 1970's. As an active and engaged citizen for her whole life, conservation and valuing the earth's resources was a central focus of her time and energy once she moved to Hancock and has been a central element of my own family lineage.
With 55 acres of woods at our disposal, we continued to carry on the tradition of heating our home with wood. Built in 1789, this house like most others of its generation is well placed on the landscape. Facing due south it is perfectly situated for a solar power system. We had been exploring the various alternative energy options and then the ice storm of December 2008 hit and we were without power for eight days. Cozy with our fires and hauling water from our running brook, we were fortunate to be very comfortable during this time of hardship for many. When we learned that New Hampshire had finally passed some legislation to reimburse homeowners for putting in alternative energy options, that was all we needed to take the leap and get some quotes to put in a photovoltaic system.
John Kondos was referred to us as a good person to work with and he came out and walked us through the various options. In May 2009 we hired Solar Source to install a 2.28 KWP Photovoltaic System. It includes 12 ES-190 modules, with a grid inverter, and a back-up battery bank. When the power is on the system feeds directly into our meter and turns it back for an annual saving of approximately $650 ~ approximately 1/3 of our total power needs ~ and that is without trying to be as radical as my grandmother was in conserving electricity. Her electric bill would have been very easily covered by the system and there would have been surplus!
When the power goes down, the system automatically flips to the battery bank and powers our water pump, refrigerator, and a few outlets in the kitchen. This last year when hurricane Sandy hit and we were out of power for 36 hours, we not only had heat, water, and food in our fridge, we ran a long extension cord from an outlet in the kitchen to upstairs router and had wireless computer function!
The total cost of the system was: $24,750. We received a rebate check for $6,000 from the State of New Hampshire for installing a residential PV system. In addition, we filed for a federal tax credit of $7,425 ~ 30% of the cost of the system. The system comes with a 25 year warranty. We figured a payback on our investment to be about 15 years. However with the steadily increasing costs of electricity, it may be less than this.
We are delighted with this system and have had absolutely no issues with it since the day it was installed. It fills the available space on our south-facing roof so there was no way to create a larger system at the time we installed it. As the technology continues to change if there is a simple way to increase the overall size of the system we would most likely invest the resources to do this. The main reason we installed this solar system was to assist in moving forward the reality of renewable energy. The more people who take this leap the more affordable it becomes and the faster the technology will improve.
In support of assisting the town of Hancock towards energy independence.


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A top global company is looking for a dynamic Senior Front End Software Developer to join their team. Requirements:
- MVC pattern.
- You have a working knowledge of the latest UI technologies, frameworks and concepts including HTML 5, REST, jQuery, AJAX, CSS3 , Responsive design.
- You can define APIs and integrate them into usable interfaces.
- Proficient in modern server coding and design practices. For example, MVVM, MVP, SOLID principals, and TDD.
- SQL Server.
- GIT source control.
- Understand dependency injection
Advantageous Requirements:
- Any experience in Angular.js 1+ , Typescript, Node.js , React.js.
- Any experience using front end unit testing frameworks Jasmine, Mocha etc.
- Any experience using the Kendo library.
- Experience using .NET Core 2.0 .
- CI/CD experience using DevOps.
Qualifications and Experience:
- 6 years + experience
- BSc Comp Science/ Ndip


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Leggi il contenuto della pagina | Accesso Rapido | Contatti
Tutte le informazioni disponibili riguardanti la professione di attuario.
Struttura degli organi
Linee guida e documenti tecnici attinenti alla professione Attuariale
Eventi principali dell'Ordine degli Attuari / Consiglio Nazionale degli Attuari
Albo, esame, oggetto della professione
Accedi all'area riservata agli iscritti
Solo per iscritti, segui le offerte
Corsi di Formazione - 11/10/2017
IACA Webinar: The Role of Actuaries
in Public Policy
Registration is now open! This one is free!
Join us on Tuesday 24 October
10:00 - 11:30am EDT
Hosted by the International Association of Consulting Actuaries
(IACA) and the IAA Public Policy Task Force, this webinar will
examine the meaning of public policy as it relates to the actuarial
The webinar will feature examples of recent involvement by
actuaries in the development and implementation of public policy,
and will seek to identify potential target audiences.
Goals of the profession and its current image and desired image
will be put under the spotlight.
The webinar will also address the challenges for actuaries
striving to make an impact in the development of public policy.
Please join us for this webinar with an international panel, and
an international audience!
Bob Beuerlein (American Academy of Actuaries)
Bob Beuerlein has over 35 years' experience as an actuary, which
includes and a long track record of service with the American
Academy of Actuaries, where he has served on the Board of
Directors, the Strategic Planning Committee, the Committee on IAA
Coordination, the Council on Professionalism, and the Committee on
Life Insurance Financial Reporting.
He has also served on the Actuarial Standards Board's Life
Committee, and is a former president of the Society of
Bob is currently the President of the American Academy of
David Fairs, BSc, FIA, FIMA, FRSA, ASA, C Math (KPMG)
David Fairs is a senior adviser in the pensions practice on the
design, management and communication of pension benefits. He has
worked with HM Treasury on pension and tax policy, and has
advised the DwP on consolidation of defined benefit schemes,
recently addressed in the Pension Green Paper.
He is a founding Chairman of the Joint Industry Forum for
Workplace Pensions, former Chairman of the Double Century Club, and
Immediate Past Chairman of the Association of Consulting
David is a past member of the Pension Regulators Advisory Panel,
the Society of Pension Consultants and the Presidents' Forum and
Council of the International Actuarial Association.
David is a Committee member of the Institute of Mathematics and
its Applications, Chairman of the Actuaries Club, and an Advisory
Board Member to the Department of Mathematics at Essex
Niel Fourie (Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA))
Niel has been working as a Consulting Actuary in
South Africa and Namibia over the last decade. He is a
registered pension fund valuator and was one of the first South
Africans to obtain the CERA qualification.
Niel began his career at Jacques Malan Consultants &
Actuaries. In 2012, he joined the Actuarial Society of South Africa
as Public Policy Actuary, where he is currently responsible for
stakeholder engagement, media & PR, and various technical
Niel is also involved in several business ventures, which
satisfy his entrepreneurial appetite.
Tim Vieyra (Comotion Business Solutions)
Ti Vieyra is an actuary with varied experience in the life,
short term, investments, social security and medical scheme
environments - principally in product and business development
functions. In 2013, Tim left the corporate world to start Comotion,
a technology company focused on solving business problems across
Tim retains a key interest in Public Policy issues, in
particular the effect of public policy on broad prosperity.
This includes a co-authored a paper for the Actuarial Society of
South Africa on the South African Medical Funding industry entitled
"Neither here nor there: the South African medical scheme industry
in limbo", which won the prize for the best paper.
This webinar is free! To register, click here.
And don't forget to keep current with IAA activities through our
social media sites on LinkedIn, Twitter
and Facebook!
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text:
President-elect Donald Trump wants to update America's crumbling infrastructure. While it remains to be seen how he will finance his ambitious building spree, there is great potential for innovation beyond the (very necessary) repair of highways, bridges, tunnels, utilities, and rail lines, most of which were built more than half a century ago. The best projects are more than practical, they're versatile amenities that reinvigorate communities. The more congested cities become, and the further their inhabitants retreat into their bubbles, the more important these connective civic spaces become. Here are some examples that hit the mark.
Skip Article Header. Skip to: Start of Article.
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Crystal Palace boss Hodgson is looking up – not down – the Premier League table
Roy Hodgson believes his Crystal Palace side should be looking up the table rather than concerning themselves with the trials and tribulations of those teams below them in the Premier League, after a 1-1 draw at home to West Ham.
The opening 45 minutes were largely dominated by the visitors who deservedly took the lead from the penalty spot after Vicente Guaita's foul on Michail Antonio, but Palace were rewarded for an equally dominant second-half performance when Wilfried Zaha's shot looped off Issa Diop and over Lukasz Fabianski to equalise.
The Eagles could have won it but spurned several opportunities, with Fabianski saving well to keep the Hammers in the game.
"My perception is that I think I've got a very good football team, they've showed it time and time again this season," said Hodgson.
"They showed it with bells on today against a team that should have beaten Liverpool on Monday night. Certainly we should have beaten them. So, I think personally that I'm entitled to believe in this team and to have faith in this team and to believe that this team should be less concerned about the teams below them than the teams above them.
"I did think that our performance throughout the game, but in particular in the second half, was really good. I think it would have been a bit of a travesty if we'd got nothing from the game.
"Given the chances that we'd created and the opportunities, 17 I think, given the number of times Fabianski had to made good saves or defenders had to make good blocks, I think the one goal we got was a pretty poor reward for our efforts."
"There is an element I suppose of disappointment, where the performance that definitely merited three points only got one. But it's tempered I suppose by the fact that for a long period of time we were a goal down."
The Selhurst Park crowd were frequently frustrated by perceived injustices from decisions made by referee Craig Pawson, and made their feelings abundantly clear, with Hodgson agreeing that his side were hard done by with some calls.
"I didn't think we were lucky with a lot of decisions because I'd actually said on a few occasions to the linesman or fourth official who were close to me, I gave my opinion on certain decisions. I didn't want to do that behind the ref's back, so I just made it clear to him that, look, I'd been moaning a little bit about some of the things that have gone on today but I want you to hear that from me, face to face and not when you go into your room and hear from your fourth official or linesman that I'd been moaning about decisions.
"The guy's a very good referee and I think Premier League refereeing standards are enormously high. But sometimes there are decisions made and quite often, there are varying opinions on those between the two benches and that will always be the case. In my opinion, we were quite hard done by."
Michy Batshuayi was introduced for the ineffective Christian Benteke in the second half and the Palace boss was pleased with the substitute's display, despite a glaring miss when well-placed.
"He needs to keep doing what he's doing, I thought his performance was good. He was looking to get shots away and, in his brief period of time on the field, he probably had five or six shots. He was certainly working hard to get behind the defence which is what we want from him, we want him getting into those positions. We want him to be confident enough to take on those shots.
"I thought the introduction of Michy and later Max [Meyer] were good additions because they were obviously replacing, in the case of James McArthur, someone who's worked so very hard for 75-odd minutes that it was nice to get the fresh legs and to put on someone who not only had the fresh legs but also had a lot of skill when he was on."
Please support your local paper by making a donation
Please make cheques payable to "MSI Media Limited" and send by post to South London Press, Unit 112, 160 Bromley Road, Catford, London SE6 2NZ
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has encouraged everyone in the country who can afford to do so to buy a newspaper, and told the Downing Street press briefing recently: "A free country needs a free press, and the newspapers of our country are under significant financial pressure".
So if you have enjoyed reading this story, and if you can afford to do so, we would be so grateful if you can buy our newspaper or make a donation, which will allow us to continue to bring stories like this one to you both in print and online.


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Badlands 4500
1 review
5-star: 1
4-star: 0
3-star: 0
2-star: 0
1-star: 0
4-star: 0
3-star: 0
2-star: 0
1-star: 0
The best gear I have ever owned!
Just like most of you I have a lot of gear and part of the fun is making a determination on what types and brands you prefer. Badlands and their sister company (Vortex) have made this easy for me. I have owned the 4500 for 5 years and its comfort and durability is unsurpassed.
The Badlands warranty basically says it all in summary; If it ever breaks for any reason send it back and we will fix for free, forever regardless of where you purchased or found it...all we ask is that you abuse your pack all you can so that we can learn how to make them even better"
Size: 4900 cubic inches
Max. Load Carried: 80 lbs
Height of Owner: 5'-9"


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Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Come discover our neighborhood inspired by individuals just like you! It's energizing and reflects the lifestyle you're accustomed tofirst community villagelet us take care of it all while you're off on one of your many adventurestatally you!
Be the first cleveland.com user to add photos or videos of First Community Village


text:
Chapter One
Eleven Shopping Days until Christmas
"Merry Christmas, Shannon!" my elderly neighbor shouted as I backed my truck into the street. Wearing a green-and-red-striped housecoat and a red wool hat with reindeer antlers, she stood in her yard watering her colorful flower beds.
We were two weeks into December and Mrs. Higgins's front yard was festooned with rows of dancing candy canes and shimmery swirling snowflakes. A glow-in-the-dark, six-foot-tall blow-up Santa Claus was surrounded by eight large plastic reindeer. On her wide front porch was a life-sized animatronic Snow White and her seven dwarves frolicking around a twinkling Christmas tree.
Overnight, bright holiday lights had been strung up and down across her roof and around each window and the front door. I suspected her sons-in-law had worked all night and I was touched by their kindness, knowing how much their mother-in-law loved the holiday. I also knew from experience that these lights would remain lit twenty-four hours a day into the New Year.
For the next few weeks, astronauts traveling in space would wonder and worry about a strange, radiant glow emanating from northern California, but we locals knew it was only Mrs. Higgins's holiday lights. The woman knew how to do Christmas right—and at the same time made all her neighbors, including me, look like Ebenezer in comparison.
My lights were always the last in the neighborhood to go up and, while I had many treasured ornaments from childhood, my collection of decorations were, comparatively speaking, sadly lacking. Still, I love Christmas and any day now I would spring into full holiday mode, but I wasn't quite feeling the spirit yet. Nevertheless, I smiled and rolled down my window. "Good morning, Mrs. Higgins. You're out early this morning."
"These roses aren't going to water themselves, little missy."
She had a point.
"You have a good day," I said, and she gave me an absent wave as I raised the window and drove off down the street. Mrs. Higgins grew dottier every year, but she was still a good neighbor despite her tendency toward garish holiday overkill.
Honestly I enjoyed Christmas as much as anyone and always looked forward to buying a tree and decorating my house for the season. But was it too much to ask for a few weeks of quiet calm after struggling through the frenzied overindulgence of Thanksgiving celebrations? Did we have to gear up for the next round of hectic merriment so soon?
"Oh, lighten up," I muttered. I was already sick of my grouchy, anti-holiday attitude and it was barely eight in the morning. The truth was, I hadn't slept well the night before and now I was late for work. It didn't help that my personal life was in shambles, but that was something I refused to dwell on. But if this cranky mood went unchecked, I was likely to turn into what my crew would call The Boss from, well, you know where. In other words, a really bad boss. And that just wasn't me.
With that thought in mind, I drove to my favorite coffee bar and bought the latte that would magically transform me into a reasonable human being.
By the time I arrived at the job site ten minutes later, I was surprised to hear myself humming along to a Christmas carol on the radio. Thanks to James Taylor's magically mellow version of "Deck the Halls," and the wonders of caffeine and steamed milk, I was feeling better. It was like a mini-Christmas miracle, I thought, as I pulled into the long driveway and parked my truck by the side of the six-car garage behind the old Forester mansion.
"Made it," I said aloud, and breathed a sigh of relief. My humor was still somewhat intact and I was ready to get started. I slid down from the cab, zipped up my quilted vest, reached for my knit cap and my latte, and locked the door.
I walked to the back of the truck and paused for a moment to gaze up at Forester House, officially the biggest Victorian home in Lighthouse Cove. That was saying a lot, because our town was known for its truly grand Victorian mansions. But this one was enormous. I felt a shiver skip down my arms, not from the cold—although it was close to freezing—but from gleeful anticipation. This job promised to be one of the most challenging I'd ever faced, but also one of the most fun. Either way, I was ready for it.
Forester House was a true original. One of the oldest homes in the area, it was built in 1867 in the classic Queen Anne style. But though it followed those traditional lines with its intricately detailed tower rising three stories at the northeast corner, its plethora of gables and mismatched window sizes and shapes, and its four tall chimneys, Forester House was anything but feminine and frilly. Instead, it had a dark, gothic vibe made even more intense by thick, sage green sandstone walls and wildly asymmetrical rooflines covered in dark, heavy tiles instead of the traditional lighter weight composite shingles. Enormous dormers with Tudor detailing rose to encompass three stories. A porte cochere on the east side of the house allowed visitors to be dropped off and step directly onto the veranda that wrapped around three sides of the home and was wide enough to be used as an outdoor room in good weather.
Originally the home had been built to accommodate Mr. Forester's wealthy summer guests who'd driven up from San Francisco and stayed for months at a time, so he had added balconies onto all six of the large bedrooms on the second floor. The attic, too, featured several smaller terraces tucked under the sturdy, tile-shingled eaves.
The stones used to build Forester House had not been cut smoothly but instead had been left rough and uneven. Those details did nothing to make the mansion unsightly; on the contrary, the place was a strapping fortress of a home that exuded raw power and strength. It was imposing and even a bit intimidating (although I would never utter that word out loud).
Any remaining Forester family members had long since died or moved away, and after years of neglect the house had gone into foreclosure. It was now owned by the Lighthouse Cove Bank and Trust, a respected and reliable local institution. Half the people in town had accounts at Lighthouse B&T, including me and my father and most of my friends so everyone was thrilled when the bank decided to donate the home to the town's favorite charity, Holiday Homebuilders, instead of tearing it down and selling off small parcels of the picturesque two-acre lot.
The Holiday Homebuilders charity had been created over twenty years ago to support an annual tradition in Lighthouse Cove. Every December, nearly everyone in town came together to help build a house for a family in need. We furnished it and then decorated it for the season, right down to the bowls of Christmas candy on the tables.
Jason Walsh, who ran the charity, used to work on my dad's construction crew so he knew something about building homes. He was truly excited about refurbishing Forester House, subdividing the huge mansion into apartments in order to provide housing for fifteen lucky families. It was an unprecedented donation and the news had caused everyone in town to buzz with delight.
And I was buzzing more than anyone else because the person in charge of the entire project was me!
In addition, twelve local contractors had volunteered their services. After many meetings and discussions, I had assigned each of them a section of the mansion to transform into a separate dwelling for either a small family or a single person. Except for the unfinished third-floor attic, most of the rooms would remain single large spaces with the addition of kitchenettes and closets where needed. Local carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and painters had also volunteered their time to the cause. Six local interior decorators would work with the contractors to furnish the spaces. Since many of the families would bring very little furniture with them, it was up to us to turn these places into comfortable homes. The decorators had been working for weeks, shopping for fine quality used furniture and interesting bargains. A local mattress store was donating brand new beds for each apartment and a nearby furniture store was filling in with everything that hadn't already been covered.
It was heartwarming to see such generosity flowing from my fellow townspeople this time of year. So with all that wonderfulness surrounding me, why hadn't I gotten into the spirit of the season yet? Why couldn't I suck up the joy and get with the program?
"There you are."
I whipped around and saw Wade Chambers, my head foreman, waving at me from the back veranda. He jogged down the steps and ran over to meet me. "Merry Christmas, Shannon."
"Hey, Wade. How's it going?" As I said the words, I scowled inwardly. What was wrong with me? I couldn't extend a happy holiday greeting to one of my oldest friends? Apparently not. I just wasn't ready. Fine. I slid my tool chest out of the truck and tried not to feel too guilty.
Wade didn't seem to notice as he rubbed his stomach. "We're on day ten of Thanksgiving leftovers. Last night was turkey pot pie."
"That sounds pretty good."
"It was, actually. I keep saying I won't have to eat for a week after eating what I did, but I continue to indulge. Ah, well." He glanced at me. "How about you?"
"About the same." I gazed up at the house. "Are you excited? Ready to finally knock this thing out of the park?"
"You bet I am." But he didn't move, just stared at me with a look of concern.
When he didn't look away, I set my tool chest down on the blacktop surface of the driveway. "You're staring and it's starting to freak me out. What's wrong?"
If anything, his concern deepened as his eyes narrowed in on me. "That was going to be my question. Is everything okay?"
I hedged a little. I guess I wasn't quite as good at hiding my odd mood as I thought I was if my own foreman could tell something was off. "Of course. Why not?"
"Come on, Shannon. First of all, you're never late for work. And second . . . I don't know. Something's going on with you." He picked up my tool chest with no effort and started to walk toward the back of the house.
Scowling, I rushed to keep up with him. "I just hate being late, that's all. I would've called but I was running around."
"Yeah? I tried to call you but there was no answer."
I pulled out my cell phone and noticed an unanswered call. "I didn't hear the phone ring."
He stopped. "Something going on I should know about? Why were you running around?"
"It's nothing." I sighed. I wasn't about to confess what was really going on with me. He wouldn't be able to keep it to himself and I would never live down the embarrassment of everyone in town knowing that my pitiful little heart was breaking. So I simply told him the truth about the morning's main activity. "Robbie ran out of the gate and took off for the beach."
Wade's eyes widened and he stopped and gripped my arm. "But you found him, right?"
"I did, thank goodness." My adorable West Highland terrier, Rob Roy, otherwise known as Robbie, had never wandered off before. I had spent fifteen distressing minutes hunting him down. Luckily all my neighbors knew who the little white dog belonged to and some of them helped me find him. The chase had set me back fifteen minutes, so that was why I was late. And why I was cranky earlier. Well, along with the aforementioned heartbreak silliness, but I was doing my best to ignore that.
"Thank God," he murmured. Wade and his kids were big Robbie fans.
"It's just not like him to run off and disappear like that," I said, moving forward toward the house. "I was terrified. I think Mrs. Higgins's decorations set him off. They blink and light up the sky all night long. Maybe the holidays are getting to him as much as they're getting to me."
He shot me a sideways glance. "But you've always loved the holidays. Especially Christmas."
I waved away his words. "I know, I know. I love Christmas, blah blah blah."
He laughed. "Yeah, you're really full of the old holiday spirit."
"Sorry." I shook my head and shoulders like a wet dog, hoping I could fling away this funky feeling. "Don't worry, I'll get into the swing of things." I hoped so, anyway. With a frown, I pressed my hand to my forehead. "Maybe I'm coming down with something."
"You'd better not be. This job's going to wind up being a twenty-four-seven gig, so we've all got to stay in top shape."
I grinned. "Yes, boss."
But then he stopped and pointed at me. "Right there."
"What?" I demanded.
"It's like I said." His eyes narrowed as if he were studying a strange life form. "There's something else going on with you."
"No there isn't." I kept walking, nipping that particular conversation thread in the bud.
We reached the house and climbed the steps up to the veranda. As I headed for the door, Wade grabbed my arm. "Shannon, wait. I'm sorry I was being nosy."
"You were being a friend." I smiled at him. "You never have to apologize for that."
"I appreciate it." His own smile faded. "I had a reason for calling you earlier. I wanted to tell you about Frank. He's not going to be here."
"Why not?" I stared up at him. "Is he okay? What happened?" Frank was one of my favorite contractors and a great guy.
Wade scowled. "His wife's company just transferred her to San Diego. Frank is thrilled. He's packing up their house and moving next week."
"Oh no! That's terrible." I winced. "I mean, that's great for them. But now we need another contractor."
"I know."
He set down my tool chest and we both pulled our tablets out of our bags. I swept my finger across the screen. "Shoot. I had him in charge of overseeing all the work on the third floor attic. We'll have to re-organize the team leaders."
My shoulders slumped as I slid the tablet into its case. "He didn't even call to say good-bye."
"Probably couldn't bear to hear the disappointment in your voice."
I cracked a reluctant smile. "You mean he was too chicken to call."
"That's what I told him." He leaned against the wall. "Seriously, though, it's a real drag to lose him."
"I know. I'll give him a call later to wish him luck." The wind picked up and I shoved my hands into the pockets of my quilted vest. I had to consider the alternatives. Almost every contractor I trusted had already signed up to help out. "We'll all just have to stretch a little more."
Wade stared at his own tablet, then nodded. "We can do it."
"Of course we can." But I was still worried. All the work was being done on a volunteer basis, so I didn't want to overburden anyone.
"We might have to call on Carla earlier than we thought," Wade said.
Carla was my second foreman and I had put her in charge of our other work sites while Wade and I covered the Forester House job. But since she wanted to volunteer as well, the plan was for her and Wade to switch jobs after the first week.
"I'll save her as a last resort." I glanced up at Wade. "I hate to say it, but you know it'll be you and me picking up the slack."
He nudged my arm. "We can handle it, boss."
"Your wife is going to kill me," I muttered.
He grinned. "Sandy's one of our volunteers, so it'll work out just fine for us."
"No wonder you're taking the news so well."
He shrugged boyishly. "I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy."
Nodding, I said, "And you're going to pound that Christmas spirit into me until I grab it with both hands, aren't you?"
"I'm relentless that way."
"I know." I sighed as I pushed the door open and stepped through. "I'm sure I'll thank you for it in a week or so." For the moment though, I felt like a grumpy Grinch. And I really hated that feeling.
© Kate Carlisle
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text:
The next issue of 815 magazine will be out Sept. 17 in home-delivered newspapers.
Walk into any tattoo parlor today and you'll see a clientele that is diverse as the palette of ink colors that line the shop's shelves.
The stereotypical tattoo shop — dark, industrial, old, with neon signs — and its stereotypical client — rugged, blue collar, male — just doesn't exist anymore.
"Stereotypes have existed for a reason," said Tim Atwell, owner of Delicious Ink tattoo parlor in Rockford. "But now we have to understand that (tattooing) very much is a lifestyle, a commitment to something, and a lot of people make that commitment. All kinds of people."
He's right; tattoos have become extremely popular. According to a Pew Research Center study, an estimated 45 million Americans have at least one tattoo. Of people ages 26-40, around 40 percent have ink, and more than 45 percent of women ages 18 to 35 boast tattoos.
Those numbers make tattooing a lucrative business for the 21,000 parlors in the U.S. More than $1.6 billion is spent each year on body art.
Atwell, who has been a tattoo artist for more than 14 years, makes a point of inviting everyone to his shop. He wants customers to feel welcome the minute they walk through the door, and when they walk out they are completely satisfied with their new ink.
Josh Elliott, owner of Zealous Art Studio & Tattoo in Freeport, has the same goal. Zealous is located in an old house at 653 W. Stephenson St. — a location Elliott chose to help customers feel at home.
"We didn't want this to be your run-of-the mill tattoo shop," Elliott said. "We wanted something nice and clean and inviting for all ages of people and all walks of life."
To make sure they are ready for a wide range of clientele, tattoo shops must be diverse in its staff of artists, and those artists must constantly hone and update their techniques.
Thanks to social media sites like Pinterest, artists are aware of the latest trends, but they must try to stay true to their aesthetic.
"In my eyes, I'm a churched up illustrator, a churched up commercial artist that gets a little more freedom," Atwell said. "The trend now is whatever is trending on social media."
Atwell and Elliott said little infinity symbols, bird silhouettes and different types of script are popular trends. Skulls, butterflies, eagles, flags and roses are more iconic tattoos that are done in all sizes, colors and styles and will continue to be hot choices.
"When I started walking into tattoo parlors, tribal was very, very popular," Atwell said of the trend that became huge in the early 1990s and became a hit with Gen X'ers. "Those curved black, striking lines, motions of black. Everybody loved it, and it was a trend for a really, really long time. I did huge, lower-back tribal tattoos on ladies mostly, and then huge, upper arm, upper body tribal tattoos on men."
Realism is very popular now, whether it is a portrait or photo realism, according to Atwell. With photo realism, the artist just copies the photograph; with a portrait, it is the artist's representation of you or the person you want featured.
"Neo-traditional and traditional have been the staple of tattooing now for basically the past 10 years," Atwell said. "With neo-traditional you push two things together. You take a very basic concept and marry in things that are more askew, like bolder colors and lines."
But Atwell said basically as an artist you have to be willing to adapt.
"Most people know what they want in a generalized image, but they don't know how the tattoo is going to work or how it is going to age, so we take it upon ourselves to really educate our clients," he said. "We want you to get something that you are going to like for a long time."
Elliott said education is key, both what to get and where to get it.
"Years ago, I can't tell you how many tattoos I did of (the Tasmanian Devil) and Tweety Bird, now it just depends on what is popular in the media and social networking," We really try to encourage people to get an original tattoo — something that no one else will have."
Artists at Zealous and Delicious Ink put limits on what they will do and where they will place the tattoos. Both Elliott and Atwell refuse to do swastikas, gang symbols or hate symbols.
"I'm also not going to do something that is going to hinder someone professionally. That's not right. That's not ethical. Especially with the younger clients," Atwell said.
"Younger people come in all the time and want a specific tattoo that we call a 'job stopper,'" Elliott said. "Some professions don't like tattoos on hands or on the neck. I will refuse to do it on some of the younger people, or I may suggest another location on the body, because those tattoos may make a difference 10 years down the road. "
"We want you to get something you are going to like for a long time — something that is worth the time, money and effort for you," Atwell said. "Tattoos will range in a variety of prices. But our minimum is $100 because we want very serious clients who understand the value of what we do. This is our career. This is our livelihood."
Cost versus quality
Atwell admits a person could go to a tattoo parlor in the area and get a design for $20, but he said you get what you pay for. Oftentimes, he added, those are the tattoos he ends up covering up with a better design or the customer has to have the design removed by laser.
"To remove them is painful and expensive," said Elliott, whose shop has a $50 minimum. "Not only that, you can get some pretty bad scarring."
Both business owners recommend researching artists and tattoo shops before getting inked. Websites and detailed cards with each artist's specialties are easily available, and recommendations from previous clients are the best.
Safety and maintenance
A tattoo machine will puncture your skin, in the dermal layer, between 50 and 3,000 times per minute. Because of that, experts recommend researching a business and artist before letting them tackle your permanent stamp. Clean and sanitized work stations and fresh needles for every client are just a few of the considerations.
In Illinois, tattoo shops must be licensed, and copies of those licenses must be prominently displayed. The artists take classes for anatomy, infectious disease control, waste disposal, hand-washing techniques, equipment sterilization, as well as blood and skin diseases.
No one under 18 is allowed to get a tattoo, unless they get parental permission.
But getting a tattoo also comes with responsibility.
"Tattoos require maintenance. They require a bit of work," Atwell said. "We all need sunscreen, whether you have a tattoo or not, but you especially need it with a tattoo. If you want the tattoo to look nice and stay vibrant, you'll have to redo it eventually."
It's all relative
Elliott said techniques, inks and artistry will continue to evolve, as will the complexity of the designs wanted by the clients. But overall, he and other artists are thrilled over the increasing popularity of tattoos.
"When we first started, there were certain people who had connotations of what a tattoo shop was," he recalled. "Now we hear those same people tell us what a wonderful place we have."
"Professionalism isn't dictated by your appearance," Atwell, who sports a fully tattooed scalp and stretched ear lobe tunnels. "Look at all the ***-clowns we have in politics who aren't very good people, and they are dressed conservatively."
Maggie Hradecky: 815-987-1367; firstname.lastname@example.com; @MaggieHrad