text:
Hey all,
It's Teacher Appreciation Week, though my little tot is 3 and in MOD (mothers day out) he has two teachers so they do apply. Now don't take this the wrong way, but I hate giving gifts. This is simply for the fact that I stress out over what to get and If it'll be liked and then start to talk myself out of whatever it is most of the time then do it all over again. Other then that I actually enjoy giving, sharing, and surprising, yes haha a little bit contradictive huh… Anyways, I went round and round battling it out with my inner self, to later come to the conclusion we would just make our two lovely teachers something a little bit more heart felt. Y'all, I could not be more proud of Brantley and myself at the moment. After awhile of searching for some Pinterest inspiration (not many will admit that) something cute and corny, nothing really jumped out. So we went to our craft box and endd up with popsicle sticks and paint. What 3 year old do you know who doesn't just love either of these two things? Then added a little bit of what I think would be 'Southern Living' and 'Pottery Barn' (burlap and rhinestones), to spice things up. Not bad aye?
Final Product:
Cute little initialed hanging wall decor
And here's the back.
A quick little thank you, though I should have dated it. Didn't think about it till now lol oh well.
- 10 large popsicle sticks
- Glue (hot & Elmer's)
- Card stock
- Water paint
- Black & white paint (I used )
- Burlap
- Twine
- Assorted rhinestones
- Scissor
- Small paint brush
- Glued Popsicle sticks
- White paints then black details
- Drew letters
- Water paint
- Cut and glued to frame
- Hot glued twine to the back
- Hot glued rhinestone to burlap and burlap to frame
- Elmer's glued little rhinestones randomly
Till next time my friends.
Stay Connected!
Fb- blognbeauty
Insta- bkelly8801
Twitter- bkelly8801
Snap- bkelly8801


text:
Eenie, meeny, miney, moe. How many albums can Yung Joc flow? Clearly more than one. For a rapper who looked to be the Bad Boy Records flavor of the month last June with "New Joc City," the rapper born Jasiel A. Robinson has shown a surprising amount of staying power in hip-hop. While his early work showed a lot of potential, it was marred by the occasional gangster rap cliche about selling drugs, spending money and driving fancy cars. When allowed to paint outside those lines by his label Joc showed a lot more personality than the typical "new jack" hip-hop artist whose label spends more on one music video than he'll earn in his entire career.
Therefore I couldn't help but be concerned that the title of Joc's second album was "Hustlenomic$." It's like Al Pacino said in "The Godfather: Part III" - when you think you're out, they pull you right back in. Having struck literal gold with Yung Joc's debut Sean Combs was undoubtedly HONGRY to taste success again, and BK was closed for the night. What's a rap mogul to do? Convince his young protege to stick to the script, that's what. You can't even call it a coincidence that the producer for his first single "Coffee Shop" is named Don Vito. Bad Boy wants to mob up in the worst way and be known for more in 2007 than endlessly rehashing B.I.G.'s music. "Coffee Shop" proves they aren't taking any chances with a pattern that works. In essence Joc recycles the "sex cash money and drugs" formula under the thinly veiled metaphor of your neighborhood Starblocks house of java. Drink up - "Coffee Shop" purports to be good to the last drop:
"It's just another day at the coffee shop
We sellin everything, down to the shoes and watch
And for the right price meet me in the parking lot
I got a sale on them old school Chevy drops
No knock cause we only serve the best
Oh yeah my coffee shop is cheaper than the rest!
I'm takin orders, tell me who's next
Only cash, no credit, no checks
When your car stop, welcome to Starblocks
You wanna triple your knot? Invest in our stock
And now we doin numbers, just like the close-out
Make sure to shop with me, before it's sold out"
There's no question the song's a hit. In fact it may even have the potential to launch guest star Gorilla Zoe from a little known regional rapper to a national name with a big label album of his own. As a writer I'm hard-pressed to say good things about the song though. The cheesy sing-song Joc flow, unsurprising and formulaic lyrical subject matter and overly cute "Chain Hang Low" style children just SCREAM terrible song. Thankfully "Hustlenomic$" has more to offer than the lead single. The Neptunes break out of THEIR formulaic approach to create a unique track for the Diddy & Joc duet "Hell Yeah." "Cut Throat" is an all-star head busting track where Joc links the coasts by rapping with The Game and Jim Jones at the same time. Out of all the guest appearances though the best is either Trick Daddy on "Chevy Smile" or Snoop Dogg and Rick Ross on the Dee Jay Dana produced "Brand New":
"From my fitted down to my shoes
I enter the room and your bitch might choose
Look me up and down from my head to toes
Then point to exit then I tell 'em "Let's go!"
S-5, don't forget the 50
What it cost me? About a hundred-fifty
DAMN! What's this, why it's so sticky?
That's good kush, quarter cost about a hundred-fifty
Smell the leather - still brand new
Lookin at the sky through that panoramic view
She say she like my jeans, even like my sneaks
That's the new Gucci; five hundred apiece"
OKAY it's true - this one is lyrically formulaic too. It's the smooth music and the guest stars that really make the song palatable. Joc plays this one about as close to the vest as possible to the point the song titles read like lyrics of a song themselves. In other words when you're "Bottle Poppin'" and "Living the Life" with your fly "Momma" you best make sure to "Play Your Cards" right or you might end up under arrest like "Pak Man" Jones. It's "BYOB" 'cause "I'm a G" so when you decide to "Do It" we'll be "Getting To Da Money" like it's "Hustlemania." Get it? Got it? Good. There's no chance for Joc to go outside of the margins this time, not even a little bit. The irony is Joc is now trapped by his own success, expected to come back with hit after hit all mined from the same vein. The problem with that is that when the next seismic shift comes along in hip-hop that mine's going to collapse and Bad Boy will abandon Yung Joc underground, writing him off as a loss while counting the millions that he made them. Eenie, meeny, miney, moe. I hope Yung Joc is investing his dough.
Music Vibes: 7.5 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 5 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 6 of 10
Originally posted: September 4, 2007
source: www.RapReviews.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Stand By for More Big Blackouts, Says PLN
Bali's monopoly state power provider PLN says it cannot provide sufficient electricity to Bali and has asked people to turn off their lights to conserve usage.
Bali PLN chief Dadan Koerniadipoera said Bali's many hotels should operate on their own generators at peak times and private homes should turn off as many lights as possible between 6pm and 9pm to relieve peak pressure on the power grid.
The announcement comes as many parts of Bali were plunged into darkness last week in a widespread outage still unexplained by PLN.
PLN, which is heavily in debt and has a questionable maintenance record, promised last year that after months of rolling load-shedding blackouts Bali would experience only a maximum of nine power cuts this year.
Last week's huge blackout, on March 14, which left most of Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, Klungkung and Karangasem without power for more than three hours, remains a mystery to PLN.
It said eight of its 11 substations in Bali suddenly lost power but why they did so was unknown.
Dadan said the blackout affected sub-stations throughout the 40-kilometre distance between Padang Sambian and the main generating plant at Pesanggaran near Sanur.
"This event was outside human control. There was a disruption in the 150kVA transmission network," he said.
He added: "About three years ago in Banyuwangi, East Java, a kite caused an blackout that reached as far as Bali."
The lengthy series of load-shedding blackouts PLN imposed on Bali in 2009 caused a mass public outcry and led to Governor I Made Mangku Pastika's "wires in the sky" proposal for a cross-strait, pylon-mounted high-voltage line from Java to Bali and then down a controversial high-voltage line to Denpasar.
Nothing has been heard of that proposal for some time.
A new thermal generator at Celuk in Buleleng that the governor said late last year would soon be on stream was revealed this month to be still at the planning stage.
And the provincial government has consistently ruled out sourcing power from natural geothermal sources near Bedugul because the area's geology is sacred.
The 2009 blackouts extended into 2010 despite repeated promises by PLN that they would end prior to Christmas that year.Filed under: Headlines
2 Responses to "Stand By for More Big Blackouts, Says PLN"
george Says:
May 18th, 2011 at 11:07 am
Slash PLN's top executives' salaries due to a lack of performance, or put the pressure on elected state officials to have those executives fired, see how soon they'll fix the power problems. Pressure also needs to be put on Central Government in Jakarta, since they all profit from the enormous profits from tourism and project developments in Bali! It's sad and outrageous that the obvious and necessary investments are not being made in one of the nations best developed parts. Corruption and political games are always at the roots of the problems in Indonesia! The richest "development" country in the world!!! Shame on them!
Pete Says:
July 28th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
They could at least give wearnings in the newspapers / radio to let people no of the ares affected to enable planning. So much for satisfying the customers.


text:
Amazing what talented people can do with Akihabara in a brief period of time (72 hours). The theme of the following game: "It's dangerous to 'go' alone!"
It's an old-school, dead-simple, puzzle-based 2d game, in which you and your kitten both have to go potty. When you move, both you and your kitten move — unless one of you is stuck by a wall or something, in which case only one of you moves.
Each level has four elements: a potty, a roll of TP, a catbox, and a bag of kitty litter. The cat can't go potty if you don't pick up the kitty litter, and you can't go potty if you don't pick up the TP.
An awesome little conceit, simple code (just "view source", JS+HTML5 FTW), and an addictive gameplay experience. Awesomeness.
(And no, I haven't done nearly enough on Tinygames/Mongo recently, but that's about to pick up soon, I think. Fingers crossed.)


text:
Back to Index
Prayers & Poems
Tiger Scouts
Pack/Den Activities
Fun Foods
Webelos Craftsman
Webelos Scientist
Pre-Opening Activities
Opening Ceremonies
Stunts & Cheers
Closing Ceremony
Web Links
October 2002
Cub Scout Roundtable Issue
Kids Against Crime
Webelos Craftsman & Scientist
Tiger Cub Achievement 3
Crossroads of America
scientist studies things to learn how they behave and why. Scientists try to
find out the laws of nature about the things they study. People can use these
rules or laws in making things. While working on this activity badge, you
will learn a few of the main ideas in physics. Physics is a science with
several branches. One of these branches will be weather. You can learn a
little about weather in these activity badge requirements. Another branch of
physics is called optics. You will have a chance to learn something about
sight and find out how your eyes work. Scientists learn a lot by
experimenting or trying things out. Try things for yourself.
Visit an eye specialist and learn how the eyes work. Visit the control tower
of an airport. Learn about the principles of flight. ·Tour an airplane and
look at all the control dials.
Do the
atmospheric pressure tests or balance tests in the Webelos Book.
Fog or Crystals.
Do the inertia experiments in the Webelos Book.
a local weatherman to your den meeting to talk about the climate during the
Have a slow-motion bicycle riding contest to illustrate balancing skills.
Plan a
scientific experiment to be demonstrated at the pack meeting.
Pascal's Law
pressure of a liquid or a gas like air is the same in every direction if the
liquid is in a closed container. If you put more pressure on the top of the
liquid' or gas. the increased pressure will spread all over the container."
Place about 1/4 cup baking
soda in a coke bottle and 1/4 cup vinegar into a balloon. Fit the top of the
balloon over the top of the bottle, and flip the balloon so that the vinegar
goes into the bottle. The gas formed from the mixture will blow the balloon,
up so that it will stand upright on the bottle and expand with C02.
For this next experiment
you will need: A medicine dropper, a tall jar, well filled with water; a sheet
of rubber which can be cut from a balloon; and a rubber band.
the medicine dropper in the water and fill it partly. Test the dropper in the
jar - if it starts to sink, squeeze out a few drops until it finally floats
with the top of the bulb almost submerged. Now, cap the jar with the sheet of
rubber and fix the rubber band around the edges until the jar is airtight.
Push the rubber down with your finger and the upright dropper will sink. Now
relax your finger and the dropper will rise. You have prepared a device known
as a 'Cartesian Diver'. The downward pressure on the rubber forces the water
up into the bottom of the diver, compressing the air above it, producing the
effects of sinking, suspension and floating, according to the degree of
pressure applied.
"Inertia is the tendency of a thing at rest to remain at rest and a thing in
motion to continue the same straight line".
Get a small stick about 10 inches in length and the diameter of a pencil.
Fold a newspaper and place it near the edge of a table. Place the stick under
the newspaper on the table and let about half he stick extend over the edge of
the table. Strike the stick sharply with another stick. Inertia should cause
the stick on the table to break into two parts.
Get a
fresh egg and a hard-boiled egg. Give each of them a spinning motion in a
soup dish. Observe that the hard-boiled egg spins longer. The inertia of the
fluid contents of the fresh egg brings it to rest sooner.
Upside-Down Glass That Won't Spill
Fill a drinking glass to the very top with water. The water should spill over
the top a bit. Carefully lay the cardboard square to completely cover the top
the glass. Holding the cardboard on top, turn the glass over until it is
straight upside down. Stop holding the cardboard on as it will stay on by
Homemade Barometer
Use a
milk bottle, a soda straw, a piece of a penny balloon, and a length of
string. Cover the mouth of the milk bottle with the piece of balloon, tying
it in place with the string. Glue one end of the soda straw to the middle of
the balloon. Make a scale on a piece of cardboard, by making 1/2 inch marks
about 1/8 inch apart. Attach the free end of the straw across the scale, but
don't let it touch the scale. Mark the scale from 1 to whatever number of
lines on the scale. Ask one of the boys to be in charge of the barometer for
a month. Have him mark the number on the scale that the barometer points to
each day at a certain time.
Do It Yourself Flashlight
flashlight can be assembled easily and provide a fun project for the boys.
And better yet, it actually works! You will need a flashlight battery, a
bulb, a plastic pill bottle with a flexible lid and some insulated wire. The
pill bottle should be large enough for the batter and bulb base to fit inside
it. The wire should be the kind that can be bent easily. Scrape the
insulation from one end of your wire and form it into a flat coil. Attach the
coil to the bottom of the battery with adhesive tape. Cut an opening in the
center of the pill bottle lid. so that the base of the bulb will fit. Push
base of bulb through hole in lid. Scrape the other end of the wire and wind
it around the base of the bulb.
in place with tape. Crumble small piece of paper. Place enough of this in
bottom of bottle so that when battery is inserted and the lid is tightly in
place, the bottom of the bulb will just make contact with the raised center
top of the battery. Hinge one side of the lid to the bottle with tape. When
lid is closed. the bulb will light. To shut off your flashlight, flip up the
lid. This light creates a dim glow. If you want a larger light, use two
batteries in a larger container.
Bottle Target:
Webelos take turns seeing how many toothpicks they can land in a milk bottle
which is placed on the floor an arm's length away. Players drop the
toothpicks one at a time. They may lean forward, but can't move their feet.
Scientists Quiz (True or False?)
copies of this quiz for all the Webelos to try.)
1. Electric current was discovered in Italy in 1781. (True, by Luigi Galvani.)
2. Vulcanized rubber was an accidental discovery by Charles Goodyear. (True,
in 1839.)
3. Madame Curie was the second woman to win the Nobel Prize. (False, she was
the first woman. It was in Chemistry, for the discovery of radium,)
4. Mark Twain was the first author to submit a typewritten manuscript to a
publisher. (True, Life on. the Mississippi in about 1875.)
5. "Disks for the Eyes" was the original name for contact lenses. (False, the
name for eyeglasses that were made in Italy in 1280.)
Real Attention Getter
Inflate a balloon and affix 3 - 4 squares of plastic tape to it. Have a boy
stick a pin through the center of each piece of tape. To everyone's
amazement, the balloon will not burst. When the pins are removed the balloon
still will not burst. What is happening: The adhesive substance on the tape
acts like a self-sealing automobile tire, adhering to the pin as it is pressed
inward. When the pin is removed, the adhesive is forced outward by the air
pressure from within the balloon, automatically sealing the tiny pinholes.
Atomic Chart
up flash cards with the symbols of the atomic table on one side and the
element word on the other side. Mix them up, forward and backwards. Play in
pairs or compete as teams. Teams can be one person answering at a time, or a
group effort. Who are the best "Scientists!"
Hot Air Balloon Power
scouts into 2 or more teams, each player is given a balloon which he blows Lip
and holds by the neck until his turn. A raceway is defined for each team and
a Ping-Pong ball is then placed at the beginning of each raceway. Team
players take turns letting air escape from their balloons, blowing a Ping-Pong
ball down the raceway. The winner is the team that blows the ball the
furthest down their raceway.
Materials found in Baloo's
Bugle may be used by Scouters for Scouting activities provided that
Baloo's Bugle and the original contributors are cited as the source of the
Materials found at the U. S. Scouting Service Project, Inc. Website
©1997-2002 may be reproduced and used locally by Scouting volunteers for
training purposes consistent with the programs of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA)
or other Scouting and Guiding Organizations. No material found here may be used
or reproduced for electronic redistribution or for commercial or other non-Scouting purposes without the express
permission of the U. S. Scouting Service Project, Inc. (USSSP) or other
copyright holders. USSSP is not affiliated with BSA and does not speak on behalf
of BSA. Opinions expressed on these web pages are those of the web authors.


text:
Spacepod is produced by me, Carrie Nugent. I'm a scientist, and one of the best parts of my job is getting to talk to scientists and engineers about space exploration. I thought these conversations were interesting, and I wanted to share them with the world. And thanks to the internet, I can!
Spacepod isn't part of my day job, it's something I do for fun. My guests volunteer their time to be interviewed. However, most of the discoveries and research we talk about is funded by NASA. So if you pay US federal taxes, a lot of the cool stuff you hear about is thanks to you. For every dollar you pay in federal taxes, half of a penny goes to NASA. When you listen to the show, I hope that you feel proud of what you've helped accomplish.


text:
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text:
Welcome to Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve!
Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve is located in SW Madagascar and it is about a 2-3 hour drive by 4×4 from Anakao. The main features of the reserve include its namesake Tsimanampetsotsa Lake and also Mitoho Grotto.
However, this is slightly misleading because the most interesting features at the park were the ring tailed lemurs and also an impressive selection of banyan and baobab trees.
Ring Tailed Lemurs at Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve
The ring tailed lemur is the most abundant variety of lemur in Madagascar and the local Malagasy refer to them as maky. The maky have conspicuous black and white stripes around their long tails which match their white face. Additional features include black rings around the eyes. However, despite having dark rings around their eyes, ring tailed lemurs are active predominantly during daylight hours.
Due to the isolation of Madagascar the lemur species evolved independently from monkeys and they are unique creatures. There are approximately 100 species of lemur in Madagascar and they are endemic to the island. However, the different lemur subspecies do not intermingle with each other.
They usually live in groups of about 30 individuals of the same subspecies. Due to the frequent communications between group members their vocalizations are quite complex and range from purring to clicking.
When we were walking around the Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve we encountered a slow moving group of ring tailed lemurs. I was able to intermingle with them for about 15 minutes as they passed through the area foraging. They seemed completely indifferent to the fact that there was a human among them.
Baobab Trees at Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve
Worldwide there are a total of 9 species of baobab and 6 species of baobab tree are found only in Madagascar. Because the habitat of the baobab is in areas that are prone to long periods of drought the baobab can store enormous amounts of water in the trunk. It has been estimated they can store up to 26,000 gallons, therefore they have very FAT trunks to store all that water.
We encountered different species of baobab at Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve.
Photo of my "guide" and a couple of other guys who were tagging along for the day. Standing in front of a giant baobab tree.
Mitoho Grotto
The Mitoho Grotto is a limestone cave system that lies within Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve. Most noteworthy aspects of the Mitoho Grotto include invisible people, blind fish and swallows.
According to local myth the invisible people are named the Antambahoka. Due to the presence of the Antambahoka, the Mitoho grotto is considered sacred by the local Malagasy. The superstitious sacrifice goats and black cockerels to appease them.
Due to the invisible nature of the Antambahoka we were not able to see them and therefore there are no photographs! However, I was able to get some good photos of the blind fish and swallows that live in the cave system.
Flamingos at Tsimanampetsotsa Lake?
Due to the presence of large amounts of salt in Tsimanampetsotsa Lake there are no fish. However, flamingos consider the habitat there to be very suitable. Unfortunately, there were not a lot of flamingos at the lake when I visited. However, I was able to get a couple decent photos with my telephoto lens.
Subterranean Pond at Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve
There is also a subterranean pond at the reserve. As a result of a section of the cavern roof collapsing the lake is now exposed. However, this does not stop the banyan trees from reaching the water below. The banyan is an extremely photogenic tree.
More About Banyan Trees
The banyan tree is the national tree of India. Madagascar was previously joined with the Indian sub-continent and the banyan may have originated in Madagascar since that time. It is also possible seeds could have been transplanted here purposefully or accidentally by either humans or animals.
The banyan tree begins its life as a fig and this seed is somehow deposited into the crevice or another tree. The banyan can then over time swallow its host! Therefore, the banyan tree is cannibalistic by nature. The banyan is also known to swallow buildings and bridges using the same methods. Other famous locations where the banyan can be found and photographed include Ta Prohm at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.
In fact, the giant banyan tree can potentially spread its roots over several hectares.
Radiated Tortoise at Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve
The radiated tortoise is another species that is endemic to Madagascar. They are predominantly found in southern Madagascar although they can also be found throughout the island.
Despite the fact that this species of tortoise can live for up to 188 years it is still considered critically endangered. Especially relevant factors that threaten its survival include deforestation of its habitat, the pet trade and unfortunately it is considered a food source by local residents.
However, there is a serious conservation effort ongoing to preserve the species. Conservation is a source of employment in an area where jobs are very scarce.
For visitors, the Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve is a great overall experience. The reserve has limited amounts of visitors due to its isolated location. Therefore, it makes a great day trip for the adventure traveler. Most notable, was the intimate encounter with the lemur clan and also the exotic baobab trees found inside the reserve.
Similar Posts You May Enjoy
Cool Things to do in Anakao, Madagascar
Hotel Longo Vezo Review Anakao
Visit Antananarivo, Madagascar in Style
Additional resources:


text:
1. Introduction
Traditional learning has been the staple for hundreds of years, from the very founding of higher education institutions (Dewey, 2009). Learners meet together in real time and in a specified location with the educator present. This educator centered approach is the predominant modality of instruction in higher education. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can be used to enhance the educational experience with the use of technology delivering the instruction and maintaining learner records.
Distance Learning is the evolution of correspondence courses since learners and educators are separated by time, location, or both in this model of instruction. The materials may be delivered to remote locations via print or ICT, but this form of instruction does not preclude the use of remote classrooms. This form of instruction may be done synchronously or asynchronously. The emphasis of this mode of instruction is the separation of the learner from the educator and not the delivery mechanism [8].
E-learning had its beginnings in late 1994. E-learning describes the ability to electronically transfer, manage, support, and supervise learning and learning materials (Normark and Cetindamar, 2005). E-learning has been viewed as synonymous with web-based learning, Internet-based training, advanced distributed learning, web-based instruction, online learning and open/flexible learning (Khan, 2001). E-learning is the effective learning process created by combining digitally delivered content with learning support services [12]. Many authors have discussed the way in which e-learning can be used for the delivery of training, assessment, and support [4].
Learning Management Systems (LMSs) are software tools designed to manage user learning interventions and offer an extensive range of complementary functionality [6]. They are extensively used nowadays and they provide a variety of information and communication channels for the users [30]. Among the features they provide are the development, management, distribution, diffusion and presentation of the educational material as well as tools for the management of users and courses (Folden, 2012).
In the blended learning mode, parts of the instruction are delivered in a traditional format while other parts of it are delivered using ICT. It is this blending of the delivery modality that attempts to use the strengths of both formats to enhance the educational experience. The most used Blended Learning definition is the combination of online and face to face instruction [23,26,27,34,36]. Other studies [7], (Nor Azian 2015) also mention that blended learning is a popular learning approach in higher institutions and more and more universities are adopting blended learning (BL). Blended learning uses the tools of the provincial learning management system (LMS) to teach and support learning in a face-to-face class. Therefore, it combines traditional learning, distance learning and e-learning in such way, in order to produce high quality courses (fig. 1).
Statistics is a mathematical science concerning the collection, analysis, interpretation or explanation, and presentation of data (Freedman et al., 2007). It is relatively easy to get basic descriptive statistics from statistical software, such as SPSS. It is also used with educational data; this descriptive analysis can provide such global data characteristics as summaries and reports about learner's behavior (Wu and Leung, 2002).
It is not surprising that teachers prefer pedagogically oriented statistics (overall success rate, mastery levels, typical misconceptions, percentage of exercises tackled, and material read) that are easy to interpret. Applying descriptive statistics to educational data is the easiest way that educators prefer [37]. Sometimes, teachers find the fine-grained statistics in log data too cumbersome to inspect or too time-consuming to interpret. Statistical analysis of educational data (logs files/databases) can tell us things such as: where students enter and exit, the most popular pages, the browsers students tend to use, and patterns of use over time (Ingram, 1999); the number of visits, origin of visitors, number of hits, and patterns of use throughout various time periods (Gibbs and Rice, 2003); number of visits and duration per quarter, top search terms, and number of downloads of e-learning resources (Grob et al., 2004); number of different pages browsed and total time for browsing different pages [13]; usage summaries and reports on weekly and monthly user trends and activities [18]; session statistics and session patterns [21]; the time a student dedicates to the course or a particular part of it [21]; the learners' behavior and time distribution and the distribution of network traffic over time [38];
Statistical analysis is also very useful to obtain reports assessing how many minutes the student has worked, how many minutes he has worked in a particular day, how many problems he has resolved, and his correct percentage, our prediction of his score, and his performance level [2]. Information visualization uses graphic techniques to help people to understand and analyze data (Mazza, 2006); mean values of attributes analyzed in data to measure mathematical skills [39]; and higher education student-evaluation data [11].
Providing feedback for supporting instructors is a very crucial feature for any learning system. The objective sare to provide feedback to support course educators/teachers/administrators in decision making (about how to improve students' learning, organize instructional resources more efficiently, etc.) and enable them to take appropriate proactive and/or remedial action [16]. It is important to point out that this task is different than data analyzing and visualizing tasks, which only provide basic information directly from data (reports, statistics, etc.). Moreover, providing feedback divulges completely new, hidden, and interesting information found in data [32].
There are studies regarding these features such as: to identify interesting and unexpected learning patterns, which in turn may provide decision lines, enabling teachers to more efficiently organize their teaching structure [33]; to provide feedback to the course instructor about how to improve courseware [25]; to analyze the user's access log in improve e-e-learning and to support the analysis of trends (Baruque, 2007); to help the teacher to discover beneficial or detrimental relationships between the use of web-based educational resources and student's learning [6]; to reveal information about university students' enrolment(Sanjeev and Zytkow, 1995); learning decomposition and logistic regression to compare the impact of different educational interventions on learning [3]; and usage data analysis to improve the effectiveness of the learning process in e-learning systems [19].
The role of educational content in learning is crucial. The key factor to success is high quality educational content, appropriate for learning and able to fulfil course educational aims and objectives [16]. Most of the times it is not an easy task to give feedback to instructors about the online educational content [32]. However, some course characteristics and students' actions may reflect the quality and quantity of the educational content [29].
This study analyzes the effects of blended learning in an institute and its students. The approach goes backward to examine whether this courses usage by the learners is strongly affected by the educational content exposed by the instructors. It proposes the variables Richness and Usefulness, taking into account statistics concerning the courses. These variables aim to help course instructors and/or platform administrators review course usage and find course weaknesses.
2. Research Method
In order to ascertain the views of students about blended learning in TEI of WM, a self administrative questionnaire was chosen to collect the data. Students study the courses for 12 weeks. At the end of the 12th week they were asked to evaluate the three courses they had studied by filling in, an online questionnaire for each course they had studied. The experimental measurements took place at the first semester of 2016 and the qualitative data were gathered.
In the questionnaire we chose closed questions for quick completing and data processing. Moreover, the questions were multiple choice, where it is possible to choose among several predefined answers and most of them were questions of scale or preference, where the degree of preference of the respondent stated. They are the most important questions in a questionnaire, because they allow classification of the views or attitudes of respondents.
The chosen scales in this research are the Likert and the Gutman. In Likert scale, the attitudes have five response categories "Totally agree" = 5, "Agree" = 4, " Neither agree nor disagree" = 3, "Disagree" = 2, "Totally disagree" = 1. In the Gutman scale the attitudes have two response categories "Yes" and "No".
Furthermore we attended the questionnaire marked by clearness and clarity. The questions were short and clear. The negative questions were avoided because they are often misunderstood, since the negative keyword is ignored and the respondent gives an answer that is contrary to his real opinion. Also we did not include questions with double meaning, because they require the respondent to answer two separate ideas with a single answer.
The questionnaire consists of 22 questions and is divided in four parts. The first part consists of 5 questions and examines the students' personal profile. Knowledge of the students profile is important, in order to understand the needs and the personal characteristics of the learners. The second part has 1 question concerning the blended learning. The third part consists of 7 questions and deals with the attitudes of respondents in relation to traditional learning. The fourth part consists of 9 questions concerning the attitudes of respondents in relation to e-learning. Eight questions are about richness of the course and nine questions are about usefulness of the course in both education types (traditional and e-learning).
The questionnaire was completed by sixty nine (69) learners. All statistical analysis was conducted with the application of the SPSS version 19 software package. The deterministic variables are the questions of our questionnaire. After a thorough analysis, the questionnaire responses show us if the deterministic variables are suitable to measure the hidden variables (richness and usefulness) and how they affect the formation of the students' intention in the adoption and use of blended learning. The analysis is focused on the two hidden variables, each determined by the deterministic variables.
We will investigate possible correlations between specific course properties. Specifically:
1. We compare the educational content in both education types traditional and electronic learning.
2. We correlate gender and with richness and usefulness.
3. We compare courses in terms of richness.
4. We compare courses in terms of usefulness.
5. We discover thoroughly the differences among the courses.
3. Results
The variables rich Content and Useful Content are the hidden variables of the questionnaire. Their values are derived from the deterministic variables which are the questions of our questionnaire. The richness is translated into rich Content and usefulness is translated into Useful Content according to the meaning of the questions.
3.1. Comparison of the Educational Contents between Traditional and Electronic Learning for the 3 Courses
Table 1
|Edu Type
|Std. Deviation
|Std. Error Mean
|Rich Content
|Useful Content
The content in traditional education (edutype=1) is more useful with a significant statistical difference. Also, they felt slightly richer (no statistically significant difference). This means that they prefer to reuse content from traditional education for their course. The instructors should improve quality the supplied content via Internet.
Table 2
3.2. Correlation between Gender with Richness and Usefulness
Table 3
|Std. Deviation
|Std. Error Mean
|Rich Content
|Useful Content
There is a difference between women and men. The men (gender = 1) find the content more useful (mean 3.63) than women (mean 3.2778) and there is a statistically significant difference. Despite the fact that men perceive it slightly richer, there is a statistically significant difference. This leads to the conclusion that men can exploit this content and learn better from it. However, women have difficulties in understanding; this justifies they do not rate it, as useful as men. However, it is quite a good content since the rating is above 3. Therefore, the instructors should make it more understandable to women, perhaps with more and better examples.
3.3. Comparison of Courses in Terms of Richness
We have the overall course evaluation in both traditional and electronic and the comparison among the courses about the richness of the educational content. In table 4, we have the descriptive statistics for the results
Table 4
For a valid measurement, the criterion Levene Statistic has to be not significant, namely to have equal variances.
From the above table 5, the value is 0.456, so our measure is valid. We can see in the following results, if there is a statistically significant difference among the courses. Through the next table 6, we see that there is a statistically significant difference with p=0.002<0.05 among some courses (even do not know yet which courses).
Table 6
|Sum of Squares
|Mean Square
|Between Groups
|Within Groups
Moving towards post hoctests, we see through the table 7 below in which courses there is significant statistical difference about the richness of their content
Table 7
From the above table 7 we see that the first course is better than the second course (difference score by 0.615 in the answers) with statistically significant difference (p=0.009). The second course is also worse than the third course (worse score at 0.84545 units) with a statistically significant difference of 0.002. The courses 1 and 3 have no significant statistical difference between them. This means that in second course, it is necessary to add new content.
3.4. Comparison of Courses in Terms of Usefulness
In the same test for the usefulness of the content, we do not observe significant statistical changes. In the table 8, we have the mean values.
Table 8
For a valid measurement, the criterion Levene Statistic has to be not significant, namely to have equal variances. From the table 9 below, the value is 0.143, so our measure is valid. We can see in the following results, if there is a statistically significant difference among the courses. Through the next table, we see that there is not a statistically significant difference with p = 0.332 > 0.05 among some courses. So, it is not necessary to analyze thoroughly the particular courses.
Table 10
|Sum of Squares
|Mean Square
|Between Groups
|Within Groups
Table 11
3.5. Thorough Analysis for the Differences among the Courses
We apply ANOVA for all the variables and we have the following descriptive statistics.
Table 12
Table 13
|Levene Statistic
|t Rich Content
|t Useful Content
|e Rich Content
|e Useful Content
The Levene Statistic (table 13) indicates a problem for traditional Rich Content, since it is statistically significantly differentiated the variation of the sample (with p=0.023<0.05); in this case we should use, instead of ANOVA, the Kruskal-Wallis H test for the analysis of traditional Rich Content.
Table 14
In the table 14, we see the significant statistical difference only for variable e Rich Content (with p=0.003<0.005) between courses.
Table 15
Table 15 shows that the courses 1 and 3 are significantly better than the course 2. Especially, for the first course we have p=0.023; it has better rating at 0.73784 units than second course and third course with p=0.002 is better at 1.13939 units than second course. So, instructors need to add more content in the second course. We also test the traditional Rich content among the courses with Kruskal-WallisTest since Levene test was significant differentiated at the ANOVA test. The statistics per course are shown at Table 15.
The table 16 shows that there is no significant statistical difference between courses since p=0.447>0.05. So, it is not necessary to add more content.
4. Discussion and Conclusions
This study evaluates the use of blended learning in TEI of West Macedonia with the use of structured questionnaires exposed to the learners. The learners express their attitude about how useful the blended learning is and how this blended means facilitates their studies. It proposes two variables Richness and Usefulness, taking into account statistics concerning the courses. These variables aim to help course instructors and administrators review course usage and find course weaknesses.
There are assessed both traditional and e-learning. There were assessed taking into account the gender of the respondents for the three courses.
From the overall comparison of the educational contents between traditional and electronic learning for the 3 courses, it is discovered that the content in traditional learning (edutype=1) is more useful with a significant statistical difference. They think that it is slightly richer than e-learning. This means that they prefer to reuse content from traditional learning for their course. The instructors should improve quality the supplied content in e-learning.
Significant differences were found between the attitudes of women and men. The men find the content more useful than women with a significant statistically difference. This leads to the conclusion that men can exploit this content and learn better from it. Maybe, women have difficulties in understanding; this justifies they do not rate it, as useful as men. However, it is quite a good content since the rating is above 3. Therefore, the instructors should make it more understandable to women, perhaps with more and better examples.
From the results regarding richness, we conclude that the first course is better than the second course. The third course is also better than the second course with a statistically significant difference. The courses 1 and 3 have no significant statistical difference between them. This means that in second course, it is necessary to add new content.
From the results regarding richness, we conclude that the first course is better than the second course. The third course is also better than the second course with a statistically significant difference. The courses 1 and 3 have no significant statistical difference between them. This means that in second course, it is necessary to add new content. In contrast, from the results regarding usefulness, there were not discovered statistically significant differences among the courses.
From the thorough analysis of the courses, we conclude that the first and third courses are significantly better than the second course. So, the instructors need to add more content in the second course.
The research of this study in no way could be considered full, since the sample of respondents is small, in one only institute and for three only courses. Enlargement and reopening of the investigation in future will pay more accurately the views of learners in order to provide safer conclusions. The sample of respondents will consist of many different institutes. There will be a second questionnaire for educators/facilitators/administrators for a twofold evaluation. A causal model will be adopted which will explain the factors which affect the usage of blended learning. A confirmatory factor analysis will be performed in the model.


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Activities & Athletics
The Blue and Gold Brigade is the pride of Berryhill. The Berryhill band program is well known for its excellence in Marching Band, Jazz Band, and Concert Band. The choir is a newly formed group and in only their second year, competed at state. Art students are offered a wide range of classes from Art I to Advanced Drawing. Drama classes are offered to the secondary students in middle school and high school. Drama productions are derived from students in these classes.
Band website
Berryhill Public Schools offers many sports in which students may participate. In the fall students may participate in Football, Cross Country, Softball, and Volleyball. During the winter, the sports are boys and girls basketball and wrestling. In the spring, students may participate in baseball, slow-pitch softball, track, and golf.
Sport Schedules
The Berryhill Cheer Squad is made up of 20 football cheerleaders in 10th through 12th grades. During the winter, the squad splits into two squads. One squad cheers for the basketball teams and the other cheers for the wrestling team.


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About Us
Leading Electronics and Telecommunications Group in India: Established market leader in various segments, right from 1975 BPL Telecom Private Limited is an integral entity within the larger Billion Dollar BPL Group of Companies, The company has over the years developed distinct competencies in cutting edge technologies and diverse application domains drawn from the successful implementation of complex projects in highly competitive global markets. We "Believe in the Best", be it people, products or services, Our approach to everything emanates from this corporate philosophy.
Our Businesses
Consumer Telecom
BPL Telecom produces a wide range of innovative, high-tech customer premises equipment, including Push Button Phones, Fixed Line Phones, Land Line Phones, Caller Id Phones, Speaker phones, etc.
Enterprise Communications
The Enterprise Communications Products division provides solutions to address the communication needs of customers across India and overseas. Primary areas of business include : Design, manufacture and supply of PABX products and Enterprise Communication solutions.
Powerline Communications
BPL Telecom entered the area of Voice and Data Networks in 1971 by setting up Power Line Carrier Communication networks for State Electricity Boards.With the supply of PLCC equipment and associated products since then and installing in various parts of the country, the company has become a significant player in this market.
Our Strengths
BPL Telecom Private Limited is the first core Telecom Company in India for last more than four decades. We are a Pan India company Spread across 41 locations with our direct sales and service support team to cater to the needs of the customers .
We have state of the art Technology with the latest infrastructure of manufacturing with the highest standards.
We are having in-house R and D Capabilities to design and customize our products and solutions to meet varying requirements of the diversified customers.
We have presence in all verticals ie Corporates, Public sector unit, Private & Government Institutions.
Some of our major clientele include Prestigeous PSUs, Private sector Corporates, ISRO, Railways, Hotels, Educational Institutions, banks, Hospitals and many MSMEs.
Contact Us
Registered Office
BPL Telecom Private Limited
System House,
Palakkad – 678007,
Phone : 91 – 491 2573151
Head Office
BPL Telecom Private Limited
53, K.H. Road., Opp. BMTC.
Shanthi Nagar,
Bangalore – 560027.


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What are we doing about our TLC Cars Loan Default? Every default case is different, but our approach is always to focus on three key areas: recovery, accountability and lessons learnt. We previously wrote about the lessons that we learnt. In this article, we'll focus on the recovery and accountability aspects.
Slim chances of loan recovery
Last week, we wrote about our first p2p loan default with TLC Cars Pte Ltd. We analyzed the situation and believe that the chances of loan recovery are very low.
This does not seem to be a straightforward case of business difficulties or cashflow issues. Instead, it hints at severe issues lurking beneath the surface. If the company has indeed borrowed substantial amounts of new money before the director's disappearance, fraud cannot be ruled out.
Can TLC Cars be rehabilitated and nursed back to health? Can the loan be restructured? Unlikely. The car dealership business is transactional and highly dependent on reputation. The director is uncontactable. Its business reputation is destroyed. There is practically no way for TLC Cars to recover.
How about liquidating TLC Cars? At some point, liquidation will happen but it is also unlikely to fetch much value for p2p investors. Most of its assets lies in the car stock due to customers. But if it had sufficient cars to deliver, it wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place. Even if all its assets are liquidated, unsecured p2p lenders will probably get very little after secured creditors and legal fees.
The crowdfunding platforms that are affected have referred the case to debt collectors. We don't disagree. Since the court option is unlikely to yield much, the hope is that debt collectors are able to work their magic. It is still a long short, but probably worth a try.
Who should be held accountable for TLC Cars default?
In the TLC Cars case, the problem clearly lies with the director, Timothy Gay. If the company faces cash-flow problems, he should negotiate with creditors to work out a solution. If there are other issues that could threaten the company, he has an obligation to disclose fully to creditors. His disappearance simply makes things worse.
What about the crowdfunding platforms? So far, we don't think there are anything wrong with their due diligence processes. We relooked at the loan sheets and do not see any red flags. Yes, the track record is short, the margins are low and debt ratio is high. But these are not reasons why the company failed. The main reasons, in our view, are the actions and character of the director.
Character assessment is very difficult – and this is probably why banks insist on SMEs with established track records. Also, problems that are buried beneath the surface usually stay undetected for years.
We don't always agree with crowdfunding platforms. But in TLC Cars case, we think they are doing a decent job.
What can investors do?
There are some discussions at the Let's Crowd Smarter forum. Several investors have also written to us separately. At this stage, we think the best option is give the debt collectors some time to do their work.
Should investors make a police report? We're ambivalent to this option. When our loan to TLC Cars was extended earlier in the year, repayment was prompt for 7 months. There is nothing to indicate foul play. But if what was reported is true – that TLC Cars borrowed substantial amounts of new money in the months before the director's disappearance, then the possibility of fraud against this later group of lenders cannot be ruled out.
In any case, police reports are made. A CASE report is filed. The incident has hit mass media. We believe that the crowdfunding platforms will follow up appropriately.
The crowd is watching.


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Violence in Berkeley at the hand of "Antifa" activists has spurred soul-searching within the leftist activist movement in the Bay Area and beyond, even as emotions remain raw after a white supremacist rally in Virginia this month that left one woman dead and dozens injured. President Trump received blistering criticism for equating the behavior of Klansmen and neo-Nazis to the actions of those who opposed them. Some fear that Sunday's violence will only help advance the idea that the two groups are the same.
Trump received blistering criticism for equating the behavior of Klansmen and neo-Nazis to the actions of those who opposed them. Some fear that Sunday's violence would only help advance the idea that the two sides are the same.
"This is food for the adversary," said sociologist Todd Gitlin, a founder of Students for a Democratic Society, which organized the first national protests against the Vietnam War. He pointed out that violent acts committed by a few will almost always hijack the narrative of the entire protest, and that it is happening now should be no surprise.
Gitlin also described what he sees as a push by the anti-fascist — also called "antifa" — movement to put "themselves on the map of protest" by using violence to "intimidate" both political opponents and those on the left who promote non-violence. One of the biggest banners at the Berkeley demonstration carried the message "Avenge Charlottesville."
Militants who showed up Sunday were part of a multifaceted rally in which church leaders sang gospel and anti-fascists shouted profanities. Berkeley police estimated more than 4,000 people came out to take over a city park where far-right activists had called for an anti-Marxism rally. The organizer canceled the event Friday, citing security concerns, but a small number of far-right activists showed up anyway.
By the end of the day, 13 people had been arrested, one on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and three on battery charges.
Meet Antifa, the Violent Anti-Fascist Movement That Fights the Alt …


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1. Take Notes
Take notes during your call. It will help you to not interrupt, and to remember key points the prospect makes. Also, while you are writing, let them know you are doing so. This indicates to them that what they are saying is truly important to you.
2. An Opening Idea
Here's an effective opening statement heard on a sales call to our offices:
"Hi, this is Gail with _________. We specialize in helping companies save money on _________. I have some information I believe you'll be interested in." (PAUSE)
Our reaction was exactly what she was looking for: "What is it?" Determine if you can adapt this to fit your situation.
3. Objection-Answering Technique
When you hear a "no," and you detect it's a stall or a decoy objection, don't challenge their feelings. Try this response instead:
"That's a good decision....right now. I don't blame you. But that's because I haven't yet given you enough information to believe otherwise...."
Then proceed with your questioning.
4. Make Calls in Threes
A TSR reader shared that he gets more accomplished when he places calls in groups of threes.
He takes only essential notes at the conclusion of each call, and moves on to the next one. After the three are completed, he finishes whatever paperwork is required. By focusing on these tasks in groups of three, he finds he's more effective on the calls, and he's able to place more calls during the day.
5. Take the Chill Out of Cold Calls
It's no wonder that many people are averse to making cold calls. Just the name itself, "cold call" sounds unappealing, and that can negatively affect our attitude towards the calls.


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We have a large selection of NCAA licensed tailgating products, and every product comes in multiple designs. Begin browsing our college fan shop by clicking on a school below.
NCAA Licensed Products
Tailgating products let you party in style
Represent your school with spirit gear from our college fan store. We carry a vast selection of NCAA tailgating products that sports fans and college alumni will love. Be prepared for football season by stocking up on NCAA merchandise!
NCAA table covers
NCAA table covers are great for tailgating, and they're also a big hit at sporting events and college fundraisers. Enjoy these tailgate table covers while you watch your favorite football team rise through the ranks!
NCAA flags and banners
Show your school spirit with college flags and banners. All of our flags and banners use high-quality materials so they're built to last. We have multiple designs to choose from, and we're always adding more!
Shopping for NCAA tailgating products
Here at Victory Corps, we carry a hefty selection of NCAA merchandise so you can tailgate in style and throw parties you'll never forget. Keep checking back, because our selection is constantly growing, and feel free to give us a call if there's anything we can do to help you with your party, parade or tailgating event. Victory Corps is here to help you celebrate!
NCAA coolers
Keep your drinks cool while showing off your team spirit. NCAA coolers are the essential accessory for tailgating fanatics! We carry cooler tables that transform from a cooler to a table, and we also carry NCAA-licensed cooler covers in a wide selection of sizes. These are the coolest way to show your love for your favorite sports team this football season!


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The Lost World
Journey Together
No Highway in the Sky
Hollywood Revue of 1929
Souls for Sale
The Ritz
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone
The Broadway Melody
All Bessie Love films
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
Copyright © 2019 FANDANGO MOVIES.


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I usually say that I don't live one day at a time ~ I live one hour at a time. My symptoms change from one hour to the next, as I described in my last post (ups and downs), but lately I have definitely had some days that were much worse than others. I will have a couple of days with just my "base level" pain, and no major times of dystonia or dyskinesia. But the last few days I have had several bouts of each. Last night I had about an hour of full body muscle cramps so severe I could hardly breathe. I had to wake up my husband and he helped me to calm down and breathe.
My husband is taking on more of the cooking and cleaning. This hasn't been easy for him ~ I sometimes wonder which of us has a more difficult life, me with the pain and disability or him with having to take up the slack. My daughters both think that they have way more chores to do than any other kids. They are especially disgruntled at having to wash dishes. Apparently we are the only family in the western world without a dishwasher. They will concede to the fact that there might be a few families in Africa who also wash dishes by hand, but we are definitely the only holdouts here.
Basically, Parkinson's disease affects the whole family.


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Thanks for looking.
Tuesday, December 3
More sketchbook work
Lately I've been showing a lot of love to my sketchbook. Every other day or so, I spend a little time in Photoshop "finishing" old sketches and I have really been enjoying the process. When they are "done" I post them on my facebook page. Head on over to see more and while you are there, please "like" my page.
Also, If you are interested, there is another Free Print Giveaway happening right now- Ends later today. Head on over to https://www.facebook.com/Eliottlillyart to check out the details.
Thanks for looking.
Thanks for looking.
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TEAC TN-300 Review
TEAC TN-300 Turntable Review Getting the right turntable can be difficult. You know that you want to play your records, but there is a constant worry that you may be spending too much money as you buy the device. You want to be able to appreciate the great music of the world through the classic…


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Catering unit Large-Medium
Catering Units: We Assist
Facility & Infrastructure: Gap identification- Course Correction. Minimum
interruption - Safe operation techniques.
Design & Choice in technology adoption with calibrated updation.
area Intervention & Problem shooting. Technology & Systems improvement.
utilisation of resources, Identification of strengths & building USP.
containment - Quality adoption techniques. ISO, HACCP & SQF facilitation.
improvements: Material, Transport, Storage, Handling & Vendor facilities.
Menu & Meal: Concept, Design, Balance, Planning, Presentation and Costing.
Concept Orientation: Be Customer Appreciated Partner through training & support .
Improve Productivity: Better performance & Conservation of resources.
Hygiene & Sanitation: Improve resources, modes
& methods, Optimise Costs.
Hazard & Safety: Hazard analysis, Improve Maintenance
& Operational Safety.
Product & Services: Evaluation Analysis, Redesigning & Re-engineering.
Appraisal & Monitoring: Evaluation techniques for continuous improvement .
Start up Consultancy. : Infrastructure,
Systems & Technology Design Evaluation,


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With clean air ducts, air conditioning and heating systems operate much more effectively.
Pollutants, dust, and pollen are the most common source of clogged air ducts. Not only do they reduce the efficiency of heating and cooling systems, these elements ultimately contaminate the air that you breathe.
Our advance equipment and the expert technicians at out company will clean the air ducts throughout your home. The process includes the removal of unwanted particles and pollutants, from the grill back to the main panel unit, to ensure proper ventilation and the circulation of clean air. Our Equipment works under negative pressure to assure all the dirt and the dust will be removed efficiently and will not stay in the ducts. If needed, our technicians will also clean the filter system, the blower, and the motor. We will Sanitize and disinfect the entire system. We use only EPA approved products which are perfectly safe for adults, children and pets.
We also offer:
*Clothes dryer vent cleaning.
*Filtration- Installing new electrostatic air filters, which prevent dust and airborne pollutants from entering your system.
*UV light- Installing a high quality UV light inside the air duct system- the UV light sterilizes and reduces airborne micro organisms which are too small to be trapped by filters. The UV light operates 24 hours a day to sanitize the air in your home and helps protect you and your family against allergy and illness.


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Welcome to Rainbow Snippets! Today I'd like to share the opening lines to my new book, SHELTON IN LOVE, releasing February 1st!
Shelton ignored the flutter in his stomach that he always experienced when invited into Nevil's room and settled back into the cushions of the chair. "Who's the lucky color?" he asked, trying to feign indifference.
Nevil drew a pair of socks from the top drawer of the bureau at random. "Ah, the gray ones."
"What? Percy again? Didn't you have him earlier in the week?"
"So what? These socks have never let me down," Nevil countered and rubbed the soft wool against his cheek, purring like a happy kitten.
Shelton's stomach knotted at the decadent smile on Nevil's face.
Shelton is falling hard for his best friend and roommate, finding Nevil's dark good looks and moments of gentleness almost impossible to resist. But Nevil is more interested in affairs of the body than the heart. As Shelton's desire for the man grows, he wonders if he can change Nevil's mind. But does he even want to? Nevil might not stay, once he learns Shelton's secret, and then his loneliness would be complete.


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Ana Krstić
Just do it / Tito – that's us
Video installation, 2011
"Tito – that's us" was one of the slogans used during the opening ceremony of the factory "Krušik – precizni liv" in Mionica in 1980. The slogan was made of styrofoam letters colored in red, and placed on the façade of the newly-opened factory. This slogan reminds me of "The Personal is Political" – the famous essay by Carol Hanisch from 1969, and although it does not convey the original interpretation, in wider context and with new understanding, it projects the idea that personality, individuality and ideology have collective consequences. In the context of a small incident which occurred during the Youth Day baton relay procession through the small town of Mionica, the focal point of this installation, we see again that the political is personal. From today's perspective, this might be illustrated with another famous slogan of our times – "Just do it". The commercial slogan for sports equipment –"Just do it" is in direct connection with video works that illustrate the single man's idea that relay is actually a race sport competition, and nothing more.


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3,317 Dojos in Australia, 32,938 Total
Helping people find Dojo since 2004
Currently online: 242 Visitors
Distance is shown approximately from the downtown area of Nambucca Heads. For a list of Martial Arts Schools near you, Search with your complete address. Click on a Dojo name to view details. Clicking on 'Map' next to a Dojo will show the school on the Map.
Looking for kids Karate or Martial Arts classes near an address in Nambucca Heads? Please use the following search box:
See Martial Arts Schools in places nearby Nambucca Heads: South West Rocks, Bellingen, Toormina, Coffs Harbour & Kempsey.
Are you associated with a Martial Arts School, Club or Dojo in the Nambucca Heads area? Please make sure it is listed with dojos.com.au.


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Unfortunately, i'm the kind of person that often wakes up anxious and for the longest time, i purposely didn't want to create myself a morning routine. Basically, waking up was a hassle and i wanted to quickly start the day and move on, you know? But back in January when i decided to pursue a happier and healthier lifestyle, i decided to give happy mornings a try! I experienced several ways to start the day (working out, listening to music, watching cartoons like a kid, going for a walk…) and i think that my current routine is the one that is bringing me the most energy and happiness. I'm feeling generally more relaxed and inspired, even when i have a bad night, so to me it's definitely a sign. Now i know that routines are very personal and everyone is different, but if you feel like you need help finding your perfect routine, maybe you'll find inspiration in my experience.
Stretching and cuddling
One of the happiest thing when i wake up is my baby Yoda coming up in bed to snuggle with me. He usually wakes me up when he's crawling his way under the sheets and trust me friends, it's the best thing to wake up to! Options available for this part are kids, boyfriend, girlfriend etc.! I also follow my cats example now and never leave bed without stretching my entire body and there again believe me, it makes a huge difference (especially if you have any back problem like me).
Getting warm and cosy
The second i'm out of bed, i put on a cosy robe and slippers, head for the kitchen to feed my two wild animals and start the kettle. I actually alternate between tea and moka depending on my mood but in Autumn i'm usually reaching for a traditional English Breakfast tea with a little bit of almond milk and sugar. I eat only if i'm feeling hungry and that's usually not right away (i often eat about an hour and a half after waking up).
It's honestly the most relaxing part of my morning i think. I grab a book, get comfy in my blanket on the couch and sip on my tea for about 15 minutes. This allows me to fully wake up in the most gentle way as my brain is awake and inspired by the words i'm reading, and my body is warmed up by my favorite sweet tea.
Working from our small apartment, i cannot start a productive day if i'm looking at a messy room. It takes no longer than 5 minutes every morning to make the bed, clean the dishes from breakfast and tidy the room a little bit. No pile of paper randomly scattered, no clothes hanging from every chair, that's the best way for me to make sure i won't get distracted by anything around (my wild mind is easily distracted enough as it is!).
That's it! See, nothing revolutionary here, to me the most important thing is simply to take a little bit of time. If you have that option, avoid rushing into your day and try to do something relaxing, even for just 10minutes, it works magic. xo


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Freedom from Poverty through Action
Born out of the Community Action model that arose during the War on Poverty, Solid Ground merges direct services with advocacy to address poverty. We have a successful track record of promoting progressive policymaking on state, regional and local levels.
As the Fremont Public Association, we led the formation of many of the central provider coalitions in our community. Solid Ground has always helped bring the voices of people of all income levels into the political process to support opportunities for everyone to prosper. We organize locally and regionally – and across Washington state as well through our advocacy partner, Statewide Poverty Action Network – to keep people in their homes, get people housed, and develop resources to support people moving out of poverty.
Larry Gossett on Solid Ground's role creating coalitions
Members of our team have been visible leaders in campaigns for fair tenant laws, improved food security, access to benefits, and removing barriers to opportunity.
Our President & CEO Gordon McHenry, Jr. served on Mayor Ed Murray's Income Inequality Task Force, is a member of the Coordinating Board of All Home, chairs the Washington State Partnership Council on Juvenile Justice, and serves on the Governance Group of Communities of Opportunity, a place-based initiative that aims to improve race, health and socio-economic equity in King County. Our staff and program participants bring lived experiences into the political process, which can powerfully impact policy change and help fund programs that meet community needs.
'I have a voice!'
Statewide Poverty Action Network
With a membership of thousands of individuals and organizations, Poverty Action builds grassroots power to end causes of poverty and create opportunities for everyone to prosper.
Envisioning a state where people of all income levels fully promote and participate in building the fabric of socially, politically, and economically just communities, they:
- Organize communities to advocate for issues impacting their lives.
- Promote public policy changes that address the causes of poverty.
- Deepen democracy by mobilizing historically disenfranchised voters.
- Engage leaders in communities with low incomes.
As an advocacy partner of Solid Ground, Poverty Action maintains its own website and legislative agenda highlighting campaigns such as:
- Save the Safety Net: Poverty Action plays an important role advocating for funding and access to a broad spectrum of programs such as TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and Disability Lifeline that help people meet their basic needs.
- Consumer Protections: Poverty Action has a long track record of fighting for legislation to rein in predatory lenders that target low-income communities, people of color, military personnel, and seniors.
- Roadblocks to Re-entry: Poverty Action works to reduce or eliminate barriers previously incarcerated people face to reentering their communities, such as LFOs (Legal Financial Obligations). They also helped pass the Voting Rights Restoration Act in 2009, restoring the right to vote for 400,000 previously incarcerated Washington state citizens.
Poverty Action organizes through a racial equity lens, drawing attention to the relationship between systemic oppression and poverty. They take direction from the communities in our state most impacted by poverty, and their Coordinating Board is comprised of and accountable to people with low incomes and people of color.Current Campaigns
S.P.E.A.K. (Sharing Personal Experience As Knowledge)
Poverty Action's SPEAK Initiative amplifies the voices and expertise of community members as they share their stories to change policies and transform the narrative about why people are poor. By telling their stories, people use the power of their lived experiences with poverty to create a more just state for us all.
Share your Story! Contact email@example.com.


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I wrote about my hair care routine in this post. Since things changed I tought I could do another post about it.
Firstly, I've started to use new shampoo and conditioner from Tigi Bed Head re-energize. I absolutely love this line and I've been repurchasing it for a several times now.
Also a few months ago for the first time I also bought hair mask from the same Tigi Bed Head line. I love how soft my hair is after using it. I used it two to three times a week. Earlier I was using hair mask from Lee Stafford. I wrote about it here .
Another new thing which I've been using is my new Kerastase hair oil. Since I've been using it not for a long time I haven't seen much difference from other cheaper drugstore hair oils, but one thing I can definitely tell – it smells amazing! Like no other hair oil which I used in the past.


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I bought Easter candy for my students. It was a mistake.
Although the students made a valiant effort to eat as much as possible, they left a few Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs (a particular weakness of mine) in the candy basket. Needless to say, they didn't last long.
Reese's eggs are just one of many newer adaptations of older Easter traditions. Recent twitter posts have made me realize how much confusion still persists about these traditions. My favorite was a screenshot on March 6 of a white board explaining that "Easter is a pagan conspiracy" originating in the Middle Eastern cult of Ishtar and the ancient Babylonian empire . Another, posted on February 24, proclaims that eggs and bunnies are "fertility and sex symbols" that apparently existed in a pagan celebration christianized in the aftermath of Constantine.
Most Americans, according to a 2010 Barna poll, consider Easter to be a religious holiday. Yet, because of similar traditions about eggs and spring found in ancient cultures, belief persists that Easter has pagan roots (see websites like www.christiananswers.net ).
I would like to assure you that Easter is a Christian holiday.
Yes, The Venerable Bede did write in the 8th century that the name Easter stems from the goddess "Eostre" who gave her name to the "Eostur" month. How easily the public has swallowed this statement as "fact," however, testifies to why the world needs historians. No historical evidence exists to support Bede's statement. Indeed, scholars have long known that Bede provides interpretations based on his own opinions instead of supporting historical evidence (i.e., not everything he says is correct!). Historian Ronald Hutton, lamenting how Bede's statement "has been so often quoted without any inspection or criticism," stresses that "it is equally valid…to suggest that the Anglo-Saxon 'Eoster-monath' simply meant 'the month of opening' or 'the month of beginnings', and that Bede mistakenly connected it with a goddess who either never existed at all, or was never associated with a particular season, but merely, like Eos and Aurora, with the dawn itself." As historical evidence for this "shadowy deity" evaporates, Hutton continues, all evidence for a March/April "pre-Christian festival in the British Isles" also evaporates.
So let me say it again, Easter is a Christian holiday. Similarities with pagan practices may exist, but the most direct links come from the medieval Christian world. The Easter bunny is perhaps the biggest exception. Once again, however, a pagan goddess is not the root of this tradition. The earliest reference to a rabbit bringing eggs is from a late sixteenth-century German text (1572). The earliest reference I can find linking Easter traditions with Bede's "shadowy goddess" Eostre (Ostara) is from an 1835 account of the-famous-writer-of-fairy-tales-himself Jakob Grimm. Thus, the historical trail of evidence for the Easter Bunny begins in a world far, far removed from ancient paganism.
Just as the modern manifestation of the Easter Bunny is more firmly rooted in early modern Christian Europe than the world of an ancient pagan goddess, the Easter tradition represented by the Reese's eggs I can't help but eat have roots firmly entrenched in medieval Christianity.
Remember, historical parallels are not the same as historical evidence. To parody a quote attributed to Freud: sometimes a historical similarity is just a historical similarity.


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Shortly after the United States began bombing Afghanistan on Oct. 7, a 30-year-old Indonesian traveling on a false Filipino passport slipped into this tightly controlled city-state carrying a plan to strike back at America.
His mission, investigators say, was to activate a ''sleeper cell'' of Islamic militants who had long been waiting for a call from Al Qaeda's leaders in Afghanistan. This group, which had been loosely organized for eight years, began planning to blow up the embassies of the United States, Israel, Australia and Britain, the investigators say.
The plot was foiled when 13 members were arrested. During questioning, officials say, they described a well-organized network stretching across Southeast Asia and perhaps into Australia. The early glimpses uncovered by authorities in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore suggest that the network rivaled in reach and sophistication the one formed by Osama bin Laden's lieutenants in Europe.
Just last week, the Philippines seized a cache of rifles, explosives and bomb-making equipment believed to have been part of the plot. Investigators are continuing to examine the Singapore group's links to Islamic militants in Malaysia, who investigators say served as the regional organizers for Al Qaeda.
Local officials and Western business executives were taken aback by the ability of Al Qaeda to plant operatives in Singapore, one of the most tightly controlled societies.Continue reading the main story
Leading outwardly normal lives that gave no cause for suspicion, members of the ''sleeper cell'' succeeded in concealing its existence. Investigators say at least eight were trained by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. They avoided contact with well-known Islamic organizations and were not even known to be active members of local mosques. They communicated with code words, according to a statement by the government of Singapore.
The group was ready to act when two foreigners, the Indonesian and a Kuwaiti traveling on a false Canadian passport, arrived with orders. ''The switch was thrown,'' said one Western diplomat.
The cell members moved quickly. They guided the visitors, whom they knew as Mike and Sammy, to the American Embassy, a chunky gray fortress on a wooded plot. They videotaped it and the abutting Australian Embassy, zooming in for close-ups. They set about procuring explosives -- they wanted 21 tons -- plus trucks to pack them in and the chemicals needed to set off a devastating blast.
The questioning of the group's members is continuing and further arrests are possible. Last week authorities in the Philippines arrested Mike, whom they identified as Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi, an Indonesian who had three Philippine passports and an Indonesian one, a Philippine intelligence official said.
Crucial aspects of the plot remain unknown. It is not clear, for example, whether Mr. al-Ghozi was conveying direct orders from Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The man identified as Sammy remains at large, as do five others suspected of belonging to the Singapore cell, which like similar cells around the world called itself Gamaa Islamiyah, or Islamic Group.
''These guys were not a rogue group,'' a Western diplomat said. ''There was a management hierarchy and a functional breakdown. It was like a K.G.B. cell.'' The question, he said, is ''what relationship did the cell have to the K.G.B.'' -- that is, Al Qaeda.
According to the government statement, the first hints about the group came to light after Sept. 11 when a local source told the Internal Security Department about a Singaporean of Pakistani descent who had ties to Al Qaeda.
The man, Muhammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan, was placed under surveillance but he abruptly left Singapore for Pakistan on Oct. 4. He was later seized by Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan, leading investigators to focus on his associates in Singapore.
The arrests began on Dec. 9, and a few days later, a videotape was found in an abandoned house in Kabul, Afghanistan, on which a narrator described where in Singapore bombs could be hidden to attack Americans. Investigators here searched the homes of those detained and found an identical videotape.
''The new finding shows a very direct link between the Gamaa Islamiyah group detained here and Al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan,'' the home affairs minister, Wong Kan Seng, said in a statement this week.
An organizational chart prepared by the Singaporean investigators says the group is led by Abdus Samad, a pseudonym for Abu Bakar Baasyir, a hard-line Islamic teacher in Indonesia who said in a statement this week that he admired Mr. bin Laden but was not a terrorist.
Many of the Singaporeans arrested were ''intimately intertwined'' with Mr. Baasyir at various points, a Western official said. Mr. al-Ghozi, for example, studied at his religious school in Indonesia for six years.
Below Mr. Baasyir is a regional shura, or council, which was based in Malaysia, and below that are cells that operated in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, according to the outline prepared by investigators. Malaysia, which does not require visas for citizens of Muslim countries, appears to have been the hub.
For example, two hijackers on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhazmi, met with a member of the regional council there in early 2000, and Zacarias Moussaoui, an Algerian charged in the United States in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, made at least two trips to Malaysia in 2000.
One task of the Islamic Group's cell in Malaysia was to arrange for recruits from Singapore to reach Afghanistan for military training, investigators here say.
The men were given documents from a religious school in Pakistan saying they were enrolled there. They used those papers to explain to their families and employers why they would be away. Then they went to Malaysia by road and flew to Karachi, Pakistan, where they were kept in safe houses before moving on to Afghanistan.
The Singapore group, investigators say, took root as early as 1993. It was eventually organized into cells, at least three groups of four or five men each devoted to planning attacks.
The first such planning known dates to 1997. The possible targets included the Yishun subway stop, in a residential neighborhood of pastel-colored apartments. From that station, American troops frequently board a shuttle bus for a short ride to an American base where their families could play baseball or tennis at the Terror Club (its name when the base belonged to the British, which still appears on the awning at the swimming pool).
A member of the Singapore cell traveled to Afghanistan, told Al Qaeda's leaders of the plan and underwent nine months' military training, according to investigators. Ultimately, Al Qaeda rejected the plan; the reasons remain unknown.
Last April, members of second cell were carrying out their own surveillance. One member, who worked at the government-owned Singapore Technologies Aerospace, took digital photographs of American military aircraft and personnel at Paya Lebar Airbase. These were given to other cell members.
It was this cell that was activated after Sept. 11, when Sammy and Mike (Mr. al-Ghozi) arrived.
The oldest of four children, Mr. al-Ghozi left home when he was 12 to attend the Islamic school where Mr. Baasyir now teaches. After graduating he left Indonesia, telling his parents he was going to study in Pakistan, his mother, Rukana, said.
''For the six years he was studying in Pakistan, I did not hear a word from him,'' she said. The family did not see him again until last year, when he came home after he married a Malaysian woman, she added.Continue reading the main story


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Ecclesiastes 1:18
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
"I look around and I see these young faces and I think I mean I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make.
I uh.... I pi**ed away all my money believe it or not.
I chased off anyone who has ever loved me.
And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror.
You know when you get old in life things get taken from you.
That's, that's part of life.
But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff."
Al Pacino - Any Given Sunday
If there's something that we all go through in life, it's pain and loss. The effects are deep and can last a lifetime. For me, on a physical level my thrice operated on ankle causes me constant pain. I've only recently learned that just about every other ache and pain in my body traces back to me dealing with that pain. The injury also has caused loss: I can't play sports at the level I used to and I've had to stop playing some sports completely because of it. On a larger level, that's just a small example of what goes on when we live life. It seems that everywhere I look I see pain and loss.
Running on - running on empty
Running on - running blind
Running on - running into the sun
But I'm running behind
Jackson Browne - Running On Empty
These past few years have been heightened with pain and loss as I walk through life. It seems that I've endured the difficulties of twenty years in the past two. With it has come stress, deep bouts of depression and anxiety, loss of sleep, nightmares, and just general lack of energy. I tried reading a book recently and just can't seem to focus enough to get through a chapter. I've seen so many other people suffering and I either feel it so deeply that it brings me down or I just shut down. I keep thinking just how low my tank has been and yet somehow I continue on. It even has taken its toll on me physically as I have suffered from Shingles last year. My friend Phil said that it's part of the cost of intentionally ministering to people: it's full of pain and loss and you're going to feel it. I continually find myself skimming over Ecclesiastes relating to what Solomon had to say and was only subtly able to answer. What do we do with all of this pain and loss?
Well, people got used to seeing them both together.
But now he's gone and life goes on, nothing lasts forever, oh no.
She gets the house and the garden, he gets the boys in the band.
Some of them his friends, some of them her friends, some of them understand.
Lord knows that this is just a small town city, yes, and everyone can see you fall.
James Taylor and JD Souther - Her Town Too
I've been hesitant to write about this but I'm in the final stages of my impending divorce. It's been a painful journey. I know that I'm very much responsible for not dealing with my junk over the years and people have suffered for that. I know that in many ways I deserve the full force of the fallout from this situation. I now live a life seeking new structure. It's full of emptiness and loneliness. It's a situation of my own doing. It's consequence of hurting those I was called to love. It's full of pain and loss.
Ecclesiastes 3:20
All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.
Psalm 90:10
Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
I have covered in great detail the ongoing struggle my precious daughter,Amanda is going through. I think of her and the pain she goes through. It is a helpless feeling knowing there's little I can do to alleviate it. Even worse was the time that I had to face the possibility of losing her. It's a thought no parent even gets close to entertaining - it's just too painful. Yet, one day in April I had to really look that possibility in the face. I'm seeing now how deeply that impacted me. It has taken me to a place that I never wanted to go to and now that I have been there it haunts me with the pain of the possibility deep loss on the most personal level.
I'm not sure if this is a new pattern (and hope not) but these past two years have also had the pain and loss of death on the forefront of my mind. I recently had to put my beloved dog Dorcas down. It was the right choice, but it was painful. I still come home and realize she's not there to greet me. I think of holding her as the life in her ebbed away. I cried over my dog knowing how good she had been for me. I knew I had suffered a great loss. I think of Will Patterson and young man with a very difficult past who died in his mid thirties. You'd like to hope that his life would have ended with a great triumph. It seems that it was more of a merciful homecoming. He suffered greatly and it seems the pain far outweighed whatever he had done in this life. He was guy you had to like and I feel sad that in this life he didn't find healing he deserved. My friend Chris Drake was a co-worker who was a kind and gentle soul who had a heart to help others. I knew him for over 20 years and I don't think I ever saw him express any ill will towards anybody. Yet cancer knows no boundaries. It is a cruel disease that painfully takes everything from you. There's almost too much to say about the loss of my dad. His influence is deeply imprinted on my life. No matter how old I got, he was an anchor point in my life. That secure tether is no longer there. Shockingly, my cousin Ron died only a few weeks after my dad and of the same ailment. Aneurysms are ticking time bombs. Ron was unlucky enough to have his time bomb go off at the age of 55. He was only a few months away from escorting his daughter down the aisle. Like my dad, he was an anchor in my life. His faith in God, wisdom and kindness were something I could rely on. His family has felt the pain and loss. His passing has deeply altered my view on life. We're close in age, are Christians and share the same ancestry. I realize my time on earth is precious so how do I live in the midst of all of this and continue to find a way to go on?
Everyone I know, everywhere I go
People need some reason to believe
Jackson Browne - Running On Empty
Because in either game life or football the margin for error is so small. I mean
one half step too late or to early you don't quite make it.
One half second too slow or too fast and you don't quite catch it.
The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They are in ever break of the game every minute, every second...
I'll tell you this in any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch.
And I know if I am going to have any life anymore it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch because that is what LIVING is.
The six inches in front of your face.
Al Pacino - Any Given Sunday
Warning: this video has cursing in it:
John 15: 1-4
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
Psalm 90:14-17
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
So what do I make of all of this pain and loss? It's an incomplete set of answers but it's the path I choose to be on (and many times stray from). God is still good. I live with that premise. He suffered great pain and loss for me. He loves me and I'm going to stand by that. Loss is part of the process of stripping away (or pruning) of the good things in life. Good at times is the enemy of great. My time on earth is precious, how am I spending it? Pain is a teacher. It is clear the we learn the most when we suffer. Life's truths are very much "easier said than done". Truly living life involves pain. What are we doing with it? Are we running from it? Ignoring it? Or do we enter into it and feel the depth of it knowing that we will learn the greater truths of life? I see that the deeper we feel pain is also a path to the deeper we feel joy and love.
I see my challenge to continue on with that context. That is the "six inches" in front of my face. At times I can see the whole picture and at times I can only see what right in front of me. At best we get an incomplete view of the life we are living and it is full of pain and loss.


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My son, Nick, is 15 and I know firsthand that being the parent of a teenager can seem like a thankless job. Teens are moody and uncommunicative, dramatic and demanding. They think that they know everything while we parents are hopelessly uncool and out of touch. Teens resent all rules and responsibilities and yet expect to be driven around and fed hot meals at a moment's notice.
It's just give, give, give without getting anything in return. But lately, I've noticed some unexpected benefits from having a teen around.
First, they're a great source for hi-tech entertainment. Teens have some really cool ways to amuse themselves. Nick has introduced me to Facebook (I originally signed up so I could keep track of him); Anaconda, an irresistible snaky game; and Shazam, an amazing application that listens to a few seconds of music and then tells you what song is playing. It's frivolous, it's fun, and I wouldn't know about any of it if I didn't have a teen.
Also, teens read good books. Young adult fiction is heavy on plot, so these books are action packed. If your book club's pick is putting you to sleep, steal from your teen's bookshelf. For a really juicy read try Stephenie Meyer's Twilight - it has all the freshman girls' moms in a tizzy.
Nick doesn't drive yet, so we carpool to swim practice. A car packed with five high school boys makes for very interesting conversations. On our last drive we discussed Nostradamus, World War II, the Presidential election and, of course, hot girls. I'm telling you, those 20 minutes in the car were more thought-provoking and amusing than any North Shore cocktail party.
Speaking of driving, I've discovered a great use for teens once they get their licence - as designated drivers. For their parents. Last weekend, Liam and I went out to dinner with our good friends, Tricia and Chuck. Everyone wanted to have a drink or two so I suggested we taxi to the restaurant. Not necessary. "Kyle will drive us," offered Tricia. So their 16-year-old son, Kyle, chauffeured us to and from our dinner. He didn't mind, because it allowed him to stay out past his curfew, and we adults were able to safely enjoy ourselves. That's what I call win-win.
You know, I'm actually getting quite a bit of value out of my teenager. If I could only get him to pick up his shoes.