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Thayer Notes
Henry Keck '43 Tu'44 Th'44: Three years ago I retired from the firm Keck-Craig Inc., which I founded in 1951. Since then I've been very busy with inventors from all over the United States who need help in getting their inventions ready for production. I write business plans for them to help raise money. I've also written a new book, How Design Changed America.
Robert Sundblad '44 Th'48: I retired from active engineering work in 1989. I moved to Florida in 1994 from Marion, Mass. I have served as president of our local engineering society for several years here in Florida. Otherwise, I enjoy a quiet retirement watching boats and the world go by from our waterfront property.
Bob Pretat '46 Th'48: I just returned to Virginia from Dartmouth, where we drove for the class of 1946 65th reunion. I have only been to my 50th reunion, previously living farther away in Texas and Florida. I live in the Tampa area six months of the year but now have a home in southwest Virginia during the summer and fall. I called Paul Lacke '46 Th'48 about the reunion, but he couldn't make it. I haven't been involved in engineering since I retired from a cement company in 1989, starting there in 1948 when I left Thayer School. Lafarge ended up being the largest cement company in the world—I helped a little. My life has been recently blessed with a new soulmate, Carol, after my wife of almost 52 years died in 2002. Between travel and hobbies—mine is genealogy—we keep busy. I'm working on my fourth book, and more beckon me.
Charles Quinn '47 Th'47: I was one of the approximately 25 Navy and Marine Corp V-12 members, all Thayer classmates, who received our degrees in early 1946. It was a wartime program that compressed the eight college semesters into less than three years. Dartmouth, the Navy, and engineering have always been wonderful, happy memories for me. But after two more years in the Navy, I felt that I was being called to the priesthood. I was ordained as a Catholic priest of the Dominican Order at Washington, D.C., in 1955. My first assignment was to Pakistan, where I stayed for 16 years. I was then elected the superior of the Dominicans of New York Province. Following eight years as provincial, I then did much parochial ministry in the States (mostly in Jersey City, N.J., and Pleasantville, N.Y.). I also had another foreign mission assignment to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. For the past year, I have been at the Dominican Priory in Cincinnati, Ohio, helping out at a large parish, but also being present for the young men who are here in our novitiate, beginning their years of study for the priesthood. I have not remained in engineering, except for those memorable years at Dartmouth and the great group that made up that V-12 portion of the class of Thayer School 1947.
Tad Comstock '48 Th'48: We have moved into a very nice continuing care facility in Exeter, N.H., known as the Boulders at Riverwoods. I have met a number of Dartmouth grads here. We are looking forward to making my class of '48 mini-reunion next fall.
Pete Knoke '55 Th'56: I'm a full-time associate professor of software engineering at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. I teach graduate and undergraduate courses in computer science and software engineering, conduct and publish research in software engineering, mentor students, and perform the usual other university service activities. I'm working on a book titled Legal Issues for Software Engineers. For several years I have performed volunteer work for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society (test development for the IEEE computer software development associate and professional as well as the evolving nationwide software engineering professional engineer program). I do this work because I believe more professionalism might help in improving software quality. I am 77 years old and am thinking of retiring; my children and grandchildren in Florida complain that we don't get to see each other very often.
Stanley Sklar '55 Th'56: My first engineering job was as a summer intern at the Bell Telephone Laboratory, working on a vacuum tube project. After graduating from Thayer in 1956 my engineering career moved on to the design of aerospace data processing and display systems based on digital transistor logic circuits, then integrated circuits, then microprocessors, hybrid circuits to reduce size, and finally custom integrated circuits. In 1972–73 I designed the command/control display system for Boeing's AWACS airplane that was based on the first 1,024-bit (128 byte) memory chip. We received the serial number 1 chip from National Semiconductor Corp. in 1973. Today chip capacities reach one megabyte and beyond. Since I graduated at a time of transition from vacuum tubes to the digital world, the components and digital system design techniques were not yet taught at Thayer. They had to be learned on the job and through night courses at local universities. I think there is a message here. In retirement my technical activities are limited to keeping up with the ever-growing advances in personal computing and communications. I am an avid follower of national and international affairs. Also, I have become obsessed with ballet. I attend a performance every week when one is playing in N.Y.C. I go to Broadway shows and museums and take long walks. When my wife was alive we took yearly trips, to Russia, China, Spain, England, Israel, Malta. For the last seven years I have been taking yearly trips to Europe with my youngest daughter. I have four grandchildren, ages 13 to 17.
Rick Burkhart '56: I am owner and CEO of RMB Consulting, which I started 12 years ago after retiring from ExxonMobil Chemical (with more than 32 years of service). The consulting business continues to thrive and that, along with being the president of our local American Contract Bridge League duplicate bridge studio, keeps me active. My wife of 43 years and I enjoy travel and look forward to many more years of semi-retirement.
G. Leonard Neely Jr. '56: For the past four years I have been confined to home and the local Kaiser health facilities. I now do not drive or take long vacations, so I couldn't attend my class 55th reunion. For the same reasons I did not attend my 50th M.B.A. reunion at Stanford.
Jerry Allyn '59 Th'60: I have been retired from engineering activities since 2003. Other than keeping all my equipment running (I take care of 10 acres of land) and maintaining my sailboat, I am not active in any engineering endeavors. Nevertheless, life is good, and I spend time with family, friends, and church. I enjoyed attending my 1959 class reunion in Hanover and found that most of my classmates have retired, too.
Peter Tuschak '61: Other than doing university teaching for several years, I have been an employee of the DuPont Co. for the last 38. Sometimes a person can prepare for one type of career for years and then circumstances move him into a somewhat different field, which ends up being the perfect fit. I was training to do research, accumulating two bachelor's, a master's, and a Ph.D. degree in engineering. I worked about 14 years in research, development, and teaching, but due to circumstances out of my control, I ended up in marketing. It still involves some engineering consulting, but the nature of this is quite different from pure engineering. It turned out to be the perfect fit for me. One never knows what lies ahead.
Mel Meyers '63 Th'64: I own my own manufacturing company, Bry-Air Inc. We manufacture large equipment to precisely control humidity and temperature in mostly manufacturing operations. I have three children and two granddaughters. My youngest, a daughter, is a junior at Ohio State University. I have stayed in touch with the College through the alumni fund. Plans have been made to spend a week in Portland, Ore., with a group of my Phi Gam brothers.
John Kunz '65 Th'66: I teach and lead a center in the civil and environmental engineering department at Stanford. I just finished an inspiring 100-person workshop on integrated facility asset planning and management that is enabled with virtual design and construction methods.
Steve Smith '66 Tu'68 Th'68: I am president of the board of Chikaming Open Lands, a nonprofit land trust in southwest Michigan. We have protected 1,000 acres in the 11 years since four neighbors formed the land trust in 1999. We now have a small staff of three. I also have started a home energy inspection business in southwest Michigan. I conduct energy audits for homeowners that give them an analysis of the energy efficiency of their home and what they can do to improve the energy performance and consequently reduce their energy costs. Most owners of homes over 25 years old can usually save 25 percent of their utility costs if they follow up on my recommendations.
Bob Stevenson '74 Th'76: I am the COO for TerraSpark Geosciences, a software provider to the oil/gas industry.
Will Fraizer '78: I am continuing in my senior project engineering role with Chevron in Houston. We are completing the front-end engineering (FEED) phase for our new Wheatstone liquefied natural gas project, which will be built in northwestern Australia. Since Bechtel is providing the engineering support for our FEED, I spend most of my workdays in the Bechtel office near the Houston Galleria. I traveled to Australia for several weeks to assist our staff there in making presentations to the local regulatory authorities on our project. A Greenfield LNG project is a multibillion-dollar development, with a construction phase typically lasting around four years. I enjoy the challenge of continuing to work on world-scale projects. Outside of work, I take advantage of the various cultural activities in the Houston area, like the symphony, museums, and musical performances at the local pubs and clubs. I don't see too many Thayer alums here in Houston, but I do participate in the periodic Dartmouth alumni events. The various alumni clubs of the Ivy schools, "Seven Sisters," MIT, etc., also collaborate to sponsor a monthly "InterClub" social hour. I took advantage of my Australian trip to catch up with old friends in Perth (I had two prior work assignments in Perth and lived there a total of about four years). A pleasure of working in the international energy business is that you have friends in many corners of the world.
Martin Sklar Th'78: Presently my company, Automated Medical Instruments Inc., is in the early stages of developing a "game-changing" instrument for treating a major cardiac arrhythmia. We are presently seeking early financing. As we progress through this process I have seen a few Dartmouth alums referenced, and plan to connect with them soon. We will also be trying to connect with electrophysiologists (Drs. Gerling, Greenberg, Holzberger, and Sangha) at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Any contacts within Thayer or the greater Dartmouth community are appreciated. My wife, Janis, is helping along with a team of colleagues. Medical Development Group, which I co-founded in 2001, is the leading grass-roots med-tech business organization in New England, with more than 30 programs per year, almost 2,000 individuals in the network, and more than 400 dues-paying members. This June I am stepping down from the governing board, after serving on it as the organization's first president and then as a board member for the past seven years. Our offspring Adam is heading back to school to learn and obtain a master's in project management. Our daughter Jennifer and her husband, Evan, are doing well in a Boston suburb. She works as an account manager for a growing telecom firm and Evan for his dad's healthy vending company.
Bill Hooper '79: I'm married to Christy Reid Hooper and have two sons, Will (28) and Christopher (21). I'm a professor of computer science at Belmont University—not exactly engineering, but close!
Pat Guiney '80: I just finished a nine-year stint at Hologic, managing new product development programs for the diagnostic division. Hologic focuses on women's health, and my teams developed imaging/microscopy systems for cervical cancer detection as well as an analyzer for quantifying risk of pre-term birth. Next, I am moving on to Philips Medical Systems, where I will be senior program manager in the emergency care and resuscitation division.
Laurie Komornik Hartman '80 Th'80: I did some engineering early in my career. However, in my journey I branched into a few other areas. I started my own baking business providing desserts for a natural food store. I then got an M.E. in counselor education with an emphasis in community counseling. And I am now working in pastoral care—and have been privileged to work with a few trauma survivors who suffer from dissociative identity disorder (DID). My Thayer education gave me tremendous tools and orientation that I use to this day. Someone with DID is someone with a system—albeit in a human body rather than in a machine.
Donald "Brad" Bradshaw '82: I run a high-tech clean-energy company in the Boston area that manufactures systems used to power cell towers in developing countries. We manufacture hydrogen purifiers and hydrogen generators that feed pure hydrogen to fuel cells that deliver electricity to the radio transmitters in cell tower installations. The market for our technology is focused in areas of the world where power is either non-existent or unreliable. For context, about 1.5 billion people in the world have no electricity, but want cell phone service. The greatest growth in cellular subscribers in the world is in areas where power constraints are the most significant, especially in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. The only alternative to fuel cells is diesel generators, which are expensive to operate and unreliable, hence the interest in fuel cell power systems. The company I run, Hy9 Corp., manufactures a system that efficiently and cleanly converts liquid methanol into pure hydrogen, which is fed into polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells to generate electricity. My engineering education at Dartmouth has helped me work with engineers to shape and integrate advanced technologies into practical business products and strategies. Applying sound engineering principles and process in a purposeful and focused manner is critical to overcoming technical challenges in high-tech startups.
Peter Lambert '82: I am senior VP of Nordson Corp., a multinational company with direct operations in 30 countries. I lead the company's adhesive dispensing segment, which includes the packaging, product assembly, nonwovens, and web-coating systems product lines. I joined Nordson in 1993 as product development manager in the powder systems group and in 1997 became managing director of Nordson Australia. In 2001 I was named director of corporate development and global business information, responsible for the company's acquisition activities as well as the integration of information systems across all of Nordson's geographic locations and businesses. I also chaired the company's technology strategy committee. In 2003 I was named vice president of packaging and product assembly and was responsible for engineering, product development, product line management, marketing, and communications activities. I was named vice president of EFD Inc. in 2005 and served in that position for four years before being named to my current position in 2009.
Mike Adams '83: I have been working for Bechtel, the global engineering, construction, and project-management company, for the past 20 years. I am a main board director and president of one of Bechtel's five global business units, the civil infrastructure business. I am responsible for a number of exciting projects around the world, including a new airport in Qatar, a new offshore port and related industrial zone in Abu Dhabi, a new motorway in Kosovo, an extension of the Washington, D.C., metro toward Dulles Airport, and a new rail line across London. I have lived in London for the past 11 years with my wife and four sons. I have enjoyed my career at the sharp end of building infrastructure around the world, and in so doing, helping enable countries achieve stronger economic growth.
Thane Russell '84 Th'85: We live in Alberta on a small ranch about halfway between Calgary and the Rockies. My lovely wife Kerri runs an equestrian center that we started about five years ago now and we have 65 horses that board and train there. We also have a small but growing herd of purebred Black Angus cattle. I work in the oil industry at Absolute Completion Technologies when I am not feeding animals, fixing fences, or haying. Every once in a while my partners and I seem to be able to come up with a new bit of kit that people want to pay for, so that's what covers the bills. However, most of the people who want it seem to live in places like Venezuela, Indonesia, or West Africa, so I spend quite a good deal of time on airplanes. Kerri and I have two children, Paige (18) and Matthew (16). Paige is a freshman at Texas A&M and a member of the equestrian team there. Matthew is a gentle soul who was born with autism. He has a great sense of humor, attends high school (where he is in regular classes with the help of an aide), and generally keeps us smiling. His was a gift of a very unexpected sort, but a blessing all the same.
Mark Gies '86 Th'88: John de Papp '86 Th'88 and I were good friends at Dartmouth and Thayer, and we have been working together since 2009 at PanelClaw, a solar energy startup making commercial roof and ground-based solar panel mounting systems. I was the third employee and am VP of Technology and Innovation. John is VP of Western U.S. sales and is employee No. 5. The company is based in Massachusetts with more than 30 employees and offices in Texas, Vermont, and California. We're always looking for people interested in a career in renewable energy.
John Rajala '88: I have been keeping a blog as part of my role with Rajala Companies in Bigfork, Minn.
Durward Sobek '91: I am a professor of industrial engineering at Montana State University, completing my 14th year here. I've been doing work in the areas of product development and healthcare delivery systems, applying lean and other industrial engineering principles to those sectors. Starting in September, I'll be on sabbatical as a visiting professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. My wife, Sarah Robbins Sobek '91, and I would love to connect with Dartmouth folks who may be in the area.
Maureen McGrath Hahn '92 Th'93: What have Steve Hahn '92 Th'93 and I been up to? Brendan (13), Clara (11), Eveleen (9), Maeve (7), Delia (5), Quinlin (4), and Tilley (2). We love our crazy life in South Carolina.
Takami Kihara Th'93: I work for Accenture as senior manager and am based in Tokyo. My current responsibility is to lead Asia-Pacific process improvement activities, such as quality assurance, high-risk engagement management, and Capability Maturity Model Integration appraisal and training. As everyone knows, Japan had the worst natural disaster in March. I had to stay at the office in Tokyo since all transportation was stopped. Luckily we are recovering from the disaster; however, we face an electronic power-saving challenge in the summer since we are heavily using air conditioning due to the hot and humid weather. Each company must establish some policies, such as shifting working hours or dates, forcing employees to take longer vacations, or adding extra days off during the summer to save the electronic power as much as possible. I have a wife and three kids. My hobbies are working out, fishing, and reading.
Michael MacAvoy '93 Th'94: I am a hand surgeon and orthopedic surgeon in south San Francisco. I use my engineering skills both in surgery and in my publications pertaining to fracture fixation and muscle strength testing.
Jim McClellan '93 Th'95: I'm the bald guy with glasses and blue shirt sitting next to Katherine Knapp Carney in the TIME video of Pratt & Whitney Co., "What it Took to Create a Job for One Bright Engineer."
Ted Arons Th'94: After graduating from Thayer, I spent three years working as a research scientist for the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, doing geophysics fieldwork in polar regions. Then Fish & Neave, a major New York patent law firm, asked me for assistance understanding petroleum exploration technology. I went to work for the firm in 1998 and have been practicing patent law ever since. I spent about 10 years working for the firm and its successor, Ropes & Gray. For the last four years, I've been practicing in New York at my own firm, which I founded with a colleague. I advise major international corporations and startups regarding intellectual property in connection with product development, fundraising, litigation risk, and patent portfolio development. My Thayer education proves its value every day in both legal and technical analysis, whether I'm dealing with telecommunications, energy, mechanics, bioengineering, quantitative analysis, or finance. I invite fellow Thayer and Tuck community members to be in touch.
Ryan Bradeen '94: I am the cultural affairs officer for education and exchanges for the U.S. State Department, based at the U.S. embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Jim Bradley '94A: Even though I retired almost four years ago, I continue to work on patents for Navistar. I also continue to use and study the Russian Theory of Inventive Problem Solving. When we are able to slow down, Sue and I love to travel.
Dan Frem '97 Th'97: I am starting off on a new career, my third, and I hope, last. I recently graduated with a doctorate of veterinary medicine from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and will be an intern next year in Ventura, Calif. I hope to obtain a residency in small animal surgery afterwards. I had worked at Ford Motor Co. with Chris Dorros '97 Th'98, Sharon Spatz '96, Jeremy Crane Th'98, and several other Thayer M.E.M. graduates, but after two-plus years I left Ford to return home to Massachusetts to help manage the family business, Cyprian Keyes Golf Club, a public golf and reception facility in Boylston, Mass. After seven years there, I needed a dramatic change and took post-bac classes and applied to vet school. Professor Kennedy wrote a recommendation for my application.
Jan Lammerding Th'97: I just accepted a joint faculty position between the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. The research in my lab combines engineering and microfabrication approaches with cell and molecular biology techniques to probe the physical properties of cells and how they modulate cellular function under physiological conditions and in disease, with applications ranging from muscular dystrophy and cardiomyopathies to premature aging and cancer.
Stephen Lee '99 Th'00: I'm working at a stretchable electronics startup, MC10 Inc., in Cambridge, Mass., as their senior electrical engineer. We have several projects but I spend most of my time developing stretchable circuits that lie on an elastomer. In one case, the elastomer is a polyurethane balloon catheter. Our electronics can stretch with the balloon. We map electrophysiological data and perform ablation at the same time on a balloon catheter, simplifying a pulmonary vein isolation procedure. I'm happy to note that we've had several Thayer interns here this year. They include Andrew Ceballos '12, Robert D'Angelo '08, Roja Nunna Th'12, and Nishan Subedi Dual-Degree '12.
Joe Brown '00: I finished a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2010. I'm currently employed as a post-doc research associate there. My research areas include microelectromechanical systems for nanomaterial tensile testing and mechanical and electrical characterization of nanoscale structures and materials. The company I helped start in 2004, NanoComp Technologies Inc., continues to improve its capabilities to produce bulk quantities of high-quality carbon nanotubes and is currently based in Concord, N.H.
Jonas Akermark Th'01: I work for AGA Gas AB (a member of the Linde Group) and market liquified natural gas (LNG) as a fuel for shipping. A major activity included in this work is the distribution net of LNG and being able to supply vessels with LNG from ship to ship. Coming regulations (from International Maritime Organization and the European Union) force shipowners to run their vessels on fuels that reduce sulphur emissions close to zero. The LNG environmental impact is also reduced for CO2 (25 percent), nitrogen oxide (85 percent) and particulate matter (about 0 percent) emissions as well. Apart from AGA, I'm trying to get involved in "early-bird" projects at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Family life dominates my spare time, with our daughter and two sons, 8, 6, and 3.
Mara Winn Th'01: I live in Alexandria, Va., with my husband, Rob Winn '99, two children, and new puppy. I work for Zeichner Risk Analytics, a small cybersecurity and risk and security governance analysis government consulting firm. I act as the principal program manager, directing programmatic and strategic management support for Department of Homeland Security's supply-chain risk management program and the management of programs within the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative.
Zac Carman '02: I'm the CEO of ConsumerAffairs.com.
Gabe Farkas Th'02: We had our first child in September 2009 (a son, Jacob). In October 2010 I accepted a new position as coordinator of basketball analytics with Spurs Sports & Entertainment. It's a bit of a divergence from engineering. My other grad degree is in statistics, which is what I'm using more in this position.
Jieli Li Th'02: After a few years working as an electrical engineer at Apple headquarters in Silicon Valley, I was assigned by the company to Shanghai, China. I helped establish the first local engineering team and am now the China office's engineering manager. I manage a team of both hardware and software engineers and look to continue to grow the team in the region. When I'm not busy tinkering with Apple's next cool gadgets, I devote my time to my twin toddlers, Jennifer and Andrew.
Bob Neill '03: I spent the last four years working for an energy consulting firm in Atlanta. I left at the beginning of the year to travel in South America and am headed to MIT in August for a master's in logistics. Although in my last job it varied a lot by project, I think you could say I'm still working in engineering.
Tom Byron '04: Since my years in law school, I've been working as in-house counsel at the MathWorks, a company familiar to all Thayer engineers as the makers of MATLAB. (And Dartmouth is certainly not unfamiliar to us at MathWorks—we've got a conference room named Dartmouth, right next to conference rooms MIT and Stanford.) In my spare time, I write intellectual property law review articles. My latest offering was chosen for inclusion in Thomson West's 2010 Intellectual Property Law Review publication, a collection of what they deem the best intellectual property law review articles of the year. Personally, I'm living in Allston, Mass., with my wonderful wife, Elise Robinson '05, and two dogs, a 10-year-old Lab hanging around from my days at Dartmouth and a 3-year-old snaggletoothed terrier mutt that does half marathons with me.
Erik Dambach '04 Th'05: I completed my Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at Purdue University. My dissertation's title is "Ignition of Hypergolic Propellants." I moved to Los Angeles to join SpaceX as a propulsion development engineer working on the Dragon capsule.
Tara Ryan Rahemba Th'04: In 2009 I joined the law firm Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP as a patent attorney. I practice in the firm's Hartford, Conn., office and my focus thus far has been on patent litigation relating to pharmaceuticals and medical devices, as well as FDA/regulatory issues unique to pharmaceuticals.
Riad Khan '05 Th'06: After graduation I spent five years outside of the engineering field and one and a half of those years searching for a job during the recession. In mid-June, I started a new position in energy management at Toronto Hydro, where the M.E.M. is certain to come in handy.
Min Song Th'05: I became a full professor in Central South University in Changsha in September 2010. And I was also named a New Century Excellent Talents in University by the ministry of education of the People's Republic of China.
Adams Baker '06: Improving the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial infrastructure can be a lot like buying a new hybrid car: It can be difficult to determine how much energy and money you're actually saving. I work as an energy engineer and am developing statistical models for our customers who make large investments in energy-saving technology (often based upon our recommendations) so we can show them how much money and energy they are actually saving on an ongoing basis, even as conditions change going into the future.
Josh Kjenner Th'06: After four year of doing energy and daylight simulation and research at an architecture firm, I'm going back to school to become an architect. I'll be starting school at the University of British Columbia in the fall.
Chuck Rosenwasser '06: I earned a master's of engineering in product architecture and engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., in 2010. The program is part of the mechanical engineering department and is directed by John Nastasi, a practicing architect. The program operates as a design studio, encouraging students to work on self-directed projects while applying theory from the coursework. Courses I took outside the core studio work were sustainable engineering, physical computing, numerical optimization, parametric design, and active and passive heating and cooling analyses. I am currently a product engineer at OXO, where I am part of a team that develops water bottles, travel mugs, thermometers, scales, baking tools, and other consumer products. It's a great place to work and I'm really enjoying it!
Mukta Acharya Th'07: I use quantitative and analytical skills that I gained from my engineering education to solve real-world problems in the healthcare industry. I have been working with CVS Caremark since 2010. I started off working as an analyst in the retail strategic product development group, performing analytics to understand the performance of various pharmacy products and then help implement strategies to improve these products. Just this month, I was promoted to a senior analyst role in a different group, called enterprise strategy and analytics. I am working on a program called pharmacy advisor, which is focused on improving healthcare outcomes and reducing the overall healthcare costs. So far I really enjoy my job.
Jing Tan Th'07: I'm currently working in Bonn, Germany, for the logistics company DHL. I'm working on lean projects (Six Sigma, continuous improvement, etc.) in warehouses.
Wei Xing Th'07: I am currently working as a client manager at a Swedish financial technology firm in New York.
Ada Danaher Th'08: After graduating from the M.E.M. program, I was hired by Eaton for their engineering and technology leadership program. I was a product engineer for Eaton Automotive, supercharger division, for one year in Michigan, functional excellence product engineer for Eaton industrial sector in Minnesota for one year, and now I'm the lead design engineer for Eaton Aerospace, conveyance systems division, in Warwick, R.I.
Elizabeth Jensen Th'08: I just completed my third year of graduate school (out of five) for a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at Princeton University. This summer I married George Young. I look forward to returning to Dartmouth next year for graduation to see friends graduate.
Watson Sallay '08: For a little more than a year I've been working in Seattle at a company called Electroimpact. We specialize in providing assembly automation for aircraft manufacturers, both in tooling and robotics. The project I'm working on is an assembly line for the wings of a new business executive jet for Embraer. It has allowed me to work abroad in Brazil and Portugal and has provided some excellent design challenges.
Matt Wallach Th'08: After completing a two-year development program with BMW MC in Greenville, S.C., I moved over to Munich in January for an 18-month ex-pat assignment. I'm working on engineering development for the next generation X5, which should be released to the market around the end of 2013.
Katie Gray '09 Th'09: I graduated in 2009 with the B.E. from Thayer and have been working as an engineer ever since. I currently work as a development engineer for Encana Corp., Canada's largest natural gas producer. My current role is in the regulatory and government relations group where I am able to work across the company on many different projects. In my latest project I helped to submit 11 applications to the Ministry of Energy and Mines in British Columbia requesting $55 million under its infrastructure program. This program promotes putting production from stranded wells online by granting 50 percent of the project cost to the producer, which greatly helps the economics of certain projects within the Encana portfolio. We will hear back in early September on the results of the projects that we submitted. I hope they will grant us at least $30 million!
Andrew Herchek Th'09: I have been working in Taiwan for the last six months for their government, refurbishing and upgrading various government owned-equipment. Because of the island's hot and humid climate, the mechanical equipment requires specialized maintenance and technology in order to keep operational. In addition to maintenance, we work with their government to install and upgrade communications equipment, hardware, and software to modernize their older equipment. Some of the challenges we face are collaborating between our offices in the United States and in Taiwan, time zone (12-hour difference, EST) and travel time (about 30 hours), and, of course, the language barrier and cultural differences. I'm grateful that I'm able to work directly or indirectly with fellow Thayer alums Andrew Pitts Th'08, Jason Rathbone Th'02, and Chris Castonguay '96 Th'97.
Emily Koepsell '09 Th'10: I'm finishing up my Fulbright Scholarship studying sustainable energy with a focus on energy savings in the built environment at the Technical University of Denmark. I've had an incredible year here studying engineering, learning Danish, visiting museums and historical sites, and making friends with Danes and other international students. This opportunity has enabled me to learn a lot about a field of engineering that greatly interests me, but I think that the most valuable part has been the intercultural experience.
Lauren Miller '09: I've been living in Chicago since last September and finished up my first year in a Ph.D. program at Northwestern University studying mechanical engineering (yes, still in engineering!). I'm working in the laboratory for intelligent mechanical systems there.
Nolan Reis Th'09: I live in San Francisco and work as an engineer for Tesla Motors. I am on the propulsion team designing the motor for our next electric car, the Model S. I am loving it.
Steve Walker '09: I started a new position as a project engineer for Stanadyne Corp. in Windsor, Conn., as of June 6. Previously, I was working as a management trainee for Praxair in Austin, Texas, so this new job marks my transition back to engineering after a short hiatus to develop my project management skills. Stanadyne is a fuel systems manufacturer, and I'm working on developing their line of common-rail diesel injection pumps.
Claire McKenna '10: I am enthusiastically employed as an energy engineer at Solar Design Associates in Harvard, Mass. We specialize in custom photovoltaic (PV) system designs, but we also work on solar thermal and wind power systems. It's my job, as part of a small team of architects and engineers, to design PV systems from the feasibility stage through many iterations to construction documents. At home I'm attempting to make rustic furniture and assembling a portfolio for my application to M.Arch. programs.
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DADE CITY — It all boiled down to the what ifs.
What if the concept of allowing conservation subdivisions — developments that get to have more houses in exchange for at least half a tract being left open — ends up creating a bigger footprint than just letting developments have fewer homes spread all over?
That's what bothered three members of the county's Development Review Committee when they voted to deny a plan for Berry Hill Estates, a 403-acre property that developers want to build 266 homes on.
"What benefit would a conservation subdivision have over straight zoning?" asked Assistant County Administrator Dan Johnson during a meeting Thursday. "I originally liked the idea of conservation subdivision. Now I'm not sure."
He and County Administrator John Gallagher, along with school district representative Chris Williams, all voted against the development, which would sit on a picturesque plot across the road from Pasco-Hernando Community College's Dade City campus.
Three other committee members, assistant administrators Bipin Parikh, Bruce Kennedy and Mike Nurrenbrock all voted in favor of the development.
The tie vote still sends the measure to the Planning Commission, but the committee's official recommendation is denial.
"We're encouraged," said Tanya Kaaa, who lives off Platt Road on land that borders the proposed neighborhood.
The vote came after neighbors lined up to speak against the proposal. They expressed fears of losing their rural lifestyle, of light pollution, of extra traffic.
"I don't think this project fits in with what's here," Kaaa said.
Developers initially proposed 266 homes but shuffled their plans after approval was postponed amid opposition from neighbors. They returned with a plan that still called for the same number of homes but some homes that were set to be on 1-acre lots would now sit on 2 acres. They also offered to install 300 feet of buffer, triple the initial amount, on the edge of the project next to Platt Road.
County staffers had recommended approval of the plan, which was first submitted in April to the committee.
Residents said Thursday they favored an alternative plan that would put 135 homes on the land. Developer representative Michael Holbrook had told residents these could possibly be mobile homes, which would be allowed under existing zoning.
On Thursday, he told county officials — who asked numerous questions about access in and out of the proposed neighborhood and the safety of curvy Blanton Road in front of the neighborhood — that the property owners had worked to address staff concerns.
"This has been a year-and-a-half in the making," he said.
Staffers pointed out that under conservation subdivision rules, the developer would be allowed to put 366 homes on the land but had offered to put fewer. County officials can deny the development outright but can't tell developers they have to put in fewer homes if the neighborhood qualifies as such a subdivision.
Gallagher said several times during the meeting he wants to be especially cautious about what is ultimately approved for that area, which would be the first project that far north to be developed.
Lisa Buie can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com or (813) 909-4604.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
District college notebook: Livramento's career best spurs Gannon men's basketball team
TOP PERFORMERSGannon
• Senior forward Rogerio Livramento scored a career-high 25 points to help the Golden Knights defeat No. 7 IUP, 67-62, on Saturday and take over first place in the PSAC West. Junior guard Adam Blazek added 15 points and became the 15th player in school history to surpass 1,000 points. Gannon (16-8, 11-3) completed a season sweep of IUP (20-3, 10-3).
Robert Morris
• Sophomore goaltender Terry Shafer made 44 saves for his third career shutout, helping the Colonials beat Niagara, 5-0, on Saturday. Cody Wydo added two assists as Robert Morris (12-14-4, 12-7-4 AHA) bounced back after its nine-game unbeaten streak ended with a 5-3 loss to Niagara on Friday.
Swimming and diving
• Grove City sophomore Megan Bilko (Canon-McMillan) won the 1,650 freestyle in a conference-record time of 17:08.42 and added victories in the 500 freestyle and 400 individual medley to help the Wolverines win the Presidents' Athletic Conference title Saturday. She earned PAC Swimmer of the Year.
• Grove City junior Lauren Cassano (Peters Township) won her third straight conference title in the 200 backstroke.
• Washington & Jefferson junior Jennifer Suder (Seneca Valley) received PAC Diver of the Year after setting a conference record in 3-meter diving.
• The Grove City men edged defending champion Westminster for the PAC men's title.
• Westminster junior Steven Brooks was named PAC Swimmer of the Year for the second straight season.
• W&J freshman Josh Vasko (Elizabeth Forward) was named PAC Diver of the Year after winning the 1-meter title.
of NOTE
• Edinboro senior heavyweight Ernest James earned a 3-0 decision over Pitt's P.J. Tasser, helping the 14th-ranked Fighting Scots upset sixth-ranked Pitt, 17-16, on Friday.
• Senior Gabby Holko hit a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left to help the Titans rally from a 17-point halftime deficit to beat Waynesburg, 77-76, on Saturday. Holko scored 27 points, tying her personal best.
• The Edinboro women's basketball team ended No. 3 Gannon's 26-game home winning streak with a 69-57 victory Wednesday. Edinboro (18-5, 12-1) holds a half-game lead over the Golden Knights (23-2, 12-2) in the PSAC West.
• West Virginia junior pitcher Harrison Musgrave and Seton Hill junior third baseman Nick Sell (North Allegheny) were among 60 players named to the USA Baseball Preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List. Musgrave was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 33rd round last year but elected to return to WVU.
• Washington & Jefferson's Mike Magdic (North Allegheny) and Nick Willison were honorable-mention selections on the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Division III All-America teams.
• Pitt-Greensburg hired Robert Spain as men's soccer coach. He spent time in the front office of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy in 2011-12.
• The West Virginia men's soccer team will visit MLS' Columbus Crew in an exhibition game at 11 a.m. April 27.
• Cal (Pa.) named Dr. Karen Hjerpe athletic director. She has served as interim AD since December 2011.
Swimming and diving
• The PSAC men's and women's championships are Thursday-Sunday at Graham Aquatic Center in York.
— Jeff Vella


text:
Mark Ruffalo's brother shot himself playing Russian Roulette
Mark Ruffalo's brother Scott reportedly died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The two suspects in the case, Brian Scofield and Shaha Mishaal Adham, were cleared by police after presenting evidence that Scott Ruffalo was playing Russian Roulette on Dec. 1, according to Adham's attorney Ronald Richards. The AP reports:
"This was an accidental shooting by someone that plays with guns," Richards said. He credited police with being "more than impartial with the facts."
Richards said Adham, a friend of Scott Ruffalo's, had gone to the hairdresser's condo to retrieve keys to her sport utility vehicle, then fled the scene.
"A series of wrong decisions starting with her not staying at the scene of the shooting caused an incredible chain reaction of stupidity and bad luck," Richards said. He said she received poor legal advice from other attorneys before her surrender.
Richards said no charges would be pursued against Adham. A police sergeant said more information would be released Wednesday.
Scott died yesterday at a Los Angeles Hospital. Mark issued the following statement: "Mark Ruffalo and his family deeply appreciate the outpouring of prayers and support during this most difficult time of the passing of Scott Ruffalo, beloved son, brother and husband."


text:
|Date / Time
|Sunday March 20, 2016 @07:09PM
|How Space-Based Solar Power Plants Could Be Built By Robots On the Moon
|Friday February 05, 2016 @04:06PM
|Financial Advisers Disrupted By AI
|Saturday May 02, 2015 @06:38PM
|Robots In 2020: Lending a Helping Hand To Humans (And Each Other)
|Thursday August 14, 2014 @06:01PM
|A Thousand Kilobots Self-Assemble Into Complex Shapes
|Monday June 09, 2014 @03:39PM
|DogeCoin To the Moon Via a Google Lunar X PRIZE Team
|Thursday July 11, 2013 @10:21AM
|Interviews: Ask James Gosling About Java and Ocean Exploring Robots
|Saturday March 30, 2013 @12:32AM
|Iranian Lab's Quadcopters To Rescue Swimmers
|Friday March 29, 2013 @01:41PM
|How Could Swarms of Robots Help Humanity?
|Tuesday January 29, 2013 @01:03AM
|A Robot With a Chainsaw!
|Friday January 11, 2013 @11:40PM
|DARPA Wants To Seed the Ocean With Delayed-Action Robot Pods
|Thursday December 13, 2012 @04:16PM
|Is Technology Eroding Employment?
|Thursday October 04, 2012 @04:17PM
|Will Your Next iPhone Be Built By Robots?
|Sunday September 30, 2012 @01:59PM
|African Robotics Network Challenge Spurs Rash of $10 Robots
|Tuesday September 18, 2012 @08:53AM
|Meet iRobot Founder Rodney Brooks's New Industrial Bot, Baxter
|Tuesday August 21, 2012 @08:46AM
|Stanford's Self Driving Car Tops 120mph On Racetrack
|Thursday August 09, 2012 @08:34AM
|War By Remote Control, With Military Robots Set To Self Destruct
|Saturday July 07, 2012 @06:49PM
|fMRI Lets Israeli Student Control Robot In France With His Mind
|Tuesday June 12, 2012 @09:56AM
|Famous 'Uncanny Valley' Essay Translated, Published In Full
|Thursday May 17, 2012 @12:09PM
|DreamHammer Wants To Corner the Drone OS Market
|Saturday April 07, 2012 @10:17AM
|Robot Helicopters To Single Out Pirate Ships
|Saturday March 10, 2012 @03:17PM
|When a Robot Becomes the Life of the Party
|Friday January 27, 2012 @07:29PM
|Mars-Bound Probe Serves As Radiation Guinea Pig
|Sunday January 08, 2012 @10:20AM
|Where Were the Robots In Fukushima Crisis?
|Saturday November 19, 2011 @04:58AM
|Controlling a Robot From a Smartphone's Headphone Jack
|Thursday September 08, 2011 @03:44PM
|Carnegie Mellon Introduces RoboBowl To Spur Robotics Advances
|Sunday August 28, 2011 @03:22AM
|Deus Ex Eyeborg Documentary Shows Today's Cyborgs
|Friday July 08, 2011 @10:36PM
|Novel Drive Wheel System Based On Spinning Sphere
|Monday June 20, 2011 @06:11PM
|Robots Draw Faces and Doodle For London Gallery Goers
|Thursday June 09, 2011 @06:06PM
|Arduino Music Controllers With Horns, Finally
|Sunday May 15, 2011 @12:00AM
|Aldebaran Robotics To Open Source Nao Robot Control Software
|Tuesday April 26, 2011 @11:32AM
|NYC Resistor: DIY Hackers Doing Awesome Things
|Saturday April 02, 2011 @11:29AM
|Google's Driverless Car and the Logic of Safety
|Saturday April 02, 2011 @12:57AM
|Students Create Thought-Controlled Prosthetic Arm
|Thursday March 31, 2011 @08:26PM
|Robots Dive Deep To Solve Airliner Crash Mystery
|Sunday March 06, 2011 @09:14PM
|Android Copy of Danish Man Unveiled
|Thursday January 06, 2011 @02:39PM
|Military Set To Develop Smart, Robotic Cameras
|Monday November 22, 2010 @07:34AM
|Autonomous Audi TT Conquers Pike's Peak
|Monday September 27, 2010 @02:14AM
|Panasonic's 16-Finger, Hair-Washing Robot
|Sunday September 19, 2010 @02:11PM
|U. Penn Super Quadcopter Learns New Tricks
|Monday September 06, 2010 @12:23PM
|Parrot iPod-Controlled Quadricopter Launches This Week
|Saturday August 28, 2010 @02:46PM
|MIT Unveils Oil-Skimming Robot Swarm Prototype
|Thursday August 26, 2010 @07:54PM
|Robot Swarm Control On Microsoft's Surface
|Saturday June 12, 2010 @07:14AM
|Bionic-Eyed Man Wants To Stream Eye Video Online
|Thursday May 06, 2010 @06:17PM
|Robot With Knives Used In Robotics Injury Study
|Saturday April 03, 2010 @08:01AM
|Berkeley Gets Willow Garage Robot To Fold Towels
|Saturday March 13, 2010 @11:53PM
|Long-Running Underwater Robot Lost At Sea
|Wednesday March 10, 2010 @02:06PM
|Japanese Baby Robot Teaches Parenting Skills
|Thursday February 11, 2010 @04:09PM
|Armed Robot Drones To Join UK Police Force
|Friday January 15, 2010 @09:23AM
|Robotics Prof Fears Rise of Military Robots
|Saturday January 09, 2010 @09:13PM
|Futuristic Sex Robots Now Just "Sex Robots"
|Thursday December 10, 2009 @03:02PM
|Robot Can Read Human Body Language
|Tuesday October 20, 2009 @08:36AM
|Robot Controlled By Human Brain Cells
|Tuesday October 13, 2009 @08:47AM
|Italian Scientists Put Robot Spiders In Your Colon
|Thursday December 28, 2006 @10:50PM
|Robots to Crawl Under the City
|Friday December 22, 2006 @05:50PM
|Robots Could Some Day Demand Legal Rights
|Monday June 26, 2006 @10:26PM
|Microsoft Developing Robotics Software
10 to the 6th power Bicycles = 2 megacycles


text:
ACTION is being demanded after a major traffic jam which blocked the road for ambulances and left hundreds of drivers sitting stationary for hours.
The boss of Royal Bournemouth Hospital is calling for talks with council chiefs and police over Tuesday night's "unacceptable" delays.
He revealed ambulances were held up and blood samples were delayed while staff and patients fumed in queues.
The jams – which began mid-afternoon – were blamed on temporary traffic lights at Christchurch's Barrack Road, combined with other troubles including the closure of the Avon Causeway because of flooding.
The temporary lights were later removed but the backlog of traffic meant the delays continued.
There were more hold-ups last night, with drivers who had parked towards the back of the hospital reporting delays of up to two hours.
Tony Spotswood, chief exec-utive of Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Trust, told the Daily Echo there had been "significant disruption" for patients.
"There were also unacceptable delays in ambulances accessing the site because of the density of congestion," he said.
"There were delays in samples, such as blood, leaving the site and being sent to other hospitals for urgent investigation, so the delays all around were completely unacceptable.
"We think it's unreasonable the degree of disruption for staff in the hospital. For some, it has serious implications for their family life including childcare arrangements.
"I will be contacting the chief executive and leader of the council to discuss with them the urgent need for a long-term solution, which is alternative access to the Wessex Way."
The hospital would be organising "internal traffic support" to equalise the traffic flows out of its several car parks.
Chloe Boyce, spokeswoman for Southern Gas Networks, apol-ogised for the delay.
"We are currently carrying out a new gas connection job for a nursing home in Barrack Road, Christchurch. Temporary traffic lights have been necessary at certain times to ensure the safety of the public and our engineers," she said.
A statement from Dorset County Council said SGN should have been controlling the temporary lights manually "but for some reason this did not happen".
It added: "As soon as DCC were aware that this was the case, SGN were contacted and they sent an operative to manually control the lights sometime after 5.30pm.
"The build-up of traffic was unfortunately made worse by flooding on Avon Causeway and Stony Lane."
Jams In Town
Christchurch continued to endure heavy traffic yesterday because of roadworks and road closures.
As well as the Barrack Road lights, there was more gas company work in the High Street, while the Avon Causeway and Stony Lane were closed following floods.
Geoff Morris, of Mr Simms Sweet Shop in the high street, said traders were keen to let people know that the street was open for business, even though access from the Fountain roundabout was blocked.
"The gas pipe works are committed to allowing all trade to continue, even the Monday market," he said.
Stuck in car for more than three hours
Vicky Hayward had taken her four-year-old son Logan to an appointment on Tuesday.
They were stuck in the car from 3.20pm until 6.50pm, when she gave up and took a lift with a friend from Castle Lane West.
"There were people on drips that had just had operations and were having to sit and wait," she said.
"What was really frustrating was that the traffic on the Wessex Way was moving. I went to Burger King to get my son dinner and you could see that the traffic was moving."
Mike Durham, a volunteer driver from West Moors, was stationery in a car with an elderly patient from 3.45pm until 7.15pm.
"People were just dumping their cars and going off. I saw one couple go off to the Toby Carvery to get a meal and come back again," he said.
"Nobody came to explain the situation and make sure people were okay.
"There needs to be a more coherent strategy for when it happens again."
Malcolm Newton, who had been taking his mother-in-law to an appointment, moved 50 yards in two-and-a-half hours.
"It's been incredibly poorly managed," he said.
"It's the sort of thing where police should intervene to override the traffic lights so the traffic can be kept moving."


text:
Guidelines for Students: Taking Online Quizzes
Instructors are urged to give students these guidelines to avoid technical problems during online quizzes:
Internet Connection:
• A cable or DSL connection (i.e. a direct connection to the modem or router) or an on-campus wired network connection is recommended as wireless connections are less reliable.
• Dial-Up connections and mobile hotspots are not recommended.
• Campus computers using wired network connections are preferred.
• Make sure your personal desktop or laptop computer uses a supported software. (Link to article, and system check)
• Avoid using mobile or other kinds of devices.
Save question answers as you take the quiz.
Review your answers prior to submitting the quiz. If you change an answer, verify that the change is saved prior to submitting the quiz.
After clicking Submit Quiz, make sure to give the system a moment before closing your browser or logging out of D2L.
If you have browser issues (e.g., the browser "freezes") or if you lose internet connectivity during the quiz, do the following:
• Shut down the browser (do not submit the quiz and do not log out).
• Open a new browser window.
• Log in to D2L.
• Navigate to the course and enter the quiz again.
• Continue taking the quiz.
In a timed quiz, the clock runs even when you are not in D2L.
D2L 10.0 Aug 2013


text:
An Unusual Play on $5 Gasoline
Far be it from me to disregard signs from the wilderness when doing research on stocks or on longer-term investment themes.
My mom asking for insidery thoughts on the probability of $5 a gallon gasoline in 2012 was the first sign. Sign No. 2 was hearing furniture maker La-Z-Boy (LZB) sound cautious on the outlook for its raw-material expenditures. Finally, sign No. 3 was another quarter from Dollar Tree (DLTR) in which the company said its already razor-thin profit margins were pinched by high fuel prices....489 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There's no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
Already a Subscriber? Please login.


text:
Mexico is pushing for a continental approach to energy, with a top official saying all three countries should use their resource wealth to boost the strength of the North American economy.
Ahead of this week's "Three Amigos" summit, Ildefonso Guajardo, Mexico's secretary of economy, told The Globe and Mail that the Keystone XL pipeline could benefit Canada, the United States as well as his own country.
"I think that if Keystone is helpful to Canada, it is helpful to the North American region," he said, while avoiding comment on whether Mexico supports the project. "Because I think it is an additional strength that North America has, and we should be smart enough to use it strategically and to count on it in terms of what we have."
This week's talks in Toluca, where North American leaders are scheduled to meet on Wednesday, will provide another opportunity for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to press U.S. President Barack Obama on Canada's bid for approval of Keystone, which would move oil from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. The issue has become a growing irritant between the two leaders, and senior U.S. officials made it clear in a background briefing last week that Canada should not expect an answer on the project during this week's meetings.
The talks come as Mexico works to introduce fundamental changes to its energy sector, allowing foreign companies to invest in the country's oil and gas industry for the first time in decades. Mr. Guajardo said the reforms should boost Mexico's economy and have a "tremendous" effect on the North American manufacturing sector.
Mr. Harper arrived in Mexico City Monday afternoon and will meet separately with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Tuesday before the trilateral meetings. The Prime Minister is expected to visit TransCanada's offices in Mexico City on Wednesday, another sign that energy will be top of mind during this week's meetings. A spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office said the company was chosen because it is a "Canadian success story" that is leveraging tremendous opportunities in Mexico.
Theoretically, Mexico could stand to benefit if the U.S. decides to nix the Keystone project, because it, too, sends heavy crude to the Gulf Coast. But Mr. Guajardo said he doesn't view the North American energy sector as a "zero-sum game" and welcomes any developments that will help make the continent more competitive. "The fact that Canada has an asset doesn't mean that somebody else has to lose," he said.
Mr. Guajardo said there will be significant opportunities for Canadian energy companies under Mexico's newly liberalized system. And he said the changes should help boost North America's strength in manufacturing.
"I do believe that the next decade is going to be the decade for manufacturing in North America to become a powerhouse globally," he said, citing Mexico's relatively young population, innovations in the manufacturing sector, and continental access to abundant and cheap energy.
The three countries are expected to announce a new air transportation agreement this week, which should boost the number of direct flights between Canadian and Mexican cities, and another announcement is expected to create a new, continent-wide trusted-traveller program. Both initiatives are aimed at easing travel between the three countries and could help reduce tension over a requirement for Mexican travellers to Canada to have visas.
Canada began requiring visas from visiting Mexicans in 2009 in a bid to stem the flow of illegitimate refugee claimants from that country. But the federal government has since tightened its refugee system, prompting renewed calls for an end to the visa requirement. However, senior government sources have indicated there are no plans to lift the visas during this week's trip.Report Typo/Error
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text:
Review Roundup: CORIOLANUS Opens at the Donmar Warehouse- UPDATED
London's Donmar Warehouse presents CORIOLANUS, running now through February 8, 2014. Josie Rourke directs Shakespeare's searing tragedy of political manipulation and revenge, with Tom Hiddleston making his return to the Donmar in the title role.
When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But famine threatens the city, the citizens' hunger swells to an appetite for change, and on returning from the field Coriolanus must confront the march of realpolitik and the voice of an angry people.
Let's see what the critics had to say...
Michael Billington, The Guardian: A chamber production of Coriolanus? It sounds a contradiction in terms. But, as the programme points out, Shakespeare's epic Roman play was probably first staged in the small-scale Blackfriars theatre. Josie Rourke also uses the Donmar's intimacy to come up with a fast, witty, intelligent production that in Tom Hiddleston boasts a fine Coriolanus. Even if I have a few niggles, this is a thoroughly good evening.
Charles Spencer, The Telegraph: At every stage of his tragic journey, Hiddleston is compelling and persuasive, and there is fine support, especially from Deborah Findlay as the vicious old boot of a mother who has made him the man he is; Mark Gatiss as the wily, patrician, Menenius; and Elliot Levey and Helen Schlesinger as the manipulative tribunes of the people. As Aufidius, the Volscian general who becomes Coriolanus's nemesis, Hadley Fraser rather overplays the hearty northern accent and his character's homoerotic feelings for his adversary. But though this is a flawed production, there is no mistaking its dramatic energy, while the mixture of charisma and emotional truth in Hiddleston's performance is very special indeed.
David Benedict, Variety: Making enthralling theater out of one of Shakespeare's best-known titles is one thing. It's an achievement of an altogether higher order to take the austerely forbidding "Coriolanus" - an argumentative tragedy discussing the demands of politics and the power of the people - and turn it into a theatrical triumph. But that's exactly what Donmar Warehouse a.d. Josie Rourke has done. Thanks to an ideally dovetailed ensemble led by a scorching Tom Hiddleston, tension builds, fills the theater and never flags throughout an all-consuming evening.
Annabel Brog, ELLE: Tom Hiddleston's return to Shakespeare in Josie Rourke's Coriolanus at London's Donmar Warehouse is as violent, hungry and driven as the eponymous hero of the work...Coriolanus is Shakespeare's most under-rated play, and yet it is one of his most relevant to the world we live in today. A production like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Quentin Letts, The Daily Mail: This is a boutique Coriolanus in both senses of 'boutique' - ie, small in scale, and overly impressed by fashion. Its quite numerous good points are diminished by silly directorial touches from Josie Rourke, not least the Brechtian use of a line of chairs along the back wall on which actors sit in full view of the audience when they are not in a scene...Mr Hiddleston is perhaps a little too smooth, with too light a voice and too vain an awareness of his hair gel, to convince as a soldiers' soldier.
Michael Coveney, Whatsonstage: The first image is that of Young Martius (Joe Willis on opening night) drawing a circle of blood, presaging the game he later joins with a toy sword. There's nothing jokey, though, about the first citizen's (Rochenda Sandall) angry tirade. And what follows suggests that Hiddleston's Coriolanus sees himself as a supple, super-confident games player, rather than a professional, proactive man-of-war (in the style of Ian McKellen, say, or Toby Stephens). It's an original, and disturbing, interpretation, almost an alternative commentary on the brilliant Ralph Fiennes movie.
Paul Taylor, The Independent: In her finest achievement to date as artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, Josie Rourke directs this stark, swiftly-paced account of Shakespeare's severe Roman play and elicits a central performance of blazing stellar power and intelligence from Tom Hiddleston. Her remarkably resourceful production capitalises on the intimacy of the space to give the epic proceedings a shocking visceral immediacy. The staging is simple but highly effective with the battle scenes conjured up by the ingenious, nerve-shredding use of ladders, chairs and fire bombs.
Henry Hitchings, Evening Standard: A few scenes are underpowered, but this is a tense and thoughtful account of one of Shakespeare's less admired works. With a stark and highly effective design by Lucy Osborne, it's an intimate interpretation of a play that tends to be staged on a grand scale. It feels satisfyingly fresh - and will be broadcast to 300 cinemas in the UK on January 30, vastly extending the number of people who will get to see it.


text:
Wrap your gifts in holiday cheer each and every year.
21 Beautiful Ways to Decorate With Pinecones
Find out how to mimic these brilliant present packaging ideas from some of our favorite crafters.More
L-R, TOP TO BOTTOM: Bright Trees, $8; papersource.com Mistletoe, $8; riflepaperco.com Poinsettia, $6; knotandbow.com Peppermints, $5; larknraven.com Holly Days, $12; carolinecreates.etsy.com Midcentury Trees, $14; normansprintery.com Winter Greens, $15; mrboddington.com Feliz Navidad, $8; riflepaperco.com Raining Reindeer, $12; mrboddington.com Woodland Deer, $8; wrapandrevel.etsy.com Winter Animals, $9; clapclapdesign.etsy.com Presents, $8; riflepaperco.com (Additional embellishments from hobbylobby.com.)
Graphic designer Joy D. Cho dresses up Kraft paper with festive masking tape, alternating horizontal and vertical strips to mimic ribbon. A snowflake fashioned from frayed candy cane colored paper straws becomes the crowning glory.
30 DIY Advent Calendars to Count Down to Christmas


text:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm pleased that you've called this hearing today to examine the 2011 and 2012 tax extenders. However, I must note my frustration that Congress has once again allowed so many of these important tax provisions to expire. I'm also discouraged that we're just now examining the 2011 extenders even though they expired several months ago. Important principles of tax policy are certainty and predictability. We need to remember these principles as we deal with tax extenders.
Many of the tax provisions that expired in 2011 are priorities of mine - for example, the New Markets Tax Credit and Build America Bonds are very important. The NMTC is designed to stimulate investment and economic growth in low-income communities that are traditionally overlooked by conventional capital markets. And we've seen the results in all of our districts. In Western Massachusetts, local NMTC success stories include small business like the River Valley Market in Northampton and the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke. We need to extend the NMTC.
Another important provision that expired last year is the 15-year depreciation schedule for leasehold improvements, restaurant improvements and new construction and retail improvements. Mama Iguana's is a restaurant that opened last year in Springfield and took advantage of this provision. We need to extend the 15-year depreciation provision and eliminate any tax law prejudices against retail store owners.
Mr. Chairman, it also is absolutely essential that the active financing rules of Subpart F, which expired at the end of last year, be extended. This is an issue that the two of us have worked on and a bipartisan majority of this committee has cosponsored our legislation to make these rules permanent. The active financing rules are not a special incentive. Rather, they allow U.S. banks, insurance companies and finance companies to apply the regular U.S. tax law allowing for the deferral of US taxes on active foreign business income. And speaking of Subpart F, another important provision that we need to extend is the Look-Through Rule.
The R&D tax credit is a huge priority for many businesses in Massachusetts. In fact, Massachusetts is ranked third in the country in terms of the number of companies in the state reporting R&D activity. The R&D credit must be extended. Another extender that is important to Massachusetts - the 2012 AMT patch. About 975,000 families in Massachusetts, including about 80,000 in my district in Springfield, will be hit with the AMT if we don't enact a patch for 2012.
A few additional extenders that are extremely important and should be extended are:
Section 25C, which is a tax incentive for the purchase of energy efficient improvements to homes;
Section 181, which is effectively a limited form of bonus depreciation to encourage domestic film production and job creation;
The extenders related to regulated investment companies, or RICs; and
The enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory.
In terms of 2012 extenders, we also must extend Section 127 which allows an employee to exclude from income up to $5,250 per year for tuition assistance from their employer. Furthermore, the Production Tax Credit for on-shore wind and the Investment Tax Credit for off-shore wind are important and we should extend both provisions.
Mr. Chairman, thank you again for calling this important hearing. I look forward to working with you to extend these important provisions.
Source: http://neal.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=211:opening-statement-of-ranking-member-richard-neal-select-revenue-measures-subcommittee-hearing-on-tax-extender-provisions&catid=7:speeches-remarks-a-op-eds&Itemid=24


text:
Automated Visual Monitoring for Improving Patient Safety (VIPSafe) (VIPSafe)
The recruitment status of this study is unknown. The completion date has passed and the status has not been verified in more than two years.
Verified March 2011 by Staedtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe.
Recruitment status was: Not yet recruiting
Recruitment status was: Not yet recruiting
Staedtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Information provided by:
Staedtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: March 16, 2011
Last updated: NA
Last verified: March 2011
History: No changes posted
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
After an operation many patients are in a confused mental status at the intensive care unit. In this status they possibly fall out of their bed or pull out endotracheal tubes or central venous catheters accidentally. For this, they need permanently monitoring and control through intensive care personnel.
The goal of the VIPSafe project is to develop robust techniques for automated patient monitoring, that rely on data from a small number of untethered sensors, which are nonetheless flexible enough to cope with a large variety of demands.
|Postoperative Confusion
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Observational Model: Case-Only
Time Perspective: Prospective
|Official Title:
|Automatisierte Optische Überwachung Mittels Videosensorik Zur Verbesserung Der Patientensicherheit Auf Intensivstation (Automated Visual Monitoring for Improving Patient Safety (VIPSafe))
Resource links provided by NLM:
MedlinePlus related topics: Patient SafetyU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by Staedtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe:
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
|Sampling Method:
|Probability Sample
Study Population
Patients with a planned or not-planned stay at the intensive care unit after an operation
Inclusion Criteria:
- patients with planned postoperative stay at intensive care unit after previous written consent to the study
- patients with not-planned postoperative stay at intensive care unit with written consent after admission to intensive care unit
- patients unfit to plead with admission to intensive care unit with written consent of the officially appointed agent
Exclusion Criteria:
- absent written consent
- age < 18 years old
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01317407
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01317407
|Contact: Franz Kehl, Professor Dr. med.
|Contact: Nikolaus A. Golecki, Dr. med.
|Klinik für Anästhesie und Intensivmedizin, Städtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe
|Not yet recruiting
|Karlsruhe, Germany, 76133
|Contact: Franz Kehl, Professor Dr. med. ++49-721-974-1601
Sponsors and Collaborators
Staedtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
More Information
Keywords provided by Staedtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe:
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on August 22, 2017
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01317407 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|March 16, 2011
|Last Updated:
|March 16, 2011
Keywords provided by Staedtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe:
postoperative delirium
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Neurobehavioral Manifestations
Neurologic Manifestations
Nervous System Diseases
Signs and Symptoms
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on August 22, 2017


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Reader question: Is there an easy rule of thumb way to know if I'm getting enough protein?
Ashley's answer: Whether you eat animal or go all veggie, we, like all other animals, need our protein. Protein is made from amino acids and builds our lean body mass, helps form healthy hormones, and provides lasting energy. But how much is the right amount? Depending on age, activity level and life stage, your protein needs will differ (the range for most is 0.5 grams to 0.7 grams/lbs body weight, while requirements for endurance and strength-building athletes are higher.)
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However, before you bust out your calculator, I can give you a few easy ways to check your protein intake. Every day, every person needs protein at each eating occasion (or at least most of them.) A serving of protein can range from as little as 6 g to as high as 20 g, and if you are reading a label, make sure that your packaged food delivers a full serving. And make sure it's for the serving size you actually eat, not just what it says on a label! Another easy way to assess a proper serving is to use your palm (no fingers!) and the thickness of your palm as well. And finally, check out my nutrition plan portion information on proteins.
Chewing over a food quandary? Send it to [email protected]
Ashley Koff is a registered dietitian, Qualitarian, nutrition expert, and co-author of Mom Energy: A Simple Plan to Live Fully Charged (Hay House; 2011) as well as Recipes for IBS (Fair Winds Press; 2007).Tags: Nutrition AdviceCopyright © 2017 Rodale Inc.
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text:
Toddler uses eBay app and buys dad a used vintage car
As Sorella's dad put it during an interview with KOIN, "She decided to open the eBay app and started clicking around and one thing led to another and we own a car." Instead of trying to explain to eBay what happened , Mr. and Mrs. Stoute decided to keep the car, although they did have a small panic first.
To prevent the toddler from moving to the luxury priced models, Dad has added some safeguards to keep his precocious daughter from opening up the apps on his phone. He is now using facial recognition to keep his phone locked, and has switched to a new PIN code. His parting words? "I'm just glad she didn't buy the $38,000 Porsche I was looking at," he said.
source: KSN-TV via CNET
14 Comments
1. samystic (Posts: 231; Member since: 25 Mar 2012)
"one thing led to another and we own a car"... fishy... did the toddler enter payment details as well???
6. lallolu (Posts: 560; Member since: 18 Sep 2012)
No, she bought it, but then he decided to pay for it later on when he saw that it was not so expensive.
In ebay, you can but an item but you do not have to pay immediately.
7. EXkurogane (Posts: 863; Member since: 07 Mar 2013)
You can pay later after a purchase, and you cant cancel a purchase in eBay.
12. haroonazeem638 (Posts: 141; Member since: 29 Mar 2011)
Yes, you can cancel a purchase in ebay if you haven't paid for it yet. In fact, sometimes it's even possible to cancel a purchase and get a refund after you have paid for it (before it's shipped).
Just email the seller and ask nicely. If it's not an expensive item, they do it.
8. Dorothy69 (banned) (Posts: 498; Member since: 21 May 2013)
Yes, the toddler checked out with PayPal and even added a Message to Seller:
"People are so stupid that, they'll believe a middle-aged man whose going through a mid-life crisis and who is obviously SCREAMING, like a latent flame, for media attention when he alleges that I bought this piece of junk. Truth is, my dad was in one of his drunken stupors and thought he was opening the iMessage app on his iPhone; no wonder it wasn't working for him. Please send the car via U.S.P.S. so that someone at the Post Office is forced to work. Thank you, Baby X"
2. osubucks69 (Posts: 10; Member since: 12 Dec 2012)
Kinda sounds like yet someone else wanting their 15 minutes of fame...
3. o0Exia0o (Posts: 901; Member since: 01 Feb 2013)
I am calling shenanigans on this one...
4. mottykels (Posts: 387; Member since: 15 May 2013)
#TimeToSwitchWP8 #kidscorner :D
5. Nathan_ingx (Posts: 4321; Member since: 07 Mar 2012)
Looks like she won't be getting any fancy car on her 18th birthday.
9. InspectorGadget80 (unregistered)
Buy grandma a Porsche lol
10. DonkeySauce (Posts: 194; Member since: 03 Dec 2011)
Good for the parents for taking the responsibility!
11. VictorP (Posts: 24; Member since: 29 May 2013)
Story seems made up to me. a 14month old randomly clicks ebay app then randomly searches "piece of crap cars for cheap" then buys it... Hmmmm..
13. carlapark (Posts: 1; Member since: 08 Jan 2015)
This is one of those funny stories that is teaching us important lessons, in this case: don't allow your toddler to go shopping online, you don't know what you may end up with. He might as well start looking for auto parts and restore the car!
14. tommartin17 (Posts: 32; Member since: 07 Apr 2015)


text:
Over at The Atlantic, senior editor Derek Thompson describes in convincing fashion why immigration to the United States is critically important to our future growth.
An aging country faces three deficits. First it faces this entitlement deficit. Second, it creates an creativity deficit, as a declining share of working-age people are finding and tweaking smart ideas. Third, it creates a savings deficit. Broadly, young people save for retirement and retired people spend down those savings.
We see this hydra of deficits inflicting pain in Japan, whose the working-age population has already peaked and debt-to-GDP is the highest in the advanced world. We see it in Europe, where the ratio of working-age adults to seniors is poised to fall by 38 percent in the next two decades. We see it in Taiwan, and South Korea, and Hong Kong, where birth rates are below 2.1, which is commonly considered replacement level. We see it in China, where rapid aging and a bizarre one-child policy has created a "4-2-1 phenomenon," where one child's income supports two parents and four grandparents. We see it across the developed world, where the 60+ population will be growing more than three times as fast as the general population by 2030.
We also see it in the United States, which faces the strains of an older population demanding expensive medical services from a slower-growing workforce. But the U.S. has a trump card that makes us different from Europe. Fareed Zakaria calls it our "secret weapon" in his book The Post-America World. It's immigration."
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text: Cowboys Can Be Angels By Sharon StrawMy feet hurt. My legs hurt. Then again, my entire body is aching. I'm freezing cold. My nose is red with numbness. Buster, my 98 pound golden retriever who is also my best bud does not like this weather either. Of course none of my friends are around to help me move in my new apartment on what has to be the coldest day of the year! My brown, wild curly, shoulder length hair is soaked from the heavy snow. It is blowing and sticking to me from my eyelashes to my old, worn out snow boots. With a huge sigh of relief, I carried the last wet, sagging, cardboard box up three flights of stairs, trudging to the top floor, and plopped my tired body down on the plaid country style sofa. At least this place is already furnished. I looked around the tiny one bedroom apartment and thought, this place isn't so bad, except I hated everything country.My name is Hillary Potter, and I am an aspiring writer, who just moved out of a gorgeous 3 bedroom corner harbor view apartment in Baltimore City for some peace and quiet so I can create my work in progress. I had shared the apartment with two noisy, partying roommates who just didn't understand the mind of a wanna be author! Well, that is my future dream life anyway. In my day to day real life I work for a private investigator as his administrative assistant. It pays the bills and buys me a cheap bottle of wine or a six pack now and then. I recently ended a relationship with a real loser who I discovered in bed with some bimbo he found in a bar while I was out of town. Later that evening, I crawled into my comfy, queen size bed; Buster curled up beside me, and snuggled under the warm, fuzzy, purple blanket. My entire bedroom was decorated in purple. At least that took away from the ugly country style bedroom set! At 2:45 in the morning, I awoke to the sounds of someone strumming on a guitar and singing his heart out. Not just ordinary singing, but more like a twang, twang, twang. This cannot be happening. Please, please tell me that I'm dreaming! No, no, no not my next door neighbor! And please, not country! I gently knocked on the wall, and then, silence. I waited to make sure the person was finished, so I finally, padded back over to my bed, climbed in and proceeded to get all snuggly again. Buster was still fast asleep on his back, legs up in the air, probably dreaming about a big bone. Closing my own eyes in the hopes of dreaming of maybe a beach and a hot guy, I just prayed for sleep to come quickly. 3:15a.m., I awoke to the same twanging voice singing of how someone's girl is breaking his heart and something about drinking beer! No, no, not again! What is this person crazy? It's the middle of the night! I jumped out of my bed and tripped over my still wet snow boots. Again, I knocked on the wall a little harder this time, yelling through the thin wall to my nuisance of a neighbor. "Please stop the racket! I'm trying to get some sleep over here! Some of us work in the morning! Go to bed for Pete's sake!" Again, silence. So, I padded across the cold floor back to bed, and finally sleep came along with, way too quickly, morning.Night after night the same thing happened. The singing, the guitar, and that annoying twangy accent of some sort. Finally, after about the fifth night of sleeplessness, I trudged out my front door in the middle of the night, Buster in tow beside me. Over to the noisy, invisible neighbor's door whom I have never laid eyes on. Until now. There was the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the dented apartment door. Geesh, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all! Maybe this guy is some kind of nut, or a serial killer, or who knows how crazy he could be? Then the door finally opened. I lost it. "Are you crazy? Every night for a week, since I moved in, you are singing and playing that loud obnoxious music half the night! Can't a girl get some sleep? I work you know! And I have a boss who isn't very happy when I come in like a crazed banshee because I haven't slept in days! And he doesn't understand when I tell him that I am being serenaded by some strange idiot living next door to me that sounds like an animal in pain!"Suddenly my eyes focused on the barefoot person standing in front of me. Deep gray eyes like steel, dark wavy hair, five o'clock shadow and a body like a Greek god. He was holding his guitar just looking at me standing there in front of him looking ridiculous in my flannel Hello Kitty pajamas. Ok, focus Hillary, focus on the point here. My Hello Kitty's were no match for his jeans just ripped a little and torn in all the right places. And they hung on his hips just right. Wait a minute, Hillary. This jerk keeps you up night after night with his singing and he is probably from some cow town where they smoke cattails on their front porch just for fun. He was gazing into my brown, sleepy eyes with his head just ever so tilted to one side. He waited until I was finished, then he spoke. "Hi! You must be my new neighbor!" he said in a deep southern drawl. "I'm Dustin. Dustin Young. Everyone calls me Dusty though. I'm sorry if my playing bothers you. It's just that, I don't have time to write my songs during the day, and I do my best thinking at night. Sometime's I tend to get carried away. I'll try to keep it down." I had to stop staring at those beautiful gray eyes. "Yeah, well okay then. I guess that's settled!" I began to stomp back to my apartment when he said, "Hey, I don't even know your name new neighbor!" At this point, I didn't know if I was angry or embarrassed, so I didn't even glance back. "No need to know my name!" I yelled, called Buster, and I slammed my door. Hmmm, I guess I showed him who the boss is. Yeah, let him mess with me alright. Just because he has those sexy gray eyes and that gorgeous body, he probably thinks he can always get his way by sweet talking. Well not with this chic!I awoke at 6:00am to the sound of my alarm clock gently playing the sounds of the ocean waves. Today was Saturday, and it had finally warmed up outside to a brisk 40 degrees. The snow had all been cleared from my parking lot along with the sidewalks, so I decided it was a good day to take Buster for a long walk! After all, the poor thing deserved it. We had not had much outside time since the snowfall last weekend. So I fed Buster, and then checked the pantry to grab a quick breakfast. Not much to choose from. A jar of peanut butter, ramen noodles, half a loaf of whole wheat or a can of Spam. Ok, maybe the fridge would be a better choice. A half empty bottle of white zinfandel, two beers, some pepper jack cheese and leftover Chinese food. Again, not a good choice. I settled for peanut butter on a slice of whole wheat, leashed up Buster and left for our walk.This neighborhood will take some getting used to, but it will be ok. As long as I have Buster with me. Me and Buster can make it through anything together. Buster came from an animal shelter when I lived in Baltimore. He had been abused by his previous owners and was very malnourished when I got him. We've been best buds for five years now, and I don't know how I ever managed to live without him. So we set out for our walk. It was only a day before Christmas Eve so I was trying to get in the holiday spirit. I even put Busters red Christmas sweater on him! Buster did his business at the first fire hydrant he saw and looked at me with an "it's going to be all right" look that just makes me melt. We continued our walk down Church Street, around the big block then started our walk up the hill to my apartment complex. Buster was sniffing everything in sight just loving the fresh suburban air of our new town! From out of nowhere, a large black stray cat appeared from behind the bushes. He arched his back and screeched when he saw Buster. Now Buster had been used to walking in the city and this environment was totally new to him. It totally caught me off guard; Buster growled and took off full speed ahead dragging my 115 pound frame along the sidewalk and grass behind him. I held on for dear life. He dragged me along the gravel road, scraping my hands when suddenly, he broke away from me. "Buster, Buster stop!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. My heart was racing. I jumped up and ran after him as fast as I could run. My lungs burned from the cold air. Suddenly, Buster and the cat were nowhere to be seen. I sat up and gathered my thoughts, but the tears began to flow. I searched everywhere. Being new to the area, I had no idea how far he could have gone or worse yet, if someone picked him up. Buster has the personality of a teddy bear and is so sweet he would probably love anyone that showed him any type of affection. When I returned home, I got in my army green 10 year old Jeep Wrangler and began to search up and down each and every street in the row home lined streets. I searched behind the blocks of area strip malls and restaurants. I searched dumpsters and backyards calling out his name as the tears rolled down my cold reddened cheeks. It was now dusk, so I returned home to try to collect my thoughts. As I was sniffling and blowing my nose from all of the tears, I suppose the sound of my sobbing was louder than I thought, not that I even cared at this point. I just wanted to collapse on my bed and figure out how to get my Buster back. Just as I reached out to stick my key in the rusty key hole, a head popped out from the neighbor's apartment door. "Are you okay there neighbor? You look a bit worked up, like you could use a friend to talk to." "I'm fine." I whimpered, and then the sobbing started. I don't even know this guy, but I guess I just needed someone to talk to for just a little while. I began to let the tears pour out and he gave me a friendly hug which made me automatically bury my wet face in his chest. I told Dusty what happened with Buster and before you knew it, I was inviting the annoying neighbor inside my place. He was trying to be so nice to me. Was I just being rude, or do I just hate all men right now because of my recent busted relationship? I guess I'll figure that out later. Right now I just needed someone to talk to. Yeah, that's it."All I can offer you to drink is a beer or an open week old bottle of white zinfandel." I was trying so hard to be nice. And gosh, did he look hot again. It was hard to ignore his chiseled features and I wish he wouldn't wear those jeans around me. He hesitated, and then replied, "I'll have the beer. So are you gonna tell me your name?" He tilted his head in that special way again, just like the night I pounded on his door in my Hello Kitty's. Those steel gray eyes were genuinely friendly, and sexy as all get out. "Hillary, Hillary Potter. There now you know my name. So I guess you'd better go now. I need to get up early to try to find Buster." I was glaring at him. "Are you sure," Dusty said, "cause I can stay and try to figure out a plan to help you find Buster tomorrow. I've lived here for about a year now, so I do know the area pretty well. There are a lot of places he could be hiding." But I was persistent in getting him out of my apartment. "Please just go." After he left, taking the beer with him, I wondered if I was just being a bitch or if there was some underlying reason why I was determined not give this seemingly nice, hot guy a chance. Maybe it was that annoying accent. I poured some wine in my red solo cup and guzzled it right on down, then crashed in my bed. And thought about Buster.7:00 the next morning I was showered and out the door, coffee in hand, ready to hunt for Buster. What a sad, sad Christmas Eve this was going to be without my Buster. Again I covered all of the surrounding area, on foot then in my Jeep. I thought for a minute I saw a glimpse of a buff colored golden heading towards the back of the pizza and sub shop. I angled out of my car and quickly set off on foot behind the building where Santo's Pizza Palace was. I called out his name but nothing happened. Then I heard someone shout out "Come Sassy, come here girl!" The golden jumped out and ran to her owner. Damn. No Buster. I searched for hours my Jeep rattling up and down the streets. I posted fliers with Buster's photo on poles and handed them out to shopkeepers and people sitting on benches at the bus stops. The tears started again. I felt so helpless.As nightfall came, I angled into my parking spot in my parking lot and slid out of my car. The snow began to fall again. Oh my gosh, all I could think about was poor Buster. Was he alive? Did someone just take him off of the street or did he willingly go with the next person to offer him a steak bone or a belly rub? Did he get hit by a car, or even a bus? Gosh, Hillary, stop, stop thinking all of these horrible thoughts. As quickly and as quietly as I could, so as not to make Mr. Nosey next door pop his head out, I double jumped the stairs to my floor. I gently slid my key into the door and quietly crept inside.I slumped down on my sagging sofa and just laid there with my eyes open staring up at the white ceiling. The tears flowed down my cheeks onto the scratchy fabric of the old sofa. I didn't even light the Christmas tree. I did lay there and say a little prayer that Buster was at least safe, even if he wasn't here with me. And that he wasn't going hungry, that some soul would find it in their hearts to give him food and shelter in the snow. Suddenly, I heard music coming from the apartment next door. Yes, Dusty's apartment. I listened for a moment. Actually, it sounded kind of soothing to me for some reason. Why, he was strumming Christmas carols and singing the words so gently. Silent Night sounded amazing tonight. This man did have a beautiful voice. For a while, I just lay there and listened. And cried. I guess I've just been too stubborn to notice. I got up after a short while and leaned my ear against the wall that separated us. I thought twice, and then knocked gently on the wall. "Hey, Dusty, that sounds pretty good. Thanks for the serenade. Oh and by the way, I didn't find Buster yet." I just stared out the window for a while watching the snow fall and quickly pile up on the ground below. The music stopped. How strange. I'm trying to be nice to this guy. About five minutes went by.A knock on the door startled me. Now what, I thought. "Ok, I'm coming. Hold your horses!" I opened the door and Dusty was standing there. "Hillary! I've been waiting for you all day! I didn't hear you come home! I must've been playing my guitar when you got back! You wouldn't let me go look for Buster with you, so I set out on my own this morning!" Dusty called out "Here Buster, here boy!" Oh my, no way! "Buster!" I yelled! "Buster, oh my gosh, come here boy!" His big furry, shaggy body came bouncing and whimpering with excitement, then pounced on me, knocking me over and licking and slobbering on my face. "Where, how, and why?" I asked, shedding tears of joy. "Well," Dusty said, "I just like you, and I wanted to get to know you better. I thought that maybe if I helped you find Buster, maybe you'd give me a chance. I found him down by the scrap yard. And I didn't have your cell number or any way to get in touch" Looking into my eyes with those steel gray eyes of his, I knew now that I would definitely give him a chance now. I guess it's true, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. This is one cowboy that turned out to be an angel after all.The End