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Hey everyone, I'm Andrew Warner, the founder of Mixergy.com, home of the ambitious upstart and home of the infinite tech trouble, it seems like. Today's guest was good enough, after we had some tech trouble last week, to come back. And now we're doing this interview, not on Skype but on GoToMeeting. Thank God for backup systems because I felt like everything failed at the time, personally. In this interview I want to find out how an idea that happened to an entrepreneur on an overseas trip became a business that was sold to Home Depot. In 2008 Ethan Anderson launched RedBeacon which allowed you to compare prices, ratings, and appointment availability for home service providers. About three years later he sold it.
Today he's building MyTime which lets you book appointment with thousands of local businesses, like housekeepers and dentists, and they just recently launched MyTimeFavorites which will allow you to book appointments with companies that haven't even signed up for MyTime, and that way you get the convenience of booking with them online. Ethan, thanks for doing this interview.
Ethan: Thanks, Andrew. It's great to be here.
Andrew: So a lot of difficulty in running a business. Frankly, you can see even my little operation here is having a lot of tech trouble. You had a lot of challenges building it up. You finally sold. What's the payoff? Do you remember the day that you sold it? Did it feel as great as I imagine?
Ethan: Yeah. It's always to me incredibly exciting, and you feel like you found a great home for a company that you worked so hard to build and one that makes a lot of sense. That feels really wonderful. To me it's kind of talent acquisition, I feel like, where no one fails any more, (?).
Andrew: Yes.
Ethan: Usually, what happens your app gets acquired, your users are left in the lurch. And the years of hard work that you put into it go for nothing except proving yourself as a hard worker. And so I was really thrilled that Home Depot is probably the best home that little RedBeacon that I could imagine. What they've done with the store integrations, what they've done with leveraging their own service professionals who shop at Home Depot and customers who shop at Home Depot and making RedBeacon a part of that shopping experience is something I could never even have imagined the day I came up with the idea.
Andrew: And the idea that you sold the company, and you could point to Home Depot and, "It's there. It's now part of that big organization." And everyone, your mother, my mother, everybody knows what Home Depot is.
Ethan: Great. Of course. I love that you can walk into the store and see the signage and the kiosks and the store associates will talk to you about it. It's even kind of a fun thing. Each of the Home Depot/Nascar have the RedBeacon colors, the RedBeacon logos throughout. Pretty cool.
Andrew: So then what's the difference between RedBeacon and MyTime? I was trying to describe them in the intro, and I looked at it and said, "Anyone that listened to that would say Andrew usually does his research", but I can't tell the difference between these two introductions.
Ethan: Sure.
Andrew: So what is the difference between MyTime and RedBeacon?
Ethan: Let me start with little RedBeacon and then I'll move into the current startup that I'm working on, MyTime. So RedBeacon was about getting bids or price bids for home service jobs specifically. When you need to have a complex job done on your house, it almost never gets fixed right. Every business that you call quotes you very different prices because of their qualifications. They usually come on-site to make a final determination. So what RedBeacon would do is it would simplify that process for you. You get four or five bids from plumbers, electricians, (?), you know, typical kind of home service workers that come to your house to do the job, right?
Andrew: Mm-hmm.
Ethan: You could take photos. You could describe the job. They could ask you questions about it. And then what happens is you have four or five choices that have the price, the bid that they're going to charge. You have profiles of the business, ratings and reviews, backgrounds checks, a service guarantee from RedBeacon to make sure that you know we're standing behind the job, and you know, then you select somebody. When you select somebody, the service provider pays RedBeacon 10% of the job. Actually, it went up; it was initially 10%, now it can be 20 or 30% depending on the type of job. MyTime is the mirror opposite. MyTime is actually a site that has jobs where every single service is fixed price. You know exactly what it's going to cost ahead of time. The consumer buys the service from My Time, we're actually the merchant of record, but we book the appointment for you with the merchant because we're connected to their calendar.
So I'll give you an example. Let's say that after the interview you decide, "That was a really great interview, the best I've ever done, and I'm going to reward myself with a massage." You can go onto MyTime, see who's available in your area right now, even filter down by Thai massage or deep-tissue, whatever you want. Right? You see the beautiful profiles, the business- same thing, kind of ratings and reviews, information, but you see the price ahead of time.
You see the availability ahead of time, and when you choose a time and price combination you purchase it, we charge your credit card, it shows up on the merchant's calendar, and they get a notification that you're coming. So, it's a little bit different and it solves a lot of the, I would say, business challenges that I think we faced with RedBeacon as we were growing that business.
Andrew: All right, I want to hear about those business challenges as we build up. By the way, you mentioned a massage; I'm looking at my hair, I feel like it's a haircut that I need, and I could do that too, right?
Ethan: You can. Yeah, haircuts…
Andrew: And I book a specific time on MyTime for the haircut.
Ethan: Right, you could. There are a couple of things you can do. One is, if you don't have a person you go to today, you could filter down by the day and time and location that you want to go. You probably would select "men's haircut," but you know there's a lot of different choices. You could do "blowout," "no blowout," I mean there's all kinds of different things you can do. I'm sure you don't color your hair, but if you did…
Andrew: I feel like maybe I should start.
Ethan: [laughs]
Andrew: But if I wanted to, I could pick that out and discreetly set up an appointment with them for a specific time.
Ethan: You're actually… I mean, you can't underestimate the convenience of being able to book and pay for that haircut on MyTime versus calling the businesses. Half the time they put you on hold or don't answer at all. Finding out who's available, how much they're going to charge, who's good, who's not, all of that's taken care of for you. So it's… The experience that we're really trying to model is something like Amazon. It's a retail experience that should be as seamless as that.
Now the second thing, just to say quickly, is, let's say you have somebody you go to. Most people have, you know, they go to the same person every month, right? You add that person to your "Favorites" page, and then the person, the hairstylist, lives there, on that "Favorites" page. There's a tile, and you click a "Book" button, and it opens up their schedule instantly, within seconds, and then you choose the time that you want. It's already configured, we know which hairstylist to go to at the salon, we know their price, we know which service you want, so all you have to do is click "Book," and then the time you want, and then it's done.
Andrew: And if they're not on the service already, you guys will do what?
Ethan: Then what we'll do, we'll actually call the business, and ask… We'll print a free profile for them. This is one of the big learnings I had; you actually have to build a profile for them, for these local businesses, because they tend not to be as tech-savvy as you and me, so we hire ODesk workers who are specially trained in profile creation, and less expensive. They will create the profile and send it over as a link: it says "Claim Your Profile," they click on the profile, and if everything looks good, they click "Approve." Then they go live on the site.
Andrew: OK.
Ethan: So, if your business isn't there, though, we don't want you to have to wait for that process to happen, so we'll concierge it for you for free. We'll call the hairstylist at a salon and say, "Andrew needs to make an appointment. He's expressed a preference for Saturday afternoon, what do you have available?" Then we'll let you know, and then we'll confirm it for you. Hopefully that only happens the first time, but you've provided us with a warm lead. We're grateful for that, we signed up a salon and the hairstylist, and we throw you a $10 credit for your next booking.
Andrew: Really?
Ethan: So, I kind of joke that you could get $10 off any business in America. You should never, ever pay full price again. You can always get $10 off any business with MyTime.
Andrew: It's like you're creating Open Table for all the services that I want to use that use dilapidated call answering machines that I have to deal with. I'm obviously getting very carried away with the product here, usually I talk about the business and rarely do I get this interested in the product, and that's why…
Ethan: That's a good sign.
Andrew: I wonder if the hipster place that I go to that shaves the bottom of my neck here will sign up. I'm going to try it and we'll let you know.
Ethan: We'd love to have them on.
Andrew: So, let's see how you got here. I mentioned at the top of the interview that this idea came to you when you were on a trip overseas. You were in Japan. What were you doing there and how did this idea come to you, the idea that eventually became Red Beacon?
Ethan: Right. I had a Japanese friend from business school, and it was the five year Harvard Business School reunion, so I went back. I was a Google product manager at that time, kind of I was feeling antsy, had been at Google for a while, I really want the experience there but was feeling antsy that I want to do something entrepreneurial. And, I felt like going back to that reunion was actually a good kick in the seat of the pants, because my classmates had done some pretty amazing things, [??] in my class, [??] in the academy, just really incredible people. I sort of felt like, I work for a great company, and I love my job, but I need to get out there and improve myself, beyond just working for a company.
So, I started talking to some of my classmates, and this guy from Japan had created a really interesting company. It was a mobile first application, in that it allowed small businesses to summon workers. Let's say that you need…you're a restaurant, you need an extra dishwasher. Or you're a retailer, and you want someone to help stock the store. All these little things, made…they would push out the notification to this app – it was, like, 100,00 Japanese 20-somethings, who had this app on their phone – they would get the push notification, they'd respond "yes," I'd like to do this job, and then an hour later they would show up. In Japan it's totally different than the U. S. Much, much less regulation. There's no workers' comp, there's no payroll taxes for temporary jobs, it's like, you just show up and do the work, it's totally fine.
When I went back to see if I could recreate that business in the U. S., I found out that heavy bureaucracy and regulation in this country made that almost impossible.
Andrew: What do you mean, what kind of obstacles were there?
Ethan: I mean, everything from sexual harassment to workers' comp to the right to work. In this country you have a work authorization. Payroll tax withholding; all of that became our responsibility; you had to be a full-on temp agency.
Andrew: I see. You fully were hiring these people; it wasn't this set of freelancers who were just using the app to find work.
Ethan: Exactly.
Andrew: That's a big responsibility.
Ethan: And I noticed, by the way, that one of our companies in our space called Task Rabbit, a few weeks ago, launched Task Rabbit for Business. And sure enough, they provided all of those services that I didn't want to provide. I didn't want to be a temp agency, and I guess Task Rabbit – I think they've raised, like, $20-plus million – could afford to build the infrastructure to do all those things that I felt like were going to be just not worth it.
Andrew: I was shocked when I saw that, too. They even list all the things that they're going to take off your plate. All the regulations that you're talking about that businesses don't want to do, they say that they're going to do it.
Ethan: Yeah.
Andrew: So, how far, Ethan, into this idea did you get before you realized this is just not going to work in the U. S. with all the regulations?
Ethan: I hadn't left my job at Google, it was probably two or three weeks into it as I started to really do the due diligence on this idea that all this stuff came up. But I didn't let go of the idea. I thought, this is still a really interesting idea. I just can't do that exact one. It kind of morphed into the idea of you can be a consumer, and need a service provider. You might need a plumber, because your hot water heater broke. Or you might need a handyman, because something in your house, a window, needs to be replaced. Whatever it is, right? And that's actually where the name Red Beacon came from. I thought of it kind of in my head as, there's an emergency, I'm going to summon help, I'm going to put up my red beacon like the bat signal, and they're going to come running to take care of my problem. And it's all going to be through mobile.
As it turns out, we built it on the Web first, and then we built mobile later, but I kind of, in my head, I always imagined it as a really cool mobile app. It's back in 2008, so it's a little bit early for mobile, which is why we started on the Web.
Andrew: You had a great job at Google. Was it tough to give that up, the salary, the protection – frankly, I walk around San Francisco now, and I see the prestige that goes along with working for Google. That couldn't have been easy to shed.
Ethan: For me it was. I don't know, I think if you're a real entrepreneur, then you're not looking for those creature comforts. It wasn't like I didn't enjoy the great food; I actually think that Google's food is better than most restaurants you can get in San Francisco. It is pretty amazing, when I go back to visit friends and have lunch there – it actually is better than I remembered. But that's not really what life is about.
It's not about trying to live the easiest life, how to live the one where I'm the most comfortable and do the least amount of work, and get the most benefit for it. Engineers, we like to chew on glass, we like to create things that everyone says was impossible to create, just because we can, because we have the vision to do this thing. Once I had locked on to this vision, I was hungry, and that's all I wanted to do.
I ended up going a year and a half with no salary, and put in $50,000 of my own savings. I wasn't super-rich. I mean, I was at Google, but I was there at post-IPL, so it wasn't like I was one of these, you know, multi- millionaire early movers. So, it was, you know, real risk, real pain, to kind of do that, but you know, I just lived very leanly and we kept a lot of equity.
I brought on two co-founders from Google's vaults, so there are three of us. We lived very leanly. We all put in $50,000 into the company to keep it going. We paid ourselves nothing at all, and eventually, we decided to enter TechCrunch50, which was a big decision.
At that time, Andrew, TechCrunch50 was really important. It was, in a way that I don't think any of the startup conferences are today, because they've all been diluted. There's so many of them now. But back then, it was like, you know, mint, yammer, it was like, you know, it was like, it got so much publicity–1,000 startups from around the world would apply to get in–1,000–and then, you know, 50 would be selected. So, even the selection process was tough. I mean, you had to get through; they had to weed out 1,000, to 50.
And we were so excited when we got the notification from Heather Harde, who is the CEO of TechCrunch that we were in. I mean, it was like, oh my God, this is–jeez, we're in to TechCrunch 50. You know, and I will tell you that there was not one moment that we thought we were going to win, not one moment. And even when I was on stage and they were narrowing it down from five people, to four people, to three companies, to two companies, I'm standing there on stage. In my head, I'm thinking, oh, it's pretty awesome that we're the runners-up to TechCrunch 50 when there's two left.
It wasn't until they said Red Beacon that it even became like, I even realized that it was even possible and we'd won. Really.
Andrew: I remember when you won. I remember the excitement around it, because I think Mint happened the year before, right?
Ethan: Right.
Andrew: So, they had a track record of picking intelligently and all the attention was put on TechCrunch 50 at the time.
Ethan: It was, everything–I mean, we had–to be honest, you know, we haven't gone into this yet, but the Home Depot acquisition happened because of TechCrunch 50, and I haven't really talked about this.
Andrew: Really?
Ethan: It just hasn't really come out.
Andrew: Why? How does TechCrunch 50 lead to Home Depot even knowing you, let alone acquiring you?
Ethan: Well, as it turns out, the Home Depot online team was watching TechCrunch 50.
Andrew: Really?
Ethan: They were reading TechCrunch, and they said, wow, somebody in the home services space won, like, this is really interesting to us because, you know, we're this old-line retailer from Atlanta, and somebody into home services is, like, has this vision to kind of really be disruptive to the ServiceMagics and the Yellow Pages, and everybody else that's been out there before them, in a new, much more technical way. Like, we're doing algorithmic matching, and you know, we're kind of taking the more Google-y approach to it than probably some of these companies that were started in the 1990s were.
And they came out and they met us, they met me. I had breakfast with them. A year, you know, over a year, year and a half before the acquisition even took place, and they were just tracking it closely. I didn't know how serious they were. I mean, I think that, you know, lots of companies talk to you and lots of companies sort of express intentions, want to work together, et cetera. So, it wasn't something I'd ever thought about until one day they showed up and they were committed to buying the company. Andrew: Wow.
Ethan: I mean, really committed. It was like they decided that they wanted it, and so we didn't shop it around. There was no process, there was no investment bankers. It was no second bid. It was, if you guys want this, you know, there's probably a price which RBC and we will accept, which is pretty high, you know, given that we were probably going to raise a series B. And they got there, and, you know, we were excited about their promises of integrating it and really carrying it to the rest of the country, which is something that is hard to do.
Andrew: Jason, the co-founder of TechCrunch 50, must be insanely proud to know that this, that the conference not just led to investors contacting you, but eventually, a sale. Which also reminds me that Jason invested in a company called Thumbtack. I was having dinner with the founders recently at their house, at their apartment here–
Ethan: Oh, cool.
Andrew: And the way that they described their business sounds just like what you were building. I don't even see much of a difference, except in the way that they get companies on board, in the way that they get customers. Companies and, you know, the end user. What do you see there?
Ethan: Well, I think they are similar. I think Jason would have invested in RedBeacon, but we didn't have the opportunity because we only did one round at seven and a half million dollars, and there's no room for angels. Because remember, we had sort of done the seed round as founders, like, saying, there is no outside capital. And we did the one round of seven and a half million.
It didn't make sense for somebody to come in with, like, $25,000 and get, like, a hair of the company, right? It's like, why would you do that, as an angel? So, he went with Thumbtack instead.
By the way, Jason's also an investor in [??].
Andrew: Oh, I didn't know that. Okay.
Ethan: Yeah, so, he's hoping that lighting will strike twice, I guess. But, you know, I don't want to speak too much about Thumbtack. I will say that they had a different approach. They had an approach of an open directory, and it was highly saleable, so it was great in that sense that they get a lot of traffic from SEO, but it wasn't about the… I think Red Beacon probably monefies better because we have this algorithmic matching, we're giving you four bids, we're charging 10% of the service provider initially, and, as I said, later it's under 30%. They're making money on the transactions.
I think Thumbtack was good at: Hey, look! We have this really open directory of tons of businesses a la Craig's List and you can contact them and they can contact you and you can browse categories and things like that. But then I think that they've had to adapt their model over the last year or two, because they had this traffic but didn't really have the business. Frankly, now it looks a lot more like Red Beacon. Right? It's more lead-gen.
Andrew: Much more. You go to their site, you type in "I need a gardener." They ask you a couple of relevant questions, you hit submit, and then they send it out to gardeners who then bid on your…
Interviewee: Exactly. That's what Red Beacon was. That's not what Thumbtack used to be, but it is what Thumbtack has become.
Andrew: So what about the issue of getting, the chicken and the egg issue with a business like Red Beacon, where you need to get customers but at the same time you need to get businesses and neither one's showing up unless the others are there in large amounts?
Ethan: Sure. We did something that we called 'The Wizard of Oz Strategy'. We're very public about this. The first time you came to Red Beacon and you requested something… Let's say you needed a carpenter to build you a fence in your backyard, okay? We don't have any carpenters so what happens? Our wizard team calls, goes on to yelp! Or goes on to the Yellow Pages, looks up highly rated carpenters, starts calling them and says, "Are you available to do a fence-building project on Thursday around 2:00? If so we'd like you to bid on this." They'd say, 'Sure.' That's what they do for a living.
They bid on things. That's totally normal for them. Then we'd send them a link to the job, they'd click on it, they'd see the full job, they'd put their bid in, but it wouldn't let them submit their bid until they'd signed up. So we used a real job that they could get as a carrot to get them to sign up. That's how we solved the chicken and the egg problem. And I'll tell you what, within two months we had 100% of jobs getting bids and the average was over 4.
Andrew: How does it spread beyond the people that you guys can contact directly?
Ethan: Well, we launched city by city. And one of the things that's interesting is, how many plumbers do you think needed to be on Red Beacon to service a city the size of San Francisco?
Andrew: Good question.
Ethan: It's not like… The same plumbers can bid on every job. Right? That was the thing that was so startling about Red Beacon. You actually didn't need as many service providers as you think that you do. Whereas Thumbtack, to go back, they had, I think, several hundred thousand businesses on it. I was like, 'Wow, how do you meet that many?' It's about the consumer traffic and it's about how many consumer requests you're getting every day and closing. Does that make sense?
Andrew: Yes. My sense with them is they want that many on there because each one is another door from Google to their site. And then once they get that person there, the question is can we get that user to bid on getting even more, to apply to get even more bids, and that's how we get that user locked in.
Ethan: Right. Right. But it depends on what your business model is. The Red Beacon model was a consumer requests something and we want them to choose somebody. For that to work, what you need is… We did data analysis and more than four bids did nothing. You weren't more likely to close the job if you brought in 10 versus 4. So if we brought them 4 super high-quality businesses that were priced competitively, that were highly weighted and reviewed and that would do good work when they went, then you only need 4 businesses. So what we learned is that we needed to get 20% of our businesses to win 80% of the jobs.
Why? Because they really gave a crap about Red Beacon. They showed up on time. They never flaked. They did good work. They never cheated. They had good prices. Because they were getting a lot of jobs. They were making tens of thousands of dollars by using Red Beacon and they didn't want to shoot that goose that lays the golden egg. Whereas, if we brought somebody new on, okay, now there's a whole training and hand-holding process; the quality could be variable, we don't know yet; he hasn't built up a reputation. It's not that we don't want new businesses, but I'm saying the goal was not to bring as many new businesses as we could.
Andrew: Right. That makes sense. By the way, everything that I just talked about Thumbtack, I think it's public, but basically I got it from a competitor of theirs over drinks. I didn't hear it directly from them otherwise I wouldn't be revealing it. They will be doing an interview here so we can find out more about them. So now you've got the strategy for bringing service providers on board, how are you getting the traffic, the people who will eventually be buying from these service providers?
Interviewee: Right. That was challenging. With Red Beacon, it was a lot of AdWords and Facebook ads and things like that. That was a huge tranche of the traffic which was expensive. I'll be totally honest, while I was there we never figured out how to make that ROI positive. I mean we could bring traffic there, and we could get revenue but it was actually less revenue than we were actually paying for that traffic. So that was tough. So then we started looking at distribution partnerships.
We did distribution partnerships with a number of companies including Yahoo, where it was actually built in the Yahoo search. We'd get the top search results and it was ?? We'd put in there so there was NBC, ABC, Fox, and they had widgets on their websites, SF Gate. We did so many different distribution types of deals. We tried social that was difficult. Frankly, one of the things that was so great about Home Depot buying the company is that 100,000 plus people coming every week into a Home Depot store in America. And so all of those people are getting exposed to Red Beacon at a time that they are very interested in some kind of home service thing.
Andrew: When you did the distribution though, you had to pay upfront right?
Ethan: No. 100% of them were all paid for performance.
Andrew: Really?
Ethan: Yeah. Even the Yahoo one, which was pretty amazing.
Andrew: Wow. With guarantees?
Ethan: There were no guarantees.
Andrew: Who's your biz dev person?
Ethan: Me.
Andrew: You were the one who worked out the deal with Yahoo where there was no guarantee, just share of revenue? Wow.
Ethan: They brought them onto a co-branded Yahoo Red Beacon page, which is basically the Red Beacon page with a logo that was co-branded and that was a 50% ??.
Andrew: Wow.
Ethan: Yeah.
Andrew: That was impressive. Now I'm looking at your background, and I don't see biz dev experience in your background.
Ethan: Well, what entrepreneur is not naturally a sales person, a business development person? At its heart, being an entrepreneur, you never stop selling. You're selling investors on the dream. You're selling employers on the dream. You're selling partnerships. You're selling the media and the press. You're selling customers. It's like we're always selling something and so if you don't have that built into you innately, then you better have a co-founder who does.
Andrew: I see. And you are the guy, out of the three of you, you were all three engineers, weren't you?
Ethan: No. I have an MBA from Harvard and a non-technical undergrad Economics and Public Policy studies from Duke.
Andrew: I see.
Ethan: My two co-founders were both CS. One was from MIT and one was from Princeton in Cambridge. So they were very technical, more so than me. I was a product manager at Google so I had a real passion for the product and a good product sense but not in terms of RC coding ??.
Andrew: All right. So you got a way of bringing people in the door and you got a way of bringing service providers in. Then I guess we hit on the issue that you and I talked about before when we started this interview which is you work hard to bring a customer into the door and they may not think of you again, maybe not even ever in fact. Can you talk about that?
Ethan: Yeah. Yes I will. One of the things that probably is obvious in hindsight, and I think a few people did warn us about this is that people don't need home services that often. I mean how often are you remodeling your home and how often do you not have somebody already? It's not that people don't need a handyman on a regular basis, but they already have somebody and what Red Beacon was good at was bringing you new people. We're bringing you bids from four different people each time that you use it and so that contributed to a lower lifetime value of a customer. What is the definition of LTV but how much you monetize times how many times you have a sale each year times the life of that customer, maybe plus some sort of referral like if they were referring some other people and there's some sort of ??.
I mean that's basically what LTV is. And so Red Beacon was tough because there was almost no referrals despite our best efforts and I think that's because people probably might not want to talk about their plumber. Who wants to talk about that? But even if they did, they'd probably want to talk about the plumber to their friends not about Red Beacon. They'll be like I have a great plumber for you. Yea, he's fantastic. Let me give you his, that's what will happen. And we be like, no, no tell them about Red Beacon too.
It wasn't something that people wanted to go tell everybody about. So ?? was pretty low and then people didn't need the Red Beacon service all that often so at six months or nine months goes by you may have very well forgotten about it probably because you've goggled it and put in an ad word and maybe it didn't even registered too much that you are using Red Beacon. It wasn't a destination. Right?
Andrew: Right.
Ethan: Angie's List, who's in our space, has been building up a brand for ten years and spending tens of millions of dollars a year on advertising in radio and television. So they have done an admirable job of creating a brand. And so some people do probably think of Angie's List when they think of pump services, but Redbeacon hadn't been around long enough, or had the money to invest in building a brand like Angie's List.
Andrew: Also, Angie's List locks people into a membership, so you feel like this membership gave you the value of . . . right?
Ethan: Maybe. It's basically Yelp, user generated content, ratings, and reviews.
Andrew: Isn't there a membership there?
Ethan: It is, yeah. It's ratings and reviews behind a wall of garb and Paywall. You can't crawl it, you can't access it, you have to be a member. So, they get no SEO value, of course, because it's locked. In a world of Yelp, it's hard for me to understand how Angie's List survives. I know that the subscription model is gold because people get lazy, inertia carries them through when it renews, and they just stick with it.
Andrew: The subscription model also seems to help, because all I see when I go to CNN is commercials for 'Buy gold! The world is ending! Buy gold!' or 'Angie's List', and it's regular people talking about how they're on Angie's List together, and giving each other recommendations. I guess, because they charge all this money, they can afford to just bombard the airwaves with commercials.
Ethan: Yeah, exactly. I looked at their 10K, and it looks like about half of the revenue is coming from advertising from the businesses to be on top of the search results, and less than half is coming from the membership.
Andrew: The other thing you told April in the pre-interview, is you guys hired an offshore call center to badger your customers to select a service provider, well, to remind them. I think 'badger' is her word. What happened there?
Ethan: One of the other things we had learned, as we're trying to figure out how to make the company profitable, is that the drop-off rate was substantial. When somebody put in a request for the service, and the time to come back to RedBeacon to look at your bids. A substantial drop-off, much more than half. We'd email them, we'd even text message them, and it didn't seem to be enough. So then, we got this crazy idea of why don't we have people call them, 'Hey, we have these bids for you. What happened with your job? Do you still need this person? Let me tell you about who came back with bids, and how great they are. Would you like to select one of them?'
Andrew: Did that work?
Ethan: Yeah, it did. It probably increased the conversion rate upwards of 30 percent, from where it used to be, but it didn't work enough to the point where the company was profiting yet. A lot of these learnings, from RedBeacon, colored my views, and the business that I wanted to create with MyTime. Whereas, a lot of the problems of "I don't need to ever come back, because I don't get home services that often", "I'm not going to book the same person, because I have a direct relationship with them now, so you're cut out for the future" and the experience of the drop-offs from having to come back to get your bids. All of those problems have gone away with MyTime, because we signed up the businesses ahead of time, the calendars are connected, so you complete your transaction in that one session.
Prices are there ahead of time, so you know already what it's going to cost and if you see somebody you like, you click on it. It goes into a shopping cart, you purchase it and it's booked. And, this is really important; we want you to come back to MyTime when you re-book them. We don't want you to call them directly. So, we don't charge the businesses for repeat bookings, otherwise the business would tell the customer not to use MyTime again, right? It goes into a favorites page, where all of your businesses are on one single page.
You manage everything there, the re-bookings, the reminders to re-book, cancellations, all of that happens right on your favorites page. At some point, we'll make that a public page for you, so that your friends can come and see all the businesses you go to. I'm going to mark it right now for a house cleaner. If you live in San Francisco, I'd be really interested to see who you're using, because if you've been using them, and they're on your favorites page, I wouldn't mind booking them.
Andrew: I get that. I would feel that way, too. Right now, I'm looking at your hair and my hair, and I'm saying, 'That's what I'm going for with my hair. This hipster place that I'm going to needs to do that.' I would definitely go to your place.
Ethan: You need to get them on.
Andrew: Yes! Who did you talk to, before launching MyTime, to make sure that the product made sense for people other than you?
Ethan: Right. I think everybody who has ever used OpenTable, everybody who's ever used Kayak or Expedia to book a flight, everybody who's ever used Uber to get a car, they understand the value of pulling out your phone, or going to the computer and booking something online, when you want to do it. Everyone knows how frustrating it is to call a business, get put on hold, get no answer, have them call you back, right in the middle of a meeting they finally get back to you. It's so annoying. It drives me crazy. I'm too busy for this. I get no pleasure in talking to the secretary. It's not something I look forward to, at all.
Oftentimes, frankly, I do things late at night. I'm a hard worker and get home late. There are still things that need to get done, so I go online and do them, then. In this world that we live in today, work and play, vacations and non-vacations, travel, and everything gets blended together in a way that it probably didn't, years ago in our parent's generation. We need things like this.
Andrew: I kind of feel like a lot of what we use, I imagine the rest of the world is going to use and then I get disappointed when they don't. When Zaarly came out, and they were going to do grocery shopping in Washington D.C., where I happened to live at the time, I thought, 'This is going to take off like crazy, because who wants to go grocery shopping?' I'm busy; I'm working all day long. I just want to use the computer. I don't want to wait in line at Trader Joe's, etc. That didn't work out for them, because, I guess there weren't a lot of people like me, who are maniacs, who wanted to work all day and then go home and forget about doing anything. So, did you even need to test it, or were you feeling so sure you were on the right track and you were going to launch it anyway?
Ethan: It's interesting. Something like grocery shopping, I don't have a good intuition for because I don't necessarily know what I want. It's usually more like, I'm walking up and down the aisle, and I say, 'Oh, yeah. That looks good. I'm going to grab one of those.' Or I want to look at the fruit and vegetables, and make sure that it's fresh.
Andrew: That makes total sense. I never would have imagined that anyone feels that way. When I think about it, I guess there are people like that.
Ethan: I go back to Zip Zap Salon, in the lower Height, to get my hair cut. I've been going to the same guy for 11 years. I know exactly what the hair cut is going to be, I know what it's going to cost, there's no variability there. He might have an off day, but if I call him or book online, it's not going to affect that. If I need a massage, and I'm looking for a deep-tissue massage or Thai massage or something, it doesn't have the same variability as grocery shopping. I have a better sense of what it's going to be. By the way, not every business works from MyTime. Almost none of the RedBeacon businesses work. We're probably not ever going to have plumbers, electricians, roofers, or services like that, because they're not fixed price and they're not fixed duration appointments.
Andrew: I see.
Ethan: I don't think restaurants will work. How do we know what you're going to eat once you get there? Not to mention, there's Open Table who dominates, but even if they didn't, I don't think it's a good fit.
Andrew: OK. What about validating your idea with the service providers? Did you take it out to them, and see if they would be interested?
Ethan: They loved the idea.
Andrew: How did you do it? What was your process?
Ethan: I understood one of the big pain points, from my RedBeacon experience, was open appointments in their day. It's not like Apple, who says 'I'd love to have another half-million customers this month to buy and iPhone. That would be awesome.' It's not like that for a local business. It's, "My day has a 3-hour block where I'm not working. That's really annoying because then customers come in again. I'd love to fill those 3 hours with somebody, so I'm not just sitting there idle, and making no money." So, MyTime is phenomenal in that regard. They say, "Let us be a retailer for you. Let us distribute those open appointment times, to new and existing customers, who can fill those times that are open."
And if you're already booked, we won't show those because we're synchronized with your calendar. Then, we went even further. We said, we're going to dynamically price, aka discount, your hard-to-fill time slots. We're going to do what United does, in the worst possible flight that nobody wants to take, and that one is way cheaper than the popular flights. It could be half the price, or maybe even less. We're going to do the same thing for you. It's worth it, because you don't want to sit there idle. You want the chance to get a new customer, and you want to be working and making some money during that time slot.
Andrew: Was there a way of validating your assumptions, because it seems like there are some inherent assumptions in here. It's OK if there's no validation. I don't want it to be an egg-head interview where you feed me this lean start up process, because that's what we're supposed to do. I'm sensing that, maybe, the service providers don't even want to use the internet, don't want you to sync with their calendar, don't trust calendars online because they have paper calendars. Maybe they like the idea of making money when they're not working, but they hate the idea of discounting their stuff ever, because it sends the wrong message. I don't know what kind of (?) could be in their minds. Were you validating it with them, or did you just say, "I've been in this space long enough. I know what to produce. If I create it, they will follow me there?"
Ethan: I didn't do too much validation, other than having talked to a lot of people, over the last several years, in the local space that I was in. I didn't do separate research for this. But I will say this, there are some of those businesses like you described. These are people who don't do email, they don't have a computer in their office, they don't check their cell phone during the day, and they're not good fits for us. And they probably won't be on MyTime for a while, at least until their children take over the business or something.
Andrew: Right.
Ethan: But, I will say this. The trend is in our favor. These businesses now, most of them have Facebook pages, most of them have web sites, almost all of them have e-mail, most of them have cell phones, and they use apps. Right? So the trends are in our favor. And, by the way, you don't have to discount. That's an option. I call it "Dynamic pricing". You can flip that on or off. It's kind of like a happy hour, is how they understand it. It's like happy hour time.
Andrew: Right.
Ethan: And they like it.
Andrew: As a user I could see the value of it. If I was going to go get a haircut in two days, but I see that some barber is free later today and would give me a little bit of a discount if I do it, I'd hustle over.
Ethan: Totally. Yeah, they like it.
Andrew: When you and April talked, you said that you launched with fifteen hundred businesses. How do you launch with that many businesses on a new platform?
Ethan: We started signing up businesses even before the product was done. Back in August of last year, almost a year ago, we started the sales process. And I'll tell you what I knew; I didn't know how to build an efficient sales team because at Red Beacon I didn't have to. Remember I was telling you that you could have 15 or 20 plumbers and they could serve the whole city? You can be inefficient if that's all you have to acquire.
Andrew: Right.
Ethan: Right? You and I could do that in two afternoons. The MyTime sales team is like a well-oiled machine. We brought in a sales director from Trulia, we scoped out sales for [??] , we've got monitors on the wall. The sales people know they have to make a certain number of calls every day. We know the average number of decision makers reached. We know the number of decision makers converted. They're commissioned and comped based on that. It's a real sales organization. It's not big, it's not like we have hundreds and hundreds of people yet, but it operates like a big company.
Andrew: I see.
Ethan: In terms of sales team.
Andrew: So how'd you learn how to do that?
Ethan: I had to learn, I mean, everything. All this stuff is out there, in this day and age. I mean, you talk to experts, our sales director had some experience in it, I asked other people like H. Craig from Betaworks, "How did you do it?" and I talked to his guy. I went over to Zoze and I talked to their sales director and asked, "What do you guys do?" It's like anything else, if you don't know it, you make it your business to learn it. And I realized that with MyTime, I had to make it my business to learn how to build a sales organization and a sales team. And we have really great people now. They really know what they're doing, and the merchants love them. Sometimes they'll go get a MyTime service, right? And they'll be like, "Oh, do you know Graham? Do you know Becca? Oh, he's great! She's great! I love her!" They know them by name. It's great. It's really cool.
Andrew: And apparently they know you by name, too. Apparently someone called up from Mytime, called up a service provider, who said, "Hey, is this Ethan Anderson's start up?"
Ethan: Yeah, he said, I forget how much he made, something like $45 or $50,000 at Red Beacon, he said, "If you're starting this company, I want to be on it."
Andrew: It's great to have a good reputation. There's a note here that I wasn't sure, I probably should have asked April about it, but we're here so I'll bring it up directly to you.
Ethan: Sure.
Andrew: You said, something about the Google Video story, making sure all pieces of the product are consistent. Do you know what that refers to?
Ethan: Yeah, I'd love to talk about the Google Video story. If I had some free time, I'd like to write a book about the Google Video story.
Andrew: I would love to read that.
Ethan: Why did Google Video [??] Google is a very powerful organization today, don't get me wrong. But this was like, the height. This was when Google the hottest company in the universe. Google video lost to YouTube, it was unheard of. How could Google, with all its resources, the best engineers in the world, all the press, darlings, everything, how could they lose to YouTube? And, my conclusion is that Google Video tried to be everything to everybody, and the pieces didn't go together, at all.
In fact, the pieces of Google Video were diametrically opposed to one another. Google Video was trying to serve premium content providers like CBS, NBA basketball, and Charlie Rose. And what do these people want? Well they want the things that iTunes content providers want. They want DRM protection, they want a store where you have to purchase things, they certainly don't want to be next to pornographic or other copyrighted infringing material that users uploaded, right? We couldn't really advertise on Google Video, because there was a lot of infringing content that could be uploaded through the UGC or User Generated Content portion of it there as well.
Andrew: Mm-hmm.
Ethan: Right? Now, let's look at the other side. If you're YouTube, what do you want to provide to your users? Well, you want a super-easy way to upload content. So they built an HTML uploader which was awesome. You click a file, hit submit, and the file just shows up. There was no screening at YouTube. Google Video screens every single video. Thousands of videos. There's a long delay. It took you three days, or something, for your video to go live. YouTube would be live within minutes. YouTube built all these social features.
Social features today are taken for granted, trust me. In 2008 they were not taken for granted yet. Ratings and reviews, embeddable widgets where people embedded on their MySpace profiles, which got them lots of distribution, commenting, play lists, all those things, YouTube came up with these things. And of course you might know and everybody knows that it was tons of infringing content.
Of course, they would take it down if somebody submitted a DMCA request, but it was all there. And that's how YouTube grew like lightning, but Google Video is basically in conflict of itself at all times.
Andrew: Because Google video is trying to make Charlie Rose happy who does not want embed his videos, he wants to sell his videos and they are trying to make Andrew happy who does want embed his videos and wants everyone to spread his videos and those two people can't be serviced by the same product in the early stages of a company at the same time and that's the challenge.
Ethan: Exactly.
Andrew: And you are in there. As the guy in there did you notice that this was happening? Was it painful for you?
Ethan: Yeah. It was very difficult. I mean I think we were watching YouTube and trying to chase the hottest thing so you know they would come out with something and then four months later and it'd be like we have to ??.
Andrew: Do you remember something like that? What was it comments?
Ethan: Yeah. You know, I was actually, not that it was all myself in any way, but I was actually the international product manager. It was my first job at Google. I had a number of roles that they offered to me, and I took this job to internationalize and launch Google Videos in other countries. I was actually spending a lot of my time in Europe and Asia launching the product internationally, translating it, dealing with copyright and privacy things there, getting contact providers to get on board, marketing it.
So I wasn't as influential as you might say on the core product development. It was out of my hands a little bit. But I saw this, was concerned about it, and I think everybody saw it,. But what was happening is videos is a marketplace as much as eBay is a marketplace and at some point in technical terms the corpus of video content was so overwhelmingly large at YouTube, that it was getting to the point where nobody could catch it anymore.
Andrew: Yeah.
Ethan: Even if we did all of the right things from that point on and we were perfect and we never made a bad decision, it was too late. Everybody was uploading their videos there and everybody was going there to watch the videos, and they had just won the game and there was no catching up. And by the way it's not like, I'll tell you something interesting. In my opinion, it's not like face book. Face book could still lose in the sense that everyone could decide there's a new hotness in town and they are going to move their social network over there. YouTube can't really lose. You know there are billions of hours of content on YouTube servers right now. They have an incredible infrastructure for serving it and hosting it. It's fast. It's cast all over the world. I mean it's almost at this point impossible to recreate. I think YouTube will be here for the rest of our lives.
Andrew: Yeah. It is a very defensible business. Internally though, I've been looking at some messages from my audience, entrepreneurs who are wrestling with inner doubt and when I ask them why they often will say I had this one big failure or this failure at a company I worked for that I was marginally associated with, it makes me feel like I'm very vulnerable, like I'm going to fail, or I'm made to be, or I'm a failure. Why didn't this make you feel that way? Why didn't you say hey you know what I was with all of Google's power, with all of Google's strength? I competed against its sub start and I lost. Maybe I just don't have what it takes. I'd better not risk it on myself.
Ethan: You know, I don't think in general I don't have that kind of mentality. First of all, I didn't really internalize all of the ?? Google Video myself. It was a massive organization and you know I was a, you know my first job as a ?? at Google internationalizing the product so I don't think that I, I learned a ton and I was crushed. Yes. You know I couldn't go, like Hunter? You know Hunter, right?
Andrew: A little.
Ethan: Or you know of Hunter. Yeah. He was also a ?? at Google video. He was able to brush it off and go over to YouTube. He went to work at YouTube and he spent the rest of his career at Google there. He did really well. He became Director of Product Management and for some time was leading the product at YouTube. You know, I actually couldn't do that. I felt like I had been punched in the gut that Google had bought YouTube for $1.65 Billion. This company that I thought about for the last year working seven days a week to try to beat them to suddenly be like, hey guys what's up. I'm going to come help you guys now build your company? It was like, I couldn't even do it. I was like let me work on something else. You know what I mean?
Andrew: Yeah.
Ethan: So it's not like it didn't affect me. I don't know if I blamed myself for the entire failure of Google Video but it definitely affected me. It did hurt a lot.
Andrew: And you are the kind of person who can, can you brush it off too like Hunter? How do you disconnect yourself?
Ethan: Now I could, but I couldn't do it right away. Hunter was able to say, 'The queen is dead, long live the queen' [laughing]. I couldn't do it. Now, it's fine. It's been years. Right? But I couldn't go the next week and say, "Let me help you to succeed now".
Andrew: How do you do that? I want to end this interview, with the strength of mind. I want to understate it, the ability to not internalize setbacks, to not take other people's setbacks and make them your own, and then define yourself by it. It's a huge strength. A lot of people don't have it. How do you do it?
Ethan: Cognitive dissonance.
Andrew: What? Oh, cognitive dissonance.
Ethan: I think that entrepreneurs have cognitive dissonance. I think that they see the world through their own lens, they rationalize things in weird ways, it kind of wows them to keep going forward. Where other people would be emotional, or it would stop them, or cause them to be uncertain, or feel like they're riddled with indecision and self-doubt, I think entrepreneurs don't even think about it. We're probably horrible people, in a relationship.
What makes a successful relationship with somebody is that you reflect, you think about the failures and you work them out. I think entrepreneurs are like bulls. We say, "I'm not even going to think about that. I'm on to the next thing." We just forget about it and move forward, which, obviously, is terrible for a relationship. You probably accumulate baggage over time that causes it to fail. I'm sure, if there was a study, entrepreneurs have a higher divorce rate, it has to be.
Andrew: I can imagine. Did you ever see the 60 Minutes piece with Arnold Schwarzenegger, after he wrote his book about . . .
Ethan: Yes.
Andrew: He's got it, like you wouldn't believe. He can say, "Yes, I slept with the maid. I had a baby."
Ethan: He says, "Yeah, I cheated on her, and yeah, I didn't tell her, yeah, and I just kept going. I pretended it wasn't happening."
Andrew: It's nothing to emulate, but it's an exaggeration that shows how that process works, "just move on".
Ethan: I remember, the 60 Minutes interviewer was just aghast. I think she could barely contain herself.
Andrew: We all were. He knew he was doing it in front of a national audience, a huge audience, but that's who he is. He can just move on. Alright, the important thing here for us, is congratulations on RedBeacon, number one. And congratulations to us on MyTime, because all of us who are really busy people, who use services that will go and get our grocery and will try to shave a minute here, a minute there, because our time is valuable, now have an opportunity to stop going to Yelp and then calling up those companies that we need a haircut from, like me, or need a massage for our girlfriends, or wives, or husbands. Just go to our website, and book it online. We do it now with restaurants through OpenTable, we can now do the same thing with everyone else on MyTime. You've got a great domain. Mytime.com/favorites is where you guys will be my valet. You will go call up these people for me.
Ethan: I'm looking for your hipster hair salon.
Andrew: I have to do it. You mentioned it in here. Now, I've got to go back in the transcript and get the name, because I was focused on the interview and didn't write it down. I appreciate you doing the interview, and building the site.
Ethan: Great. Thanks Andrew. It was great to be here.
Andrew: Thank you all for being a part of it.


text:
Military milestone
Air Force Airman John B. Schandel , a 2006 graduate of Midland Valley High School and son of Jane Schandel, of North Augusta, has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio.
In honor society
The following people have been inducted into the Epsilon Upsilon chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society, at the University of South Carolina Aiken:
Alexander Bush, Jennifer Stone, Ward Berry, Kiri Dunlap, Holly Kwiatkowski, Nichole Bennett, Carissa Smith, Gary Asbill, Julie Long, Leslie Walters, Ashley Booth and Richelle Battles ; and faculty members Drs. Katie Kalpin and Doug Higbee .
Welcoming banners
Students in the Interior Design II class at the Strom Thurmond Career Center took on a project for the South Carolina Army National Guard Family Readiness Group to make patriotic banners for the homecoming ceremony honoring National Guard soldiers returning from a year of duty in Afghanistan.
Chapter gets award
The Strom Thurmond Career Center Health Occupation Students of America attended the state convention March 12-14. The chapter was recognized for being an outstanding state club chapter and for its national service project on autism and the activities held during National HOSA Week.
Business leaders
Strom Thurmond Career Center and High School Future Business Leaders of America members who placed at the FBLA State Leadership Conference and Competition are:
Caquisha Burton , first, Job Interview; Adam Talbert , third, Introduction to Business; Kathleen Hill , fourth, Introduction to Business; and Reona Broadwater , fourth, FBLA Principles and Procedures.
Also, Kathleen Hill has been elected as District I vice president for the state FBLA chapter.
Teaching Fellows
Laura Wintrow, Joshua Clark and Graham Holson , seniors at Strom Thurmond High School, have been named South Carolina teaching fellows.
In Governor's School
Travis Bush, Megan Garland, Kristin Lanham and Haley Wheeler , students at Strom Thurmond High School, have been selected to attend the Governor's School of South Carolina at the College of Charleston.
Science fair winners
Winners in the 2008 Science and Engineering Fair Regional Competition, sponsored by Washington Savannah River Company, the University of South Carolina Aiken and the South Carolina Academy of Science, are:
High School Division -- Jenny Mi , Lakeside, first; Wood Dennis , Academy of Richmond County, second; and Melanie B. Aldred , North Augusta, third.
Middle School Division -- Erik Brown , St. Mary Help of Christians, first; Eric Sherburne , St. Mary Help of Christians, second; and Joseph Guay , Tutt, third.
Elementary School Division -- Caleb DiPrete , Riverside, first; Cameron Carlton , Garrett, second; and Sabrina Birkett , Riverside, third.
Greendale honors
The following pupils were recognized as Good Citizens for March at Greendale Elementary School, New Ellenton:
Kimberly Glanton, Kailyn McDaniel, Priscila Lopez, Shi'Tavia Lawrence, Kyron Jimerson, Jaden Cook, Jameshia Oakman, Jacob Fuentes, Colton Key and Deja Chisolm .
Also, Aaron Thompson, Madison Morgan, Salvador Guerra, Guerra Jayla Brown, Destini Kitchings, Khelsey Enlow, Michael Hall, Brittany Hill, Miranda Cullipher, Haley Key and Jasmine Squirewell .
Greendale Elementary Super Special Students in Special Areas are:
Jimmy Keenan and Shanizah Simmons , Music; Samantha Pruett and Chase Smith , Art; Logan Channel and Shyanne White , CAI Lab; Shyanne White , Science Lab; Hanna James and Ashlyn Randolph , Library.
Scholarship finalist
John Lewis , a senior at Aiken Preparatory School and son of Ivan and Kathy Lewis, of Aiken, has been chosen as a National Merit Scholarship finalist.
Key club honors
Members of the Silver Bluff High Key Club attended the 62nd annual Carolinas District Key Club Convention and received the following honors:
Club awards -- first place, Single Service Project, second place, Major Emphasis Program, Outstanding Club Achievement Award and Distinguished Club Award.
Individual awards -- David Estep , first place, Poster Contest, and second place, Video Contest; Angela Wilson , first place, Talent Contest; Shannon Schultz , second place, Oratorical Contest; and Mary Thomas , awarded honorary membership to the Carolinas District of Key Club International.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Interesting facts
does anyone have any fun facts about their children?
Mine is: my second daughter was born to a second daughter who was born to a second daughter who was born to a second daughter. if that is confusing me my mom and my grandmother are all second childs and also girls obviously.
My mom had all of her children surrounding the number 19. She was 19 when she had my oldest sister. My brother's birthday is 19 days before mine. My birthdday is 19 days before my mom's.
Now, I'm a mom and I have my own number, 27. I turned 27 on Nov 27th (and got preg on Nov 27th) and my daughter was born exactly 9 months later on Aug 27.
With my mom her and all 3 of us have bithdays on 5's. 25 for me and my mom and 5 for my 2 brothers. Mine is mulitiples of 3. My oldest birthday is 09-09-03 and my youngest is 03-03-06. And one was born at 5:05 and the other was born at 11:11. Which I love because I like odd numbers. I even had to get married on an odd number.
Lets see....my first DD was born on her due date and we brought her home from hospital on our 1st anniversary. She was born at 12:06 am (Friday morning). Then my twins were born at 12:07 and 12:14am (Friday morning).
But my mom surpasses it all -- 4 kids, in 4 yrs. 1st and 2nd were in same year (jan and Dec 1960). Then her next 2 were born exactly 2 yrs apart with same BD 3/16. 16 years later she had me!!!!!
My mom has g/b/g/b -- due for a girl and had me.
My dad had 3 girsl, due for another girl and had me.


text:
Farewell to our Archivist!
Hi, all!
We'd like to thank everyone for the outpouring of kind messages and support for our departing Archivist, who is, we hope, enjoying his retirement by reading even more comics. We're sorry to see him go, too— we've learned a lot from him over the years! Keep Reading


text:
Vatican City, April 24 (IANS/AKI) Six million people are now tracking Pope Francis on his Twitter account @pontifex.
The Spanish version is reported to be the fastest-growing of the account's nine languages, with 2.046 million followers.
The latest of the Argentine pope's 21 tweets since his election was posted Tuesday.
"Mary is the one who says 'Yes'. Mary, help us to come to know the voice of Jesus better, and to follow it," he wrote.


text:
Hughes, Felix; singer; born at Lancaster, Mo., Oct. 1, 1874; son of Felix Turner and Jean Amelia Summerlin Hughes; brother of Rupert H. (q. v.); academic education; studied at Rudy Institution, Paris, and under singing masters in Paris, Berlin and London; married, Adella Prentiss, of Cleveland, Oct. 5, 1904; appeared in concerts in France; made debut in La Juive, Liege, Belgium; returned to United States, 1901; has sung in concerts, recitals, and oratorios under Van der Stucken and Paur; baritone; repertoire includes 40 operas and all standard oratorios. Clubs: Hermit, Euclid, Mayfield Country.
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text:
It's now 11am on Sunday morning. I sat down at 8am to answer one Mxit question and have not moved since. They keep coming.
It's not just a case of answering one question and moving on. The questions keep coming and I spend at least half an hour chatting to each person. There are still about 80 people who asked questions and I'm now waiting for them to respond to me. Many of the questions involve me Googling organisations in their areas who can help them. Most of the conversations start off with somebody who is confused and in a panic, and end with someone who has a plan.
And they all come back the next day to tell me what progress has been made.
This is just on Mxit. Not including the time that needs to be spent improving the info that's on Mxit, keeping the app up to date, as well as the website and FB page. This does not include the time that needs to be spent on our physical Young Mom Support group – the shopping, baking, organising, speaking to the moms, organising the donation distributions. This does not include the time that needs to be spent on the invites i get to speak at schools and other groups. Or the time spent on radio and TV interviews – for which I have to take leave from work.
And tomorrow, I have to go to work. That means 8 hours of the day that I CAN'T be working on it. This means that while i'm at work, the Mxit messages are piling up and I can't answer them until I get home.
Currently – not counting my time – our expenses are as follows:
1. Storage for our donations – R600 a month
2. Refreshments and supplies for our monthly meetings: R500 a month
3. Help for moms in our physical group to get their personal business plans off the ground – R500 a month
4. Web hosting – R200 month
5. Internet / electricity not included because it comes from my household expenses
6. Telephone – now with using Mxit and speaking to many via SMS – going to increase exponentially
And lots more I've forgotten. Doesn't include the times I have to give moms emergency food supplies, or help with school fees and other things.
All of this comes out of my pocket.
We're not currently able to send moms on training courses or get paid guest speakers in because there is no money for that. We're not able to expand to have meetings in other areas because there's no money for that.
But the biggest thing is TIME
So what to do? I can't afford not to get my salary.
I need to be doing this full time.
To pay my salary, run the group and expand it to where it needs to be, employ some extra people to help me (i'd like to start with employing some of the moms I know from our group), have a physical office in Masi where people can come and talk, and to enable us to travel to other areas to speak to schools, initiate groups in other places – will cost (conservatively) – R500 000 a year.
That sounds like a terribly huge amount of money and I'm embarrassed, honestly, to even be putting a number to my time.
But how else am I going to reach all these people who need help?
That's R5000 a year for 100 people. Which is less than R500 a month. Most of us can't afford that – I know. i'm not trying to guilt people into donating to us, truly. But there ARE many people out there who CAN afford something along those lines.
If they could pledge something a month – do you know what a difference it could make? To the girls and boys from Vryheid and Atteridgeville and Qwaqwa and Pietermaritzburg and Hout Bay, Lansdowne, Mitchells Plain, Uitenhage, Diepkloof and on and on.
Girls who are scared right now that they are pregnant and don't know what to do. Moms at school who are struggling to manage studying and baby. Boys who want to know how to be good fathers to their children. They are all out there and they are crying out for help.
Seriously. It's only been a week on Mxit and I already see that it's going to be a much bigger undertaking than I ever imagined. (Not that it's important, but I've eaten and slept very little this week, never mind spent time with my own children). I had doubts that I should have started this, but i keep coming back to the idea that IF I DON'T, WHO IS?
Please help us.
This time, truly, I can't do it alone.
See our SUPPORT US page for ways to donate.
It's not easy to ask for help. Thank you for reading this far.


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2/23/2010 · Music video by The Fratellis performing Flathead (US Version). (C) 2007 Universal Island Records Ltd. A Universal Music Company.2/5/2007 · This video is now in stereo. Thanks Youtube! This is one of the latest iPod commercials..the song is Flathead by The Fratelli's...when i first heard it, it ...The Fratellis are an indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Jon Fratelli (born John Lawler), bass guitarist Barry ...Listen to music by The Fratellis on Pandora. Discover new music you'll love, listen to free personalized radio.General CommentA flathead is a devotee of Michael Flatley who is famous for his creation of the Riverdance Irish dance ensemble. Also, Flatley won the Golden Gloves ...ユニバーサル ミュージック ジャパン公式サイト。the fratellisの最新ニュース、新曲、ライブ・イベントニュース、視聴 ...This is the discography of Scottish band The Fratellis. They have released 3 studio albums, 6 singles, 1 live CD and 1 DVD since their breakthrough in 2006.The Fratellis sono un gruppo musicale indie rock britannico, formatosi a Glasgow, Scozia nel 2005.The Fratellis tabs, chords, guitar, bass, ukulele chords, power tabs and guitar pro tabs including chelsea dagger, creepin up the backstairs, flathead, baby fratelli ...The Fratellis The Fratellis au SXSW en 2007 Informations générales Pays d'origine Glasgow Écosse Genre musical Rock indépendant , garage rock Années actives 2005 ...
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Patient Comments: GERD - Proton Pump Inhibitors
If your GERD symptoms were not relieved by treatment with proton pump inhibitors, did you find other effective treatments?
Main Article on GERD (Acid Reflux, Heartburn)
Published: June 23
I have been suffering from these problems for years. I have had all of the tests and the only thing that has shown up is a hiatal hernia. I have tried Protonix, Aciphex, Nexium and Zegerid. None have relieved the problem. Stress seems to set the really bad episodes into motion; although I seem to have at least one episode a week anyhow. The doctor just put me on Pepcid twice a day and it is having no effect. I am chewing Maalox continuously and trying to decide when to call her back. Sleeping is very difficult and requires a slanted pillow. Even still I wake up most nights nauseous and with dull pain in the middle of my stomach. I'm trying to change my diet as I know I drink too many diet sodas with caffeine. Maybe that will help.
Published: June 18
Even with treatment of Pepcid Complete and Nexium, I still have uncomfortable burning in my throat. It's bright red and very sore.
Published: June 16
I take Nexium every day sometimes twice a day plus Zantac but nothing seems to work for the discomfort I feel every day even if I don't eat. I have a kind of soreness between the breasts where my hernia is and it sometimes shoots up my chest. I don't know what else to do for this but it is very annoying. Also the bottom of my throat burns 24/7.
Published: June 11
I also had acid reflux until I started doing the vinegar and honey treatment. Apple cider vinegar diluted with a little water and honey, enough to make it taste good, a couple of tablespoons when needed has cured my reflux. Apples help too; the stomach needs this acid and some how it cleared up my problem.
Published: June 11
I have taken all of the medications listed. I am currently on Nexium, Pepcid, and Reglan. I also have a wedge on my bed to help with incline. I still have trouble with acid reflux and the feeling in my throat like something is stuck. I have had two endoscopies and they say everything looks okay. I can't eat past 7pm or it is worse. I am miserable and with all this there is still not much relief. When I swallow it feels like something is in my throat.
Published: June 11
I was diagnosed will GERD 8 years ago. I try to stay away from caffeine, chocolate, peppermint and spicy food. All the foods that I like. Lately I've been experiencing coughing spells. I've been taking cough medicine w/codeine since a bad episode of bronchitis a few months ago. The cough syrup helps but I don't recommend taking it for long periods. I have also tried taking an over the counter digestive pill called Zypan. Usually 1-2 pills after a meal if needed. It seems to do the trick and it's not medication. I believe it is a food enzyme. Carbonated drinks, such as cola creates a real problem. If you can avoid them or have occasionally with the Zypan the problems should subside.
Published: June 09
I have been in hospital twice for reflux and taking all medication, but to date I'm still having to much acid build up as I have problems swallowing.
Patient Comments
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GERD - Diet Question: What diet and lifestyle changes have you made to improve your GERD and heartburn?
GERD - Causes Question: Do you know what caused your GERD? Please discuss your experience with GERD.
GERD - Complications Question: Did you experience any complications with your GERD? What were they?
GERD - Diagnosis Question: How did your doctors arrive at a diagnosis of GERD?
GERD - Treatment Question: What types of treatment or medication have you received for GERD? What's worked and what hasn't?
Patient Comments are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your physician or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on MedicineNet. The opinions expressed in the comments section are of the author and the author alone. MedicineNet does not endorse any specific product, service or treatment.
If you think you have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.
Report Problems to the Food and Drug Administration
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit the FDA MedWatch website or call 1-800-FDA-1088.


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There are plenty of words you can use to describe Boston College senior forward Andrew Orpik. The most appropriate one after Friday's victory for the No. 3 Eagles over 11th-ranked Vermont is honest.
When asked about his goal with 4:35 remaining that gave BC a two-goal cushion at 3-1, a picturesque shot that sniped the upper left corner and left Vermont goaltender Mike Spillane (26 saves) shaking his head, Orpik's response had truth written all over it.
"[I scored it] with my eyes closed," he said, when asked if he was aiming for the top corner.
Regardless of skill, placement or just dumb luck, the goal turned out to be a big one for the Eagles. After Vermont answered on a Brian Roloff deflection past BC netminder John Muse (23 saves) with 48.5 seconds remaining, Orpik's goal became the game-winner as the Eagles held off the Catamounts, 3-2, in front of 5,675 at BC's Kelley Rink.
The goal was Orpik's first goal of the season and second of the evening for his line, which includes fellow senior Kyle Kucharski and rookie Paul Carey. The offense couldn't come at a better time as, for the second straight game, BC's top line of Brian Gibbons, Brock Bradford and Benn Ferriero was shut down, held to just a single assist on Friday night.
Still Orpik says that's hardly the job his line is given to accomplish.
"Coach is putting us out there to try not to get scored on and try to get the puck down low," Orpik said. "We try to be really responsible in the offensive zone."
Though the Eagels didn't have a cakewalk putting away the Catamounts, early play wasn't represented on the scoresheet. For the first two periods, Boston College dominated Vermont, notably the opening 20 minutes in which the Eagles outshot Vermont, 9-2.
However, after a scoreless first period, Boston College came out jets-a-blazing in the second. After Carey appeared to score on quick shot that was ruled to hit the post at 1:30, he did cash in on a power play at 7:39. Tommy Cross' pass found Carey wide open at the bottom of the left circle and the rookie fired a wrister blocker side for a 1-0 BC lead.
The Eagles struck again at 9:26 when Ben Smith redirected a Joe Whitney shot from the point on a power play. The play went to video review, with concern that Smith had redirected the puck with his skate but referee John Gravallese ruled the play a goal after watching the replay.
Though it was all BC to that point, a late flurry of shots led to the Catamounts getting on the board. Colin Vock fired a Kyle Medvec shot off Muse as the netminder moved right to left and into the net at 15:05 to pull Vermont within a goal heading to the third.
The final period was all Vermont, though, as the Catamounts held a 13-5 advantage in shots and controlled the play territorially. That was when Muse was forced to be at his best, and his steady play early led to Orpik's goal with 4:35.
Though the Catamounts played right to the buzzer and had ample shots to tie the game with Spillane on the bench, it was the opening 40 minutes of play that head coach Kevin Sneddon will think about the most.
"There's a lot to be learned in this game game," said Sneddon. "I thought we played a great 20 minutes, that being the third period. But you can't play a team that's as good as Boston College for just 20 minutes.
"We played with a great sense of urgency when we were down 2-0 and again down 3-1. But we needed to play with that sense of urgency from the start."


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DHSA Community Engagement conference on Creating Health Partnerships
Does engaging Individuals, Providers, and Communities in Health Decisions sound like a winning idea to you?
Then you should check this Delaware Health Sciences Alliance event out!
The day will include panel discussions, several opportunities to network with the speakers and other conference participants, and will showcase additional resource information.
Guest speakers will include:
Margaret Moore – Co-Director, Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital (an affiliate of Harvard Medical School Institute of Coaching)
Karen Sepucha, PhD – Senior Scientist, Health Decision Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital
Sandra Hassink, M.D.- Division of General Pediatrics/Primary Care, Department of Pediatrics, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children; Chair, Governor's Council on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
What: Creating Health Partnerships by Engaging Individuals, Providers, and Communities in Health Decisions
When: Friday, November 30th, 2012
Where: Ammon Center, at the Christiana Care campus in Newark
Cost: Professional: $40 | Non-profit: $20 | Student: $20
- Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs Delaware Networking Event!
- Delaware Tech Presents FY 2014 Budget Request


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Get breaking news on your cell phone!Click Here to view this Link.
Cole Aldrich (Kansas) and Tommy Mason-Griffin (Oklahoma) have been chosen as the Phillips 66 Big 12 Player and Rookie of the Week for games of Jan. 25-31 in voting by a panel of media covering the Conference.
Aldrich earns his second career honor (both this season), while Mason-Griffin is recognized for the first time.
Cole Aldrich, Kansas, C, Jr., 6-11, 245, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson
Aldrich averaged a double-double (15.0 points, 13.5 rebounds) to help the Jayhawks win two rivalry games last week. The junior center posted 12 points and 16 rebounds in an 84-65 win over Missouri. He followed that performance with 18 points and 11 boards as KU recorded an 81-79 overtime victory at Kansas State. In two games, he shot 50 percent (9-of-18) and made 12-of-18 from the free throw line. Aldrich also had 10 blocks, including a season-high seven versus Mizzou. He has recorded double-doubles in each of his last three outings and has nine overall this season.
Tommy Mason-Griffin, Oklahoma, G, Fr., 5-11, 203, Houston, Texas/James Madison
Mason-Griffin becomes the first Oklahoma player to win a weekly honor this year after the Sooners had a 1-1 week. The freshman guard averaged 23.5 points and 5.0 assists while shooting 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the field. He also connected on 7-of-15 (.467) from 3-point range and made 8-of-9 (.889) from the charity stripe. In an 89-84 win over Iowa State, he scored a career-high 38 points, the most by any Big 12 player this season. It was the highest total by an OU freshman since 1983 (Wayman Tisdale) and also the most ever by a freshman guard at Oklahoma. Mason-Griffin is averaging 12.7 points in 2009-10 and is fourth in the Big 12 in assists with 4.6 per game.
2009-10 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Weekly Awards
Player Rookie
Nov. 16 LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor, G, Jr. David Tairu, Texas Tech, G, Jr.
Nov. 23
Craig Brackins, Iowa State, F, Jr. Marquis Gilstrap, Iowa State, F, Sr.
Nov. 30 Damion James, Texas, G/F, Sr. Ekpe Udoh, Baylor, F, Jr.
Dec. 7 John Roberson, Texas Tech, G, Jr.
Xavier Henry, Kansas, G, Fr.
Dec. 14 Jacob Pullen, Kansas State, G, Jr. Xavier Henry, Kansas, G, Fr.
Dec. 21 Dexter Pittman, Texas, C, Sr. Marquis Gilstrap, Iowa State, F, Sr.
Dec. 28 Kim English, Missouri, G, So. Michael Dixon, Missouri, G, Fr.
Jan. 4
LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor, G, Jr. Ekpe Udoh, Baylor, F, Jr.
Cole Aldrich, Kansas, C, Jr.
Marquis Gilstrap, Iowa State, F, Sr.
Jan. 11
Ekpe Udoh, Baylor, F, Jr. Avery Bradley, Texas, G, Fr.
Jan. 18 Damion James, Texas, G/F, Sr. Marcus Relphorde, Colorado, G, Jr.
Marquis Gilstrap, Iowa State, F, Sr.
Jan. 25 James Anderson, Oklahoma State, G, Jr. Marquis Gilstrap, Iowa State, F, Sr.
Feb. 1 Cole Aldrich, Kansas, C, Jr. Tommy Mason-Griffin, Oklahoma, G, Fr.


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March 26, 2012, marked a new era in Senegal's political history. The outcome of the second round of the elections left many surprised. The elections were viewed as the most uncertain in the country's democratic experience. Octogenarian president Abdoulaye Wade's determination to run for a third term against all odds made many believe that he would do everything to cling to power and most were ready for the worse. His move to call the winner of the elections, Macky Sall, and concede defeat after only 15% of the ballot had been counted was even more surprising.
As the first results were announced on Sunday evening, it was clear that Macky Sall was heading for a resounding victory. Senegalese started celebrating at home. At about 9:30pm, state TV, RTS, stunned all when it announced that Wade, nicknamed "the hare" for his cunning tricks, had called Macky Sall to congratulate him. The hare had been outwitted. Celebrations moved outdoors with thousands jubilating in the streets of Dakar and many other parts of Senegal to loud music and the honking of car horns.
Like the crowds in the street, the clichés started flowing. Senegal was once again hailed as a model of democracy. The African Union described "the choice of alternation and the recognition, by the outgoing president, of the victory of his adversary, are eloquent testimony to the vitality of democracy in Senegal and the maturity of the Senegalese political actors, which not only honor Senegal, but also the continent as a whole." A leading sociologist, Hadiya Tandian, told AP that it was" a great victory for Senegal—it shows the maturity of our democracy."
Great news indeed! But the positive end of events should not make us close our eyes to the inadequacies of the electoral process and in particular the tensions that marked the period leading up to the elections. These gaps almost truncated the entire electoral process and remain great threats to Senegal's stability. As most of Dakar continues its celebrations, it is worth reflecting on the multiple attempts made throughout the process to thwart the will of the Senegalese people.
According to most constitutional experts, Wade's bid for a third term was unconstitutional. He had already served two terms as is provided for in the Senegalese Constitution but yet used the amendment of the Constitution during his first term of office as an excuse to run for another term. Despite all the legal arguments advanced by Senegal's best and brightest and the unprecedented protests from all the political class as well as civil society and youth movements, its Constitutional Council validated his candidacy and gave him another chance to run for the top job. Its decision was not a bombshell. Composed of a membership all of whom were appointed by Wade, their lack of independence and neutrality was incontrovertible.
In addition, the Constitutional Council rejected the candidacy of celebrated musician Youssou Ndour. Whilst the excuse regarding Wade's candidacy may have been arguable, its excuse this time was indefensible. It claimed he failed to submit the required 10,000 signatures all independent candidates were required to submit. Although Ndour produced evidence that he submitted in excess of the number of signatures, their decision stood and Ndour was prevented from contesting primarily because of the fear that he may take away votes from the President's largely grassroots supporters.
The Constitutional Council was not alone. CENA, the electoral commission, the Ministry of Elections and many other institutions meant to be independent and play a watchdog role fell badly short in performing their responsibilities. Even the legislature was not immune. During his tenure, Wade changed the country's constitution at least 15 times without consulting political parties or the people via a referendum. Observers believed he had one primary motive behind all his amendments—to ensure that his son, Karim, succeeded him as president. In June last year, he introduced his most controversial amendment. To win a presidential election, a candidate was only required to get 25% of the vote instead of the current 50 +1 in the first round. By all indications, Parliament would have enacted this law. It was only the violent demonstrations in the streets of Dakar that shocked Wade and forced him to withdraw the bill.
The fact that Wade could manipulate the Constitutional Council and amend the constitution at will is worrisome. The architecture of Senegal's democracy is weak. At a time when many are hailing Senegal's democracy, it is worthwhile to take a step back and reflect about some of these shortcomings. There is a need to reform and reinforce the constitution. The watchdog institutions that protect its democracy must be apolitical, depoliticized and strengthened. This is not the time to rest on our oars and bask in glory. The vigilance that eventually led to free and fair elections must continue if Senegal is to consolidate and strengthen its democracy. This victory was won in spite of the inadequacies of the various institutions that are supposed to protect democracy. Next time we may not be so lucky.


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By: SIA
July 23, 2013
Last week, the snow sports industry brought the cool to the muggy streets of Manhattan during SIA's (SnowSports Industries America) seventh annual SIA Summer Snowdown. The media-only Snowdown provides New York-based journalists with a glimpse at some of next season's biggest trends in snow sports gear, fashion and accessories.
Each July, the SIA Summer Snowdown invites top New York City-based journalists from television, magazine, newspaper and online outlets to mix and mingle with SIA Members and experience their latest products. Last week's Snowdown attracted 74 journalists representing over 90 media outlets including The Today Show, Seventeen, Men's Health, Maxim, Condé Nast Traveler and The New York Times – a 13% increase in media attendance from the previous year.
"This was Quiksilver and Roxy's first year participating in the SIA Summer Snowdown. From the caliber and quantity of top-tier media attendance, to the exceptional customer service from the SIA team, the event overall exceeded any kind of expectation we had going into it," said Kristen Gooding of Quiksilver/Roxy.
"For an emerging U.S. ski producer like RAMP Sports we loved the opportunity to get in front of so many influential eyes in one location," commented Mike Kilchenstein, Founder & CESnow, RAMP Sports.
"With a unique product like ours, it's really helpful for people to touch and feel our ski boots to see what makes them so special. The quality of the media and their reception to our product was exceptional – we'll be back next year," commented Jennifer Hanson, Director of Marketing, Apex Sports Group.
Read full release here.


text:
July 1, 2009
SoJo's No Good, Awful. Very Bad Morning
So then I get the bright idea to make a quick stop in the department store next to the Ped's office. Fine. Get some shorts for the Mister, head out. SoJo was overdue for his nap and was getting a little punchy so I let him walk. He spots a ground light (he's obsessed with lights at the moment, and walks around pointing and saying "lie, lie" all the livelong day) and walks over to it. Meanwhile, there's a stump from an old bush poking up out of the ground that he trips on, and lands head first onto the metal corner of the light box, gashing his head between the eyes. Yikees!
Thankfully, they took him in, rather than having me go to the ER. I wasn't sure if they were prepared for these sorts of events, since I usually just see sick kids or healthy kids there for wellness visits. But they brought him back to one of the patient rooms, along with the interns and other students, since they probably don't get to see this kind of drama in that clinic.
SoJo was of course, red-faced and crying, and it was nearly impossible to hold him still. They decided his gash wasn't deep enough for stitches, so the doctor (whom we LOVE, by the way) chose to use glue to bind it back up. His cut was already clotting by the time I brought him there anyway.
The funny and sad thing was that they had to bring out a velcro papoose-thingy to restrain him. Since they were working with glue around his eyes, they wanted to be extra careful that it didn't spill into them. What a site! Not only was he screaming about being restrained and fighting it with all his might, but they had to put two gauze eyepatches over his eyes, just to be sure they didn't glue them shut. Oi! My poor baby. I was pretty calm, though, and it's weird that whenever he's crying from shots or pain, I have this urge to laugh. It's more of a nervous laugh than a malicious one though.
Once they let him out of the straight jacket (I should have asked where one could buy one of those for personal use---just kidding!), he immediately started pointing up to the lights (lie, lie!). I knew he was ok.
Poor little guy was so exhausted from the shots and the whole ordeal, that he fell asleep on the way home and slept 3 hours. When he awoke, he was his happy self. I let him play with a watermelon, since I felt so bad.
He loved it! Melon is another of his favorite words. And I turned on the ceiling fan, complete with lights, which he loves looking at...
And of course, a peanut butter and banana sandwich will help anyone feel better. Just ask Elvis.
Scratch that thought, since Elvis didn't turn out so well in the end. But my little guy, he's gonna be just fine.
16 comments:
Oh my goodness. This sounds like such a nightmare! I always love coming over to your blog because I just adore the title : ) It is so clever and it always makes me smile!ReplyDelete
oh my what a day! So glad he didn't need the stitches! It sounds like your little fella keeps you on your toes!ReplyDelete
Aw... bad day. It was a bad here as well but no one smashed their face on a stump, thankfully.ReplyDelete
Good thing they're durable!
Mom will need to get to bed early tonight after all that.
Oh, no! Poor SoJo. And poor mama! Scary for you but glad it was so convenient to the doctor's office...ReplyDelete
what a stressful day--so awful when they get hurt!! glad he's doing betterReplyDelete
That sounds so traumatic!!! Poor thing!ReplyDelete
So sorry to hear about it!! Make sure and keep him out of the sun!! I was in the same boat last week with Tyler!!ReplyDelete
oh the poor kid - my daughter had that glue once on her lower lip - she fell and bite a hole right through her lip - what an ordeal! I feel for you!ReplyDelete
Oh Kathleen! Nightmare indeed!ReplyDelete
Deeds cut is toe somehow when he fell off of (a very very short) retaining wall yesterday. I could hardly deal with that bloody mess. I can't imagine the fear and anxiety of a head/face injury!
I did like the part in the story about the stranger holding pressure on Sojo's wound...what a good man, and I can't believe Sojo let a stranger do that!
First war wound. Now Lili will find him irresistable. That's what scars do for a guy's face. Poor bubby! You must have been a wreck. I would have been.ReplyDelete
Oh! The poor little man! Glad he didn't need stitches. He's such a cutie.ReplyDelete
I fight the urge to laugh when Charlie gets her shots too, nervous of course. Last night she managed to pinch her thumb pretty bad with the lid to her toy bin, that was no fun. Then minutes later pinched her pinky finger in a cardboard cd case {that one still boggles me}. Talk about a rough one.
Poor little guy! Sounds like quite the ordeal. Glad that it ended well.ReplyDelete
O U C H ! Poor little guy! What a day!ReplyDelete
Hope today is better for him!
Oh poor SoJo and poor mommy - I know how scary all that is. My kids have had plenty of no-good awful days and we did the baby straight jacket board when my oldest was 8 months old. No fun at all.ReplyDelete
Congrats for making it through it!
Poor little guy. He was such a tropper for his shots. I'm glad he didn't need stitches.ReplyDelete
Wow...brought back memories of DS1's trip to the ER last week for stitches.ReplyDelete
but glad SoJo didn't need stitches.
and don't you think it's nice that once the scary parts are over, they go back to being a happy little kid again without any worries (the parents still do all the worrying).


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Real Salt Lake played its third playoff game in seven days Sunday night after advancing to the MLS Western Conference Finals Thursday night on its same home pitch.
Thursday's match left RSL banged up coming into Sunday night's match, with leading scorer Alvaro Saborio out with a hip-flexer injury and Ned Grabavoy still on the bench after pulling his hamstring in the first leg semifinal match with Los Angeles.
Portland scored two bookend goals in Sunday night's matchup, but RSL took full advantage of its home field, scoring four goals to win the first leg of the Western Conference Finals, 4-2.
Here's the grades for RSL's win over Portland.
Chris Higbee is the general manager of DeseretNews.com and occasionally writes about Real Salt Lake.