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I've toyed around with the idea of doing YouTube videos. But I'm just not sure if that is the way that I want to document this weight loss surgery journey, or maybe I'm just a little shy. I hate the sound of my own voice, so doing a video so that you guys have to listen to my voice seems excruciatingly painful. I know that YouTube is a popular outlet right now. But part of me is old school and just likes old fashioned writing.
I'm 6 days post-op, off from work and resting and feeling great. I figure it's time to let everyone know how I'm doing and post some pictures in a place that is easy for everyone to access. I have been amazed at how many people are interested in hearing how things went. Or interested in hearing about surgery in Mexico, or just weight loss surgery in general.
I left for Tijuana on Thursday, November 15th, 2018. My flight left Jacksonville around 6 a.m., so I got up at 3 a.m. to get ready to go to the airport. That's also when I decided to do my surgery day weigh-in.
So for everyone who's dying to find out, my official starting surgery weight was 299.8. My starting pre-op weight was 308.6, so I met my goal of weighing under 300 pounds before surgery.
On that Thursday, I flew first to Dallas and then had a layover. Then I flew the rest of the way to San Diego. Let me just say also that flying sucks when you are fat. For the first part of the flight I was squeezed into a seat between two people. Totally uncomfortable the whole time. On my second flight to San Diego I had grace because someone did not show up so there was a seat between me and the person beside me. And they had free in-flight movies so that was a bonus. Since I could not eat or drink anything since midnight, I was sooooo thirsty during the flight.
When I finally got to San Diego, I was so excited. But everything went like clockwork. I received a call about a week before surgery with specific instructions on what to do when I got to the airport. The person also confirmed my flight itinerary. I was supposed to text someone from the transportation team and let them know where I was waiting. They picked me up a few minutes later. There were other people there as well, which was a bit of a surprise because I thought I had already became acquainted to all the folks having surgery on the same day I was. Turns out there was at least two more having surgery, and one person who had to get there a day early. (Those with certain medical condition, high BMI, and patients over 50 have to arrive a day early for additional testing).
One of my honest goals for this experience was to be present for every single thing. This is my first time out of the country, so I wanted to absorb all that I could. It was a beautiful day and gorgeous weather in San Diego. The palm trees reminded me so much of Florida. I was so excited, and so at east on the way to the surgery center. Everything just continued to fall into place.
Getting over the border from San Diego to Mexico was very easy. They don't even stop you. It only took about 20 minutes to get to the surgery center. As you can see in the following picture, I chose Pompeii Surgical for my VSG surgery. When you arrive, there's a lot of paperwork to fill out and sign and this is when you also pay your money. But they are very organized and the process was seamless. We even had fun and took some pictures.
As far as the facility itself, it looks exactly like a US surgical center. Impeccably clean, you could smell the bleach as soon as we walked in. Most of the staff are proficient in English, and when they are not there is a translator with them at all times. Communication is not an issue here. Everyone is so kind and attentive. The fuss over you to make sure you are comfortable and well taken care of.
I was the fifth person having an operation that day. There were surgeries total. There were two surgeons working that day. Dr. Quinones did my surgery. Dr. Saucedo was also on staff that day and did my roommates surgery. When they bring you to the room, they give you a hospital gown, booties, compression stockings, and a hat to put on.
Green is my favorite color so I took that as a good sign. After I changed, someone came in and did my IV. Of course, since I was dehydrated from not having any fluids for over 12 hours, it was hard for them to find my veins. But I'm used to that so it did not alarm me at all. Finally someone found a good one in the bend of my arm (of course). During this time they put another person in the room with me who had also rode in with me from the airport. Her name was Hannah and she was super sweet. Her mom, Missy, was her companion. Hannah was actually number three or four on the list because she went and had her surgery as soon as she was changed and her IV was done.
The entire Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy takes about 45 to 50 minutes. And then about an hour in recovery. So not long after Hannah came back down from surgery, it was my turn. Honestly the time went by pretty fast and I didn't feel like I was waiting that long. I was actually glad for some time to catch my breath. I visited with some other surgery sisters that I had got to know from the Facebook group. Never once did I feel nervous or anxious. I was ready.
Right before surgery my surgeon sat down and had a great conversation with me. He drew out a diagram of exactly what he would be doing. He gave me an opportunity to ask any questions that I had. I feel like I was pretty well-informed going in, so there were just a few things that I wanted to ask like what size bougie he was going to use. He explained that he likes using a 36-inch French bougie because anything smaller has more complications and doesn't usually yield more weight loss. If you are new to weight loss surgery and things like bougie size, I suggest you Google it. It's basically how they measure how big your new sleeve is going to be. But again, because of my research I knew that a 36 was a good size and would definitely allow me to have significant restriction and to lose weight.
After our conversation, the anesthesiologist came out and introduced himself to me. Let me also add that this anesthesiologist was the sexiest man that I've ever seen in my life! I know I probably had a goofy look on my face because I wanted to giggle like a schoolgirl. But I don't remember anything else after he put the mask on my face. Except for waking up in excruciating pain and with extreme nausea.
I could hear someone say, "Hollie open your eyes, Hollie open your eyes." But as soon as I opened my eyes I felt a wave of nausea and immediately started vomiting blood. It was horrendous. My whole abdomen felt like someone was standing on my chest due to gas. And then to have to vomit with all of that going on it was so painful. To top it all off, when I started vomiting I also pissed all over myself. They took me back down to my room, but the nausea did not go away. The nurse had to immediately change me into another hospital gown because I had vomited and peed on myself again while coming downstairs. (After my visit they will probably re-think not using catheters.)
I'll save you the details, but this cycle of me vomiting blood and pissing on myself lasted for at least the next 12 hours. All I remember about the first night was continuously having to get up make it to the bathroom to change hospital gowns, and so that the nurse could change my sheets. They tried to give me things in my IV to help with the nausea, but nothing helped. Thankfully I got a little bit of sleep in between the bouts of vomiting. The vomiting is foamy, dark blood. I am so glad that I was prepared for this to happen because I think I would have really been freaked out otherwise. I can't describe how tired I was, or even what was going through my head except for what the f*** is happening right now, and I wonder if they let my family know I was out of surgery. But I was completely out of it. Just out of it.
The vomiting finally let up on Friday morning, but I still felt like s***. Taking a shower helped. It felt good to change into my own night clothes and I also got an opportunity to check out my incisions.
They do two leak tests during surgery, and your third leak test is actually at an outside facility. So around 2 p.m. on Friday four of us piled into a suburban and drove to a Radiology Clinic to do a barium swallow. I was smart and brought one of those little kidney-shaped containers they give you to vomit in. But turns out I didn't need it. Even after the barium swallow, which was disgusting, I didn't vomit again. But I still felt really bad. So I came back to the facility and laid my ass down and slept for the rest of the evening until Dr. Q came to check on me. He went over the x-rays of the leak test and everything looked great. He also said I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia, so the nausea would only get better. We got to take the x-ray home with us.
Now one thing that people say over and over again, is that after surgery you need to walk, walk, walk so that you can get some of the gas out of your system. And even though my gas pains were really bad, I was just unable to walk. I was so tired and I just listened to my body and slept for as long as I could. I was so thankful for a comfortable hospital bed and pillows. When we got back from our leak test, we was offered ice chips and or a Popsicle. I finally got some ice chips later that evening but never had one of the popular Popsicles that everyone else was eating. There was no way in hell that I had a taste for a sweet ass Popsicle after all of the vomiting I had been doing.
I rested well on Friday evening, and even finally talked to my family and tried to return messages from people who were checking on me and getting kind of worried because I sort of fell off the face of the Earth for a day LOL. By the time I got up on Saturday morning, I was definitely feeling a little better. My IV had been removed around 4 a.m. because it was backed up. So they graciously took it out since it was going to come out soon anyway. That gave me a little freedom to walk around the facility without dragging around and IV pole.
Around 4am we were given purple apple juice to drink for our final leak test. After an hour or so if there was no purple dye in our surgical drain, we also got that removed. Of course, I passed and no more drain.
Saturday morning is when everyone who had surgery on Thursday was discharged to either go to the Holiday Inn, or to the beach Recovery House. Your stay at the Holiday Inn is included in the price of surgery. But if you want a more luxurious recovery experience, you can pay a little more to stay at the beach house. There are actually 3 beachfront condos in the same building that you can choose to stay in. Each one has three to four bedrooms and a shared living area. I actually opted to stay two nights at the Penthouse condo. And it ended up being a great decision. I needed that extra day to truly feel like traveling on Monday.
One of the advantages of staying at the beach house is it there is actually staff there that can help you with your post-op recovery. You even get a little cell phone to keep with you so you can call someone if you aren't feeling well or need something. They also escort you around so that you are never alone. If you bring a companion with you, they help them find good food and restaurant spots nearby. But most of those places deliver to the condo. When we first got there, Karina showed us how to make shots with broth and unflavored protein.
This little tiny cup of protein infused broth was literally the first real thing I had on my stomach since before surgery. And guess what? I promptly vomited it a few minutes after I drink it.
I would also like to point out right now that you don't actually drink anything after surgery, you sip. Little tiny baby sips. So far, it's taking a lot of getting used to. It's so weird after completely gulping everything my entire life.
On Saturday evening, one of the other staff members, Luis, came and picked us up and took us to do a little shopping in Rosarito. That is the beach community where we were staying. It was a lot of fun, and a good opportunity to get out and walk and get fresh air. But I totally went straight to sleep after we got back.
Saturday night I got an opportunity to hang out with friends I had made on Facebook who had the surgery the day I did. We were able to compare our experiences and just talk about the future and everything to come. We had came from all over the place... Nova Scotia, Texas and Mississippi.
Sunday morning my surgery buddies packed up and we're gone by 7 a.m. I had several hours to the house by myself (and with the cleaning person) to get my shower and freshen up. I actually spent most of the day Sunday being lazy and watching Netflix. I finished House of Cards (and it sucked). I also spent some time on the patio looking at the ocean because it was just beautiful.
I made it a point to start drinking as much water as I could possibly stomach. But it was so hard because I could only take tiny sips and I still had so much restriction at this point. And to be honest I still had this fear of getting nauseous and throwing up again. All in all I think I finally got about 24 oz of water in on Sunday and I thought that was good.
Early Sunday afternoon is when a new set of surgery buddies came to the condo. These new friends had their surgery the day after mine. I wasn't acquainted with any of these people, but you know I make friends quickly. One of the woman that I had met on the ride into the surgery center was staying downstairs. She had to come in a day early to have tests done, and we were fast friends because she is also an educator and funny as hell. I went shopping again that afternoon, and later on my friend came up she came up to hang out with us for a while.
I had fun getting to know these people as well! One woman was there all the way from Australia. One woman was also from Florida, then the other people lived in Utah and Kansas. We all went to bed fairy early because 7 a.m. comes pretty quickly. And the next morning it would be my the time to go back home. I packed everything and actually had a pretty good night sleep.
On Monday morning I woke up to find out that the border between San Diego and Tijuana had been closed. For weeks there has been talks of a caravan coming through the area through Mexico trying to get into the United States. Our surgery center had already put out a statement guaranteeing that our safety was priority, and that any interruptions in our travel plans due to the Border closing would be taken care of at their expense. So I wasn't necessarily worried. But soon after hearing that news I got the call that the Border was back open and we were ready to go on time, we were just going to use the medical lane.
I had heard stories, but nothing truly prepared me for the US border Crossing in Tijuana. Everybody is out there hustling. And sometimes it would be entertaining if it weren't so damn sad. These people are just trying to make a living, and everyone who approached her car was so nice. I did buy a little bracelet for a friend, because I didn't have any room left in my suitcases from all that shopping I did in Rosarito. Apparently the Border had closed that morning so that border control could put up a new round of barbed wire to keep the Caravan people out. Honestly I think it was overkill.
It took us about an hour to get through the Border even through the medical lane. I made it to the airport safe and sound with plenty of time to spare. My flight wasn't until 2 p.m., so at that point all I had to do was wait. I decided to check up on my work emails and just relax before getting on a cramped airplane. I bought a Gatorade to drink while I waited. The first flight was from San Diego to Atlanta, Georgia. It was around 4 hours long and just very uncomfortable. I did get a window seat, but the man next to me was filthy and I felt like I was squeezing myself the whole time to keep from touching him. I finally finished the Gatorade before we landed. So it took me about 5 hours to finish a 20 oz drink.
When I landed in Atlanta I had about an hour to wait before it was time to finally get to Jacksonville. At this point I bought a protein shake that was pretty high in sugar, but I was desperate for some kind of substance and protein. I was able to finish the whole 10 ounces during my layover. I bought a water to take on the plane with me.
By the time my plane touchdown in Jacksonville, I was so so grateful to finally be home. It was almost 1 a.m., so that meant I had been traveling at that point for about 18 hours. I got home to a quiet house because my kids were asleep, but they had decorated for me and I also had a package from my sister in Delaware. The best surprise was that Clyde finally bought me the bedding set I wanted, so I got to go to bed feeling like I was at a luxurious hotel.
Unfortunately I only got about 4 hours of sleep before I had to get back up to go to work. Yes, I went to work the day after I got back home. I knew it was only for one day, and I had so much stuff to do to get ready for a district meeting coming up the Monday we get back from break that I felt like I had to go. And it actually wasn't even bad. Despite being tired from lack of sleep and traveling, I actually felt pretty good. No pain at all. And I was finally able to really try to get some protein and fluids in because I had easy access to a restroom.
So now it's Wednesday, day 6 post-op. I'm off from work and actually being very intentional about resting and allowing my body to heal. I do feel good, but I don't want to overdo it. Today is also my daughter's 13th birthday, so I will have to get up and leave the house later.
I plan on weighing in tomorrow, and my weigh in day will be on Thursday of every week. Since that's the day that I had surgery, and also the day that I started pre-op. Since now I feel like this blog is going to be a way that I can document this journey, I will really try to be intentional about posting updates... especially with weigh-ins. I'm writing this for me more than anyone. Because I know this is a journey that I'm going to look back on one day. But I do hope that it can help someone who is researching and looking into doing this themselves.
Now that all the traveling and surgery is over, I can honestly say that this is one of the bravest things I've ever done. Not just having the surgery, but also taking the whole trip to Mexico to have it done. Alone. I had several people that I know and love who would have accompanied me there in a heartbeat. But I knew deep down that this was something that I wanted and needed to do by myself. For myself. So that I could only focus on me. And so many times in the process of the trip, even during the dark times when I was vomiting like crazy and sick as hell, I knew that I was okay and that I would get through it. All I had to do was keep pushing to get better. And that's what I'll continue to do.
Please feel free to reach out for more information about Pompeii Surgical. I would love for you to use my name as a reference (they do have a referral program!).


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Lovely Exstetra Trailer Shows Plenty Kisses, the Cast, New Characters, Gameplay
FuRyu just released a new trailer of its upcoming JRPG Exstetra, that will be released in Japan for the Playstation Vita and the 3DS on November the 7th.
The trailer, accompanied by the lovely theme song "with you" by ClariS, showcases both anime cutscenes and gameplay, and gives us a glimpse on the game's cast, including two previously unannounced characters, Akari and Kotone.
As an interesting little detail, while it shows plenty kisses, they're all between the protagonist Ryoma and female members of the cast. Theoretically even the males are Prisma Knights, and to become Prisma Knight one has to be kissed by Ryoma. How will FuRyu work that out? We'll have to see about that, since it's being kept closely under wraps.
In the meanwhile you can check out the trailer below, together with pictures introducing Akari and Kotone.


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Written by:
Hayley-Jo Carr, Training Director & Coordinator of the Reef Rescue Network
Hayley-Jo Carr, Training Director & Coordinator of the Reef Rescue Network
Outplanting from one of our biggest Coral Nurseries in the Reef Rescue Network takes commitment from our volunteers and the generosity of Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas. This month is continuing to be a success with another outplanting day having just occurred on Saturday 13th January 2018.
Even though we have a cold front coming through our hardy volunteers donned their full-length wetsuits and spent the day cutting, hammering and scrubbing! The Bond Nursery grows Staghorn Coral (Acropora cervicornis) which grows rapidly and only takes 12 months before its ready to be transferred from the nursery 'trees' onto the reefs. The divers cut fragments from the trees and bought up to the boat to be transferred into coolers and bins of seawater to transport. These fragments were then taken to be outplanted at Simms Point, a beautiful shallow reef off the South West coast of Nassau. The divers successful outplanted around 250 fragments onto this reef.
There are a couple of methods to outplanting including using Two Part Marine Epoxy or Nail & Zip tie, we use both methods in our network depending on costs, time and materials available. For this session, we used nails and zip ties to secure the corals to the reef, in time the coral will grow and cement itself to the reef completely covering the nail and zip tie. At each location, we tag a selection of corals and take measurements so we can monitor their growth over the coming months and years. Gathering scientific data is vital to the future success of coral restoration efforts.
Thanks again to Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas who donated the boat plus 5 trained coral nursery staff to assist with the outplant. Thanks to all the other volunteers for your commitment to restoring coral reefs. The event was organized by Reef Rescue Network Coordinator Hayley-Jo Carr & Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas.
If you would like to become a certified PADI Reef Rescue Diver and assist with coral maintenance and outplanting email email@example.com for participating network dive shops.


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It has been long believed that ozone can eliminate mold and bacteria. And while nobody denies its sanitizing power, it has been recently found that ozone can cause asthma attacks and even death is some circumstances.
This is why it is very important to choose an ozone-free purifier, like the Airfree Onix 3000. If you are wondering how this little thing is getting rid of 99.99% of spores, fungus, bacteria, virus, and mold spores without ozone, it is very simple – they are incinerated at temperatures around 400F inside its ceramic core.
The Airfree Onix 3000 is not an air filter – it is an air sanitizer, meaning that it does not have a filter and is maintenance free (which is important when you are shelling out as much as three hundred bucks for an air purifier).
And because it is not a filter, it is a good thing – filters never work on mold for long and lose their initial effectiveness quickly. The heated core actually incinerates the mold spores, and, because of this, never loses effectiveness. It takes a few weeks to cycle all the air in the room, but you can notice a difference in symptoms even before then.
But because it does not have a filter, if your problem is dust, this is probably not the unit for you. It is right for you if what you are worried about is mold, virus, fungus, bacteria, etc, etc – it will get rid of them in no time.
If you are worried about trading air pollution for noise pollution, the Airfree Onix 3000 does not make a sound and is so quiet that you might even think that it is not working. However, you will be able to tell that it is doing its job because the blue light will be on and the air will feel cleaner.
Aesthetically, the unit looks great – it is small-sized with a stylish sleek design, especially compared to other air purifiers that are bulky, large and a total eye sore.
If you want something quiet, ozone-free and effective on mold, bacteria and viruses, the Airfree Onix 3000 is an elegant choice.


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Here's what's happening in the world of television for Tuesday, September 5. All times are Eastern.
American Horror Story (FX, 10 p.m.): We all know the signs: First it's the commercials, then it seems like you can't turn a corner without running into an image of a smiling fellow with a cherry-red nose. Before you know it, every other song on the radio is "The Name Game" or "Life On Mars?", and it hits you: Even though it seems like we just put away last year's American Horror Story decorations, it's time for another round of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk's creepshow pastiche. This year's installment, subtitled Cult, is a post-election allegory populated by clowns, cults, and bees that puts Murphy muse Sarah Paulson through her paces as a woman whose anxieties are inflamed by the election of Donald Trump. On the flip side, Evan Peters plays the type of creep whose worst tendencies are emboldened by Trump, demonstrating that Paulson's character has cause for alarm. Following tonight's premiere, reviewer Molly Horan inducts herself into the Cult.
Regular coverage
BoJack Horseman (TV Club Classic, 3 p.m.)
The Bold Type (Freeform, 9:01 p.m.): Season finale
Wild card
Marc Maron: Too Real (Netflix): Pull up a stool and catch up with the WTF host through his latest stand-up special.


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Kansas Speedway Announces LifeLock as Title Sponsor for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Race
Kansas Speedway President Jeff Boerger announced today that LifeLock, the nation's leading Identity Theft Prevention Service, has agreed to sponsor the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race on Sunday, Sept. 30. The LifeLock 400 will be the third race of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.
"We're excited to have LifeLock come on board as sponsor for the third race of the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup," said Kansas Speedway President Jeff Boerger. "LifeLock has a unique service and this is a great opportunity for them to introduce it to our fans. We look forward to working with LifeLock to make this a great event."
LifeLock, based in Tempe, Ariz., helps consumers to render their personal information useless to thieves, backing up its service with a million-dollar guarantee. Famous for its CEO giving out his Social Security Number in advertising and national press, the company is experiencing astounding growth. Since beginning operations in April of 2005, LifeLock (www.lifelock.com) has held minor sponsorship deals in NASCAR with Rusty Wallace Incorporated, McClure Motorsports and Phoenix International Raceway. This past weekend LifeLock served as the primary sponsor for the #49 BAM NASCAR Nextel Cup car. The company also currently serves as a sponsor in the IRL Pro Series with Sam Schmidt Motorsports and with Playboy Racing in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series and the Grand-Am Cup Series.
"We thank everyone at Kansas Speedway and International Speedway Corporation for working with us to make this materialize," adds LifeLock CEO Todd Davis. "There are several individuals inside our organization with strong connections to racing, including NASCAR. We have been active in several racing series to this point but always looked for opportunities to be involved on a larger level. It just had to be the right place and time. I believe we have just that at Kansas Speedway as part of the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup."
Season tickets are on sale now and include the LifeLock 400 (Sept. 30), Yellow Transportation 300 (Sept. 29) the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 (April 26, 2008) and the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 (April 27, 2008) Call 866.460.RACE or log on to www.kansasspeedway.com to purchase tickets. Parking is always free and fans can bring in one 6x6x12-inch soft-sided cooler with their favorite food and beverage.
Related Articles
- Joey Logano Wins Hollywood Casino 400
- Chase Briscoe Wins Kansas Lottery 300
- Bret Holmes Finishes 2nd in Speediatrics 150 Presented by The NASCAR Foundation at Kansas Speedway, Claims 2020 ARCA Menards Series Championship
- Fort Leavenworth Personnel to Serve in Dignitary Roles for Hollywood Casino 400 Sunday at Kansas Speedway
- CB30 to perform virtual national anthem prior to Saturday's Kansas Lottery 300


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Those annoying Candy Crush requests may be a thing of the past
It's no secret that the world is divided into two camps: Candy Crush addicts and those who despise getting invitations to play the game. So it came as no surprise that the top-voted question at Mark Zuckerberg's first-ever town hall Q&A session in India was 'How can I stop getting Candy Crush invites?'
"This is where these town hall Q&A's are useful," Zuckerberg replied with a grin. "I saw this top-voted question on my thread and sent a message to the person in charge of the developer platform to get rid of this issue. There are some tools that are outdated which let people send people invites. We hadn't prioritized shutting it down, but we are doing it now."
The question had been posed by a user, who even requested Zuckerberg to delete the game entirely. With over 7500 likes, it became the top-ranked comment on Zuckerberg's post announcing the town hall in India.


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Happy Julidays, Day 9!
One of my favorite things about the holiday season is how it's suddenly socially acceptable to stuff your face with any and every baked good possible. A staple in my household around this time is hot chocolate, it's my little sister's favorite drink! To take it to the next level, I made this delicious hot chocolate whipped cream, which would be perfect on any holiday treat this season!
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 1/2 cup of hot cocoa mix
- Dash of cinnamon
- Crushed candy canes
- Put the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer to get them really cold, which will help the cream stiffen up easier
- Wrap a candy cane in parchment paper (this will keep the pieces from getting all over your counter)
- With a rolling pin (or other hard item, like a meat tenderizer), crush the candy into fine pieces
- Put 1 cup of heavy whipping cream into the cold mixing bowl, and mix on high for 2 minutes
- Add cinnamon and hot cocoa powder, and whip on high until stiff peaks are formed
- Top whipped cream with candy cane pieces
- Store remainder in the freezer so you can use it throughout the holidays!


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The GMAC fiasco
Yves Smith has been doing a fabulous job covering the latest fiasco at Ally Financial, the state-owned bank which used to be called GMAC. But to get a quick idea of how dysfunctional the situation is, all you need to do first is read the official GMAC memo to its agents in 23 states around the country, and then read the official GMAC press release on the subject.
The memo could hardly be any clearer. "Do not proceed with evictions, cash for keys transactions, or lockouts," it says. "All files should be placed on hold, regardless of occupant type. Do not proceed with REO sale closings."
Yet here's how the press release begins:
Recent reports have stated that GMAC Mortgage instituted a moratorium on all residential foreclosures in 23 states. This is not true. In fact, all new residential foreclosures are continuing in the ordinary course of business with no interruption in our usual practice.
There's no good reason for this kind of misdirection and mendacity. Ally is meant to be the friendly, transparent bank; instead, at the first sign of trouble, it retreats into Clintonian language (didja spot that "new" in the press release?) which only serves to reinforce the impression that no banks, including Ally, can ever be trusted.
The substantive problem here seems to be a series of affidavits — tens of thousands of them — signed by Jeffrey Stephan of GMAC Mortgage/Homecomings Financial. The states where GMAC has put its evictions on hold are the ones where you need to go to court to get an eviction. And when you go to court, you need to provide an affidavit signed by someone with personal knowledge of the case in question. Stephan, it seems, had no such personal knowledge: rather, he was something of a "robo-signer", who would put his name to affidavits without even reading them.
As Smith details, this problem is just as likely to get much bigger as it is to quietly get sorted out in the coming weeks. GMAC was not the only mortgage lender using robo-signers. And during the housing boom, all manner of legal corners were cut when mortgages were written, which can make them very hard to legally enforce.
And although the GMAC moratorium is so far only in 23 states (including Florida, but excluding California), the legal issues are surely substantively the same in the 27 other states as well. Just because you don't need to go to court to get an eviction doesn't mean you can toss someone out of their home without your legal i's dotted and t's crossed.
All of this is complicated, too, by the fact that the US Treasury owns 56.3% of Ally. At most banks, it's generally assumed that the shareholders just want to see the maximum possible returns, over the long run. That's not a safe assumption, however, when your shareholder is Treasury, which has been ploughing billions of dollars into schemes designed to prevent evictions.
It would be wonderful if GMAC could take the high road here, and act with full transparency in a manner consistent with the best possible practices that Treasury would like to see in the mortgage market. Judging by its press release, there's not much indication that's happening yet. But maybe a couple of phone calls from Washington might change its mind. I wonder how Elizabeth Warren is settling in to her new job.


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We hear from many first-time visitors- Wow, I had no idea what you offer. We offer every Club member a fun, educational and healthy lifestyle in vibrant, youth-friendly rooms!
Our library offers a learning space for after-school homework assistance and literacy education.
Technology Center
Technology is an everyday part of learning and we offer access to educational games and programming in our computer lab. All computers are monitored by full-time staff and offer Club members the chance to:
Indoor Gym
The gym is an integral part of the Boys & Girls Club. We provide seasonal basketball leagues to all members, summer sports programs, daily games, activities and open play.
Workout Room
(Courtesy of Bob's Gym)
Game Rooms
Our game rooms are divided among appropriate age groups and include traditional games such as:
Each game room encourages social interaction and critical-thinking skills while providing a safe environment for Club members to have fun.
Arts & Crafts
Our arts and crafts room encourages Club members to let their creativity fly. Club members paint, draw, color and create masterpieces. Our arts and crafts room is decorated multiple times throughout the year in different themes created by our own artists!
Our lounge is host to kids hanging out with friends playing board games and enjoying snacks and meals. You will always find smiling faces in our colorful lounge!


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Student Programmes
224 open jobs
Working at Amazon provides the opportunity to accelerate your growth by working on challenging projects with talented teams. The scope and scale of what we strive to do for our customers will drive you to experiment, take risks, learn quickly, and look for ways to accomplish more with less. These challenges breed resourcefulness and invention, which enable us to create products and services that transform the way people live their lives.
Are you excited to embrace the challenge? Come build the future with us.
Interview process
We hire for a variety of roles across the company throughout the year. Before you apply, review the job description carefully to ensure the role aligns with your academic focus and interests. Once you've applied, you can access your application and review your status any time using Amazon's candidate portal. Please note, the portal may look different depending on the role you've applied for; however, your dashboard will always reflect the most up-to-date information so look out for application status changes there.
Amazon's interview process can differ by position and a growing number of our roles use assessments as one way to help us get to know you better. We also use them as a tool to determine how your experiences relate to the position, our culture, and Leadership Principles. If the role you are interested in requires an assessment, we will provide you with additional details to help guide you, as the type and number of assessments varies by position. After completing the assessment, we may invite you for a virtual, phone, or in-person interview. Depending on the role, we may also ask you to write code, share a portfolio, or provide examples of your work in another way. If the position requires any of these, your recruiting point of contact will let you know.
Keep in mind that while assessments are often the starting point to learn more about you, the process can vary across teams, and we seek people who can embrace a high degree of ambiguity.
Here are the ways we get to know you.
Pro tip: To help you prepare for assessments, our interview process, and learn about our culture, visit Interviewing at Amazon.
We're currently headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and will have two new headquarters in Arlington, Virginia and New York City, along with an Operations Center of Excellence in Nashville, TN. We also have office locations around the world that are uniquely designed to represent a part of Amazon. Most include game rooms, themed community spaces, and peculiar things such as door desks to help bring our culture to life. In many locations you can also find seasonal farmers markets, employee exclusive events, and opportunities to take part in beta testing unreleased Amazon products.
Your location depends on the type of role and team needs. For instance, some business teams may only have available roles in specific cities, while technical and operational teams often have openings in multiple locations. However, no matter where you work at Amazon, we will provide you with the tools needed to own your career, make an impact, and create solutions to delight customers.
Pro tip: job descriptions will let you know if a position is available in more than one location and we often consider your application for all cities listed.


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Five years ago today, a president costumed in a flight suit gave a speech declaring mission over, beneath a banner that simply said "Mission Accomplished". That is probably the defining image of his presidency, and not just because this was a photo-op that backfired. George W. Bush's presidency has been all about image. Bush has never sought to govern, or even to solve problems. Bush was the permanent campaigner, and campaigning is all about selling an image of yourself.
When Bush gives a press conference or holds a public event, the surrounds are always dressed with slogans of some such. "No Child Left Behind". "Securing our Economy". "Strengthening Social Security". Beyond that, he used federal documents as campaign propaganda. The 2001 tax rebates had a note serving as a campaign and GOP ad for George W. Bush. Beyond that, Bush does not govern. John J. Diiulio resigned in disgust when he discovered that Bush was more concerned with looking like he was helping the poor with his "Faith Based Initiatives" rather than actually helping the poor. That he treated matters of war and peace the same way is disgusting. I cannot really continue this post. Maybe I can collect my thoughts tomorrow.


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Sometimes it may seem that everyone is blogging on the Internet nowadays. It seems like everyone wants to say something to an audience online. People start blogs for dozens of reasons, so it can be tricky to make a successful blog happen. Use what you've learned in this article to make your blog the kind of success you would like it to be.
Stay accessible to your readers. Make a habit of interacting with them. If you've built a connection with readers, you can be available to them more often. When you have run dry of motivation for your blog, remember that others besides yourself could be disappointed.
For your blog to be successful, ensure that search engine optimization is utilized within the content. You need to keep your blog high in the page ranks so that people can find it. Choose appropriate keywords to use in your titles and posts to help boost the number of followers your blog has.
Strive to add some new content to your blog every day. This will help you to increase traffic, as well as maintain the current visitors you have. Without new content, your visitors will not be compelled to visit your blog, or even return! It's a good idea to make at least one post each day.
Blog about things people care about. No one is able to escape daily jobs like vacuuming or dishwashing. But, absent an innovative, engaging method of discussing such topics, you are unlikely to hold visitors' interest if you talk about them. Choose topics that you know people want to read about, because they are interested in them. The goal of your blog is to draw readers after all!
Create a blog that is unlike any other. The more unique your content is, the more likely readers are to choose you over the competition. Including information that is difficult to find will attract readers too. Write about a hobby or experience that is unique. Give intimate details of the way something is made. You need to let the reader have a good reason to visit your blog.
Keep your blog posts short and direct. It is useful to have informative and detailed posts on your blog, but unnecessarily long ones will bore your readers. No one expects verbose, Shakespearian depth discourse when it comes to blog writing. They are interested in the meat and bones of a subject and not a lot of fluffy garnishment!
Have images and graphics within your blog posts. A picture is attention grabbing and can also help convey your meaning without using words. This saying holds true, even in the blogosphere. An image can go a long way toward that goal. Therefore, make sure images are included as much as you possibly can.
As you can see, bloggers are now blogging on the Internet from all corners of the world. There are millions of blogs, with so many different niches and topics. Luckily for everyone, once people locate their niche, everyone can make a place for themselves online. Put the information you have learned here to use in making your blog a success.…


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We all know Aesop's fables: the tortoise and the hare, the fox and the grapes, the boy who cried wolf, and other children's stories involving some sort of important lesson or moral. These stories, favorites among children of all ages, are being brought to life in a new rendition of the famous fables, created fully by improvisation and being toured around the county by Robert E. Lee's drama department.
A commonly-produced children's theatre piece, Aesop's Fables has been written and rewritten countless times. Lee's department is adding to that number by writing their own show, comprised of 16 popular fables hand-picked by the cast. Each scene is being created completely by improvisation. Cast member sophomore Lea Cookson said, "It's fun because you can use more creativity than you can in most shows."
This improvisation is what has led to the creation of the script. After being cast as individual characters, the actors are working together to decide the best way to present each fable. The show is being scripted based on these original ideas. Darek Baczewski (junior), another cast member, said, "It's nice to be one of the people who is creating the play, rather than just doing something that's already been done." The actors all share the same sentiment — they are very excited to be able to perform the product of their own imaginations.
They are also excited to be expanding their skills by doing work they never have before. "Working as animals is a new experience for most of the cast members. It's entirely different physically," said assistant director Jackie Southee, a junior who played a dog in Lee's children's play last year, "Wiley and the Hairy Man."


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Nova by We-Vibe includes two massagers that simultaneously stimulate your clitoris and g-spot. Its flexible external stimulator flexes to stay in constant contact with your clitoris. It vibrates in 10 pre-set patterns or use the We-Connect app on your smartphone to create your custom vibration. It's waterproof so you can take it with you in the tub or shower, and it includes a 1-year warranty.
For best results apply water-based lube to the vibrator's shaft and the top of its external stimulator during use.
Tips on Using the We-Vibe Nova
The We-Vibe Nova is a great Christian sex toy for couples who want to add intimacy to their marriage beds. Here are a few hot tips on using this marital aid to enhance lovemaking.
- Blended orgasm. Use the vibrator during foreplay to give her intense blended orgasm(s) during foreplay.
- Two powerful motors that work in harmony for increased pleasure
- 10+ vibration modes plus create your own with the We-Connect™ app
- Works with the We-Connect app for more control and additional features
- USB rechargeable — charges in 90 minutes for 2 hours of pleasure
- Low-power alert indicator
- Whisper quiet
- 100% waterproof
- Made with body-safe silicone — free from phthalates, latex, and BPA
- Eco-friendly — carbon-neutral manufacturing
- 1-year warranty


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Low Prices on Used Trucks
Browse our inventory to see our low used truck prices. Enterprise offers no-haggle pricing on all vehicles for sale, which make it easy to compare truck prices. The price you see is the price you pay for used trucks. Online inventory listings include prices, photos, videos, mileage, features, colors and trim options. Enterprise used trucks include recent models with affordable prices and low mileage. All vehicles include a rigorous inspection by an ASE-certified technician. Trucks for sale outside of your area can be transferred to any of our dealerships near you.
Certain specifications, prices and equipment data have been provided under license from Chrome Data Solutions (\'Chrome Data\'). © 2016 Chrome Data Solutions, LP. All Rights Reserved. This information is supplied for personal use only and may not be used for any commercial purpose whatsoever without the express written consent of Chrome Data. Chrome Data makes no guarantee or warranty, either expressed or implied, including without limitation any warranty of merchantability or fitness for particular purpose, with respect to the data presented here. All specifications, prices and equipment are subject to change without notice.
EPA mileage ratings are supplied by Chrome Data Solutions, LP for comparison purposes only. Your actual mileage will vary, depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle, driving conditions, battery pack age/condition (hybrid models only) and other factors.


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Nursing Educational Packages For You
Parents start instructing their baby the first moment that the infant makes its first cry. With practically three million students presently enrolled in fully online degree packages and eight million taking at the least one online course as a part of their diploma program, on-line schooling has clearly turn out to be one of the most well-liked increased education alternatives.
Instructional supplies are provided upfront and there is a Q & A session for college kids to ask the performers questions following the performance. It is not the intention of this program to provide an alternative choice to college attendance, nor to duplicate the total range of helps offered by colleges to facilitate a student's entry and participation.
Along with coaching medical and graduate students, the School of Drugs presents several academic packages to the general public, including high school students, returning physicians and girls in educational drugs. Coursework within the administration and administration of educational programs grasp's degree program is obtainable online and on the NSU Regional Campuses.
As the U.S. Division of Energy's largest multiprogram science and energy laboratory, Oak Ridge Nationwide Laboratory (ORNL) is committed to serving the public as a valued associate in academic initiatives, selling … Read More


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Labour Law
Our labour law practice covers general employment and labour law counselling, and we further provide labour law related support for business processes and daily operation of our clients. In addition, we provide the following legal services: drawing up employment contracts, notices and termination agreements, advising on organisation of working time, work schedules and remuneration, legal assistance during introduction of any new structure of remuneration, completing due diligence projects in order to examine the internal organisation and employment relations of the employer, drafting employment related documents, internal rules of operation and policies, legal assistance in development of new benefit or bonus systems, providing labour law risk analysis of various transactions, representation of our clients in disputes, providing legal advice in restructuring, reorganization and organisational development projects.
We were members of Employment Law Alliance, the international professional employment law network for almost 10 years. Due to the good working relations, we can provide advice to our clients in international employment matters as well.


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WooCommerce for Developers
This book is 100% complete
Completed on 2018-05-28
About the Book
WooCommerce for Developers is an eBook made for developers who are creating websites using WordPress and WooCommerce. This eBook can be also used by developers who are just beginning the development with WooCommerce.
This book covers some topics which are not easily found on the internet. Some of the topics that this book is covering are:
- Creating a shipping method
- Creating a general restriction
- Creating a Payment Gateway
- Adding Custom Action in Order Tables
- Stock Management using 3rd Party APIs
You can find code examples inside this book and every line will be covered so that you do not need to know any of this topics. Only prerequests are that you know a little bit of PHP, JavaScript and that you are familiar with WordPress.
The Book
The Developer (Book + Code)
Get the eBook with all the code samples.
Code Samples
Code samples done in eBook: Custom Shipping Method, Custom Payment method, Stock Management
The CTO (Book + Code + Video)
Code Samples
Code samples done in eBook: Custom Shipping Method, Custom Payment method, Stock Management
Custom Shipping Method Course
The course on creating the custom Shipping Method from the Book
Bundles that include this book
Table of Contents
About the Book
- How to read and use the code
- WooCommerce 3.x
The WooDev Project
- Requirements
Custom Shipping Method
- Shipping API
- Defining the Shipping Method
- Shipping Class
- Adding our Shipping Class to all other Shipping Methods
- On Activation
- On Deactivation
Custom Payment Gateway
- Payment Gateway API
- Braintree
- PCI Compliance - be legit the easy way
- Braintree PHP SDK
- Payment Class Base
- Including Payment Method in WooCommerce
- Assets
- Includes
- Constructor Method
- Settings Fields
- Configuring Braintree
- Enqueueing Style and Scripts
- Credit Card Fields
- Credit Card Script
- Customizing WooCommerce Form Submittion
- Process Payment
Printing Order Details from the Admin area
- Adding the Print Button
- Adding the Style and the JavaScript
- Creating the HTML for AJAX Response
Managing Stock with 3rd Party Service
- Starting our Stock Manager
- Creating the Product Inventory Field
- Checking the Stock Level
- Getting the Stock Level from Service
- Courses
- Changelog
Authors have earned$9,518,349writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub,
earning 80% royalties while saving up to 25 million pounds of CO2 and up to 46,000 trees.
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Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers), EPUB (for phones and tablets) and MOBI (for Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them


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Into Film Clubs
Into Film Clubs provide opportunities to watch, review and make films.
UsernameLOG OUT
154 minutes
Gilbert and Sullivan were the great songwriting duo at the end of the 19th Century, churning out hit after hit comic operas... until they had a flop, and Sullivan (who wrote the music, whereas Gilbert did the words) decided to become a serious composer. But fate had other plans in store for them. This is both a superb recreation of a particular moment in history, and also a timeless story of the problems of two talented people working together over many years.
Passed '12' for single instances of nudity, drug use and strong language.
Find out more on the BBFC website
A spoof documentary focusing on a small American town where some of the more extrovert residents are putting on a musical.
14+ years 80 mins
Romantic comedy about a young woman living when only men were allowed to act, who disguises herself as a boy and auditions for William Shakespeare.
14+ years 123 mins
Club Leaders can rate films! Help other club leaders decide if this film is suitable for use in their film club by giving it a rating.
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As a Film Club leader you can download our film review resources to encourage your club members to review this film.Film review resources
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September 2009
Oh Ratigan!
- by adminI had a really rough day today.
I wasn't getting the right information at the office and wound up over-complicating and having to re-do a spreadsheet over several times which was frustrating to say the very least; I'm not terrific with numbers to begin with.
I was really excited to get to class because tonight is Psych and I'm really good at Psych, but my teacher gave us an exercise that had the facts wrong and confused us all because he had no idea what he was trying to explain.
We all got confused, he was confused, I was annoyed because now my mental list of who discovered, identified and studied what is all backwards.
Today wasn't a good day.
But I'm feeling a bit better now, it doesn't take much.
I found this pictureand Beauty and The Beast is my favorite Disney movie
Which has started me on a spree of listening to oldschool Disney songs. Here are some of my favorites:
and this video is one of my favorite Disney songs and makes my heart go pitter-pat every time I hear it and I'm reminded of sitting in my sun-filled living room watching it on vhs being happy and four years old.
Aladdin- A Whole New World
The Lion King- Hakuna Matata
The Little Mermaid- Poor Unfortunate Souls (Ursula is the shit)
The Great Mouse Detective- The World's Greatest Criminal Mind
... because who doesn't love Vincent Price singing as a giant rat?
There are lots of others but my chicken strips are ready and I have a date with the couch and some HBO.
What are your favorite Disney songs?
... because who doesn't love Vincent Price singing as a giant rat?
There are lots of others but my chicken strips are ready and I have a date with the couch and some HBO.
What are your favorite Disney songs?
Jack Nicholson
- by admin
Oh Jack Nicholson
I wish I had been old enough to appreciate when you looked like this:
I wish I had been old enough to appreciate when you looked like this:
She misplaced her virginity back in 1995
- by adminSaturday involved a lot of running around on my part and spending money on groceries and having lunch with my parents and wrapping gifts and getting ready all in prep for Kats birthday party/pre-party for Alt13 at Monty's.
It was a hectic day but I managed to squeeze in time to make some home-made sangria to bring with me.
Oh man, it was a hit let me tell you.
Apparently I can make some mean alcoholic drinks infused with lemons and oranges and raspberries and um I think there was white rum in there as well as the wine.
Yeah, I walked the 15 minute walk in my high heels carrying the jug just like that.
I'm hardcore, don't forget it.
Our birthday girl!
Tyrone ordered her a Shambala hat which I am insanely jealous of; they're wickedly warm and comfy and I could use one in the -40 temps that are only a few months away.
Hi Phoebe.
Those drinks... so good...
And then we were off to Monty's to hear Komus play and for Ty and Morely to to the lightshow/visuals and for some reason Woog dragged me into the mens' room to take this photo of a sign and I never did figure out what the joke was.
Jesus High-Fives!
Waiting for Lee to finish so he could go on... such a damned good set. Have you checked out Komus' stuff yet? You should.
This picture is only seeing the light of day due to the intense drunk-hug happening behind me.
Good evenings were had by all.
Class got canceled tonight which worked well because the new episode of House aired tonight and I needed to do some stuff like waterproof my boots, put together mildly inappropriate getups for work, have salmon and couscous and salad for dinner and what am I forgetting...
Oh yeah! VOTE FOR SASS!!
Did you cast your vote yet?
- by adminSo no school tonight and I promise there's a blog update in it for you and some photos and other goodies, but first I need to ask you...
Yr fav media darling from TO is in the runnings for MuchMusic VJ so go help her out and cast your votes!
You can re-vote as many times as your little fingers can click "refresh", so go and vote 5 stars in each category, and while you're at it, swing by her blog, Twitter, FaceBook and MySpace if you still use it and get to know the new face of MuchMusic.
You know she's going to wildly more entertaining than any of those other nominees, and, really, don't you want to see Leah Scott get phased out by someone that doesn't make you want to punch babies?
So, again, make sure to cast as many votes as you can here so MuchMusic can be something worth watching again.
Nobody gonna take my car
- by adminToday was a sort of garbage day.
Work was a challenge, I've had a persistent headache and I was misinformed by my contact lens provider so I didn't get new contacts and my eyes ache as a result and I have to wear this pair till next Saturday unless I can find a different place to get them from tomorrow.
I was very frustrated and I can't say that I exactly handles it with grace the entire time and I was sorry Alyx was there to see me be harsh to the lady at the optical place.
But we took the bus home with a hippie with a foot in a cast.
Picked up juice and ice cream.
And watched Wall-E.
I feel like maybe I should be ashamed of shedding a tear over a movie about a robot but if you've seen it you probably understand why; it touches you and sends home a really deep message about how we could wind up if we aren't careful. If Pixar makes a mistake I hope I never see it.
I laughed and cried and gasped and ate ice cream and missed my friend I hadn't seen in a long time.
Life is better.
p-p-p-poker face
- by admin
Sucks to be everyone in this poster
they all look like crap.
I keep feeling like I have something I'm supposed to do today
besides school
but can't remember what.
Help me remember, Internet.
They're like Bill Gates and I'm Steve Jobs
- by admin
Let's go on a date.
Invite the tabby two doors down
- by adminThrew up four times since yesterday and am finally starting to feel better; I had dreams about being lost in some sort of castle, maybe house, something to do with Disney and a play and dogs that would have eaten me.
Speaking of eating I made bean soup my mom made from scratch and gave to me to freeze when I moved out, there's I think spinach in it and of course beans and barley and it strikes me that I don't even recall eating barley outside of soup.
I downloaded some movies today and here's what they are:
- The Soloist
- Wall-E
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
- The Man With the Screaming Brain
I'm also working on finding a good copy of Dead Man because it has Johnny Depp in it and apparently is "just like Fear and Loathing but a western" which is stretching it for me because I generally don't like westerns. But we'll give it a shot.
Shaz and I have been looking for the song from the Canadian House promo for the last little while now with no luck; it's not that "Grounds for Divorce" song because that's the US one and apparently it could be "Leave Me As You Find Me" by Fraiser Smith... but we can't find evidence that it exists anywhere.
Internet, I'm counting on you!
... On that note, if there were a Bat Signal for the Internet, what do you think it would look like?
Oh, Antarctica
- by admin
Wikipedia is one one of my favorite sites because you can dick around on it for hours, today for no apparent reason I wound up reading about Antarctic expeditions from the turn of the century, in particular Shackleton and Scott and I listened to this song here by the Weakerthans called Our Retired Explorer.
I wound up reading about Lawrence Oates because of this painting:
It's called "A Very Gallant Gentleman" and I wanted to understand the painting and it turns out that Oates was a member of the failed the Scott expedition called Terra Nova and he got terrible frostbite on his feet and was slowing down the expeditions return.
So one morning after his companions refused to leave him behind, he turned to them in the tent and said "I am just going outside, I may be some time" and he didn't even put on his boots he just walked right out into a blizzard and died.
That makes me want to cry, a little. It's so scary and brave and sad.
Stuff like that affects me a lot, I re-read them and stare at the pictures and think about what that must have been like and basically mindfuck myself for an hour.
Fortunately for me I think I have a touch of stomach flu (yum!) so almost immediately after reading all that stuff I spent the rest of the day focusing on not throwing up and sucking on salt crackers and wishing it were fall already, it's a 30+ degree oven in this joint and I don't have AC.
Holdin' your friends and watching them bleed
- by adminFriday night was just another potluck at the Komusicle in which I discovered vanilla vodka hence the stupid face even though I didn't drink much at all; I think it was a mix of slight vodka plus dumbass glasses that resulted in the Vodka Face comin' out.
I didn't even bother taking photes of all the sweet dishes that were there; sushi and blackened jerk chicken and pasta salad and dips galore were among some of the goodness available.
Cold-shot Alex-Lee found in a linen closet that wasn't cold nor did I drink.
I'm not sure where it went, actually, I left it on a table and hoped someone took it.
Our host in all his glory.
Jamie! she's moving to BC today/tomorrow to study design etc and we all wish her best of luck, Ninjette will surely be missed.
Craig was rockin' not only the shutter shades but also the weird hairdo.
Yo Carole, I'm really happy for you, and I'm-a let you finish, but Morely had one of the best potlucks of ALL TIME.
We made those jokes a lot.
Oooooh Danthrax! It's been a while!
The oblig Donald Creeper Shot.
Yo deck peeps what's up.
Alex-Lee stop trying to be Tiesto already.
Oh and then Komus fell asleep... so we piled shit on him.
It's what we do.
Bet you wish we were your friends.


text:
Jurgen Klopp is adamant that title talk will not get in the way of Liverpool's progress.
We currently sit joint second in the table after 12 games, one point behind Chelsea, and having outscored every side in the top flight, many believe this could be our year.
Former Liverpool midfielder admits regular cocaine abuse as coping mechanism for childhood sexual abuse
But if the players start 'celebrating' early success and becoming complacent, they'll be dropped, the manager told the Guardian.
"Do not think too much about it, that will help," Klopp said, when asked what advice he'll give to his squad about coping with title pressure.
"We are here [at Melwood] four or five hours a day, sometimes longer, never less. They still have a few more hours in the day to be influenced by people around them. If somebody is a character and wants to celebrate position one in November then he will not play in December anymore because I see it pretty quick.
"But these things usually don't happen. The players are here in this situation because their character is really good. It is a long way to get here. It is not like they are surprised about success whether it is individual or as a team. They had successes of being the best player at Southampton, Schalke or other teams. This is success but if you then celebrate this and don't be professional anymore then you have a problem.
"It is not too difficult. Nothing has happened until now. It is better to be one time in first place than never in your life but it is not really important in this moment. There is nothing to think about. If I went to the players and said: 'Don't think we are first' or 'We are first but nothing has been reached' they would think I'm silly because they know this already. Stay cool, play football and see what happens."
Liverpool have eight games before the end of 2016, including winnable fixtures with Sunderland and Bournemouth in our next two. With Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City fighting tooth and nail, we need to maintain our current form to keep pace.
We were actually excellent away to Southampton but couldn't finish our chances. Hopefully, this will change at Anfield when an in-form Black Cats visit. In the same fixture last year, fans walked out after 77 minutes to protest ticket prices, but you can be assured the atmosphere will be very different this time around.


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What happens? I don`t know.
Trading system is simple
wait for 20-00 (exchange time) and draw price chanel for low.
time frame 5-min
parameter for price chanel is 60..160.
from 20-00 to 2355 keep limit order to buy at price chanel line (for 20-00)
no stoploss
close long after 3 hours


text:
Traffic jams are a pain we all associate with in one way or another. That endless wait hoping that the roads clear before we run late for whatever errands we are running or places we are going to.
They make us feel helpless and at the same time wasteful of both time and related resources like fuel with a ripple effects we can never put true values on.
In my today's articles, I focus to shed more light on the ever growing traffic jams in our cities and the subtle short term changes as well as major design approaches we can adapt and work towards to make our future driving lives and those of our children and children's children much better, efficient and enjoyable.
My focus will be on the main two cities of Nairobi and Mombasa where we have the heaviest traffic jams day in day out.
Nairobi like many cities and counties around the world was designed more than 50 years ago for a population of about of 350,000 in 1963 when Kenya got its independence; The same city plan is currently supporting a population estimated at about 6.54 million people.
Below is map of Nairobi showing the central business district (CBD) and its environs.
Averagely, every driver spends about 3 hours stuck in traffic everyday, which translates to roughly 78 days stuck in traffic in a year, working with the assumption of 6 days of traffic congestion in a week.
The area surrounding the bypass circle is mainly residential, with some little percentage of commercial buildings, the area after that towards the city center is both residential and commercial, the CBD is almost entirely commercial except for a few residential areas, occupied by mainly Asians and the likes of Chris Kirubi living in some high-end pent houses.
Having the economy rise steadily over the years has seen infrastructure grow thin and slim for the ever growing population and booming number of motor vehicles joining the roads every year, put a strain on the structural designs that turns the whole of Nairobi into a series of bottle necks with people in the green areas trying to make way to the orange and red areas every single morning for work and leaving in the evening to head back home, this in itself a traffic flow bottleneck design.
This means that traffic is not a thing we are going to wish away but one we have to work at to keep traffic flowing
With credit to KURA, KENHA, City County council and ministry of roads, there has been a number of solutions implemented that have worked to ease congestions, some patch ups here and there, expansions, construction of slip roads, service lanes and feeder roads adjusted to accommodate and serve the surging population.
Development of multiple lanes, for example, the 12 lane Thika super highway and recently expanded 6 lane Mombasa road, are perfect comparisons to the traffic triumph and failure giant Los Angeles, only perhaps in a much smaller scale where multiple lanes were built as a solution only to lead to multiple challenges and problems. Similar to what Nairobi and many other major cities and counties are experiencing. Both projects exhibiting cases of architectural design limitation meant to serve for an earlier era serving an overly grown population, not to mention blotted economies that have to rely on these same old designs that feed into narrower roads.
Lets go through some series of solutions implemented so far that have assisted in the short term.
Introduction of more lanes; This sorted a number of problems however problems with lanes is that traffic never stopped by vehicles moving but by those stopping, as long as there are thinner junctions, the expanded roads provide only a bigger holding area while traffic slowly feeds through a bottleneck to some smaller road at some point, doesn't matter how many lanes you build, as long as cars pile at the thinner junctions, you have a problem.
Which brings us to the solution of the round about, basically are a good solution in that they keep traffic moving, problem is they do not prioritize based on numbers, that means the direction that has five cars will exit as the same side that has 100 cars, depending on who has right of way, sometimes running into deadlocks, that doesn't exactly help does it?
Next, we look at traffic light solution, in more modern cities traffic lights are "Intelligent" and check the traffic pattern to prioritize traffic flow, in both Nairobi and Mombasa, the lights are set on timers, meaning, at each interval, there is a specific set time that they allow traffic to flow, introducing a more absurd problem of time wasting when some lanes aren't experiencing traffic bearing in mind that traffic patterns change depending on time and day, but the clocks still ride on the same timers for example; light traffic is controlled by the same set time to serve busy days.
Which brings us to the "best" next available Nairobi traffic solution "traffic police" and the "traffic marshals" in Mombasa, am saying this with no hard feelings to the boys and girls in traffic departments, you know I got love for you and what you do! They have by far remained the go to solution provided since timely memorial, they are able to assimilate who needs priority over the other, however, you can't negate human error that a guy could be in a back mood for some reason, easily irritable, incompetent or lacking experience, which translates to effectiveness of the flow, let alone possibility of more being out there.
With car production capacities gone higher, more banks giving loans and high number of graduate entrants into employment gullible to taking car loans, more and more cars are expected on our roads.
As uber choppers get into play both in the States and in Nairobi for the wealthy 21st century man to escape traffic, it is apparent that those who cannot afford have to struggle to get alternative solutions, some of which require long term redesign of major roads and eradication of round a bouts, the likes of Outering road and new bypass constructions like the eastern bypass which already shows signs of limitations whenever there are events that disrupt traffic flow.
While policy makers in the city have in the past spent a lot of their efforts on discussions focused on 'de-congesting' the central business district, there has been little or no talk related to the transit challenges facing the rest of the city.
Although the central business district has evolved over the years with major corporates, embassies and hotels relocating to the 'first concentric zone' (UpperHill, Kilimani and Westlands), the CBD still remains a transit zone for those using public transport between various parts of town.
Coming to the most recent decentralization, the idea of finding separate cities out of the main capital city through which the government provides its services coordinated in a replica of offices offering the same service initially offered by the main office, in theory this could work over time bearing in mind the investments involved and the bustles around making everything work, ability of businesses to move with the services. This changes the traffic patterns to have people move not only towards the CBD but also away from them changing it from not just one direction but to two.
This has worked to ease strain on available resources but requires other solutions employed to work hand in hand with it. One of which requires a major service and resource distribution design to fill in on the areas in the outskirts of the city currently acting as residential to have a mix of both residential and commercial structure.
To some extent Nairobi is solving this problem by itself by the sprouting malls and centers areas like Ngong, Rongai, Matasia, Kikuyu, Kayole, Daystar area on mombasa road, Kiambu, kinoo to mention but a few around Nairobi.
This however needs to be designed intelligently to redistribute services and traffic effortlessly, creation of commercial centers to serve communities, similar to the so called "High streets" of London within the administrative "Barrows", similar to our administrative constituency divisions.
In what would stand as in the diagram below.
Source: https://www.archdaily.com/319665/shanghai-wuzhou-international-plaza-winning-proposal-synthesis-design-architecture-inc-shenzhen-general-institute-of-architectural-design-and-research/circulation-diagram-8
This gives opportunity for businesses to sprout and grow as well as have satellite branches taking the required services nearest to the people. Health institutions, financial, education centers, libraries, IT firms all available to the communities
These would be served by light overground trains to offer timely services, these trains would operate at regular intervals unlike the current Nairobi morning and evening trains that operate as though they go work similar to the people they transport.
In fact, Cities like Nairobi and Mombasa can take advantage of this immediately and stop treating the trains as though they tire and require a whole day to rest from a morning trip awaiting another in the evening before they go to sleep.
Introduce commuter trains into Mombasa using the current existing old rail from Mariakani, Mazeras, Port reitz, Changamwe and into the mainland while developing a standard gauge railway to serve better, factoring in another between the CBD and the residential areas of north coast serving all the way to Mtwapa, Bamburi, Nyali, Tudor into town.
The overland train in Mombasa can be used to ferry passengers to the new S.G.R Miritini station and back, as well as goods from the port to be transported by overground train to Nairobi to ease the constant and almost assured traffic pileup at Changamwe.
The major Nairobi Mombasa highway can easily come to play by introduction of a cargo train and save the roads from the occasional cut offs and strain on the roads.
Congestion adds time to the trip not forgetting fuel consumption, making it more expensive and damaging to both the economy and environment.
People tend to use vehicles more to mean who they are, more of a statement to make rather than contributing to solve the problem.
Our own personal contribution to work towards this would be
-Car pooling
-Working from home for those who can
-Planning our trips
-Cycling or walking to work for those who can
-Working towards building a 24hour economy
-Factor in continence in place of stay getting you to work efficiently
The county authorities can demand building owners to provide for parking within buildings
Introducing tolls for road usage maintenance to help reduce the number of vehicles on the road.
Work towards building a 24 hr economy redistributing resource utilization.
The government should strive to outrun "Matatus" and private vehicles by offering better alternatives.
Provide 21st century solutions for 21st century congestion problems by use of technology solutions to provide more transportation choices and a reliable commute
Borrowing what we can from developed countries and work with indigenous solutions to our problems.
Strive to reduce congestion and pioneer new ways to move traffic.
Frank Odhiambo
Mind Grid Perspectives


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There are very few of us who aren't familiar with the so-called "battle of the bulge." Imagine compounding those weight-loss struggles with a lack of appropriate information and the demands of living on a low income and it's easy to foresee the results: obesity, diabetes and other chronic health issues. Thankfully, for MEND clients, there's Vilma Hernández, a woman on a mission.
While studying for a Master's in public health programming at CSUN, Vilma became interested in health-promoting behavior and weight management among the Hispanic population. "The more I read about it the more my suspicions about the barriers to weight loss were confirmed," she explains. "The main hindrance was that most programs were targeted to English-speaking community: They were translated from English to Spanish but they weren't culturally sensitive, so there was some detachment—the [Hispanic community] felt alienated," she adds. Not surprisingly, within that demographic, the dropout rate for weigh-loss schemes was high.
Vilma's aha moment came when she heard about MEND through a schoolmate, who informed her that close to 90% of the organization's clients were Hispanic. Vilma realized this would be the perfect environment to continue her research, and set about designing a culturally sensitive program targeted specifically toward the nonprofit's clientele. Compounding the dire need for such an initiative was the fact that the obesity rate among Hispanics and African Americans is much higher than for other groups.
Following a survey of MEND clients, Vilma and her colleagues launched the Weight Management Program in 2014. The program encompasses several components, among them market tours, during which participants learn how to identify high-quality, inexpensive foods and how to read nutrition labels. "When we come back to MEND at the end of the session clients do a show and tell, and describe what they're planning to do with the ingredients they bought at the store," Vilma explains.
The program also incorporates cooking classes, and individual nutrition consultations with student dieticians. "It's centered around member participation," points out Vilma. "I ask them questions and invite them to talk about their experiences, so everyone learns from each other. If an individual has lost weight they have the opportunity to tell others what they're doing and how they've been successful."
So far, the results have been very promising. Vilma describes one MEND client who has signed up for three consecutive programs. Thanks to discussions on how to manage carbs and combine them properly with protein, her diabetes is under control. "Every time I see her, she has lost more weight," says Vilma. "Before, she wore a brace and used a walker; now, she only needs a cane, and walks much more quickly. She's full of vitality and even looks younger. The transformation has been amazing!"
Food isn't the only item on the agenda, however. Because the program also aims to address other health-related issues that tie in to weight regulation, such as exercise and stress reduction, classes are beginning to incorporate physical activity, like stretching moves and yoga. Describing the vicious cycle of emotional eating, Vilma says, "Stress can make people eat more, which causes anxiety—they then start to rely on food for stress relief. Yoga can really help clients release tension and calm them down."
Not only have clients reaped the benefits, but Vilma has too. "I'm in love with this program," she adds. "It's my baby!"


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