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Labor unions and other liberal groups that helped re-elect President Obama are starting a push this week to make sure that any new budget deal does not chisel away at entitlement programs.
Their message to the president, beginning with a meeting at the White House on Tuesday, is that he won a mandate to raise taxes on the wealthy while resisting cuts to Medicare and Social Security, and that they intend to stand firm with him on that position.
The problem here is that urging Mr. Obama not to join House Republicans in reducing entitlement spending is like pleading with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John not to reunite for a Christmas album. It's just too late.
Sure, there was a lot of specious debate during the campaign about which candidate would protect older people from the evil designs of the other. Mitt Romney claimed, dubiously, that Mr. Obama had raided sacred Medicare financing to pay for his health care plan. Mr. Obama said that Mr. Romney would follow the lead of his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan, and scrap Medicare altogether for future generations.
But both candidates had to know how thoroughly disingenuous this debate really was. The fact is that Mr. Obama, during his "grand bargain" negotiations with the House speaker, John A. Boehner, in the summer of 2011, had already signed off on painful cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, even if he never once mentioned that during his re-election campaign. So he knew there was a deal
to be had that would preserve — and perhaps even strengthen — these programs without destroying them.
Read more…


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Nikon D40 DSLR (good enough according to Ken Rockwell)
Panasonic DMP-BD35K
SOG S63 EOD eyeing it as a gift for a friend
L.L. Bean Solar Dynamo Radio Light
Fisher Price Amazing Animals Hippo (Thanks Natty!)
stuff I might actually buy this year
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
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snackin' Christmas
Sunday, December 28, 2008
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Labels: photo
Merry Christmas
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
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off to midnight mass
This year, my volunteerism is not needed at any of the services at my parish. That leaves me free to attend midnight mass at the cathedral. Yay! We'll take off in a few minutes. Christmas carols precede the mass.
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corn dog lunch
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Labels: photo
big photos of the shuttle
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Big Picture tells stories in B-I-G photos. Here's a set of photos of the shuttle.
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NASA looking for rubber ducks
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Labels: story
new HDD
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Brrrr. Pretty cold these days.
My friends, I have spent an inordinate, exorbitant amount of time setting up my new hard disk drive. My computer, from which I blog and do all things digital, has been a one-drive system from the day I bought it almost two years ago. I have gleefully acquired for myself another drive (hereon referred to as "HDD") and plunged into unfamiliar territory of setting it up; hence the crazy amount of time it took. In my case, I want the new drive to be my main, or "system" drive with a clean install including clean install of applications.
If you would like the full details, please e-mail me. In fact, if you ever have questions, please e-mail me. In brief, the tasks for setting up were:
(1) Decide how to partition the drive -- I opted for two partitions, a 30GB for the operating system and programs, and the remainder of the HDD for data. Both NTFS.
(2) Enable AHCI in the BIOS.
(3) Perform clean install of Vista. During installation, there is an opportunity to partition the HDD; that's when the partitioning happens. No need to pre-partition the HDD.
(4) Install Vista updates and drivers, especially for your motherboard, monitor, and graphics card. Also any drivers that will help your internet connection gain optimum speed. In my case, I had forgotten the password to the modem and had to get that reset ... it ended up being among the last things that got accomplished. Regarding Vista updates, if you have service pack 1 (SP1) alread downloaded, it probably would help speed things up. I had SP1, but couldn't find it when I needed it.
(5) Edit registry so that Vista will create user directories in the data partition, not the system partition. There may be other ways, I don't know.
(6) Create user accounts.
(7) Install applications.
(8) Copy files from the "old" user accounts to the user accounts on the new HDD. Very important that folder options be used to enable viewing of hidden files ... e-mails are under those. If you copy files into each folder under each user, then the Vista folder icons will remain intact. If you copy the whole user folder over, the folder icons will be just the plain ones.
(9) Perform any other set-ups for other applications. In my case, I set up Windows Media Center so that I can watch and record TV, where to save the recording, and also tell it where to find the recordings already in the older HDD. E-mail was already set up when I copied the e-mail folders over. However, it will require that you confirm your password on first login if you have the "remember password" option enabled.
update: (9b) If you have collected fonts over time, copy the fonts over to the new drive.
(10) Use the back up feature in Vista to back up the system partition onto DVD's so that you won't have to go through this craziness again. (I have Vista Ultimate ... other editions might not have this feature.)
After a month or so, I may delete the old files. Alternatively, I can back up the data files onto DVD and go ahead and wipe clean the old drive.
The details of hunting and searching for "how to's," of false starts, wrong paths, and "grumbling" (putting it nicely) are not included in the list.
Now that it's done, I can go back to being busy about other things. Happy computing to all!
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monks chant
Sunday, December 14, 2008
I've been looking for a Gregorian chant CD by monks. Yes, I want all men's voices.
The Best Works of Gregorian Chant by the Monks of Santo Domingo De Silos Abbey turns out NOT to be what I'm looking for.
However, I kinda like the following two (and now I'm tired of searching and will stop here):
http://www.clearcreekmonks.org/CDforSell.htm update: also here
I'm not sure what it is I'm looking for; perhaps a rich bass undertone (without tweaking the equalizer).
I'm leaning towards Chant Music for Paradise.
If y'all have a suggestion for other CD's along these lines, please drop me a note. Thanks.
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random shot
Friday, December 12, 2008
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Labels: photo
free rice
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Free Rice was a bit addicting for me. It's multiple choice on the meaning of a word. They'll give you the correct answer and eventually the ones you got wrong come back around.
I never got to level 50, though I tried until I'm falling asleep in my chair here.
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The Advent Conspiracy
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
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Monday, December 01, 2008
Consider it done. I replaced the bottom of the kitchen sink cabinet. The old bottom was fiberboard or pressboard and it crapped out after getting soaked. I removed the failed cabinet bottom and have put plywood in its place. I painted the plywood (after applying primer) with some trim paint I had lying around. The replacement is not as good a job as I would have liked, but I think it's functional enough. If we put everything in a few rectangular buckets and let the buckets sit on the cabinet bottom, I think it'll work beautifully. The link to the series of photos can be found at the earlier post.
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Labels: repairs
puppy cam
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Labels: links

subset: commoncrawl


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Imagine you had the ability to move through your own life, to revisit your past and foresee your future. Which events would you long to remember and which would you forget? Would you want to know what the future holds?
This is the story of Ash, a trans woman and healer living in a corner of Europe controlled by a militarized state. Amidst the economic crash of the 2020s, this land, once a hub of diversity, saw the rise of a state-imposed monoculture of gender, sexuality, ability and race. Those that didn't fit, known as the divergents, were imprisoned, expelled or worse.
Ash and her best friend Pinar long ago escaped the City, left behind their days of fighting State oppression, and are eking out a calmer life in the forest, ravaged by the effects of climate change. One day, Jason, a resistance fighter, arrives abruptly into their life, reigniting personal and political drives and they find themselves drawn back into the fight.
Joining trans and queer organisers, sex workers and other members of a hidden underclass, they risk everything to return to the City and face their oppressors. In this fight for dignity, self-determination and their survival, Ash's ability to transcend time, a trait that until now she has considered her curse, turns out to be a more powerful weapon than anyone could have imagined.
Margins and Murmurations
Active Distribution 2018. New paperback; 366 pages


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From writer-director Matthew Saville comes a potentially stunning film that frustrating falters at the most crucial of moments.
As one would have hoped with a film called Noise, the soundtrack to this film is practically a central character. Constable Graham McGann is suffering from tinnitus, and as his symptoms get worse, they also begin to appear in the film's soundscape. The difference between silence and the explosion of gunfire is deafening (not quite as loud as Miami Vice, but close).
I don't remember ever seeing a seedier version of Melbourne. The dingy train station that opens the film is such a moribund, depressing place that I would never step foot inside, except for the fact that I do every week. The set dressers went out of their way too – the apartment shared by Graham and his girlfriend Caitlin is decked out with more crappy 70s and 80s furniture than you'd find at your local op shop.
The cast of Noise is brilliant. Brendan Cowell from TV's 'Love My Way' gives one of the best performances of the year as Graham – an entirely likeable person, yet at the same time rude, lazy and sometimes a bit of a dick. Cowell expertly manages to balance these conflicting traits so that we still sympathise with his situation. The supporting cast is fantastic, from Karen Wall as Brendan's girlfriend to Nicholas Bell – a veteran of Aussie TV and film – as Senior Detective Noel Birchall.
With Noise we have a film that both conforms and challenges the expectations of the genre. Graham may be a down on his luck, depressed cop, disliked by his superiors, but surprisingly the serial killer storyline serves more as a backdrop than the primary focus of the feature. Then take into account that most of Graham's police work will involve sitting in a van day after day in the vicinity of a recent crime, chatting with anyone who happens to approach him, and you're left with a very non-conformist cop movie. The dialogue is fantastic – there are no one liners amongst the slang and lackadaisical conversations. The interaction between Graham and civilians, his workmates and his girlfriend is unparalleled – this is one of the most naturalistic 'genre' films I've seen.
Unfortunately the film stumbles in some crucial moments – shifting in tone so dramatically as to jar against the rest of the film. It's a pity, because it gets damn close to being perfect.Rating:


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Prep Chatter Podcast
November 9, 2016
Prep Chatter – the podcast featuring exclusive interviews with coaches and players throughout the WesCo and Cascade Conference, the week in review and the weekly power poll rankings of the top 15 teams in the region. Your host for Prep Chatter is Steve Willits (MTHS Class of 1991). Prep Chatter...
TK Tuesdays: the Willits behind Willits Wednesdays
By TK Johnson
March 25, 2014
[vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text] You may know him from his weekly online column in the Hawkeye or the play-by-play announcing on the Sound Live Sports Network, but do you really know Steve Willits? Steve was a 1991 graduate of Mountlake Terrace. He was involved in sports as a stu...
Mountlake Terrace to continue to be a 3A school. I'm all for it!
By Steve Willits
January 17, 2014
Move on over Wesco 3A South teams, you are about to have company. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) announced last week the reconfiguration of the six size classifications of the 380 Washington state high schools and the conference that Mountlake Terrace plays in is going to...
Plenty of reasons to be excited about Jam Session XX next Tuesday
By Steve Willits
November 20, 2013
Jam Session XX is coming up next Tuesday and I can't wait! My introduction to Jam Session last year brought a look of disbelief to the face of Vince DeMiero. A few weeks prior to the 2012 event, I was asked by Vince if I would be his co-host and my immediate reply to him was "What is Jam...
Five Terrace teams continue to thrive this fall
By Steve Willits
November 7, 2013
The first week of the playoffs are just about over and five MTHS teams are still competing!! What an incredible week it has been on the sports front for Mountlake Terrace High School and the athletes of the fall aren't finished yet. Back when I was a student at MTHS over 20 years ago, other schools...
A salute to the US Army for standing by Downs
By Steve Willits
October 16, 2013
I have always had tremendous respect for the United States Army and appreciate the men and women that serve our country, both past and present. That level of respect became even greater after witnessing firsthand the Army's decision to stand by one of our fellow Hawks last week at a press conferenc...
Men's Cross Country goes extra mile to support all athletes
By Steve Willits
October 2, 2013
If you attend a Mountlake Terrace High School sporting event, there is a very good chance that you will see Jack Pearce and Peter Kidane. The top two runners on the MTHS boys cross country team seem to be everywhere!! I see them and many of their teammates standing in the front row of football games;...


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Tax relief and business incentives
The new small business development department (SBDD) has transferred from the department of trade and industry (DTI) the R1bn fund which covers both corporate incentives to develop small business and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA).
However, it will leave with DTI all matters relating to B-BBEE insofar as regulations are concerned. Both the new minister, Lindiwe Zulu, and deputy minister, Elizabeth Thabethe, were present for a short departmental briefing by SBDD given to the new small business portfolio committee chaired by Ruth Bengu, who in the last parliamentary period served as chair of the transport committee.
Revised thinking
In an earlier portfolio committee meeting of trade and industry, a few days before under their chair, experienced ANC member Joan Fubbs, DTI had called for a rethink on small business policy.
They said they wanted to see a clearer policy on the SMME support role by national government with provincial and local government and to establish a programme for rolling out more small business "incubators"- something that opposition parties had been calling for over a long period of time.
Also DTI supported the call to review the small claims court system so that access to affordable justice was more affordable. They wanted this to be a further target of the new department.
Such recommendations came amidst a foray of criticism by commentators that the new department could become a diversion for unsolvable small business issues or alternatively the new department could become merely a point for start-up small business without any real muscle.
Less red tape
The new department in addressing MPs confirmed to them that its mandate was to focus on "enhanced business support" and they emphasised their support for women, people with disabilities and to provide mechanisms to access finance, business skills development. They also said they were there to ease regulatory conditions; to help regulate better the SMME environment and to give leverage on public procurement.
It was important to recognise, SBDD said, that it was also there to encourage the development of cooperative entities, in which instance shareholders themselves were the members and entrepreneurs. Finally, the process of creating market access was an important task, they added. Nothing was new here.
But opposition ears pricked up when they said tax relief grants to corporates that invested in small business development were to be considered and incubation programmes and technology upliftment were priorities. The immediate future, however, was all about configuring the new department; the "migration" of responsibilities from DTI; and transferring allocations for the establishment of support institutions.
Chair of the committee, Ruth Bhengu – previously chair of the parliamentary transport committee – then called for response from opposition members which mainly came from Toby Chance of the DA, whose questions were answered by both by the new minister and deputy minister.
Jobs or not
Chance said that whilst applauding the formation of this department, he wanted to know whether or not any success was to be measured in terms of jobs created, which to him was the bottom line, he said. Also he wanted a clearer definition of what government actually meant by the term "small business".
He said there were plenty of "gleaming new supermarkets in our townships but very little industrial developments, in fact some industrial parks were in a state of decay." Chance said the DA was also worried that the impact of new labour legislation and labour regulations was immobilising small business and the amount of red tape currently being experienced was becoming "out of hand".
Chance said he hoped the new department recognised the fact that that corporates and industry should focus on the development of small businesses to create the job growth called for by the NDP. Partnerships with small business were the best way of achieving this, he noted. He concluded that all "tax incentives should be re-visited" and that more emphasis should be laid on small manufacturing businesses.
In reply, minister Lindiwe Zulu agreed on the issue of red tape as a hindrance to small business and said her objective was to become like Rwanda where direct contact with national bodies that supported initiatives was far easier.
Compliance for all
However, she said that business had to understand that it had a role to play and a "culture of compliance" had to be encouraged in both small and large business and manufacturers or there would be anarchy. Also large businesses and the state will have pay small business invoices on thirty days or risk penalties.
The minister said on the subject of labour regulations, dept of labour had its own targets and own agenda on decent work conditions and that was a separate issue. "The job of small business development was to work inside current conditions and for business to respect that."
Chance replied that the governing party seemed to have "developed a track record of "attacking business persons when they criticised ANC economic policies or asked tough questions", which statement prompted vehement denials from the minister and deputy minister.
Other articles in this category or as background


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Rekonstruktion eines Neandertalers
Schädelkalotte des Neandertalers
Teile des Skeletts eines Neandertalers
Fritzdorfer Becher, 1800-1600 v. Chr.
Stammbaum im Dauerausstellungs-Teil "Neandertaler & Co"
Geschichte begreifen
Vogeldarstellung aus Rentier-Geweih, 15.500 Jahre vor heute
Schmuck der Keltenfürstin von Waldalgesheim, um 330 v. Chr
Eiszeitliches Grab von Bonn-Oberkassel. Die 14.000 Jahre alte Bestattung von Mann, Frau und Hund nebst einigen Kunstwerken ist in Mitteleuropa einmalig
Interspersed with state-of-the-art projection technology, the evolution of man and his ancestors over the past six million years is on display here. The focal point is the Neanderthal Man from the Neanderthal Valley, undoubtedly the most famous fossil in the history of mankind. The sensational new findings from excavations that took place in 1997 and 2000 are presented together with recent results of the "Neanderthals" international research project. The double burial in Bonn-Oberkassel, discovered in 1914, takes you to the end of the Late Paleolithic Age 14,000 years ago when the last Ice Age was approaching its end and mammoths and reindeer had already withdrawn from our latitudes. The fact of the double burial and the dog buried alongside as an attest of one of the earliest domesticated dogs in the world as well as the works of art found there make the grave one of the most important late Ice Age finding complexes in all of Europe.
Numerous pieces of evidence of Ice Age art and the mask of a shaman from Bedburg-Königshoven afford a fascinating insight into the magical world of late Ice Age hunters. Evidence of the first farmers along the Rhine attests to drastic changes in the way people lived at the time. Ornamental axes made of jadeite and the gold beaker from Fritzdorf stand as status symbols for foreign trade thousands of years ago already.
LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn, Colmantstr. 14-16, 53115 Bonn
Tel. +49 (0) 228 / 2070 - 0, Fax +49 (0) 228 / 2070 - 299
TUE - FRI, SON 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., SAT 1 p.m. - 6 p.m., MON closed
Guided tours for school groups available from 10 a.m.
MON - FRI 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.


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Our Story
Suitcases of Hope is a charity dedicated to giving a large duffel bag to a child just entering the foster care system.
Unfortunately, social services does not have the financial means to purchase suitcases or duffel bags to pack a child's meager belongings before being brought to a foster home. If they do not have any donated duffel bags/suitcases social services must use trash bags. It is horrific enough that a child has been abused or neglected, but then to have all of his/her belongings placed into a trash bags places a feeling of worthlessness on the child. It makes him/her feel like garbage.
Ashley understands how it feels as her belongings placed in large trash bags, as this happened many times. Her goal is to eliminate TRASH BAGS as an acceptable form of luggage for foster children, whose lives have been disrupted due to no fault of their own.
How YOU can help
Whatever your reason for helping and however you choose to help, we are grateful for your support!
The following items are always needed:
Duffel Bag (24-28 inches)
Personal Care Items (toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, brush, shampoo and deodorant)
Stuffed Animals
Twin Sheet Set
We also include a copy of "The Suitcases" novel and a letter of encouragement in every bag.
Share the amazing things customers are saying about your business. Double click, or click Edit Text to make it yours.
Have you considered adoption? Even though older foster children may have had challenges, they are not "bad". This is a major misconception. These kids want to be part of a loving forever family.
Visit AdoptUSKids to learn more about adoption.
If you would like to volunteer your time, please contact me for details on how you can help!


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Adobe has released an SDK that allows developers to connect to, control, and share data with its flagship Photoshop image editor from Android, BlackBerry, and iOS mobile devices. The Photoshop Touch SDK is currently available in preview form so developers can begin building and testing their own apps, but Adobe has also previewed three iPad apps that it has built to showcase the technology.
Using the Photoshop Touch APIs, developers can create apps that connect to Photoshop CS5 over a TCP connection. Once connected, these apps can control Photoshop functions or share data between the app and Photoshop. "It's now possible for developers to create an eBook of Photoshop tutorials that allows users to drive an Action within Photoshop CS5 from within the eBook," Adobe offered as an example. "Or, if you find yourself inspired by an ocean view, use a tablet device to mix the colors you see and send those colors directly back to Photoshop CS5 without ever leaving the beach."
Adobe said that it is giving the SDK to developers to explore possibilities it hasn't yet imagined. However, the company has already put together three iPad apps it will be selling next month once a requisite update to Photoshop (part of the Creative Suite 5.5 update) is available. Those applications are Color Lava, Eazel, and Nav.
Color Lava is an app designed to create custom color themes to use in Photoshop, similar in some respects to Adobe's Flash-based Kuler app. You can use primary color swatches of virtual paint to mix on a virtual palette, much as a painter would do. Color Lava can then create color themes based on the mixes on your palette. Once you have colors or a color theme you like, you can send them to Photoshop as custom swatches. Unlike Kuler, however, Color Lava won't let you take an image and build a color theme based on the dominant colors in the image. (Perhaps this is an opportunity for an independent developer to step in and offer a better solution.)
Eazel is a virtual finger painting app. It includes touch-based controls for adjusting color, "brush" size, and opacity, but like real finger paints, your strokes slowly dry over time. This drying offers a realistic way to work with the medium. You can also mix "dry" and "wet" colors and paint with the blends. Your images can be saved to your iPad's photo roll or e-mailed to colleagues or friends. When connected to Photoshop CS5, it uses the desktop app's natural media engine to re-render the painting in higher resolution, which can then be further edited or incorporated into other images.
Finally, Nav is a sort of virtual controller for Photoshop. It allows you to create custom tool palettes of up to 16 tools. When connected to Photoshop, tapping one of the tool buttons on an iPad will switch to that tool in Photoshop. You can also change the foreground and background colors, screen mode, and zoom view of the current active image. Perhaps the most handy feature of Nav, however, is its ability to preview up to 200 currently open documents in Photoshop. You can view open documents as thumbnails, and selecting one on a connected iPad will make it the active document in Photoshop. Anyone who has worked with more than a half-dozen open images at once will appreciate this feature.
Adobe will be launching all three apps via the App Store in early May, with Color Lava selling for $2.99, Eazel for $4.99, and Nav for $1.99. Developers looking to build their own tablet apps for interacting with Photoshop can download the Photoshop Touch SDK, as well as a developer preview of Photoshop 12.1, starting today.


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Gibbons & Furman is located at the address 117 Jefferson st N in Huntsville, Alabama 35801. They can be contacted via phone at (256) 539-0021 for pricing, hours and directions.
Gibbons & Furman has an annual sales volume of 501K - 999,999. . For more information contact William Gibbons, Owner
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Since 1994 the company has been providing General Practice Attorney, Lawyer.


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By Lauren Randall
As winners of the 2016 Emerging Voices Award, Frank Jacobus and Marc Manack spoke in the Architectural League of New York's lecture series in April. The portfolio they had submitted for the award highlighted work they'd collaborated on over the past few years.
"It's just really a great honor for us," Manack said in the spring. "We began our collaboration just three and a half years ago, so to get this recognition is huge for our practice."
The Architectural League's Emerging Voices program recognizes firms based in the United States, Canada and Mexico with "distinct design voices" that influence their disciplines and the built environment. "They seek architects who are leaders in their field – not only by the projects they build, but how they philosophically position and represent their work," Manack said.
Jacobus and Manack, both principals of SILO AR+D, submitted a portfolio of drawings, images and texts of both built and research projects. Projects include the "Mood Ring House," "Hillside Rock House," "Barn Again" and "Super Sukkah." The latter two were displayed at Vol Walker Hall. A key success of this collection was the firm's engaging presentation, edited into a "fundamental statement about our work," Manack said.
Beyond the recognition, this award provides incentive to continue pursuing challenging opportunities. "We are grateful to have won this award and both feel motivated to continue doing experimental work," Jacobus said.
The partnership between Jacobus and Manack began four years ago when both were hired to teach at the University of Arkansas. The two professors began collaborating while waiting in line to get their official university portrait taken in summer 2012. "I think the relationship that we have now really started there, talking about our interests. It was immediately evident that Marc and I shared many interests," Jacobus said. "So the natural question was, 'Do you want to work on a project together?'"
Their projects and approaches are unique. And the opportunity to create as a pair has sparked new ways of thinking. Jacobus has enjoyed being creative and working on large projects such as The Hedge, but the smaller and more theoretical projects, such as Super Sukkah and the Fayz Box, are particularly memorable.
"I think, for different reasons, each project has kind of a life of its own and has unique things about it that give us pleasure," Jacobus said.
The firm's design process varies, and depends on the project. The two spend a lot of time collaborating and discussing projects. Though there is a sense of direction for each project, their attitude toward authorship is very relaxed. The idea is to design systems, rules and constraints, rather than forms or shapes.
"We imagine ourselves as students every time we start a project," Jacobus said. "We have a beginner's mindset, and try to remain open to see what happens serendipitously."
While the professors approach the process of a project with a clean slate, their design aesthetic remains consistent. It might best be described as evoking both the familiar and unfamiliar, depending on the viewer's perception of the project or building.
"We're looking for a mixing together of styles and architectures that on the surface are incompatible, and trying to find something different," Manack said. "We are looking for things that are visually rich, striving for an architecture that is constantly changing, engaging and surprising."
SILO AR+D was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 2009, and began with a small church project for a Presbyterian congregation of individuals of modest means from diverse backgrounds. Today, the firm works on residential, commercial, institutional and installation projects at a variety of scales. They build many of their projects which themselves, including several competition-winning design/build projects and exhibitions.
"We are interested in a lot of different things, but it is all an extension or continuation of what we have done here at the Fay Jones School, and that's really important for us," Manack said.
Both professors enjoy teaching and working with students. Jacobus is an associate professor at the Fay Jones School. Manack, who has been an assistant professor at the school, has since moved on to a faculty position at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte starting in fall 2016.
Jacobus was practicing as a full-time architect when he was invited to help teach at a nearby university. After this learning experience, he went to graduate school to pursue a teaching degree while still practicing architecture.
"Those experiences immediately made me feel as if I'd found what I was meant to do for a living. It was one of those nice but strange moments in life where you realize, 'This is what excites me; this is what I want to,'" Jacobus said.
When Manack returned to graduate school, he got an assistantship and was able to teach for the first time. The opportunity to assist a professor and help other students was rewarding, he said.
"Through my experience as a teaching assistant, I knew I wanted to teach and practice together in some form," Manack said. "I think that, for both Frank and I, our passions lie in teaching and building. Those are the things we really like to do the most."
They have incorporated their experience as practicing architects into the classroom. One of the most important aspects that they bring into a studio setting is the process. Experimentation is encouraged, but they also stress to students the value of a design process that considers how a project is executed.
"I think it shows them a way of working that one can rely on, and empowers students to know that design is not always a mystical or mysterious thing," Jacobus said.
Jacobus and Manack also stress the importance of specificity. Students dedicate a lot of time to design in studio, and the two professors develop studio projects that make sure students are thinking in a focused way on each project, giving them the best chance to succeed.
Collaboration is important to the duo in their teaching methods, Manack said. Sometimes students think being an architect is about being an individual, but it's more of a collective enterprise.
The opportunity to work together in a classroom and as practicing architects has been a made a formidable impact on both professors, and influenced the exceptional work that has garnered them one of the most highly coveted awards for architects in North America. Whether they are doing research, designing projects or teaching in a classroom, their passion for design and architecture is sure to make a lasting impact on the field.


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Tim Cook welcomes Office to the App Store, but questions the strategy behind its long delay
Cook called Office "a key franchise," and welcomed Microsoft to the App Store. The executive also called it a "good thing" for the iPad in the enterprise. But Cook also questioned Microsoft's strategy. "If it had been done earlier, it would've been better for Microsoft frankly," the CEO said. One analyst earlier this year, said that the Redmond based company was losing $2.5 billion a year in revenue by keeping the Office suite away from the iPad.
While the Microsoft Office Suite is a free download from the App Store, it only allows users to view older documents and make presentations. To do the fun stuff, like editing older documents and creating new ones, Apple iPad users will need a subscription to Office 365. Microsoft has just released a personal version of Office 365 for $69. That includes 20GB of SkyDrive cloud storage and 60 minutes of free Skype calls. The $99 version of Office 365 brings support for up to five iPads.
source: TechCrunch


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- This event has passed.
ESMoA | Experience 45: STARDUST *** ESMoA is Temporarily Closed ***
May 16 @ 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
An event every week that begins at 10:00 am on Friday and Saturday, repeating until May 16, 2020
An event every week that begins at 10:00 am on Thursday, repeating until May 16, 2020
Coronavirus Update
In an effort to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our community, ESMoA staff and visitors, and to inhibit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, ESMoA will temporarily close to the public, beginning immediately. We will continue to monitor the situation and assess the need for the continued closure of ESMoA's spaces. Please refer to our website and social media for updates.
Visit the event update website for more details.
The new Experience 45: STARDUST will explore the different pathways of thinking.
Art is a state of mind. Artworks are able to prime and inspire your brain activity. They can wake you up, where intuition has put you to sleep.
Through STARDUST the visitor will experience the underlying laws of creative thinking. STARDUST is a backstage pass to the world of artistic stimulation and a showcase of the power of an artist collective.
The ESMoA Experience Award recipient for STARDUST is Rachel Reid, a Los Angeles based artist, transforming stardust into a sequence of ceramic variations. Rachel Reid is an artist and master printer. She received her BFA in sculpture from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Heavily influenced by the simplicity of form and color, Rachel navigates both 2D and 3D media, most extensively in lithography as well as stoneware ceramics.
Bernhard Zuenkler with freeters
Peter Dreher | Jean-Honoré Fragonard | Cornelia Funke | Taka Kagitomi | Martin Kippenberger | Piet Mondrian | Egon Schiele | Michael Sistig | Amely Spoetzl and more
As always, admission is FREE!


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The Presidential election may be over in the United States, but many homeowners associations are gearing up to hold their own elections for the board. While this may seem minor in the grand scheme of things, HOA boards play an important role in the operations of the neighborhood. A strong board can enhance financial stability, implement valuable improvements, and bring together homeowners. In a new statement to the press, Kuester Management Group shares tips for holding more effective elections.
"The board oversees the entire HOA," says Bryan Kuester, President of Kuester Management Group. "It is in charge of everything from creating and upholding rules and regulations to determining assessments and selecting vendors. There is a lot at stake, and homeowners should be actively involved in deciding who sits on the board."
Before an election can take place, the current board should familiarize itself with the policies and procedures, advises Kuester. This means identifying the appropriate numbers to meet quorum, sending out adequate notice, presenting eligible candidates, and deciding how, when, and where voting will take place. It is essential to drum up interest and engagement among homeowners because if quorum is not met, the election is invalid. Emphasize the importance of showing up and getting involved.
Homeowners should also have the opportunity to run for a position if they are interested. Sending out a newsletter or other announcement highlighting candidates and providing a short note from each can help familiarize members with their options. Also, ensure that members understand the responsibilities of assuming a seat on the board. Clear communication is vital for an effective and well-run election.
Election policies should also specify exactly who is allowed to vote and whether proxies are accepted. Does each homeowner get a vote, or is it one vote per household? Accurate records should be kept regarding who attended the election to verify that quorum was met before voting takes place or responses are counted.
Kuester encourages HOAs to start planning well in advance and establish a system for making the process as fair and efficient as possible. Delegate responsibilities and assign deadlines to ensure nothing is overlooked and homeowners are well informed. Lack of understanding regarding election procedures and the importance of participation can lead to chaos and confusion. It is also important to have inspectors overseeing the process to assess validity and confidentiality.
Property management companies such as Kuester can support HOAs in planning and executing board elections while ensuring compliance with established rules and regulations. They can assist with communication and logistics to promote involvement from homeowners and fair proceedings. Making changes to the board from time to time can lead to positive outcomes for HOA communities, but it requires everyone to work together with the best interests of the neighborhood as a whole in mind.
Kuester Management Group, a division of Kuester Companies, works to protect property values and enhance the quality of life in each of its managed communities. Providing a full range of association management services, Kuester Management Group has worked to foster strong, resilient, and unified communities across North and South Carolina. The company is proud to offer on-site property managers, all zealous for building strong communities meant to stand the test of time. More information is available at www.kuester.com or @KuesterCompany.
Media Contact
Company Name: Kuester Management Group
Contact Person: Bryan Kuester
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: 704-973-9019
Country: United States
Website: www.kuester.com


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Relax Chairs
The Easy Chair Range offers interesting solutions to complete your lounge area at home or to provide a relaxing alternative in the bedroom. An easy chair must be comfortable and suit your requirements, which is why Mollyflex offers:
- a full range of different colours and styles
- a reclining backrest
- an extendable footrest
Our Easy Chairs come with an electric motor with a handy remote control that you can use to recline the backrest or extend the footrest effortlessly.
Motorized Chairs Mollyflex
The motorized chair of Mollyflex offers comfort and relaxation to your body. Equipped with engine, the chair will allow you to reach the ideal position for your body effortlessly. In fact, thanks to the remote control, you can recline the backrest or lengthen the footrest. Moreover, if you have mobility problems, the motorized chair Mollyflex will take upright with a single click.


text: camofwilliamsburg #51 Posted October 31, 2009 For those who took Royston's tour: How safe is the open air safari type van when touring something... I would guess nothing can be left in the van? Like for instance when we are touring Brimestone Fortress I would like to leave our towels and beach stuff(snorkeling gear) in his van...but it is open. Pls explain your experience with this. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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'Hers' Armchair by Louis van Teeffelen
A rare armchair by Dutch designer, Louis van Teeffelen, with a stunning wraparound frame. We also have the complimentary 'His' armchair available - the pair were designed with differing backrests. Newly upholstered in a flecked wool fabric with contrasting seat and back.
W: 63cm // D: 67cm // H: 80cm
Louis van Teeffelen
Dutch designer Louis van Teeffelen may not yet be a household name, however, on the basis of his designs he certainly deserves to be. His various models are united by the same deft handling of wood which lends a sculptural quality to their frames. Legs curve at extraordinary angles, tabletops float above the surface and seat backs hover in the air.
Delivery in London (within the M25) is included in the price for Midcentury furniture. All lighting, homeware and accessories and contemporary (flat pack) furniture are posted at standard UK postage rates which is added at checkout. For any other destinations both inside and outside the UK please contact us.
This product is unavailable


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Magnolia Pictures Acquires SXSW Comedy 'I Give It A Year'
The British comedy written and directed by Borat and Bruno scribe Dan Mazer already has premiered in the UK, France and Germany via Studiocanal and had its North American premiere last month at SXSW. Rose Byrne, Anna Farris, Simon Baker, Rafe Spall, Minnie Driver and Stephen Merchant star in the ensemble, which Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to and plans a theatrical and VOD release in its Ultra VOD program this year. Both a romantic comedy and a send-up of the genre, I Give It A Year picks up where other rom-coms end — after the glamour of a fairy tale romance and wedding has worn off and the realities of marriage start to sink in. "Dan Mazer is a terrific writer who has managed to both skewer and celebrate the romantic comedy genre and also deliver a gut-bustingly funny picture," said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. The deal was negotiated by Magnolia Director of Acquisitions Peter Van Steemburg and StudioCanal SVP International Sales Vanessa Saal.


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- It is free for Deaf people!
- Communicate effectively and efficiently through a qualified NZSL Interpreter.
- Access NZSL interpreters when no locally-based interpreters are available.
- All meetings are confidential, and no records of conversations are ever kept at the VIS centre.
- Video Interpreting provides access in most situations, even those where interpreters would not normally be funded
No, both services offered by VIS are free.
Visit this page for more information: Click here
Or contact us:
EMAIL email@example.com
Yes, if an interpreter is available you can access an interpreting session for up to 20 mins without booking.
Yes. When you reach an answering machine, you may leave a message with the Video Relay number and your telephone number for the other party to call back.
- Any conversations utilizing a video interpreter or made through a video relay call will be private and confidential.
- Government agencies have very strict privacy rules. Government agencies, staff and interpreters that work for us, are required to treat your information confidentially.
- Service is available on Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Service is available on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Service is open on public holidays.
How will I know what to do when I show up for a meeting or appointment using a remote video interpreter?
- If you booked your NZSL interpreting session with a government agency:
- When you arrive, someone will be there to help prepare you for your appointment.
- You will be taken into a room with videoconference equipment.
- You will be shown where to sit in front of the camera.
- The government agency's staff will sit near you.
- You will be able to choose if you want to see yourself on the screen.
- The government agency's staff will connect to the interpreter, and you will be able to see them on the screen.
- You will have a brief discussion with the government agency's staff and the interpreter prior to proceeding to make sure you are comfortable and able to see and understand each other clearly.
- Once everyone is comfortable, the appointment will start.
- The interpreter will talk with you and the government agency's staff as if you were with them in the same room.
- If you did not book your NZSL interpreting session with a government agency:
- You (or the person you are meeting) will need access to the Internet so you can use Skype or the system they have chosen on the booking form.
- Arrive 5–10 minutes before the meeting is due to start so you can make sure that you can access the Internet, open Skype if you need to, or make sure the person you're meeting has the equipment they want to use ready.
- When you're ready to start:
- If you're using Skype, place a video call to the VIS contact you have been given.
- If the person you're meeting with has another access method, they should place the call using that.
- Once you've connected with the interpreter, you can carry on as if the interpreter is in the room with you.
You can access remote video interpreting services from your computer, tablet or laptop on Skype, or use PolyCom or Cisco videoconference systems. Although the service is accessible by smartphone it isn't recommended due to poor visual quality.
- Provides communication access for Deaf people when on-site interpreters are not available, particularly in rural areas where qualified interpreters are less accessible.
- Access to quality communication
- Interpreters available for most settings between 8 am and 8pm, Monday to Friday
- Instant availability where possible for up to 20 minutes without booking.
- Effective use of resources
- Successful meetings
- Situations with high interactivity, such as multiple participants with less structured turn-taking protocol.
- Situations involving individuals with a secondary disability (e.g., low vision) that impedes the ability to utilize technology.
- Situations involving young children or those with underdeveloped language/idiosyncratic language patterns.
- Situations that are highly emotionally charged.
- When the only internet connection available is dial up.
- To communicate between hearing and Deaf people
- To act in a responsible, professional manner at all times
- Maintain confidentiality and not disclose any information obtained while interpreting
- Interpreters do not offer their own personal opinions when interpreting
- Be competent and have a high level of accuracy in order to interpret correctly
- Maintain impartiality during any interpreted encounter
- All NZ Relay video interpreters (VIs) are qualified with a diploma in New Zealand Sign Language/English Interpreting as a minimum and are members of the Sign Language Interpreters Association of New Zealand (SLIANZ)
- Before the appointment or meeting, send the interpreter any preparation materials that will be useful as background knowledge
- Speak and look directly at the Deaf person not the interpreter
- Allow the interpreter to request clarification
- Any conversations you have through a video interpreter will be private and confidential and all interpreters are bound both by the ethics of their profession and their professional body, SLIANZ
- Yes. Calls to cellphones, plus international and premium numbers (0900), can be made using the Video Interpreting Service
- You will need to purchase a calling card of your choice from any retail outlet, dairy, garage etc.
- The Interpreter will ask you for your card details and continue to place your call using the card.


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National Wildlife Refuge
|11372 Hwy 143
Farmerville, LA 71241
E-mail: email@example.com
Phone Number: 318-726-4222
|Visit the Refuge's Web Site:
|The bottomland hardwoods of D'Arbonne NWR support a diversity of plants and wildlife which affords numerous wildlife dependent recreational activities.
D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge
D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge, located north of West Monroe, Louisiana, lies on the western edge of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. It was established in 1975 to protect bottomland hardwoods and provide wintering habitat for migratory waterfowl. Additionally the refuge provides habitat for alligators, bald eagles, the little known Rafinesque's big-eared bat and the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. The refuge is bisected by 13 miles of Bayou D'Arbonne, a stream in the Louisiana Natural and Scenic Rivers System, and is crisscrossed by numerous creeks, sloughs and oxbow lakes. Cypress swamps, bottomland hardwood and upland forests complete the landscape that is habitat for a diverse group of plants and animals. D'Arbonne NWR also has the national record mayhaw tree, a wetland species with fruit that makes delicious jelly. D'Arbonne is one of four refuges managed in the North Louisiana Refuges Complex.
In years of normal or above rainfall, the refuge's bottomland hardwood forest is a very important overflow area for the Ouachita River basin. High water levels, which usually occur between January and May, can flood up to 87% of the refuge. The wetland forests not only provide habitat to wetland dependent wildlife, but they also reduce damage from flooding in developed areas, they filter silt and other particles from the water, they help neutralize pollutants in the water, and they provide recharge areas for aquifers (natural underground water storage areas).
Getting There . . .
D'Arbonne National Wildlife Refuge is located in Ouachita and Union Parishes on either side of Bayou D'Arbonne near its confluence with the Ouachita River. Take White's Ferry Road (Hwy 143) north out of West Monroe. This highway forms the eastern refuge boundary and there are seven access points with parking lots along the highway. The refuge complex headquarters is located approximately 7 miles north of West Monroe at the intersection of Hwy 143 and Holland's Bluff Road. Consult the brochure map for many access points.
Get Google map and directions to this refuge/WMD from a specified address:
Wildlife Observation
Learn More >>
Management activities on D'Arbonne refuge help maintain the diverse habitats that support a wide variety of wildlife species. Selective thinning occurs in the bottomland hardwood stands to allow more sunlight to reach the forest floor and thus encourage growth of forage plants. Thinning also produces a healthier forest with trees of different ages and heights.
Approximately 540 acres on the west side of the refuge was cleared for agriculture prior to public ownership. Management practices in this moist soil area include seasonal water level manipulations and mowing. These activities stimulate growth of native wetland plants and an abundance of insects, crustaceans and mollusks, which are preferred foods of waterfowl, wading birds and shorebirds. The refuge has wood duck and blue bird nesting box programs. Wood ducks are banded each year.
On the uplands west of Bayou D'Arbonne, select cutting is being used to convert unnatural pine stands into the mixed pine and hardwood stands that were found there historically. On upland areas east of the bayou, prescribed burning, thinning, and pine regeneration are used to create preferred habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. Red-cockaded woodpecker management also includes installing man-made nesting cavity inserts, removal of predators from nest cavities, monitoring nesting success, banding woodpeckers and occasionally transplanting birds.


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CCP Games' Atlanta office. It was reported that an unknown number of staff working on the World of Darkness MMO had been unexpectedly laid off right before the Christmas holidays. The originally unconfirmed tipoff came from several posts on Twitter, and GameBreaker later reported that an anonymous source named the layoffs as Level Designers and various other Producers and Designers on World of Darkness.
Massively reached CCP Games for comment and received the official statement below confirming that the layoffs are real and that they are from the World of Darkness team:
"CCP today made strategic adjustments to the staffing on the team working on the World of Darkness project in Atlanta that resulted in the elimination of approximately 15 positions at the company. The change was due to our evaluation of the game's design and ongoing development needs. While this was a difficult decision, CCP remains committed to the franchise and our promise to make a compelling, rich, and deep World of Darkness experience."


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Features & ColumnsSee Recipes | Subscribe to the Magazine
Heaven in Earth Hidden inside caves, clinging to rocks or shaped from clay, these seven hotels offer civilized pleasures
Good Morels
These rooty nuggets of the forest floor are delicious, as the six recipes here prove. And as one writer discovers, they taste even better when you've foraged for them yourself.
Primal Winemaking Winemakers love technology, so why are they watching for comets and calculating the cycles of the moon?
Salad Days in Hawaii In the cradle between two volcanoes, the farmers of Waimea are growing beautiful baby lettuces (exotic by local standards) that are inspiring many of Hawaii's top chefs
An Artist in the Kitchen Hisachika Takahashi, Robert Rauschenberg's right-hand man and an ingenious home cook, stretches his imagination (and his ingredients) at a downtown dinner party
Green Goddess Alice Waters calls her one of the most eco-conscious young chefs in the country. She's also one of the most talented. Meet Suzanne Goin of L.A.'s Lucques.


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This website is dedicated to providing public information regarding DePuy Hip recall and other related information to the recall. None of the information on this site is intended to be formal legal or medical advice, nor should any information on this site be construed as advice that should be used in lieu of information from your attorney or physician.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
DePuy Pinnacle Hip Replacement MDL Lawsuits
In May 2011, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, JPML, ordered that every DePuy Pinnacle hip lawsuit filed in any U.S. District Court throughout the country be transferred to the Northern District of Texas as part of a multidistrict litigation, or MDL.
According to court documents released October 6, there are now at least 538 complaints consolidated before U.S. District Judge James E. Kinkeade in the DePuy Pinnacle MDL. As DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement lawyers continue to evaluate, investigate and file new cases in federal court, the number of lawsuits is expected to continue to grow. Many medical experts anticipate that thousands of people who are impacted by the alleged defective medical product, will ultimately file a complaint.
This scenario is currently being played out in the Northern District of Ohio federal court system, where another metal on metal DePuy hip product has been consolidated for litigation purposes. In August 2010, DePuy recalled its flagship artificial metal on metal hip product, the DePuy ASR.
watch this abc news video
All of the suits involve similar allegations that the DePuy Pinnacle Acetabular Cup System was defectively designed or manufactured, and that inadequate warnings were provided about the risk of early complications or problems, which have been developing within a few years of the surgery. In many cases, the DePuy Pinnacle hip replacement complications result in the need for additional surgery to replace or revise the hip replacement.
Many of the complaints allege that DePuy, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, has been aware of the problems with their metal-on-metal hip implants for some time and that a DePuy Pinnacle hip recall should have been issued several years ago.
As described above, Johnson & Johnson and DePuy also face thousands of lawsuits over the recalled DePuy ASR hip replacement. The DePuy ASR hip was approved as a substantial equivalent design to the DePuy Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip, and the allegations raised regarding design problems with the two devices are similar.
Over the past year, concerns about all metal-on-metal hip replacements have been growing. Last October, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) issued a warning about potential problems with metal on-metal hip replacements, indicating that patients and the medical community should be aware that pain months after hip replacement surgery may be a sign of metal-on-metal hip cobalt toxicity.
Earlier this year, the FDA launched a new website to provide information about the risks associated with metal-on-metal hip replacements.
10 comments:
Those 500 lawsuits would go for a win-win case when handled by equipped lawyers regarding this depuy hip recall issue. :)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 23, 2011 at 2:42 PM
There is far more to the Pinnacle Implant System than metal on metal shedding. Alignment, the proper design of the acetabular cup, the articu/leze system with metal on metal femoral head with Summit stem has now been designated as outdated by DePuy and the femoral head instead of metal must be of an "M" designation. This is their new ceramic type head which wears (they say) much better than metal on metal femoral and does not shed metallic debris. There are a lot of different problems with the Pinnacle system-not just metal cup rubbing on metal ball creating cobalt toxicity.ReplyDelete
Lawyers are only looking at metal on metal with the Pinnacle, when the acetabular cup itself may be the culprit-and tolerance requiring installation of same are too stringent and unforgiving. Matter of fact, the entire Pinnacle Design should be examined by engineers and try to figure all the after surgery pain complaints that emmanate from this product.The poly Altrx liner was supposed to eliminate metallosis but has not eliminated the pain. Why?
There is an inherent problem with the Pinnacle Design. The FDA was too quick to O.K. the updated versions presented to them by the medical conglomerates. We all suffer for it. None, I repeat NONE of the surgeons seem to be able to figure out why there is so much pain with these hip implants. Something is eventually going to surface and expose this industry for the terrible results of using their products. In most cases, the pain is less prior to surgery. Revisions? Why 10% minimum of all implants have to be revisited with the scapal. Might be better off using Drs. that really have experience with implant surgery. Matter of fact, I know of one Orthopaedic Surigal specialist that went to his teacher from med school and used a DePuy special all metal athletic version of their total implant and they had to cut his nerves, a year after the surgery he still walks with a crutch and the surgery was done by a genius in the field. Maybe, just maybe it was the design of the DePuy hip. Not just the metal shedding metal, but the movement of the hip itelf. The Dr. tells me his hip pops,hurts, he can hardly walk-and this is all within the medical community. Imagine the poor cattle coming in off the street with faith in their doctors and process. Only, to wind up worse off than before surgery-as far as pain and safety with metal/plastic in their bloodstream. Uplifting isn't it. Johnson and Johnson-Band Aid anyone?Replies
- AnonymousFebruary 24, 2012 at 7:41 PM
I agree with you that there must be an inherent design issue. I also think that surgeons with a "God-complex" contribute to failures and complications. I wound up with a DePuy Pinnacle in Aug. 2011 after the failure of a Sept. 2010 hip pinning for a femoral neck fracture. Because of the surgeon's inability to write the word "Precautions" just once on a single form, no physical therapist, nurse, physician, etc., bothered to inform me that I might not want to bend, squat, kneel, etc., after the procedure.Delete
If I hadn't been accompanied to an appointment with the surgeon by someone who heard the same thing, I would have thought I was hallucinating when, upon my limping out, he joked that, "You'd better be careful or I'll be doing a total hip replacement on you."
Thanks in part to the "Good 'ole (MD) boys club" mentality here in the Phoenix (Ariz.) area, I was forced to return to the same surgeon for the THR. If I had been provided with even a single alternative, I would have reconsidered. But with my left leg growing ever shorter, my balance non-existent so that I injured myself in at least one fall daily, and the pain so intolerable that I contemplated suicide, I felt I had no choice.
This time, the surgeon did note that I must follow "precautions". But to this day, I still feel that my left thigh, hip and buttocks are on fire. Of course I've been told that I "shouldn't" have this type of pain, although X-rays reveal I have end-of-stem pain.
I also have an angry red rash that sporadically appears around the long, dark red scar on the side of my thigh. And I'm told I "shouldn't" have that either. When I walk, even a few steps in my home, the bones in my left leg, hip, etc., make cracking, popping, snapping and crackling sounds. They are similar to the sounds made by my fingers typing on this PC keyboard. Like the sounds made by my hip and leg bones, there's no rhyme or reason for my limping. At times it's as if my hip and thigh are "frozen" and I'm unable to move them at all. I then have to hop to a chair or have my dog lead me to a seat.
This doesn't work well when out in public where being "disabled" in America is akin to being a mass murderer. I can't even get the post office to provide me with a seat as I wait in line. But I can't sit on the floor because it is too painful to get up, if I can manage to get up at all.
After the first surgery, my bones didn't make the sounds they do now. The pain was as bad, so the THR didn't help me there, and I still lose my balance. I wanted to be able to walk my dog, my therapy dog, without pain, and my surgeon insisted that after this surgery, "You'll be dancing." I believed him. What a moron I am.
At 49, I feel 249. I know that I will never again be able to run, to ride a bicycle, to skate, to do anything that might dislocate my hip, to walk my dog without the fear that I might suddenly become completely debilitated without anyone nearby to assist me. My life is over. All because of money.
I was assured the DePuy Pinnacle was the solution. Now I know it's no more than a different path to the destruction of one more faceless patient so as to increase the wealth of yet another corporate entity and its affiliates.
The poison on the viral-laden petri dish is this: Thanks to this "country" in which we "live", doctors are reluctant to prescribe any pain medication to help me cope -- not live -- with this excruciating, agonizing pain. I'm supposed to just grit my teeth and ... break them, which I've done many times in recent months.
To be in pain in America is like being nailed to a cross. Why our so-called "humane" society insists on treating so many of its members in such an inhumane way is appalling. If I were a pet, I would have been euthanized by now. But I presume this suffering is meant to be "good" for me.
So Sorry to hear of these issues. hard to imagine that a surgeon and the hospital failed to provide hip precautions in writing upon discharge. In addition, it is strange that they didn't have you go through some physical therapy post op whereby they would also have reviewed the hip precautions. Sounds like you were not on an orthopedic unit but rather you were on a general surgical unit?Delete
One thing is certain. You are not a moron. Likewise, it is not so that you will not eventually have a normal life. If you feel like there is a continued issue with your hip, I would do two things:
-shop for another surgeon
-speak with the surgeon who performed the surgery and advise that you will seek counsel if something is not done and you would like to see a plan put in place to address your issues.
Do you have a lawyer?
Best to you.
- AnonymousMarch 10, 2012 at 4:46 PM
Hi Connie,Delete
Like you, I found it hard to believe that the surgeon failed to provide me with precautions. I did have PT at home, but the home health care physical therapist told me that because the surgeon hadn't listed any precautions, I could do whatever I wanted to do physically.
So after the few hours of physical therapy post-op in the hospital, after the first surgery, teaching me to ambulate with a walker, I had the PT at home and then on an outpatient basis. Again, since the surgeon had not listed any precautions, the outpatient PT didn't have me follow any. So the first surgery failed.
I didn't choose the surgeon; I had broken my femoral neck bone in a fall and a friend took me to the E.R. I wound up with the surgeon I had.
I did see numerous surgeons here but each told me I had to return to the original surgeon. Not one of them would touch me.
So the only way I know of to get a surgeon who may or may not be any good is to travel out of state. And I'm in too much pain and too broke to do so.
After the THR, a physical therapist worked with me in the hospital for a couple of days and then a physical therapist worked with me at home through the home health care provider.
Apparently, the home health care entity subcontracts with all the physical therapists, nurses, etc., because the first call I got upon arriving home was from the physical therapist who had said I didn't have to follow any precautions after the first surgery.
I told him I would call him back, and then called the home health care agency to request a competent therapist, which I got.
Again, though, while going for outpatient PT at a different location after the home health care therapy ended, I wound up in more pain, not less. And I wound up, as with the first PT provider, on my own much of the time doing exercises I had been doing at home while the physical therapists ignored me and socialized with other patients, with one another, etc. Of course, I had to pay for it because they were there while I was there. But their presence wouldn't have been helpful had I fallen because they were nowhere near me.
As to the surgeon who performed the surgery, I did talk to him, and always had a "witness" with me while doing so.
He contradicted himself constantly, giving me a variety of answers to my questions, told me he didn't want to prescribe any pain medication for me and to see my regular doctor for that (whose nurse practitioner says I shouldn't be having pain), and told me to continue with physical therapy. His "plan" is to continue having me go back every few months so that he can take X-rays for which I will be billed an enormous co-pay, and I'm sure if this pain continues, he will insist that I need a revision. And then another and another and another and another and another.
Connie, I am disabled and on Medicare. My prescriptions are unaffordable, but I do not qualify for extra help except for my state's Medicaid program, one I was deemed inegible for because I am single and have no children. I have spoken with attorneys regarding my situation, but each says that it's almost impossible to prove medical malpractice (I would have to be dead, I think, and have my dog sue on my behalf) and that my issues aren't severe enough (again, I would have to be dead) to qualify as a minimum $100,000 case.
I suppose I could call every surgeon in the phone book, but I am just too weary for that. Thank you, though, for your suggestions. I think I'm stuck, though, until I can leave the state or ... otherwise.
Thanks again.
- AnonymousDecember 11, 2011 at 9:50 AM
Thank u Anonymous! You are SO right on!!! Wake up all of you that think the metal on metal are the only defective Pinnacles!!!ReplyDelete
It's a relief when you have a lawyer.ReplyDelete
Act on your rights now before it is too late. Hire an experienced lawyerReplyDeleteReplies
- AnonymousFebruary 29, 2012 at 10:15 PM
Remember to do your research if you are going to hire an experienced lawyer.Delete
Contingency fees are open to negotiation between attorney and client.
You do not have to agree to the contingency fees (usually 33%) that they initially offer. Say you will only sign for 20% or 25%, you have nothing to lose. You have the power and they want your case since these cases will be won and may be settled before trial.
Also, ask whether the lawyer will calculate the fee before or after the expenses. This can make a substantial difference, since calculating the percentage of the attorney's fee after the expenses have been deducted increases the amount of money you receive.
Fees can be negotiated in other ways. For example: 25% if you settle before trial, 30% if you go to trial and 40% if you go to appeal. This will encourage your lawyer to work for your interests instead of grabbing the first settlement that comes along.
Some clients also prefer to pay their lawyers on a sliding scale. For example, 33 percent for the first $100,000 in damages, 25 percent for the next $100,000, and 15 percent above that.
Don't just accept what the lawyer offers as contingency fees.
Do your research on contingency fees before you sign with an experienced lawyer.