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I'm watching the play of sunlight on the carpet, slatted to narrow fingers from the blind at my window. This bedroom is a jumbled mass of storage, half-sprawl and half-ensemble of life as it stands. I dare not unpack any more for the time being.
Arriving at my new workplace this morning, I wandered about the vast estate trying to find someone to let me in. It was cold, a rather blue morning, with the odd cast of rain under the lamplight that is like so many little claws. When I finally found someone to open a door, she looked me up and down with the wariness I've seen before – we're all after the same hours, see, and no one knows where they will be going to next. Turns out that this first impression was terribly accurate, because she was agency staff and had come to do my job.
I learned this from the supervisor, who took one look at me and exclaimed – in quite a different tone to the accommodating one of two weeks ago, at the interview – "What are you doing here?"
I told her I'd come to start my new job. She shook her head. "No, I was told you didn't want it. That you'd gone back to work at the police station."
I felt every feature of my body run down to the carpet. I turned to ice water, right there in the foyer.
"No, I never said anything such thing."
She pulled out her phone, dialled up the woman who deals with company contracts, and told her I was here – with the agency girl.
"She says that you didn't get in contact, she'd been ringing you repeatedly and got no response… then a text from someone, saying that they had decided to stick with the four hours, part-time. She said that was you."
I stared at her. The supervisor put me on the phone, and I had to listen to the simper of this woman – who had called my number personally as I walked off-site two weeks ago after the interview, to tell me I had got the job and would be starting on the 16th March – about there being a mix-up. That she had a list of numbers, no names, all cleaners … that I should have got in contact with her in the interim. That I had texted to tell her I was staying at the police station after all.
Now, there are two levels of bullshit going on here, and at some point they converge to make one big steaming pile. A) That I had cut off all contact, when in fact I had been told I'd got the job and assumed that was the end of it, to bring passport and birth certificate to be signed onto the system, as per usual requirements. B) That I *had* got in contact, through a number she has apparently dialled for the past two weeks and received no response from, to turn down the job and stick with part-time.
I had specifically told them I was leaving the police station to find full-time work, and would be relocating if I landed this job. I don't drive, so it'd cut the commute to my pedestrian level.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, it's all a bit of a mess."
Let me define "mess", here. I have moved house, left my friends, cancelled a gym membership and set up a new one, all on the back of supposedly secure employment. Perhaps I was naive. Or perhaps I was just swept to one side in the usual manner of cleaning companies with their treatment of staff.
For the two or so hours I was on that site, I had to listen to the supervisor and the contractor talk about me and the agency girl as though we were mismatched ornaments cluttering up a mantelpiece. To say this was humiliating is to understate what it means for the mind and ego. I've been here before. I've seen it happen enough times to other cleaners, to know the score.
When the company's head office called back to say that I couldn't take the job, I went very quiet inside. Pinprick black in white. A short flurry of tears, before facing the contractor to tell her exactly what people like her do to cleaners trying to find (and hold onto) work. That we base our lives around uneasy contracts, ready to be dropped at a moment's notice if it's zero hours (and sometimes even when it's not), scrabbling for what money we can get, often without hope of a pay rise. In my last job at the Nick, my wage was frozen for four years. It was subsidized by a very generous senior officer who had a habit of buying me bottles of rum and book tokens, as random "thank you" notes.
She hedged and muttered and whined, didn't look me in the eye.
I'd heard enough anyway, and left.
I think it's fair to say that the majority of cleaning job descriptions are a bit sparse on details. You'll find the word "general" crops up a lot, which can mean anything from raking your hands under a sofa to fish out dropped food, to scrubbing bleach along the walls to remove damp mould. One of my favourite misspellings is "hovering", which I'll leave you to work out. On the whole, cleaners do conduct a service that's largely ignored or unseen, let alone appreciated, so the image of fairies flitting about the worlds' offices, warehouses, hotels, gymnasiums, health spas etc, is more pleasant than the often grim reality.
Chronically low wages. Little chance of promotion to a supervisory role unless you hold a driving license. Uniforms that seem to have been carved out of trees. Sticking your hands (and head) in places most sensible folk would avoid. Visiting an osteopath now and then (if you can afford it) to have your back and shoulders cracked.
These are the more obvious aspects of the job. What is often overlooked – and I'll admit, I've only become aware of it after ten years in this gig – are the mental and emotional affects this line of work can have.
Lack of communication is probably the worst part. Assuming you're daft, management will rarely filter down information unless it suits them to. The simplest things – trying to book a holiday or file for a tax rebate when someone in HR has fucked up and put you on an emergency code – become akin to slogging through thick grease. When you are spoken to, it's often as an easily-discarded object. One unpleasant experience that sticks in my mind was the sight of a man brought to tears because he had turned up to work in the wrong shoes – and if you think that's pathetic, you should have heard the language and tone used on him by our supervisor. He might as well have been a small boy. The fact he had only recently arrived in the country, and was busy improving on his fledgling grasp of English (sitting with a book in his lap at every spare moment, tea and lunch breaks) was exploited in such a way that I felt burning shame. Sadly, no book could have taught him how to cope with supercilious wankers.
When I took my first cleaning job (early evenings in a warehouse) I was doing it to prop up my mother's wage, to keep us both afloat. I was a few months out of hospital, having spent 7.5 months on an inpatient ward learning how to eat again. My body was a set of lines, not much between. The only previous work experience I had was as a shop assistant in Superdrug, shortly after leaving school – heaving cartons and boxes up and down the stairs while trying to burn off everything I ate, and avoid being stuck behind the till because it would require me to stand still. I wanted a job that was physically demanding, and in cleaning, I got it. Left to my own devices, I could plug in music from my little mp3 player and blitz an entire building in a matter of hours. I was rarely called by my name. So it has been in almost every establishment I've worked, from BAE offices to a small industrial site. I'm usually "the cleaner". A shadow on the wall.
Such is the nature of the job, and it has its pros and cons. The isolation that often accompanies cleaning suits my nature. It took working at the Nick for me to see things differently – the social aspects of work life. Being accepted into a wider group, where a teabag left on a newly-wiped surface or mud tracked over the floor, was at least reported with an apology. Where I was called by name, included in whip-arounds and card signings, all the black humour that broke like waves around an office. It's the little things that make a difference between *just another job* and a second home.
OK, these things don't always make up for rotten wages and piss-poor management. I'm still slogging through a tax underpayment from two employers ago. But acknowledgement that you do exist, and are helping to keep things running, can make a person feel less like a nobody. Especially when they're doing a job that few people seem to want.
Why am I telling you this? Because it's important to me. Because as someone who's been a cleaner for a decade, while slowly regrouping thoughts and progressing in recovery from an eating disorder, I've found a pattern in people's reactions when I tell them what I do for a living.
"Aren't you a bit overskilled for that?"
"Why would you want to do it?"
"Isn't that really boring?"
"Haven't you got anything better to do?"
"At least it keeps you fit."
Yes, it does. And believe it or not, there are quite a few fitness perks to get out of cleaning – not to mention the flexibility of hours if you have children, or are studying, as I was. When I left college and attempted university, I fell on my arse back into a relapse. Coming home was one of the most humiliating (and expensive) times of my life, and it certainly didn't help to improve relations with my family, who had hoped I'd be able to progress beyond anorexia. I'd taken a creative writing course in line with English Literature and Language, with no clear idea what I wanted to do with them or what I hoped to achieve. I still lived one day to the next, with little forward-planning. But as a writer, the degree seemed a good thing to have under my belt. When it all went tits-up, I fell into the first job I could find – as the assistant of a private-hire cleaner, who taught me all she knew and trained me up as her apprentice.
Since then, I've dotted from one place to the next, rarely settling for long, and this mainly due to hours being cut or wages reduced. There's nothing you can do about it, or so it seems. As a cleaner, you're the afterthought. At least it's forced me to be more flexible, to roll with unforeseen circumstances.
I don't know whether it's the same for other people across other sectors. I don't know if they are treated as human detritus too. But "hygiene operatives" are still getting the thin end of the wedge, with the rise of zero-hour contracts and pay that rarely goes beyond the national minimum wage. For all the alleged increases in full-time work, post-recession, I'm still hard-pressed to find anything remotely close to 40 hours a week in cleaning, on the UK's numerous job sites. I can count on two fingers the jobs I've had where a pay rise was given as part of the contract, let alone as a sign of goodwill or acknowledgement of long-term employment.
If by this point you're thinking "well, you get what you give – go and find something better", then you have a narrow and privileged outlook on life. Sometimes, there is no "better". And if every cleaner decided to try something else, there would be no one left to clear up the world's mess. Why should our lives be made difficult when we're just trying to get on with a legitimate job?
With the reassurance of a regular income, I can spend evenings writing things I'd like to one day have published. A few hours of activity allows me to unwind and chill out later. Some people are like this. My Nanna has recently turned 70 and still does all her own housework and gardening, while helping Granddad with the cattery and kennels business they've kept for over 30 years. In the evenings, she prefers to relax – but she'll rarely settle during the day. There's the satisfaction aspect, too, which she shares – difficult to describe, if you hate cleaning (or are just disinclined to be move about much.) But I'm quite happy being left to my own devices, beating the hell out of a filthy warehouse floor while ticking over ideas for writing later.
At the moment, I'm at a crossroads of what has come before and what will come next. The eating disorder has less of a hold, I've got to the point where I don't suffer panic attacks for the simple fact of staying still. Missing a gym session isn't a crisis, I can always go in another day. I used to think my preferences were symptomatic of the illness, and while they have at times exacerbated the exercise addiction, I work to my own terms now. When you begin to control what has controlled you, the world opens up a bit more. I've decreased activity levels over the years, to the point where it has less of an impact on my health and social life, writing and relationships. This was the deal I set after hospital. Get well, or die, or end up back inside, because no bugger else should have the job of caring for me if I'm able to do it myself. And yes, it has taken a while. Yes, I've procrastinated. Being thrown out of my comfort zone is often a blessing in disguise – though at the moment, I'm struggling to find the positives.
Then there's the lack of experience in anything else. Sticking with one line of work for a decade is great if that's all you want to do, but it does make your CV look static. While it's nice to think this wouldn't affect my chances, it has had an impact on initial contact, even before the chance of interviews – the email response (if it comes) usually runs to "have you done anything else…?" Which is understandable, given that they likely want someone with an inkling of what to do. Except, no, I haven't, and probably don't. I wouldn't blame anyone for being reluctant to take a punt.
Not everyone gets into this gig because they have nothing better to do. Some people enjoy it, some make a profession out of it by building up their own company. It's a job that, like anything else, needs to be done, and relies on self-motivation – the will to go that step further, whether it's acknowledged or not. I like to work hard because it feels right to do so. You can do yourself proud in any role and find a few little personal wins along the way. Mine, for the last four and a half years, was the ability to stave off wearing a company uniform while blitzing the Nick; strangers who came on site often mistook me for a civvie, until I showed my card. Listening to a supposedly-illicit iPod every hour of my shift, I was able to blot out anything I didn't want to hear (which given the environment, is priceless.) Independence is a double-edged blade. Working on contract through a hopelessly inept company, I rarely took holidays because the palaver that ensued wasn't worth the effort (nor was the mess I'd come back to) and often ran short of stock when a delivery went AWOL or no one bothered to answer texts. But the guys I worked alongside everyday, more than made up for these setbacks.
I had a name. A presence, as part of a team where the work was appreciated, and we pulled together to keep a battered old building alive. And if I can wangle it, I'm going to try and get that back, because sitting here in a darkening room, with the sun having gone in and rain approaching, I feel like I've missed a step on the stairs. If nothing else, I've two weeks of paid rent to sort myself out, to find something else – anything, which will mean I can provide for myself again.
I gave up everything to come here. To start again, on better pay, in a quieter house. For the "mess" that's occurred as a result of my decisions, I can only hope that this a temporary blip and not a one-way track to the dole. And if I'm to be shaken out of my comfort zone, I'm taking others with me.


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Today the day Apple's iPad Wi-Fi + 3G finally goes on sale which means a bunch of you are waiting by the door for the delivery truck or getting ready to head out to the Apple Store and pick one up. While you're waiting, or once you get it and come back, you might be wondering what's next? Don't worry, TiPb's got your back:
Get apps and games. There are thousands of iPad specific apps already (seriously, we've stopped counting!). You can find them -- all of them -- on iTunes, either on your Windows or Mac, or right on the iPad App Store. We've covered a ton of iPad apps here already, and we'll be reviewing more each week, so keep your eyes peeled!
Get accessories. The iMore Store has just started offering iPad accessories and more and more are in stock every day. If you want to protect that big, beautiful screen or wrap a case over that pristine aluminum shell, be sure to check them out!
Get talking. If you just want to talk about your new iPad and all those apps and accessories, or if you need help getting started (or to trouble-shoot bugs), or advice and recommendations, we have two new discussion groups just for you: iPad Device and Help Forum and iPad Apps and Games Forum.
This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy for more details.

subset: commoncrawl


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August 28, 2018United States
In the course of my career I've had the great privilege of working for Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson and knowing John McCain, two of the most consequential senators of the last seventy-five years. And the…
January 23, 2019Niger
The BBC cites data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which are probably the best available. According to IOM, in 2015 there were 6,000 traffickers in the Agadez region of Niger who transported some 340,000 migrants across the Sahara to Libya. The migrants were eventually bound for Europe. They came from all over West Africa to Agadez, long a center of the cross Sahara trade.
January 22, 2019Nigeria
This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger between January 12 to 18, 2019.
January 16, 2019Religion
Recent obituaries published in both the New York Times and the Washington Post celebrated Dr. Lamin Sanneh'a enormous scholarly contributions to religion in Africa. He emphasized the role of African missionaries as well as European ones in the spread of Christianity throughout the continent.
January 15, 2019Nigeria
This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger between January 5 to 11, 2019.
January 11, 2019South Africa
There is mismatch between what the government asks and expects South African National Defense Forces (SANDF) to do and the money allocated to carry out its missions. The SANDF budget declined again for this fiscal year and stands at only around 1 percent of GDP. (By contrast, the budget for education is just under 5 percent of GDP.)
January 10, 2019Ethiopia
He recalls the popular challenge now underway against Omar al-Bashir's rule in Sudan; the deaths of Kofi Annan, the first African secretary General of UN, and Winnie Mandela, a flawed leader of the South African liberation movement; the highly positive emergence of the reform-minded Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian prime minister; and the international attention to Congolese surgeon Denis Mukwege, who won a Nobel Peace prize for his work with rape victims.
January 9, 2019Nigeria
On January 6, the Nigerian security services raided the offices of the Daily Trust, one of Nigeria's largest circulation newspapers, apparently angry at its published reports about the upcoming army move against a Boko Haram faction, the Islamic State West Africa (ISWA), and recent military defeats.
January 8, 2019Nigeria
This update represents violence in Nigeria and related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger between December 29, 2018 to January 4, 2019.
January 3, 2019Nigeria
Former President Shehu Shagari passed away on December 28, 2018, in Abuja at the age of 93. He was the only president of Nigeria's Second republic, which lasted from 1979 to 1983, when his government was overthrown in a military coup by then-General Muhammadu Buhari, who is now Nigeria's democratically elected president of the country's Fourth Republic.


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The long wait is finally over! The Bronco Design full fiberglass hard top has made it's appearance. This top has a cool design feature. The side panels are removable. They simply bolt on to the roof panel (there is steel inside the fiberglass). This would allow you to turn the roof into a hard full bikini top by removing the side panels and lift gate. You would have to make a rear support mount or tie it into your roll cage, however. The complete top is available for order now. A steel lift gate will work with our top, if you would like to use your current one.
Click on the link for a PDF with more info: Full Top Info


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Detroit Mirrors America's Decline
By Stephen Lendman
America's been declining for decades. It's going the way of all empires. It's dying a slow death. It's epitaph one day will read hubris and overreach killed it. Misguided policies don't work.
Chalmers Johnson once said it's "too late for mere scattered reforms." They won't make a damn bit of difference. It's fate is practically sealed.
It's on a slippery slope the wrong way. It's happening in real time. It's in plain sight. Count the ways.
It's being thirdworldized. It's permanently at war with no enemies. Only ones it invents exist. It's ravaging humanity for dominance.
It's lawless. It's repressive. It's secretive. It's exploitive. It's unaccountable. Incestuous business/government ties abuse people for profit. It's ruthless. It's ongoing at home and abroad.
Corruption's out-of-control. It infests business and government. Checks and balances don't exist. Elections are more farcical than real. Results are decided in advance. People have no say.
Presidential diktats govern. Social decay deepens. Money power controls things. Duopoly power rules.
Freedom hangs by a thread. It's practically gone already. Full-blown tyranny looms. Democracy's a figure of speech. It's verboten.
On June 16, the Economic Collapse Blog called Detroit "Rotting, Decaying and Bankrupt - If You Want to See the Future of America Just Look at Detroit."
At the time, it gave even odds for eventual bankruptcy. Five weeks later, its reality. More on that below. Dozens of other US cities are financially troubled.
The Economic Policy Journal asked "how far behind Detroit are the finance troubles of Chicago, Los Angeles and Baltimore?" Their pension liabilities alone are higher per capita.
Other major troubled cities include New York, Washington, DC, Honolulu, Cincinnati, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Las Vegas.
Which ones will be the next shoes to drop? How long before it happens? Nothing's being done to stop it.
The Economic Collapse Blog lists key reasons why Detroit's troubled:
(1) In 1960, it was America's fourth largest city. It had the highest per capita income. Today it's dying. It's a hollow shell. Only it's obituary remains to be written.
(2) Since its heyday, it's population fell 63%.
(3) About 40% of its street lights don't work.
(4) Some city ambulances still operate with over 250,000 miles.
(5) 210 of its 317 public parks are permanently closed.
(6) Motown became ghost town. About 78,000 buildings are abandoned. So are tens of thousands of residences. Their median price is $9,000. Many are cheaper.
(7) About one-third of its 140 square miles are vacant or derelict. Heavily blighted areas are increasing.
(8) More half its over-16-year-olds are unemployed.
(9) About two-thirds of its children are impoverished. Many live in deep poverty.
(10) Nearly half its residents are functionally illiterate.
(11) Police solve less than 10% of reported crimes.
(12) In 2003, Detroit had 5,000 police officers. Today it's half as many. More layoffs loom. Hundreds of fire fighters were laid off. Facilities were closed. They're being sold to raise cash. Who'll extinguish fires and save lives when they're gone.
(13) Police stations are closed to the public 16 hours a day.
(14) Detroit's per capita murder rate is 11 times higher than New York.
(15) Crime's a growth industry. Police tell people to "enter Detroit at your own risk."
(16) Detroit faces about $20 billion in debt and unfunded liabilities. It's about $25,000 per resident.
Once mighty Motown's a desolate wasteland. Public education's being dismantled. Dozens of schools closed. Thousands of teachers were sacked. Perhaps they'll all be gone. The entire system's crumbling.
Detroit's a shell of its former self. It's in free fall. It's a corpse awaiting burial. It's no longer a functioning city. It's bankruptcy was expected.
City assets will be sold at fire sale prices. They'll be privatized for profit. City services will further erode. They'll disappear altogether.
Union contracts will be voided. So will city worker retirement benefits. At stake are vitally needed pensions and healthcare protection. They'll disappear to save money.
Current conditions will worsen. Blight defines them. Population flight continues. Tax collections shrink. Will the last person leaving please turn out the lights?
Maybe by then remaining ones won't work. Over 40% of nearly 90,000 street lights are broken. Funds aren't available to fix them.
What's happening in Detroit reflects America. It's coming to a community near you. Vitally needed services are disappearing. They're vanishing when most needed.
Healthcare, public pensions and other benefits will be voided. Millions will be on their own sink or swim. Unemployment's heading higher. Most remaining jobs don't pay enough to live on.
It's a national disease. It reflects America in decline. It's rotting out and dying. On July 23, economist Richard Wolff headlined "Detroit's decline is a distinctively capitalist failure," saying:
Motown giants "were loyal only to shareholders, not the people of Detroit. The city was gutted by that social choice."
Predatory capitalism's malignant. It's a disease. It's eating its seed corn. It's killing its host.
Latter day Detroit was the "American Dream" for many thousands of workers. Quality jobs existed. They offered high pay and good benefits. They were valued. They were highly sought.
In the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, Detroit thrived. It was vibrant. It was world-class. No longer. It's been downhill ever since.
"Over the past 40 years, capitalism turned that success into the abject failure culminating now in the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history."
State and city government, as well as business share blame. So do federal officials. "The past 4 years have displayed (the) consequences" of capitalist failure.
Nothing's been done to change things. Bad policy persists. "Real wagesâ¤|stopped growing in the 1970sâ¤|Rising consumer debt and overwork" sustained consumption. What can't go on forever, won't.
In 2007, "crisis arrived." Public and private employers took full advantage. Wages, benefits, and job security suffered.
Middle class society eroded. It's disappearing altogether. In Detroit, it's practically gone. It's mirrors America. It's in steep decline.
Top-down structured capitalist enterprises give "major shareholders and boards of directors (plenty of resources ) to cut or remove" hard-won union gains.
"That's how this system works. Detroit has 'been there and done that.' The solution is not" more of the same.
Wolff favors worker co-ops. If autoworkers had them, things would have evolved differently, he believes.
They wouldn't have outsourced production. They wouldn't have offshored jobs. They wouldn't have undermined their livelihoods, families and communities.
"Workers would not have destroyed themselves and their communities that way," said Wolff.
"Moving production, a distinctly capitalist strategy, was key to Detroit's population dropping from 1.8m in 1950 to 700,000 today."
Worker co-ops might have saved Detroit. Instead of less jobs and wages, they'd choose less dividends, executive super-salaries and bonuses.
Savings could be "passed on in lower automobile prices." Doing so would have made Detroit more competitive.
It can happen other ways. Co-ops might have switched to mass-transit vehicles. Other alternatives could have been chosen. Detroit could have reinvented itself. Where there's a will, there's a way.
Top-down predatory capitalism's bankrupt. It doesn't work. It destroys. It doesn't sustain.
"What kind of a society gives a relatively tiny number of people the position and power to make corporate decisions impacting millions in and around Detroit while it excludes those millions from participating in those decisions," asked Wolff?
"When those capitalists' decisions condemn Detroit to 40 years of disastrous decline, what kind of society relieves those capitalists of any responsibility to help rebuild that city?"
"(N)o genuinely democratic economy could or would work that way." For sure no just one!
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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Bootsy is a 19 year old rapper from Pittsburgh, Pa. Has his debut mixtape, Jonework, out now!
Bootsy (of Oli Tribe)'s chances in this game are improving with each new release, and Steph Curry (prod. S.H.A.D.) feat. Levi Kendrick is no exception - quite the opposite, in fact. It's a nice addition to the impressive catalogue Bootsy (of Oli Tribe) has been building over the years. We're definitely anticipating the next move.
Follow Bootsy (of Oli Tribe) on Twitter, if you aren't already.


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Medical questions & health advice by board certified doctors
"What are the complications involved with arthroscopic surgery?"
My doctor thinks that my shoulder would feel better if I had arthroscopic surgery. What exactly does it involve? Are there any complications that can happen with this surgery? I definitely want my shoulder to be better but I am afraid of surgery.
Arthroscopic surgery is a form of minimally invasive surgery in which small incisions are made around the joint (in your case, this would be the shoulder joint obviously) and a tiny camera is inserted. This allow for visualization of the cartilage inside the joint, and small tools can be inserted alongside the camera to scrape out any scar tissue or other abnormalities that are found. Arthroscopic surgery is generally fairly well tolerated, and the recovery time and pain from the procedure are less than you would experience with a more major type of surgery, because the incisions are tiny. The primary complications from arthroscopic surgery would be pain and stiffness afterwards in the joint until the swelling from the procedure has gone down. There is also a small risk of infection, as with any surgery, but this is usually minimal as the procedure is done in the operating room in a sterile fashion. Finally, there is the risk that the procedure will not make your shoulder pain substantially better. I suggest that you discuss the risks and benefits of the procedure with your orthopedic surgeon. They will be able to explain to you why they think the procedure is right for you.
Need more info?See an orthopedic surgeon today
Zocdoc Answers is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor (in the United States) 911 immediately. Always seek the advice of your doctor before starting or changing treatment. Medical professionals who provide responses to health-related questions are intended third party beneficiaries with certain rights under Zocdoc's Terms of Service.


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Distance from Rock Island, WA to Olalla, WA
Driving distance between Rock Island, WA and Olalla, WA is 195.09 miles (or 313.97 kilometers). If you drove an average car (using about 3.6 gallons of gas per mile), the gas would cost you around $, since you would need about gallons of fuel.
Leaving from Rock Island, WA you would reach Olalla, WA in about 3 hours 24 mins if you keep an average speed of miles per hour, assuming you don't make any breaks or get stuck in traffic.


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Day 218: Freedom within Structure Part 2 - The Afterlife Assumption
"Just try to understand this, and the split will disappear. It is not there in your being, but just in your mind, just an idea. Drop the idea and enjoy freedom, and sometimes discipline.
"Discipline has its own beauty, it is not all slavery. And freedom has its own dangers and is not all beautiful. A real person is always capable of infinite discipline and infinite freedom – he is not a slave or an addict to anything."
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to connect the word Freedom with the belief / idea / fantasy that when I die, I will be 'free' from what this world exists as, and I won't have to deal with 'this world' anymore
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not be self honest with myself, about my starting point being that -- the real reason the idea of higher dimensions / ascension / spirituality appeals to me / feels so good / feels so right --- is the simple point of 'I don't Like this world as it exists / I don't Want to deal with this world as it exists'
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself lose myself within all the wonderful, fun fantasies and pictures and feelings associated with the ideas of higher dimensions / heaven / ascension / light and love, to the point where I have not been honest with myself that -- I don't actually have any clue how to lead this world into a New Age -- I actually in fact only know how to keep accepting the system as it is and participating in the system as it is - and that all I've done is change my personality to be more 'positive' -- which I was able to do because I allowed myself to believe that there exists a point through death or through 'ascension' within which I will be 'free' from having to deal with this world anymore -- which is actually not something I see / am aware of - but is just an assumption -- which enabled me to fuel my 'positive attitude -- not seeing and realizing that -- if I were to discover that there is in fact no higher dimension / heaven waiting for me when I die --- my positivity would cease to exist and is therefore = not real but just energy generated through defining myself within a specific belief / assumption / idea which shows that actually -- energy is not the Source -- the Source of Energy is the Physical which is the very Platform that enabled me / allowed me to structure my belief system through my Physical Body's information processing ability through which I generated my Personality / Energy
I forgive myself that I have not accepted and allowed myself to realize that if I am believing that the way to free this world / humanity from war / conflict / poverty / inequality is through spreading a message that promotes feeling good / positive / loving based on a Dependence upon the Assumption that there exists some point after death through which I will be 'free' from having to deal with this world any more -- then I am merely promoting a coping mechanism / method -- like a drug -- that is not based on any actual practical research / insight into supporting Life on Earth at a Physical, Sustainable Level -- but is just a 'Positive Attitude' based on an Assumed point of 'Freedom' that we can all apparently 'look forward to' after death
I forgive myself that I have not accepted and allowed myself to realize that what this world needs is not a 'positive attitude / feelings' based on made up fantasies about a blissful afterlife free from responsibility -- but that what this world needs is Human Beings who are Free from the desire to escape this reality, Free from the desire to 'Send our Ass' to a higher dimension, Free from the addiction to Hope, Free from the addiction to Beliefs, Free from the addiction to Fantasies, Free from the addiction to Imagination, Free from the addiction to Self Interest -- Free to Stand Here in the Physical and work together as One in this One Reality that is our One Body to Show the Way to a New World through demonstrating / showing through practical written examples how we can implement changes within the world at a Practical level within the Context of the Structure of the World System / Resource Management in a way where it will be possible for everyone to have Dignified Life with All Human Rights fulfilled - a way where everyone is Guaranteed food, water, a home, education, a job, comfort, free time, freedom from abuse, freedom from exploitation --- none of which is dependent on any form of belief / assumption about the afterlife, and none of which is dependent on 'love and light', and none of which is dependent on pretty words or pretty pictures


text: Booda 2 Knot Rope Bone White Extra Large PRODUCT REVIEWS PAGE 1 OF 1 Options Available: Small Large Shop Booda 2 Knot Rope Bone White Extra Large Rated 3 out of 5 by 1 reviewers. Rated 3 out of 5by SailorT52Holds up well but by no means colossalBooda products tend to be well made, but these things were described as "colossal". Their not. My 105lb. GSD is making pretty short work of them. 04/14/2014 Page 1 of 1 1


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Automakers and freelance photographers have this little game they play. When an automaker has a new car in the prototype stage and needs to test it in semipublic areas, the car is "camouflaged" in black diapers and bras and fish netting and Boy Scout tents.
Automakers don't want their surprise spoiled, and the photogs are trying to be first to shoot the new vehicles in their odd dress. We call these photos "spy shots."
Now here's a first: a spy shot photographed and sent to us by the manufacturer! Hey, what happened to our game?
It's a black-diapered Mercedes-Benz Maybach ultra-luxury car. The exposure is excellent and the technique is generally good, although Mercedes forgot to include a pack of embarrassed engineers standing around during a testing pee break. And we'd be more convinced if there were a chain-link fence in front of the car. But it's still learning. Ah, but the car. The new flagship for Mercedes is 20 feet long, weighs somewhat less than three tons, has a 500-hp twin-turbo V-12, and should go from 0 to 60 in less than seven seconds. Named for Wilhelm Maybach, an early collaborator with Gottlieb Daimler, the car will cost about $200,000 and will appear in about two years, around the same time as BMW's new Rolls-Royce, its primary competition.


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UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has launched a major new drive to save the lives of millions of women and children around the world.
Nations have pledged more than $40 billion (£25.5 billion) over the next five years to scale up health services around the world so that the deaths of more than 16 million women and children can be prevented.
Speaking at the launch of the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health at UN headquarters, Mr Ban said that the 21st century 'must be and will be different for every woman and child'.
He told reporters: 'We are teaming up to put women and children first, backed by $40 billion in resources and many ambitious pledges to do more for women's and children's health.
'These commitments will ensure more health for the money, and more money for health.'
It is hoped that the new global strategy will prevent the deaths of more than 15 million under-fives between 2011 and 2015, as well as preventing 33 million unwanted pregnancies and the deaths of 740,000 women from complications linked to pregnancy and childbirth.
Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organisation, said that international agencies will need to be 'smart, strategic and resourceful as never before' in order to achieve the strategy's goals.
'By integrating their actions, the eight international health-related agencies will strengthen capacities across the board, in ways that meet the comprehensive needs of women and children,' she added.
But Oxfam spokeswoman Emma Seery questioned where the money will come from.
She told the Associated Press news agency: 'That kind of money would go a long way toward reaching the child and maternal health goals, but we have a big concern.
'Half of the donors cut their aid last year. We're just nervous that it will be governments bringing together a lot of previous commitments, and that won't mean much for poor people.'


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The show now begins (after way too many unnecessary previouslies) with the same old porny theme music, but now with a red background and the cast shown on the screen in their pairs. We get to see a replay of Julie explaining the Golden Key not once, but twice, to the houseguests. I'm only going to explain it once: Of the duo who will be are nominated by Head of Household Rachel this week, one will be evicted and the other will get a Golden Key, which is a free pass to the top ten. Everyone acts like that's a big deal, and Rachel explains it to us once again in the Diary Room, not missing another chance to misuse the term "float." Adam is determined to get the Golden Key, apparently forgetting that he'll have to get nominated to earn it. Lawon makes a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory reference in the DR, and everyone sits in the living room looking serious. Brendon also DRs about hating floaters, because he and Rachel agree on that. And also on not knowing what they are.
Dick whispers to Jeff and Jordan about getting rid of the strong and keeping the weak, and then wiping them out when they switch to individuals, as Dick knows they will. "We're gonna lose one along the way at least," he warns Jeff and Jordan. Or maybe just Jordan.
Then he goes and whispers to Danielle as well. Danielle DRs that she's playing the game and has no choice but to work with her dad. Because just walking out isn't an option. Dick DRs that this is like a replay of BB8, complete with him and Danielle allegedly not talking to each other outside the house, but they're up for it. He adds that they'd have a fine relationship of they could play Big Brother all the time. Which is like an oxymoron on steroids.