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The commercial and public sectors led an upturn in orders for new construction in the second quarter of this year.Latest provisional figures from the Department of the Environment, Transport and Regions (DETR) indicate that the total volume of orders for new work won by contractors was 9 per cent higher than in the previous quarter and 8 per cent higher than the corresponding quarter of in 1999.Within this overall growth there is, however, considerable variance.
Public-sector orders (excluding infrastructure and housing) increased by almost 31 per cent in the quarter and by more than 40 per cent when compared with the second quarter of 1999. Significant further public-sector growth, especially in health and education, can be expected as a consequence of the government's recent Comprehensive Spending Review, which is set to increase investment expenditure by on average 16.75 per cent per annum over the next three years to £35 billion in 2002. The Construction Products Association predicts that its members' output levels will increase by between 2 and 3 per cent per annum over the same period.
Hewes & Associates, in its report Construction Output 2000, indicates that the rise in public-sector work will more than compensate for a forecast downturn in new work from other sectors of economy.
The majority of the new spending will be through either the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) or the government's new Public Private Partnership (PPP).
Given the current backlog of orders for projects on line to be procured through PFI, some concern has been expressed by industry bodies about how quickly the extra funding can be fed through.
The DETR reports that both infrastructure and public housing orders fell during the quarter - by 8 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. Both of these sectors are, however, on line to gain from increased government spending. In recent weeks deputy prime minister John Prescott, reversing the government's previous policies, announced a major extension to the road building and improvement programme. He also announced the long-awaited go-ahead for the upgrade of the London Underground transport system.In July, housing minister, Nick Raynsford heralded the issue of the government's Housing Green Paper and announced an extra £1.8 billion of publicsector spending on public housing over the next three years. An additional £600 million has been allocated to improving the existing local authority housing stock.
Private house building activity, according to DETR statistics, has slowed slightly in the second quarter (by 3.5 per cent when compared with the previous quarter) but was still 2.5 per cent up on the same period in 1999.This moderation in activity is not unexpected following the slowdown in demand in the general private housing market.
New orders in the private commercial sector, which comprises retail and office space, increased by almost 29 per cent in the quarter; although this represents only a 2 per cent increase on the corresponding period last year. Medium-to-long-term prospects are not, so promising.
A survey from Construction Forecasting and Research (CFR) predicts a fall of 4 per cent next year and a further 2 per cent in 2002. This follows four years of continuous growth at an average of 13 per cent per annum. The CFR reports that a downturn is expected because the market has reached the peak of its current cycle and that future retail grow th is restricted as a result of planning restrictions on out-oftown shopping centres.
The continuing manufacturing decline is reflected in the level of orders for new construction in the private industrial sector, which, according to data issued by DETR was down by 14 per cent in the quarter. Any medium- to long-term improvement in this sector cannot be anticipated unless there is a significant reduction in the strength of the pound versus the euro. Within recent weeks, Corus announced the closure of its South Wales plant at Llanwern.On a more positive note, the Construction Market Survey published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reports an increased demand for new warehouse property fuelled by the rapid growth in consumer online spending.
Regions and Ireland The South East and Greater London region saw the most marked growth in construction. The DETR reports that the value of new orders grew by £897 million, a rise of 41 per cent in the quarter and 35 per cent year on year. With the except ion of new private housing, all sectors in the region saw some increase in activity.
Driven by substantial orders in the private commercial sector, the South West and Wales regions saw workloads expand over the quarter (by 48 per cent and 23 per cent respectively) and both by more than 50 per cent when compared to the same period last year. Both regions, however, saw orders for new public housing tumble by approximately 70 per cent. The RICS Construction Market Survey, published in July, forecasts considerably worsened prospects for both regions in the coming months.
The North East and Cumbria, Yorkshire and Humberside, the North West and Scotland have all fared very badly compared with the UK as a whole.All four regions have seen orders fall significantly in the past quarter (by 31 per cent, 15 per cent, 20 per cent and 28 per cent respectively). When compared with the second quarter of 1999, orders for new work fell by 18 per cent in the North, 6 per cent in the North East, 1 per cent in the North West and a worrying 36 per cent in Scotland. The main area of reduction in the Scottish market was a fall in public-sector and infrastructure work, possibly indicating that devolution-related projects such as the new parliament building no longer figure in current new orders.
Prospects for construction in the central band of the country, encompassing East Anglia and the East and West Midlands, are mixed. The East Anglian construction industry is enjoying a period ofgrowth; orders were up 27 per cent over the quarter and 19 per cent when compared with the same period of last year. By contrast, the East Midlands has suffered a considerable downturn in orders for new construction, which fell by 20 per cent in the past quarter and 13 per cent when compared with the second quarter of 1999.The West Midlands construction economy is relatively flat; orders for new work increased by 5 per cent over the quarter but were 2 per cent down year on year.
The Republic of Ireland's construction industry shows no sign of slowing down.
Last year construction output increased by 11 per cent to an all-time high of £9.3billion. The Irish government has recently announced spending plans amounting to £32billion over the next six years.While most sectors of the economy in the Republic have now enjoyed consistent year-on-year growth for several years, IT and pharmaceuticals have shown the most rapid expansion. Today, 40 per cent of inward investment from the US to Europe makes its way to the Republic, where giants such Hewlett Packard, Rank Xerox and Intel, among others, have set up manufacturing plants.
The economy in Northern Ireland has mirrored the growth of its southern neighbour. There are, however, a number of major projects on hold and awaiting a political settlement in the Province, including a £400 million riverside development in Belfast, an £80 million retail park close to Belfast City Airport and an estimated £1 billion backlog of publicsector PFI-funded works.
Costs and tenders Construction cost increases are forecast to operate above levels found in the general economy. Building costs increased by 3.9 per cent in the past year and are expected to rise by around 3 per cent over the next.
General underlying inflation levels are currently at about 2 per cent.
Material costs rose by 0.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2000 when compared with both the last quarter and the first quarter of 1999. The influence of the strong pound on imported material prices has been negated because the current level of exchange rates has been effective for more than a year and is thus discounted from year-on-year calculations. This increase, however, is still considerably below the general inflation level of 2.3 per cent per annum over the same period.
Construction-sector earnings rose by an average 5.9 per cent in the year to December 1999. This roughly equates to the 5.8 per cent upward movement in average earnings in the wider economy.
The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) reports that while skill shortages among bricklayers and plasterers have eased, demand for all trades is buoyant and carpenters are the most difficult to secure.
Tender prices rose on average by 6.1 per cent in the year to March 2000, which the BCIS reports is the result of aboveinflation labour input cost increases over the year now being passed on in tenders.
In this period, the South East and Greater London saw the greatest rise of tender prices at 8.5 per cent; in the North West prices remained unchanged. In the next year, tender price inflation is expected to level off at around 1 per cent above levels prevalent in the general economy.
In the past 10 years overall building costs have increased by about 38 per cent;
over the same period tender prices rose by approximately 37 per cent. Despite this similar price growth over the long term, annual inflation for building costs and building tender prices has been quite dissimilar.
Over the past 10 years building costs have increased fairly steadily (and roughly in line with general inflation) by between 2.4 and 4.6 per cent per annum. By contrast, annual tender price inflation has been largely driven by the prevalent state of the construction market. For example, tender prices dropped by 5 per cent in 1991 and by a further 3.6 per cent in 1992 as the construction industry went into severe recession; by 1994 the industry's fortunes were improving and tender prices increased by 13.6 per cent as contractors sought to recover lost ground on costs and profitability.
A longer-term perspective indicates that financial implications even out over time (see graph).
Architects employment The recent RIBA employment and earnings survey indicates that the average salary for an architect has for the first time risen to about £30,000, an average increase of 5.3 per cent compared with 1999.
Architects' salaries do not compare well with those of other professionals of similar standing; solicitors earn in the region of £38,000 and doctors £51,000, although the exceptionally high salaries of the leading practitioners distort the figures somewhat.
Within the headline figure there are major variances between regions and staff ages and grades. A salaried architect under the age of 30 and in private practice can expect an salary of £22,000 per annum, which is about the national average for full- time workers. A partner in private practice aged between 40 and 54 can command an average salary of £40,000.
The South East and Greater London have seen significant increases in average architects' salaries over the past year. The average salary in the South East grew by 7 per cent to £32,000 and in London by 10 per cent to £33,000. In stark contrast average salaries in the North, the Midlands, East Anglia, the South West, Wales and Scotland actually fell by 7 per cent and 10 per cent to between £27,000 (Scotland) and £28,000 (Midlands and East Anglia).
Commercial property The RICS Commercial Market Survey reports that that demand for office space is exceedingly buoyant with rental levels in the three months to May up by more than 10 per cent over the same period in 1999. CB Hillier Parker data indicates rental inflation of 20.3 per cent per annum in London over the same period.
Although chartered surveyors are less confident about overall future demand, as tenant enquiries have lessened in recent weeks suggesting weaker activity in the service sector, it is expected that the current level of rental price inflation will be maintained as the availability of floor space declines.Capital values for offices in 2000 continue to rise, albeit at a slower pace than 1999.
A slowdown in consumer demand is causing retailers to become cautious of taking on more floor space and the level of new lettings has declined. This slowdown has yet to have any significant impact on rents, which in May rose by an average 5.4 per cent per annum. The impact of the closure of all C&A stores on high street rents has yet to be felt. According to Insignia Richard Ellis, capital values for high street property have fallen for three months in a row.
Ongoing problems in the manufacturing sector of the economy are hitting demand for industrial property. However, rental levels, although slipping, were up in May by 5.7 per cent per annum. These rental levels have been supported by the strength of the service sector, particularly in goods distribution activity related to ecommerce. For these same reasons, capital values of warehouse property have risen significantly.
Residential property According to the RICS, house prices have fallen for the first time in two years.House prices fell by 2 per cent in July compared with the previous month.House prices are in decline in London (having peaked at a very high level), the South East and the Midlands, but are edging up in much of the North and Wales. Building societies and banks suggest the trend could be set to continue.
Ten years ago the average home cost about £59,000, almost four-and-a-half times average full-time earnings. Today, the average home costs £81,000 today, just under four times average earnings. This price increase of about 37 per cent is roughly in line with building cost and building tender inflation over the same period.There is, however, considerable variation between the regions. In London between 1990 and 2000, the price of the average home increased by 68 per cent from £87,000 to £146,000, whereas in the North East prices increased by just 3.5 per cent.As the political climate has improved, Northern Ireland has seen a spectacular 145 per cent rise in house prices - from £29,000 in 1990 to £71,000 this year.
Della Hughes is an associate director of the MDA Group, tel: 020 8686 5566 email@example.com
New orders increased by 9 per cent in the past quarter.
New government spending will compensate for predicted slowdown in commercial workloads.
Retail orders are in decline as consumer spending slows and planners restrict out-of-town developments.
Decline in manufacturing-sector work continues unabated but e-commerce boosts demand for warehouses and distribution centres.
Growth in new orders is strongest in the South East and Greater London whereas workload declines in the North and Scotland. Construction in Ireland continues to grow apace.
Building costs increased by 3.9 per cent over the past year; building tenders rose by 6.1 per cent over the same period.
Over the past 10 years building costs and building tenders have risen by 38 and 37 per cent respectively.
For the first time the average architect's salary has reached £30,000.
House prices in July fell for the first time in two years.
The average home now costs almost four times the average full-time salary.
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Black-Eyed Pea and Spring Green Salad
French breakfast radishes are sweeter than their rounder counterparts, but either kind will work in this fresh side salad.
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Black-Eyed Pea and Spring Green Salad
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- In a large saucepan cook black-eyed peas, covered, in lightly salted boiling water for 40 minutes or until tender. Drain. Rinse with cold water until beans feel cold. Drain well.
- Place whole green onions on a platter and arrange salad greens on top. Top with radishes. Spoon peas over radishes. Sprinkle all with coarse salt. Serve with Caramelized Sweet Onion Vinaigrette. Makes 8 side-dish servings.
Caramelized Sweet Onions Vinaigrette
- In a medium to large covered skillet cook sweet onion, in cooking oil over medium-low heat for 13 to 15 minutes or until onions are tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover; cook and stir over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes more or until onions are golden. Remove from heat; set aside to cool. In a small bowl whisk together salad oil, cider vinegar, honey, salt, and black pepper. Stir in onion mixture. Cover and chill up to 1 week. Makes about 1-1/2 cups.
Nutrition Facts (Black-Eyed Pea and Spring Green Salad)
- Per serving:
- 246 kcal ,
- 16 g fat
- (2 g sat. fat ,
- 6 g polyunsaturated fat ,
- 7 g monounsaturated fat ),
- 172 mg sodium ,
- 23 g carb. ,
- 4 g fiber ,
- 6 g sugar ,
- 6 g pro.

subset: commoncrawl


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L3 - Securitization
The Artemis Catastrophe Bond and Insurance-linked Securities Deal Directory aims to provide a one-stop resource for information on every cat bond and ILS transaction we hold information on. The content of this Deal Directory is provided as is and there will be some omissions. Help us to keep these cat bond and ILS transaction summaries up to date by contacting us if you see an error or omission that you can correct.
L3 - Securitization - At a glance:
- Issuer / SPV: L3 - Securitization
- Cedent / Sponsor: Hannover Re
- Placement / structuring agent/s: The RISConsulting Group LLC acted as transaction advisor. Citibank arranged the deal.
- Risk modelling / calculation agents etc: ?
- Risks / Perils covered: Life reinsurance
- Size: €50m
- Trigger type: ?
- Ratings: ?
- Date of issue: Nov 2000
L3 - Securitization - Full details
L3 – Securitization of Life Reinsurance Assets.
Hannover Re completed a third transaction for the transfer of acquisition costs in life and health reinsurance to the capital markets. Designated 'L3', the facility has been concluded for a period of three years and comprises a financing volume of EUR 50 million. It encompasses all classes of life, health and personal accident reinsurance and is specially designed to meet the needs of insurance companies in the Asian emerging markets.
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10 Frequent Fixes for 850/70 Series
As the 850 and 70 series Volvos get older and less expensive to purchase, they are finding themselves in the hands of the more do-it-yourself buyer. Our customer service staff has been getting more and more calls on some of the common failure points on these models so we decided to make a video on some of the frequent fixes that we're seeing. Check out the video below as Chris and Ken go over 10 of the most failure prone components and share some resources that make these trouble spots a lot easier to deal with.
Items covered:
- Heater Core
- Upper Spring Seats
- Front Endlinks
- PCV System
- Timing Belt and Water Pump
- ECT and Thermostat
- Upper and Lower Torque Mounts
- Overload Coils
- Key FOB
- Fuel Door Hinge and Latches


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It was early this year when three of my friends heard the call of the stones of Hampi along with me and we decided to make a visit there. Hampi was the medieval capital of Hindu empire Vijayanagara and not very well known tourist place in India. Lots of people were interested to know where the place is and what is there. Today Hampi is listed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Bus from Mumbai to Hospet takes little more than 12 hours. There are good hotels in Hospet, but it takes time (also money) to go & come from Hospet to Hampi every time. Therefore, we decided to stay in Hampi. Though there's no star-class hotel there, the available ones are the backpackers' accommodation but suits good for those who really have the urge to see the place from inside. It was difficult for us to find a comfortable place, if not good, as we didn't book our accommodation beforehand. Finally, by around 2 O'clock in the afternoon we were able to park ourselves.
'Mango Tree' – the restaurant you just can't ignore when you are in Hampi. Authentic local food and in ethnic style makes 'Mango Tree' unparallel. But there are few other restaurants who serve English breakfast and Italian stuff, but unfortunately all vegetarian stuff. Hampi is considered to be a sacred place and therefore no non-veg food is allowed there. At the most, you can get egg curry at places officially.
First day of our trip was limited to Virupaksh temple and the great formation of stones at Hemakuta hills which is just beside Virupaksh temple. We watched the fantastic sunset from Hemakuta and found an Argentinean gentleman playing flute…it was splendid!
Next day we took an auto-rickshaw which took us to Vitthala temple, Tungabhadra River, Queen's bath, stepped tank, etc. After visiting all these, we found roaming with rented two-wheeler would be much easier rather than hiring auto-rickshaws. The next day we took 2 two-wheelers which were cheap and we kept on traveling in our own terms. It was the last day in Hampi for us and we wanted to see the sunrise from the hilltop. We started early in the morning, almost dark and parked our vehicles at the base of the hill. Then it was a tiring trek to the top but surely it was worth it. We enjoyed the first rays of the sun on these historic stones which might have experienced this kind of morning for million years!
The stones were placed on each other in such precision that it feels like someone did a very complex trigonometry to fix these stones so that they don't fall down. Natures creations make our jaw dropped in every turn in Hampi.


text: A friend has found a hardtop for a customer with a blue Z8 without a hardtop. He has asked me what color the headliner is as he is in the process of preparing it for paint and the current headliner on the top (which was silver) is black. The interior on the blue car is a light color. Any insight would be appreciated.


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Written by Reena Tabita
Published October 08, 2007
Inspiration comes from many sources. For many filmmakers, the inspiration can come from the written word. Books — and in some cases, short stories — have been adapted into movies. This has been such a trend that bookstores have a section where they display books that have been made into movies, advising, "Read the book before you see the movie." People have debated which version is better. Which really is better? Is there even an answer to that question, as a general rule?
The thing that sparks these debates is that the books people choose to adapt are timeless and popular to a certain degree such as The Harry Potter series, Running with Scissors, The Green Mile, Secret Window, Atonement, and The Devil Wears Prada. A significant part of the population is familiar with these books, have read them (sometimes even multiple times), and hold opinions about the plot, characters, and much more.
Readers have formed images and ideas about how they see the book as a movie. Disappointment or excitement happens when the movie either matches or diverges from what they imagined. In discussions, they would voice their opinion on whether the book or the movie is better.
Is it fair to compare? After all, books and movies are different types of media. Everyone has their own imagination and has thought about how that scene is supposed to go, or what that character is supposed to look like. Not everybody will be pleased. Some things do get lost in the translation and transition from page to screen.
Comparison, while inevitable, is rather unfair at times. A fan will not be able to influence the actor, the director, or the animator. The only comparable things are theme and atmosphere. Did the movie capture what made the book interesting? Did the movie have the same tone and atmosphere as the book? If the answer is yes to both, then it's fair to say, in comparison, the book and movie are as good as each other.
When other aspects are brought in, however, comparisons become unfair and the question of which is better becomes unanswerable except by opinion and on a case-by-case basis. Look at Jurassic Park and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Jurassic Park is an excellent movie and an excellent book. It helped a lot that the book's author, Michael Crichton, co-wrote the screenplay and was willing to change things around to suit the film media. He made the action of the story move faster and gave the characters more depth and emphasis on a personality trait to create better tension on the screen.
The movie version of Alan Grant wasn't too fond of children (he claimed they were "smelly"), but the book made it clear that Grant was someone who didn't mind kids and recognized a shared excitement for dinosaurs. The movie version of Grant worked well for adding some tension in the movie, as Grant got stuck with the kids, and provided a challenge for the character that was funny to watch at times.
Steven Spielberg was the perfect passionate director to channel all of these elements. He made the action and characters faster, crisper, and tighter. The flawless, careful casting for the movie contributed to its success. I am not be ashamed to admit that I hear Sam Neill's voice whenever I read Alan Grant's dialogue in the novel.
The Harry Potter movies, specifically Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, while perfectly cast as well, suffer from having had different directors. Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, and Mike Newell all had their own visions. David Yates is the latest director to have his own vision about the material, and it feels like he changed the tone of some of the relationships in the fifth movie, especially between Ron and Hermione, and Harry and Ginny.
At times, the relationship and action become so manipulated, confusing, and awkward that it became hard to watch. Take Emma Watson's Hermione. The most natural performance of hers was in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (with that in mind, please bring back Alfonso Cuaron!).
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Emma sometimes does what the fans have termed "eyebrow acting," and it makes it look like she's trying so hard to get Hermione's lines out. I think that's either due to bad direction or a conflict between the translation of the character in this particular book to how she was to come across onscreen.
Suffice it to say, the movie is a good movie, but an incredibly disappointing adaptation, but what do I know? The film won a National Movie Award, and Emma bagged the National Movie Award for female performance.
Maybe that is the case for most adaptations. By itself, a film might just be that - a good film, but as an adaptation, it might be disappointing and lackluster. It can also happen the other way - the movie might be better than the book!
Everyone has their own opinions about books and movies, but if one goes into a movie or tackles a book with a clean, open mind cleared of (most) expectations, then maybe you might just enjoy it for what is it and not mind the price.


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When I first started eating vegan food I had no idea what I would eat when I wanted a quick throw together meal. Sure you can have salad or a stir fry or something like that but what can you make that is 100% wholefoods, super fast and covers all the major food groups? and then I heard about the bowl concept. It gets called lots of different things a "macrobiotic bowl" or just "a bowl" and it is pretty much what is sounds like but tastes a million times better. This is what we eat at least a couple of times a week but that doesn't mean it is boring because every time it is a little bit different. Confused yet? or just interested?
So this isn't really a recipe it is more of a concept. A concept which with a little bit of preparation means you can have a wholesome, filling and delicious dinner on the table within 20 minutes of coming home from work without having to run around like a crazy person.
A bowl is simply a grain + vegetable + bean/ seed and a sauce. I like to cook a batch of grain usually rice but could be quinoa or anything and keep it in the fridge for a few days so we can throw together dinner fast when we get home from work.
Tonight we had a pretty fancy version. A mix of brown and black rice, with roasted sweet potato and zucchini, rocket, cherry tomatoes, broccoli with hemp and pumpkin seeds. I made a dressing out of capers, mustard, olive oil and fresh dill. Yum. This was a LOT more fancy than what we usually have. Often it is just brown rice, kale, chickpeas with olive oil, salt and pepper. And it is still good. So how to throw one together?
Choose a grain and precook a batch to last you a few meals. For the two of us I did 1 1/2 cups of rice which does two dinners. If you make lots you can always freeze extras in individual serves and then take it out the freezer before you head to work in the morning.
Grains to choose from: brown rice, black rice, quinoa, millet, buckwheat (or anything you like).
Then add some veggies
For example: Kale, spinach, tomatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, capsicums anything that you have lying around.
Throw in some protien
Chickpeas, black beans, lentils, nuts, seeds or any other protien you like.
And then create some kind of sauce. It can be simply a mix of olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar or you can get a bit more fancy. We love:
Dill and caper dressing
1 tbsp capers, 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp fresh dill. Blend together witha bar mix or blender and enjoy.
Tahini dressing
2 tbsp tahini, 1/4 cup water, 1 tbsp shoyu, 1 clove of garlic minced, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar. Place all ingredients in a blender and combine until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if required.
Almond butter satay
2 tbsp almond butter, 1 tbsp shoyu, 1/4 cup water, 1 clove garlic minced, 2 tbsp fresh lime juice. Throw all ingredients in a small bowl and mix. Taste and adjust flavors if required.
And that is it. It is amazing how simple yet completely satisfying it can be. All it takes is a bit of preparation and you can have a weeks worth of easy dinners without reaching for the takeaway menu.
**We are currently away on holidays, I will return in May with more regular recipes***


text: I grew up in Durban, South Africa, attended undergraduate at the University of Cape Town, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford where I studied Forced Migration, and most recently a PhD in anthropology from Stanford. My research concerns the transnational emergence of Angola's middle class in the South Atlantic, and is specifically attentive to post cold war ideology, aesthetics, race, social stratification and intellectual cultures. I am currently helping to establish the Social Science program at the African Leadership University.


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Heritage Category: Listed Building
Grade: II*
List Entry Number: 1075371
Date first listed: 15-Nov-1962
Statutory Address: THURSTASTON HALL, CHURCH LANE
The above map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. For a copy of the full scale map, please see the attached PDF - 1075371 .pdf
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This copy shows the entry on 20-Jan-2019 at 16:04:39.
Statutory Address: THURSTASTON HALL, CHURCH LANE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
District: Wirral (Metropolitan Authority)
National Grid Reference: SJ 24690 84077
Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.
Reasons for Designation
Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.
Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.
(south side)
Thurstaston Hall
House. West wing of C15 or possibly earlier,with gabled wing to west of 1680; main range of 1680; east range of 1836. Stone with brick to main range. 2 storeys, 3-bay centre. Stone base, vermiculated band over ground floor, cornice and top screen wall masking roof which has coping and finials, quoins and blind bull's eyes with vermiculated surrounds. Windows have gauged-brick flat arches and cross casements, those to 1st floor with leaded glazing. Entrance has bolection moulding, flanking Corinthian half-columns and broken pediment with Whitmore arms; half-glazed doors. Left wing has double-chamfered-mullioned windows, inner return has 3-light ground floor window and gabled half dormer, gable end has rectangular bay window with sashed lights and 3-light window to 1st floor. Outer return has half dormers and lateral stack. Left wing has blocked pointed entrance to inner return with similar, partially obscured entrance to angle; corresponding blocked entrance inside hall. Gable end has sashed window with glazing bars to ground floor and pointed window with casement to 1st foor. Wing to west facade has datestone inscribed: "WWD/1680". Interior: Hall has bolection moulding to fireplace and re-used C16 overmantel with pilasters and arched panels. Stair has C16 spiral balusters and closed string with pulvinated frieze, 2 rooms with bolection-moulded panels. West wing has 2 collar trusses with cusped wind braces; room to rear possibly before C15. Wood statue in C17 dress, possibly Hugh Lupus, Cll Earl of Chester or John Whitmore, C14 Mayor of Chester.
Listing NGR: SJ2469084077
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number: 215642
Legacy System: LBS
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
End of official listing


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After Congress refused, Obama violates privacy to deny gun sales
Back when American colonists suffered under taxation without representation, a Mad King George once ordered Bostonians to quarter occupying British troops in their homes and confiscated their firearms.
We suspect that some of those colonists were "depressed" and sometimes consulted with doctors who prescribed whiskey as medication.
Two Hundred and Thirty-Nine years after shots fired at Lexington and Concord were heard around the world and 225 years after the right of the people to keep and bear arms was declared not to be infringed in the Bill of Rights, a new Obama-king that taxes represented-Americans has issued a decree their elected representatives had refused to enact into law:
After failing to strengthen background checks on gun buyers through Congress, the Obama administration on Friday announced pending executive action on the matter focused mainly on mental health issues that would allow the government to get around certain privacy laws on the books in order to obtain more information. One of the regulations would seek to gain information previously withheld because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPPA, which protects medical privacy.
"Too many Americans have been severely injured or lost their lives as a result of gun violence," a White House release said Friday. "While the vast majority of Americans who experience a mental illness are not violent, in some cases when persons with a mental illness do not receive the treatment they need, the result can be tragedies such as homicide or suicide."
The Justice Department regulation would clarify who is prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal law for reasons of mental health. The White House says that terminology in federal law is ambiguous.
"We are taking an important, commonsense step to clarify the federal firearms regulations, which will strengthen our ability to keep dangerous weapons out of the wrong hands," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. "This step will provide clear guidance on who is prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law for reasons related to mental health, enabling America's brave law enforcement and public safety officials to better protect the American people and ensure the safety of our homes and communities."
Federal law in this area is not vague. It prohibits sales to those:
- committed to a mental institution;
- adjudicated as a mental defective to include involuntary inpatient and outpatient commitments;
- found incompetent to stand trial;
- found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, someone lacking mental responsibility or deemed insane; and
- found guilty but mentally ill.
What federal law does not allow, and in fact explicitly prohibits under HIPAA, are background check-fishing expeditions through Americans medical records so that President Barack Obama's Attorney General can deny purchases of guns by Americans he deems haven't been properly treated for mental illness by their doctors.
Congress can stop these new regulations from being promulgated and enforced. Of course, that half of Congress formerly known as the U.S. Senate serves now as a "Yes Man" for President Obama; so we expect serious ramifications of Obama's action when they begin prohibiting every American that ever took a Prozac due to Obamanomics' job-loss-situational-depression from exercising the Second Amendment right to self defense.
Sadly, in California, their new state laws can't be reversed even if Congress were to once again assert its institutional will:
"One man with courage makes a majority." – Andrew Jackson


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Miles Picknett starred with a classy unbeaten 81 as Pacific's up-and-down season continued with a good win over the Oxford University Club side. Ably supported by a belligerent 41 from Craig Jones – Picknett ensured that the target of 196 was always comfortably in sight.
Oxford University Club 196 for 5 from 40 Overs (Williams 66, Benson 39*, O Haill 7-1-24-2, D Roberts 8-4-14-0)
Pacific 197 for 4 from 37.3 Overs (M Picknett 81*, C Jones 41, Booth 8-0-42-4)
OUCC batted first in a 40 over contest and suffered an early loss as Ollie Haill comprehensively bowled opener Rao for 10. Haill and veteran seamer Darryl Roberts both tested the batsmen in impressive opening spells – but there was to be no further success for them. However the perspiring Roberts can consider himself desperately unlucky as he beat the bat with regularity and had a number of half-chances not quite go to hand. However he can be proud of conceding only 14 runs from his 8 over spell – half of which were maidens.
Aussie newcomer Martin Cowling continued the good work from one end – but Rob Bastin was plundered for a few boundaries as Williams (66) and Swartz (11) rode their luck in between some sweetly timed shots from the former. Swartz' good fortune eventually ended as he played on to Cowling.
Williams eventually perished to the leg spin of burly Aussie Tim Marshall – while a much-improved Bastin returned from the other end to claim a wicket via the safe hands of Miles Picknett at gully. With Haill grabbing a further scalp thanks to impressive debutant keeper Ed Blake – it was left to Benson to smash a flurry of sixes to bring the home team's score close to the 200 mark they had been hoping for – the all-rounder finishing on an unbeaten 39 as the score reached 196.
The Pacific innings suffered the early losses of Matt Holliday (6) – leg before in the second over – and Marshall (9) – unluckily bowled off his pad. Miles Picknett and Peter Czabotar kept the run rate up in a stand of 30 – before Czabotar was done for length to bring Booth his third wicket with the score on 64.
Craig Jones joined the imperious Picknett and continued to fire off a string of boundaries – before enjoying a fortunate reprieve when clean bowled by a no ball! Putting his sticky start to the season behind him – Jones took full advantage of his extra life – greeting Williams' leg spin with a massive six and then an equally crisp four.
Picknett meanwhile looked in control throughout – putting any bad balls away to the boundary and otherwise keeping the score ticking over with well-placed strokes.
Having just added 101 for the fourth wicket – Jones was caught behind off the returning Booth – bringing newcomer Blake to the crease.
Inspired by Picknett smashing an effortless straight six – Blake (12*) clubbed a huge six onto the adjoining road and followed it up with another boundary to bring a quick end to proceedings. Picknett remained unbeaten for a classy 81.
"I'm delighted that the team remains unbeaten under my leadership!" enthused stand-in skipper Paul Attwood afterwards. "The bowlers almost did too much with the ball to get wickets – but kept the runs down – and Miles never looked like getting out in the chase – real class batting. Top marks to Craig as well on his return to form." he added.
XI - P Attwood*, R Bastin, M Holliday, P Czabotar, E Blake, O Haill, C Jones, T Marshall+, M Picknett, D Roberts, M Cowling
Other matches: Ashes Fever Oxford Apathy, Sun 12 Jul 2009, Oxford Univ Club, Cancelled Let It Pour, Sun 01 Jul 2007, Oxford Univ Club, Cancelled A Long Road as Wakash Whacks Students for Six!, Sun 18 Jun 2006, Oxford Univ Club, Won by 3 wickets Khan Gives Pacific the Blues!, Sun 12 Jun 2005, Oxford Univ Club, Lost 7 wickets Lay Slays Students!, Sat 19 Jun 2004, Oxford Univ Club, Won By 18 Runs Picknett the Pick of a Bad Bunch, Fri 02 Aug 2002, Oxford Univ Club, Lost by 6 wkts


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(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)
At the center of Babylon Boyz is a classic, powerful conflict of interest for its main character, Dante. It is Shakespearean in its intensity and its meaning. Hamlet faces choices no more difficult to make than those Dante must make, and the social implications of what choices Dante makes are nearly as profound. Embodied in Dante is a profound conflict between self-interest and the welfare of the community.
Dante and his "homeys" are well-drawn figures, each a unique personality. Dante himself is thirteen years old, bright but physically underdeveloped because he has a diseased heart caused by his mother's use of cocaine while she was pregnant with him. He speaks bitterly of having a chance to live to be thirty years old if he is careful.
In contrast to Dante, Pook has a magnificent body. Not only well built and handsome, he is athletically...
This section contains 660 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)


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|Rhino Dozer/Destroyer Blades, suitably weathered as per Papa Nurgle's requirements
|For the metallic shine, a combination of AK Dark Steel Pigment and Fixer was used
If you are on a very tight budget, a simple graphite pencil can be used as an alternative to the AK Interactive Dark Steel Pigments. Yet another alternative would be graphite powder from art supply shops although truth be told these are kinda expensive too. For the Nurgle Rhino, I applied AK pigments on the sharp edges of its 'blade' using a cotton bud. And then, I fixed the pigments in place using, well, an enamel-based pigment fixer also by AK Interactive. The reasoning behind this step is that even rusted metal contains parts that face wear and tear hence the exposed metallic shine.
|Colour Scheme for blades - dark rust base with fresh rust on grooves and metallic shine on edges
|Fresh rust (bright orange hues) are concentrated on areas where water may pool
Because I had initially primed the blades with a glossy black primer (Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black), I had to improvise in order to reduce surface tension thus allowing the Vallejo Rust Texture to stick better. This I did by first applying a coat of Vallejo Polyurethane Matt Varnish. It's important to note that this varnish coating would've been unnecessary if I had applied a black matt primer such as Citadel Chaos Black. Meanwhile, other 'metal' parts of the vehicle worked on include the exhaust outlets on its upper hull, tow hooks, searchlight, poison gas tank, tri-skull emblem and chains.
|Tow hooks on the rear were weathered in a similar way to the other 'metal' parts
|Exhaust outlets on the upper hull, all four of them, were also weathered
|Nurgle Rhino Searchlight, with the rusted metal bits all done up
At this stage of the build I am besiege by ambivalent feelings due primarily to a hobbyist's greatest (arguably so) bugbear - patience. I feel that more scale model kits are ruined by lack of patience rather than lack of skill, although there is a fine line between the two in miniature painting/modelling. As things stand, I'm pretty chuffed with my progress so far. However, the Nurgle Transport is still so far from the picture I have imagined that it's mind-blowingly infuriating. Let me explain ...
|Nurgle Rhino (front end) work-in-progress: metals parts weathered and rusted
|Bits weathered include the exhaust outlets at the upper hull and the tow hooks on the back
|Nurgle Rhino (side hull, left) - metal parts include the poison gas tank and the tri-skull emblem
|Nurgle Rhino (side hull, right) - metal part comprised only the chain on the hatch door
Photographs of the Nurgle Rhino as you see above lacks two key ingredients that will ratchet up the realism exponentially. One is subtle, the other not so much. The former are panel line washes while the latter, rust streaks. I'll be tackling panel lining in the upcoming post as well as the Nurgle Rhino's organic bits such as the skulls and poor Lucy i.e. the rotting head on the hull. Rust streaks will only come in after these are done. And now you can see why the Nurgle Rhino has a long way to go yet.


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3619 Greenbrier Drive, University Park, 75225
Price: 0 | Status : Cancelled
Trusler Group
5600 W. Lovers Lane, Dallas, TX 75209
Property DetailsMLS Number : 13566788
SqFt : /OWNER
Year Built : 2004
Lot Dim : 70 x 160
Acres : 0.257
Category : Residential
Type : Single Family
Area : 25.5
Subdiv : University Heights
County : Dallas
Parcel ID : 60218500160200000
Legal : UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS LT 0020 000
Lot : 20
Stories : 3
School Dist : Highland Park ISD
Type : E
Name : Hyer
Type : M
Name : Highland Park
Type : H
Name : Highland Park
Broker : Allie Beth Allman & Assoc.
Agent : Kelley Winsor
This classic inspired University Park French Colonial style home, designed by Paul Turney, and built by Cy Barcus in 2004, is truly one of a kind in detail, features and amenities. The formal areas flow seamlessly throughout the lower level, gracious gourmet kitchen opens to the breakfast room that overlooks pool and spa, outdoor fireplace, grilling area, guest house, and storm shelter. Timeless blend of materials and craftsmanship. Perfect for
Broker : Allie Beth Allman & Assoc.
Agent : Kelley Winsor
All information is from sources believed to be reliable and is subject to change of price, rental, commission or other conditions, prior sale, lease or financing or withdrawal without notice. No representation is made as to the accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footage are approximate and all information should be confirmed by customer.


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The stars at night will be big and bright when Jenna Bush and Henry Hager enjoy their wedding reception on May 10, 2008. Deciding on a sunset ceremony, the shadows of the bride and groom will stretch across the grounds of Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas as the First Daughter receives a wedding band to accompany her sapphire and diamond engagement ring.
According to The Washington Post, 14 attendants will create a rainbow effect in above the knee green, blue, yellow and lavender chiffon creations by designer Lela Rose, whose garments have graced the likes of Mariska Hargitay, Chloe Sevigney, Michelle Pfeiffer and Harry Potter star Emma Watson. For her own dream dress, the future Mrs. Hager chose a design by Oscar de la Renta, who recently created the bridal attire of Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl. Although the gown's final look is being kept under wraps, the bride has revealed that the famed designer fashioned the frock out of organza, its beauty enhanced with beading and embroidered accents.
Related page:


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Chinese Laundry Croco-Embossed Convertible Clutch
Spot on Value!
For happy hours, wedding weekends and coffee shop meetings, this Chinese Laundry clutch rises to whatever occasion is on your calendar. This eye-catching bag is designed with brass-tone hardware and a smooth suede texture that lends haute allure to your stepping out style. Easily converted from clutch to crossbody thanks to a detachable shoulder strap, wear it with a cocktail dress in the evening or playsuit in the daytime for a chic finishing touch.
- Detachable shoulder strap
- Fold-over flap and zip top closure
- Exterior: brass-tone hardware, suede texture, solid color grey
- Interior: two slip pockets, fully lined
- 100% genuine leather
- Imported
- Dimensions: 15"L x 2"W x 9"H


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Deoria\Azamgarh: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister
Mayawati on Tuesday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his
statement that he respects BSP founder Kanshi Ram and claimed
his party had not "expressed a single word of condolence on
Kanshi Ram`s death.
Addressing election rallies here, Mayawati said Congress
and its leaders did not speak two words of condolence on the
death of Kanshi Ram, what to say about declaring a national
Referring to Rahul`s remarks yesterday that he respects
Kanshi Ram who took forward the politics in UP, Mayawati said
for BSP "these words of sympathies are like thorns".
"It appears as if Congress and its yuvraj are showing
disrespect to manyavar Kanshi Ram ... and BSP would never
pardon Congress and its yuvraj for it", she said.
Charging the UPA with giving a step-motherly treatment to
UP, she repeated her charge that it did not provide financial
aid to the state but her government, through its own
resources, carried out the important works connected with the
basic requirements of the people on a priority basis.
She claimed her party had given top priority to
villages, farmers and the poor and alleged Congress had been
creating hurdles in the development works of BSP government.
The chief minister claimed while all political parties
forget about the promises made at election time, BSP fulfills
its promises and works for the welfare of "sarv samaj".


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From Paul, called by God's will to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, and from Sosthenes our brother.
To God's church that is in Corinth:
To those who have been made holy to God in Christ Jesus, who are called to be God's people.
Together with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place—he's their Lord and ours!
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God always for you, because of God's grace that was given to you in Christ Jesus. That is, you were made rich through him in everything: in all your communication and every kind of knowledge, in the same way that the testimony about Christ was confirmed with you. The result is that you aren't missing any spiritual gift while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will also confirm your testimony about Christ until the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, and you were called by him to partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now I encourage you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Agree with each other and don't be divided into rival groups. Instead, be restored with the same mind and the same purpose. My brothers and sisters, Chloe's people gave me some information about you, that you're fighting with each other. What I mean is this: that each one of you says, "I belong to Paul," "I belong to Apollos," "I belong to Cephas," "I belong to Christ." Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in Paul's name? Thank God that I didn't baptize any of you, except Crispus and Gaius, so that nobody can say that you were baptized in my name! Oh, I baptized the house of Stephanas too. Otherwise, I don't know if I baptized anyone else. Christ didn't send me to baptize but to preach the good news. And Christ didn't send me to preach the good news with clever words so that Christ's cross won't be emptied of its meaning.
1 Corinthians 1:1-17, Common English Bible
They entered Capernaum. When they had come into a house, Jesus asked them,"What were you arguing about during the journey?" They didn't respond, since on the way they had been debating with each other about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must be least of all and the servant of all." Jesus reached for a little child, placed him among the Twelve, and embraced him. Then he said, "Whoever welcomes one of these children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me isn't actually welcoming me but rather the one who sent me."
John said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone throwing demons out in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn't following us." Jesus replied, "Don't stop him. No one who does powerful acts in my name can quickly turn around and curse me. Whoever isn't against us is for us. I assure you that whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will certainly be rewarded."
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity began in 1908, when it was proposed by a Franciscan monk and adopted by the Pope. By the 1960s it had its present name, Protestant churches had moved their own week for unity to January, and Roman Catholic and Protestant churches began working together on each year's theme. This was the golden age of the ecumenical movement, bringing churches together to overcome the historic differences in belief and practice that had separated them. The way churches worship became more similar, we began using the same cycle of readings and church calendar and the colours of the seasons and holy days, great coalitions like the World Council of Churches and the Canadian Council of Churches were at the height of their influence. It even looked like the United and Anglican Churches would merge in Canada. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was marked by huge worship services that filled sanctuaries with worshippers from different denominations.
But since then we have pulled back a bit. These great church coalitions are not as influential or well-financed anymore. The Anglican-United talks did not result in an amalgamation, although they did produce the red hymn book. There aren't any big services this week, at least not in this area. And as our country and the world changes, churches have to put energy into relationships with other faiths as well as other Christian churches.
As with so many things from the boom years of the church, the golden age of ecumenical activity is over. But there is still lots going on. Our United Church is, after all, the product of several denominations coming together, so we have been active ecumenically for a long time. We have no congregations outside Canada and Bermuda, so we have to cooperate with other churches to do anything outside our borders. So we participate in numerous coalitions, worldwide and in Canada. In February I am one of the United Church representatives at a World Communion of Reformed Churches meeting. This body has 229 member denominations in 108 countries. A United Church delegation attended the World Council of Churches assembly in Busan, South Korea, at the end of October. We have lots of partnerships which we hear about in our Minutes for Mission, and I have visited our partners the Moravian and Baptist Churches in Nicaragua. Partnerships and coalitions are how we feed the hungry and seek justice for the poor in this global village.
And there is a lot going on locally. Our Presbyterian neighbours kindly offering us poinsettias for Christmas Eve is just one example. We have proposed worshipping with Wesleyan and Pentecostal churches here in South Stormont on Good Friday. Some of us attend the service for World Day of Prayer each March, organized by local women from several churches. There will be a big worship service with local churches when the International Ploughing Match comes in 2015. When I was chair of Seaway Valley Presbytery we launched a partnership with the United Church of Christ across the border in New York State, and now I'm part of talks between our denominations at the national level.
When a Canadian team wrote this year's worship service for the Week of Prayer, the theme chosen came from our reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians. Here the Apostle Paul is writing to the new church in the Greek city of Corinth. And near the beginning of his letter, right after he greets them and tells them that he thanks God for them, Paul says that he has heard that they are divided into rival groups and are fighting with each other. Some Corinthians are saying that they belong to Paul, others identify with another preacher, Apollos, and others are loyal to the apostle Peter. And Paul makes a plea for unity, asking, has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in Paul's name?
And you can imagine the Corinthian believers getting this letter, and reading it out loud to everyone because that is what you did with these letters then, and people hearing Paul's words and the meaning sinking in and then drooping their heads. No, Paul or Apollos or Peter were not crucified for us. Jesus was. We weren't baptized in the name of Paul or Apollos or Peter, but in the name of Jesus.
We can think, we're not like those Corinthians at all. But even with the cooperation and good will we enjoy with other churches, we can still be suspicious, we can still think that we and our tradition are superior to those "other" churches, we can still believe that we have a monopoly on truth, we can still argue like the original disciples of Jesus about who is greater. We live in a culture that makes it easy, and even expected, for people to generate conflict and attack each other's beliefs, whether in debates at Tim Hortons or on talk radio or in online comments. We can still feel that we are somehow in competition with the Anglican or Presbyterian or some other congregation, even congregations in our own denomination, for people and money. And the names may have changed, but we can still look to a founding figure like those Corinthians did, even a long-ago one, saying we belong to Calvin or Luther. But Calvin or Luther or Knox or Wesley weren't crucified for us. Jesus was. We weren't baptized in their names, but in the name of Jesus.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity can be an opportunity for us to pray and renew our work for unity among Christian churches. But it is also a chance for us to reflect on the need for unity, not just in the worldwide church, but in our own United Church, and in our congregation. Because we can feel suspicious of, and superior to, and in competition with oher denominations, yes, and also other United Church congregations, and even people in our own congregation. Even though our Presbytery has been a model for others across Canada in how congregations have come together in the last few years, I can tell you lots of stories about congregations who don't trust each other, and congregational boards torn apart by conflicts over what to believe and how to govern.
I just want to point out one thing about what Paul writes to the Corinthians. He wrote in Greek, and he uses a couple of different words that are translated into English as meaning "divided." When he says to the Corinthians, "don't be divided into rival groups," the Greek word is schisma. We have an English word, schism, which refers to a division within a religious denomination that results in a faction breaking away. Schisms within churches produced the many denominations we have now. But the origin of this Greek word schisma is interesting: it did mean division, or groups in conflict with each other, but originally it meant a tear in a garment. When we fail to live up to the prayer of Jesus that we may all be one, and we behave in ways that divide denominations, and congregations, it's as if we are ripping a beautiful piece of clothing. Jeans with tears in them may be in fashion, but we wouldn't want to wear a winter coat with a tear in it and the filling coming out, or a shirt with a rip in it. In the same way, the church of Christ shouldn't be ripped and torn.
Has Christ been divided? Elsewhere, in the letter to the Ephesians, it says that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, unifying us as followers of Jesus. Later in this service we will say together a commitment to this unity, for Paul not only challenges the Corinthians, but us too, to know in our hearts and show in our actions that Christ has not been divided. We will say that together – together in the worldwide church, together in South Stormont, together in the United Church of Canada, together in this congregation – we are called to be saints, together we give thanks for one another, together we are not lacking in any spiritual gift, together we affirm that God is faithful, together we are called into fellowship, together we seek to be in agreement, together we belong to Christ. Has Christ been divided? No – together we go into the world to proclaim his good news.


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Well, here it is, the last day for this Red/White/Valentine/Accuquilt blog hop! It's been a great week and I've enjoyed seeing what everyone in the hop had to show! Great tutorials and giveaways too. Here's the last three bloggers:
- Stacey (Driving Miss Stacey) ...a great big Lady of the Lake red and white quilt. It's beautiful!
- Tracey (The Peony Teacup) ...she's done a sweet little mug rug and tablerunner too. So cute, you'll want to make both of them for your sweetheart!
- Paulette (Sweet P Quilting and Creations)...a wonderful little quilt Winding Ways quilt. Oh my, another one I've always wanted to make.
I have posted the whole week's agenda just in case you may have missed someone…there's still time to hop on over. Be sure and enter my giveaway too. I was on Valentine's Day so be sure and comment on that day so you can be eligible for my drawing. Good luck and happy hopping and sewing!
February 13th
- Marjorie (Marjorie Busby, quilter)
- Ariane (Ariane's Crafts)
February 14th
- Connie (Quilting by the River)
- Linda (Living 4 Quilting) (that's me!-go enter my giveaway!)
February 15th
- Lisa Marie (Scraps of Life)
- Marilyn (North Hills Quilters)
February 16th
- Alicia (Heirloom Quilting)
- Marjorie (Marjorie's Busy Corner)
February 17th
- Sharon (Crazee Corners)
- Jacque (Lilypad Quilting)
February 18th
- Stacey (Driving Miss Stacey)
- Tracey (The Peony Teacup)
- Paulette (Sweet P Quilting and Creations)


text:
- Hubby making mass batches of zero point soup at the weekend, the butternut squash soup is delicious but the roasted red pepper was spectacular if I'm honest!
- Said 13 year old for taking the time out on Tuesday to make buns to raise money for a potential trip at school to help a community in Africa - I was very proud that he did all the baking himself, made a little donations box and typed up a document to explain about it!
- My sister for being my little cheerleader this week when things have been tough this week on the weight loss side of things as I've been poorly and really really really wanted to comfort eat - so listening to her really helped!
- Dawn my WW leader for being fabulous as always, so inspirational and motivating all the time!
- A tidy home, it might have taken some time but when you wander through and realise it's all clean and tidy it makes you feel happy inside.
- NCIS - great series we bought many many on DVD an age ago and are still trudging through them!
- Hot cups of tea
- Hot water lemon and honey
- Milky coffees
- WW girls as always!
- Getting to read letters from loved ones who I miss so much.
- And finally giggling around the dinner table on Wednesday evening, said 13 year old and hubby were on fine form and they are so alike, they had us all giggling by the time they'd done - much fun was had by all!
Friday, 4 October 2013
5 comments:
You're doing much better than me on the healthy eating front!!!ReplyDelete
How nice to have a hubby that cooks - mine keeps saying he will...
Good on said 13 year old for making that effort - I hope he gets to go on the trip.
Have a great week and stay focused (unlike me!)
Love this idea Virginia! I've joined in for the first time this week. Hope you are feeling better now.ReplyDelete
Love your list this week, especially as it has been a dig deep week. I can so relate to the tidy home one! Thanks for hosting. Caro x (#4)ReplyDelete
Super list Virginia...definitely with you on the cups of tea, I overheard my youngest telling his Grandad how much I loved, and how often I drank tea...made me smile.ReplyDelete
I'm getting there slowly slowly with the houe. Just seems as soon as I tidy it, Logan is throwing things off shelves (giggling madly as he does it) or tipping dog water everywhere! Aaargh!ReplyDelete
Hot tea. Now there's a good idea...


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Much has happened in the last couple of years, including the necessity for me to look for, take, and hold a job… not a position, a job. Even then, when I started searching at 55, after a decade of politics and all the infighting, and all the inflammatory statements, and all the travel, and all the public stuff…even before the great burst of the great bubble, the non-profit world was not looking for a middle-aged man with things like sniper and communist tucked away in his CV. No craft experience, not even a clue about the latest cubicle-work divisions of labor, no accounting experience, no nothing…55 mattered, too, and 57 matters now. Having a couple books on one's resume then creates the "overqualified" stigma, because people think writers earn good money. So there were three tries before I settled into the job I have now.
I worked with a landscaping crew for $10 an hour, the only Anglo besides the boss. On the first day, I cut around 15 very large, well-landscaped lawns, running the mower in neat rows to give them the striped effect. We pulled weeds, raked, shaped fill dirt, hauled and scattered mulch, shoveled and mattocked through clay… grunt work. Plenty of it. I admit I hated it; and I was learning fast to resent the very people without whom we'd have no jobs – the people in the big houses who could afford landscapers.
Then I was given a job for the same pay by a stone mason – a damn good stone mason, Brooks Burleson, old school, who I believe could cut stone with a claw hammer if need be. Another hard job, and one that went through summer before last when we had three straight weeks of triple digit temperatures. By 10 AM each day, I was soaked in sweat all the way down to my cuffs, sun-poisoned, with blackening nails from hitting them with stones, and inflamed hand joints from the hammering. I would go home, eat a full meal, and follow it with a half-gallon of ice cream, and still my weight barely stayed above 165 pounds (I was 180 a year before).
Then I found a job, this time with bennies (I had some dental problems that were giving me fits), working with a deconstruction crew (we take buildings apart to salvage materials for re-use). That's where I am now. And it's not the drudgery of landscaping, nor does it have the plain physical intensity of stonewalling, but still it's a hard, dirty job that leaves me pretty emptied out at night and pretty stiff when I get up in the morning.
A lot of folks from my pre-laboring past are asking why they hear so little from me these days, and there are a number of reasons for that – including burn-out – but one big reason is that when I'm not working now, I am really just tired. Mornings were always my best writing times, my head unscrambled by the discharge of dreaming and my circuits lit up with caffeine. Now, if I get up at 5:30, along with preparing my breakfast and lunch, packing up for work, and driving my beater across town to get there, I can squeeze in 30 minutes to answer mail, moderate the Feral Scholar blog, and maybe read a bit of news.
Prior to this proletarian interlude, I was lucky enough to have a few people paying me to write and speak and organize, so I had been freelancing for about three years, and during art of that time Mike Ruppert's online publication, From The Wilderness, was sending me a living-wage check each month to produce exactly the kind of thing that I most enjoy doing anyway – synthesizing news and events into a kind of intelligence analysis, something that satisfies the undead Special Forces intelligence sergeant that still resides in my head, the wannabe academic that missed the boat a long time ago, and the writer still trying to grow up.
In that time, however, I also became obtuse about day-to-day reality (particularly what was going on in my own family), sectarian at times, inappropriate with people I liked and didn't like, and a wee bit bipolar (a descriptive not diagnostic term in this context). So, in a very real sense, I needed to be brought down to earth by grit and grunt work and fatigue and the economy of time that starves most of us in "civilization" these days.
I also started to find a lot more time to spend with someone Id been missing: my spouse, Sherry.
I set Sundays aside for church and family (always including Sherry) now; which is one reason I don't even consider going out of town anymore for speaking gigs, even though I was making from $500-$1,000 a day when I did that (for the trip, the rate drops considerably when you factor in the travel preparations, working on a presentation, and catching up after you've left town). My pay now amounts to around $390 a week, after the tax collectors take their cut.
If I were calculating my circumstances from a shopkeeper's perspective, I suppose this "withdrawing" from that public sphere could look foolish; from the perspective of my old political colleagues, the criticism has been explicit – I have abandoned "the struggle." These are serious concerns. I do not like being in debt (and we are); and the state of history and politics on a day-to-day basis assaults my sensibilities and conscience in some way nearly every waking moment.
On October 26th, however, I had a very good day. We, Sherry and I, had a good day. I think that day merits a description, because were it not for all of the above circumstances, October 26th wouldn't have happened. I didn't remember that it was my dad's birthday until later (October 26, 1906).
Sherry and I went to church, which is a rented elementary school gym actually. All Saints United Methodist Church, in the exurban borderlands between Raleigh and Durham, along the approach and take-off azimuths of Raleigh-Durham International Airport. It's dead in the heart of an upscale and immensely destructive development called Brier Creek (These developments always take the name of the nature they destroy, like army helicopters take the names of slaughtered nations – Apache, Blackhawk, Kiowa – cruelly stealing the names to retain some essence of what was lost by "developing" or waging wars of conquest).
Across the street from the building that houses the gym/church, there is a scene I have called a Hieronymus Bosch landscape. Bosch did paintings depicting a surreal vision of Hell. He did peaceful kingdom paintings, too, but his Hells are more memorable. Bosch paintings are a peek into the religious psyche of Central Europe in the late 15th early16th Century period. What remains so striking in Bosch now – with his emphasis on the "un-naturalness" of evil, depicted in monstrous combinations of life – is that we too are seeing landscapes devoid of any natural process… except that we needn't visit our own imaginations to see this un-naturalness… we live in it. We've actually accustomed ourselves to them, at some terrible cost.
So maybe the comparison with Bosch is overdrawn, but that scarred ex-forest across from the school/community center/gym is where we do church, so you can see some deep-down brokenness as you walk out the front door.
Around 25 acres has been bulldozed down to the red clay and rock, pancake flat where the wooded watercourses formerly provided a fractally curvaceous elevation and relief. The lots have been slabbed, and the PVC sewage inlets stick up out of the ground like a field of white plastic stumps. When the ground was freshly skinned and fleshed, what stood out from this landscape was the silence.
There are no birds singing here, an acoustical void that jars me. But here on the outer limits of this country club community, the economic crash that's been cooking away since the latter years of the Vietnam occupation came to its head, several trillion dollars of fictional value suddenly evaporated, and the construction halted on those lots.
Now, "the force that through the green fuse drives the flower" (Dylan Thomas' great phrase for a universal creative essence underlying life) has begun its re-encroachment. Weeds, so-called, have taken root… small phalanxes really of biome reconnaissance troops that are reorganizing the complexity that was sheared off the skin of the earth here by the bulldozers. With the new overgrowth, and the cessation of the machines, some of the birds' voices have returned.
Resurrection is always in the offing; but we have to leave things be for it to happen. I think we surely need to turn off all the machines from time to time, but that's a minority view.
Greg Moore and Laura Fine Ledford are the pastors at All Saints. Emily Scales is the intern pastor. Here in the middle of Consumer Mecca, across the street from where the plants and birds are trying to reanimate the land of the dead, we talk with others during Sunday School about the challenges of marital cohabitation. We rise and sit and rise and listen and sing our way through the liturgy. Then Greg does his sermon.
Greg is young, 30-ish, white, a former athlete with a haircut that would pass muster in the Marines. He was a philosophy major and a soccer player. He is recharged with enthusiasm from some event this week, and the Spirit is on him, riding him the way Haitians say a ti loa rides a human like a horse. He channels Yoder and Hauerwas today, because he gives a sermon – here in the middle of Privilege and Alienation Central – that proclaims the church to be "a movement." Few in the congregation understand the implications of what he is saying, I suspect, but he puts it in their heads like an earworm, simple and memorable, this notion that the church participates in history… that is, that the church is as political as it gets.
Some get it. I see the heads nodding; I see some faces that register the impact.
He is suborning treason in the �?burbs.
He cites Jesus' story of the vineyard workers – wherein the last shall be first, and the first last – here, with the Land of the Dead across the street, speaking directly to the inhabitants of Consumer Mecca. The Spirit passes through me; the hair on my body stands up; I almost shudder. He has invoked the sovereignty of God against the sovereignty of the powers.
After forgiving, we eat the body and drink the blood; we "send forth," and we put away the chairs.
Sherry and I have decided that we are going to Umstead State Park nearby. It is a fine October day, with the leaves just turning, highs in the 60s, filled with benevolent sunlight. Armed with two bottles of water and the leftover communion bread, we get a couple cups of cappuccino at a gas station, and we drive into the park.
Sherry has her drawing pad and pencils; and I've agreed to take her on a trail with a great many opportunities to sketch.
This trail reminds me always of Haiti, for an idiosyncratic reason.
Since 1994, I have visited Haiti 21 times. On some of those trips, I stayed with country people – peasants – who lived vary far up in the mountains without roads, necessitating a brutal hike (at night, for security, after the last US-engineered coup) over some 13 kilometers straight-line distance, albeit along the serpentine line of rocky footpaths follow not lines-as-seen-from-above (the abstraction and deception of a map) but the actual geologic contours and fractures of a steep mountain landscape. This is a very challenging walk for a middle-aged blan, and I had to prepare before these trips.
Umstead State Park is where I did that.
The park is full of trails, well-marked ones that are nonetheless left mostly to themselves to form under the foot traffic – making the trails themselves a rich mixture of granite and quartz and hardwood roots lined with deep, long-term accumulations of crackling leaves. The whole park has retained a high tree canopy with a lot of biological diversity. So the sky is a kind of vast, illuminated overhead kaleidoscope. Sycamore Trail can actually be walked continuously – in a great teardrop on a string – for almost eight miles.
Near a bridal trail in the park, also near the highest ground in the park at all, Sycamore Creek Trail is accessible from a gravel road. Around half a mile from that entry point, there is a precipitous plunge in the trail from a heavily wooded ridge down into Sycamore Creek valley, with rocky switchbacks along a short stretch of steep terrain.
In addition to the Sycamore Trail loop, when I was "training" at Umstead Park, I would go up and down this steep stretch ten times in a row to get as accustomed as possible to climbing with weight on my back (a 30-pound pack). I switched up routes and directions to diversify my time there – from little Pot's Branch Trail, to Company Mill Trail, Sal's Branch, Loblolly… names that evoke the passages of time in these particular places.
This is how I learned this park, using it as a training ground for a bunch of political business that kept me for months out of my own home and away from my family. In learning a thing, however, one learns to love it. And Umstead State Park is very lovable.
I prepare to take Sherry to the bottom of this steep trail, the off trail for a brief distance to settle in below one of the small dams on Sycamore Creek. She interrogates me before we go.
"Jessie [her son, my stepson] told me that you walked seven miles in here just to find a fishing hole. Are you about to do something like that to me?"
It's a joke… I think. Jessie exaggerates. It wasn't more than three miles, tops. Jessie and I occasionally go to Umstead, and have since not long after we moved to Raleigh twelve yeas ago, to fish. We know a crappie hole on Big Lake and one below the dam along the southeastern turn of Big Lake. We have found bass all through Sycamore Creek, and sun fish, and bluegill, and channel catfish.
Sherry and I park near the equine trail head, and strike off east and south to intersect Sycamore Trail… marked by discrete little blue plastic triangles tacked into the trees at inter-visible points along the way.
Before we traverse the first couple of hundred meters, she begins commenting on various things in the park to sketch. She likes the fallen, weathered trees, and the knotty-rope designs emerging as tree roots along the path. Even puddling along as we were, the descent into Sycamore Creek Valley was accomplished by the time we warmed up.
Below the dam at the southeastern point of Sycamore Lake, there is a giant cascade of stone blocks and ledges – stones the size of buses, airplanes, whales – that layer themselves like a piece of the earth's spinal column along a turn from the spillway to the resumption of Sycamore Creek below. The creek restarts itself as a 500-square-foot pool that flashes with ravenous bream. Across the pool from the trail side, there is a very old, dry-stacked stone wall, bonded together now by great masses of moist moss, lichen, insect dens, roots…
In the wall there is oldness; but in the rocks there is direct contact with the ancient, time measured in millions of years.
Sherry settles in at water's edge, at the end of a long whaleback of gray stone, decorated by quartz seams from half an inch to a foot wide. The pool forms a big mirror of the sky that backlights her, even though her back is now to me. I climb up higher to look quietly down; and when I get as high as I can, right at the dam's edge, Sherry forms this painter's image, her seated form punctuating the smooth stoniness of smooth stone and the reflective wetness of a pool right where they come together. The same light hits everything. She looks new to me right that moment. We never have time to get to places that have the kind of space where we can see one another from a distance new.
Sitting above her like that, I looked closely – with my reading glasses on – at a bright lichen pattern on a boulder. It looked like a Mandelbrot design, repeating boundary designs on smaller and smaller scales, until I realized that a single line tracing the border of this lichen might stretch out for a mile. Right there, lit up in the middle of the day, and all I had to do was walk out there, sit down, and put on my glasses.
I had Sherry – washed in a new light – and this place where a serene complexity is still a manifestation of God's voice. I ate a little bread. Then I got the notion of feeding fish.
Sherry and I started rolling dough-balls and tossing them into the pool, where the fish would rise up into view and attack the crumbling bread.
I remember reading Norman Wirzba on the subject of Sabbath… recently, in fact, so some things were fresh in memory. The bread ran out. Sherry sketched, and I meandered around, even climbing a wooded hillside to pretend I was spying on her… her down there, at water's edge, sharing the light with everything, apparently alone and apparently content. She was paying attention to rocks jutting out of the creek; and they were in turn paying attention to her. Wirzba said that Sabbath is a time set aside to just be in Creation. God, in the first book of the scriptures, says that Creation is good. The Rule is remember the Sabbath. Let everything and everyone rest for a day, just one day out of seven. Interrupt yourselves.
Now I find myself out here, laying back and looking through the leaves at the sky, or gazing down through the vegetation at Sherry and the pool and the old stone wall… at peace.
Wirzba also emphasized another aspect of Sabbath: "Sabbath observance is what we work toward."
And a lot more… interrupting is important on its own account.
"So what is at stake," says Wirzba, "in Sabbath observance is not simply that we manage to pause and refuel enough to continue in our frantic and sometimes destructive ways. The real issue is whether we can learn to see, and then welcome, the divine presence where we are. Can we link up as servants of God's covenantal love and see in that service our unending joy? …If we can do this truly, without the anxiety, worry, fear, competitiveness, and aggression that otherwise punctuate our life patterns, then we will have caught a glimpse of heaven…"
Nowadays, with the financial sword of Damocles hanging over us, we are witnesses to the pain and injustice at the end of a period of unceasing and completely restless competition. Everyone talks about policy in these historic pre-election days; but now the association of Sabbath and Jubilee are clearer than ever… as a way of life, as the embodiment of the kingdom of God. God said to interrupt things, frequently – every seven days, every seven years, every seven-times-seven years; and it seems pretty apparent to me that there were some very good reasons for this constant interruption. Without it, all manner of evil becomes joined with power. Sabbath and Jubilee are an embarrassment to those of us who live in this time as Jews and Christians, with secular modernism's apotheosis of wealth accumulation. Sabbath and Jubilee, for human beings, is designed to place tight limits on hyper-accumulation as an evil in itself.
What party do you belong to?
The Sabbath and Jubilee Party. Does that make me a theocrat?
We have to start somewhere. Here I suppose. Sherry and I will be checking weather reports on Sundays. We want to do this every time we get the chance. We need to practice at creating interruptions. If we learn to make these little interruptions, then maybe we'll figure out how to make the big ones.
When we got ready to leave, we decided to climb a small bluff to take a shortcut. Two old fifty-somethings about to do some dumb stuff. We survived the ascent, after sacrificing our dignity to scrabble for hand-holds on tree roots, grunting and laughing like hyenas.
Along the shortcut, smartass Sherry starts on the mendacious seven-mile story of Jessie's… "you're not walking me seven miles, too, are you?" It's easy to be goofy out here in the woods.
That evening, we did something – for us odd. We laid down together and watched three consecutive episodes of the documentary, "The History of Rock and Roll." The content was not the important thing, even though it was fun and interesting and nostalgic. We had stepped into Sabbath, into a mode of reception that requires interruption of the rest of life's obligations and obsessions; and we weren't ready to come back yet.


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41 Chemin du Semaphore, Sainte Maxime, 83120
Classified 3 stars, Provencal house 340 m2 garden, quiet building green, large pool, children pool, five tennis courts. Three parts, based on 6 people, bathroom, separate wc. Parking. Near sea beaches. View of golf. Comfortable with good facilities, terraces, hammock, barbecue, garden furniture, cellar, pergola, dishwasher, washing machine, fridge / freezer, microwave, DVD player. Fireplace. 420 to 1. 200 / week.
Description of Location Sainte Maxime Bed & Breakfast:Easy access by the A8 highway. Our cottage is in a very quiet and wooded Residence called « les Hauts du Sémaphore » with view on the Sainte Maxime golf courses. Nartelle beach about 1 km away Large private residential swimming-pool about 400 m away - free access for our guests 5 private tennis court about 300 m away - free access for our guests 2 supermarkets and downtown about 2 km away Typical Provençal architecture : exposed beams ceilings, canal tiles roof, side walls made of rustic "crépi" Enclosed garden of 340 m2 Garden furniture, hammock and barbecue grill Pergola and shaded terrace Parking in front of the cottage Cellar with a reserve of logs
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When Shane MacGowan was fired from The Pogues in 1988 critics were quick to conclude this was the end of his career. His lifestyle (at the time said to include up to 50 tabs of acid a day) was making the headlines more than his music, but this soon changed...
He signed to ZTT in the early 90s and immediately began writing. The first fruit of his labours was The Church of the Holy Spook (ZANG 57), a four-track EP that appeared in August 1994. Despite a compelling front cover image - Shane on the cross - it majored on quality songwriting rather than headline-grabbing and changed the critics view of 'life after The Pogues' in one foul swoop.
The second single, That Woman's Got Me Drinking (October 1994, ZANG 56) broke the top 40 and boasted a video directed by Johnny Depp . Depp played guitar for Shane when he debuted the track on Top Of The Pops, too. Shane's debut solo album The Snake - appeared at the same time and was heralded by the NME as "Kick Asp Rock & Roll." Q magazine was equally impressed. "The Snake impresses with a fierce new intensity," wrote Jimmy Nicol, "songs like Aisling and the title track see MacGowan baring his soul in a powerfully direct manner."
All of this work was performed with a new band, The Popes, comprising Paul McGuinness (guitars), Berni France (bass), Danny Pope (drums), Tom McAnimal (banjo), Kieran 'Mo' O'Hagan (guitar) and Colm O'Maonlai (whistles). Guests drifted in from The Dubliners. It was a floating line-up that also saw contributions from The Dubliners and Pogues Jem Finer and Spider Stacey. "The Popes are no mugs," wrote The Guardian on witnessing them live at Fleadh in 1994, "and without fiddles and accordions, they steam through a vigorous, punky, folkabilly set."
Shane reworked The Snake the next year, adding contributions from Sinéad O'Connor and Clannad's Maire Brennan for a second edition (released June 1995), which also included Nancy Whiskey from The Church of the Holy Spook EP and a cover of Gerry Rafferty's Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway. Haunted, Shane's duet with Sinead O'Connor had been released on single in April 1995 (ZANG 65) and reached number 30 in the UK chart.
"Ethereal" (Rolling Stone), "woozy and romantic" (Newsday ) or "Spectorian balladry" (The Washington Post). However you looked at it Haunted was a classic. You're the One, by Shane MacGowan and Maire Brennan (ZANG 68), was subtler but equally beguiling and appeared a month later. It was to be a year until Shane released his next record - a wild cover of Frank Sinatra's My Way (April 1996, ZANG 79), which topped Haunted's chart peak.
My Way reached a wide platform having been used on a classic Nike TV advert and Shane followed up with The Christmas Party EP (ZANG 88) which included A Christmas Lullaby, version one of Paddy Rolling Stone and two covers that sum up Shane perfectly - Hippy Hippy Shake and Danny Boy.
Shane MacGowan's second and final ZTT album, The Crock of Gold (MACG 002) was released in October 1997. It featured the singles Lonesome Highway (October 1997, MACG 001) and Rock 'n' Roll Paddy (March 1998, MACG 003) as well as version two of Paddy Rolling Stone. NME found Lonesome Highway "all the more moving for it's understated desperation, and Shane's genius for writing poetry on a beer mat with the froth from his bottle of stout. I believe Wordsworth used the same method."
In December 2001, ZTT released a comprehensive 21-track compilation, The Rare 'Oul Stuff (ZTT 187) that drew together highlights from Shane's time with the label and added rare EP tracks and b-sides. It was released at the same time as an Ireland-only reissue of You're The One (ZTT 197) and a special TV documentary which found Shane in a delicate state. "His talents are as profound as the demons that haunt him," wrote Rolling Stone at the time, "and the battle between them rages on..."
Or maybe a Pogue could put it better. "He'll probably outlive us all... just to annoy us!"
Shane Macgowan
The Rare Oul' Stuff
29 November 2005
Shane MacGowan
22 November 2001
Shane MacGowan's Rare oul' Stuff
10 October 1997
The Crock of Gold


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Purrfect Pineapples not only produce gorgeous hand-made lingerie, they are also cruelty-free. Which is all the more temptation to buy. As if I needed any more temptation - I'm head over heels for this gorgeous Pink and Blue Flowers limited edition set:
Flirtatious, pretty, frilly, completely impractical. What more could a girl want? Well, aside from a raise in her allowance so she can buy it?
Prices for the items (in Canadian dollars): Corset (custom made) $250, Soft Cup Bra $85, Garter Belt $64.


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You're replying to a comment by John Fremlin.
Hi Cantonmat,
I looked at this a while ago because I was annoyed about stupid implementations of Fibonacci. I quickly noticed that the value of Fn quickly overflows fixed precision datatypes so as you point out you can't use fixed precision arithmetic and have to take account the non-trivial complexity of your operations.
I looks at the real complexity for Binet's formula and implement the better identity used by GMP
F2k = (Fk+1)^2 − (Fk−1)^2


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Bad Medicine at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center
On February 28 of this year I had ananterior cervical discectomy and fusion surgery on my neck at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. The surgery was a success and I have been pain free since I woke up from surgery. I was not only blessed to have a great surgical outcome, but I wrote about my experience with the clergy at Saint Joe's because they impacted my experience.
Chaplain Phil Kiehl and Rebecca Stringer from the chaplain's office both came to pray with me. Phil said a prayer with me and my son before my surgery, and Rebecca came and prayed with me before I went home. They were kind, and loving, and I felt the power of their prayers. They both said prayers tailored to my faith, which I appreciated. The prayers mattered and have stayed with me. I felt lucky to have had such a wonderful experience, both physically and spiritually. Sadly my good feelings about Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center did not last very long. In fact, they went from good, to bad, to disbelief, and now I am angry. Angry and disgusted by what can only be described as unethical and unprofessional practices of Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center.
I have spoken to countless people at the hospital and after the last conversation I had with an employee at Saint Joseph's, I am left with no other choice than to not only write about it, but hire an attorney because these people are lying at every level and one can only assume I am just a drop in bucket of lies. I am standing up for not only myself, but for those who are not strong enough to stand up. If they are billing me for thousands of dollars of services that were not provided, and I was admitted for less than 24 hours, what is going on with people who are there for prolonged periods of time, or those who don't have health insurance? As for my insurance, that is another fascinating lesson with this surgery. Medicine is amazing, but it is also very dirty and money driven.
I received a bill from the hospital for $1859.76. There was no breakdown of what it was for, just a lump sum. I had already paid for the anesthesiologist and the surgeon, so I called the hospital to ask for a breakdown of the charges, what was paid by my insurance coverage, and what the balance of $1859.76 included. They provided me with a list of charges, but there was something fishy going on. They billed $7570.51 in pharmacy charges. I was there for less than 24 hours and the only things I took was 3 Vicodin and a package of Halls throat lozenges. They billed $1840.00 for physical therapy, and I never had any physical therapy. There was also a charge of $54211.01 for Medical Supplies and $62900.00 for the operating room. I accept being charged for what they provided, but they did not provide all they have billed for. Period.
The big issues I had however were with the pharmacy and physical therapy charges. I called the hospital and said I was disputing the charges and wanted them to be reviewed. I was transferred to a woman named Jenny Ritchie in the Business Office, and explained everything to her. She told me she was going on vacation and would call me when she got back in a week. She never called. I called her back three times and finally got a hold of her. She apologized for not being in touch and needed me to explain everything to her again. I told her the hospital would not provide me a breakdown of the pharmacy charges. I also explained I was being charged for physical therapy I never received. She told me she would investigate and get back to me. I never heard from her.
A couple of weeks later I receive a letter from Saint Joseph's telling me they had investigated my bill and determined it was correct and the bill was now due. I called the Business Office but nobody would take my call. While waiting for a call back I received a letter from Wendy Katsiotis, who is a Supervisor with the Inpatient Physical Therapy Department. A woman I'd never spoken to. Her letter let me know she investigated my case and it had been closed. I'm not sure how it can be properly investigated without anyone ever speaking to me, so I called her to ask. I explained I never received physical therapy in the hospital. I told her I met the physical therapist, but had declined treatment in the hospital as I have been doing physical therapy for a year and was good to go. She told me she spoke to the physical therapist on duty during my stay, and she assured her she not only consulted with me, but took me on a walk around the hospital floor. I assured her that was not at all true and never happened. She told me there "were a couple people on her floor who she thinks would totally lie, but not the girl assigned to me". So they lie, but not the girl who met me?
I explained I never received treatment and did not go for a walk. She then told me that I was too high to remember. Considering they charged me for $7000.00 of narcotics, that might make sense, but no. I told her it would make no sense to walk around a woman who was high and had a new neck. Ms. Katsiotis then asked me if perhaps I had an opioid addiction and could function while high. So I was clear, I reiterated that only some of her employees lie and they provide physical therapy to people who are high. She said yes, wished me well with my new neck, and that was that. I called back Ms. Ritchie and got through, only to be told it was my word against theirs and the case was closed. Oy vey with these people. I then called my insurance company to let them know what was going on.
The people at Blue Shield of California were lovely. I heard from Chrystal H., and Dani C., both in the Grievance Department. I then spoke to their supervisor Danielle, who listened. She said they would investigate the charges, but at the end of the day they had a contact with the hospital, so they were able to charge what they wanted and there was not a lot Blue Shield could do about it. I did not have physical therapy, I did not have $7000.00 worth of opioids in less than 24 hours, and there is simply no way that 20 hours at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center should be billing $152,061.52 when the anesthesiologist and surgeon were paid for separately. This is unethical business practices. They are lying and it shockingly seems to be completely legal. Not cool.
I have called the hospital and asked for arbitration of the bill. I was assured someone would call me, but that was 8 days ago and no call. Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center has billed incorrectly, call me an opioid addict, told me their staff lies, and never once called to ask me what happened during my stay. I can only imagine what they get away with when nobody asks questions. I am grateful and thankful my neck is doing great, but I am not paying the bill because it is a lie. Not only are they charging for things that didn't happen, they're smirking while they do it because they're protected by a contract with the insurance companies. They've never come across someone like me however. Don't mess with an angel, and buckle up when an angel is keeping the faith.