text:
'The Motorola Milestone is an excellent smartphone and proof that 2010 will be the year of the iPhone alternative . '
'The phone is really good for listening to Rock, Metal and Classical music.'
'Milestone is a terrible name for a phone, especially when the handset in question is pretty hefty (165 grams): after the capital heavy, vowel-less fun of RAZR, PEBBL and DEXT (presumably BRCK didn't make the cut as a potential name), it seems Motorola is taking itself very seriously indeed.'
'But more than that, the Milestone has been hailed as Motorola's comeback phone following the company's recent shaky performance. '
'The phone oozes class, and though it still sports a mix of faux-leather plastics and soft touch paint with that now-signature chrome band, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 now feels understated and slight in the hand. '
'very good phone'
' When the first BlackBerry Bold debuted late last year, I called it the best BlackBerry smartphone yet. '
'capable phone'
'very sturdy phone'
'This is truly appealing business-oriented cell phone that comes with compact size, but emanates reliability.'
'Nokia phones work just fine with inexpensive feature phone data plans on AT&T and T-Mobile (and other GSM carriers).'
'efficient phone'
'The phone can run a bit hot. . '
'Great media phone.'
'In every way, the Palm Pre is a gorgeous smartphone. '
'All things considered, the Pre is actually a pretty good phone. '
'The Nokia N900 includes Skype and Google Talk clients integrated into the phone application and the messaging interface is excellent.'
'The smartphone will also be capable of video and audio playback, and offers up to 32GB of internal storage as well as a microSD memory slot capable of holding 16GB cards.'
'Its bulk combined with its black body gives the impression of a serious, serious phone and not one that will draw attention with flashy colors or cute design. '
'The HTC Touch Pro 2 also comes with the full Office Mobile suite, including a remote desktop client. '
'We think the HTC Touch Pro2 may be one of the finest Windows Mobile 6.1 phones available.'
'The Touch Pro2 is a big and heavy phone. '
'sleek, polished-looking phone'
'fairly weighty mobile'
'the phone sounded fairly clean, and callers had no trouble understanding us.'
'We've been able to install the necessary certificates and easily gain access to our office Exchange mail server and have new messages pushed to the phone.'
'As is typical of Nokia's Eseries cell phones, the E66's build quality is fantastic.'
Attractive styling
Good optical trackpad
Qwerty keyboard and Wi-Fi connectivity
Good Battery Life
'In short, this phone feels solid.'
'Nonetheless, if you require a smartphone for both professional and personal use (and don't mind a small screen), the Nokia E5 is an enticing proposition. '
'fine messaging E-series phone'
'This is probably the most comprehensive suite out there as the E5 could view, edit and create Excel, sheets, Word documents and PowerPoint presentations in the best possible way that you can do so on a mobile phone.'
'Best Budget Mobile Phone'
'But for £80, it'd almost be rude to ask for more – especially as it looks like a lower end BlackBerry and not really like a Nokia at all. '
'This classic looking, budget phone from Nokia is an amazing phone that was released in June 2010. '
'Even before I began to test the handset I was a little sceptical, but when it came to using the phone as my everyday handset I found no problems whatsoever which you can imagine I was very happy about!.'
ReviewGist helps you find the best products to buy by making sense of online reviews.
We are currently aggregating 376,500 reviews
covering over 29,483 products.
© 2019 ReviewGist.com. All Rights Reserved.


text:
A legal aid attorney is a lawyer who provides free legal services to people who cannot otherwise pay for legal advice or representation in court. Legal aid generally concerns non-criminal proceedings, as stated by USLegal.
A legal aid lawyer is usually a member of a nonprofit legal assistance association or an attorney doing pro bono work. In the United States, the Legal Services Corporation, or LSC, is the largest organization that provides civil legal aid to Americans who lack the financial means to hire a lawyer, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
A legal aid attorney performs the legal work in behalf of a client in terms of securing the safety and economic well-being of the individual. The lawyer also assists a client in availing basic necessities, such as federal grants and other benefits.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
It was a wasted day at the Sachsenring. The day started cold but with a dry track, then, ten minutes into MotoGP FP1, a fine mist of rain started to fall, making already tricky conditions positively terrifying.
A few journalists walked through the Sachsenring paddock up towards the end of pit lane, where the fences give you great views of Turn 1 and Turn 11.
Just as we arrived, Scott Redding's battered Pramac Ducati returned to the paddock in the back of a recovery trailer. When we turned around to watch the bikes coming through Turn 11 again, Jorge Lorenzo slid through the gravel towards us, his foot caught up in his bike for a while.
While we were watching Lorenzo hit the gravel, we heard another bike scrape across asphalt and into the gravel. It was Stefan Bradl's Aprilia, the German having lost the front at Turn 11, just as Lorenzo had.
The rain continued, never really heavy enough to soak the track properly, only lifting towards the end. A few riders went out on wet tires to check their repaired bikes, coming straight back in again.
The morning session was lost to the weather conditions. The afternoon session was a little better – at least it was dry – but the track temperatures meant that the tires never really got to the operating range they were designed for.


text:
|Here is the background before adding the die cut heart :-)
I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the talent He has bestowed on all of us! I have been artistic all of my life and love experimenting with different mediums and techniques. This blog is my creative outlet to share my passion for cardmaking and papercrafting!
Monday, February 8, 2016
SC122 Love You
4 comments:
- Lindsey said...
Yay! Congrats on your guest designing spot! This is one amazing card! Your background is stunning and I love that everything you added compliments it so well...great idea to have a heart with open cuts, so the background could be seen even more. Thanks so much for joining us at the Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge!
- February 10, 2016 at 3:15 PM
- Kirstin said...
Wow, the background of your card is so cool! An adorable card for Valentine! Thank you so much for playing Inkspire_me this week! Greetings from Bavaria, Kirstin
- February 11, 2016 at 4:27 PM
- Tracie Pond said...
The detailed die-cut heart looks so pretty over your stunning background.
Tracie Pond
Stamping Smiles Designs
Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge
Design Team Member
- February 12, 2016 at 12:43 AM
- Nora N. said...
What an amazing card!! The background is fabulous and I LOVE the heart that you chose!! Thanks for playing with Stamping Smiles Design Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge!
Nora Noll
Design Team Member
Stamping Smiles Design
Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge
- February 14, 2016 at 8:19 PM


text:
Home » Articles posted by Jennifer Botzojorns
Author Archives: Jennifer Botzojorns
Above the Arctic Circle
It has been almost three months since our trip to Finland yet every day I am reminded of the Finnish people, their love of children, belief in education and hope for the future. I want to thank Kati Sormunen, Minna Kukkonen and Tiina Korhonen for their posts this week on PennFinn13. This prompted me to return to my journal and share jottings and lingering reflections. Observing schools earlier this spring, several themes rested between the pages of my notebook.
Back in March after leaving my Pennfinn13 colleagues in Helsinki, I headed to northern Finland with my daughter. Flying into Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle, we were welcomed by window paintings of a fox on skis,
bears in canoes, reindeer on the airport roof and owls, Arctic tern and polar bears lounging in the center of the baggage claim area. A mannequin Santa greeted us. Clearly this is the real home of Santa Claus (Joulupukki). In town, several men looked like Santa, with a twinkle in their eyes and a long white beard, although none were dressed in a red suit.
While in Rovaniemi I asked everyone I could about the schools. Did you go to school here? How are the schools? What did you think? Although my sample size was small (eight people) they all shared similar information.
"Yes, the primary schools are very good. You go to the school nearest your home. They are small schools. When you get to the secondary school, the preparation is maybe not as strong as other schools in the south near bigger cities. Sometimes it is hard to find teachers in the rural part of the country. Very few people from Lapland are accepted into the difficult university preparation programs like the one to be a teacher."
Two adults shared that in Rovaniemi on one side of the river immigrants live who have sought political asylum in Finland. One woman said, "My friend's parent is the principal of that school and they have some challenges." She did not elaborate. I spent some time looking through the Rovaniemi and Finland immigration website and discovered there are about 1400 immigrants in this northern city and about 240 arrive each year from the middle east and Africa. There are a multitude of services available. As I read I was impressed with the perspective on welcoming newcomers to a country. I began to think about the multilingual educational approach in Finland and I wondered how this translated to immigrant children in the cities.
When I read the post by Katy, Minna and Tiina about Knapp Elementary, they describe school documents that are translated into many different languages for students and their families. This got me thinking about how in Finland students take exams in various languages. Being able to communicate in your mother tongue is essential to learning.
American writer Teresa McCarty (1993) researched Navajo children where the school is working to maintain the home language and culture. She notes that, "educational, linguistic, and cultural self-determination are inextricably linked" and shows an example of a Native American school that respects the home language and uses this to teach their children, "schools have the potential to silence or give voice to identities rooted and mediated in the local language and culture… no child should be forced to accept … identity at the expense of his or her own" (McCarthy, 1993).
In Lapland, the Sami people live next to individuals who speak Finnish, Swedish and Russian. We were told that Finnish students are able to take matriculating exams in their mother tongue. Depending on where you are in Finland this may be Russian, Swedish, Finnish or Sami. I wonder how educators in Finland embrace multilingualism beyond the European languages. For immigrants to Finland, I think it will be challenging for schools to maintain current educational beliefs and practices as the country embraces a more diverse population. As all countries become a global citizenry acceptance and change will necessitate new thinking. The Finnish have it correct — where children take a test in their mother tongue. If there are immigrants who speak multiple languages, the greater the diversity of languages, the more difficult it will be to make accommodations to the various languages.
I enjoyed learning about the language, food, cultural events and resource centers of the Sami people in Lapland. Three residents with whom I spoke talked about how the small rural schools only go to a certain grade and then students on the outskirts of the city have to travel far to attend their secondary or vocational education. Some people travel from Inari to Rovaniemi. The rural nature of northern Finland poses some interesting challenges.
What do these rural schools look like? We rented a car, left Rovaniemi and travelled to a more rural part of Lapland. As we drove I stopped to take photos of Koulu (Schools) enroute. I noticed a few things. We were there over the Easter holiday break so I was only able to peek in the windows and observe the outside of the school. First, they all had outdoor hockey rinks, and outdoor ski and bike racks which were lit up at night. One had a wood fired heating plant just outside the school, similar to the ones in Vermont. In Vermont we store our skis inside the school and use them as part of our physical education class. In Finland in three rural schools I visited there were skis stored outside the school ready for their next use. Residents shared that students skied to school.
Being on the Arctic circle for a month it is totally dark so one resident explained that the lights stay on. In the spring there is a little more natural sunlight, but at dusk the lights automatically turn on, illuminating the bike racks and bike paths. Yes, they put studded tires on their bicycles, children ride to school, in the dark, in the light, in the snow, all year long,
There were winter outdoor playgrounds and igloos made by the children. A teenager shared that all children are allowed to go outside to play in the very cold, they just wear more clothing. Eric Barker, the Nordic ski coach at Mt. Mansfield Union High School has said to me many times that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Thinking about these schools, and the igloo, I was reminded of several times in Vermont when children are prohibited from going outside for fresh air in the winter when it is "too cold." Perhaps in the United States we are a bit afraid of the cold. Why? I got the sense that the Finns felt they should embrace the cold as it was simply a part of life.
Whether talking about accepting and adapting to the cold weather, or accepting and adapting to a child's mother language, as educators we must all try to move beyond what we have been taught. We must adapt to our environment and the people whom we serve in the environment. In doing so, we will find more success for our children and future generations.
Reference: McCarty, T. L. (2002). What if the children forget the Navajo language? A place to be Navajo: Rough Rock and the struggle for self-determination in indigenous schooling (pp. 179-191), Mahwah. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
The Sun Sets Slowly in Lapland
Recalling our trip this past March, I left our PennFinn13 group and headed north with my daughter. We rented a car and drove about four hours northeast of Rovaniemi, Finland to Inari. One would never know we were above the Arctic circle as the roads were in better condition than many roads back in Vermont on the 45th parallel. I wondered about the difference between hoar frost, permafrost and frost heaves. Thinking about the general construction and engineering of the roads, I figured I'd better leave this topic for another day. Suffice it to say we did not hit one frost heave. In addition to being great educators, the Finns seem to understand road engineering.
My daughter and I learned about the Kings Cup, a championship reindeer racing event. We wanted to watch the Sami athletes on skis being pulled behind reindeer. We stayed in a small cabin at a campsite with simple bunks, rented some skis and from then on skied everywhere. On the first day in Inari we met Carol Brown Leonardi, a British woman who had worked at the University of Rovaniemi, but was now at the Open University in Cambridge, UK. Her current research brought her to Inari studying the Sami people and local economy. With shivering hands and a notebook, she interviewed us about the impetus for our vacation and our thoughts about tourism and other general impressions. I asked her if she wanted to borrow my small hand held tape recorder. She was delighted by the idea so we skied back to the cabin and I bought her my tape recorder, the same one with sound bytes from my research from the schools in Helsinki. She put away her notepad. A day later I met her at the local hotel so she could download the sound flies to her computer.
The Kings Cup is a yearly event where the reindeer herders provide jockeys to compete against each other in sprints, relay races and a longer loop out on the ice. The jockeys are dressed in sleek Nordic or alpine racing suits. Some race on Nordic skis, some on alpine and one competitor chose telemark skis. The race organizers piled up snow to make a packed path lined with small branches on Inarijarvi (Lake Inari). Next to the course were booths with reindeer sausage and all manner of animal pelts, hats, jackets, and other sundry. The reindeer were corralled in a makeshift paddock on the side of the race course.
Over the course of the weekend, everyone laughed, smiled and wore lots of festive clothing. It was cold. The races themselves were spectacular. Reindeer are not large animals, but as they raced by their large tongues lolled and they gracefully sprinted. Once past the finish line they were corralled to their area and fed fresh clumps of lichen.
During the relay races, one competitor would complete a lap, release the reins, ski over and tag the next member of the team and the next reindeer would be released from the start chutes. Some of the reindeer had a mind of their own and chose to trot across the ice and ignore the actual course. When another reindeer entered the vicinity the stubborn wayward reindeer would then gear up to race again, bursting onto the course to compete with the others. The crowds consisted of tourists and locals. The children at the Kings Cup wandered about, laughing and playing in the snow, free to be part of the festivities. There were no parents training them or barking commands, but all adults had a watchful eye and would gently redirect a child now and again.
There was broadband everywhere (A constitutional right for the people of Finland). After my daughter negotiated the price of some reindeer pelts, we got ready to pay and the Sami man took from his breast pocket a credit card wifi swipe unit, punched in the price, took my money and we were done. We strapped the pelts to our backpacks and headed out across the lake back to our cabin.
One difference between my home and Finland is it takes forever for the sun to set when you are on the Arctic Circle. In Vermont if you are at the summit of Camel's Hump or Mt. Mansfield, you bundle up, feel the wind whipping over the 4,000 foot peak, sit down and wait for nature's show. The sky lights up, orange red and yellow hues, then the sun sinks over Giant Mountain in the Adirondacks, it is over in about 20 minutes. In Lapland this takes about three hours. Think about it — the northern latitude and the rotating earth. With our reindeer pelts we skied out onto the lake which went forever. We kept going and then decided we ought to turn back, skiing into the sun we watched for a long time as the giant yellow orb slowly lowered itself to the horizon.
I am so very appreciative of all the Finnish educators who made our trip possible and to the PennFinn13 leader Joe Mazza and teammates. The reflections, insights, ideas and inspirations, like the sunset on Inarijärvi, linger on and on. I am not sure it will ever be completely gone, as the red glow occupies a little space in my heart for the beautiful people of Finland.
Have you ever seen Math Graffiti?
During our cross-cultural observations in Finland I welcomed the opportunity to visit math classrooms, interview several students and look through math textbooks. I noted small differences between three particular classes and teaching and learning I have observed in the United States.
At Helsinki Normal Lyceum I observed seventh graders studying geometry, computing the volume of cones, rectangular solids and cylinders. The class began with informal conversation among students. The teacher then gathered the class attention by asking about difficulties with specific homework problems (from what I observed, the notion that there is no homework in Finland is a myth). The teacher took note of the confusing points. Then students completed the correct answers, on the board, to four illustrative problems. While students wrote on the chalkboard, the teacher circulated throughout the room, checking that other students had completed homework. She made marks in her grade book. Students were looking at their own and their table partner's homework, and checking answers on the board. When done with the homework check, the class noted that one of the sample solutions on the board was incorrect and the teacher, through asking the class questions, walked through the correct solution.
Once homework review was complete, one student from each table pair picked up an I-pad. Students used Socrative software to compute and then report results for four different problems – results appeared projected from the LCD on the screen. Once done, the teacher assigned about twelve progressively more difficult area problems from the text. As an example the students had to calculate the area of a slanted cylinder, or half of a cylinder disguised as a suitcase with a handle. Students needed to re-think the shape and apply the formula and perform an additional calculation such as doubling or halving. Students worked in pairs. At the end of the work session the teacher asked the class for attention and students were assigned homework. Almost all students pulled out their Nokia phones, got up from their desks and took a picture of the assignment which was projected via the LCD.
This class in structure, presentation and topic varied little from a typical class I have observed in the U.S. However, two differences were noted:
Textbook: The textbook was about a quarter the thickness of your standard U.S. book, and there were only formulas and problems. That is it. No glossy photos, connections to careers, historical facts, no bright bolded sections, tabs, outlines of notes, no step-by-step tiered examples walking students through prescribed process explanations of how to do the math.
Student Affect: The students were motivated and worked. They sought each other out. They laughed, they talked at times while the teacher talked, they asked each other questions. The room felt very relaxed, and there was no tension, competition, control issues or discomfort between the teachers and/or the students. Two students shared with me that they often had time to work in class, and they would all get through most of the problems. He said that if they decided to talk to each other and be distracted it was their own responsibility. He said if they did not do the work then they did not learn.
At Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu (HYK) I observed an International Baccalaureate (IB) calculus class that was taught in English. Students arrived in the classroom at the same time as the teacher (teachers in this school did not have set classrooms, they simply used a rooms for a particular class). The door shut and locked, the teacher turned on the document camera and asked the students which homework problems they had trouble solving using the product and quotient rule. Then teacher then sat at one desk, facing the board, as various students came forward to solve problems—both the teacher and other students asked questions about the solutions. In two of the problems the students had solved the problem in different ways and they discussed how you can simplify/solve various parts of the equation in a different order, but the solutions end up the same.
The teacher then launched into the lesson which was about finding the volume of an oil spill- using the chain rule and determining the change in the radius with respect to time. The textbook was the same text used by the AP (AB) calculus teacher(s) at my home High School in Jericho, Vermont. The structure of the class was not that different in terms of review of homework, new material, discussion, notes, and the homework assignment. One student arrived late with a quiet knock on the door, he quietly said, "Sorry I am late" and sat down.
The students appeared in total control of their learning. They ran the review of the homework problems, and when a student had a question during the teacher lecture portion of the class, (about the use of inverse, reciprocal and negative reciprocals within the context of the chain rule) the other students explained to her, moving form English to Finish. It was not just one student but four different individuals chimed in, watching the confused student's body language, seeing her perplexed look at the explanation by one classmate and adjusting to Finnish when filling in the details to complete the understanding.
Questions: how much learning and teaching is directed by students as motivated independent thinkers? How much is controlled or directed by the teacher? How do we create a space and culture in our schools that promotes students taking complete ownership of their learning?
My third classroom visit was a fifth grade math classroom at Innokas Koulumestari—the teacher presented how he used technology in the class, and two students, using a powerpoint and smart board, showed us examples. Later two other students showed us lego robots they had built as part of their exploration.
The learning was not divided into distinct content segments, but rather embedded. The teacher explained that there were also times when students received lessons and completed work from a workbook, but they did not do every assignment in the book. I took a moment to look through the math textbook sitting on the desk. First, the physical size of the book was considerably smaller than our Investigations books used at our elementary level. When I looked closer at the book, I noticed developmentally appropriate progressions in difficulty of the problems, and lots and lots of applications of fractions – number lines, pie charts and music. There were problems where musical notes illustrated and explained adding and subtracting. The teacher was a musician and he would use drum beats to teach fractions!
One can not make assumptions about math education in Finland based on these three observations; they merely provide a snapshot for reflections on teaching and learning in our own schools. In trying to summarize what was different, it occurred to me that what I was observing was the Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice. In particular, students were: making sense of problems and persevering in solving them, constructing viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, modeling with mathematics, looking for and making use of structure, and looking for and expressing regularity in repeated reasoning. The teacher, however, did not articulate the need or value in these standards of practice, it was simply a part of the learning.
Actionable Items:
- Create school and classroom environments so that students own learning.
- Use multiple modes to teach math, bringing in interdisciplinary topics such as robotics, music and other applications.
- Allow for students to work through answers with each other, to answer each other's questions, organically.
- Less is more: utilize math texts and resources that promote independent thinking and solving problems, not prescriptive lock-step methods.
- "Flip the classroom" supports some of the math learning I observed in Finland.
- Promote the notion of "80/20" — 80% of the time in the classroom the student is completing the work, 20% of the time the teacher is talking/presenting work. See Building School-based Teacher Learning Communities: Professional Strategies, By Milbrey W. McLaughlin and Joan E. Talbert.
On a final note, when I was walking on the streets of a small northern city in Lapland, I came across a section covered with graffiti. There was construction with plywood barriers and generators. On one particular generator there was a math problem, smiling face and peace symbol with the statement concerning nine years of primary school. What does this say about a culture when such pleasant graffiti, with correct math, mentions school?
It's the Coat Racks!
The Baltic Sea winter climate of Helsinki necessitates hats, mittens, gloves and warm coats, every day — even at the end of March. At breakfast my first morning, I noticed the coat racks. In Vermont, on a cold, raw, snowy or rainy day, we do one of several things with outer clothing. The first is we stuff them into cubbies. If they are wet, they stay a little clammy all day. Alternately, we might stuff the mittens and hat into the sleeve of the coat, so they are not lost or forgotten, then we hang our coat. As a third option we might put mittens or hats on a heater that is slanted (not made to dry clothes) in the hopes of achieving dryness, but they slide off or need repositioning.
Check out a coat rack from the cafeteria at the University of Helsinki dormitory. Notice the efficient, practical, aesthetically pleasing places to securely rest mittens, gloves and coats so they dry.
During my visit to three schools in Finland I noticed use of building space, educational teaching devices, storage and schooling that exuded a message of practical, efficient and aesthetic. Even the University classroom had a coat rack provided for boots, coats, hats and gloves. The inanimate physical attributes provide an ability for the people in these schools to focus on learning — without the subliminal frustrations from impracticalities that dare I say might distract our ability to focus on education.
In school lunchrooms I visited, there were sinks, efficiently placed first in the lunch line in the cafeteria. The Finnish children washed their hands before they ate. Message: we support health and cleanliness, right here, front and center in the cafeteria.
In the lunch lines, children served themselves, the food line was at little person level, just the right height for a child. Are our lunch lines miniature and child focused?
When done with the food and trays, the children put away their plates, compost, trash, and silverware into the racks and receptacles, making clean up efficient and easy. Do your children take responsibility for cleanup and help the cafeteria staff by sorting?
The lunch rooms were decorated with cloth table runners, bright colors, art, and centerpieces on each table. Many of the tables had bright grass sprouts in a bowl. Are our cafeterias pleasing to the eye, relaxing and soothing the inner child.
Take a look at your school cafeterias, lunch lines, clean up areas and procedures in your school. Are they institutional? Do they promote self sufficiency, aesthetic pleasure, responsibility, trust and independence?
What do you do with the coats and shoes of your young scholars? Are they stuffed in cubbies in rooms, or is the learning space reserved for learning and the coat efficiently drying outside the room?
In one elementary school, the children removed their shoes as they entered the school. They learn in their stocking feet and the teacher had on a pair of hand knit, felted wool deep purple socks.
Even the classrooms had practical features. The erasers for the chalkboards were on long handles, so erasure of information was instantaneous, clean and practical.
Perhaps learning is not the little classroom efficiencies, coat racks or the way that children are expected to put away their dishes. However, from these three schools I observed respect for children to make their own decisions, enjoy their meal time and focus on learning.
As I finish my post, I just used the restroom and noticed the shower drain. I noticed a perfectly fitted, removable, three tiered slime catchment designed to easily prevent clogs. Why waste time unclogging all of the University housing showers when you can design a catchment device that works?
You can then focus on learning! Notice the giant squeegee to efficiently schlop all the spilled water on the shower floor.
As I write these last few words, my daughter opened the fridge (in the common area) to remove food. It started beeping after 10 seconds. Translation: you are wasting electricity, shut the door!
At the end of the day, critically look at the spaces in your school, the cubbies, the storage, the eating areas, the clean up places. Create practical, efficient infrastructural details so we can focus on education and learning — by saving time, and pleasing our aesthetic soul so youth will not feel subconscious distractions that drain emotional energy. If our children have toasty warm fingers versus clammy hands on their way home, they might reflect on the successes of the day and plan for the future! It's the coat racks! They are the reason for the success of the Finnish schools!
Children need to be children, even in airports
By: Jennifer Botzojorns
En route to Helsinki, during our layover in Stockholm, I walked around the airport watching the parents and children. Two very different play structures were embedded in the landscape of the airport concourse — the first, a pirate ship. In the below deck galley was a pig, cannon and a table strewn with cards and coins- all realistic, sturdy, and just the right scale for a little person. Above deck was what one might imagine as the fore and aft of a seaworthy vessel. A little bit farther down, a tiny village structure filled a corner of the wide airport thoroughfare. There were several little houses with intricate details from bowls to cupboards, a wood stove, gigantic mushrooms, several reading cubbies, and a mural of Ollie skiing and meeting King Winter (from Ollie's Ski Trip by Elsa Beskow).
In both of these structures there were children climbing and playing, The children were creating animated dialogues. I do not know Swedish, but I could tell from their words, hand gestures, expressions and tone that they were deep in their imagination. They were engaged and interacting with their young world, imagining other ships on the horizon, scallywags in the galley, or on the other structure, a quiet time in a corner of the house with family, or a frolicking in the snow on a ski trip.
I then tried to recall an analogous play structure in America. First, I do not recall a major airport with creative children's activity blended in, as part of the landscape of the concourse. Second, the play structures I recall in American public spaces are more gross motor romper-room type spaces, not detailed and creative. Check out a sample American play structure. The bright contrasting colors and physical play promote a frenetic, running, jumping behavior. This creates a different world for our children. Might play structures influence creative thinking and learning for our children? What is important to think about when we develop play structures?
I then watched the parents. They stood and watched their children, smiling. They laughed and allowed the children to explore independently in the space. Again I contrasted this with a set of hovering parents, directing their son or daughter's actions, barking thoughts and behaviors on how to negotiate a play structure. Granted, I am exaggerating, yet these images and their implications crossed my mind.
I reflect on what I have read about education in Finland. Other Scandinavian countries have an emphasis on letting children learn at their own pace through play. First and foremost they are young children, even in airports.
Small actionable item to consider back home:
Playspaces– think critically of the play spaces we provide for children.
Creative Structures: On our playgrounds, in our early grade play structures, create places for creative play, not just spaces for gross (and/or fine) motor coordination.
Intricate Details: Include details children have encountered in literature (such as pirate ships) or their lives (standard household items), so they have a social context for their play and can expand their thinking as they dive into their imagination while playing.
Child-Tough: Make the structures durable and to-scale for their busy little bodies.
New spaces: new faces: whenever a proposal for a new public children's playground or space is up for consideration — in your school, library, park etc, become an activist and demand a creative space. Share this blog post with parents, community members, leaders, and educators so they can reflect on the importance of creativity and play.
Classroom design: It is not enough to have bright colored attractive playspaces. The play spaces must inspire imagination. If this seems too expensive or challenging, get some children together with handy parents to help you plan, there are hundreds of creative play space ideas online. Have a creative parent create/donate or build little scenes.
Let the children play: In our classrooms and on our playgrounds, during play time, allow physical structures so children can imagine and learn. Do not direct their activity as it stifles creativity. Use your observations to inform teaching and learning.
Jumping into the Baltic Sea
By: Jennifer Botzojorns
The image of a teenage Finnish boy launching himself off a pier into winter water, then a group of youth singing, riding the subway, criss-crossing Helsinki, inspired me. These young adults are part of the Bass Camp free student program for youth. You can view their video created to promote Helsinki in an earlier post on this blog.
In the state of Vermont, like the young man in the video, our youth often engage in invigorating activities to celebrate (and endure!) a long winter. There are similarities between my home state and Finland; we are small, rural and love skiing, hockey, and the cold climate. I have received many questions from my colleagues at Chittenden East Supervisory Union where I work. Blog posts will allow me to bring them along in my virtual suitcase.
I begin with questions about preschool, early literacy and numeracy. Concerning literacy, how specifically are children taught to read? I look forward to visiting a classroom of young children to watch the approach to language. What is the philosophy, pedagogy and practice, and how does this vary from teacher to teacher and school to school? At what age are children required/expected to master particular understandings, and how is a child approached who is not within the normal range? Similarly, how are children taught early math concepts such as counting, addition and subtraction? For example, are these concepts taught together or is addition understood fully, then subtraction taught as the missing part of an addition problem? What does a math classroom look like as students learn their basic math facts and problem solving skills? How are children with a whole range of disabilities, such as dyslexia, downs syndrome or autism taught literacy and numeracy?
The second set of questions consider 21st century technology. I am curious about everything from wifi and device accessibility to funding. Who makes decisions concerning funding and availability of technology devices, infrastructure and personnel? Who makes decisions about what and how to integrate technology into the curriculum? What is the philosophy about the use of technology and does this vary from teacher to teacher and school to school? What about the physical infrastructure, how is this updated? What are similarities and differences in Helsinki, Inari, Espoo and Rovaniemi—and throughout the whole country?
The third set of questions conerns governance. Who "runs" the school? There are day-to-day activities, plus larger questions such as the yearly schedule, the curriculum, programs, and budgets. (For example is it required for all children to take a foreign language or algebra? At what age?) Who creates any requirements and who checks to assure any requirements are met? Who approves budgets and how democratic is the process? How do outside interest groups influence decisions about individual schools and national education policies? What is the relationship between a principal, parent groups, and regional director such as a superintendent, a community or local school board, and the ministry of education? How do schools and/or the government involve parents or local individuals in decision-making concerning schools? In considering these questions, I would like to understand funding streams.
On a meta level, I am curious how the structure of the Finnish language influences behaviors around learning and schooling. From what I understand there are 15 noun cases in Finnish, far more than English, yet there are no exceptions, all structures follow a rule. Yet in English there are exceptions to just about every rule be it grammar, spelling, or verb tense. How does the structure of the language, embedded in everyday interactions, influence the way learning is realized?
I am very much looking forward to this inquiry week, looking at the schools, and perhaps jumping into the sea! Thank you to Joe and all our Finnish colleagues for your hard work and planning.


text:
Actress Sonam Kapoor, who was spending quality time with her family in London is all set to start shooting for Akshay Kumar's 'Padman'. The shooting of the flick that also featured Radhika Apte has already started in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Sonam went to the British capital to celebrate her mother Sunita Kapoor's birthday. Her pictures on the social media indicated that she had a gala time with her sister Rhea Kapoor and cousin Anshula Kapoor. Not only this, Sonam's rumoured beau Anand Ahuja was also spotted enjoying with Kapoor family.
On the work front, the actress is all set to join the 'Padman' cast.
The Bollywood diva has previously worked with Akshay in 'Thankyou' and is sharing screen space for the first time with Radhikain 'Padman'. The information about Sonam's role in the film is kept under wraps.
Directed by R Balki, 'Padman' is Twinkle Chopra's maiden production venture. It is based on Arunachalam Muruganantham, who invented low-cost sanitary pad-making machine in India.
On a related note, Sonam's last on screen venture was 'Neerja'. The movie not only did a decent business but also received positive response from the audience. It helped Sonam to carve her niche as a powerful actress in the industry. The actress will also be seen in 'Veera Di Wedding' alongside Kareena Kapoor Khan.


text:
Wanted to put out an update on what I have going right now. No beers fermenting. No beers in secondary. The 2 Saisons are carbing up right now, and should be ready in the next few days. I have 2 recipes written up for September, one super hopped pale ale, and one spontaneous fermentation (another blog post will be dedicated to that one soon).
At this point what I'm working on is starters/cultures. As stated in an earlier post 3 Beers, 1 Mash, I did a Berliner Weisse with the soured last runnings of a mash that made my Hefe and hoppy American Wheat, and then pitched WY 1007 German Ale, and a starter I had cultured from the dregs of Russian River Supplication into primary together. The beer is amazing, and I didn't make the same mistake with the yeast cake on that as I did with the starter of yeast I cultured for the Hefe (dumped it all). But I needed something to do with the yeast to save it. As I was brewing my Saisons 6 weeks ago, I drew off the last runnings from both mashes and boiled them with a small amount of hop pellets for about 45-60 minutes. I let them cool and then dumped it into a 3 gallon bucket. I added the entire slurry (full mason jar) to the 1.5 gallons of wort, and added about 30 used medium toast French Oak cubes I got from a buddy who goes to church with a Vintner in Lodi that had come from their barrells. The thought was to save the yeast by inoccluating the oak for future sours. I strapped the lid and air lock on and let it go.
5 weeks later as my son and I were hanging out in the brew house (garage) he was grabbing stuff that looked cool as any 16 month old does, and he pulled the airlock off the bucket. I took it and told him not to touch it like a dad should, but as I was replacing it, I gazed throught the hole and freaked out. What I saw was a giant blob of mold... or so I thought. After posting a How Do I Save It From The Mold forum on BeerAdvocate I was informed it was the pellicle (a layer of Brett that floats on top of the beer as they use the oxygen to reproduce, and also keeps oxygen out, as well as prevents mold and Acetobacteria). Having never seen one before (other than in the bottles of Berliner), I had no way to know. I also sent an email to The Mad Fermentationist who confirmed the same. After chatting it up with him over quite a few emails I decided to rack the beer into glass jars to continue as opposed to leaving them in a bucket that is permeable to oxygen and has about 1.5 gallons worth of head space. When I opened the bucket it smelled very sour, like a strong aroma from Rodenbach condensed. Almost vinegary, but not quite. I racked the beer into a 1 gallon jug and a 1/2 gallon jug, siphoned up a lot of slurry, forced as many oak cubes in as I could fit, and then added a little sugar to it to kick start a little fermentation to fill the head space with CO2. After 5 days, the beer has cleared, and a pellicle is forming on top again (see the big pic at the top of this post).
I also have a starter from a bottle of Orval I have built up that I used some of in bottling one of my Saisons. It should give me some nice Brett character here in the coming months, and taste great next summer. I also enjoyed a RR Consecration a few weeks ago and have built up a starter of the dregs from that as well. It has a very soft powdery coating on top with a layer of slime underneath, and some white, slimy looking flat things floating here and there... sounds like it is working, this is what pedio is supposed to do... right!?! My hope is to get them built up for future sours/wilds, including an all Brett beer fermented with only wild yeast.
I will continue to post updates from time to time as things progress, and new experiments pop up.


text:
If you wish to modify your availability search, please use the following fields:
Comfort and bright, our standard rooms present an open-plan, featuring white wooden furnishings to reflect a relaxed island lifestyle.READ MORE
comfort and bright, our standard rooms present an open-plan, featuring white wooden furnishings to reflect a relaxed island lifestyle. One roll away bed is added in the room for the accommodation of the extra person.READ MORE
Ultimate in design and comfort, our standard rooms present an open-plan, featuring all the modern furnishings to reflect a relaxed island lifestyle.READ MORE
Superbly appointed in a stylish décor, our superior rooms incorporate all the standard features embracing a luxurious ambience of pure elegance. All superior rooms guests enjoy a welcome bottle of local Santorini wine, welcome basket of fruits and a complimentary bottled water.READ MORE
Superbly appointed in a stylish décor, our superior rooms incorporate all the standard features embracing a luxurious ambience of pure elegance. All superior rooms guests enjoy a welcome bottle of local Santorini wine, welcome basket of fruits and a complimentary bottled water.READ MORE
Featuring an outdoor pool and cozy rooms with central air conditioning system, Thera Mare Hotel is located in Perivolos, on the picturesque island of Santorini. The famous black sandy beach of Perivolos is just 500 meters away from the hotel.
All rooms come with satellite TV, fridge and balcony. Guests can relax with a massage in the privacy of their room.
Hotel's facilities include a sauna and a whirlpool. Thera Mare staff can arrange car or motorbike rental as well as scuba diving and snorkeling activities. Transfer from / to the port and the airport can be provided at an extra charge.
Fira town is 12 km from the hotel, with many bars, restaurants and shops. Santorini port is 10 km away and the airport is 15 km from Thera Mare.
No fee charged if cancelled 14 days before arrival date. Cancelled within 14 days before arrival will result in the first night charge. In case of Non Show will result in the first two nights charge.
Thera Mare is located in Perivolos, on Santorini island, Greece, just 12 kilometres from Fira town and 400 metres proximity to the beach, our hotel is a fusion of traditional charm with today's world of simplicity and lifestyle.
|MICHAELFri 17 Aug, 2018
Pool Bar
A light snack menu, salads etc would have been beneficial. A wider variety of drinks, menus on the table.
|CosminMon 16 Jul, 2018
Nice hotel / black sand beach / improvement needed
Typical boutique hotel where I stayed 10 yrs ago (previously a charming family run business). The new management should be wise to improve some aspects (staff, presence, reception and guidance of the guests, larger choice for the breakfast which really is minimal with no fruits or fresh products, lack of shower gel / shampoo, non functional TV, small shower cabines). Overall, compared to the family run hotel 10 years ago, the impression is that the hotel management is focused on savings at every level which left me with an unpleasant taste of a low cost hotel. I sincerely hope that clients? feedbacks will be wisely used by the management in order to create a unique experience of a boutique hotel. The hotel seems to be recently renovated, clean, with a nice pool and benefiting from a good location not far from the black sand beach.
|AlainMon 05 Sep, 2016
It was a very bad ewprience
No morte comment
|ValentinaSun 18 May, 2014
Minor Improvements
Could improve on the breakfast. Also needs wash cloths. And single beds instead of one two beds together and called singles.
|LuísTue 16 Aug, 2011
The hotel is good!
the hotel has great instalations that could be better used. For instance, the pool bar was never open... And the staff didn't understand much english (not to mention other languages). But above all, I liked my stay at Thera Mare and if I come back to Santorini, I'll probably stay there again!
|Jose CarlosMon 09 Aug, 2010
Wonderful place, very convenient, excellent people
Very familiar place, quiet but near the beach where bars and restaurants are, just 10 minutes walk. The team is excellent and there is a wonderful swimming pool to relax in the afternoon. Looking around, for me was the best option, I'll repeat.
|HelenThu 03 Sep, 2009
Fantastic hotel
We first stayed at the Thera Mare hotel in 2008 and had such an excellent time that we returned this year. The hotel is beautiful, the rooms are very comfortable and the balconies all offer lovely views. The staff are very warm and friendly, and extremely helpful. The pool and outdoor areas are beautiful and relaxing. The hotel is well located, a little away from the main town and the beach but it is only a short walk, and is in a quiet peaceful location.


text:
Introduction to NOOMAHIA 10. The Noomahia in XXI century.
1. Noological analysis of present situation.
2. Globalization, anthropology of Post-Modernity, Artificial intelligence, artificial immortality, Post-humanism, feminism, EU.
3. Post-liberalism.
4. Russia in noology.
5. Is the restoration of Logos of Apollo possible?
Introduction to NOOMAHIA.Lecture 9. Serbian Logos
1. Serbs as southern slavs. Indo-European level of Serbian identity.
2. Serbian peasantry. Slavic matriarchy (Gasparini). Piatak. Vila. Mother Friday. Lepenski Vir, Vincha cultures.
3. The factor of Thracians, Illyrians.
4. White Serbia. Serbian came to Balkan. From where? Polabian slavs. Luzhitza. Sorbs. The style of Polabian slavs – sarmatians (Scythians) Pure Turanic. Differences with sclavins (bulgarians).
5. The relations with Byzance. Orthodoxy. Katekhonic concept.
6. Nemanici. Raska as new kingdom. Saint Sava holy Athos mountain tradition. Patriarchy of Pech.
7. The Empire. Byzantine - Bulgarian, Serb, Valachia, Russia.
8. Dushan the Strong. The control over Balkans.
Introduction to NOOMAHIA. Lecture 8. Noological analysis of Modernity
1. The Modernity as paradigmatic phenomenon. The structure of Modernity is based on the denial of Tradition (Guenon, Evola, Schuon, Burkhardt, Valsan, Nasr). What Tradition destroys Modernity? The answer is clear: apollonian Logos in form of Christianity.
2. The origins of scientific world picture reveals the special philosophical tendency – atomism of Democritus and Epicurus. Later Roman Lucretius.. That was pre-socratic tendencies of Logos of Cybele in greek culture. Plato, Aristotle, Parmenides, Pythagoras and Stoia are based on Logos of Apollo and sometimes of Dionysus. Atomism and epicureanism are based on Logos of Cybele. So in Christianism Democritus and Epicurus were absent. They have reappeared with Galliley, Newton, Gassendi, Boyl, Descartes, Hobbes.
3. The Modernity is based on refutation of Platonism and Aristotle. It is basically titanic or in Christian terms Luciferian. The Modernity refuses verticality, hierarchy, warrior values (knights ethos of Middle Age), theology as ruling paradigm, sacralization of State (modern State as profane), democracy and individualism.
Introduction to NOOMAHIA. Lecture 7. Christian Logos.
1. Noological analysis of Christianity is not dogmatic but based on typology.
2. The main structure of Christianity is heavenly patriarchy and verticality. God is Father and He is in Heaven. He is transcendent from creature so it is Logos of Apollo. Hence Platonism and Aristotelian logic in Joan Damascine and scholastics.
3. In Christology we see Dionysian features: two nature of Christ, death and resurrection, descent into the Hell, the Christ as future God and King. But it is apollonian type of dionysism – free from chtonic motives and figure, purified, patriarchal.
4. In the field of gender there is anelegyny and patriarchy: two branches of sedentary Indo-European society relation between sexes.
Introduction to NOOMAHIA. Lecture 6. European civilization
1. European civilization is based on the titanomachia. Its center is problem of Dionysus.
2. When we define Dionysus as Sun and male principle we interpret him in the perspective of Indo-European civilization. It is the apollonian Dionysus – Olympian one. He is the Son of God and belong to the Heaven. So Zeus promised to him his own throne. He is the King of future, of kingdom to come.
3. In its nature Dionysus can be different as in Chinese civilization. He can be neutral. But it can be as well cybelian, black double of Dionysus.
4. European cultures solve the problem of Dionysus – every culture in its own manner.
5. Greek solution: apollonian Dionysian synthesis.
6. But in Hellenism we encounter new dimension of the culture. The Hellenism is based on Platonism and iranism. Iranism is dualistic Patriarchy.


text:
I always feel pride when I think about my choice to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, for both my Bachelor's degree and my Master of Business Administration. The school traces its roots to the pioneer days of Utah, when so many settlers worked so hard to eke out a living in a harsh environment that they eventually tamed to create thriving communities that have sustained future generations. Based on the belief that education should combine secular learning with studies of the scripture, the school first opened its doors in 1875 as Brigham Young Academy, a co-educational institution that focused on secondary coursework and opened its doors to all children in the fledgling territory.
Over the ensuing years, the school moved to new facilities, and in 1903, it adopted the name Brigham Young University (BYU). Currently, BYU offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in such programs as education, engineering, liberal arts, life sciences, management, and law. Nearly 98 percent of the student body professes membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, although the school welcomes students of all faiths. No matter what their creed, the school requires all students to abide by an honor code. This honor code, which applies to all aspects of students' lives and not just their activities on campus, mandates that students behave with integrity by submitting their own academic work and not cheating, maintaining a clean-cut appearance, and abstaining from alcohol, drugs, profanity, and extramarital sex.
Although the school did not officially adopt the honor code until 1940, a Domestic Organization composed of teachers visited students in their homes to ensure they lived according to the moral expectations of the school. This honor code has served as the subject of much discussion in recent months due to the decision to ban a BYU athlete from participating in games because of a violation of this oath. I believe that adherence to this code, especially in light of the fact that all students sign the oath and meet yearly with a faculty member to discuss any breaches, serves as a valuable life lesson for all BYU students and alumni like myself.
Read more about York Galland


text:
My name is Michelle. My 9 month old son, Jonathan,was diagonised with asthma yesterday. He'd had a bad cough for 2 months and they finally decided that it was asthma. In a way if feel quite guilty as a) I only breast fed for 8 weeks and b) out house is v dusty as we are pulling down 50 year old plaster, which is just dust. In a way it didn't come as a surprise, beacuse out of 7 granchildren (that's my generation) 5 have/have had asthma (I for one still have it).
Michelle and Jonathan


text:
Pool Fencing
Buy Direct Vinyl sells lots of picket and privacy fences that can be installed around a pool but we only label one style of fence as a vinyl pool fence. Reason being, we know that you are protecting your most precious possession when you install a vinyl pool fence, and that is your children. Your fence may look pretty but will it help prevent a child from drowning?
7/8" x 1.5" Picket Pool Fence
We have installed thousands of feet of pool fence across the country and we have specially designed this pool fence to keep children safe and your pool secure. Many vinyl pool fences sold by our competition are designed in such a way that children can pull apart the pickets and climb through. They simply market a standard vinyl fence design as a pool fence. The problem is, standard designs of fencing are not designed with security in mind. The pickets do not have anything to make them stronger and the vinyl pickets can be bent or pulled apart allowing a child to slip in and drown.
We have done four things to make our pool fence safer than any other vinyl pool fence on the market. First, we reduced the picket spacing from a traditional 4" on center to under 3" on center. Second, we added a stiffener in every other picket to help prevent pickets from being spread apart and a child squeezing in. Third, we don't offer a middle rail on our pool fencing for a 5' height fence. (An additional rail is sometimes added if the fence height is 6ft tall as the mid rail is at the 5' height). Fourth, we offer the highest quality adjustable hinges and locking latches so your gate may operate properly through the life of the fence.
We also offer an additional option to put a stiffener in every picket for those that really want to be sure that they have done all they can do to prevent a child from drowning. To reduce costs, many companies don't offer a stiffener in the picket, or add a middle rail so the pickets won't pull apart as easy. The middle rail creates a ladder and makes climbing over the fence easy. Aesthetically, the middle rail eliminates the view of your beautiful pool.
Our company was founded in Arizona and we have installed hundreds, if not thousands of pool fences. It is probably safe to say that we have sold more vinyl pool fences than any company in the country. We have children, and we have designed a pool fence that doesn't rust, looks great, stays cool to the touch in the hot sun, but it also keeps our children safe. This is one of the main reasons why many HOA and Multi-Family Communities select our vinyl pool fence over other options. We sell this fence confident that if a person chooses a vinyl fence as a pool fence, that our pool fence is the best pool fence on the market.
When purchasing a vinyl pool fence, make sure you have purchased a pool fence that is not just a picket fence, but a pool fence, designed with child drowning prevention in mind. If you are comparing our fence with another company's pool fence, you are not comparing apples to apples. They are probably just selling you what you can find under our picket fence section. We know you don't want a picket fence, you want a pool fence.


text:
CamelBak Products Corporate Headquarters is located in Petaluma, California, United States. With the CamelBak Products customer service office or head office address, here we are sharing customer support number of CamelBak Products, and CamelBak Products mailing, postal address, telephone, fax number, official web page and related details.
The corporate head office address of CamelBak Products or headquarters (HQ) location of CamelBak Products is given with the CamelBak Products corporate office contact number, email id, and customer service phone number of CamelBak Products and other details to connect you with CamelBak Products corporate headquarters.
Other than CamelBak Products customer service number or toll free helpline of CamelBak Products, mailing and postal office address of CamelBak Products with official website and other important details can be found below. If you are looking how to contact with CamelBak Products corporate headquarters office and customer service department, so you can use the below details to connect them for information, registering a complaint, career and job opportunities, give your review or suggestions.
CamelBak Products Corporate Head Office Contact Details
The customer's wish to contact CamelBak Products corporate office for any business query or information can contact them using the contact details of CamelBak Products corporate headquarters. The customers can also contact CamelBak Products customer service phone number for sharing any issues they are having or in case of having any enquiry.
CamelBak Products Customer Service Helpline Number:
For any help, support, information, queries, suggestions, complaints regarding CamelBak Products products and services, the customers can contact to CamelBak Products customer care service numbers, registered offices address, and contact numbers.
- +1-(877)-404-7673, +1-(800)-767-8725– customer support phone number of CamelBak Products
- Click here – customer support email address of CamelBak Products
CamelBak Products Corporate Headquarters Location:
- Address: CamelBak Products, LLC., 2000 South McDowell, Suite 200, Petaluma, CA 94954, United States
- Telephone Number: +1-(877)-404-7673, +1-(800)-767-8725
- Fax Number: +1-(707)-665-9231
- Email Address: email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com, email@example.com, •email@example.com
CamelBak Products Official Website: www.camelbak.com
The website mentioned above is the official web page of CamelBak Products. The customers want to know more about CamelBak Products company profile and history or the customers want to know the source of the information shared in this page can visit this website anytime.
CamelBak Products Social Profiles:
- Facebook Profile: Click here
- Twitter Profile: Click here
- Pinterest Profile: Click here
- LinkedIn Profile: Click here
- Wikipedia Profile: Click here
CamelBak Products Important Links:
- Click here to know about CamelBak Products
- Click here to know info regarding jobs in CamelBak Products
- Click here to find a CamelBak retailer
- Click here for customer support


text:
In May, when we were in London, attending a small gig at the Dublin Castle venue in Camden, Nom-R half-remembered a Vietnamese place that she had been to years before.
Viet-Anh Cafe is located minutes from Camden Tube Station, on Parkway. It has seating for approximately 20 – 25 people, with a few more small tables outside. It is as the name suggests, a diner-style cafe rather than a restaurant, and though it is amid a sea of more expensive and more elaborate Asian and Italian restaurants, Viet-Anh Cafe stood out to us as a place to go.
The menu is quite extensive, with the option of many traditional Vietnamese and Asian dishes. The food was reasonably priced and the service was extremely quick. The servers were friendly and competent, and our orders were taken almost immediately. Within ten minutes of ordering, our food was being served. It was obviously freshly prepared and steaming hot.
Nom-R had a starter of Vietnamese style barbeque pork skewers and a main course of squid and aubergine in a spicy tomato sauce. The pork skewers were crispy and full of flavour, and the squid was perfectly cooked, with a bit of a bite to it. Nom-J had deep fried prawns wrapped in parcels, like spring rolls, for starters, and had the sizzling beef satay with green and red peppers for her main. The prawns were perfect, served hot with a hot and sour dipping sauce, as were the pork skewers. Both meals came with the option of boiled or egg fried rice, or noodles, as did most of the dishes on the menu.
The only criticisms we have of the cafe was that they did not offer you forks to eat with, which made the skewers difficult to eat neatly, and that the satay sauce was slightly mild, though Nom-J freely admits that she may just be used to a stronger satay sauce from Chinese restaurants.
We would definitely recommend this cafe to others, and would have no problem going back to eat there again.
We give it 4.5 out of five stars.


text:
Middlesex County Sewer and Drain Cleaning
Customer Satisfaction is our Top Priority!
A-Authentic Snake Dance Kid Sewer and Drain Cleaning Service is a family owned and operated business. We specialize in sewer and drain cleaning and have been serving thousands of customers in Middlesex County, NJ, for over 30 years. Our friendly, highly skilled technicians provide fast, quality service. We are highly recommended by plumbers and customers alike. Our business principles are simple…fairness, honesty and integrity.
We offer 24 Hour Emergency Service, 7 Days a Week and are fully insured. When you call, we will give you an estimated time of arrival (response time is within one hour*) and a free estimate (if requested). We also offer a thirty (30) day guarantee**.
Our Drain Cleaning Services Include:
Sewer Lines - Sinks -Toilets - Bathtubs - Showers - Washing Machine Lines - Urinals - Storm Drains - Septic Lines
We also pump flooded basements and clean grease traps.
Call us today for a free estimate!
Be sure to ask us about our drain cleaning products that eliminate odor and cut grease. These products are environmentally safe and non-caustic.
We accept Personal Checks, MasterCard and Visa
*In most cases
**Most services


text: Little lion cub named Chime, became a member of the futuristic race, with many functional obstacles that will arise on the way. Also, overcoming difficulties, you will need to have managed to pick up bonus items that hung in the air. To move and jump, use the arrows on your keyboard. From above, will be conducted with the accounting recruited glasses, the number of lives and the current level. Successfully passing the first distance, you wait for the next, not less interesting.


text:
SAN DIEGO — Some men eat to live. Other men live to eat. -- Song of Solomon
Diets have been in the news recently. For example:
- Feb. 14, news item: Obesity is termed "a killer" (in the same sense as smoking) by a federal panel. The warning says 34 million Americans are so overweight they have placed themselves at "significantly higher risk" for a graveyard full of deadly disease.
"We want the average American to know obesity is a disease--it is not a state, like loneliness," said Dr. Jules Hirsch, professor at Rockefeller University in New York and chairman of the 14-member National Institutes of Health panel. Hirsch has developed a theory on fat cells, claiming that each individual has a certain number, some higher than others (in some cases, dramatically so). The total, he theorizes, mandates whether you'll be thin or fat--until the moment you die. Depressing? Consider the success rate of weight loss nationwide--an abysmal 2%.
Obesity "is a disease that carries an increased risk of mortality," Hirsch added. "It deserves to be treated and considered just as seriously as any other illness."


text:
Designer Artworks for your Outdoor Area
Welcome to Lotza Design, an award-winning design & signage studio located in the Blue Mountains, near Sydney, and serving customers Australia-wide.
Designer art panels for your home or business.
Made from superior outdoor durable materials, with stunning colours and designs that will add a unique look to your home or business.
• Outdoor Durable
• Suitable for both Indoor & Outdoor
• Decorative Mounting Options
• Highest Quality Digital Prints & Panels
• Choose from our Stunning Range of Designs
• Many Sizes to Suit Your Outdoor Space
• Custom Designs Available - ask us today
• Shipping Australia-wide
• Online Ordering Coming Soon...
Please Contact Us for further information about outdoor, indoor, garden, & designer artwork panels


text:
Bloody typical. Talk about looking after your own! The big wigs at the FA were never going to overturn the Pearce red card with a game coming up against London club Millwall were they?
We all knew the public school educated London toffs would look after the pit bull mongrels who change the tyres on their Rolls Royces didn't we? Once again the London bias strikes and Leeds have been unfairly punished.
The sending off of Pearce was ridiculous, as any number of Leeds fans have posted on here to tell me. True it was a crunching tackle, true it was premeditated, and true it was designed to prevent a goal scoring opportunity, but all that is beside the point. Warnock says it was never a red and Warnock is never wrong!
But the fix was in. So Leeds have to travel to the New Den without both Brown and Pearce, not to mention a host of other players ruled out by injury, including Austin - who did not suffer a double leg break but merely a crack of the ankle. Makes you wonder what all the fuss was about doesn't it? Some might even suspect it was a smoke screen to avoid difficult questions about a 1-6 home hammering! Perish the thought!
Poor old Warnock. He now rates the once mighty Leeds as underdogs for the game against little old Millwall - and is apparently 'shitting his pants' at the prospect of playing them. Still, by then Leeds may be owned by the Arabs and planning for a bright new future.
It wasn't Takeover Tuesday today but it could be Wonderful Wednesday tomorrow or Takeover Thursday the day after or Thank Crunchie It's Friday the day after that or maybe Mega Monday next week or Takeover Tuesday or...


text:
I discovered chai I backpacked through India for 1 month.
In India, it is served everywhere, all the time. Unfortunately it is not at all "paleo" precisely because it contains cow's milk and 4 to 5 sugar spoons per cup!
The one I drank in India and which was the most suitable to a paleo diet, I had it in Benares (type Varanasi or Benares in google image, you will see that this city is famous for other than its chai tea).
To be brief, I made a friend, Joti (ok this probably not his real name ...) who took me to his family to drink a chai tea, a real one.
First, the goat was milked (which is not palaeo at all). But at least I could see what the goat was eating. Her milk was not heated at high temperature and retained a nutritional interest.
But down there, no mass farming, where the animals never see the light of the day and are force-fed with antibiotics and hormones that are found in the milk like in our countries.
Then they infused all these magic spices and you had it! This was the best chai tea I had during that whole trip.
When I returned to the United States, I told myself that I had to "paleolize" this tea!
And so this is what I did and it was quite easy in fact. Here is a simple recipe:
The paleo chai:
-1 cup almond milk
-1 bag of chaï tea (I use some black tea which can be bought in dietetic stores)
In a saucepan, gently heat the milk with the tea bag. Stir from time to time. It's ready when the milk smells like spices.
And here is you paleo chai, full of good fats (almond milk) and antioxidants.
Yep, this chaï contains among other things: black tea, ginger, cinnamon, anise, rooibos, chicory, black pepper and cloves.
Why is this a fast recipe?
-Because tea is already in a bag. I also do it with a preparation that I dose myself. But it must be filtered later, it takes longer to prepare and clean. Sometimes (often), I'm lazy and I like this sachet of top quality organic tea.
-You can use ready-made almond milk. Use only natural almond milk otherwise you risk strang components like "rice starch" or "glucose" to rise to the top. You can even keep it a week in the fridge, enough to make you several hot teas.
This almond milk is really perfect to replace cow's milk. It is much lighter and is digested better. And when I see these cows with holes in them (no it's not a fake, some farmers install holes in the belly of the cows to control their digestion...) I'm glad I no longer drink cow's milk!


text:
Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo has been included in Fenerbahce's 19-man squad for today's Europa League round of 16 tie at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.
Yobo, who was not listed by the Stpehen Keshi for Nigeria's upcoming 2014 World Cup qualifying match against Kenya's Harambee Stars on the March 23 at the U.J.Esuene Stadium, will be facing Viktoria Plzen in empty stands after UEFA rejected Fenerbahce's appeal against playing in an empty stadium today because fans delayed an earlier closed door match by parachuting in fireworks.
UEFA says its appeals panel also upheld a threat to expel Fenerbahce from one season of European club competition during a two-year probationary period.
Fans fired flares into Sukru Saracoglu Stadium when they were barred from the Turkish club's 1-0 win against BATE Borisov in the second leg of the last-32 match.
UEFA had previously charged Fenerbahce over fan disturbances at two other matches this season.
UEFA imposed a 60,000 euros ($76,923) fine that included a "kit infringement" violation against BATE and five Fenerbahce players getting yellow cards.
However, Fenerbahce, head into the match with a 1-0 win in the first leg, seven days ago and Coach Aykut Kocaman will be banking on Yobo alongside the likes of Pierre Webo, Moussa Sow, Raul Meireles, Volkan Demirel, Mert Günok, Serkan Kirintili, Gökhan Gönül and Bekir Irtegün.
Others are Serdar Kesimal, Reto Ziegler, Caner Erkin Salih Uçan, Mehmet Topal, Selçuk Sahin, Cristian Baroni, Dirk Kuyt, Mehmet Topuz, Semih Sentürk and Beykan Simsek.


text:
Jay Tyer grew up on music. At age 10, the Worcester native bought his first guitar with green stamps. Then he scored his first gig, playing folk Masses at St. Paul's Cathedral.
He joined the band Turning Point in seventh grade, performing Irish tunes and popular standards for church functions.
In high school at Holy Name, he played in a rock band.
And then he turned to jazz, taking lessons from Richard Falco, WPI professor and the godfather of jazz in Worcester.
Jazz stuck with Tyer.
He became a sought-after teacher, supplementing his engineering career by offering music lessons to no less than 65 students a week for about 10 years. He's had about 500 students total, including many from the TEMPO program at Wachusett Regional High School.
Tyer, a Jefferson resident, also kept a full performance schedule in the '80s and '90s. He played at Above Club (formerly above Thai Cha Da on Worcester's Park Avenue), Arturo's, Sahara, and the old WAG (Worcester Artist Group), to name just a few venues.
Recently, though, Tyer has had to relearn the guitar. It's because of his ataxia, a disease marked by gradual loss of coordination of arm and leg movement, speech, and swallowing.
It took years for doctors to diagnose the problem. They initially suspected multiple sclerosis, then myasthenia gravis, then a host of other neurological conditions and diseases. It's common for people with ataxia to be diagnosed with something else, Tyer says, because it's still relatively mysterious, even in the medical world. Also, its symptoms are similar to those of other, better-known conditions.
Ataxia affects people in different ways. For him, sleep is a particular challenge. "It's sporadic. The ataxia affects my biological clock and makes me tired. It's like getting hit with a hammer, a real immediate thing. Sometimes I fall asleep in chairs like I'm an old guy." He tends to sleep four hours at a time, and is as likely to be awake at 3 a.m. as 3 p.m.
His biggest challenge, though, and his first clue that something was awry, is speech. Difficulty speaking caused some of his students to stop taking lessons, because they thought he was a drunk.
Difficulty balancing was another early clue. "In the early stages, I used to fall down," he says, remembering one music lesson when he dropped a pen, bent down to retrieve it, and tipped completely out of his chair and onto the floor.
To combat the symptoms, Tyer takes an enzyme that facilitates communication between brain and muscles. A bottle of 60 tablets costs $35, and lasts him three days.
These days, he seldom teaches and doesn't drive much, taking the train to doctor appointments in Boston.
But he still plays the guitar, jamming one Sunday a month at the Java Hut in Worcester, where other musicians play Tyer's own compositions.
"There are things I can't play anymore, and techniques I can't do," he says. "I had to relearn the guitar. Now I just do the things I can do. One of the big differences is the speed of the tunes."
Because the ataxia has affected his right side more than his left, he's had to adjust his picking technique. He now utilizes a "sweep" method where he drops his arm.
"My other choice is: don't play. I can't play as fast. But now I aim for the right notes."
Tyer's life philosophy is helping him through. He's got two mottos. 1, stay humble. And 2, it's okay to suck; we all do.
"It's not okay not to try and get better," he says. "We all have the potential to be great, and the potential to suck. Accepting them both with grace is a key to being happy."
Also helping him are his wife Erica, and his daughters, one of whom plays bass.
"I want people to know about ataxia," Tyer says. "I suspect there are folks around here who have it. I want to hear from them."
See ataxia.org for more information. Tyer can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
THE SHOT (and a little extra giggle):
THE RIDICULIST: David Gergen
THE SHOT (and a little extra giggle):
Posted by The ATA Team at 8:45 AM
Labels: David Gergen, The Shot. The RidicuList
All Things Anderson is an independent blog that has no affiliation with CNN.
If you wish to contact us with tips, comments or suggestions our email is firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Diameter: 0.068"
Diameter Tolerance: +/- 0.001"
Tensile Strength: 195,000 -225,000PSI
Aim 200,000 -215,000 PSI
Surface Finishes: Bright
Steel Grade: rod grade 1045– rod grade 1060 CARBON steel
Package: 900 lbs +/- 45 lbs with spoolless cores Z-2 Packs, 2 ocoils in one pallet. ID: 14" Min
OD: 29" Max.
Wire reel Width: 11"
GUANGHUA - a leading carbon steel wire manufacturer and exporter
Every year we export great many of this kind of patented cold drawn spring steel wire to our customers, its quality is very good to be flattened to 0.028" flat wire for wire bush manufacture.
wire brush manufacture.
Consistent high quality for flattening.
Clean finish
Strict raw material selection
Patented and Cod Drawn Brush Steel Wire 0.068 " High Carbon Steel Wire Rod Images
Home| Products| Suppliers| Quality Suppliers| Site Map |About Us |Contact Us |Help |关于我们 |联系我们
Copyright © 2009 - 2019 entremaqueros.com. All rights reserved.


text:
President Obama's deregulatory push has received a lot of attention. His original piece in The Wall Street Journal stated:
[W]e are...making it our mission to root out regulations that conflict, that are not worth the cost, or that are just plain dumb.
So after hearing about the EPA rules to treat milk spills as if they are oil spills, I asked a White House spokeswoman whether this would be a candidate for reconsideration. Here is the answer I received:
The purpose of the "look-back" provision in the President's Executive Order is to make sure that regulations are effective and up-to-date, reflecting the principles outlined by the President. Any regulations promulgated within the past two years have been crafted with these principles in mind. So it would stand to reason that they are up to date.
In other words, the Obama administration only wants to elminiate out-of-date regulations that are "just plain dumb," not the "just plain dumb" regulations it is currently issuing.


text:
Heartland Family Medicine, Alma, NE
Heartland Family
Medicine, Oxford, NE
Please click here for Patient Information
Dr. Cameron Knackstedt, D.O.
Dr. Knackstedt graduated from Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience in Kansas City Missouri. He earned his degree in Family Medicine as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Knackstedt is Board Certified by the American College of Osteopathic Family Practice. Cameron has 2 children, Nathanial C. Knackstedt, D.O., and Jason Knackstedt. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, concerts, and gourmet food. He enjoys being involved in Wildlife Habitat Improvement Projects, Teaching Medical Students.
Dr. J. Michael Finkner, M.D.
Dr. John Michael Finkner graduated with honors from University Of Nebraska College Of Medicine in 1975. He practiced in Alma from 1980 – 1988 and then became the Director of Emergency Physicians at Good Samaritan Hospital for the next 18 years. His extensive background in Family Practice and Emergency Medicine gives him a broad range of experience that he will continue to share with the patients of Harlan County Health System.
Originally from Minden, Dr. Finkner lives in Kearney with his wife Kathy. The couple has four adult children, and 14 grandchildren, all under the age of 10. Dr. Finkner enjoys competitive running, fishing, landscaping, shopping with his wife, traveling and visiting his grandchildren.
Jessica D. Stemper, PA-C
Jessica graduated from Waverly High School and earned a degree in biology at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln. She served as a volunteer for the Peace Corps in Africa before continuing her education at Union College, Lincoln, graduating with a B.S. in Physician Assistant Studies. She is Board Certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. Jessica and her husband, Michael, are the parents of two children, Kendall and Griffin. She enjoys golf, baking and family activities.


text:
Thank Sens. Durbin & Udall for re-affirming settlements are an obstacle to peace
Just Foreign Policy
Thank Sens. Durbin & Udall for re-affirming settlements are an obstacle to peace.
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin has blocked a Senate resolution that would condemn UN Security Council Resolution 2334 against Israeli settlements in the West Bank. New Mexico Senator Tom Udall has said that if Senator Durbin were to lift his hold, Senator Udall would place his own hold. [1]
Thank Senator Durbin and Senator Udall for standing up for peace by signing our petition at MoveOn.
Thanks for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy
If you think our work is important, support us with a $17 donation.
1. http://forward.com/fast-forward/361245/dick-durbin-blocks-senate-move-to-condemn-un-resolution-on-israeli-settleme/
2016 Just Foreign Policy


text:
The second stopping point I made in Bolivia was in Potosí, four hours' drive along winding mountain roads from Uyuni. Founded in 1545, it is a small, relatively provincial city located an impressive 4070 metres above sea level.
Potosí has a beautiful central square surrounded by splendid colonial era buildings – including a cathedral and The National Mint (now a museum) – though away from the centre the ambience is less impressive. The edges of the city, apparently expanding rapidly, mostly appear to comprise reinforced concrete and red-brick utilitarian dwellings. In addition, the air is rather contaminated, due to a proliferation of aging city buses that belch out unsavoury clouds of black smoke. Although you wouldn't think it now, the settlement was once the most prosperous in the whole of Latin America. The reason: Cerro Rico.
Translated as 'rich hill', this mountain once contained seemingly inexhaustible reserves of silver. When the Spanish discovered this, they founded the city and set about pressing thousands of indigenous workers, as well as many more African slaves, into service. They mined the silver relentlessly in some of the most appalling conditions imaginable and invariably lived short lives. The metal, which was sent back to Spain, was a considerable source of wealth for the empire for over 250 years by which time the reserves were virtually depleted.
Nowadays, mining continues to be a big business in Potosí. The mines are run as co-operatives, which means that the miners work for themselves and take home whatever they are able to extract. Each team of workers define their own area of the mine which is off-limits to everyone else. As there is no longer very much silver left, most of what is harvested from within the mountain is tin, lead or zinc.
As I learned more about Potosí in the days leading up to my arrival, I became increasingly keen to take part in an organised mine tour. Claustrophobia was never a concern for me, but I did fantasise about the mine collapsing while I was in it, something that happened in Chile some years ago leaving 33 men (affectionately known in Spanish as Los 33) trapped underground. Eventually, I decided that the chances of anything untoward happening were extremely remote, the oldest parts of the mine having been there for centuries and my foray inside being for only an hour or two. I was determined to explore.
So on the morning of my first full day in Potosí, I set off for the tour company office with a new Australian friend called Aaron. He was very hesitant to go into the mines, but between me and one of the tour guides that we spoke with the night before, we managed to convince him that it would be a worthwhile experience. From the office, a rattly old minibus took us and the other tourists to our first stop: the miner's market.
Here, workers typically visit in the morning to purchase tools (dynamite, gloves, pickaxes, etc.) and food and drink. We were advised by one of the guides that we could buy gifts here to give to the miners once inside. His actual wording was, 'it's not obligatory but it is a bit necessary'; I found this contradiction rather amusing. I bought a bag of coca leaves (which all miners seem to be addicted to chewing on) and a pair of protective gloves.
At the next stop we were kitted out in full protective gear. This comprised overalls, Wellington boots and a hard hat with integrated headlamp. Curiously, the battery for the light was attached to a belt that we wore round our waists – perhaps it was too large, heavy or fragile to fit onto the helmet itself.
After a short visit to a smelter to see how the ore is processed (and where I nearly stepped on a fragile plastic pipe carrying noxious metallic liquids – oops), we were driven up the mountain where we arrived at the entrance of the mine itself. This was the big moment.
The six of us followed our Bolivian guide inside the opening. The twisting passageway was narrow and very low, but fortunately it opened up into a roomier cavern just as soon as daylight had completely disappeared. Here we encountered our first miner, who was hurriedly carting a wheelbarrow full of rocks out to the entrance. We were asked to move out of the way as he scuttled past.
The subsequent passageway was relatively large and propped up by wooden supports. Still, we had to be careful to avoid random holes and shafts that we could fall into (insert obligatory anglophile joke about lack of health and safety precautions). As we walked, I noticed we were tracing the route of a network of large pipes that gave off a high-pitched whining noise. It turned out that these were air pipes, which delivered pressure to pneumatic drills further inside the mountain.
Meeting a couple more miners – who communicate with each other in Quechua rather than Spanish – we were informed that there would shortly be a series of nearby dynamite detonations. This definitely got us on our toes!
We were lead into a quiet cavernous corner of the mine which was relatively safe from the dangers of falling rocks. Next to us as we sat down was an ominous looking ceramic figurine with horns, marbles for eyes and a large penis(!), lavished with multiple offerings of coca leaves and confetti. Empty beer cans littered the floor around him, and cigarettes had been placed in his mouth and lit. As the mines are hot and rather hellish underground environments, many miners conclude that they must be close to the devil, and that the metals they mine belong to him. Offerings are left at his shrine, therefore, in order to appease him so that they might avoid accidents – and, of course, strike it lucky in their hunt for precious metals. He is referred to as Tío ('Uncle') or Supay – but never as Diablo.
Our guide explained the customs and beliefs of the miners, after which he proceeded to pass round a small bottle of 97% rubbing alcohol. Following his suggestion, we each poured a few drops on the ground, as an offering to Pachamama (Mother Earth), before taking a small swig. As you can imagine, it is extremely nasty stuff to be imbibing, but nevertheless one must respect a miners' tradition. Finally, we were told that we could ask Tío for a wish. Many of the miners ask for more girlfriends; a lot of them already have half a dozen, or so they claim!
There came some shouting, in Quechua, from another part of the mine. It was to warn us that the detonations were about to begin. The seven of us remained quiet, and waited with nervous excitement.
The explosion shook the mine with a deep and vigorous thud that permeated every atom around us.
I likened it to being in the vicinity of a warzone, something I've fortunately never experienced.
And so the detonations continued for a minute or so more. It was a visceral and humbling experience that I suppose brought our little group closer together, in a primal sort of way. At last, another shout from a distant part of the mine indicated that the detonations were over, and we could now relax.
We left Tío's shrine and continued exploring the mine further, passing through narrow passageways and climbing rickety ladders; the smell of dynamite wafted through the air. We came across more miners, one of whom was completely covered in white dust; he had been using a pneumatic drill. I was glad to see that he was wearing a respiratory mask, but I think he was the only one.
The miners didn't seem to express too much gratitude upon receiving their gifts, or for that matter really very much of anything at all. Our guide later explained that they become reserved around us Gringo tourists, and spending a large proportion of their lives underground, are often in awe of how different we look from local people. We must take into account, too, that Bolivians are generally very introverted from a cultural perspective. However, the miners are apparently rather gregarious between one another when tourists aren't around, giving each other rude nicknames. Our guide, also a miner, reluctantly told us that he had been christened the Quechuan equivalent of 'donkey fucker'.
These sort of jokes assist with keeping up morale. A miners' life often begins in early adolescence and is one of hellish and relentless toil; conditions have hardly changed since colonial times. Miners typically work for 10-15 years before becoming afflicted with silicosis pneumonia, a result of continuous exposure to asbestos and other noxious gases, eventually leading to death. Staying in good spirits is therefore of the utmost importance, and we were advised several times beforehand that we should enter the mines with a positive disposition.
A second series of detonations, some more shimmying around narrow passageways, and a pause at another shrine followed. After this time, we were lead back outside for a little debrief and the chance to ask any final questions.
Entering the mines in Potosí was a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience that offered a glimpse into a totally different way of life from what I am familiar with. My lengthy write-up is surely testament to the richness of the tour. Even Aaron admitted that his earlier fears were mostly in his head, and that he too had enjoyed the experience.


text: Category Events - United States, Cottleville (MO) Cyan Art Studios presents Special Edition Wood Sign Art – Rotating Servers We encourage your artistic expression. All colors are customizable to personal taste and preferences. Registration includes all hardware, supplies and instruction to complete project. Feel free to bring your own drinks and snacks. Alcoholic drinks are allowed in Create and Sip 18+ Adult classes only. Anyone who wishes to consume alcoholic beverage must be 21 or older. Please have current valid identification with you to verify drinking age compliance according to law. Conveniently, we share our space in a wonderful plaza inclusive of The Rackhouse Kitchen Wine Whiskey that serves wonderful food, including to-go food orders and wine by the bottle for purchase, and Salty Seniorita offers a menu of fresh Mexican take out options, and dont miss some amazing buy and take craft brews from Exit 6 Brewery. Class time is approximately 2 1/2 hours. We start classes promptly. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early to get situated. Please let us know at registration if you are with a group or celebrating a special occasion. We will do our best to seat you together!


text:
Traveling alone is the most rewarding and empowering experience. At first, I thought I would feel lonely and I would
get lost and not know what to do, but I did not experience any discomforts. It did not take long for me to realize the joy of traveling alone,
it took me about 10 minutes to realize that while walking from Euston Station to King's Cross.
What have I learned from traveling alone?
The new found sense of freedom: I was not bound to anyone else's preferences. I was able to do things at my own pace and do all the weird things I wanted to do. During my London trip, I spent three hours in the British Museum marveling at all the historic artifacts and learn about civilizations that I have never heard of before. When I travel alone I walk a lot because I think that walking is the best way to explore the city, to get the general "feel" of the city, and to see how the locals spend their day so, I walked everywhere. Although at the end of the day my legs got very sore and blisters appeared on my feet, it was worth it.
Not all who wander are lost: I often get carried away while walking because I would keep walking toward the buildings or shops that I was curious about. I would often find myself very far away from my original destination but I was not lost, I was exploring.
Notice the things happening around you: There are so many things happening around us that we usually would not notice when we are traveling with others because we would be completely engaged with our company. When you sit alone at a cafe or restaurant you would be able to see the interaction between people e.g. the friendly waiter talking to his customer, a mother teaching her child, etc. Although it would seem like you are eavesdropping but who would know right?
I am my best friend: Traveling alone helped me to become better friends with myself. My brain had to figure out ways to keep me entertained in the unfamiliar environment and create curiosity to learn and explore.
Useful tips for traveling alone:
⬤ Be prepared: research about the places you want to visit, understand the transportation systems, and know the amount of time you would want to spend at each location.
⬤ Know your body: be aware of the amount of physical activity that you are capable of (solo travel can involve a lot of walking) and stay hydrated.
⬤ Wear appropriate footwear: wear something that is comfortable and durable.
⬤ Learn to read maps and bring actual maps: be prepared for the unfortunate event that your mobile phone malfunctions or runs out of battery and you are unable to use Google maps.
⬤ Use the selfie stick: sometimes using the selfie stick can be a bit awkward but it will be your best friend especially if you are too shy or scared to ask strangers to take photos of you.
Although I did not travel to another country, traveling alone to a different place was a significant step out of my comfort zone. If you are a scared and anxious introvert like me and you want to travel alone, you can start with small steps, travel to a city/town near you for a day trip and then gradually extend your trips. There is no need to make your first solo trip to a foreign country. Due to my anxiety, I was worried that I would get lost and I decided to have my first solo travel to London, a city that I have already visited just to be safe and also because there are so many things that I did not get to see and do on my previous trip. Traveling is an activity that pushes you out of your comfort zone but it can also happen at your own pace.
For a person who is scared and anxious about everything, I have never thought that I would have the courage and confidence to travel on my own but I could not wait to get to the places I want and so I took the first step. Traveling alone has given me confidence and boosted my self-esteem. Like any other out-of-comfort-zone experience, traveling alone has helped me to realize my capability and potential. More importantly, it has reignited my self-belief.
For me, traveling alone is pure happiness. It is when I can truly be myself.