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Following on from "The First 6 Months" it's taken me quite a while to figure out, where on earth I have been to rack up 20,000 miles. Scanning through my Blog history it all came flooding back, rides with the Manc Rider, trips around Derbyshire (my beloved home county), a few IBA rides plus the Brit Butt Rally & a quick lap of the UK, a trip to Spain & back, a 1000 mile spin around Ireland, not to mention the rides I don't feel warrant blogging about. Then the penny finally dropped!
Waking up to the sound of rain on canvas for the third morning in a row was not what I'd signed up for when I filled in the online registration form to attend the Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting back in 2011. Would I have changed it if I could? Not a cat in hell's chance!
Did I mention it rained, A LOT!
Who would not want to spend a full 4 days in the presence of such "Over-landing Legends" as Ted Simon, Austin Vince, Sjaak Lucassen, Ed March, Matthew Cashmore, Paddy Tyson, Graham Field and not forgetting my good friends Bruce Smart, Sam Manicom & Birgit Schuenemann. I'm sorry if I have missed your name off my very short list of stars but you can rest assured, I have you all dancing around in my head. Screaming at me "just travel the world Raymondo!" Thanks' for that!
Prizes on a postcard
if you know who's pannier this is!
In 2011 I had only managed to spend a day at Lumb Farm with my Dad, both of us having an amazing time meeting so many inspirational people. This year I was determined to soak up far more of this intoxicating mix of worldly adventures. At that time we spent quite some time speaking to a fellow Yamaha Super Tenere XT1200Z owner who also just happened to be called Ray. 3 Ray's around on bike discussing travel, modifications and just getting on like a house on fire.
This year I really wanted it get involved so volunteered to assist Sam and the team, I was dully placed on "Recycling Duties!" I laughed to myself when I received the duty rota simply because low and behold who should be in charge of the Recycling Team, but Ray.
You've just got to love him
Been there, done that.
I had a fantastic time, if you're reading this Ray (somewhere on the planet in your wonderful Land Rover with your home on the roof) I'd just like to say thank you for making the 2012 Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting unforgettable. You're the one who should be writing the book all about your life, from what you told me it's a guaranteed "Best Seller" in the making!
I love travelling, just getting on Mr T and taking off all over the place. Europe now actually feels like my own personal motorcycling back yard however the folks who attend the Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting are in the premier league when it comes to travelling. Stories of 'Around the World' trips come at you from every angle. Travelling on bikes both motor and pedal powered, trucks, vans, Land Rovers you name it they are all there to meet, talk to and be inspired by. I know I rode away just pleased my passport was well and truly tucked away in Jeannie's desk at home.
Thought I'd just call in on our way around the world
Next stop, China!
If your planning on a trip, no matter where or for how long I can guarantee attending a Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting will give you more of an insight into "The Real Deal" than reading a library of travel books. Most of the authors of which will be stood around you in that very same meeting. One final word to end my Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting ramblings is, "Attend!"
Unbeknownst to me the next 4 months of my life where just about to be gobbled up in a blur of sheer commitment to one singular task! That task was inexplicably linked to "The 2012 Olympic Games". If the truth be known, after watching the amazing spectacle that was the Olympic Games 2012 Opening Ceremony on Friday the 27th July 2012, I like so many others was just mesmerised by what took place. Danny Boyle pulled off an absolutely World Class Ceremony follow by the most amazing Olympic & Paralympic Games I for one have ever seen. I know for a fact that both events will live with me and millions more for the rest of
our lives.
August / September / October & November
Other than having a full Ohlins Rear Suspension System fitted to Mr T by Kais in Atherton, seeing my friend Bruce off from London on his own "Around the world journey" better known as www.TeaPotOne.com, attending the 5th annual Ride to the Wall, RTTW with Jeannie & the Manc Riders, it was a quite couple of months, NOT! I even managed to squeeze in three days of car washing, creating the second Wardle Wash which I do in aid of "Children in Need". This year raising over £200 (which I'm quite proud of).
October 1st Bruce's Mum's Birthday
A day that will live with me for many years to come
However my life was consumed by just one singular challenge. That challenge was to visit every single post box that was officially painted GOLD by the Royal Mail to honour our Olympic & Paralympic Gold Medal winners.
Initially the challenge appeared to be just a simple ride to visit and photograph Mr T at the side of the 29 gold post boxes, this was during the early stages of the Olympic Games themselves. I like many others never belived the challenge grow and grow to an unbelievable 110 Gold Post Boxes by the end of the Olympic & Paralympic Games.
The challenge was further intensified by me deciding to visit them all within 22 days of riding. Now I must stress at this point those days did not run consecutively due to the simple fact, "Life still had to go on in the Walton household".
What I'm slowly coming to realise is that in achieving my goal in just 19 days I've surpassed all manner of personal achievement. My riding has changed, well not changed but reverted to what I used to be like 32 years ago when I first stepped onto my Suzuki 125 Stinger. Ride, stop, take pictures, visit interesting places and now to top off the whole experience, Blog the entire trip, that's as long as it isn't too boring, that is.
I'm very proud to say I rode 6739 miles in total, visiting every single one of the 110 Gold Post Boxes which are spread as far apart as Northern Ireland in the West, The Island of Sark in the South, Lossiemouth - Scotland in the North and South Belton near Great Yarmouth in the East, not to mention a trip to Wales and the Isle of Man and writing no less than 19 blog entries about the ride. Due to this vast amount of information I decide to write a separate review covering the whole of the challenge ride which loving became known as
The Wandering Walton's Quest for Olympic Gold ……. Postboxes "Obviously".
I am delighted to inform you that www.KeepBritainBiking.com chose to publish my own review of the ride on their very informative site. The three instalments are already available to read and can be found at:-
Please take a little time to have a look at these and numerous other interesting motorbike related blogs by some very individual bikers. It's easy to join, log in, leave comments about the blogs and even post your own incredible achievements on site.
For now though here is a very poignant YouTube Video my great friend LBK put together for me, enjoy! Many thanks indeed LBK you did a superb job.
1 Man, 1 Motorbike, 1 Mission
110 Gold Post Boxes
19 Days Riding
6739 Miles
All this brings me nicely bang up to date. December has been quite a relaxing month give or take a the odd jaunt out and about in Lancashire or Derbyshire on Mr T. All I've done is carrying out a little more work on Trinity by fitting parts that have been sat under my bench for over a year. Mr T has had a new cam chain tensioner fitted on warranty, after he's had his 24,000 mile service.
An Original Akrapovic
Carbon Fibre Exhaust Hanger
Carbon Fibre Chain Guard fitted at last
Last Friday 21st I fitted Mr T's Christmas present in order to restore the equilibrium in the garage. This was because I'd bought Trinity a full Akrapovic exhaust system last year I thought the least I can do this year was to treat Mr T to an Akrapovic Slip-On Exhaust this year which has finished off the "Farkling" process to perfection.
Mr T's Christmas Present
I would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to visit my blog and read all my ramblings, I really do appreciate it so very much. Thank you so very much.
What a way to round off a perfect 50th
It just leaves me to wish each and every single reader the Merriest of Christmases and an absolutely wonderful and prosperous New Year.
Merry Christmas Everybody from The Wandering Walton's


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May 11, 2017
A beautiful book for building buffs
Came across this gorgeous new book this morning...
All the buildings in Melbourne... that I've drawn so far
, by artist James Gulliver Hancock, it is brimming with lovely artworks of iconic and interesting buildings from all over town.
It is brand new and lovely, and so unsurprisingly we have a queue of folks waiting to borrow our copies. You can add yourself to our request list
via our catalogue
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Mobile apps have surged in popularity in today's age because of various reasons. They are flexible, powerful, versatile and fits the user's needs perfectly well. But most importantly they are so popular because they bring about a fresh wave of innovation in the industry and disrupt the age old mannerisms and methodologies to make human lives better and more comfortable. Here is a montage of a few apps that we find were the most disruptive apps of all times.
This is our favorite app and the pioneers among the other disruptive apps. This app has changed the way we perceive photos and share amongst us. The photo filters that it offers has been loved by smartphone users so much that it has led to a whole new genre of image processing apps providing such photo filters.
Instagram has disrupted the usage of photos in general and has made casual photo snappers into professional photographic designers. It truly deserves to be one of the fastest growing companies on the planet with over 80 million users already using their service daily.
Co-founded by Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, Square is creating a whole new level of financial interaction between businesses and customers. They have built an app for businesses around their unique POS system that can be plugged into your iPhone or iPad's headphone jack and can be used to swipe a credit card to charge their customers.
This is a new breakthrough and is leading us towards a world with no physical cash transfers. This is the highest form of disruptive innovation that a mobile app can bring about in the real world.
Dropbox is a file sharing portal using cloud computing. It lets you carry your files over your computer and your mobile devices and keeps them perfectly in sync. Having a mobile device with you and having the Dropbox app installed in it ensures that you're never away from your important files.
This has taken the file sharing to a whole new level which is an amazing example of disruptive innovation. Gone are the days when you had to carry your files on a USB stick or a physical drive.
Writing notes and managing short term information is one of the most important tasks that we do on our smartphones. Evernote is an app that has enabled us to save notes beautifully and keep it saved and synched everywhere for us.
It is one of the earliest and one of the coolest mobile apps to help us remember everything in our fast and quickly changing lives.
Night Sky
Not many of you would have heard of this app like the other 4 mentioned above. Night sky is an app that lets you hold up your device up in the sky and identifies stars, planets and constellations for you and points them on your screen. How cool is that!
Never before any app has used the person's GPS and the Compass so magnificently to come up with such beautiful and innovative app. It is a very clever and sweet app with a cocktail of augmented reality, astronomy and mobile apps.
We at Elan Emerging Technologies have been very enthusiastically developing mobile apps for iOS and Android platform related to photos editing, barcode scanning, payment processing, GPS-based, personal assistance, note taking, file sharing, etc. Our apps like Canson Digital, Document Viewer, Payquiqr, Arabic Notes, GoodPeopleRun, etc apps are excellent examples of apps providing such features.


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Intel 510 SSDs due out in February
Andy Ruffell / 8 years ago
In October last year there were a lot of rumours flying around about the possible specs of Intel's third-gen SSDs. Now, thanks to Fudzilla, we can give you some updated information.
Supposedly, the new SSDs will be part of the codename Emcrest' family and will use Intel's 34nm NAND. The 2.5 inch drives will convert to Intel 510 brand and will allegedly have read speeds of up to 450MB/s and write speeds of up to 300MB/s. To go with this, the drives promise up to 20K IOPs at 4KB read and 4K IOPs at 4KB write. It should also be noted that they will be SATA III 6Gb/s compatible.
The launch is planned for February with the Intel 510 250GB priced at $579 (about £450 inc VAT) and the Intel 510 120GB at $279 (about £215 inc VAT). To add some perspective, the X25-E which has 64GB storage, 250MB/s read speed and 170MB/s write speed, still sells at about $700 (about £540 inc VAT).
All of a sudden I'm feeling pretty excited, bring on February!


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Kilgore Trout is trying to sleep in a movie theater in New York City, precisely because he knows "sleeping in movie houses was the sort of thing really dirty old men did." He wants to embody that persona when he arrives in Midland City. He has spent the day visiting pornography shops, where he bought two of his own books, Plague on Wheels and Now It Can Be Told. The latter is the book that ends up turning Dwayne Hoover "into a homicidal maniac."
He also buys a pornographic magazine including one of his stories, "The Dancing Fool." The premise of the story is that a flying saucer creature named Zog arrives on Earth from the planet Margo, where everyone communicates by means of farting and tap dancing. He tries to explain to Earthlings how to prevent wars and cure cancer, but they don't understand his farting and tap dancing so they kill him.
While Trout watches the pornographic movie that is playing the theater (because it is that kind of theater), he makes up another novel. It is about an astronaut from Earth named Don who goes to a planet where pollution has killed everything except humanoids. The humaniods are bothered because their movie theaters only show dirty movies - but when they take Don to see the dirty movies, the theme is about eating. The movies consist of close-ups of people eating different types of food; sex is equated to food in this way. After the movie, Don the astronaut goes out into the street and is accosted by whores offering "eggs and oranges and milk and butter and peanuts and so on. The whores couldn't actually deliver these goodies, of course."
Chapter 6 takes us back to Dwayne Hoover, sitting in his car in the parking lot he owns in Midland City. We are told that while Dwayne sat there so alone, Mary Young, the oldest inhabitant of Midland City was dying in the County Hospital, also alone. The only person with her while she dies is a black intern, Cyprian Ukwende.
Dwayne now drives to the new Holiday Inn next door to his Pontiac agency and goes up to the roof. He gazes out over the city and says, "Where am I?" This is significant because Midland City is where Dwayne has always been - he was born and adopted there, went to school there, and now he owns almost everything in the town. He seems to forget everything, even that his wife, Celia Hoover, committed suicide and that his son, Bunny, is a homosexual. The chapter ends with him repeating, "Where am I?"
Chapter 7 begins in the men's room of the movie house, where Trout sees this message written on the tiled wall: "What is the purpose of life?" He cannot write a response because he has no writing utensil, but wants to write: "To be the eyes and ears and conscience of the Creator of the Universe, you fool." When he returns to the theater, the only person there is the ticket-taker/bouncer/janitor, sweeping. He tells Trout to go home. Before leaving, Trout examines the box in the back of the auditorium that can be flicked on to start the movie. There is a drawing of an on/off switch. "It intrigued Trout to know that he had only to flick the switch, and the people would start fucking and sucking again."
Chapter 8 begins with Trout exiting onto Forty-second Street, which is dangerous, just like the whole city "because of chemicals and the uneven distribution of wealth and so on." The theater manager follows Trout out of the theater and locks the door, and then "two young black prostitutes materialized from nowhere." They had grown up in the rural south, "where their ancestors had been used as agricultural machinery."
We are given a summary of Trout's story called "This Means You," about forty people who own all the land of the Hawaiian Islands, and who "exercise their property rights to the full." Since no one else is allowed to trespass on the property, there is nowhere for them to stand. The Federal Government solves the problem by providing a helium balloon to each person, so they can hover above the land without trespassing.
Trout and the manager refuse the services of the prostitutes, and walk together until Trout is attacked. His attackers are mysterious, since the only thing he notices is their white Olds-mobile Toronado with a black vinyl roof. When he comes to, he has been beaten up, robbed, and his pants and underpants are around his ankles. The police find him while he is pulling up his pants and they bring him to the hospital, where it is discovered that he is not seriously injured. When asked what his attackers look like, Trout responds, "For all I know, they may not even have been Earthlings. For all I know, that car may have been occupied by an intelligent gas from Pluto." His saying this is significant, because his attackers are perhaps the first characters in the book unidentified by the color of their skin. The speaker has always specifed "black" or "white" in characterizations, but these attackers are anonymous. It implies that all inhabitants of the city are equally likely to attack and beat an old man for his money.
Trout's words are blown out of proportion: "his comment turned out to be the first germ in an epidemic of mind-poisoning." The "disease" is spread by a reporter who writes a story about the attack under the headline: "PLUTO BANDITS KIDNAP PAIR." The Pluto Gang becomes known among New Yorkers, who fear it because it is something specific to fear. A group of Puerto Rican boys who wish "to become frightening, in order to defend themselves and their friends and families" decide to adopt the moniker.
The novel that Trout begins to write in Chapter 5 hints at the theme of the destruction of the planet, but points out that Earth isn't the only planet with problems. The humanoids on the planet where sex is equated to food have destroyed everything with pollution, just as humans are doing on Earth.
The sense of isolation Dwayne feels at the end of Chapter 6 can be compared to that which Trout feels at the beginning of the story. Trout then feels that nobody knows who he is, and now Dwayne feels he has forgotten who he is. He loses his identity, an ironic development as he is a symbol of ownership (being "fabulously well to do"). Even looking down upon a city in which he owns nearly every building, he cannot find within it or the view a sense of self. This dilemma also draws attention to the multiple universes that exist within the story; Dwayne's self-directed question could be expanded in scope to the following query: "What universe am I in?"
In the pornographic movie house, Trout's thought about turning on the movies again recalls the theme of humans as machines. The people in the pornographic movie can be made to perform the most basic of human functions simply by the flip of a switch. Human flesh is reduced to buttons and pulleys, tricks of light, chemicals; human agency is reduced to automation.


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A view of Ipanema from across the Lagoa.
During this past two weeks, Camillo and I have been in Rio, Lisbon and Torino. Here is a sample of each skyline.
Historic center of Lisbon – a view of the castle from the old city.
Rooftop of Torino viewed from the Palazzo Reale.


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Subscribe To Game Of Thrones Season 2 Preview: The Game Has Begun Updates
I've already subscribed
The game has begun indeed. Tonight HBO aired the first episode of the second season of Game of Thrones. Those of you who've read "A Clash of Kings" already know what's ahead, but this trailer gives us a look at what's to come in the weeks beyond tonight's premiere episode.
It's a bad day to be the bastard child of Robert Baratheon. What a way to close out the Season 2 premiere. There's more carnage ahead, as evidenced in this trailer. Bran's having dreams, there's a struggle for the crown, people are fighting with swords, and something very bad lurks north of the wall. These aren't exactly major spoilers, but it sure is going to be fun to see it all play out as Season 2 of Game of Thrones progresses.
The above video hints at battles and a lot of people looking determined and in some cases, angry. It's interesting to hear Cersei pondering karma in some way. And who was the skull-faced looking person at the :48 mark? A wildling, perhaps?


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Under the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) programme, some of the major higher education academic institutes like IIMs, IITs and IISc would get foreign faculty members for this academic year. The national coordinator for collaborating with institutes like IITs, IIMs, IISc, and NITs under GIAN has been selected to be IIT-Kharagpur.
According to the Director of IIT Kharagpur, Professor P P Chakrabarti they have planned 500 such courses by foreign teachers for the academic year 2015-16. For this purpose there has been outlay of about Rs. 35 crore. There would be faculty members joining in as distinguished, adjunct, visiting faculty or professor of practice for various institutes. There would be other faculty members would come by to deliver short or semester long courses in these institutes. Such courses would be for credit and would be made available by the host institution for participation from other institutions.
Through ISWT (International Summer Winter Term), flagship programme of IIT Kharagpur, international experts would be able to teach in India. There would be a concerned motivations among them to work on problems related to India and would help developing the quality of course material and niche areas. The foreign faculty members could use both video and print medium to cater to a large number of students and teachers together in order to solve the problems in the niche areas of study. There would be new pedagogic methods would also also get developed and documented through this programme and topics of national and international interest would be given priority.
GIAN implementation committee Chairman Vinay Sheel Oberoi, who is also the Secretary of Department of Higher Education under the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development, would implement the programme in the various institutes. This would further create possibilities of future collaborations in research and development with the international faculty and students of international institutes of repute.
DSSSB TGT (Hindi) Male (140/17) Result Analysis: Official Cut-Off Released
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KVS Result 2019: Check Kendriya Vidyalaya Result 2018 – 2019 for PGT, TGT, PRT & Non-Teaching


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Have you ever encountered this problem? When trying to pull data via a web query in Excel you get an error saying "Unable to open https://... <your site location> Cannot download the information you requested." and clicking OK dismisses the web query. As in no data. What's going on here?
What's going on is when you execute a web query, Excel will ask URLMON to download a copy of the file given byu the web URL and URLMON has navigated to the address. However, the page has a "Pragma: no-cache" header (see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/165150 and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/222064 for more information) in it, which tells WININET (which IE uses) to avoid saving the web page to the Internet Explorer cache. In order for the download operation to work, the file has to be saved to IE. Not allowing the file to be cached causes the error you see in Excel and in turn, nobody is happy.
To resolve this situation, there are a couple of things you can do:
1. Edit the web page from where you are pulling your data and remove the no-cache header. You would be looking for a meta tag like the following:
2. You can direct the client computer to set the Internet Explorer option to bypass the no-cache check for SSL sites (remember the https:// in the sample URL above). To do this, go to START and in the RUN line type REGEDIT. In the registry navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings. Right click Internet Settings and left click New > DWORD Value (32-bit) and name the new value "BypassSSLNoCacheCheck" without the quotes. Double click this value and give it a value of 1.
Then try the web query again.


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Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip. They're posted in reverse order just because I don't feel like taking the time to correct them here. This is just a small sampling of the 120+ I took. If you care to see more and are my friend on Facebook, they're posted on there.A mermaid sculpture.
The peonies were just one of the amazing flowers in the garden we visited.
I love fiddle head ferns but have only seen them in bouquets. I was very excited to see them growing "wild"
The azaleas in the garden were amazing. The mountains on the right are part of the Italian Alps.
The villa and its private museum in the garden we visited along Lake Como.
This was from the wedding. Don't know how it got posted here instead of by the rest of the wedding photos. My hubby is a lot more handsome than the swirly face suggests!
The ceiling of the chapel in the garden we visited. The frescos and plaster detail work was amazing.
A sculpture in the garden we visited.
Another sculpture in the garden we visited.
Some beautiful Japanese maples in the garden we visited in the town of Bellaggio along Lake Como.
The bride and groom. The bride is a friend of mine from highschool/college. The groom's Scottish...thus the kilt.
The city of Manarola along the Cinque Terre. Hubby and I hiked between three of the five towns. It was fun and picture perfect.
A statue I found in a kids park and it has the colorful city of Manarola as its backdrop.
A photo I took in Corniglia...one of the towns in La Cinque Terre. You may see this showing up in some form in my shop.


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I saw a picture from the LAFC game last night that looked pretty empty, but it was before the game started. Heard it filled in a bit more by game time but haven't seen for real.
I saw a picture from the LAFC game last night that looked pretty empty, but it was before the game started. Heard it filled in a bit more by game time but haven't seen for real.
Galaxy player salary released:
Skjelvik's........oof!Justin Vom Steeg: GK, $54,500.04, $54,500.04
Daniel Steres, D, $125,004.00, $132,066.60
Brian Sylvestre, GK, $67,500.00, $67,500.00
Jorgen Skjelvik, $900,000.00, $1,000,000.00
Dave Romney, D, $74,418.75, $74,418.75
Chris Pontius, $174,999.96, $174,999.96
Joao Pedro, M, $219,996.00, $240,996.00
Ariel Lassiter, F $67,500.00, $67,500.00
Sebastian Lletget, LA Galaxy, M, $240,000.00, $252,666.67
Bradford Jamieson, F, $72,765.00, $72,765.00
Ola Kamara, F, $825,000.00, $925,000.00
Perry Kitchen, D-M, $450,000.00, $474,166.67
Emrah Klimenta, D, $67,500.00, $67,500.00
Tomas Hilliard-Arce, D, $90,000.00, $113,125.00
Baggio Husidic, M, $174,999.96, $174,999.96
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, F, $1,500,000.00, $1,500,000.00
Rolf Feltscher, D, LA Galaxy, $240,000.00, $270,000.00
Jonathan dos Santos, M, $2,000,000.04, $2,000,000.04
Giovani dos Santos, F, $4,250,000.00, $6,000,000.00
Servando Carrasco, M, LA Galaxy, $67,500.00, $67,500.00
Michael Ciani, D, $600,000.00, $620,000.00
Ashley Cole, D, $450,000.00, $722,499.98
Emmanuel Boateng, F, $130,000.00, $130,000.00
David Bingham, GK, $275,000.04, $275,000.04
Romain Alessandrini, M, $1,539,996.00, $1,869,996.00
Efrain Alvarez, M, $67,500.00, $72,233.84
Hugo Arellano, D, $75,000.00, $82,573.75
Romain Alessandrini, M, $1,539,996.00, $1,869,996.00
Galaxy have reached a new low.
The defense is non-existent.
It's mind numbing how many times no defender picks up and marks an opposing player in or near the box.
Kitchen should not be a starter.
It's really, really bad
Gotta get a win over Montreal......just gotta.
Nice win, with 10 men.
Ibra....just plain dumb!
I gotta say, when Boateng hits the pitch, the team dynamic really changes.
The team lacks player movement with the ball, but once Boateng gets into the match, the club gets chances.
The players have got to learn to make runs, or dribble the ball to create openings, passing lanes, and chances.
Happy for the points.
Looks like an OG line-up and formation for San Jose.
....dare I say 6 points in less than 5 days?!?!?
I just saw the clip. I couldn't even tell if the guy was intentionally trying to stomp his foot at first glance. Pretty sure that's a red card Ibra. But the dave chappelle "what did the hand say to the face" gifs are flying across the internet right now.
Otherwise I haven't seen anything other than the score and will watch later.
oh and did I hear correctly no Gio today?


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Buried in the "Babyland" section of Oakland Fraternal Cemetery (Little Rock).
Contributed on 11/26/07 by graychurch
Email This Contributor
Record #: 1272
On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Arkansas, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 11/26/07 • Approved: 11/26/07 • Last Updated: 8/4/12 • R1272-G0-S3


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Perennial typically describes things that are permanent, constant, or repeated. If you fight with your parents every year over whether they really must invite your annoying cousins for Thanksgiving, you could call that a perennial conflict.
Arguing with your roommate about who cleaned the bathroom last time might be a perennial argument. There is also a perennial plant, which lasts more than two years and usually reappears each spring, because it produces flowers and seeds from the same root structure. Perennial comes from the Latin perennis, from the prefix per-, "through," plus annus, or "year." Annus is also the source of our English word annual — an annual plant lives only one year or season.


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Situated in South East Asia, Thailand is undoubtedly the most famous tourist destination on the planet. For years this scenic country has attracted millions of tourists from all around the world. It is because of the Thai culture and traditions that a large part of its GDP comes from tourism. Nature has blessed Thailand with a long coastline, which the Thai people have developed into exotic tourist spots. On the other hand, Thai people are one of most friendly people in the world. Their warm gesture is liked by all. Thailand has 3 major tourist spots – Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket.
Bangkok is situated in central Thailand. With a population of 8 million, the Thai capital is a world famous city and a financial and political powerhouse. It is one of the hottest travel destinations with a soothing culture, great attractions, multicultural cuisine, reasonable shopping and value for money. At the city's heart, lie its Rivers and Canals.
Climb aboard a boat to experience the city from the cool of its waters and visit temples around the river. One of the most important temples is Watpho - Home of the Reclining Buddha. Bangkok has around 50000 places to eat. The best are the street stalls. Many tourists come to Bangkok for its street food. Spend at least 3 days in Bangkok.
Pattaya is a 2 hour drive from Bangkok. This seaside resort town is famous for its Nightlife and beautiful beaches. The most happening place in Pattaya is Walking Street. Spend the whole evening hanging around this bustling street. Take a day out to enjoy at the Beach. There are a host of water sports that Pattaya offers. Visit the Botanical Garden which has animal show and also a Zoo in it. Take out at least 3 days for Pattaya and don't forget a massage session here.
Phuket is another major tourist attraction. Phuket is a 70 minute flight from Bangkok. Like Pattaya, this town is also famous for its Vibrant Beaches and Nightlife. It attracts over 5 million tourists every year. Beaches are full of tourists, local restaurants, traders' selling goods and massage people. It is a scenic and beautiful town with reasonable shopping and Sea Food. Phuket may be well explored in 3 days.
Thailand has one of the best food and shopping in the world. Thai food is famous all around Asia and hence draws many tourists here. Besides, Thailand is famous for its Sea Food as well. The best sea food may be available in Phuket. Bangkok, on the other hand, is a hub for street food. When it comes to shopping, Thailand is a shopaholic paradise. You will find Bangkok very cheap and affordable. Bargaining is possible almost everywhere. The city of Bangkok sometimes looks like an open street market.
January and February are the best months to visit Thailand. Thailand is one of the cheapest places to holiday in. Hotels are pretty cheap, even the 5 star ones may be available for as much as a 3 star one in Europe or America. Thai Airways operates international flights to Bangkok and Phuket from different places around the world. Bangkok Airport is one of the biggest hubs in South East Asia welcoming all major carriers of the world. If you are visiting other nearby countries like Hongkong, Malaysia, Singapore or Vietnam; choose cruise liners wherever possible.
Have a great Thai Holiday!
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How the ugliest racism is always glued to 'Pro-Palestinian' & appeasing-Islamists garbageHow the ugliest racism is always glued to 'Pro-Palestinian' & appeasing-Islamists garbage
Look at the prime examples of: Jeremyiah Wright, his anti American, anti White anti Israel rant, [apologizing, wait no,] rationalizing Islamofascists' attack such as 911.
Or his "ideology" about White America that always had a plan of how to infect Blacks...
Or his "demonization" of Israel that is struggling to survive against Arab racists & Islamic bigots that just seek it's annihilation as a "terrorists state" for it's "crime" of going after Palestinian mass murderers.
It's so natural how he reveres now (on NAACP) the "Nation of Islam", the classic Islamic-fascist anti-non-Muslims, especially anti whites, Lois Farrakhan.
That basically has the same "ideas".
So while Arab racism will continue to oppress and commit genocide on blacks (such as in Darfur), the racists extremists leaders that happen to be blacks will continue to kiss their ass and portray the 'Palestinian" aggressors as "poor victims", this is what happens when hatred overshadows rational and self dignity of even survival, and yes, racism always goes hand-in-hand with hypocrisy.
How fortunate for those that seek clarity that bigotry-garbage meets his likes.
Technorati - Freedom Anti west Intolerance Terrorist oganization Hamas 'palestinian' propaganda Al Aqsa Alaqsa Arabs Jews Muslims Christians 'palestinian' terrorism Suicide bombing Torture chambers Homicide bombing London bombing Honor killing Muslim clerics Mullahs Islamic Hitler Iran Regime Ahmedinejad Iran nukes Human rights War on terror jihad Genocide bombing Anti Israel bias Arab racism Anti Israel racism Islamofacsism Conflict Israel Islamic Jihad Hamas "palestinian" Animalism "palestinian" cruelty "palestinian" Savagery "Palestine" "Palestinians" Israelis Jewish refugees Victims of terror Moderates Islam Radical Islam Militants Arab occupation Arab Muslims Indoctrination Arab hatred Muslim hatred 'Palestinian' hatred 'Palestinian' Child abuse Jewish refugees Death cult 'Palestinian' human shields 'Palestinian' human bombs Arab oil lobby Arab oil mafia Islamic Aparthied Ethnic cleansing Passover massacre Muslim Arabs Arab atrocities Damour massacre Hebron massacre Politically correct Muhammad "palestinian" propaganda "Palestinians" Netanya massacre Hamas Abu Sayaaf Beheading Honor killing Jerusalem massacre Passover massacreBus bombing Islamists Mufti Koran Quran Radical Islam Islam Islamophobia Beslan massacre CAIR Islamic phobia Sharia Fatwa Mullah Kafir Infidels Islamofascism Islamic fascism Whabbism Whabbist Wahabbi Saudi Arabia AntiSemitism Anti West Cartoons Islamofacism "religion of peace" Huzbullah Arabism Ahmadinejad Ethnic cleansing Human shields "Palestinians" Israelis Jewish refugees Victims of terror Moderates Islam Radical Islam Militants Arab occupation Arab Muslims Indoctrination Arab hatred Muslim hatred palestinian violence Gaza Islamic Inquizition Honor killing Culture of death Death cult Arabism Zionism Mehdi Mahdi Iran Beithanoun Beit Hanoun Jimmy Carter Islamic apartheid 911 racism Asaad Damour NOI Nation of Islam Wright
Labels: "palestinians", Appeasement, Islamofascism, Israel, Obama


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Garmin Astro 320 (Handheld Only)
Currently In stock and shipping While supplies last. (Last update 8/8/2011)
Handheld Features
- Barometric altimeter and 3-axis electronic compass
- Scratch resistant lens on the 2.6" color 65.1K TFT display with backlit display and keypad
- Resolution: 240 x 160 pixels
- Weight: 6.50 ounces without batteries
- Battery life: 20+ hours using 2 AA batteries (not included)
- High Speed USB mini-B connector for data updates with a PC or Apple Macintosh
- Rugged IPX7 waterproof standards
- Quad helix GPS antenna
- Removeable VHF antenna
- Micro SD card slot available for preprogrammed MapSource mapping detail such as US TOPO, Inland Lakes, BlueChart and City Navigator
- Stores 1000 waypoints, 50 routes and 10,000 track points
- Area calculation feature
- Built-in auto routing basemap
Garmin GPS units are waterproof in accordance with IEC 529 IPX7. An IPX7 designation means the GPS case can withstand accidental immersion in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes.
Garmin Astro 320 (Handheld Only)
This Unit is capable of tracking Garmin TT15 and T5 GPS collars.
This product is discontinued. Visit our Used Equipment section or check out the Astro 430, Garmin's latest generation of dog tracking handhelds.
Out of stock
Item number
0.0353 oz
Our Recommendations


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Methadone, which is used to treat people who are addicted to heroin, is itself a highly-addictive drug. Like heroin, methadone is an opiate, and it is used to relieve the cravings that a recovering heroin addict may experience. Because of its addictive properties, Methadone comes with many potential serious health risks such as vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, fever, weight loss, chronic constipation, and death.
Loriann Witte 949-292-2000


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We are a husband-and-wife photography team that believes photography is one of the only things that will truly last a lifetime. No matter how big or small your wedding, photography is one of the most important investments you will ever make. So we believe in creating images that will stand the test of time, not just the latest camera trend — no matter what your style.
Latest from the Blog


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Actually Israel's violation of international law in attacking Iraq's Osirak reactor increased the threat. The Osirak reactor was not being used to persue nuclear weapons but AFTER the agression Israel's attack, such weapons were pursued: "Israel's strike, far from foreclosing Iraq's nuclear career, gained Iraq support from some other Arab states to pursue it."
"The Osirak reactor was unsuitable for the production of plutonium, though after the Israeli bombing in 1981, Iraq took the "solid decision to go full speed ahead with weaponization. Prior to that attack, Osirak had regularly been inspected, and the IAEA saw no evidence of any attempt to construct a nuclear weapons programme."
"In 1981, when Israel attacked Iraq's Osirak reactor, Tel Aviv's move caused Baghdad to accelerate its quest for nuclear arms. By demonstrating Iraq's military weakness in its failure to prevent an Israeli air strike, Tel Aviv's decision merely caused the leadership in Baghdad to believe even more strongly that they needed nuclear weapons to shield against future aggression from hostile states. By acquiring nuclear arms, states are able to increase their defense capabilities since other states are hesitant to take military action against a nuclear-armed rival. As Khadduri writes in his recent book describing Iraq's nuclear research program, after Israel attacked the Osirak reactor, "Saddam took the political decision to initiate a full-fledged weapons program immediately afterwards."


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Step by Step
Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018
Today, no concession to any disappointment or fear of someone or something gone wrong, no caving in to self-pity as an excuse to wallow in the "poor me's." Sobriety does not promise being spared setbacks, disappointment, fears and seemingly insurmountable challenges – everyone faces them. As an alcoholic with a personality that is both emotionally and spiritually challenged I might be apt to "give up," "give in" and whine, "Why me?" Answer: why not? AA has given me the tools to meet setbacks and disappointments effectively. It is up to me to use them. Today, then, I will meet disappointment, fear, frustration, anger and anything else potentially lethal as a challenge to find and nourish them into something less than bad. But I first must be in a place where I don't want to twist anything into an excuse to drink, use, gamble, over-eat, whatever. Today, I choose not to want to return to the very dark place from whence I came. And our common journey continues. Step by step. – Chris M., 2018


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When flooding strikes Info4Disasters is here to help. We will post preparedness information before, during and after a flood.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Monday, June 27, 2011
What to do When There's a Flood
Evacuating During a Flood
Floods can strike quickly, therefore, preparedness can save homes and lives. In the case of flooding, it's important to know how to evacuate and what to take.
If flooding threatens your area, listen to the radio or television for weather reports and evacuation notices, and follow the directions of local authorities.
The Five P's of Immediate Evacuation
People and Pets – And other livestock too
Papers – Important documents
Prescriptions – Medications, eyeglasses and hearing aids
Pictures – Irreplaceable memories
Personal Computer – Information on hard drives and disks
Prepare for Flooding
- Elevate the furnace, water heater and electric panel if you live in a high-risk area.
- Install "check valves" to prevent floodwaters from backing up into the drains of your home.
- If feasible, construct barriers to stop floodwater from entering the building, and waterproof basement walls.
- Property insurance often does not cover flood damage. Talk to your provider about your policy and consider additional coverage.
- Build a kit of emergency supplies and a portable kit in case of evacuation.
Plan to Evacuate
- Plan how to leave and where to go if an evacuation is advised.
- Confirm family meeting places within and outside the neighborhood.
- Identify places you could go - a friend's home in another town, a motel or public shelter - in an emergency.
- If you have a car, keep a half tank of gas in it at all times.
- Become familiar with alternate routes and means of transportation that lead out of your area.
- Take your emergency supply kit.
- Lock the door behind you.
- Tune a battery-powered radio to a local emergency broadcast station; follow all emergency instructions.
- Take your pets with you, but understand that only service animals may be permitted in public shelters. Plan how you will care for your pets in an emergency.
If time allows:
- Call or email the "out-of-state" contact in your family communications plan.
- Tell them where you are going.
- Leave a note telling others when you left and where you are going.
- Check with neighbors who may need a ride.
- Do not walk through moving water. Look for areas where the water is not moving. What might seem like a small amount of moving water can easily knock you down.
- Do not drive into flooded areas. If your vehicle becomes surrounded by rising water, get out quickly and move to higher ground.
- Stay away from downed power lines to avoid the risk of electrocution.
(Source: Ready)
Tips on Staying Safe Before, During and After a Flood
Posted by: Public Affairs
We are working with local, state and federal partners as they continue to battle the ongoing flooding in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. Through our regional offices in Kansas City, Mo., Chicago, Ill., Denton, Texas and Atlanta, Ga., we are in close coordination with the affected states and stand poised to support them as needed.
On May 4th, President Obama declared emergency declarations for Mississippi and Tennessee, and a major disaster declaration for Kentucky, which allows for additional federal support to state and local governments.
Floods can occur in all 50 states, so whether or not you live in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys, there are steps you can take today to get prepared. Here are tips on what you can do to prepare before, during and after a flood:
Before a flood
- Get flood insurance – Flooding can cause significant damage to homes and businesses, so protect yourself from the financial risk by purchasing insurance. Flood insurance policies typically take 30 days before they take effect, so don't wait until it's too late. Visit FloodSmart.gov for more information on flood insurance.
- Safeguard your possessions - Create a personal flood file containing an inventory of your possessions, important personal documents and a copy of your insurance policies. Keep it in a secure place, such as a safe deposit box or waterproof container.
- Prepare your house - Place the furnace, water heater, washer, dryer and electrical components on cement blocks at least 12 inches above the projected flood elevation. Also, make sure your sump pump is working and install a battery-operated backup, in case of a power failure.
- Develop a family emergency plan – Plan and practice a flood evacuation route from your home, work or school that takes you to higher ground. Make sure your family knows how to contact one another in the event of an emergency, and ask an out-of-state relative or friend to be your emergency family contact. (And don't forget to plan for your children and pets.)
During a flood
- Go to higher ground and avoid areas subject to flooding
- Do not attempt to walk or drive through flowing streams or flooded roadways
- Listen to the direction of local officials and stay updated by following local news reports
- If you come in contact with floodwaters, wash your hands with soap and disinfected water.
After a flood
- If your home has suffered damage, call your insurance agent to file a claim.
- Check for structural damage before re-entering your home to avoid being trapped in a building collapse.
- Take photos of any floodwater in your home and save any damaged personal property.
- Make a list of damaged or lost items and include their purchase date and value with receipts, and place with the inventory you took prior to the flood. Some damaged items may require disposal, so keep photographs of these items.
- Keep power off until an electrician has inspected your system for safety.
- Boil water for drinking and food preparation until authorities tell you that your water supply is safe.
- Prevent mold by removing wet contents immediately.
- Wear gloves and boots to clean and disinfect. Wet items should be cleaned with a pine-oil cleanser and bleach, completely dried, and monitored for several days for any fungal growth and odors.
For more information on getting prepared for floods visit Ready.gov or m.fema.gov.
HOW TO: Rescue people from a flood
Photo: RNLI
RNLI volunteers rescue survivors from the flooded town of Cockermouth in northwest England in November 2009
JOHANNESBURG, 31 January 2011 (IRIN) - Imagine you and your family are camped out on the second floor of your house watching floodwaters rising steadily towards your bedroom window. It is too late to evacuate; your only hope is for someone to come and rescue you.
But rescuing people from a flood is not as simple as dispatching a boat or a chopper. It takes high levels of training and coordination for rescue teams to bring survivors to safety without endangering themselves. Here is how they do it.
The training
There are two basic types of floods: those that occur gradually, such as the recent flooding in Australia, allowing communities time to move to higher ground; and flash floods that may happen with little or no warning, like those that caused significant loss of life in Brazil in mid-January. It is flash floods that usually present the greatest risks and challenges to rescuers.
Anyone involved in flood rescue should have training in first aid and how to operate a radio, but many are also certified in Swiftwater Rescue. Hugh Fogarty, who heads the flood rescue team of UK charity, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), explained that the first thing individuals learn during Swiftwater Rescue training is hydrology, or "how water behaves when it's moving very quickly through a confined channel". This includes learning how to read the surface of the water for clues about the location of hidden obstacles like cars and concrete posts that could capsize your boat.
Next, trainees learn how to keep themselves safe through skills such as "defensive swimming" and precautions like using a pole to check for open manholes when wading through floodwater. Working as a team can also decrease risk: one member of a team may be deployed upstream to warn teammates of large debris being swept towards them while two more may be stationed downstream with ropes in case someone falls into the water.
Rescuers also need to know how to handle a boat in fast-moving water. According to Julie Ryan, a volunteer with British NGO the International Rescue Corps (IRC), there are ways to angle a boat so it is not fighting the current.
The kit
Preparedness kits issued to Red Cross volunteers doing flood rescue in Mozambique include whistles and a megaphone to communicate with survivors, ropes for pulling them to safety and extra life jackets and rain gear to keep them safe and dry. The kits also contain lanterns and flares, and radios for staying in touch with HQ.
Assessing the situation
Before dispatching rescue teams, you need to know where to send them. Large expanses of floodwaters can mask landmarks leaving unprepared rescuers disoriented and unable to locate survivors. Air reconnaissance can be helpful for building a picture of what is happening on the ground, but is not always available.
|We wouldn't just ride round and look for people. We'd know where we were going and what we were looking for
Rescuers have training in how to read the contours of a map to work out which areas would be flooded, but also rely on local knowledge to guide a search. Organizations like the Red Cross and the IRC have networks of local volunteers who may know how many people are marooned in a particular farm, village or street. Where cell phone technology is available, survivors themselves may alert emergency services of their location.
"We wouldn't just ride round and look for people," said Ryan of the IRC. "We'd know where we were going and what we were looking for."
Information about particular risks associated with a flood situation is also helpful. Ryan recalled that during a November 2009 mission to rescue people from the flooded town of Cockermouth in northwestern England, police informed them that the rapidly flowing water had emptied a scaffolding yard and they should watch out for the heavy metal poles.
The rescue
Getting survivors from dry land onto a boat is relatively simple, but rescuing them from the second floor of a building surrounded by rushing water presents more of a challenge. In such situations, a second boat may be sent slightly upstream to create an eddy that holds the first boat in place against the side of the building while people are loaded into it.
|Read more
|How To: Rescue people trapped in a collapsed building
|How To: Track the scent of life
|How To: Do a food airdrop
As most rescue boats can only accommodate three or four people at a time, rescuers prioritize the injured, the young and the elderly and often have to make several trips to bring everyone to safety.
If, despite all precautions, someone does fall into the water, a spotter on the boat would try to keep them in sight for as long as possible. "The worst scenario is they just disappear and you're unable to locate them," said Ryan. "But you'd hope they'd manage to find somewhere to hold on until you catch up to them."
Once everyone is on dry land, rescue teams hand over to relief agencies to feed and shelter survivors and begin the long process of restoring areas covered in mud and debris.
Flood Water After a Disaster or Emergency
When returning to your home after a hurricane or flood, be aware that flood water may contain sewage. Protect yourself and your family by following these steps:
Inside the Home
- Keep children and pets out of the affected area until cleanup has been completed.
- Wear rubber boots, rubber gloves, and goggles during cleanup of affected area.
- Remove and discard items that cannot be washed and disinfected (such as, mattresses, carpeting, carpet padding, rugs, upholstered furniture, cosmetics, stuffed animals, baby toys, pillows, foam-rubber items, books, wall coverings, and most paper products).
- Remove and discard drywall and insulation that has been contaminated with sewage or flood waters.
- Thoroughly clean all hard surfaces (such as flooring, concrete, molding, wood and metal furniture, countertops, appliances, sinks, and other plumbing fixtures) with hot water and laundry or dish detergent.
- Help the drying process by using fans, air conditioning units, and dehumidifiers.
- After completing the cleanup, wash your hands with soap and warm water. Use water that has been boiled for 1 minute (allow the water to cool before washing your hands).
- Or you may use water that has been disinfected for personal hygiene use (solution of ⅛ teaspoon [~0.75 milliliters] of household bleach per 1 gallon of water). Let it stand for 30 minutes. If the water is cloudy, use a solution of ¼ teaspoon (~1.5 milliliters) of household bleach per 1 gallon of water.
- Wash all clothes worn during the cleanup in hot water and detergent. These clothes should be washed separately from uncontaminated clothes and linens.
- Wash clothes contaminated with flood or sewage water in hot water and detergent. It is recommended that a laundromat be used for washing large quantities of clothes and linens until your onsite waste-water system has been professionally inspected and serviced.
- Seek immediate medical attention if you become injured or ill.
See also Reentering Your Flooded Home, Mold After a Disaster, and Cleaning and Sanitizing With Bleach After an Emergency.
Outside the Home
- Keep children and pets out of the affected area until cleanup has been completed.
- Wear rubber boots, rubber gloves, and goggles during cleanup of affected area.
- Have your onsite waste-water system professionally inspected and serviced if you suspect damage.
- Wash all clothes worn during the cleanup in hot water and detergent. These clothes should be washed separately from uncontaminated clothes and linens.
- After completing the cleanup, wash your hands with soap and warm water. Use water that has been boiled for 1 minute (allow the water to cool before washing your hands).
- Or you may use water that has been disinfected for personal hygiene use (solution of ⅛ teaspoon [~0.75 milliliters] of household bleach per 1 gallon of water). Let it stand for 30 minutes. If the water is cloudy, use solution of ¼ teaspoon (~1.5 milliliters) of household bleach per 1 gallon of water.
- Seek immediate medical attention if you become injured or ill.
Health Risks
Flood waters and standing waters pose various risks, including infectious diseases, chemical hazards, and injuries.
Infectious Diseases
Diarrheal Diseases
Eating or drinking anything contaminated by flood water can cause diarrheal disease. To protect yourself and your family,
- Practice good hygiene (handwashing) after contact with flood waters.
- Do not allow children to play in flood water areas.
- Wash children's hands frequently (always before meals).
- Do not allow children to play with toys that have been contaminated by flood water and have not been disinfected.
For information on disinfecting certain nonporous toys, visit CDC Healthy Water's Cleaning and Sanitizing with Bleach section.
Wound Infections
Open wounds and rashes exposed to flood waters can become infected. To protect yourself and your family,
- Avoid exposure to flood waters if you have an open wound.
- Cover open wounds with a waterproof bandage.
- Keep open wounds as clean as possible by washing well with soap and clean water.
- If a wound develops redness, swelling, or drainage, seek immediate medical attention.
For more information, visit CDC's Emergency Wound Care After a Natural Disaster.
Chemical Hazards
Be aware of potential chemical hazards during floods. Flood waters may have moved hazardous chemical containers of solvents or other industrial chemicals from their normal storage places.
Flood water poses drowning risks for everyone, regardless of their ability to swim. Swiftly moving shallow water can be deadly, and even shallow standing water can be dangerous for small children.
Vehicles do not provide adequate protection from flood waters. They can be swept away or may stall in moving water.
Animal and Insect Bites
Flood waters can displace animals, insects, and reptiles. To protect yourself and your family, be alert and avoid contact.
- Protect Yourself from Animal- and Insect-Related Hazards After A Disaster (CDC)
- Wildlife in Disasters (Federal Emergency Management Agency - FEMA)
Electrical Hazards
Avoid downed power lines.
Flood waters may contain sharp objects, such as glass or metal fragments, that can cause injury and lead to infection.
Top of Page
Resources and Guidance
- After a Flood (CDC, FEMA)
- Prevent Illness and Injuries After Flooding (CDC)
Flood Preparedness
Information Sheets
Please note that the PDF files below require Adobe Reader and should be printed on legal size paper (8.5" x 14"). Download Adobe Reader for free here.
Flood Safety:
|(English pdf | Spanish pdf | Vietnamese pdf)
Returning Home after a Hurricane or Flood:
|(English pdf | Spanish pdf | Vietnamese pdf)
As our area experiences flooding and flash flooding, it is best to keep these things in mind:
What to Do During a Flood WARNING
When a flood or flash flood WARNING is issued:
- Listen continuously to a NOAA Weather Radio, or a portable, batterypowered radio (or television) for updated emergency information. Local stations provide you with the best advice for your particular situation.
- Be alert to signs of flooding. A WARNING means a flood is imminent or is happening in the area.
- If you live in a flood-prone area or think you are at risk, evacuate immediately. Move quickly to higher ground. --Save yourself, not your belongings. The most important thing is your safety.
- Follow the instructions and advice of local authorities. Local authorities are the most informed about affected areas. They are best equipped to tell you which areas are most heavily flooded or flash flooded and which areas you should avoid.
- If advised to evacuate, do so immediately. Move to a safe area before access is cut off by flood water. Evacuation is much simpler and safer before flood waters become too deep for vehicles to drive through.
- Follow recommended evacuation routes. Shortcuts or alternate, non-recommended routes may be blocked or damaged by flood waters.
- Leave early enough to avoid being marooned by flooded roads. Delaying too long may allow all escape routes to become blocked.
Flood Safety
- Stay out of areas subject to flooding. Dips, low spots, canyons, washes, etc., can become filled with water.
If outdoors, climb to high ground and stay there. Move away from dangerous flood waters.
- If you come upon a flowing stream where water is above your ankles, stop, turn around, and go another way. Never try to walk, swim, or drive through such swift water. Most flood fatalities are caused by people attempting to drive through water, or people playing in high water. If it is moving swiftly, even water six inches deep can sweep you off your feet.
What to Do if You Are Driving During a Flood
Avoid already flooded areas, and areas subject to sudden flooding. Do not attempt to cross flowing streams. Most flood fatalities are caused by people attempting to drive through water, or people playing in high water. The depth of water is not always obvious. The roadbed may be washed out under the water, and you could be stranded or trapped. Rapidly rising water may stall the engine, engulf the vehicle and its occupants, and sweep them away. Look out for flooding at highway dips, bridges, and low areas. Two feet of water will carry away most automobiles.
If you are driving and come upon rapidly rising waters, turn around and find another route. Move to higher ground away from rivers, streams, creeks, and storm drains. If your route is blocked by flood waters or barricades, find another route. Barricades are put up by local officials to protect people from unsafe roads. Driving around them can be a serious risk.
If your vehicle becomes surrounded by water or the engine stalls, and if you can safely get out, abandon your vehicle immediately and climb to higher ground. Many deaths have resulted from attempts to move stalled vehicles. When a vehicle stalls in the water, the water's momentum is transferred to the car. The lateral force of a foot of water moving at 10 miles per hour is about 500 pounds on the average automobile. The greatest effect is buoyancy--for every foot that water rises up the side of a car, it displaces 1,500 pounds of the car's weight. So, two feet of water moving at 10 miles per hour will float virtually any car. Many persons have been swept away by flood waters upon leaving their vehicles, which are later found without much damage. Use caution when abandoning your vehicle, and look for an opportunity to move away quickly and safely to higher ground.
What to Do After a Flood or Flash Flood
- Seek necessary medical care at the nearest hospital or clinic. Contaminated flood waters lead to a greater possibility of infection. Severe injuries will require medical attention.
Help a neighbor who may require special assistance--infants, elderly people, and people with disabilities. Elderly people and people with disabilities may require additional assistance. People who care for them or who have large families may need additional assistance in emergency situations.
Avoid disaster areas. Your presence might hamper rescue and other emergency operations, and put you at further risk from the residual effects of floods, such as contaminated waters, crumbled roads, landslides, mudflows, and other hazards.
Continue to listen to a NOAA Weather Radio or local radio or television stations and return home only when authorities indicate it is safe to do so. Flood dangers do not end when the water begins to recede; there may be flood related hazards within your community, which you could hear about from local broadcasts.
Stay out of any building if flood waters remain around the building. Flood waters often undermine foundations, causing sinking, floors can crack or break and buildings can collapse.
Avoid entering ANY building (home, business, or other) before local officials have said it is safe to do so. Buildings may have hidden damage that makes them unsafe. Gas leaks or electric or waterline damage can create additional problems.
Report broken utility lines to the appropriate authorities. Reporting potential hazards will get the utilities turned off as quickly as possible, preventing further hazard and injury. Check with your utility company now about where broken lines should be reported.
Avoid smoking inside buildings. Smoking in confined areas can cause fires.
When entering buildings, use extreme caution. Building damage may have occurred where you least expect it. Watch carefully every step you take.
Wear sturdy shoes. The most common injury following a disaster is cut feet.
- Use battery-powered lanterns or flashlights when examining buildings. Battery-powered lighting is the safest and easiest, preventing fire hazard for the user, occupants, and building.
- Examine walls, floors, doors, staircases, and windows to make sure that the building is not in danger of collapsing. Inspect foundations for cracks or other damage. Cracks and damage to a foundation can render a building uninhabitable.
- Look for fire hazards. There may be broken or leaking gas lines, flooded electrical circuits, or submerged furnaces or electrical appliances. Flammable or explosive materials may travel from upstream. Fire is the most frequent hazard following floods.
Check for gas leaks. If you smell gas or hear a blowing or hissing noise, open a window and quickly leave the building. Turn off the gas at the outside main valve if you can and call the gas company from a neighbor's home. If you turn off the gas for any reason, it must be turned back on by a professional.
Look for electrical system damage. If you see sparks or broken or frayed wires, or if you smell burning insulation, turn off the electricity at the main fuse box or circuit breaker. If you have to step in water to get to the fuse box or circuit breaker, call an electrician first for advice. Electrical equipment should be checked and dried before being returned to service.
Check for sewage and waterline damage. If you suspect sewage lines are damaged, avoid using the toilets and call a plumber. If water pipes are damaged, contact the water company and avoid using water from the tap. You can obtain safe water from undamaged water heaters or by melting ice cubes.
Watch out for animals, especially poisonous snakes, that may have come into buildings with the flood waters. Use a stick to poke through debris. Flood waters flush snakes and many animals out of their homes.
Watch for loose plaster, drywall, and ceilings that could fall. Take pictures of the damage, both of the building and its contents, for insurance claims.
After returning home:
Throw away food that has come in contact with flood waters. Some canned foods may be salvageable. If the cans are dented or damaged, throw them away. Food contaminated by flood waters can cause severe infections.
If water is of questionable purity, boil or add bleach, and distill drinking water before using. Wells inundated by flood waters should be pumped out and the water tested for purity before drinking. If in doubt, call your local public health authority. Ill health effects often occur when people drink water contaminated with bacteria and germs.
Pump out flooded basements gradually (about one-third of the water per day) to avoid structural damage. If the water is pumped completely in a short period of time, pressure from water-saturated soil on the outside could cause basement walls to collapse.
Service damaged septic tanks, cesspools, pits, and leaching systems as soon as possible. Damaged sewage systems are health hazards.
For information on Flood Warnings and current weather information, please visit The National Weather Service Forecast Office for New Orleans/Baton Rouge, LA.
Friday, April 8, 2011
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Abdulla credits IPL for career boost
Only in the infant stages of his international career, South African left-arm fast bowler Yusuf Abdulla has praised the IPL as a great launch pad. Abdulla, who made his Twenty 20 debut against Australia earlier this year, was rewarded for his outstanding performances in the domestic tournament and for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL with a call-up for the World Twenty20 beginning on June 5 in England.
"I believe in learning wherever I go and the IPL is a good learning curve," he told SuperCricket. "It would have been hard to make a squad of 15 otherwise; the IPL has helped, it has shown I'm capable of performing at a higher level.
"I was very excited when I heard I had been chosen for the Twenty20 World Cup and it's definitely still sinking in. It's a big achievement for me and I can only think the selectors were looking at me in the IPL because I have not played much international cricket, basically just my debut."
Abdulla, 26, is currently the IPL's joint second highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets in nine matches. He was called up after West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor was ruled out with injury. Punjab owner Ness Wadia cited Abdulla's knowledge of his home ground Kingsmead - where the team play six games - as "critical" to success in the IPL's second season.
After two average games, Abdulla notched up figures of 4 for 31 against Royal Challengers Bangalore, among them the wickets of Kevin Pietersen and Jacques Kallis. His return of 3 for 21 against the Rajasthan Royals made him one of the top five leading wicket-takers in the tournament.
Abdulla said support from his seniors helped him ease into a team of superstars. "The IPL is a big world event and there are a lot of international stars playing, so the level is very high. There were a bit of nerves before my first game," he said. "I've learnt to back myself and the team has really backed me as well. Yuvraj [Singh] is a heck of a good guy and all the stars have been very welcoming. It's great to have players like that around because it has made it much easier for me. I can rely on their advice and experience.
"It's been a big step and it hasn't been easy because the margin for error at this level is very small."


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From Wikipedia
Millennium Interactive was a Cambridge-based computer games developer responsible for titles such as Rome: Pathway to Power, The Adventures of Robin Hood, James Pond, Defcon 5, Deadline and most notably, Creatures.
In July 1997 they were sold to Sony Computer Entertainment. This allowed Sony to acquire MediEvil, then in development by Millennium. However, the Creatures series remained with the original developers spun out as Cyberlife Technology Ltd.
Admin Note:
Millennium Interactive, Ltd. was sold on July 4 1997 to Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) and renamed to SCE Studio Cambridge.


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Gasoline prices are influenced by a multitude of factors. Crude oil prices, the major component of gasoline, are higher. World oil supply is tight due to record growth in world oil demand. With gasoline demand at record levels, U.S. refineries have responded by producing record amounts of gasoline. Most refineries are running at a 96% utilization rate, far exceeding the general industry average of about 82% (Hackworth & Shore, 2004). There has been no net increase in U.S. refining capacity for the past three years, and the last new U.S. refinery was built in 1976 (Parker, 2004). Currently, there are 149 U.S. refineries, a roughly 50 percent decrease from 1980 of more than 300 refineries (Parker, 2004). It is increasingly difficult to build new facilities to increase production due to economic, environmental and political considerations, environmental requirements, rates of return on investment, and the social opposition factor. The biggest factors of all are supply and demand.
This paper examines an article on how refineries have impacted the economic reasoning behind the change in supply, demand, and price of gasoline.
Insufficient Supply
The Law of Supply states that the quantity supplied rises as price rises and the quantity supplied falls as price falls. When the price of a good rises, inividuals and firms can rearrange their activities in order to supply more of that good to the market (Colander, 2004). Unfortunately, this is not always the case since there might not be room for more supply.
"With the United States consuming record amounts of gasoline, there's never been a more dire need to build new oil refineries," (Parker, 2004, p. 2). Nonetheless, refinery closures have occurred every year over the past two decades. Domestically, the U.S. refineries are producing at capacity and have no more room for an increase in...


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Emile Hirsch Likes Boss Black Fashion
Emile Hirsch and his girlfriend Brianna Domont hit the Boss Black fashion show during the 'Mercedes Benz Fashion Week' A/W 2009 at Botanischer Garten on Wednesday (January 28) in Berlin, Germany.
The 23-year-old actor can be seen in an upcoming movie called Taking Woodstock.
The film, based upon the book of the same name, follows the true life story of a closeted gay man hiding his orientation from his family, through the Stonewall Riots in New York City, which is seen by many as having started the modern Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender movement.
Taking Woodstock is scheduled to be released on August 14, 2009.


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A couple of years back, Kia enticed the automotive world with its sport-tastic GT4 Stinger concept. Almost 30 years ago, GM utterly befuddled everyone with the Pontiac Stinger concept, which featured, among other things, a pair of Dustbusters and a garden hose. A garden hose! Chevy, of course, offered the classic "stinger" hood on its second-generation Corvettes. And Mopar? Now Mopar has jumped into the venomous fray with a large yellow pickup.
If you were shopping for a new Ram and wanted a yellow example, you were limited to the Lone Star State–only Yellow Rose of Texas edition. But now, if a crew-cab Ram 1500's your bag and you have $43,340 burning a hole in your dungarees, the new limited-edition Stinger Yellow Ram 1500 Sport can be yours. Hitting Ram outlets right about now, the vespid-themed pickup is available as either a 4×4 or a 4×2, both carrying a 395-hp 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 backed by an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Four-wheel-drive models ride on 20-inch wheels, while RWD trucks get a set of baller-tastic 22s. Dual chrome-tipped pipes are part of the deal, as is the Challenger-esque vented sport hood. Inside, the black cabin features dark-chrome and yellow accents, including body-color stitching. Uconnect with navigation and a rear-view camera are also standard equipment.
- The Over $50K Club: The Most Expensive Pickup Trucks You Can Buy
- 2013 Ram 1500 Rumble Bee Concept
- Ram 1500 Full Coverage: News, Reviews, Photos, and More
Those who miss the old Rumble Bee of 2004–2005 are undoubtedly donning their vintage Dodge Boys jackets and scurrying off toward their local Ram dealer as you read this. If you hope to join them, you'd best get moving, too.


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International Journal of Analytical Chemistry
Volume 2013, Article ID 137279, 11 pages
Two Validated Spectrofluorometric Methods for Determination of Gemifloxacin Mesylate in Tablets and Human Plasma
1Department of Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt
2Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Najran University, P.O. Box 1988, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia
Received 12 February 2013; Revised 16 April 2013; Accepted 16 April 2013
Academic Editor: Hian Kee Lee
Copyright © 2013 Noha N. Atia et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Two new, sensitive, and selective spectrofluorometric methods were developed for the determination of gemifloxacin mesylate (GFX) in tablets and spiked human plasma. Method A was based on measurement of the enhanced fluorescence spectral behaviour of GFX in a sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) micellar system. In aqueous solution of acetate buffer pH 5.5, the fluorescence intensity of GFX was greatly enhanced about tenfold in the presence of SDS. The fluorescence intensity was measured at 402 nm after excitation at 274 nm. Method B was based on Hantzsch condensation reaction between the primary amino group of GFX with acetylacetone and formaldehyde in acetate buffer of pH 3.5 yielding a highly yellow fluorescent derivative. The reaction of GFX with acetylacetone-formaldehyde system solution resulted in bathochromic shift of both emission (476 nm) and excitation (420 nm) wavelengths. The fluorescence intensity was directly proportional to the concentration over the range 10–1000 ng/ml and 100–2000 ng/ml for method A and B, respectively. The proposed methods were applied successfully for determination of GFX in its tablets and spiked plasma. Therefore, these methods can be considered of real interest for reliable and practical quality control analysis of GFX.


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Tech blog Engadget has posted a video of a Samsung Nexus S allegedly purchased from eBay that appears to be running the highly anticipated Ice Cream Sandwich -- aka version 4 of Google's Android operating system.
The delicious sounding Ice Cream Sandwich will mark the unification of the two strands of the Android OS since Google began its tablet play with version 3.0 -- Honeycomb. Honeycomb was designed solely for tablet devices, while phones used the 2.3.x (Gingerbread) branch.
Interface tweaks visible in the video include a pop-open tray with access to standard Android apps like Google Maps, YouTube and Google Plus, what appears to be changed functionality for the home button and expanded shortcuts along the bottom of the display.


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A popular Chinese source has just revealed what is believed to be the press rendering of the #OnePlus mini smartphone. We're treated to images of both the back and the front.
The images, while convincing, could very well be the work of a fan, so we're taking them with a pinch of salt. In place of the front facing fingerprint scanner on the home button, the render shows a sensor placed on the back panel, much like we've seen from Huawei and a few other manufacturers.
There's not much to tell from the front portion of the smartphone apart from the fact that it perfectly mimics the OnePlus One. There are no hardware keys on the bottom bezel, so we're guessing the company will stick with capacitive keys like in the 2014 flagship. The USB Type-C port appears to be visible here along with speaker grills on either sides.
It is hoped that the company will spill details on this smartphone very soon. What do you make of these renders?
Source: Mobile Dad – Translated


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Our solar systems supply your external stations independently of the power supply network – even on short, dark winter days.
The solar systems supply enough energy to power, e.g., wireless modules, GSM modems, and distributed measuring sensors with 12 V and 24 V DC.
The solar system can be used in all distributed applications with low energy consumption:
Water and waste water management
Supply systems
Repeater applications
Additional areas of application include monitoring weather data in the mountains and controlling avalanche blasting systems.
Configure products and solutions for your individual application.Power supplies and UPS


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We are just a few days away from the Christmas Holidays. I've planned to take some time off and delight in the joy of my jammies and my studio for 11 straight days. Yippee !
Looking towards the new year, hey, did I say that? I've never in my entire life looked towards the new year but for some reason about 30 days or so ago, a switch flipped inside of me and things, life, people, jobs, my body, my work, my art have all shifted.
I'm looking forward to marketing my art. I'm letting go of the things, people, places, events that have been weighing me down. No I've not been in therapy. No I've not changed my drugs. No I've not been widowed or divorced. Something shifted.
I used to say I'm not a morning person. I used to get on the treadmill at night and I hated it, I dreaded it, I actually cried a few times while on the darned thing. One day (quite some time ago) a friend told me he runs early in the morning because then he gets it out of the way, it frees him up to do and think about other things during the day and he doesn't waste so much energy talking himself into running later when he'd rather be doing something else. Well I guess I filed this away somewhere in my brain because for some reason one morning I woke up at 5am, got out of bed and got on the treadmill. Didn't even have to think about it. Me, the 'NOT A MORNING PERSON" has been up and on the treadmill everyday for over a month now. Go figure.
I think the universe is smiling down on me. I think it has been all along but something within me was blocking the glow.
I very rarely post to this blog without also publishing an image. Image person that I am. But somehow today, all the words seemed "just enough".
Have a great day and drop me a line, I love hearing from you.


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Glucosamine is spread from glucose, a refined sugar complex and a polycrystalline aminic unpleasant called aminoalkanoic acid. In the human body, it is ordinarily incorporated into proteoglycansability thatability are supermolecule molecules thatability incorporate interminable bond of aldohexose molecules. These proteoglycanability molecules are serious even more in joints, muscles, tissues and spaces linking cells. They have a rugged force towards sea.
A lot of investigating has been and is beingness conducted on glucosamineability. In in general it has been saved thatability glucosamineability hampers the splintering hair of animal tissue and stimulatesability the conception of a new one. In wisdom researchesability on the effectivesability of glucose, its supplementsability and benefits have likewise been conducted.


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|chibirisuchan (chibirisuchan) wrote,
@ 2006-10-13 23:17:00
|Entry tags:
|ff7, fics
FFVII - Close Encounters (Zack/Reno, Seph/Tseng, PG-13, challenge fic)
Was going to write the next of the streetsigns series this weekend, except I looked at the calendar and went "oh yeah you've got three fics to write by the end of October, you should like go do those or something." So here's one of them...
Title: Close Encounters
Fandom: FFVII
Author: chibirisuchan
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: totally not mine; never even played it in fact...
Warnings: ...no smut? Should that be a warning around here? ^^;;
Pairings & prompt: Zack/Reno, Sephiroth/Tseng. An interdepartment mission turns into a double-date. [for animekittysama]
Round: 2
Neither of them quite flinched, when Zack swung Reno into a spin followed by a flashy backbend in the middle of the dance floor; they were both well experienced in not-flinching, after all. They'd both survived the upper levels of Shinra management for this long.
Still, that had to have hurt. It hadn't been that many hours earlier that a shotgun blast at point-blank range had nearly severed Zack's arm, and even though Cure materia stopped the bleeding and patched the holes, it usually took a while for the nerves themselves to recover from the sensory overload.
Reno had claimed that getting drunk always helped. Zack had been more than amenable to the suggestion. Sephiroth suspected that Zack's Mako levels, like his own, were far too high to allow drugs as simple as alcohol to affect his judgement enough to be that giddily making a show of himself on the dance floor with his more-human, more-drunk, and equally-enthusiastic dance partner. But coming that close to death tended to alter one's perceptions by itself, with or without the alcohol to assist.
On the other hand, Tseng, who'd taken a Bolt to the chest hard enough to stop his heart until Sephiroth had managed to counteract it -- Tseng didn't seem to feel the same compulsion to become intoxicated and embarrass himself and his unit after a near-death experience. Perhaps he was simply leaving an allotment for Reno. Reno, who hadn't come anywhere near as close to dying, usually took care of providing all the embarrassment Tseng's unit could withstand. ...And then he always added some more, because it was his nature to be unusually generous with humiliation.
Their subordinates suited each other, really, Sephiroth mused, sipping at the brandy that Zack had ordered for him without so much as a by-your-leave. They were both exuberant and impulsive and had learned enough evasive tactics to survive the inevitable explosions that surrounded the other -- and having them focused upon each other also spared the worst of their personality-whirlwinds from spilling over onto unsuspecting bystanders like their commanding officers.
Not innocent bystanders, necessarily -- no one lingered in a bar that had been descended upon by off-duty Turks and Soldiers after a bloody mission. That drastically lowered the number of innocent bystanders present for physical or mental trauma and the resulting lawsuits. But nearly anyone who did remain had a certain amount of unpreparedness about them, because there really was no preparation for the types of things that resulted from Zack and Reno in the same room as each other and alcohol all at the same time.
Once, when he'd been younger and more optimistic, Sephiroth had thought he'd grow accustomed to the kinds of events his second-in-command and Tseng's second-in-command could produce in conjunction. More recently, he'd come to terms with the fact that there really was no getting used to it, because it was never the same thing twice. Predictability might have led the bystanders to mount some sort of defense, after all.
He mentioned this theory to Tseng; the Turk's only response was a slight, amused quirk at the corner of the lips, but that was sufficient between the two of them.
It wouldn't have been sufficient for the others; Reno and Zack nagged, teased, and complained about their 'stonefaced' bosses, but, really, there was a distinction between stonefaced and understated. Tseng appreciated the distinction as much as Sephiroth did, and the almost-a-smile said as much as one of Reno's intoxicated ramblings, only much more clearly and concisely.
Time was valuable, especially time like this, when they were between missions and both relatively unencumbered by their positions and titles for a few hours. He had no intention of wasting this time.
Particularly since he was newly conscious of the fact that those around him were... uncomfortably fragile, at times. A brush with death didn't only affect the one who made the encounter.
"You should have let me take that hit," he murmured, because it was nothing but the unvarnished truth. Tseng, for all his lethal expertise and self-controlled poise, was still human. Human in a way that Sephiroth himself hadn't been for a long time, if ever.
"I must respectfully disagree, General."
Sephiroth glanced away from the flailing of their intoxicated subordinates long enough to see that Tseng was perfectly serious.
"Commander," he murmured, "I was there as bait. We both know it. I was there as bait precisely because I make a tempting target for the resistance, and because I can withstand most of what they throw at me. You should have let me take the hit."
"The Turks' duty is to protect Shinra's most valuable assets," Tseng replied, and took a sip of the steaming beverage in the tiny cup he held steady between thumb and forefinger. He hadn't been nearly as steady earlier, with nerves shorting from the lingering effects of the Bolt spell. "You are the third most valuable asset in the company, after the President and the Vice President. In their absence, it was our duty to protect you. I mean no slight to your prowess as a warrior, of course; but in the midst of cowards, traitors, and assassins, an unsullied blade marks a rare target, not a typical weapon of the field. The Turks are accustomed to working in the midst of politics and poison, treachery and murder and deceit-- this battlefield was mine, General, not yours."
"An ambush is an ambush for all on the field, regardless of who has claimed it their own," Sephiroth replied, studying the gold of the brandy he swirled lightly in its glass. "And being, as you have observed, the third in Shinra's chain of command -- I am more than familiar with politics, treachery, and deceit. The poison and murder are simply natural offshoots."
With a flash of hair bright as burning embers, Reno was wobbling in his tipsily effusive glee; he ground against Zack with a fake plastic rose between his teeth and a vinyl tablecloth wrapped around his hips, dancing something which resembled a rather sticky and hip-gyrating tango. Zack was nearly laughing too hard to stand, clutching at one of the ceiling posts with one hand and Reno's hips with the other, trying to keep them both upright and pressed fiercely together.
"Nevertheless," Tseng said, watching them dance with something a bit wistful in the darkness of his eyes. "I believe my course of action was correct."
The general in Sephiroth wished he could simply order the man to stand down. But the politician in him recognized when a debate could no longer be won with words -- and at times, the politician and the general agreed. If he could not order Tseng, he would simply need to ensure that the scenario never presented itself again.
He could order Zack to avoid such incidents, and had done so. On many occasions. And Zack's cheerfully selfless insubordination continued to place him 'accidentally' between too many weapons and his commander's body. But then, Zack was a Soldier, and unnaturally enhanced, and Tseng was not. Sephiroth was fairly confident that his reflexes could best any unmodified human, even one as well trained as the commander of the Turks.
It was, perhaps -- and the concession was bitter enough to require a mouthful of brandy to wash the sting away -- perhaps futile to task himself with seeing to it that Zack was kept unharmed throughout the thick of battles, when Zack's speed rivaled his own and Zack's stubbornness exceeded his by far. But Tseng he could handle. It was simply one more variable he could train himself to adjust for; from the vantage point of more-than-human reflexes, the unmodified were a step closer to chess pieces, easier to predict and to maneuver.
He would need a practice partner, though, to help him adjust; the new girl wasn't yet as swift as her commander, but she was fiercely devoted to her duty, and he suspected that she would apply herself diligently if he presented it in terms of helping him guard her commander...
"You're thinking too much," Tseng said, and Sephiroth blinked.
Tseng chuckled, softly, and refilled his own cup from the ceramic bottle beside him. "I've learned to brood less visibly," he said. "Otherwise, Reno decides I look sufficiently distracted to present an easy target. I believe yours may have acquired a similarly weighted targeting system, to judge by the number of times the rediscovery of the ad agency's chocobo mascot costume and the rigging of the elevator soundtrack to announce floors in warks overlapped with the times the President has assigned you something particularly ...unpalatable."
He made a slight salute with the cup he held, and drained it, and then added, "You might try to stop thinking so visibly, or else we may find ourselves dragged onto the dance floor 'for our own good' as well as for their entertainment."
Zack and Reno were leaning on each other, nose to nose, murmuring to each other; that in itself wouldn't have been suspicious, and even the giggles weren't court-admissible evidence, but the little glances they kept shooting toward the bar followed by the other one's wild attempts at redirecting the glances in combination with the giggles... well.
Sephiroth finished his brandy, and set the glass on the bar, and stood -- and then offered a hand to Tseng. "Shall we head them off at the pass, then?"
It was the first time he'd seen the man actually taken by surprise. Tseng wasn't even surprised in the middle of gunfights. He recovered admirably, though, quirking a brow and asking, "The best defense is a good offense, General?"
"You suggested that we need to be perceived as thinking less," Sephiroth replied. "This may be the least well-thought-out idea I've had for a long time."
When Tseng made a dry little sound of amusement, Sephiroth said, "No slight intended to yourself, of course -- it's simply that I can't quite believe I'm considering handing them the ammunition."
"That would make two of us, sir."
Gazing toward the dance floor, where a sudden explosion of half-muffled giggles had escaped the two schemers propped against the pole since they apparently couldn't stand under their own power any longer, Sephiroth added, "On the other hand, I'm fairly certain we can't do a worse job of dancing than they have."
"Also an excellent point." Tseng said. "Besides... sometimes it's tiring, being the predictable ones, isn't it." He stood and took Sephiroth's hand calmly, and didn't flinch at the thud when Reno lost his balance in shock and hit the floor like an alcohol-sodden sack of grain.
Zack didn't quite fall on top of him, but that might have been due to the fact that he fell mostly on top of a bar table instead. Both of them looked like their jaws were in danger of coming unhinged from the gawking.
There was a certain satisfaction to be had in being the one to surprise the pranksters, Sephiroth thought, putting his arm about Tseng's waist and nodding slightly as Tseng set his free hand to Sephiroth's shoulder. Reno wouldn't likely recognize formal ballroom dancing, but Zack's incredulous, knee-slapping howl of glee was not to be missed.
If he'd had a little more foresight, he might have waited to lead Tseng into a slow dance on a song with a better rhythm than Baby Rocks Down in Midgar. And a better melody. And better lyrics. ...And a better performance, while he was itemizing the faults of the bar's musical ambiance.
But then, this was a lesson in not thinking.
It seemed to be going fairly well so far. Assuming, of course, that Zack relearned how to breathe before he collapsed a lung, and that Reno hadn't actually knocked himself cold on the way to the floor...
..not thinking. Right. Not thinking at all.
As long as he was not thinking, Sephiroth decided he might as well make an utterly thoughtless event of it. He tilted Tseng's head back with a hand cupped to the nape of his neck, bent closer, and...
...yes, that beverage he'd been drinking was Wutain after all, that rice-based alcohol with the faintly floral taste.
The second thud meant that Zack had likely fallen onto the floor (or Reno) as well, but Sephiroth wasn't uncouth enough to pull away in order to look. Interdepartmental negotiations were to be handled with delicacy, after all.
And what to do about the fact that Tseng's hands had twined about his shoulders and woven themselves through his hair and Tseng was kissing back somewhat heatedly -- that decision would be saved for later, when thinking was permissible again. Right at the moment, he was still savoring the fruits of thoughtlessness.


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Designed by US-based architectural practice Form4 Architecture as an entry for the 2013 Taichung City Cultural Center International Competition, the Luminous Moon-Gate is a sustainable complex that aims to be a cultural landmark and energy-efficient beacon of activity for Taichung Gateway Park. The glass complex, positioned in a porous configuration that allows the landscape to penetrate its core, features a whole slew of state-of-the-art sustainable technologies.
The building is located in the Gateway District of Taichung Gateway Park and houses a library and museum in opposite volumes. The library is located in the horizontal oval space, while the museum takes up the vertical part of the complex. Each of the volumes marks axes that point visitors toward the park, with the library's major axis extending towards the city.
The complex's porous configuration allows for better ventilation and provides visitors with more freedom of movement. Low porosity materials provide better control over the buildings' water and heat retention, while under-slab ventilation is combined with filtration systems deployed throughout the interior to maintain steady temperatures. Large roof surfaces of the library and museum are populated with photovoltaic panels, and energy efficient lighting aids in cutting down electricity consumption.
The landscape undulates across the complex, allowing the park's plant life to integrate with the architecture, and depressions in the ground are used for rainwater collection. Additionally, the buildings feature recycled and recyclable materials and recyclable waste storage facilities. By incorporating several sustainable technologies, the Luminous Moon-Gate aims to become a beacon of cultural activity throughout the day, while acting as an ecological benchmark at the same time.