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Competitive advantage from IT
Andrew McAfee is a professor at the Harvard Business School, and he writes some interesting things in his blog about his research and thoughts on the new dynamics of the enterprise. In his latest blog entry, he talked about some of the research behind a new paper he co-authored about how IT is a driver of competition among companies in the same industry. That blog entry and that paper are what got my thoughts going.
A talk on innovation from TED
We are painting the house this week which means I probably will not have time to make a full entry. However I do want to offer you one piece of content to perhaps inspire you and your creativity. In case you don't know what TED is, imagine a place for lots of smart people get together and share their ideas. These ideas are not just the obvious but offer new perspectives on a lot of different subjects. They have started releasing presentations made for TED online, and many of them are quite powerful.
Evaluating ideas
One of the things that comes up in tech transfer and in IT all the time is whether something is a good idea or whether it is truly innovative. A podcast I listen to is called "Killer Innovations" from Phil McKinney, and his podcast focuses on an innovation process he has developed over the years. One of the steps in the process he uses involves asking a lot of tough questions about the idea on the table. He has created a set of questions that he uses at HP, and I think the same thing can be done for IT. If an idea does not seem to hold up under the questions, then obviously it needs more work. With a little brainstorming, I came up with these questions.
- What user complaint or obstacle does this idea address?
- What are the obvious benefits to users who adopt this idea?
- What pain that users don't know about will this idea address?
- What benefits does this option offer over other solutions?
- What changes will this solution require in user behavior to be considered successful?
- What impact does this solution have on other systems?
- How will this solution increase revenue or decrease costs?
- What organizational goal is this solution going to help accomplish?
These are just a few when you are trying to examine innovative ideas for internal IT services. Thinking about your ideas with these questions will help you understand the real benefits and issues that may face your solution. If you think about these things before you start talking to others in your organization about the idea, you will have the answers to questions that they are likely to ask.
Rapid site development - Drupal style
If you haven't heard of Drupal, you probably don't deal much with web development. Drupal is the rising star in the open source field with an ever-growing installed base as a very powerful content management system (CMS). Drupal is a website content management system that really allows you to rapidly create a prototype for your innovative web idea. How does it do that? A very active community with hundreds of modules for about every functionality you can imagine.
A couple years ago, my wife and I had an idea for a website community centered around women who play games - computer games, board games, card games, role-playing games, etc. We kind of had an idea for what we wanted the site to do, but we were not really certain of all the details. In the course of investigating the CMS options out there, I came across a product I had not encountered before in Drupal.
After installing Drupal, we would often have conversations like this:
"What do you think about having users vote on whether content appears on the home page?"
"Sounds great. Let me check the Drupal site for a module."
"Hey, there's a module for that, and I just spent five minutes downloading and installing it."
"Wow, I just took a bit of time to play with it a bit, and that does exactly what we want."
The same conversation happened for a user points system, for personal messaging, for blog support, and on and on. The bulk of the work ended up being in design with configuration tweaking somewhat less time. In other words, we were able to focus on the capabilities we wanted and quickly try out existing modules to see if they met our needs.
Out of the box, Drupal supports a lot of different things, and it really lets you build a website quickly and easily. If your website is primarily static content, you can spend your time working on the content. If your website is primarily functionality, you can spend your time searching the community for modules or writing your own. Being written in PHP with a MySQL or PostgreSQL database (though the latter might have some issues in some modules), it is a pretty standard open source development environment. Unlike a lot of commercial products out there, that means Drupal can get you up and running really quickly while providing limitless capabilities to customize the functionality your site provides. As a tool, Drupal both enables rapid prototype development for innovative ideas without forcing you to start over when you decide to take the next step.
Just in case you aren't sold yet on at least looking into Drupal for developing your new site, maybe you'll be sold by the fact that some very busy and popular sites use it for their content management system.
Innovation lessons from Blizzard
Colin Stewart at the Orange County Register has compiled eleven lessons that Blizzard has learned by being innovative with its products. In case you have not heard of them, Blizzard is the company that has created a number of the best selling computer games in the last 10 years including World of Warcraft. The article itself has a couple inaccuracies in terms of Blizzard's and computer gaming history, but it has some useful points. Read the article if you'd like to see them all, but there are a couple that particularly stood out for me.
The importance of frequent failures
Larger organizations with a lot of cash on hand have a bit more flexibility, but smaller organizations can still take a grain of truth away from this. The point is that if you are trying to be really innovative, not every idea is going to pan out. As long as you learn something though, the investment of money and time is not wasted. In smaller organizations, following an iterative approach is one way to take risks without investing too much in a single idea all at once. The next concept addresses that.
Move quickly, in pieces
Blizzard uses a prototyping development approach that allows them to be flexible in the features they add to World of Warcraft. They develop the features that users ask for rather than doing long, full waterfall-style development cycles that include extended requirements gathering and project planning. That does not mean though that you can just fly by the seat of your pants. You just do shorter term planning that can be implemented in weeks rather than months or years.
Demand excellence or you'll get mediocrity
In a way, you have to trust the work ethic and skills of your team a lot more when you don't use the full software development life cycle. There is a lot more judgment that needs to happen in a rapid development in terms of priorities and specific tasks. The concept of excellence also applies to the end product. If your end result is not excellent, then you really did not gain much from your innovation other than time. While time can be useful, it does not mean much in the IT field because so many things are imitable given enough time.
Offer employees something extra
Part of Blizzard's success comes from getting its employees excited about their work. While there are many IT jobs that are not perceived to be as glamorous as being a game programmer, there are still things that you can do to motivate your employees. IT workers are in a very intellectual field, and if you can give them an opportunity to flex their brain power, you can often get real excitement out of them. That is why I am putting an innovation budget into my budgets this year. By offering an opportunity for my staff to be really creative, I think they will be even more excited about their work than they would be normally.
Ideating the innovation matrix
Forgive the title, but I guess I was feeling a bit inspired by the IBM commercials that depict companies deciding they need to innovate more but having really poor ways of going about it. That's a bit how I feel at the moment, likely due to a long day of walking the streets and buildings of Chicago. One way to get inspired for innovation is to look for innovative ideas around you. Here are a couple things I encountered today that I found particularly interesting, perhaps not necessarily innovative.
foodlife - foodlife is a set of restaurants that are gated off from the rest of the stores at Water Tower, a massive shopping center on the Magnificent Mile. They market themselves as "not a food court" and offer a variety of food styles at counters spread around the middle - Chinese, pasta, pizza, Tex-Mex, Thai, and one called "Comfort Food" are among the options. When you are seated, you are given a magnetic swipe card. When you get a food from one of the various counters, you give them your swipe card rather than paying. Once you are done eating, you leave and have your cards read to determine your amount due. This could be potentially innovative if all of the main dishes you could order did not cost as much as a whole serving. They try to inspire you to try all sorts of different foods, but even trying two would likely run you over $15 and get you tons of leftovers. In other words, it's a food court that is marketed to not be a food court. While I give the marketing a good grade, they didn't fool me. The only benefit is for people to avoid having to pay every single food court restaurant individually.
iPod skin kiosk - Since I do not frequent shopping malls more than a few times a year, it is possible I just missed this one before now. While wandering around, we came across a kiosk selling skins for iPods of all sorts - Nanos, Videos, Touches, everything. Not counting the likely high rent costs, this was a pretty good implementation of an impulse purchase offering. The packaging was completely white with the exception of the skin to avoid distracting from the design. I can't imagine the production and packaging costs are very high which means they probably have pretty high margins for capitalizing on the success of another company's product. The most interesting thing though? While paying for my impulse purchases (yes, I couldn't resist giving my iPod a new look), I noticed an IM window that seemed to be a discussion with other iPod skin kiosks at other malls in the Chicago area. There were congratulations being passed back and forth, but I could not tell what they were for. Kiosk work is pretty lonely from the few people I have known who have done it, so making IM available to at least communicate with other locations could be both motivating and a potentially prevent boredom.
In the end though, marketing is really what took these two seemingly obvious ideas and turned them into something immensely popular. Even the glorified food court was extremely busy well after 1:30 in the afternoon. Isn't that what IBM is trying to do with regard to innovation? Instead of talking about how to innovate, the trick is to just do it. Truly innovative ideas come from the people in the trenches whether they know they are being creative or not. One of the best ways I have found to get the process going is to ask a simple question: "What's the biggest headache of your job these days?" A simple question that can lead to a lot of discussion and eventually some creative IT-driven solutions.
IT management in higher education
With about a year to go on my Master's in MIS degree, I have started to plan my thesis. While I was thinking one morning about Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory for human resource management, I began to think about whether there were things that IT managers can do to impact their relationship with organizational leaders in terms of satisfaction and innovation. For example, if the email system is consistently off-line or is buggy, management is likely to be dissatisfied with how their IT services are operating and are unlikely to give funding and support for projects that do not directly address that issue. For my thesis, I have decided to take this concept and build a set of guidelines for IT leaders and organizational leaders. To narrow the research, I decided to focus my thesis on higher education.
While doing a literature search for coverage of the topic, I came across an study from EDUCAUSE, an organization focused on IT in higher education. The study was a snapshot of IT leadership in higher education published in 2004, so it is pretty current as far as academic research is concerned. Some of the significant parts of the study covered innovation and IT effectiveness within higher education, and so it has several insights useful for my thesis and for my career. Perhaps the most interesting is that IT leaders feel that the components necessary for innovation, such as transformational leadership, are in place, but they feel that there is little innovation that receives support.
I can see where there might be a possible explanation for this disconnect between having an innovative environment and being able to be innovative with higher education IT management. The reason might be from a difference of opinion of what innovation actually means. To most IT workers who are interested in innovation such as myself, innovation is the "fun" side of IT management where we come up with ideas and systems using new technologies that impact the operations of the organization we support. However in an organization that is far behind on the scale of adopter categories, basic services such as share calendaring for staff or high capacity data storage for researchers could potentially be innovative. Adopter categories are part of the Diffusion of Innovations theory by Everett Rogers. For an organization that is not at the front of the adopter category curve, improving basic teaching support systems may be the type of innovation they need rather than implementing a high-end SAN to support the terabytes of data generated from research.
So while it is possible to elicit the responses that determine whether an organization is conducive to innovation, the services that IT workers see as innovative may not be getting support and hence make them believe their organization does not support innovation. The organization is simply continuing with its normal pace of adopting innovations while IT workers feel like the environment is stagnant. This disconnect between the meaning of innovation might be the cause for the EDUCAUSE study's innovation issue, and perhaps I will find additional data to support my belief in my research.
Putting a process to innovation
Can you foster innovation by using a process, or are the concepts of "process" and "innovation" antithetical to each other? With innovation, you have to do a lot of thinking "outside the box," and processes can make thinking outside the box difficult or restrictive. The trick then is to define a process that helps move innovation along from idea to full implementation without being stifling. If you are struggling with getting your organization to accept innovative ideas or the concept of innovation driven by IT, it might be possible to get some buy-in by defining a process.
CIO magazine recently had an article about the innovation process used at Proctor & Gamble. P&G uses a process they call SIMPL which stands for Simplified Initiative Management and Product Launch (see chart). This process uses some of the concepts of the prototyping software development method where software is developed and implemented on an incremental and trial basis. Rather than spending a year on a new project developing requirements, planning the project, doing the work, and implementing the solution as a whole, the project is approached piecemeal.
In the SIMPL process, there are six main parts to the innovation process - Discover, Design, Qualify, Ready, Launch, and Leverage. These can be useful for any IT organization wanting to stay ahead of the curve rather than lagging behind the competition or their own IT peers. In the Discover stage, new opportunities and ideas are generated. At the same time, there might be some work to begin the creation of a pilot program to test out aspects of the idea. Developing and testing the pilot transitions the project from the Discover phase, through the Design phase, and into the Qualify phase. The Qualify phase is largely used to test out the pilot project to see whether it is actually capable of having an impact and whether it should be rolled out on a larger scale.
During every part of the project from Discovery to Qualification, the project may go back to a previous stage for more work, more idea development, or more testing. However, once the project has Qualified for being rolled out as a new initiative to the whole user base, it goes into the Ready phase. When the project is fully Ready, it goes into Launch mode on a larger scale. One key aspect for IT projects that the SIMPL method uses is Leveraging the project for other purposes. Especially with the growth of Web Services and Service-Oriented Architecture, it becomes possible to Leverage the innovation into new opportunities or for other innovations.
In the real world, it is important to be able to talk the talk that business leaders want to hear. Asking business leaders to allow IT to play a role in an organization's innovation can be difficult if IT has a historical role of providing basic services to keep the lights on. By setting a process, business leaders can have something to see how IT can provide product and service innovations. Not only can a process like SIMPL or non-waterfall IT project approach help when dealing with business, it also helps IT avoid sinking lots of money into bad projects.
The joys and risks of rapid technology adoption
Recently I was asked by a coworker if there was a way for him to do an online presentation involving a number of people spread around the country and maybe even a few in Europe. After a bit of thought, WebEx came to mind as a possible application to use since I had been in some seminars with it previously and had had good experiences. After sitting in on a couple demos and doing a trial run ourselves, we decided to give it a shot for the meeting. It worked so easily and so well, we decided to use it again for a follow-up meeting. By that point, the marketing person and I were convinced that this would be a good service for us to have that could be used for meetings like these, monthly marketing events, staff meetings, or even tech support. I contacted a sales rep, and we started discussing pricing. I've now recommended to the directors of the two departments I work with that we go ahead and get a contract.
That might seem like it took a bit of time, but that whole process actually spans the course of less than 3 weeks. The innovator in me really enjoys this type of idea that comes along, is easy to test out, and is easy to implement. The part of me that tries to be more thoughtful and spend more time doing analysis cringes a bit at moving this quickly.
Having these sorts of inspirations, innovations, and ideas come along that can quickly have a positive impact on your organization is really invigorating. It gives a fast sense of accomplishment, and it helps build your credibility for future projects that require the investment of resources. Building that trust from management is a key to getting budgetary and staffing support that goes beyond the basics of IT services like user machines and network infrastructure.
There are risks though to rapidly adopting technology change. For one, you risk going too fast for your users to adopt. Some users will adopt new technology quickly while others will only use it if they absolutely have to use it. There is also the risk that what seems like the obvious choice initially may not be the correct choice in the long run. Part of reducing risk is being able to do research rapidly while also being able to adapt to make a technology more usable.
Rapid technology adoption should follow a shorter cycle that is sometimes associated with agile software development. In agile software development models, development completely cycles in shorter time spans to incrementally build an application. Instead of designing, programming, testing, and implementing an application over the course of a year, the same cycle is done on portions of the application in increments that might be weeks long. Over time, the application is built and improved while getting continuous feedback from users on what should go into the next cycle's development. In the same way, new technologies can be tested and implemented in an organization to go from a small-scale implementation into something enterprise-wide.
Rapid technology adoption can be very valuable and effective, but it is never a decision that you should make and walk away. Rapid technology adoption requires review after initial implementation to make sure that the technology is being used effectively and appropriately before it is expanded further into the organization. To get some ideas on how to do rapid technology adoption wisely, reading up on agile software development is a good place to start.
Managing the IT and business relationship
Christopher Koch writes a blog for CIO magazine that usually has some good ideas in it. One part of a recent entry struck me, and I added my own input.
Think of information as food and think of the business as starving and think of IT as controlling who gets the food. Now you can see why there's so much emotion in the relationship [between IT and business in an organization].
- Koch's IT Strategy, Go Ape
I've been in a handful of small organizations and worked within IT in a variety of ways, and it can be difficult to rebuild a good relationship between IT and business when things have been sour. If information is the food of the apes in an organization, I can see where IT can improve the relationship by giving business better and more useful information. In my organization, management and users are always more impressed with access to new information or information presented in better ways than they are impressed with new technology alone. When IT pulls back into its corner and business's only experience with IT is when IT is snippy about a problem that business has caused or wants resolved, business sees IT has keeping things hidden and making it seem as though IT is somehow magical and not possible for business to understand. Being open with business while providing avenues to access information is what will win the hearts and minds of the people in the business side of an organization.
It's a rather basic view of how to do IT well, but I think it holds some wisdom for how to approach IT management.


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subset: commoncrawl


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A 14-year-old boy was one of two people arrested after two high value cars were stolen from outside a house in Preston.
Police say a Porsche Panamera and an Audi A5 S-Line convertible were taken at around 3am on Tuesday after a house in Lower Bank Road was burgled. Car keys and a wallet containing cash were taken.
The Porsche was later found abandoned at Alder Road on the Grange Estate. The white Audi, registration number MF63MVM, is still missing.
The boy and a 25-year-old man from Preston were both arrested and later released on bail.
DC Justin Singleton of Preston CID said: "I would urge anyone who may have seen the Porsche being driven at any point to contact us, as well as anyone who may have seen it being abandoned."
Anyone with information should contact 101.


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With Halloween less than a month away, I knew what I wanted to write about this month: Racist Halloween costumes. Even though I don't dress up and haven't since I was a kid, I understand that Halloween is really important to a lot of people. There have been a lot of articles about racist Asian costumes already, including this evergreen one by my esteemed 8Asians editor Moye, Top 8 most offensive Asian Halloween costumes. Of […] Continue »
Although we're nearing the end of the summer, I've only recently noticed this Simon Premium Outlets tv ad: "At Simon Premium Outlets®, there's always something new to discover. Check out our new Simon Premium Outlets commercial, and visit a property near you for shopping that's always worth the trip." I was wondering if maybe Simon had in mind targeting Asian Americans or Asian tourists looking for a good deal, or if this actress was casted […] Continue »
"Take home a piece of inner peace" is the slogan to Jizo and Chibi's jewelry lines. The Chibi jewelry line is representative of a "little one" that is energetic and expressive: it takes on the upside-down approach to life. Pictured above is the Chibi Charm Bracelet ($70.00), one of the simple forms of Chibi. For someone who is more childish at heart, the Chibi would be a better fit compared with the Jizo, which is […] Continue »
Some people like to make their phone cases look cool, but others like to spice up their lives a bit. For those that fall under the latter category, there's the Sriracha Hot Sauce iPhone Case ($18.00) Any fan of the famous rooster sauce would testify that any amount of it is good enough to make an okay dish great. Little did we know it would work with our phone's cases, too.
Spring is here, but that doesn't stop the weather from throwing in a few cold days here and there. A cold day calls for tea, so warm yourself up with this Green Tea Ring ($12.50). This bling is both cute and quirky, so show off a cheeky bit of warming style.
Ever wish you could wear your favorite food? Yeah, me neither but these cute miniature costume accessories might make you think twice. Check out the Half Stack of Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup ring, or even these Sub Sandwiches and Hamburger cufflinks. They are all 100% handmade and reasonably priced at around $15. Check out what other deliciously cute munchies you can add to your jewelry collection.
While more and more people are going paperless, there's no substitute for putting pen to paper. Of course, pens are permanent but smooth writing pencils are hard to come by. This Kuru Toga Mechanical Pencil ($16.50) is one such pencil that makes your writing experience on par with its inked brethren. Every time you put it to paper, the pencil automatically rotates the lead, ensuring an even angle at all times. It's a bit steep […] Continue »
Lettuce can be so mundane. So let us suggest a new way to chop them up. This Karate Chopper Salad Knife ($11.95) lets you show off your butt-kicking skills on your veggies, too. This salad knife will mince up your lettuce before you can yell HI-YA!
Secure your cash, cards, or ear buds in this crafty iPhone case. Simply slip your items in the ever-hungry smile and the soft silicone holds it in place giving you the freedom to grab it n go. The Feed Me case ($20) comes in black, grey, pink and orange and includes sticky eye decals to complete your mobile emoticon.
Who would have thought scraping off last night's dinner could look this cute? Leave it to the Japanese to combine beady eyes and an innocent smile to make anything "Kawaii" (translation: uber cute). Choose from Banana-, Apple-, or Onigiri-shaped kitchen and dish sponge ($3.25) to make cleaning just a little more fun.
Wristwatches have been in existence since the 1970s and one of the major brands we saw in this industry line was the G Shock by Casio. The first G Shock was invented by Kikuo Ibe, a Japanese engineer, and many versions of the G Shock watches all follow its standard of being tough and sturdy. The G Shock G8900A-7 ($110) is one of the many that emerged under the classic series. Its lighting and water […] Continue »
They don't make things like they used to… or do they? The Higo Knife ($60) by Miyamoto Manufacturing Co. has a story dating back to 1920. Originally developed by Tasaburo Murakami in 1894, this all purpose tool is still made with old-world craftsmanship and the longevity to prove its worth. The blade is forged white steel finished with a tsuchime (hand-hammered) technique. It's roughly 4.25" when closed and 7.75" open. The length and sleek profile […] Continue »


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A Laurel businessman pleaded guilty in federal court in Greenbelt to illegally leaving nine canisters of highly toxic chlorine gas in a business park off U.S. 1, the U.S. attorney's office announced.
Richard Fletcher, 46, faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, plus restitution for the cost of the cleanup, for violating the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act by failing to notify authorities of the dumping, prosecutors said Thursday.
None of about 200 pounds of chlorine gas escaped, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Prince George's County Fire Department disposed of the canisters, prosecutors said.
Fletcher left the canisters in the parking lot of the Laurel Business Center in June 1998 after his warehouse business was evicted, prosecutors said.


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Insurance and Forms
Insurance Information
What insurance do we accept?
• Cal-Optima
• Family PACT (can be qualified on-site)
• Medi-Cal
• Some private insurance (please call ahead for eligibility verification)
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Fees are based on a sliding scale determined by the patient's monthly income and number of dependents. We accept cash, all major credit cards, and in-state personal checks
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If you have Medi-Cal insurance, you can get free transportation to your Medi-Cal covered appointment.
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Please note that this is being offered by the health plans so Planned Parenthood is unable to arrange the transportation or answer questions about the service.


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New Year's Cookies
Ingredients2 h 40 m servings 84
- Adjust
- Metric
Directions{{model.addEditText}} Print
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, and nutmeg. Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Stir the yeast mixture, milk, and eggs into the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in the raisins. Cover and let rise for about 2 hours.
- Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- To prepare the glaze, mix the melted butter and 1 teaspoon warm water in a small bowl. Stir in the confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, cream, and vanilla.
- Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons into the hot oil. Cook 2 to 5 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and cool slightly. Dip each cookie into the glaze and set aside to completely cool.
- Note
- As an alternative to the glaze, the cookies may be rolled in sugar after they have cooled slightly.
Nutrition Facts
Per Serving: 84 calories; 2.1 14.6 1.9 10 65 Full nutrition
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ReviewsRead all reviews 8
10 Ratings
Just like my Oma used to make!
This recipe was alright but I don't think there is much of a chance of me making it again. I found it to be very sugary and simply didn't suit my taste. This is my opinion so don't take my wor...
This recipe was alright but I don't think there is much of a chance of me making it again. I found it to be very sugary and simply didn't suit my taste. This is my opinion so don't take my wor...
Just like my Oma used to make!
One of the best cookie recipes I have ever had in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!
Delicious!!I had never made these kind of cookies b4 so compared them 2 recipe my mom/sister use.Theirs calls 4 oil in dough so added 2 Tbsp soft marg.The nutmeg added a flavor that I haven't ta...
This looks a lot like what we duch eat on newyearseve! They're called "rozijnen bollen" or. "oliebollen". In english that is raisins bolls or oil bolls. We only use powderd suger over it. Nothin...
could you use chocolate chips instead of raisins??? cuz i dont have any i don't like them either :p
Tasted good fresh. Got dry by the next day!


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Ahmedabad, November 24, 2016: Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India's largest port developer organized a grand event in Delhi, themed "Partners in Progress", to felicitate key stakeholders for their stellar contributions to the impressive growth of Mundra Port.
The event was well attended, with around 200 attendees and dignitaries representing the Shipping, Manufacturing, Trading and EXIM community from the Delhi NCR region, gracing the occasion with their presence.
Mr. Ennarasu Karunesan – CEO, Mundra and Tuna Port, APSEZ, flagged off proceedings by welcoming the distinguished invitees and thanking them for their role in the sustained growth of Mundra port.
An Adani spokesperson shared notable milestones achieved by Mundra Port in its spectacular journey to becoming the largest private container port in India; and highlighted the state of the art infrastructure and connectivity to the North India hinterland that Mundra proffers to exporters and importers, further elucidating how this has provided an optimal and closer gateway on the West Coast of India, positively impacting trade and supply chains.
The panel comprised of luminaries like Capt. Ajay Kaura – President NISSA, Mr. Kamlesh Gupta – President, ACTO, Mr. Sachin Bhanushali – Gateway Rail, Ms. Poroma Rebello - APL, Mr. Manoj Myra - Sony India and Mr. Ennarasu Karunesan - CEO, Mundra Port, whose collective knowledge and experience was shared with the audience.
A panel discussion was hosted by Mr. Shahzad Athar, GM – Container Sales, on "How to increase container movement by Rail from Northern ICDs into Mundra Port", which was followed by awards ceremony to felicitate key stakeholders from various categories.
The event concluded with Mr. Houssam Haddad, Head – Operations, Mundra, thanking all guests for their steadfast support and soliciting co-operation in the future as well.


text:
New house. Low cost.
Are you single and moving into a studio apartment? If yes, don't you think moving in can cost so much? The cleaning, the renovation, the furniture and the installation. However, before you do so, make sure you know the checklist to cut down your expenses when moving into a new place
- Create a very detailed moving budget
The best way to save cost in anything is to have a budget. Exactly plan how much you're going to spend, and a breakdown of each item. Once you're done with this, you can start collecting quotation for the lowest price for each item.
- Don't hire movers.
If you have family members near to you, use them instead. Movers are efficient but if you're on a tight budget, this is not exactly the best move.
- Do DIY renovation
If your new place needs renovation (e.g., painting), we reckon you do this yourself. Not only it can slash your cost to more than half if you hire a contractor, it is also fun to do! Invite your friends and family members to be involved, and you will also create valuable moments.
- Don't pay for boxes
Buying boxes is a waste of money. Ask for unused boxes at the supermarket and convenient store, and you'll be able to get a whole lot of them.
- Move on a weekday
If you're going to rent a lorry and the driver, they usually charge extra during the weekend. So be smart and move on a weekday.
- Look for furniture and electrical appliances on sale
If you can purchase second hand items, its good. But if you can't look for furniture and electrical appliances that are on sale. For 11street year end sale, we have many items at shockingly cheap price from Courts! Here are some of the items:
Stockholm Canvas Birch Branch 40×30
Panasonic Fully Automated Top Load Washing Machine


text: One of the most common criticisms of spatially focused policing efforts (such as Problem-Oriented Policing, police 'crackdowns' or hotspots policing) is that crime will simply relocate to other times and places since the "root causes" of crime were not addressed. This phenomenon—called crime displacement—has important implications for many policing projects.By far, spatial displacement (movement of crime from a treatment area to an area nearby) is the form most commonly recognized. At the extreme, widespread displacement stands to undermine the effects of geographically focused policing actions. More often, however, research suggests that crime displacement is rarely total. On the other end of the displacement continuum is the phenomenon of 'diffusion of crime control benefits' (a term coined by Ron Clarke and David Weisburd in 1994). Diffusion occurs when reductions of crime (or other improvements) are achieved in areas that are close to crime prevention interventions, even though those areas were not actually targeted by the intervention itself.


text:
Apple CEO has announced a new desktop computer.
Apple CEO announced that the Corporation is preparing to release a desktop computer.
Tim cook noted that this market segment is of great importance. Fragments of the CEO of Apple leads portal Tech Crunch.
"Some people in the media raised the question of whether we remain committed to desktop computers. If there are any doubts about this, let me be very clear: we have in our road map are some amazing desktops in the future. This one does not have to worry," – wrote Tim cook.
However, from the statement of cook's unclear, will update if the company is line Mac Pro, iMac, or will release updates for both desktop computers.
"From a strategic point of view, we also focused on things where the software, hardware and services come together in a kind of magic Apple", – said the head of Apple.
"The desktop computer has a very important strategic significance for us. This is a unique product compared to a laptop, because you can store much more on a device that is big screens, the largest memory capacity, a greater variety of devices I / o and the highest performance. So there are many reasons why these computers are really important," said Tim cook.
At the end of the statement, cook said that Apple has plenty of other projects that he can't tell.
© 2016, z-news.link. All rights reserved.


text:
First of all, we would like to express our sincerest apologies for the delay you have experienced on your flight with us and for the inconvenience it may have caused you. Good on-time performance is important to us and we deeply regret delays like this.
While we will always strive to ensure that all of our flights depart according to schedule, unfortunately, due to the nature of the aviation industry, it is possible that delays may occur from time to time.
We will notify our guests about any flight delays and strive to keep them updated via text message or email provided at the time of booking.*
Please note that check-in closes 1 hour before the originally scheduled time of departure for all departures from the USA, Canada, and Tel Aviv, and 45 minutes before all other originally scheduled WOW air departures unless stated otherwise (according to your booking confirmation).
If you have an onward flight with us, in the same booking as the delayed flight, we will do our very best to move you to the next available flight with us.
If your flight was delayed and you think you might be eligible for financial compensation you can submit your claim online by logging in to My Booking using your 6-digit booking number.
Any compensation or associated costs incurred will be reimbursed to the extent required by any law which may apply. We recommend our guests to check if they have any travel insurance that may cover any related cost. For further information please see our customer service plan and conditions of carriage.
This notice only provides you with information on possible rights under the law; it gives you no contractual right to compensation.
*Travel Agency – if you have not received any update from us and you made your booking through a travel agency, please contact them for further information.
*Overview of passenger rights according to EC no.261/2004 (pdf)


text:
User talk:Edmontonenthusiast
Hello, Edmontonenthusiast! Welcome to Wikitravel.
To help get you started contributing, we've created a tips for new contributors page, full of helpful links about policies and guidelines and style, as well as some important information on copyleft and basic stuff like how to edit a page. If you need help, check out Wikitravel:Help, or post a message in the travellers' pub. Thank you for your enthusiastic work on Edmonton, and on Vancouver, Calgary and some other pages where I've seen your work. I admire your enthusiasm! JimDeLaHunt 02:50, 22 October 2008 (EDT)
Districts in Calgary
I saw you added some districts to Calgary#Understand. Please see the discussion in Talk:Calgary#Districts and Huge City?. I've removed that "Districts" section until there's a consensus on Talk. Please join the discussion there! Thank you, JimDeLaHunt 02:50, 22 October 2008 (EDT)
A thankyou
Thank you to Jim for being so helpful! I like how you called me 'enthusiastic' heh! You are so helpful! Edmontonenthusiast 19:11, 22 October 2008 (EDT)Edmontonenthusiast
Just a hint, you really really shouldn't be using capital letters as much as you do, it's the internet equivalent of shouting at someone (and not just like a HEY for catching the attention of someone), and most people (including me) find it to be rude. No, I'm not offended or anything, I'm pretty easy going :) But it's certainly not going to help you around here. Sertmann 21:38, 22 October 2008 (EDT)
Just a suggestion... your signature seems to be a bit goofy, it's adding your username twice... perhaps in your preferences you accidentally added your username again into one of the boxes? If you blank them, your signature will appear more normal, like this: Edmontonenthusiast 19:06, 22 October 2008 (EDT)
Or, you can also add in something under "real name" in your prefs, so if you put Edmonton Enthusiast it will come out as: Edmonton Enthusiast 19:06, 22 October 2008 (EDT)
Again, just a suggestion :) – cacahuate talk 21:09, 23 October 2008 (EDT)
Good luck
Ok, I think i got you started now, so I'm gonna take a step back and let you work your magic. You can still ask of course, just don't expect me to respond on the hour to your questions in the future, it may even take a day or something - I have huge piles of work awaiting, doing my own articles and janitorial work, and I pretty much spend the whole evening getting you set - good luck with your writing :) and i look forward to seeing some completed districts, good to have another enthusiastic user around. Sertmann 21:23, 23 October 2008 (EDT)
Work section
Hi there. To answer your question, I deleted the work section from the Edmonton article because the purpose of the section is to inform travellers of opportunities to make money while travelling, not to tell what kind of work is available for someone who might move there. The description in the article template says:
Since you pointed it out, I deleted part of the Work section in the Calgary article too. Notice that what I left though are a few thing a travellers could do.
By the way, I do appreciate your enthusiasm and all the hard work you are doing. I hope you don't get too frustrated with those of us editing your work. We are just trying to make it more consistent with the Wikitravel ideal. Keep up the good work. Texugo 03:53, 25 October 2008 (EDT)
Longmont, CO
I added some more to it. --184.108.40.206 00:23, 26 October 2008 (EDT)
Edmonton map and other general comments
Hey Edmonton, doing an overview map of Edmonton that shows its districts and major roads isn't a problem. But two things first -- 1. You need to define the boundaries of each district first and give me an idea of what the major roads are, and 2. It takes time! Probably about 2-3 weeks, possibly more since I'm very busy with work right now. I'll probably release a first cut without streets just to get something up and add the roads and transit later.
I just did a bit of work on Edmonton/Central and I'll try to drop by a couple of times a week to help out. You've made a great start on the district articles and your writing style is pretty good. A couple of things I noted are:
Anyway, keep up the effort. Edmonton looks a lot better already, but it's a huge project and will take some time. Shaund 20:25, 27 October 2008 (EDT)


text:
A Cultural Resources Survey of a Proposed Housing Development in Selma, Dallas County, Alabama
Author(s): Beverly S. Curry
Year: 1993
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded.
If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Cite this Record
A Cultural Resources Survey of a Proposed Housing Development in Selma, Dallas County, Alabama. Beverly S. Curry. 1993 ( tDAR id: 16911)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Investigation Types
Site Evaluation / Testing
Geographic Keywords
01047 (Fips Code) • Alabama (State / Territory) • ALABAMA RIVER DRAINAGE • Black Prairie • Coastal Plain • Dallas (County) • North America (Continent) • Selma • Southeast • United States of America (Country)
Spatial Coverage
min long: -87.473; min lat: 32.047 ; max long: -86.807; max lat: 32.73 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Sponsor(s): Alabama Housing Finance Authority, Montgomery, AL
Prepared By(s): Division of Archaeology, Alabama Museum of Natural History
Record Identifiers
NADB document id number(s): 4053190
NADB citation id number(s): 000000143373
General Note: Submitted to: Alabama Housing Finance Authority, Montgomery, AL
General Note: Sent from: Division of Archaeology, Alabama Museum of Natural History


text:
Evidence that when a customer of a store fell and was injured one clear evening on an entranceway sloping down to a sidewalk from a door of the store there was "ice, snow and slush" on the entranceway left from a heavy snow storm of the previous day which had lasted until the early morning of the day of the fall warranted a finding of negligence on the part of the one in control of the entranceway toward the customer. [514]
At the trial of an action to recover for personal injuries sustained in a fall in the entranceway of a store caused by snow and ice, where the plaintiff testified that the fall occurred on a certain day on which there was a heavy snow storm, and also that it occurred on the following day, long after the storm was over, the plaintiff was not bound by her testimony that the fall occurred on the earlier day where she had insisted that when she fell it was not snowing and, upon being finally asked whether she "wanted it left" that the fall occurred on the earlier day, had answered "No." [514-515]
TORT. Writ in the Superior Court dated February 19, 1959.
The action was tried before Goldberg, J.
Sturtevant Burr, for the defendant.
Daniel F. Featherston, Jr., for the plaintiffs.
WILLIAMS, J. This is an action of tort by Sandra Yanowitz, a minor, hereinafter called the plaintiff, to recover for personal injuries and by her father, Philip Yanowitz, to recover consequential damages resulting from the plaintiff falling in a recessed "entranceway" of a store at 150 Huntington Avenue, Boston, on January 8, 1957. The defendant Augenstern concedes that he was in control of the area where the plaintiff fell. There was evidence that the plaintiff,
Page 514
a young woman of eighteen, had been in the store to make a purchase and on leaving noticed "ice, snow and slush" on the inclined area which "sloped" down from the door to the sidewalk. She took about two steps from the door and fell. It was about 9:30 P.M., January 8, 1957. It had snowed heavily on January 7 and until the early morning of January 8 but on the evening of January 8 it was clear. Augenstern testified that "he keeps the inclined entranceway shovelled and clear as it is part of the property he leases but that he has no recollection of any clearing or shovelling or maintenance of the entrance on the date of the accident." At the conclusion of the evidence the plaintiff "discontinued" all counts of the declaration against Vernhunt, Inc., a codefendant, which was the lessor of the store. She also "discontinued" all but counts 1 and 9 against Augenstern. Count 1 alleged negligence on the part of Augenstern by unreasonably permitting snow and ice to accumulate and remain in the entrance. A verdict was directed for Augenstern on count 9 in which the consequential damages of the plaintiff's father were alleged. A motion by Augenstern for a directed verdict on count 1 was denied subject to Augenstern's exception and the jury returned a verdict on that count for the plaintiff.
Augenstern's exceptions must be overruled. No citation of authority is required to demonstrate that the plaintiff's alleged contributory negligence was a question for the jury. The evidence warranted findings that the snow and slush on the sloping area created a condition dangerous to one entering or leaving the store, that it resulted from the storm of the previous day and that it had remained there a sufficient length of time for Augenstern to have known of it and in the exercise of reasonable care to have removed it. Lanagan v. Jordan Marsh Co. 324 Mass. 540, 541. Willett v. Pilotte, 329 Mass. 610, 613. Thornton v. First Natl. Stores, Inc. 340 Mass. 222, 225. In her testimony the plaintiff made different statements as to the date of her fall. She said at one time it was on January 7 and at another time on January 8. Augenstern argues that she finally settled on
Page 515
January 7, in which case, he contends that, according to the weather report in evidence, it would have been in the midst of a snow storm and he would not have been guilty of negligence. We think her evidence does not bear out Augenstern's contention and make applicable the rule of Sullivan v. Boston Elev. Ry. 224 Mass. 405, 406. The plaintiff insisted that when she fell it was not snowing and when finally asked on recross-examination whether she "wanted it left" that the accident happened on January 7 answered "No."
Exceptions overruled.


text:
Although drought conditions have preceded dieback events in southern states, it does not fit with what's been going on in Cape Cod. Perhaps the best evidence is that vegetation losses on Cape Cod are ongoing and continue to occur in the absence of drought. For example, the photos below show the recent disappearance of S. alterniflora between 2004 and 2008 during which there were no significant droughts.
In addition, it is the creekbanks that have lost the most vegetation over the years. However, these areas are flooded daily with seawater, which negates any possible long-term effects of drought on soil chemistry (such as decreased pH and mobilization of metals).
Finally, if severe drought were the primary cause of vegetation decline, the expectation would be for large-scale, simultaneous losses in multiple marshes during a single year. This has certainly not been the case. On Cape Cod, vegetation losses began at different times in different marshes and have been progressive over a period of many years.


text:
Permia Tactics is a smart and an exciting card game which also includes a factor of strategy making. This fantastic and a wonderful game is presented to you by the top developers of the Seepia Games Ltd. In this game, you will experience to battle against the other players from all around the world. You need to use your powerful tactics and make a quick decision against the opponents in order to see yourself at the winning side. Initially, the game starts with a simple and an easy level but after you properly understand the game it becomes much more challenging and difficult for you to play. You need to collect different powerful cards and use against the opponent to defeat them and become a master of the game.
Advance yourself in different leagues and earn prize and rewards by joining the PVP Events. Show your skills and abilities in order to earn ranking points and this you will be able to see yourself at the top of the rankings. The best part which I like about the game is that you can build the deck with endless customization option. Each card of the game includes its own abilities. All the players flip each other's units in order to gain the upper hand. It looks so easy and simple to play but it will require a lot from you while playing. In short, you can say that it is a game in which you have to make different strategy in 5 minutes. You can also unlock new things and cards by going to the settings of the game. To share your ranking with friends and other online players connect the game with the social network or the Google Play Games. Now here you will see how to download Permia Tactics for PC. But before we move onto that stage let us see the main key features of the Permia Tactics so that we will know more about the application.
Features of Permia Tactics for PC:
- Join PVP Events to advance in leagues and earn rewards.
- Earn ranking points and climb to the top of the rankings!
- Endless customisation through deck building.
- Real strategy in five minutes.
Source: Google Play Store
How To Download And Install Permia Tactics for PC:
Below I'm going to share some very easy and simple steps to download and install Permia Tactics for PC.
• First of all, you need to download emulators like BlueStacks or Andy for Windows and iPadian for Mac from below free link on your PC.
Download: BlueStacks
Download: BlueStacks 2
Download: Andy
Download: iPadian
• Now install the emulator.
BlueStacks: Detailed BlueStacks Installation Process
iPadian: Detailed iPadian Installation Process
Andy: Detailed Andy Installation Process
• After the installation of emulator Open it.
• Now use the search tool to find Permia Tactics application.
• Once you find the Permia Tactics application download and install it.
• Now fill the requirements of the application.
• That's all. Enjoy!
Permia Tactics On Mobile Stores:
Google Play Store
More From Us: Massive Warfare for Windows PC Laptop and Mac
Stay tuned for more latest Apps and Games for PC guides at appsforpclove.net. If you are facing any kind of problem, please let us know in the comments.


text:
Lower elementary and primary students take their moment on stage to receive their completion/participation certificate. This year, the event will take place in the neighboring field at 11:00am. Parents are welcome to come snag a seat as early as 10:30am. Food will be provided by a handful of vendors. All festivities will conclude by 1:30pm.
*Toddler and elementary before/after school care program will have a normal schedule.


text:
Guinness World Record?
I decided to apply for a Guinness World Records "Most cat videos uploaded to YouTube + most views" … Since 2008 I've produced over 500 videos that have racked up at least 200 million views, with Big Cat Rescue and Cole & Marmalade vids combined! I don't think there's a record like this that's been recognized yet and with the popularity of cat […] More


text:
RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus 2018, Rajasthan 2nd Grade Teacher Exam Pattern 2018, Check RPSC Sr Teacher Grade II Syllabus Subject Wise, Rajasthan Second Grade Teacher Paper-I & Paper-II Exam Scheme for Hindi, English, Social Science, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Urdu, Mathematics & Science- rpsc.rajasthan.gov.in/Syllabus.aspx
नई सूचना-राजस्थान लोक सेवा आयोग (आरपीएससी) अजमेर विभाग द्वारा वरिष्ठ अध्यापक शिक्षक भर्ती 2018 का नया पाठ्यक्रम वेबसाइट पर अपलोड कर दिया गया है, जो अभ्यर्थी द्वितीय श्रेणी शिक्षक भर्ती की तैयारी कर रहे है, वे वेबसाइट के अंतिम पैराग्राफ में दिए गए लिंक से विषयनुसार सिलेबस देख सकते है, अगर आपको विभाग द्वारा जारी किया गया पाठ्यक्रम देखने में किसी भी प्रकार की कोई समस्या आ रही हो तो, आप कमेंट कर SMC Education टीम से सहायता ले सकते है-धन्यवाद
RPSC 2nd Grade Syllabus & Exam Pattern 2018- Right Now a teaching notification released for Senior Teacher (Varishth Adhyapak) Vacancies. The Rajasthan Public Service Commission will be organized the Senior Teacher Grade II Competitive Exam 2018. To qualify and crack the exam, candidates need for latest Rajasthan Second Grade teacher syllabus. Our Expert Team is preparing to make the Time Table for well exam preparation in a short time. Aspirants also follow the preparation tips and guidelines.
There are total 9000 vacancies in various disciplines. Therefore the Commission will be held the written exam in two papers, i.e., Paper-I and paper-II. We are introducing here about New RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus for Hindi, English, Science, Maths, Social Science, Sanskrit, Urdu, Punjabi subjects.
Contenders first check the Selection process of Grade 2nd teacher Bharti. All examiners have to undergo various recruitment phases like Preliminary Exam, Main Exam, and Personal Interview & Documents verification. The commission will appoint the suitable and qualified candidates based on their Merit list in written exam.
RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus 2018, Senior Teacher Exam Dates:
The Rajasthan Public Service Commission is not fixed the date yet. After the RPSC Teacher application form, candidates will able to check the RPSC 2nd Grade teacher exam date, admit card, syllabus, test scheme, and others useful details from here. Initially,
candidates applying for RPSC Teacher Bharti must have the complete awareness of the RPSC Grade II Paper-I and Paper-II exam pattern and details syllabus to practice well. Using the RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Exam pattern, examiners sure about their performance and make self-study timetable according to subject/sections. We suggest the candidates that they focus on Current affairs and General knowledge of Rajasthan.
RPSC Senior Teacher Bharti 2018 Details:
|Department Name
|Rajasthan Public Service Commission
|Total Vacancies
|Post Name
|2nd Grade Teacher (Second Grade Adhyapak)
|Exam Name
|Rajasthan Sr Teacher Grade II Competitive Exam 2018
|Subject Name
|English, Hindi, Science, Mathematics, Social Science, Sanskrit, Urdu, Punjabi
|Application Dates
|10th May to 9th June 2018
|Exam Date
|28 October to 3rd November 2018
|Selection Process
|Written Examination (Paper-I & Paper-II)
Personal Interview
Document Verification
|Post Category
|RPSC Grade 2nd Teacher Syllabus
राजस्थान लोक सेवा आयोग अजमेर ने वरिष्ठ अध्यापको के 9000 पदो की भर्ती का परीक्षा प्रारूप और विषयानुसार पाठ्यक्रम डाल दिया है यह सूचना केवल आप लोगो की सुविधा के लिए है अभ्यर्थी नीचे दिए गये लिंक से भी पाठ्यक्रम और परीक्षा प्रारूप डाउनलोड कर सकते है-धन्यवाद
RPSC 2nd Grade Exam Pattern 2018:
The Rajasthan Public Service Commission will organize the Rajasthan Senior Teacher Grade II Competitive Exam 2018. The exam will have two papers such as paper-I and Paper-II. In this article, we are sharing scheme and syllabus of Competitive examination for Senior Teacher. Aspirants stay here and get the RPSC Second Grade Teacher exam date and others information.
Rajasthan Sr Teacher Paper-I Pattern:
The Paper-I of Rajasthan Senior Teacher Exam will carry maximum 200 marks. The time duration of the question paper will be 2 hours (120 minutes). The question paper will carry 100 questions of multiple choices. Questions will be made from geographical, Historical, Cultural and General Knowledge of Rajasthan, Current Affairs, general knowledge of world and Educational Psychology.
|Name of Subject
|Geographical, Historical, Cultural, and General Knowledge of Rajasthan
|2 hours
|Current Affairs of Rajasthan
|General Knowledge of India & World
|Educational Psychology
|Total Marks
Rajasthan 2nd Grade Exam Pattern- Paper II:
|Name of Subject
|Knowledge of Secondary and Senior Secondary Standard about relevant Subject matter
|2 hours 30 minutes
|Knowledge of Graduation Standard about relevant Subject matter
|Teaching Methods of relevant Subject
|Total Marks
Rajasthan 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus Subject wise-
Examiners who are applying for Raj Second Grade Teacher Jobs can check the full syllabus from here. They can prepare easily and crack the exam. The Candidates must check the detailed RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus, and previous-year-old solved papers.
|Exam Name
|Post Name
|Download Syllabus Link
|Sr. Teacher Gr II Competitive Exam 2018
|RPSC Senior Teacher Paper-I Syllabus
|Download here
|Sr. Teacher Gr II Competitive Exam 2018
|RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus for English
|Download here
|Sr. Teacher Gr II Competitive Exam 2018
|RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus for Hindi
|Download here
|Sr. Teacher Gr II Competitive Exam 2018
|RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus for Science
|Download here
|Sr. Teacher Gr II Competitive Exam 2018
|RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus for Urdu
|Download here
|Sr. Teacher Gr II Competitive Exam 2018
|RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus for Mathematics
|Download here
|Sr. Teacher Gr II Competitive Exam 2018
|RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus for Social Science
|Download here
|Sr. Teacher Gr II Competitive Exam 2018
|RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus for Sanskrit
|Download here
|Sr. Teacher Gr II Competitive Exam 2018
|RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus for Punjabi
|Download here
RPSC Senior Teacher Paper-I Syllabus:
General Knowledge of Rajasthan State:
Ancient Culture & Civilisation of Rajasthan, Kalibangan, Ahar, Ganeshwar, Bairath, History of Rajasthan from 8th to 18th Century, Gurjar Pratihars, Chauhans of Ajmer, Relations with Delhi Sultanate – Mewar, Ranthambore, and Jalore, Rajasthan and Mughals – Sanga, Pratap, Mansingh of Amer, Chandrasen/ Rai Singh of Bikaner/ Raj Singh of Mewar, History of freedom struggle in Rajasthan, Peasants and Tribal Movements, Prajamandal Movement, Integration of Rajasthan, The role of women during the Medieval and Modern period, Society and Religion, Lok Devata and Devian, Saints of Rajasthan, Architecture – Temples, Forts, and Palaces, Paintings – Various Schools, Fairs and Festivals, Customs, Dresses, and Ornaments, Folk Music and Dance, Language and Literature.
RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus for GK:
- Oceans and their characteristics
- Global wind system
- National income-concept & trends
- Environmental problems
- Continents Global strategies
- Population trend and distribution
- India and U.N.O
- Major trends in International policies with special reference to Globalization and Nuclear Non-proliferation
- Location and its advantages
- Globalization and its impacts
- Monsoonal system
- Drainage characteristics
- Changing patterns of agriculture and industries
- Poverty Features of India's foreign policy
- Reduction schemes
- Nehru's contribution to its making
RPSC Grade II Teacher Syllabus for Education psychology:
- Educational Psychology Meaning, Scope and implications for the teacher in classroom situations
- Learning Various Psychologists and their contributions in education
- Development of Learner
- Intelligence and Creativity
- Motivation Personality Individual Differences
- Development and Implication in Education
RPSC II Grade Exam 2018 Syllabus Pdf for Current Affairs
- Major current issues
- Happenings at state level related to socio-economic, political, games and sports aspects.
How to Download Rajasthan Grade II Teacher Syllabus & Exam Pattern-
- Candidates can also visit for official website-
- After you choose the suitable link of RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher Syllabus
- Enter your detail like as Name of Exam, Post Code Number, State Name & Department Name
- Click submit button
- Save and print Syllabus & Exam Pattern
- RPSC 2nd Grade Teacher GK Book
RPSC 2nd Grade Exam Previous Year Papers:
If you are going to face Senior Teacher Grade-II Competitive Exam then you must prepare well before commencing the examination. In this regard, first, you collect latest study materials and exam preparation tips. Candidates make Self Study Time Table under experts guidelines. You must also collect RPSC 2nd Grade previous year Question papers and solve regularly for better performance in the examination.
RPSC Grade II Teacher Exam Overview:
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So this is my first ever fan fic type of story collection thing I've ever written. A lot of them are inspired by songs I've heard and some are inspired by quotes I've read on tumblr.
Any thing else...
I hope you enjoy... jaspar is life... Okay.
Enjoy :)
EmpressOfNothingness Jul 17, 2016
Wait let me get this straight...you had dozens of candles lit in your room all day! Boi Fire hazard damn. Are you tryin to burn your house down?!!? XD


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• President, minister's powers to be curtailed by new law
From Fred Itua in Uyo
Senators, yesterday, said the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), currently before the Red Chamber will lead to the creation of a new commission expected to administer and enforce policies relating to all aspects of petroleum operations in the country.
The new commission, which will be called Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPRC), will take over the functions of Petroleum Inspectorate (PI), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
The lawmakers who are currently in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, for a four-day retreat on the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), are also proposing moves to reduce the powers of the President and the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The proposed bill, if passed into law, will vest more powers on the commission, rather than on the President or the Minister.
Senators were however sharply divided on the powers vested on the President and the Minister to take certain decisions on issues relating to the petroleum industry.
Chairman of the joint committee on Petroleum Industry Reforms, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, maintained that every action taken must be in tandem with the provisions of the constitution.
He argued: "We cannot go outside the constitution. If we cannot do that, we must ensure that whatever we do is in tandem with the provisions of the constitution. We must be careful about semantics. A ministry was created to supervise the oil industry. We must not take away the entire powers of the ministry."
However, the co-chairman, Senator Bassey Albert Akpan, countered the position of Alasoadura. He warned against giving too much powers to the President or the Minister.
Senator Akpan who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, maintained that the new bill must come up with ways to guard against abuses and protect the collective interest of Nigerians.
He opined: "We must be conscious of the kind of powers we give to the Minister. Tomorrow, we may have another Minister there. As a Senate, we have the power of control. Let us not be biased. We have to protect the interest of Nigerians."
Senator Kabiru Marafa, another co-chairman of the joint committee, urged his colleagues to agree on areas that would not be rejected by the entire Senate when the report is submitted.
Marafa who spoke more in favour of maintaining the status quo, said: "At the end of the exercise, we will still have to face the Senate. It is necessary that we decide well here."
Based on the recommendations of the committee, the Minister of Petroleum Resources shall "be responsible for the determination, formulation and monitoring of government policy for the industry; exercise general supervision over the affairs and operations of the petroleum industry subject to the provisions of this Act; report developments in the petroleum industry to the Federal Executive Council; advise the government on all matters pertaining to the petroleum industry and promote the development of local content in the Nigerian petroleum industry.
"The Minister will also represent Nigeria at international organizations that are primarily concerned with the petroleum industry; negotiate and execute international petroleum treaties and agreements with other sovereign countries, international organizations and other similar bodies on behalf of the government, subject to the approval of the Senate."
Lawmakers proposed that upon the recommendations of the new commission, the Minister can grant, amend, renew, extend or revoke any licence or lease required for petroleum or production pursuant to the provisions of this Act or any other enactment.
The bill is proposing that when the commission is created, it shall be vested with all assets, funds, resources and other movable and immovable properties, which immediately before the commencement of operation of the new commission, were held by the PI, DPR and PPPRA.
The new commission, among other things, will also administer and enforce policies, laws and regulations relating to all aspects of petroleum operations assigned to it under the provisions of the Act.
Similarly, two new entities would be established by the new bill, when signed into law. The new companies, Nigeria Petroleum Assets Management Company and National Petroleum Company, will be vested with certain assets and liabilities of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The National Petroleum Company for instance, will operate as a full independent commercial entity.
In another move, the PIGB is proposing that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources be renamed as Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated.
These bold moves, according to lawmakers, are geared towards unbundling the NNPC and the petroleum industry. Consideration of some sections of the proposed bill, were suspended following the inability of lawmakers to agree on certain grey areas.


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The party returns to the Proving Grounds, which acts as a crossroads between the four different trials set down by Baphomet. To the north, where they were told to find the mask, they here chanting and rituals, and the voice of the angel of valor "killed" earlier in the Horned Hold. From the west, they heard screeching sounds, and soldiers yelling for reinforcements. They decide that the best course of action now is to split up, separating into "Lunar" and "Solar" groups. The Lunar Eclipse consists of Lucan, Garmeth, Tam'elanath and Stahlstrauss, and they head north. Meanwhile, the Solar Eclipse, containing Zil'dejin, Cecil and the recently-returned Eshunu heads west.
The Lunar Eclipse arrives at a jet-black curtain that blocks their path. Tam'elanath pulls it aside in what he believes is a stealthy manner, but the room's inhabitants notice him: it is the angel of valor again, with his entourage of troglodytes. In addition, the room is filled with mirrors, giving the room its name: the Hall of Enforced Introspection.
A battle ensues. Very early on, Tam'elanath catches a glimpse of himself in one of the mirrors, and is instantly transported into a small room: the Oubliette of the Empty Mind. A hunger-crazed gnoll is here, and attacks him, but Tam'elanath is able to fight him off. Before long, Lucan is caught by the same mirror, and both end up in the Oubliette. Together, Lucan and Tam'elanath search for a way out, and eventually they discover an illusory wall, behind which is a mirror that transports them back to the Hall of Enforced Introspection.
Tam'elanath fires an arrow that appears at first to be a miss, but miraculously manages to hit the angel through a series of unlikely ricochets. The angel shrieks in rage, a horrible pulsing sound that destroys several nearby mirrors and drives everyone who hears it to the ground. After this, the party is able to fight against the angel and eventually terminate him again, causing the troglodytes to flee. Battling the effects of the remaining mirrors, they approach the end of the Hall, which contains yet another black curtain. They pull it back.
Behind this curtain is another altar, on which rests a mask carved of black wood: the face of Baphomet. It is guarded by two skeletons, who attack as soon as the curtain is moved aside.
The four fight back against the skeletons, and quickly learn the unfortunate truth of them: they are "boneshard skeletons," appropriately named for their tendency to explode with bone fragments periodically. Garmeth and Lucan are both taken down by these bursts, and Garmeth, who was wounded from holding back the troglodytes and the angel earlier, bleeds out into death. The remaining three are enraged, and take out the skeleton. They then begin pulling funds together to pay for his revival before it is too late to do so. They also find that somehow, before his death, he acquired a pair of dwarven greaves, which are clutched in his now-cooling hands.
At the same time, the Solar Eclipse arrives in a room with two large pools of blood, seperated by a small walkway and broken by two large statues of minotaurs holding bladed whips. At the end of this large room, across both pools, are the hilt and blade of a dagger. This is the bloodhorn blade, the artifact they came here to retrieve from the Hall of Crimson Whips. Azkalak and Katal also accompany them, but are reluctant to wade into the blood. They stand back.
Zil'dejin, Cecil and Eshunu enter the blood, which they immediately learn is corrupted by demonic magic. It is poisonous to the flesh, and probably diseased. They combat these ill effects while wading, and as they move learn that the room harbors another dark secret: the statues are more than just decoration. As the three attempt to pass, the statues rotate and whirl their scourges, assaulting the three and pushing them back through the blood. As this begins to happen, evistros (carnage demons) emerge from the blood to attack as well.
Cecil charges forward, leaving Zil'dejin and Eshunu to fight the demons while he maks a break for the bloodhorn blade. But he, too, is set upon by carnage demons, and is nearly killed. He manages to break free, though just narrowly, and retrieves the blade, though he too is under attack by the statue.
Zil'dejin and Eshunu finish the demons they are fighting and break apart the statue on their side, then advance to help Cecil. Zil'dejin calls out inspiring words to keep Cecil on his feet and ignoring the pain, insisting he fights on just a while longer. They are eventually able to defeat the last of the demons and destroy the last statue (which jams, due only to chance, such that Cecil is spared a blow which may have killed him). The three then prepare to return across the poison blood. Cecil is severely injured, and won't make it if he has contact with the blood at all, so the group leaps across the platforms and manages to reach the other side safely. After a brief rest, they go to meet up with the others, now holding the bloodhorn blade.
Once the group is united, they hide the artifacts (which cannot be brought out of the hall) and rush Garmeth's body back to the Seven-Pillared Hall. To ensure that it is safe, it is carried jointly by Stahlstrauss and Zil'dejin. They place the body in the capable hands of the drow priestess there, and pay the fee with a series of gems, and then go to the Halfmoon Inn to rest while the ritual is taking place. The sleep is unsatisfying as the group wonders whether the items will have returned to their original locations, or if they will be where they left them.
Mol, Barrakas 16, 998 YK (Day 30).
After this, Garmeth is back to life, though somewhat disoriented. The group moves quickly back to the Well of Demons, retrieves the artifacts, and goes to the proving grounds, where they were instructed by the spirits to place the items simultaneously. They do so, split by pairs: Lucan and Tam'elanath in one room, Stahlstrauss and Garmeth in another, Eshunu and Zil'dejin in another still and Cecil by himself. They place the items on the runes in these rooms, and the items vanish while all the doors in the area fly open. There is a massive roar from somewhere towards the center of the complex, and traps emerge: skeletons grasp for Lucan and Tam'elanath, a liquid vortex assails Stahlstrauss and Garmeth, Eshunu and Zil'dejin are attacked by crossbow turrets, and Cecil's ears are attacked by screaming idols. Also, a massive sphere of magical energy rolls around the inner track of the area.
Slowly, the rest of the party congregates in the center of the Proving Grounds to combat the dragon. The dragon's influence pulls Eshunu down the pit from which it emerged, causing him to plummet fifty feet downwards. The Eclipse Collective is frequently plagued by the dragon's poison breath and his constant flying, accompanied by clawing and biting. Over time, though, the party wears it down, despite close brushes to death on the part of Lucan and Garmeth. Stahlstrauss finishes it off by smashing its skull with his warhammer and then breaking its neck as it falls.
Tam'elanath uses the dragon's poisonous blood to coat a few of his arrows, and then Cecil lights the damnable beast on fire while Stahlstrauss and Zil'dejin push it back down into the pit (making sure, of course, that Eshunu has escaped beforehand). The door to the Inner Sanctum is now open, but the way is shrouded in mist - what waits on the other side?


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Discussion in 'Mobile Phones Forum' started by PhilipVass, Apr 28, 2004.
So is this a scam or can you really get these phones from a "factory" so they say?
You can get some members opinion's on these types of "scheme's" from this thread.
As you will see, they're not too well received - I suspect the "month's" delay is a bit optimistic
It's the same principle as a pyramid scam mate.
basically only the people in at the top get the chance of a new phone. You pay your £20 and go in at the bottom. You are then relying on others to bump you up the list. Problem is that when you are 6 levels down in the list you need huge numbers of people to join so that evryone on level 4 (for example) can move up a layer.
Eg. Layer 1 is 1 person. He gets 8 people to pay £20 to get him anew phone.
Layer 2 is 8 people. They need 64 people to get them all a phone.
Layer 3 is 64 people who need 64 x 8 people to get them a phone (and so on).
So unless you're at the top you're knacked.
Separate names with a comma.


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Little Cottonwood Canyon: White Pine trailhead to White Pine to Red Pine to Maybird fork to Hogum's Thunder Ridge and reverse.
Elevations: 7,700′ – 10,300′
Totals: 9.2 miles and 2,600′ vert
A rough estimate of my travel route. The trailhead is a little over a mile from where the line begins.
Over the bridge and thru the woods to White Pine.
A break in the forest gave me this good look up canyon at Snowbird and Alta.
Monte Cristo and Superior from my previous blog. A ridiculous couloir falls from between the two in winter.
Rounding the bend into Red Pine.
Up Red, crossed the stream and headed up to Pink Pine Ridge into Maybird. The Cottonwood Divide is in the background. East Twin Peaks, No Named Peak, Sunrise, Dromedary, Monte Cristo and Superior (left to right).
Got a nice view of Tanner's Gulch, one of the most active slide paths in the West.
Twin Peaks and Lisa Falls couloir.
Check out these fools charging it….
First look at Thunder Ridge. All capped with snow, some amazing lines come down from there and the famous Hogum 500 is on the other side.
The Mayrbird Lakes (more like ponds) and the Pfeifferhorn in view.
Looking back at the enchanted island. From here the trail becomes pretty much nonexistant and its just boulder hopping.
Up and over the steep scree field, the Maybird Headwall and Thunder Ridge Pass are getting closer.
Gaining the ridge, views were getting pretty epic.
Lookin back down the canyon at my ascent route and the Cottonwood Divide.
Over the Pfeiff's northeast ridge, AF Twin Peak's Birthday Chutes, Lake Peak, Red and White Baldy (left to right)
Farther up, found a good place to kick it.
Chillin on some high quality granite.
Damn I'm stylish.
Check out the waves of boulders in Hogum. You mightve noticed em in some of the other shots. They were formed from massive avalanches pushin multi-ton rocks over millions of years. Lone Peak (pointy one in the upper left) and the top of Coalpit aka Perla's and The Hypodermic Needle (upper center).
The sun is goin down and so should I. You can see the top of the tram at Snowbird in the middle right of the frame.
Heyyy lil dupe.
Patience is a virtue.
Bout a mile from the trailhead, I ran into an unexpected friend. Almost stepped on little Bambii's head.


text: "Jack Keane 2: the Fire Within is a point and click adventure game. With the star Jack Keane with a mix of hero and dumb luck stumbling all over the place solving puzzles as he goes a long. With the help of some friends along the way you set off on your adventure. Where will it take you?"


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4690 Urbana Rd Springfield OH United States 45502
Simon Kenton Inn is a bed and breakfast with a full service restaurant. We have full service lodging, catering, food and beverages for groups of 15 to 400. The Inn offers fine dining with a casual feel. The publik house blends the look of the past with modern construction for an intimate evening, or a fun get-together with friends and family. We also have an outdoor patio perfect for dinner or lunch with a memorable view of the surrounding countryside. The Pub offers multiple beers on tap, fine wines, complete liquor selection, and bottled imports. The Simon Kenton is the perfect venue for weddings, rehearsal dinners, bridal showers, reunions, business meetings , baby showers and holiday parties.


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Chapter 5.
Paceville: The nightlife zone in between my flat (Riviera Court) and my workplace (Superbowl). Paceville: the clubbing district of Malta. I had been warned by Eric and Davinia to avoid it, but its location had made that neigh impossible.
Paceville: The nightlife zone in between my flat (Riviera Court) and my workplace (Superbowl). Paceville: the clubbing district of Malta. I had been warned by Eric and Davinia to avoid it, but its location had made that neigh impossible.
The place came alive as evening emerged, the central nightclubs would start pumping out dance music too loud for that daylight hour. Promoters would be handing out B.O.G.O.F drinks tokens to encourage the all-important first customers in. During each evening's early stage a few of the youngest language students would be milling around looking lost, while holiday-making families sought out restaurants. Soon the Maltese would congregate on the outskirts hanging around shop-cum-bars drinking in large groups, jesting and fooling around. One guy would act the lummox, playfully accosting passers-by as his friends exaggerated their amazement with cries of "Il Allu!" – translated into English it means "Oh God" but the Maltese is misspelt to make it less blasphemous, so the direct translation, I suppose, would be "Oh Gud!"
I grabbed some drink tokens and went home to cook and get ready to find out what all the fuss was about. As midnight drew near I left my flat and followed the crowds all heading towards the magnetic neon pull, a steady stream of pupils arriving at a new cult. I recalled all the times in my life I had seen a beautiful girl walking in the opposite direction to me in the street. As they passed me I would often wonder where they were going. Now I knew. I felt I had stumbled upon the secret of each and every babe's absolute final destination: Paceville.
When they arrived they didn't stop walking. Everybody there seemed in a rush to get to the next club, to follow their friends, to meet others someplace else, always just around the corner. I stood still and watched. Maltese girls seemed to dress like twins; matching outfits. Two girls dressed in black and yellow like bumble bees. Three dressed all in white, save for their red belts: darling plump parcels wrapped with red ribbon. Groups of guys prowled in packs. You could almost smell the pheromones, the excitement, the hormones. Wondrous confusion resonated from the pavement's dry heat, from the cigarette smoke, from the garish mixture of songs converging into an out-of-time throbbing pulse at the central crossroads: the country's arteries.
- Hearts were broken and sparks of lust set others aflame -
- Hearts were broken and sparks of lust set others aflame -
As the night thrust on, the nightclubs filled up and squashed you onto the dance floors, no choice but to move - either rhythmically or out of there. The songs got into your head and you smiled a drunken smile, and it seemed everyone smiled.
By the early hours of the morning the Maltese had returned home. Disheveled members of the European aristocracy were smooching on the padded seats at the edge of the dance floor and the streets were littered with empty glass bottles and passed-out Aryan teenagers. On the way back to Riviera Court was a Pastizerria: a small shop that baked Pastizzi: a cheap little pastry filled with pea paste or ricotta cheese. This Pastizerria named 'Champ' was open 24 hours a day, it also produced trays of pizza loaded with molten cheese and flavoursome green olives on a thick doughy base that soaked up all the excess oil. The Pizza came in a white paper bag that was made translucent by the grease almost instantaneously. It was dirt-cheap and the perfect ending to any cheap, dirty night.
My alternative option for an evening's stroll was back towards the Astra Hotel. I would often walk this route if I didn't feel like drinking. A wide promenade ran all the way to Sliema and was full of dog walkers, groups of nuns, new mothers pushing baby carriages, exemplary families all sporting Ralph Loren, joggers sweating for success, and just about anyone who was anyone. The promenade hugged the twilight's navy blue sea that turned the orange streetlamps and yellow lights of hotel rooms into dancing sea snakes. I could sit on a bench underneath thick palm trees and get overcome by the aura of richness and fertility. At times like these, sat under the moon's insect glow, I would feel acute loneliness. Peculiarly it felt liberating, because it allowed for extensive introspective trains of thought. I was beginning to construct a new identity on my own agenda. I was reading extensively. Gin-soaked paranoia and 'The Fall' by Albert Camus made me consider the effects of being judged and of judging people. Following this I came across a 'non-violent communication' theory known as Jackals and Giraffes on the Internet. It was a way of talking whereby you never demand or judge but say how you feel and give others the opportunity to act or respond accordingly. You observe others and guess how they feel and what they need, occasionally making requests in the hope of coming to an empathetic understanding.
- A Jackal might say "Don't sit on that bench under that palm tree staring at us with your wild eyes, it gives our pleasant evening an edge of awkwardness."
- Whereas a Giraffe would say "You look wild eyed. Is it because you feel lost? It makes us feel less comfortable about ourselves. We would feel better if you strolled along at an amicable pace like the rest of us."
One night I stole a large rectangular board that had come unattached to the railings. On one side it advertised 'Calypso' but the other was pure white. Onto the white surface I painted an elegant giraffe's neck and head, swirling black and white circles jumped out of the figure that stuck out its long blue tongue.
When you get creative it gives you a rush. I liked playing with the forms and I liked this image of the land animal with the biggest heart since the dinosaurs, so I began making a conscious effort to speak like a giraffe.
I noticed it making a positive effect on Yin my Korean flatmate.
"I see you are cooking, you must feel exhausted and in need of energy after a hard day learning English. The smell of the food makes me feel hungry."
I tried the seaweed she was cooking but didn't like it at all. Never the less I continued talking in Giraffe.
"I don't like the taste of this but I feel more cultured for having tried it because seaweed isn't a staple cuisine in England."
"Oh OK Chris." She said nervously.
…"You're beginning to look stressed. Would you like to go out, drink some beer and blow off some steam?"
At a Paceville bar I got to know a Chinese friend of Yin's who agreed to come over and cut my hair. It was all very giggly; a drunk giraffe getting a tipsy haircut. A week later I went out with my newly trimmed head and saw my kind hairdresser on her own. We drank a few sangrias together. She had left the clippers at my flat and asked if she could come back to pick them up. I obliged and before long we were both naked, sat cross-legged in my bed and she was rolling a condom onto my little giraffe. As we screwed she made high-pitched noises but they didn't turn me on, they sounded grim like a squeaking baby strapped to a seesaw. In the morning I no longer wanted to be a giraffe and refused to let her join me for breakfast.
Come Saint Patrick's Day the whole Superbowl crew were going for a night out in Paceville, or PV as they called it. As I mop the floor Neville pulls on a T-shirt emblazoned with the Pepsi logo; the writing reads 'Sexsi.'
He yells "Yeah Yeah!" and rubs his hands together.
We all drink a lot of Cisk larger and are soon up and dancing, I feel a rump bumping my crotch and place my hands on Dawn's hips. I admire a beauty spot on her face and her bashful expression. We kiss for a minute or two but then Dawn pulls away worried she will hurt Neville's feelings. He hadn't seemed to notice as her friend was suggestively dancing with him at the time. Soon they both leave and the remainder of the group plonks down at a table in a different nightclub.
Alex and I spy and group of girls a-spying us. We invite them over and I begin nattering with a girl with short hair called Kylie who is just my type: tomboy, big gums! We hit it off talking skateboarding after I'd noticed her Vans shoes. Neville is speaking to a girl with a burnt face, and Alex has run out of conversation and looks bemused. The girls leave; Kylie gives me her phone number and a peck on the lips.
The drinking continues. Back at my flat Timms, Kurt and Alex start drinking the gin from the kitchen. Soon Kata, my witchy Hungarian landlady, flies out of her bedroom shouting at them to get out, says she can't trust strangers in the house.
In the morning fueled by sleep and still half-drunk, the joy of waking up with no hangover gives me a buzz-saw madness, I begin going about the day as normal. I shower and get on the bus to Valletta. I'd planned to visit Malta School of Art to investigate its potential as 'the place for me'. Approaching it, the ancient crumbling Old Bakery Street installs bohemian anticipation in me. I enter the hallowed halls of an esteemed, pillared building that houses white Romanesque nude statues and renaissance paintings. A tutor tells me to come back in two hours for a tour. My head begins to pound as the sunlight grows vicious, and a violent need to rehydrate in a dark room grabs me by the throat. I see a sign for a cinema down a back-street so I grab a ticket and a litre cup of Pepsi.
As I sit down the room fills with a ten-foot erect penis, then the largest pair of boobs I've ever witnessed graces the silver screen. I look around: a few old men reclining in the shadows. I've stumbled into a porn cinema! The sheer size of the pornography makes it more frightening than erotic and as I sit there St Patrick's effects take a hold. I shiver, my eyes push against my bruised brain. My mouth dries up. My head thumps itself and my body weighs me down. Never before have I felt terrified by the effects of gravity. I force myself to endure two hours worth of the gargantuan genitalia. In the end the darkness helped the hangover and, after wildly cracking and chewing all the ice from my supersize Pepsi, I was ready to face the world of natural light: reborn, a child conceived in a porno.
All was well again, except now, any mundane situation seemed on the verge mutating into hard repetitive sex. Until I felt a little less fragile I would need to avoid mechanic's garages, faulty showers and Romanesque banquets. I doubt I will ever be able to forget the noise, in full digital surround sound, of skin slapping against skin. The art school was nice, tranquil, but for someone like myself, maybe it was a little too conservative.


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Like many who create, I wear several hats: writer, actor, teacher, healer, priest, wife and mother (so okay, you're not a priest–that's okay–my kids are grown, so I'm a pretend mother–we all have to stretch the lines a little). The titles aren't ranked in significance or importance. On any day, at any time, most of them operate simultaneously. I also manage the family farm, but adding "farmer" to the list may be over-doing it.
I write about memory and how the land, in my case growing up on a farm, influenced my life and my writing even when I'm writing about living in Hawaii or Mexico. I think of myself a see-far woman. On a Kansas farm, you get used to seeing distances. I'm a thinker and I watch for connections. Often, travel leads me to a new way of seeing and new connections. But it's all memory and the web memory weaves in our lives.
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