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Disney-free lodging
What am I going to watch?
The television in my hotel in the Kansas City area doesn't have Disney Channel.
Yes, I'm 44 years old and been hooked on Disney Channel for the past couple of months.
Actually, the addiction goes back three years, when I purchased all four seasons of Jessie through Apple.
Jessie starred Debby Ryan as the titular character, a native of Fort Hood who goes to New York City to pursue her dreams of becoming an actress. She somehow becomes the nanny to four children of a famous model turned media tycoon and her movie producer husband.
Ryan recently starred in the Netflix series Insatiable, where she portrays a teenager hell-bent on becoming a beauty pageant queen. I watched the first season, but not the second and last.
Since July 2019, you can't help but be sad watching Jessie.
Cameron Boyce, who played mischievous Luke Ross, passed away suddenly, only 39 days after his 20th birthday. Boyce also starred in two Descendants movies produced by Disney Channel, and likely had a long and successful career ahead of him.
Skai Jackson, who played youngest child Zuri, recently appeared on Dancing With The Stars. Peyton List (Emma) had several roles before Jessie, including a television movie, A Daughter's Deception, with Kelly Rutherford and Natasha Henstridge.
Jackson, List and Karan Barar (Ravi), along with Mrs. Kipling, Ravi's pet lizard on Jessie, moved on to Bunk'd, a spinoff where the Ross children go to a summer camp in eastern Maine. The backstory is Christina (Christina Moore) and Morgan (Chuck Esten) met at the camp in the 1990s.
Bunk'd is still on the air, with its fifth season opening next Friday. Jackson, List and Barar left after the third season, leaving Miranda May, who portrays sweet farm girl Louella Hockhauser, as the lead.
I didn't have to buy Bunk'd. The entire series is on Netflix, as is Liv and Maddie, where Dove Cameron portrays twins Olivia (Liv) and Madeline (Maddie) Rooney. Liv is an actress and Maddie a basketball player.
I must admit I own three other series from start to finish:
Stuck in the Middle–Jenna Ortega stars as Harley Diaz, the fourth of seven children. Harley is always getting her family out of sticky situations with inventions and intelligence. Harley has three sisters (Rachel and Georgie, the two oldest Diaz kids; and Daphne, the youngest) and three brothers (Ethan and twins Louie and Beast). Tom and Suzy Diaz own a slushy store on the Massachusetts shore.
Bizaardvark--The title of the show comes from a portmanteau of "bizarre" and "aardvark". Olivia Rodrigo and Madison Hu star as Paige Olvera and Frankie Wong, who make silly videos at Vuugle, a studio which is a cross between Dave & Buster's and Chuck E. Cheese. In the third and final season, Vuugle moves to a Malibu beach house. Also starring are DeVore Ledridge as Amelia Duckworth, who gives fashion tips on her channel; and Bernie Schotz, who is the straight man for the three females and
Raven's Home–Raven-Symone and Anneliese van der Pol reprise their roles from That's So Raven. Raven and Chelsea are both divorced with children living together in a cramped Chicago apartment. Raven has twins: Booker (Isaac Ryan Brown), who shares his mother's psychic ability; and Nia (Navia Robinson), whose smarts often gets her brother out of jams. Chelsea is the mother to Levi (Jason Maybaum), the smartest 11-year old on television. Joining Nia, Booker and Levi in their adventures is neighbor Tess O'Malley (Sky Katz), who captains her middle school's basketball team as the only girl playing with boys.
I'm also hooked on two newer Disney shows, Coop and Cami Ask The World and Sydney To The Max. The former stars Ruby Rose Turner and Dakota Lotus as siblings who use Internet polls to determine their next video; the latter stars Ruth Righi as Sydney, a teenager living with her widower father, Max (Ian Reed Kessler) and paternal grandmother Judy (Caroline Rhea). Jackson Dollinger portrays 12-year old Max in flashbacks (Rhea wears a gray wig for current scenes), and Ava Koler portrays Sydney's best friend Olive Rowzalski.
I have become so hooked I fall asleep with Disney Channel on the TV. Disney Junior runs from 05:00 to 10:00 each morning. If I had a kid, I would hope he or she would watch Bluey, the adorable Australian cartoon about a family and community of dogs. That airs for an hour starting at 06:00.
This is the first hotel in Kansas City I've stayed without Disney Channel. I'm staying somewhere I've never stayed before. Why? I'll explain later.
Adios, 2020
2020 has less than four hours to live in the Central Time Zone of the United States and Canada.
Nothing is going to change, except the calendar. Nothing to see here.
I'm going full Porky Pig with this post as it relates 2020 and this blog….THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
The final fifty
The final 50 hours of 2020, at least for Americans in the Central Time Zone, are here.
Again, I keep hearing over and over how bad 2020 has been and how it will be refreshing to put it behind us.
Yes, it has been a bad year. No, it will not be refreshing to put it behind us.
Guess what? Most of those who are afflicted with the terrible coronavirus will still be afflicted with it when 2021 arrives. Those who are battling financial difficulties are not going to see them magically wiped away because it's a different year. Those who are overweight are not going to magically shrink.
It's going to take time, lot of time, for the problems of 2020 (and 2019 and 2018 and way back to that) to go away. There will be a lot of problems which will carry through all of 2021, plus new problems which will pop up during the year and persist into 2022. And 2023. And 2024.
I haven't posted in forever. I'm lazy. Right now, I won't go on, because I'm fading fast. Sleep is something I need more of. Lots of it. Hopefully, 2020 will be down to no more than 43 hours by time I wake up.
The infrequent spectator
I said I would be back in less than 24 hours after my last post. I kept my promise, although it's because I've had a stream of consciousness moment, not anything dealing with LSU and Mizzou.
My memory is failing me.
When I went to Wentzville and Lake St. Louis earlier today, I forgot how bad traffic on Interstate 64 west is from Lake St. Louis to I-70. I witnessed it in May when I drove into Chesterfield for my week-long stay.
I shouldn't be too worried. After all that's happened between 11 May and 9 October, I should forgive myself for forgetting traffic patterns in western St. Charles County. It was my third trip that way in 13 months, more than I've been most places, but still not enough to rise to the status between tourist and resident.
Now if I had forgotten the traffic patterns on the other side of Missouri, I'd have to worry about the old brain.
I haven't seen an LSU football game in person in almost 17 years.
Tomorrow will be the first time I will be observing an LSU football game as a regular spectator in 25 years.
Every LSU football game I witnessed from 1996 through 2003 was in a press box. Most of them were in the old press box of Tiger Stadium (Death Valley), which was torn down after the 2004 season to make way for a new upper deck on the west side of the stadium, as well as a new press box.
The old press box at LSU was an oven. No air conditioning, and worse, no circulation, period. Breezes barely blow in Louisiana on most nights, and even if it did, there was no way to get the air circulating in the press box, at least on the second level (print media) and third level (private booths). The first level, where the radio and television broadcasters worked, as did public address announcer Dan Borne, had air conditioning. I loved lingering in Dan's booth as much as I could, because he turned the thermostat WAY down, the way I like it.
I also watched LSU play in the Sugar Bowl twice, defeating Illinois after the 2001 season, as well as the aforementioned game vs. Oklahoma two years later.
The last LSU football game I went to strictly as a fan was with my dad on 16 September 1995, when the Bayou Bengals defeated Auburn 12-6.
Our seats were terrible—ground level boxes at the southwest corner of the stadium. Naturally, most of the big plays occurred at the north end of the stadium, including James Gillyard's sack of Patrick Nix for a safety and Troy Twillie's interception on the game's last play.
On the drive back to New Orleans, my dad remarked he could not hear LSU's Golden Band from Tigerland because of the crowd noise. LSU's band at the time was at the northwest corner of the stadium (now it's near the top of the north end zone), but with so many members, the sound carried well across campus. Not that night.
Tiger Stadium was sold out (80,559), and the crowd had a big part in throwing Auburn off its game. That, and the revenge LSU sought after giving away the 1994 game in Auburn, made the Plainsmen's task that much more difficult.
I've seen five games from the stands at Tiger Stadium—two in 1992 (Tennessee 20, LSU 0; LSU 24, Tulane 12), two in '93 (LSU 24, Tulane 10; Arkansas 42, LSU 24) and the aforementioned 1995 game. I also was in the Superdome stands for LSU's wins vs. Tulane in 1991 (39-20) and '94 (49-25).
This will not be my first LSU road game.
That came 26 years ago, when I watched the Bayou Bengals get embarrassed 34-21 by a mediocre Ole Miss squad in Oxford. The game was nowhere near as close as the score; the Rebels led 31-0 before they relaxed and let the Tigers score a couple of cheap touchdowns.
I bought a ticket for $18 through LSU's ticket office. I had a good seat, 40-yard line behind LSU's bench about 15 rows up.
I had no idea how to get there and where I was going to stay. I had a car, but there was no way I was going to find a hotel room in Oxford. My dad's original plan was for me to stay in Jackson, 360 km (170 miles) south of Oxford the night before the game, drive to the game, go back to Jackson, then return to Baton Rouge Sunday.
At this time, Baton Rouge was the farthest I had driven. I could drive back and forth on I-10 between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, but I had no confidence going out of state.
Lucky for me, LSU's athletic photographer, Brad Messina, was going to drive to the game instead of flying with the team like he usually did. He and Steve Franz, who later became LSU's athletic photographer, let me ride in the back seat of Brad's Volvo and crash in their hotel room in Memphis where the team was staying.
The game was forgettable, but two incidents in the stands which stood out.
One was where I berated Adam Young, who I worked with in LSU's sports information office. Adam told me at halftime the game was over, and I denounced him for not having faith in his school.
To be fair, Adam had to suffer through the first three seasons of Curley Hallman's coaching tenure while working as a student in the sports information office. That, combined with the sudden freefall of LSU's volleyball program (Adam was the volleyball team's media relations director from 1992-94) had worn him thin.
Two female student assistants from the sports information office, Nikki Sontheimer (now Amberg) and Rebecca Borne (yes, that one) (now Brennan) found the exchange funny. Rebecca teased me about it quite a bit through the years before things went terribly south between us.
Adam and I patched things up. His wedding to former LSU volleyball standout Luciana Santana in July 1997 was the first I attended.
I had a crush on Nikki, who was four years older. I annoyed the hell out of her during the 1994-95 athletic season, but when I saw her again after the 1996 football season opener, she forgave me too.
Now if only Rebecca will…
The second incident in Oxford came after LSU scored its second touchdown on a blocked punt.
An inebriated Rebel rouser turned to the LSU fans cheering behind him and shot the finger. Lovely.
Oxford is my least favorite SEC location. If it isn't, it's in a dead heat with Gainesville and Tuscaloosa. I don't have any desire to go back.
That's it for tonight. No, really, it is.
Time to scratch the 17-year itch
In 16 hours, your lazy blogger will be in attendance at his first LSU football game in almost 17 years.
It wasn't supposed to happen this way.
LSU and Missouri were not originally scheduled to play each other in 2020. The schools are in opposite divisions of the Southeastern Conference (which is stupid; I'll get into that in another post), which means they play once every five years, as is the case with every school in the opposite division except one.
LSU's designated permanent Eastern opponent is Florida, something which has pissed off every LSU coach and administrator since the SEC expanded in 1992 and split into divisions. LSU played Kentucky every year from 1992 through 2001, but in 2002, the SEC elected to cut the number of permanent cross-division rivalries from two to one. That meant Florida and Auburn had to end their yearly series which had been played every year since the 1940s, while LSU and Kentucky played every year from 1949 through 2001.
Missouri and Texas A&M joined the SEC in 2012 from the Big 12. At first, the Tigers and Aggies were paired as permanent foes, but in 2014, the SEC saw the opportunity for a border war, and made Arkansas Mizzou's permanent opponent from the West. South Carolina, which played the Razorbacks every year since the two joined the SEC, got Texas A&M.
LSU and Mizzou first played 1 October 2016 in Baton Rouge. It turned out to be Ed Orgeron's first game as Bayou Bengal coach after Les Miles was fired six days earlier, four games into Miles' 12th season. Mizzou also had a new coach, Barry Odom, who succeeded Gary Pinkel, who resigned after the 2015 season due to a cancer diagnosis. Pinkel coached Mizzou for 15 years, rebuilding the Tigers from a bottom feeder in the Big 12 back into a respectable program, not quite what it was under Dan Devine in the 1960s, but certainly not as wretched as it was under Woody Wiedenhofer, Bob Stull and Larry Smith from the mid-1980s through 2000.
The Bayou Bengals won 42-7 in a game most notable for a melee as the teams were leaving the field for halftime. Every person in uniform was charged wtih a fighting penalty, meaning if they received another unsportsmanlike conduct/personal foul penalty, they would be ejected and suspended for the next game.
The new rotation began in 2017 with LSU playing Tennessee in Knoxville, followed by Georgia at home, at Vanderbilt, and this year, vs. South Carolina in Baton Rouge. It was scheduled to be Kentucky in Lexington, Tennessee at home, and then Mizzou in Columbia in 2023.
Mizzou's scheduled Western road game this year was Mississippi State; the Tigers were going to move their home game vs. Arkansas from Columbia to Kansas City. The game is back in Columbia due to COVID.
In August, the SEC decided to have its team play a 10-game, conference-only schedule. Most believed the league would simply take the next two cross-division opponents in rotation and place them on the schedule. For LSU, that would have meant Kentucky in Lexington and Tennessee in Baton Rouge; for Mizzou, it would have been Ole Miss in Columbia and Texas A&M in College Station.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and his administrative team, which includes my mentor, Herb Vincent, didn't take that route, instead trying to balance out the schedules.
LSU, which obviously won the national championship in 2019, thus got the sixth- and seventh-placed teams from the SEC, Mizzou and Vanderbilt. Meanwhile, Mizzou, sixth in the East, got the #1 and #3 (Alabama) from the West (Auburn was second).
Mizzou lost its opener to Alabama at home, 38-19. LSU won 41-7 at Vanderbilt last week.
When LSU's plane landed in Baton Rouge after midnight Sunday, plans were already in place for Mizzou's second visit to Death Valley in five seasons. It was going to kick off at 20:00, which was the regular start time for LSU home games from the late 1940s through 1965.
Meanwhile, Mother Nature had a cauldron brewing in the far southern Gulf of Mexico which would throw everything into chaos.
Tropical Storm Delta formed Sunday, and havenby Monday afternoon, the storm was upgraded to a hurricane.
Tuesday morning, the National Hurricane Center in Miami released a sobering forecast for Louisiana.
The "cone of error" for Delta encompassed the entire Louisiana, with landfall between Morgan City and Grand Isle.
On that track, it would be next to impossible to fly into Baton Rouge after Thursday evening, and by Friday morning, LSU's campus would be facing winds of upwards of 170 km/h and flooding rain. Mizzou might be able to get into town Thursday, but would they be stranded until Sunday and not be able to play?
Wednesday morning, the game was moved to Columbia. I decided I would go.
I made it to Columbia yesterday. Yet i've spent a lot of time burning up Interstate 70 between here and western St. Charles County.
I was dismayed to discover Columbia's White Castle was closed yesterday and today. I would have to find something else to eat.
No way Jose.
I blew past Columbia and kept on trucking 130 km (80 miles) to Wentzville, the western edge of the St. Louis metro, to get my White Castle fix. It wasn't until 20:30 that I got to the hotel.
Today, more of the same. Not only did I get my White Castle fixes, but I found a lot of goodies I haven't been able to find in Russell, Hays, Salina or Kansas City.
I have not witnessed LSU play football since the evening of 4 January 2004. On that ridiculously warm and humid Sunday, the Bayou Bengals defeated Oklahoma 21-14 in the Sugar Bowl, giving LSU the Bowl Championship Series national championship, its first since 1958. The Bayou Bengals had to share the title with Southern California, which won the AP poll, but finished third in the final BCS poll after the regular season behind Oklahoma, which was destroyed by Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game, and LSU.
Since moving to Kansas, I've attended two forgettable college football games: Kansas 62, Southeastern Louisiana in Lawrence (8 September 2007) and Kansas State 45, North Texas 6 in Manhattan (30 August 2008). My dad and I went to the Jayhawk game; I was on assignment at the Wildcat game for the Smith County Pioneer, since former K-State All-American Mark Simoneau, a Smith Center native, was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It will be a very interesting experience attending a college football game during the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be no more than 17,000 fans allowed into Memorial Stadium aka Faurot Field, masks must be worn, social distancing will be enforced, and LSU will not have its band, cheerleaders or radio broadcasters in attendance.
Lucky for me, I have plenty of yellow in my closet. I can wear something good and be completely neutral. It will be warm tomorrow, with an expected high of 29 Celsius (84 F), which will be close to the record for Columbia on 10 October.
I'll report from CoMo in less than 24 hours. I promise. Have a good night and a better tomorrow.
Normal for me? Somewhat. Nebraska? Not so much.
Even with the Big Ten and Pac-12 declaring life should not go back to normal, pushing back fall sports until at least the spring semester, if not to fall 2021, I'm trying to find normal in any way I can.
Normal for me in August is a few days in Kansas City and eating in a sit-down restaurant. That restaurant is Brewtop in Kansas City, North, where Dana Tenpenney, whom I met at Buffalo Wild Wings Zona Rosa seven years ago, works weekdays behind the bar.
This is the first time I've been in a sit-down restaurant with wait service since I ate at Old Chicago in Hays seven months ago. My last dine-in experience was with Peggy at McDonald's in Russell in February.
Normal included a visit to Milan Laser to continue to eradicate the legacy of my late grandfather. I don't get why my grandfather had bear hair, my father has next to none, yet my brother and I were bears. I hope my 4-year old nephew, Luke, doesn't end up like his dad and uncle (at least before laser treatment).
Normal includes a visit tomorrow to the fancy men's salon in Leawood, which, like Milan Laser, closed for almost three months at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring. I've been cutting my own hair since the last time I visited The Gent's Place, and fortunately for me, I can cut my own hair without it looking too terrible.
I'll never forget swiping my mother's sewing shears one evening in June 1987 and attempting to cut my own hair while watching a College World Series game between LSU and Arkansas.. I had longer hair—the short hair arrived on Memorial Day weekend 1989–and it was awful. My longtime barber in New Orleans, Roy LaCoste, almost died laughing at my foolishness.
Hopefully normal will be getting to see Robb and Larry, some of the people at Buffalo Wild Wings Shoal Creek (especially GM Rita Roberts, Tina, Nikki, Sherman and Ashley), and Lindsay and Bailey at Minsky's Barry Road.
Maybe normal will include a side trip to Columbia for White Castle and Schnucks, but now that I've learned how to cook the frozen White Castle sliders properly, it's not a higher priority. I did most of my grocery shopping last week after I had major repairs done to my car at Cable-Dahmer Buick.
Kansas City hopes normal will be the Chiefs kicking off on time vs. the Texans Sept. 10 in the NFL season opener.
Right now, normal must seem like another galaxy in Nebraska.
In case you don't know by now, the Big Ten and Pac-12 opted to not play sports until at least January. The Pac-12 vote was supposedly unanimous, but Iowa and Nebraska vociferously protested in the Big Ten, wanting to play. The ACC, Big 12 and SEC are proceeding for now with reduced schedules, but most don't think the season will be played to completion.
Nebraska's administration and coach Scott Frost, who led the Cornhuskers to a share of the 1997 national championship in coach Tom Osborne's last season, is attempting to go rogue and see if it can play elsewhere, including a return to the Big 12 for this year.
That probably can't happen.
FIrst, the Big Ten would likely hold the threat of expulsion over Nebraska (and Iowa if it tried). Expulsion would mean a severe loss of revenue for at least a decade due to grant of rights the 14 Big Ten schools signed in its latest media contract.
In short, if a school departs the Big Ten, then the Big Ten, not the school, would receive all revenue generated by media for the length of the grant of rights, which in the Big Ten, runs into the 2030s
The ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 also have them, leaving the SEC as the lone major conference without one. The last school to willingly leave the SEC was Tulane in 1966, so the SEC is justified in feeling secure in its membership. Any school which leaves the SEC, especially Vanderbilt and others at the low end of the revenue scale (Arkansas, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina) would be cutting off its nose despite its face.
Second, if Nebraska and/or Iowa was ousted from the Big Ten, those schools would likely be blackballed by the Big 12 from joining, lest the Big Ten threaten the Big 12 with cutting off all interconference competition during the regular season.
Third, Iowa State might block Iowa from joining the Big 12. I'm certain the rest of the Big 12, save TCU and West Virginia, harbors ill will towards Nebraska for jumping ship the same way Baylor hates A&M and Kansas hates Mizzou for joining the SEC.
Nebraska already lost this year's College World Series due to the pandemic. Now not only is it losing Cornhusker football, but Nebraska is also losing its superpower volleyball team, which has sold out the 12,000-seat Bob Devaney Center, the former basketball facility, on a season ticket basis since moving there a few years ago.
Lincoln and Omaha are fine places to live, albeit with the same problems of every big city. Right now, it doesn't seem like it.
July was not good. Should have saw it coming.
July 2020 has a little more than five hours to run, at least for those who observe UTC -5. I won't miss it.
I've been in quarantine since the evening of the 22nd, when my father revealed he tested positive for COVID-19. I haven't seen his face since then, and I've seen my mother's face for 10 seconds. I don't want them in the basement, and I only go upstairs when they are asleep.
If there is a good time to be in quarantine, summer is it. I hate hot weather to begin with.
This July has been the rainiest month I've experienced in Russell. We need a drought. The rain has caused the humidity to soar to levels similar to what I see in Kansas City during the summer, and that makes a bad situation worse.
On the other hand, I should not have expected the seventh month of 2020 to be good.
When July has started on a Wednesday, at least as long as I have lived, has usually been bad.
Prior to this year, the last year July started on Wednesday was 2015. That was a disaster to say the least, between the infamous incident with a then-employee of Buffalo Wild Wings location #0296, the continued deterioration of the relationship with my former supervisor, and my finances going straight to hell.
The Buffalo Wild Wings employee, who no longer works for the company, still thinks I'm the biggest jerk on earth. My former boss died in October 2017, two years after our final conversation ended with us cursing each other out, and my finances still suck.
In 2009, I was passing blood in my urine throughout Independence Day weekend in Kansas City. The day after Independence Day, I drove myself to the emergency room at St. Luke's Northland in extreme pain after passing kidney stones. Fortunately for me, I was back at my hotel in four hours, although in pain until the next morning when I had a prescription for painkillers filled. It's the last time I was in the hospital for something other than routine care or tests.
1998? The alternator in my car died the evening of the 13th at a Baton Rouge hotel on Airline Highway, a long way from my apartment at the time, which was south of the LSU campus. Bill had to drive me home, then was reduced to driving me around the next day, which happened to be his 35th birthday.
1992? The Steinle family trip to St. Louis started terribly, with a blinding thunderstorm as we drove north. Got lost on I-270 and nearly went into Illinois before taking the loop west and finding our destination. The next day, our Oldsmobile 88 broke down and we were stuck for several hours waiting for it to get fixed. My dad, brother and I went to two Cardinals-Braves games at Busch Stadium, but the seats were awful. The highlight of the trip was seeing Bill Clinton and Al Gore returning to a downtown hotel after jogging one morning.
1987? My father left the United States for the Netherlands on the 9th on company business, not to return until 29 August. I was also counting down the days for my time in hell locked in a child psychiatric hospital.
1981? Don't remember much, but there were no Major League Baseball games due to players' strike which began 12 July and didn't end until the final hours of the 31st. Games didn't resume until 9 August with the All-Star Game, while the regular season began again the next evening. Also, Prince Charles and Princess Diana wed 29 July, Peggy's 17th birthday. I was also a month away from kindergarten.
Thank God 1976 was a leap year. Had it not, July would have started on Wednesday, and I would have been born three months prematurely, knowing my luck and my mother's terrible habits.
Thank God it will be August shortly. As boring and bad as June and July have been, it can't get more boring or worse, can it?
A party of no, no, no, no, no, no…
Today was supposed to be Opening Day for Major League Baseball. Tonight was supposed to be the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Unless you have totally shut out media the last two weeks, you know by now there will be no NCAA basketball tournaments for either gender at any level until at least 2021, and it's likely the first pitch of the MLB season will not be thrown before Memorial Day, probably later.
Earlier today, it was announced the Indianapolis 500 will be postponed from 24 May to 23 August, the first time since 1945, the last year of World War II, that "The Brickyard" will not host the iconic race on Memorial Day weekend. Formula One already cancelled several Grand Prix races, including its most prestigious in Monaco, which is usually run the same day as the Indianapolis 500.
Tuesday was quite eventful, definitely not the norm with stay-at-home orders proliferating to try to "flatten the curve" against COVID-19.
I was supposed to see Crista at 13:00. As soon as I pulled into the Walmart parking lot to pick up an order, the phone rang. Since it was The Cars' "You Might Think", I knew it was Crista's office.
She told me that I would not be going to the office to see her. Instead, we would video conference via Zoom. The setup was simple, but now I had to find a quiet place to hold the meeting. Going inside a restaurant was not an option, and besides, I wouldn't want to attract unwanted attention. It was a nice day to go outside, but again, I didn't want people to become concerned.
As I drove south on Vine, I got the idea to go to Sonic, pull into a stall, and sit in the Buick while conducting the session. I knew Sonic was operating as usual, and it would be easier to go there than most other places, since there was no inside seating and everything was brought to the car to begin with.
The idea worked like a charm. Got two burgers and a big drink, and I had my session with Crista and Alicia, one of the many students who sit in on sessions at High Plains Mental Health (with client consent, of course).
Crista and Alicia laughed at my Zoom backdrop: the Kentucky state (or is it commonwealth?) capitol. Obviously, the picture was from when I stopped in Frankfort three years ago on my way to Lexington. They did not know you could create your own background. I told them it was like the backgrounds used on CNN, ESPN and other outlets.
The session went well. I see her again April 15, and hopefully I'll be able to go into the office. Actually, Zoom might work better, since I see Dr. Custer 20 minutes after my session with Crista will end.
I went into Dillon's on Vine. No toilet paper, no hand sanitizer, no rubbing alcohol, very few paper towels (no Brawny or Bounty, only the cheap stuff), no Dixie Ultra paper plates. However, there was ONE package of Chinet plates. One hundred of them. I decided they would never go to waste. Also found bacon, which was not available last week.
Since I was able to drive this week, I ventured to Salina to pick up orders at Walmart and Dillons on Ohio. I also took time to get my car washed at a new location and pick up Chick-Fil-A, where mobile ordering is a snap. Too bad Popeye's can't get its mobile ordering straight.
Tuesday was the first day I drove since 17 February. I believe it is the longest I've gone without driving since I received my unrestricted license 28 May 1992. The previous long was 25 days in November and December 2004 when I almost died from pneumonia and a pneumothorax, and I spent two weeks in the hospital, the first in ICU.
The Dillons on Ohio had no rubbing alcohol, toilet paper, wipes or sanitizer, but there were Dixie Ultra plates. However, I bought two packs of the Kroger brand. I figure if I have to use two at a time, it will be okay. I also stocked up on Boar's Head sopresseta, as I like to munch on it. I was tempted to buy some capicola and/or mortadella, but my refrigerator and freezer were going to be stuffed anyway.
Since CVS pharmacy was only six blocks north of Dillons, I figured it wouldn't hurt to stop. It would allow me to kill time, since driving to Russell at that time would have a blinding sun in my face. I had trouble in Salina with the glare driving westbound.
There were a few packages of toilet paper at CVS, with a large sign reading "LIMIT ONE PER CUSTOMER". I milled over buying a pack, but I said no, since I have 19 big rolls of Charmin downstairs in Russell. It was a good stop because I needed a certain item I forgot at Walgreens last week, and I needed to print a picture to mail to Crista.
Old Chicago in Salina was closed, as it should have been. Last Thursday, the company issued an e-mail stating it was closing every location, even for takeout.
Yet when I pulled into the parking lot at the Hays location Tuesday at 12:30, four people walked in. I also noticed last Saturday that two people played one of the Buzztime games which cannot be played through the app.
Last stop in Salina: Target. Plenty of hand soap. Again, I passed. No toilet paper, but there were Bounty paper towels and Dawn Platinum dish soap available, so I bought one of each. I also stocked up on more toilet bowl tablet cleaners, even though I purchased eight at Walmart. Those don't go to waste, either, and I could afford to keep my toilet cleaner.
I didn't need to buy any soap to begin with. I ordered three bottles from an online collaborative in northern California. I got it yesterday, along with two more boxes of facial tissues.I've got four full cannisters and three partial cannisters of hand wipes, and three bottles of household cleaner with bleach. Now I'm glad I kept buying incrementally during all those trips to Kansas City.
When will I return to Kansas City? See below for why it might be awhile.
I made Larry's day yesterday.
He was attempting to play Buzztime Tuesday night when I got back to Russell, and he said he got kicked off the server at Minsky's, and then at 54th Street Bar and Grill in Liberty.
Buzztime updated its app recently. I noticed Tuesday, since I played in Salina (don't worry, only when I was in a parking lot) that it had been updated, because after each game, the national leaderboard came up like it does in bars.
Yesterday afternoon, a Buzztime e-mail said its app now could connect to establishments up 20 miles (32 kilometers) away instead of only 2 miles (3.6 km) previously.
That change doesn't affect me. Russell is 27 miles (44 km) from Hays, so the closest I could connect would be the Gorham exit on I-70, or a mile or two east of that.
For Larry, it's a godsend. Now he doesn't have to leave his home, drive by Minsky's to pick up the signal, and then hope the app doesn't leave him high and dry, like I did until I discovered the Android emulator for my laptop and a GPS spoofer for my phone.
I played until 02:00 Wednesday and 01:00 this morning. I'm back at it now. Might as well try to keep my mind off of COVID-19.
Larry and the rest of the Kansas City metro is under a stay-at-home order until 23 April, as is the St. Louis area. Missouri did not have many cases at first, but it is mushrooming and has surpassed Kansas.
I told Larry that hopefully we'll be playing trivia again at Minsky's on the first Friday of August. I can hope for July, but maybe August is too optimistic. I also want to get to Kansas City and St. Louis to be able to shop at their wonderful grocery stores, as well as eat White Castle in either St. Louis or Columbia.
The Advocate's banner shows the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths and people hospitalized in the Bayou State.
The numbers are alarming, disturbing , depressing and a bunch of other adjectives, none of them bright and sunny.
As I look at The Advocate's home page, the numbers are 2,305 positive cases, 83 deaths, and 676 hospitalized.
Louisiana's rate per capita is the highest in the nation. Yes, there are more cases in New York, California, Washington, Illinois and Florida, but Louisiana's population is less than 5 million. That's only two-thirds the size of New York City's population (that's just the five boroughs, not the entire metro), one-sixth of Florida's population and one-eighth of California's.
The number of cases in the city of New Orleans (Orleans Parish) is 997, with 46 deaths. Neighboring Jefferson Parish has 458 cases and 12 deaths, while St. Bernard Parish, where I lived and was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, has 28 cases and one fatality. Fifty-one of the state's 64 parishes have at least one positive case, and every metropolitan area has been hit.
NBC reported last night that "patient zero" may have come from a foreign country during Carnival, which ended with Mardi Gras on 25 February, and then it spread like wildfire.
There certainly isn't social distancing during Carnival; if you get six CENTIMETERS between yourself and another person in the French Quarter, you're fortunate. I never went to the Vieux Carre during Carnival, but the big parades (Endymion, Thoth, Bacchus, Rex) also had crowds bunched like sardines.
It's not hard to figure out how quickly COVID-19 can spread in that environment, just like it has in New York City, San Francisco and Chicago.
Two of the city's most famous residents, Saints coach Sean Payton and Archbishop Gregory Aymond, tested positive. Payton is recovering, and hopefully Aymond will.
Weekend number three without sports looms, but first another visit to Hays to get my wound treated. It's looking a lot better than it did two months ago, when Dr. Custer first got a look at what was a grotesque chasm.
A different type of March Madness
The first NCAA men's basketball tournament was held in 1939.
In 1939, much of the world still struggling to claw its way out of the Great Depression. A couple of madmen in Europe, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, were plotting the attacks which would ignite World War II. There was no television, at least in the United States and Canada. Radios were luxuries many couldn't afford. Franklin Roosevelt was giving thought to running for a third term as President of the United States, breeking the two-term limit tradition began by Washington, adhered to by Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson and Cleveland (non-consecutively), and imposed upon Grant (due to party rejection following two corrupt terms) and Wilson (due to debilitating illness).
Since 1939, there has been a world war and numerous lesser wars (Korea, Vietnam, two in Iraq, Afghanistan). Tornadoes have decimated two communities in Kansas 42 years apart (Udall and Greensburg) and caused billions of dollars in damages to larger cities (Topeka, Tuscaloosa and Joplin). Hurricanes wiped out the Mississippi Gulf Coast twice and flooded New Orleans twice. There have been numerous scares from diseases (Ebola, H1N1, avian flu, Zika, SARS), and the war on cancer may never be won.
None of it affected what came to be known as March Madness.
Until now.
This afternoon, NCAA president Mark Emmert announced the NCAA was cancelling all championship events sponsored by the organization through the end of the 2019-20 academic year.
The biggest loss, of course, is the Division I men's basketball tournament, which is the NCAA's biggest money maker by far.
Revenue from March Madness finances just about every other NCAA championship. The Division I women's basketball championships and Division I baseball championships, which include the College World Series, have turned small profits from time to time, but usually are in the red, although far less than the deficits run by lower-level events and Division I championships in lesser sports.
Yesterday, the NCAA planned to go on with March Madness in mostly empty arenas. Attendance would have been limited to the immediately families of players and coaches, support personnel from the competing universities, arena staff and media members.
Social media exploded. Fan after fan threw hissy fits complaining about conducting March Madness without fans.
My response? TOO FREAKING BAD.
The NCAA tournament is for the PLAYERS. The players are the ones competing for championships. They are the ones who put in the work day after day in practice and perform at games. They are the most important figures in any sports tournament.
After the players, the coaches are next in importance, followed by game officials and support staff.
Fans buy tickets. They cheer their teams. Otherwise, they have no effect whatsoever on what goes on during a basketball game or any other sporting event.
Nobody would have forced those crybaby fans to watch games in empty arenas. Most true basketball fans would have watched. They may not have liked the idea of being kept out of arenas, but they would have understood.
To those fans who threw fits yesterday about possible games in empty arenas: I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY.
The last time a major sport shut down competition due to illness was in 1919, when the NHL cancelled the Stanley Cup "challenge series" due to the Spanish Flu epidemic which spread worldwide following the end of World War I.
The NCAA's cancellation of the College World Series three months before it's scheduled to start is puzzling. I understand the desire to protect everyone, but who's to say the coronavirus threat won't be greatly reduced come June?
College baseball is now shut down until at least the end of March, probably longer. Without a championship to shoot for, is there any reason to resume the season?
The coronavirus is serious. It has killed thousands. More than 1,500 Americans have been infected. I hope it passes soon. But I'm not worried. I haven't had any reason to go out in public much, and with things being cancelled left and right, there may not be any reason to do so.
The rare astronomy post
Last Saturday was the 50th anniversary of a total solar eclipse visible across the eastern United States. My parents, who were seven months away from getting married yet still did not know one another at this point, don't remember it.
Virginia Beach and Nantucket Island were the most notable locations in the United States to experience totality; a New York Times story the next morning reported more than 60,000 visitors flooded Virginia Beach and Norfolk to experience the eclipse.
One location in the path of totality was not as fortunate.
Over 20,000 converged on Perry, Florida, a speck on the Gulf of Mexico 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Tallahassee. The only other time Perry–and Taylor County–is in the news is if a hurricane approaches Florida's Big Bend.
If a major hurricane came ashore at Apalachicola, Perry would be in the right-front quadrant, the most dangerous part of the storm. Perry might resemble Pass Christian after Camille and Katrina.
For those who made it to Perry, the view of the eclipse was ruined by heavy cloud cover which blanketed areas from Oklahoma to Georgia and all the way down to Key West.
The morning after the eclipse, The New York Times had another interesting article related to space.
The headline: "Nixon Asks for Start of Grand Tour of Planets in '77"
President Nixon, who spent the weekend of the eclipse at his Key Biscayne compound with Bebe Rebozo, among others, told the NYT he hoped to explore Mars and other outer planets, as well as launch a nuclear-powered rocket by the end of what he hoped would be his second term in January 1977, or at least by the end of the decade.
The idea for touring the outer planets–Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (it didn't get downgraded to dwarf planet until 2006)–came to birth because in 1979, Pluto's orbit would move inside Neptune's, the best opportunity to explore the nether regions of our solar system.
In March 1970, anything seemed to be possible in regards to space exploration.
Less than eight months had passed since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon, and only four months after that, Apollo 12 sent Alan Bean, Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon–the same Dick Gordon who became General Manager of the Saints in 1972–to the moon.
Little did anyone know what was to come with Apollo 13, which launched five weeks after the eclipse. It was a stark reminder space exploration was mighty risky; one only had to mention Gus Grissom, Ed White (not the former Chief Justice of the United States) and Roger Chaffee to realize just how risky.
Nixon also wished to continue flights to moon with Apollo through 1974. The last Apollo flight was Apollo 17 in December 1972; less than two years after that, Richard Nixon was a private citizen, having resigned in disgrace due to Watergate in August 1974.
Before handing the reigns to Gerald Ford, Nixon laid the groundwork for the Space Shuttle.
The 7 March 1970 eclipse is part of a mystery involving Carly Simon's signature song, "You're So Vain".
The last verse begins: "I hear you went up to Saratoga, and your horse naturally won. Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun…"
"Saratoga" refers to the Saratoga Springs Race Course, a world famous thoroughbred track, in upstate New York.
There was another total solar eclipse on 10 July 1972 which was not visible in the continental United States. It traveled over the Northwest Territories of Canada, then ventured over Quebec City and then out to the Atlantic over Nova Scotia.
The date of the 7 March 1970 eclipse fits because Simon penned "You're So Vain" in 1971. However, the season does not; Saratoga's horse racing season doesn't begin until after Independence Day.
Therefore, the 10 July 1972 eclipse fits in that regard, even if it occured after the song was written. However, "You're So Vain" was not released until 8 November 1972. Bingo.
If off-track betting was legal in 1970, maybe someone could have placed a bet on a race at Santa Anita or the New Orleans Fair Grounds from Saratoga.
It's a mystery which may be best left to the imagination, or the clouds in your coffee.
The most recent total solar eclipse was 21 August 2017. Kansas City was in the path of totality, and hotel rooms in the metro area and places as far away as St. Joseph, Topeka and Columbia were totally booked.
I went to Kansas City the Friday and Saturday before the eclipse. Robb was asking me to look for eclipse glasses on Amazon. I had to break it to him they would not arrive in time; that was moot anyway, since all of Amazon's supply of eclipse glasses were either sold out or defective.
It was the biggest event to hit Kansas City since the Royals won the 2015 World Series, and would be the biggest until Patrick Mahomes took the NFL by storm.
Like Perry in 1970, clouds ruined Kansas City's view of the 2017 eclipse.
There's supposed to be another total eclipse visible in the United States 8 April 2024. Locations in the path of totality include Waco; Cape Girardeau; Bloomington, Ind.; Youngstown, Ohio; Buffalo; Rochester, N.Y.
While many were going gaga over a solar eclipse 7 March 1970, the high school which I would attend made history.
Brother Martin of New Orleans defeated Captain Shreve 72-56 in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class AAA boys basketball state championship game at Alexandria.
The Crusaders outscored the Gators 16-0 in the three-minute overtime. Why overtime periods were only three minutes and not four in those days is a mystery.
Brother Martin, which was in its first year of operation following the merger of St. Aloysius and Cor Jesu high schools, finished 36-0 and was named national champion by one of the many polls which predated the USA Today and MaxPreps rankings.
The Crusaders won state championships in 1971 and '74. In 1971, Brother Martin defeated Shreveport Woodlawn, led by future Hall of Famer Robert Parish, in the championship. The 1974 Martin team was led by Rick Robey, who helped Kentucky win the 1978 NCAA tournament and was a reserve on the Celtics' 1980-81 NBA champions.
By time I arrived at Brother Martin, the basketball program was a mess. The Crusaders did not have a winning season in my five years of attendance, bottoming out at 9-23 in 1990-91. Martin has bounced back, winning state championships 2004, '05 and '10.
Brother Martin is a heavy underdog in their "Division I select" semifinal Wednesday at Baton Rouge Scotlandville. If the Hornets prevail, they will play the winner of Baton Rouge Catholic at St. Augustine in their home gymnasium Saturday for the "Division I select" state championship.
The LHSAA is seriously messed up. I'll explore on the blog this week. I promise.
Russell High's basketball program was still in pretty good shape in 1970, four years after Amos Morris coached his last game. Morris went 301-99 in 17 seasons at RHS, leading the Broncos to four state championships (1952, '53, '55, '63). His name is now on RHS' gymnasium, and he was inducted into the Kansas State High School Activities Association Hall of Fame in 1983.
The 1969-70 Broncos, coached by future KU athletic director Bob Frederick, reached the Class 3A final, where they lost 52-50 to Colby. Russell won its sixth state championship in 1979, but has not reached a sub-state final since.
I didn't vomit yesterday, although I wanted to.
Daylight savings time returned at 01:00 Sunday. Yippee!
DST is a crock of crap. It does not save energy. It WASTES energy because it forces the use of air conditioning later in the evening in the summer.
Arizona has it right. Save for the areas controlled by the Navajo, the Grand Canyon State does not adjust its clocks when most of the nation does.
Kansas used to get along just fine without DST. The Sunflower State did not change its clocks until it was forced to in 1967 after jerkwad LBJ signed the "Uniform Time Act" into law. Staying on standard time year-round was better for Kansas farmers, who were able to get into the field an hour earlier and wrap up an hour earlier compared to states with DST, not having to stay in the fields when most farmers would rather be in bed.
Actually, half of Kansas should be on Mountain time anyway.
Russell, for instance, is at 98.9 degrees longitude. The mean meridian for Central time is 90 degrees, and the mean for Mountain is 105. Last I checked, 98.9 is closer to 105 than 90. Therefore, nothing would be upset too much if the Central/Mountain divide were extended to the US 281 corridor and put Hays, Garden City, Dodge City, Liberal, Great Bend, Colby, Russell and other places on Mountain time.
Prior to 1967, Missouri was split on DST. St. Louis and eastern Missouri observed it, while the Kansas City metro and all areas bordering Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska did not.
Some idiots have proposed year-round DST, which would mean ridiculously late sunrise in the winter, even if the sun were out an hour later. In states where it snows–like Kansas–that would be dangerous, since school children would be forced to go to school in the dark for three months.
Fortunately, there cannot be year-round DST. That is illegal under federal law. A state can exempt itself from DST and remain on standard time year-round, but it cannot go on DST year-round. Thank God.
To those of you getting your jollies because daylight savings time has returned, I feel sorry for you. There's many more things to be jolly about than a clock changing.
If you're bored, I've got good news. That's all for this post.


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ITB India brings together key travel industry leaders and international exhibitors from various segments of MICE, Leisure, Corporate and Travel & Technology. Leverage on ITB India to capture the fast-growing Indian and South Asian Markets, to forge new partnerships and strengthen existing business relations with the most important players in India.
ITB India will be held in Mumbai, India from 15 – 17 April 2020. The show is organised by Messe Berlin (Singapore) Pte Ltd.
The inaugural ITB India is an annual 3-day business-to-business trade show and convention curated to connect you to the Indian Travel Market.
ITB India 2020 offers a unique combination of travel products, target groups and networking opportunities.
Travel Products
– Leisure Travel
– Business Travel
Target Groups
– Buyers and trade delegates searching for business in India, other South Asian countries
– Sellers from all over the world
Networking Opportunities
– ITB India trade show
– Conference, workshops & seminars
– Networking functions
Venue Address:
Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, India
NESCO, Goregaon East, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400063, India
Exhibition Opening Hours:
Wednesday, 15 April: 10:00 – 18:00
Thursday, 16 April: 10:00 – 18:00
Friday, 17 April: 10:00 – 18:00
Source: ITB India
Singapore: ITB Asia 2019 keynote discussions
Thailand: iCareBase – WLIN organised the first Goodlife Festival
Brunei Darussalam to host ATF 2020
ATF 2019: Top 12 markets to the Philippines
Japan: briefly about Doing Business 2018
Singapore: briefly about Doing Business 2018
Malaysia: promotion campaign Visit Malaysia 2020
Vietnam: international arrivals in 2018 reached 15 million
Thailand: international arrivals in 2018 reached 34 million
Thailand: ATF 2018 opens to the New Shades
Forbes Vietnam: TECH SUMMIT 2019

subset: commoncrawl


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- Your Fitbit uses a three-axis accelerometer to count how many steps you take each day, converting recorded motion into reviewable data.
- Fitbits are often less accurate in tracking distance travelled and calories burned, but the step counter is considered reliable.
- A few activities, like playing the drums or riding on a bumpy road, might give a false step count, so consider removing your Fitbit for these and similar activities.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Health experts have long touted the benefits of getting at least two to three hours of moderate exercise each week, and for most adults, walking at a pace of at least three miles per hour meets the baseline for that level of an aerobic workout. The other common metric used is the 10,000 steps per day goal.
If you log at least 10,000 steps each day, say many experts, you will be doing your long-term health a favor. Go for 15,000 or more, and all the better. But short of counting every step you take during the course of the day or during a single long walk, how do you know how many steps you have taken?
Why, the trusty Fitbit there on your wrist, of course, which tracks your steps, heart rate, sleep cycles, and more. Here's how it counts your steps.
How a Fitbit tracks your step count
Fitbits feature a three-axis accelerometer. They can tell when they are moving forward and backward, side to side, and up or down — e.g., moving in three dimensions. And by crunching the movement data recorded, your Fitbit can tell if you were walking (or running) along or simply tapping your hand on a desk.
The Fitbit uses complex algorithms to tell when you are in motion on your own two feet vs. when you are, say, in a vehicle, or are moving your arms but overall motionless. It rules out motions it determines weren't steps, so your step count at day's end will be remarkably accurate.
How to check your step count on a Fitbit
To see how many steps you logged at the end of the day, first push the main button on the side of the Fitbit. Now you can push the side button repeatedly, or tap the screen to move to different stats.
You can also open the paired Fitbit app on your phone or access your dashboard on a computer, to view both your daily step log and step history. Go to the "Activities" tab, then click "Today," or choose a date range.
Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:
Get the latest Fitbit stock price here.


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Lamu is the kind of place I had to give into. Everybody does. I could say the reason was jet lag or New York City burnout or pandemic fatigue (or all three rolled into one), but, really, it's because the Kenyan isle has an irresistibly gentle pace that's hard not to surrender to. There's even a local saying for it: "pole pole." Slow down.
Here, where no cars are allowed and there are almost as many donkeys as humans, you can't help but appreciate the slow sway of life–something that has attracted many wanderers and travelers in the past. But it's not just the island's unhurried pace that draws foreigners. As a trading island in the Indian Ocean, Lamu has long had a rich mixture of cultures and architecture (Arab to Indian, Swahili and Chinese). Evidence of the jumble of cultures is everywhere, from the buildings that line the narrow streets to the hand-pressed chapatis and fragrant fish curries served at the restaurants.
The history is noticeable, too—Lamu Town, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, feels like it still belongs in the 13th century, when it was first built. Cows roam down limestone alleyways that crisscross the city, so narrow they can fit little more than a pregnant donkey. Some buildings are dilapidated and spattered with mold, while others (many belonging to wealthy European swallows) are built of stones carved from coral on neighboring Manda Island and have intricately hand-carved doors with overgrown bushels of bougainvillea.
Along the waterfront there's a constant hubbub of activity, where fishing boats come and go, and goods are packed and offloaded. Proof the island's trading roots still run strong and that, although Lamu can feel sleepy, it's also extremely energetic and busy.
Surrendering into Lamu's languorous ways began as soon as I stepped off the plane. Even navigating through the crowds of people to get to the jetty, where water taxis and boats splutter (waiting to take travelers to Lamu town or Shela on Lamu Island), was effortless thanks to the warm, salty air that wreaked of vacation.
My water taxi—actually a wooden dhow—took me to the Peponi Hotel on Shela, where many holiday stories begin and end–sipping Old Pals (lime, vodka, a dash of bitters and sugared rim) on the terrace or lazing by the emerald pool. Opened in 1967, the water-facing bright white property dotted with bulbous baobabs and palm trees has long been a staple for the local expat crowd. It's also where celebrities, like Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall in the 70s and more recently Kate Moss, have cast themselves away in search of a low-key getaway (the Obamas also stayed on the island). What it offered back then it still offers today.
You could spend all day sipping cocktails on the terrace or walking the length of Shela Beach, but that would mean missing out on exploring the archipelago by dhow. These wooden boats used as fishing vessels, have become synonymous with the East African waters. I spent a day skirting the island on the Hippo Dhow, where local boatmen Yusuf, Hassan, Mohammed, and Jamil worked seamlessly to navigate the wide wooden boat along the coastline.
We sailed past tangled mangroves, deserted stretches of sand and a town known for its basket weaving. Eventually, we stopped for lunch on an empty beach where the team prepared fresh kingfish grilled over a fire at the back of the dhow, served with homemade chapatis and salad. For dessert we sucked on mangoes, while the boat cruised back to the hotel at an easy pace. By nightfall we'd arrived back at the Peponi, just in time for a meal of ginger crab and prawn curry on the terrace.
Shela and Lamu Town attract travelers who want to soak up the island's buzz, but there are also more 'beachy' islands in the archipelago where watersports, snorkeling and fishing are reasons to go. The low-key Mike's Camp on Kiwayu and Manda Bay Lodge on Manda Island, both a speed-boat-ride away, offer easy-breezy accommodation and open-air rooms with woven palm floors that spill out onto ocean views. You also don't have to be an avid diver or fisherman to enjoy these lodges though.
At Manda Bay Lodge, rather than fish and dive I chose to stick to my easygoing island vacation vibe and soaked up the sun outside my safari-style bungalow and drank dawas (gin, fresh lime and honey) as the sun bruised the sky. In the evenings, I feasted on platters of freshly grilled fish at a table set in the sand, under stars and palm trees. Then rolled into bed. One afternoon I visited the Takwa Settlement, ancient ruins that hark back to the 18th century–dilapidated, overgrown historical buildings few people really know much about.
On another occasion, I trailed a local guide through a network of alleyways in Lamu Town, picking up baskets, kikois and wooden objects from local craftsmen. But mostly, I just walked along the beach, swam in the warm ocean and read from the swinging daybed outside my room.
There were moments when I realized I was doing absolutely nothing at all, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Because that's what Lamu begs you to do: get into the slow sway swing of things and just soak it all in. When I had pangs of guilt, like I wasn't doing enough, there was always a friendly local to remind me to "pole pole."
Slow down.
It's hard not to give into Lamu, but why wouldn't you want to anyway?


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VI. ON PARALLELOGRAMS. — ON TRANSLATIONS 49 Remark. We have proved the converses in 46 and 47 by retracing the original reasoning in the opposite direction, as explained in 32, Remark II. 48. A quadrilateral whose angles are all equal, and are therefore are all right angles, is called a rectangle. A rectangle is a parallelogram, since its opposite angles are equal. A quadrilateral whose sides are all equal is called a rhombus. A rhombus is a parallelogram since it has equal opposite sides. Thus, in a rectangle, as in a rhombus, the diagonals intersect at their common midpoint. Theorem. The diagonals of a rectangle are equal. In rectangle ABCD (Fig. 47), the diagonals are equal because triangles ACD, BCD are congruent: they have side DC in common, ADC = DCB since they are both right angles, and AD = BC since they are opposite sides of a parallelogram. Corollary. In a right triangle, the median from the vertex of the right angle equals half the hypotenuse. This is true because if we draw parallels to the sides of the right angle through the endpoints of the hypotenuse, we form a rectangle, in which the median in question is half the diagonal. Converse. A parallelogram with equal diagonals is a rectangle. Figure 47 Suppose (Fig. 47) that AD = BC in parallelogram ABCD. We know that AD = BC: consequently, triangles ADC, BCD are congruent, since their three sides are equal in pairs. Angles ADC, BCD are therefore equal and, since they are supplementary, they must be right angles, which shows that the parallelogram is a rectangle. Corollary. A triangle in which a median is one half the corresponding side is a right triangle. Corollary. In a rhombus, the diagonals are perpendicular, and bisect the vertex angles. If ABCD (Fig. 48) is a rhombus, then triangle ABD is isosceles. Diagonal AC, being a median of this triangle, is also an altitude and an angle bisector. Converse. A parallelogram with perpendicular diagonals is a rhombus. Indeed, each vertex is equidistant from the adjacent vertices, since it lies on the perpendicular bisector of the diagonal joining these vertices.
Purchased from American Mathematical Society for the exclusive use of nofirst nolast (email unknown) Copyright 2008 American Mathematical Society. Duplication prohibited. Please report unauthorized use to firstname.lastname@example.com. Thank You! Your purchase supports the AMS' mission, programs, and services for the mathematical community.


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You can become the weird kid for any number of reasons. Sometimes it's because the things you like are so far outside what the other kids think is cool that you become a puzzlement. That's how it was for me. I was a girl, from three different cultures, who liked comic books, and martial arts movies, and SFF. Also, big glorious sword fights. I was weird. And up until 2015 there hadn't been much entertainment that met me where I was. Then AMC released a teaser trailer for their new series Into the Badlands and as I said in 2017:
"I cannot give an unbiased review of Into the Badlands. AMC's post-apocalyptic martial arts fantasy is everything I loved as a child, and everything I continue to love today. It's good, my friend."
ITB continued to be a joy for three seasons. There wasn't anywhere else to go to see multicultural characters, in spectacular costumes, be heroes and villains and sometimes be stupid or vain or weak.* What I mean is the inhabitants of the Badlands represent marginalized people and they're wholly human. It's a revelation.
Sadly the Into the Badlands saga won't continue for much longer. On this Sunday March 24th the final eight episodes will begin to make their way towards "the end." I could whine about it but I'd rather savor a completely brutal, high-octane, final story arc that will leave you with your fists clenched, teary eyed, and ready to launch into new adventures.
No spoilers, but there are big turns of fortune. That's all I'll say about that.
It begins with "S3E9 – Chapter XXV Chamber of the Scorpion". The Widow (Emily Beecham) faces off against The Master (Chipo Chung) and our dear Minerva is in need of a lesson. Let's just say, you can learn a lot from an ass-whipping. From there we swing to our hero Sunny (Daniel Wu) and his foil Pilgrim (Babou Ceesay). Sunny may have saved his son but he's beginning to realize that not all trades are fair and Pilgrim may be a world-ending-proposition. Sunny has a bad case of noble idiocy but we forgive him. Mostly because MK (Aramis Knight) has begun to dig more than two graves with his quest for revenge. The moment MK turns against Sunny is the moment we realize all the dominoes have begun to fall. It. is. Intense.
"I can tell you without reservations that Into the Badlands delivers Hong Kong style martial arts on a level that would make Jet Li and Yuen Woo-Ping nod their heads."
The above quote is still true, ITB is a mixture of storytelling, character, and action that ignites in every episode. It's still so very good, but I am bothered that the women who look like me have sooo many heroic deaths. I mean, can a sister live? Yet those women were full bodied characters who lived and died by their own choices. They got their lives and so did I.
Using the classic Journey to the West as its jumping off point, and by splitting the Monkey King into two facets (Sunny & MK), Into the Badlands told an epic story with a stunning ending that I'm still muttering about and rehashing two weeks later. I'm shook, y'all. Which makes me want to shake that clenched fist at AMC for cancelling the show. Then again we have to thank them for having the guts to give us this magic for three seasons. I guess this is a classic bittersweet ending. And if you're going to go out, do it like Into the Badlands: Go out swinging!
Into the Badlands returns to AMC on Sunday
* well, there is The Expanse.


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NASA published images of the Mars rover Curiosity from the orbit of Mars. The relevant photos were posted on Twitter.
It is noted that the image, where the rover is visible only in the form of a small dot, is made on clay territory in the Gale Crater. NASA noted that the image was taken on May 31 during the study "Forest Bay".
In June, NASA experts examined the data of the Curiosity rover and found a significant amount of methane in the atmosphere of Mars, which may indirectly indicate the presence of living creatures on the planet.
On March 26, Curiosity found nitrogen compounds necessary for the survival of living organisms inside the Gail crater Gail. Its appearance could be facilitated by the fall of asteroids and the presence of gaseous hydrogen in the atmosphere of the Red Planet.
Currently, the only Curiosity rover is operating on Mars. NASA made a landing on Mars on August 6, 2012 in the vicinity of Gale Crater.


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Summer 2021 Analyst Class-- Spectrum Equity: a leading growth equity firm with offices in San Francisco & Boston.
A full-time job opportunity for rising fourth-years, especially those with Demonstrable interest in finance, investing, and the technology sector. Apply by August 15th.
More information posted on Handshake.
Case Workshop/ Competition
McIntire Alumni Case Mock Interview: opens Monday July 20th at noon (EST). Slots are filled on a first come, first served basis.
CCS will send an email with a link to sign up on 7/20/2020. To participate, sufficient case interviewing priming and practice is encouraged.
Peer Case Interview
No new peer case practices planned.


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Directed attention fatigue
Directed attention fatigue (DAF) is a neuro-psychological phenomenon that results from overuse of the brain's inhibitory attention mechanisms, which handle incoming distractions while maintaining focus on a specific task. The greatest threat to a given focus of attention is competition from other stimuli that can cause a shift in focus. This is because one maintains focus on a particular thought by inhibiting all potential distractions and not by strengthening that central mental activity.[1][page needed] Directed attention fatigue occurs when a particular part of the brain's global inhibitory system is overworked due to the suppression of increasing numbers of stimuli. This temporary condition is not a clinical illness or a personality disorder. It is rather a temporary fatigue of the inhibitory mechanisms in the brain.[2][unreliable medical source?] According to inhibition theory, it is natural for one to alternate between periods of attention and distraction. Although one's efforts may involve very different tasks, each incoming stimulus calls upon the same directed attention mechanism.[citation needed]
Extreme levels of mental fatigue lead to an inability to perform regular tasks and irritability. Studies that require participants to carry out attention-demanding tasks under conditions of high distraction reveal how unpleasant a mentally fatigued person can be. After exposure to such an experience, individuals are less likely to help someone in need. They are also more aggressive, less tolerant, and less sensitive to socially important cues. Fatigue that is experienced by participants of these kinds of studies is induced by attention-intensive tasks,[3] and the observed effects of such fatigue are correlated with decline in inhibitory control. Signs of Directed Attention Fatigue include temporarily feeling unusually distractible, impatient, forgetful, or cranky when there is no associated illness. In more severe forms, it can lead to bad judgment, apathy, or accidents, and can contribute to increased stress levels.[citation needed]
There are 6 major areas of mental processing that are affected during onset of DAF, which are as follows:[4]
- Input — One may experience misperception and miss social cues.
- Thinking — One may experience feelings of restlessness, confusion, forgetfulness and/or decreased metacognition.
- Behavior — One may experience feelings of impulsiveness and recklessness, and may find that they have a diminished level of threshold between thoughts and actions. One may also act out-of-character.
- Executive Functioning — One may experience an inability to plan and make appropriate decisions and may experience impaired judgment ability.
- Emotions — One may experience being short-tempered and feelings of unpleasantness.
- Social Interactions — One may experience heightened irritability and increased frequency of antisocial feelings.
Overlap of symptoms from the six above categories is highly indicative of Directed Attention Fatigue.
Link to ADHD[edit]
The symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder closely mirror the symptoms of Directed Attention Fatigue. Like Directed Attention Fatigue, ADHD involves the prefrontal cortex. Specifically, the right prefrontal cortex is less active among children with ADHD. Experimentation has shown that the severity of ADHD symptoms can be correlated to the degree of asymmetry between blood flow in the left and right prefrontal cortex.[5][non-primary source needed] It is possible that DAF and ADHD involve disruption of the same underlying mechanism, and recent clinical evidence has found that the same treatments used for Directed Attention Fatigue may reduce the symptoms of ADHD in children.[6][non-primary source needed] However, it is important to note that unlike ADHD, DAF is a temporary condition rather than a clinical disorder.[citation needed]
The onset of directed attention fatigue can be triggered by a number of activities, all of which involve use of the brain's inhibitory system. Activities that engage this system include multitasking, working in an environment with disruptive background noise or after a lack of sleep, and rapidly changing focus during a prolonged period of attention. DAF can also be brought about by performing concentration-intensive tasks such as puzzle-solving or learning unfamiliar ideas. External factors such as stress resulting from emergencies, exams or work deadlines can also induce DAF. Any illness or injury to the brain that interrupts the brain circuits involved in maintaining attention and inhibiting external stimuli may also contribute to the development of directed attention fatigue.
Directed attention, or voluntary attention, requires a great deal of concentration and focus, and is employed in tasks such as problem solving. This type of attention employs the inhibitory mechanisms of the brain, which help block incoming stimuli that are unrelated to the task at hand.[7] Several parts of the brain are involved in maintaining directed attention, primarily those located in the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe of the brain. Specifically, the mechanism of directed attention employs the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the brain stem's basal ganglia. Some fMRI studies have shown that directed attention involves changes in the anterior cingulate cortex and the lateral prefrontal cortex, perhaps as a consequence of increased connectivity between these two areas.[8] Evidence also suggests that the right inferior frontal cortex (IFC) plays a specialized role in response inhibition. It seems that this region plays a key role in the integration of bottom-up response-related information and facilitates goal-directed behavior.[9][non-primary source needed] While these areas of the brain are known to be involved in DAF, their specific molecular mechanisms in the perpetuation of DAF symptoms are not yet known.
Differential diagnosis[edit]
The concept of stress is used in many situations that would be described as mental fatigue, but the two concepts are distinctly different. Stress involves preparation for an anticipated event that has been evaluated as being threatening or harmful. Though mental fatigue may well result from stressful circumstances, it also arises out of hard work on a project one enjoys. In such cases, there is no anticipation of threat or harm present but still the result is fatigue. Characteristic of mental fatigue is difficulty focusing. For a mentally fatigued person, paying attention to something uninteresting is burdensome, even though focusing on something of great interest poses no particular challenge.[10][page needed] Hence, there are two types of attention, distinguished in terms of the effort involved in their use and their changes in attentional shift:
- Involuntary attention refers to attention that requires no effort at all, as when something exciting or interesting happens.
- Voluntary attention, or directed attention, refers to attention that requires a great deal of effort, as when something is monotonous or boring.[11][page needed]
There are measures that can be taken in order to reduce the impact of DAF. These include reducing the number of distractions present in one's external environment, trying to clear one's mind of any internal distractions and taking short breaks during prolonged periods of focus. Directed attention fatigue can be reduced by getting a sufficient amount of sleep each night, because inhibitory attention chemicals are replenished during sleep.[12][unreliable medical source?]
An aesthetic environment may also serve a restorative function in fostering recovery from mental fatigue. Research has shown that restorative experiences, such as clearing one's head and reflecting on one's life and priorities, may help combat Directed Attention Fatigue. As investigated by attention restoration theory, natural environments, such as forests, mountain landscapes or beaches, appear to be particularly effective for restoring attention, perhaps because they contain a vast amount of diverse, relatively weak stimuli, thus inciting the mind to wander freely while relaxing its strict focus.[13]
Ongoing research is examining ways in which the incidence of DAF can be decreased, and suggests that exposure to the natural environment may aid in the reduction of DAF symptoms. A number of researchers have investigated Directed Attention Fatigue recently. Leading contributors include Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, environmental psychologists at the University of Michigan. Rachel and Stephen Kaplan are credited with much of the research relating to Directed Attention Fatigue and were the first to discover that extended periods of focused attention can lead to DAF. Their research suggests that Directed Attention Fatigue can be alleviated with exposure to nature. Together, the Kaplans devised the Attention restoration theory (ART), which states that a person is better able to maintain focused directed attention after spending time in the natural environment.
A number of studies have been performed that specifically focus on Directed Attention Fatigue experienced by cancer patients. Such studies suggests that the DAF experienced by cancer patients following surgery improves significantly through outdoor restorative activities for 20 minutes per day.[14][unreliable medical source?]
Similarly, it has been discovered that even brief amounts of time spent on a busy metropolitan street can affect one's ability to maintain focus on a given task. Experimental findings suggest that spending time in a natural environment or even looking at pictures of nature can improve maintenance of directed attention.[15][unreliable medical source?]
The Landscape and Human Health Laboratory (LHHL) has completed studies examining the complex relationship between people and their environment. Researchers here discovered the correlation between Directed Attention Fatigue, irritability and aggression. Their findings suggest that people deprived of the restorative effects of nature display more aggressive qualities. Results also demonstrate that communities with several trees and other natural areas tend to be stronger, safer and house residents with a higher attention level.[citation needed] More recent experimentation done at the LHHL suggests that children possessing attention deficits increase their attention level after walking outdoors.[16][unreliable medical source?]
According to this and much other research[which?] that has been performed regarding directed attention fatigue, the brain's ability to maintain directed attention is heightened after exposure to nature.
See also[edit]
- ^ Itti L, Geraint R, Tsotsos JK, eds. (2005). Neurobiology of Attention. Boston: Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-375731-9. OCLC 58724292.
- ^ Beadle S. "Directed Attention Fatigue and Restoration". Troutfoot.com. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ Lin H, Saunders B, Friese M, Evans NJ, Inzlicht M (May 2020). "Strong Effort Manipulations Reduce Response Caution: A Preregistered Reinvention of the Ego-Depletion Paradigm". Psychological Science. 31 (5): 531–547. doi:10.1177/0956797620904990. PMC 7238509. PMID 32315259.
- ^ Kaplan S, Berman MG (January 2010). "Directed Attention as a Common Resource for Executive Functioning and Self-Regulation". Perspectives on Psychological Science. 5 (1): 43–57. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.589.9322. doi:10.1177/1745691609356784. PMID 26162062. S2CID 4992335.
- ^ Glosser G, Goodglass H (August 1990). "Disorders in executive control functions among aphasic and other brain-damaged patients". Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. 12 (4): 485–501. doi:10.1080/01688639008400995. PMID 1698809.
- ^ Kuo FE, Taylor AF (September 2004). "A potential natural treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: evidence from a national study". American Journal of Public Health. 94 (9): 1580–6. doi:10.2105/ajph.94.9.1580. PMC 1448497. PMID 15333318.
- ^ Jaffe E (May 2010). "This side of paradise: discovering why the human mind needs nature". Observer. 23 (5).
- ^ Posner MI, Sheese BE, Odludaş Y, Tang Y (November 2006). "Analyzing and shaping human attentional networks". Neural Networks. 19 (9): 1422–9. doi:10.1016/j.neunet.2006.08.004. PMID 17059879.
- ^ Dodds CM, Morein-Zamir S, Robbins TW (May 2011). "Dissociating inhibition, attention, and response control in the frontoparietal network using functional magnetic resonance imaging". Cerebral Cortex. 21 (5): 1155–65. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhq187. PMC 3077432. PMID 20923963.
- ^ Pfaff DW, Kieffer BL, eds. (2008). Molecular and Biophysical Mechanisms of Arousal, Alertness, and Attention. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 1129. Boston: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-1-57331-703-0. OCLC 229430529.
- ^ Kaplan R, Kaplan S (1989). The experience of nature: A psychological perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-34939-0. OCLC 18814094.
- ^ "Directed attention fatigue". Bio-Medicine. Archived from the original on 2011-09-14. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ Kaplan S (July 2001). "Meditation, restoration, and the management of mental fatigue". Environment and Behavior. 33 (4): 480–506. doi:10.1177/00139160121973106. S2CID 7194754.
- ^ Lofy J (Fall 2006). "A Walk in the Woods". Michigan Today. Archived from the original on 2011-03-12. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Nauert R (17 November 2010). "Brain fatigue from living in the city?". PsychCentral. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ Kuo FE. "Current Research". Landscape and Human Health Laboratory. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved 13 March 2011.


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Celta Vigo vs Leganes – Predictions, Odds and Betting
Author: admin
Last Updated: January 3, 2020
Leganes will look to continue their La Liga revival when they make the trip to the Abanca-Balaidos to face Celta Vigo on Friday night. Celta Vigo did well to beat Villarreal 3-2 away from home last weekend thanks to goals from Brais Mendez, Okay Yokuslu and Maximiliano Gomez. Meanwhile, Leganes fought back from one-goal down to secure a 1-1 home draw against Getafe thanks to a second-half equalizer from Allan Nyom. Follow all our predictions, odds, free bets and betting tips below.
Betting Tips for the game
Celta Vigo's form over the past two months has been a complete mixed bag with five defeats, three wins and two draws in their last ten games across all competitions. The positive fact is that Celta Vigo have been a bit better on home soil this season, having lost just two of their nine competitive fixtures. Celta currently lie only 11th in the standings, but they are just two points behind the top six.
Leganes, on the other hand, are undefeated in seven competitive outings at the moment. They have won three consecutive games prior to their 1-1 home draw against Getafe last time out in La Liga. Away from home, Leganes are now on a three-game undefeated streak, winning the most recent two of these. Due to their recent run of form, Leganes are now 16th in the standings, three points clear of the bottom three.
Although Leganes are the in-form team here, Celta Vigo looked decent on home soil throughout this campaign and we fancy them to maximize this advantage here. Our betting tips and predictions expect Celta Vigo to win at odds 1.80.
[bet_tip_now stars_1_2_3="3″ block_title="Prediction and betting tip:"]Celta Vigo to win at odds 1.80[/bet_tip_now]
Match odds
Celta Vigo have won their most recent two games in La Liga and they managed to beat Leganes 1-0 in their last home meeting with them. In addition, Os Celestes have only lost two of their nine competitive home games this season. On the flip side, Leganes have only won two of their last 15 away fixtures across all competitions. Our preview would back Celta Vigo to win at odds 1.80.
Celta Vigo to win at odds 1.80
Celta Vigo vs Leganes Draw at odds 3.50
Leganes to win at odds 4.50
Correct Score odds
Celta Vigo have netted at least two goals in three of their last four home games across all competitions, but they have also allowed five in the process. Meanwhile, Leganes did well to score four goals in their most recent league trip, but prior to this, they have failed to score in four out of five La Liga away games. Our correct score prediction anticipate Celta Vigo to win 1-0 at odds 6.50.
[bet_tip_now stars_1_2_3="3″ block_title="Correct score prediction:"]Celta Vigo to win 1-0 at odds 6.50[/bet_tip_now]
Over/Under 2.5 Goals odds
Celta Vigo have netted at least two goals in three of their last four home games across all competitions, but they have also allowed five in the process. Meanwhile, Leganes did well to score four goals in their most recent league trip, but prior to this, they have failed to score in four out of five La Liga away games. Our total goals prediction anticipate under 2.5 goals at odds 1.72.
[bet_tip_now stars_1_2_3="3″ block_title="Goal odds and predictions:"]Under 2.5 goals at odds 1.72[/bet_tip_now]
First Goalscorer odds
Iago Aspas has been pretty quiet of late, but he is still Celta Vigo's top scorer with ten goals under his belt after 15 league appearances. However, he has scored a brace against Huesca at the beginning of the month. Our first goalscorer prediction is Iago Aspas at odds 4.40.
[bet_tip_now stars_1_2_3="3″ block_title="First goalscorer prediction:"]Iago Aspas at odds 4.40[/bet_tip_now]
Free bet offers
Below we have all our free bet offers and bonuses for this weekend.


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Earnhardt, Jr. Reflects On Talking Racing With His Dad
|Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
|Sean Gardner/Getty Images
It certain hasn't been easy for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to live in the shadow of his famous seven-time championship-winning father, but it turns out it wasn't easy for Junior just to talk to his dad – especially about anything related to racing, and definitely not after a bad day of racing.
In his comments to the media leading up to making his final Pocono start on Sunday, Earnhardt, Jr. revealed that he and his dad didn't get a lot of time to talk about racing at all, including whenever the elder Earnhardt had a bad day at the track.
"We didn't talk," said Earnhardt, Jr. "Me and my dad never talked racing. We just didn't."
Dale Earnhardt, Sr. surely made his mark at Pocono during his career, including two victories and 22 top-10 finishes. He also had nine DNF's – the most famous coming in July 1982 where he wound up upside down after a crash with Tim Richmond.
But of all of Earnhardt, Sr.'s Pocono finishes, one of the most memorable was one where he finished fourth.
It was the June Pocono race back in 2000, where Jeremy Mayfield put the bumper to "the Intimidator" in the final turn to push his way to his second-career Cup Series victory, drawing the ire of Earnhardt fans everywhere.
It was a moment etched in the minds of many NASCAR fans, including Earnhardt, Jr., who finished 19th in the event, and was definitely not a topic of conversation between the two.
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] "I wouldn't go up and ask him about that unless I wanted to upset him," said Earnhardt, Jr. "I hated it. It was something you were used to seeing Dad doing, and I didn't like seeing nobody do it to him. He was my hero and I didn't like seeing my hero getting moved out of the way like that. So, it's not a race that I like to think about.
"But I certainly, knowing my dad, it's nothing I would have brought up in conversation in the rental car on the ride back to the airport, for sure."
Although Earnhardt, Sr. was around to see some of his son's greatest moments – his first Xfinity Series title, his first Cup win, his first win in the NASCAR All Star Race – Earnhardt, Jr. says there just wasn't a lot of time for them to actually talk about racing.
"We didn't talk racing a lot. We just didn't. There wasn't a lot of opportunity," said Earnhardt, Jr. "I was running Late Models for four years and I don't think he ever saw me race Late Models during the '90's. And then when we got in the Xfinity Series I had two years of that and one year in Cup and then he was gone. So, we had three years of just not really any conversation about driving or advice about it."
Earnhardt, Jr. said his dad's main concern was for Junior to keep as much a level head off the track as he did on the track, advice that has served the younger Earnhardt well as he prepares to retire at the end of the 2017 Cup season.
"He was more worried about me keeping my head on straight and keeping focused than how to get into the corner," said Earnhardt, Jr. "He was more about how to be outside of the car and keeping your head on.
"Everything was happening so fast and we were having so much success I think he was just making sure that I wasn't going to be careless or be an idiot outside the car. We talked about that all the time; getting up on time and not sleeping until noon and being on time for appearances and all that stuff."
|Earnhardt, Jr. celebrated after sweeping both Pocono races in 2014
|Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Earnhardt, Jr. himself has left his mark on Pocono, most notably watching his father's win total at the track with his back-to-back victories here in 2014.
He finished 38th after losing an engine in the Cup Series' first visit of the season at Pocono back in June, but he still hopes to make one last trip to Victory Lane before finishing out his final race at the "Tricky Triangle".
"This track offers so much character," said Earnhardt, Jr. "The Tunnel Turn was one of the more terrifying corners to try to get used to in this sport. It' such a challenge. We go through there so fast. It was one of the more intimidating corners in our series. I'm going to miss how unique it is.
"I have really enjoyed racing here. It took a while for me to sort of figure that out or understand how to enjoy the track itself, but the racing here is pretty fun."
[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]


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Lately I've been really interested in high style with slouchy shapes and comfy fabrics. Australia's Saxony clothing has a great collection of innovative scarf shirts, which drape the body in fabric in a style perhaps more familiar to male femininity than female masculinity – we're all about blurring boundaries here. Scotch and Soda are blending androgynous grunge with great textures and rich colours, with layers galore. And I'm super impressed by Studio Nicholson's Martino pants, with their relaxed drop crotch; pair with your ex's beaten-up old army boots and an aura of quiet confidence.
Source: scotch-soda.com via Zoya on Pinterest
Source: studionicholson.com via Zoya on Pinterest


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DVD ENDEAVOUR: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON [DVD]/[ Adult DVD ]
|Current location
|Call number
|Date due
|Casco Public Library
|DVD TV [2620, 2621] (Browse shelf)
Title from container.
Based on characters created by Colin Dexter.
Special features: the making of season 3; interview with Shawn Evans; interview with Roger Allam.
Disc 1. Ride ; Arcadia -- Disc 2. Prey ; Coda.
Music, Barrington Pheloung ; executive producers, Russell Lewis, Dan McCulloch, Damien Timmer ; executive producer for Masterpiece, Rebecca Eaton.
Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, James Bradshaw, Anton Lesser, Sean Rigby, Jack Laskey, Dakota Blue Richards, Abigail Thaw.
Originally aired on television in 2016.
Last seen languishing in a prison cell and framed for a crime he didn't commit, Endeavour is compelled to return to duty when a young woman's baffling murder requires his singularly cerebral mind to solve.
Rating: TV-14.
Blu-ray; 16x9 widescreen ; requires Blu-ray player.
English dialogue; English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.


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Book your ferry to DOVER with NetFerry!
Can't wait to get to Uk? Search your ferry to Dover through the NetFerry online search engine. NetFerry can help you find out which ferry operators cover routes to Dover and all related timetables, prices and duration.
Dover has connections with Calais and Dunkirk (France). The crossings to Dover are served by the sailing company Dfds who carry out 176 trips per week with all day boardings and crossing times ranging between 1 hr 30 min and 2 hours. Ferry companies working on this crossing have ships available that are suitable for cars, motorbikes, campers and trucks.
Don't wait around, book your trip now in just a few simple steps.
Guide of DOVER
Dover is a coastal town in the county of Kent, on the southern coast of England, it is famous for its beautiful white cliffs that plunge into the sea and are visible as you approach England from France. A brief history of Dover Dover was built around its port, which was developed to defend the land from invasions coming across the English Channel from the European mainland. By Roman times the port of Dover was already very active, but it was in the Middle Ages that the port and the town really grew in importance. It became one of the five key defensive ports in England. In the mid-1600s the wa... [More information]


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Samsung Malaysia has just published its full details on its exchange and refund process for Galaxy Note7 owners in Malaysia. This is applicable for both pre-order and replacement units which are to be returned for your own safety.
If you've purchased your unit from Samsung, Courts, Senheng and Lazada, you may request for refund or exchange your Note7 beginning next Monday, 17th October onwards. This will take place at your point of collection of your pre-order unit. For those who have purchased their devices from the telcos (Celcom, Digi, Maxis, U Mobile and Yes), you will be contacted directly for further arrangements.
Exchange to S7 edge
For those opting to swap their Galaxy Note7 for a Galaxy S7 edge, you are required to return your device in the original box and bring along a copy of your IC and your bank statement for verification purposes. As there's a price difference, Samsung will be giving a cash back of RM300 which will be transferred directly into your bank account.
If you've purchased any original Samsung accessories for the Galaxy Note7, you can request a refund at the place of purchase. Proof of purchase is required, so you would need to bring your receipt.
Full Refund
To get your money back, the steps are also similar and you'll also need to bring a copy of your IC and bank statement. Samsung will refund RM2,879.10 which is the special pre-order price directly to your bank account.
If you've bought any original Samsung accessory for the Galaxy Note7, you can also request a refund as well. With regards to the free gifts such as the wireless charger and powerbank, theres's no need to return them as they are complimentary.
For more info, head over to Samsung Malaysia's Note7 page.


text: Now mainly jeweller, Justine wants to avoid labels and limitations. "I don't want to be restricted to only one area; I think it puts limits on the power of expression and creation", she says in the following interview. Her website is an example of that – she defines it as an "open rough draft". By creating a dreamlike world where nostalgia plays an important role, she haunts the viewers. Today, exclusively for METAL, she presents Éteint Celle Qui Porte-Bonheur, an editorial in collaboration with photographer Célia Cotelle.


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US Patriot
ECWCS Gen III Level 1 Baselayer Top
Item #: uspa_B20660
Choose a color : Coyote
Choose a Size Sizing Info
The ECWCS Gen III Level 1 Top exceeds military specifications with a highly breathable and lightweight material. With its built in antimicrobial properties and moisture wicking technology this top is designed to be worn next to your skin. Being the first level of 7 Gen III ECWCS levels this top is can be worn in conjunction with other insulation levels.
- Level 1 of 7 Gen III ECWCS levels
- Garment exceeds military specifications
- Coyote Tan 499 color to meet OCP AR670-1 uniform requirements
- 3.7-ounce, 100% polyester fabric
- Highly breathable lightweight performance blend
- Moisture wicking
- Built with antimicrobial properties
- Designed to be worn next to skin or in conjunction with other insulation levels
- Crewneck top
- Long contoured tail in the back and thumbholes in the sleeves
- Joining seams are made with flat lock seam technology which prevents friction, chafing and eliminates hotspots


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He said it…..
"I have taken roads that I wished I had not traveled on. And I'm traveling on some pretty exciting ones, too. Just hope when you get to that great racetrack in the sky, that the balance will tip slightly into those things that you'd be proud of." Paul L. Newman