text:
Every month at 3 PM IST (India Time) on payday, the recreational area at Net Solutions’ Chandigarh campus comes alive. No, people are not lining up with their environmentally friendly bags to collect bundles of cash. Salary disbursement is electronic and always has been. In fact, we are strong proponents of Prime Minister Modi’s vision of a #cashless India. Why then, one wonders, are the people huddling on payday? It’s surely not to discuss climate change and its effect on bird migration.
The real answer is a bummer. People line up to collect their pay slips. #incomprehensible #areyoukiddingme.
Yes, I’m with you. There are many hashtags that can be used to describe this ritual. A company that counts Xerox, Microsoft, Yahoo, HBR and Haymarket among its clients, this does not add up.
The story starts much earlier than this. Most organizations, especially enterprises, have grown organically over the years. Net Solutions, too, has had a similar journey.
2017 is our 17th year of existence. We started at a modest facility (Sameer’s garage really) with a few people and even fewer execution tricks. Today, we have a state-of-the-art delivery center at Information Technology Park. Infosys is one of our neighbors (we have a better view of the Shivalik foothills than they do). It has been a journey full of positive experiences and challenges. We sorted out most of the teething issues as we grew over the years and digitized almost everything. Yes, salary slips weren’t a priority and probably still are not; we will take care of them, eventually. The glass is half full, people.
As a Product Development company that specializes in Digital Customer Experience curation and management, we have two facets. For the lack of creative nomenclature, let us call them: internal and external. The external experiences have always been top drawer. Right from that first call, logging the notes in Sales Force, conversion of the lead into an opportunity, closing the opportunity, Business Analysis, project execution and management, quality control, automated release management and iterative delivery of MVP/MVE, we have it covered. All electronic. All cutting edge. But, that is not what we will discuss today.
We want to talk about the internal experiences. Our workforce. The folks who make us who we are. What sort of an experience do we get?
Biometric attendance, fiddle with tens of internal IT systems, fill time sheets, hop on calls with our partners (clients if it is unclear), interact with various teams (HR, Finance, Facility Admin, Sales, Pre-Sales, PMO, CX, UX, UI, Tech Leads, Product Management, Labs etc.), consume calories, hydrate, exercise, engage in mild gossip by the water cooler (alright, alright, full gossip), power nap in the recovery room, 1-on-1 meetings with managers, career planning meetings, strategy meetings, training sessions, Wisdom Wednesdays, Digital Fridays, playing with the little ones at the onsite nursery, and much more.
Phew. So many experiences. These have to planned, managed, tracked, optimized, and delivered. We would have no moral authority to build Digital Experience Platforms for our partners if we could not build one for our workforce. With this vision, a couple of years ago, we started unifying the experiences at our workplace. All those disparate experiences then started becoming Digital Experiences at Workplace.
The journey has been… unique. Inertia is one tough, son of a gun. People get used to doing things, however inefficient they may be. Identifying change agents and having people rally around them is easier said than done. Digitizing institutional memory is very important, especially for a company like ours where the median tenure of an employee is 10 years. That’s right, people do not seem to want to move out from here. We are like those kids who never outgrow their parental home. Lazy bums.
Jokes aside, we have had the need for that single source of truth that not only replaced those tens of IT systems that we had gotten used to, but also held everything that we considered sacrosanct in one place: our institutional memory, our engagements and interactions with each other, and a seamless way to go about our day-to-day at work.
Problem statements, meet the solution [drum rolls]: Grid.
As misplaced as the name sounds (since there is nothing to do with the literal or figurative [if any] meaning of the word), it encompasses the solution that we have created as an answer to our internal incoherence.
Chest thumping and swagger aside, an intelligent reader might ask, what does it really do, dude?
Yes, we chose to eat this frog. (If you want to learn more about frogs and why you should eat them, take a look: https://goo.gl/JBHgmI). It seemed like a logical thing to do. We had tens of IT systems, we could not replace them all overnight. We went after the pain point. Multiple systems mean multiple accounts, which translates into every individual needing to remember those many passwords.
The smart ones just use 123456 as a password for all their accounts. The not so smart ones create secure passwords that are at least 10 characters in length, and contain numbers and special characters. We then write these passwords on a post-it note and stick it on our workstation monitors. Easy. God knows why people complain about password management.
How are you feeling? I am okay. Next day, how are you feeling? I am happy. Three mornings later, how are you feeling? I am groggy.
Who wants to keep a manual record of how everyone is feeling in the organization at any given point in time? More importantly, is it even recordable?
This needs to be done. Call it employee morale management, Sentiment Analysis or anything else that rocks your boat. The fact is, human resources are the most expensive investment for any organization and they need to be taken care of. Not just by doling out free lunches or planting expensive coffee machines (they certainly help), but by going into the psyche of human behavior and aspirations, and bridging the emotional disconnect.
Our implementation features logging of sentiment during work hours (and offwork hours if one chooses to share that they slept on the couch). Our Analytics engine then operationalizes the mathematical model (hand-crafted by our Data Scientists sitting in the House-of-the-Lords Labs area) over the data sets to identify areas where we need to bolster our defenses and make the workplace more hospitable.
Since our workforce does not believe in attrition, we might as well make sure they are happy during their decade-long pit stops with us. Sadly (or fortunately, whatever your taken on this is), we do not venture into fixing the couch fiascos.
Our engagement program includes rewards and recognition in the form of popular choice (peer to peer) and critics choice (ahem, HR) awards. Folks earn points for contributing to the learning ecosystem in the form of blogs, knowledge sharing sessions, hackathons, critiquing posts, etc. It all links together (now this is the only known instance of validation of the name Grid) into a social network.
In fact, a few weeks ago, our engine detected a few people trading appreciation notes to notch up points on the leaderboard (shame, shame [Game of Thrones, anyone?]). The engagement grew further after an incremental product release where we disclosed how people have fared on the leaderboard over the months. Darn peepers. The more graphs we release, engagement goes up each time. People love to know what others are doing. Zuckerberg beat us to this revelation by 13 years. Alas.
All fun and no work makes Net Solutions an unprofitable enterprise. In the spirit of getting paid for an honest day’s work, we need to manage our assets and the so called institutional memory. We built the DAM module to manage our memory bank and regulate its access through RBAC (role based access control).
In fact, RBAC is in the foundation of Grid. People can be given privileges to perform a variety of functions and these privileges can be upgraded and downgraded on demand, without the person having to…..wait for it…..wait for it…..without having to logout and back in for the updated permissions to kick in.
These assets can be organized around a partner project, an internal initiative or anything in between. No more tossing documents over Skype or email.
We realized that we were tired of sending companywide emails that in essence were “this is to inform you that Nyquist won’t be running in Preakness Stakes this year.” Boring. Drab. Dull. Stoic. Yada yada yada.
We want emotions pouring in, a way for people to engage in a community dialogue and not let announcements be a monologue. We created a module that lets relevant stakeholders (nah, we aren’t publicly traded, yet) announce their bit, ruffle some feathers and kick back with a beer and watch the fun. People, given an opportunity, can be pretty darn vocal about how they feel about things. We try to keep it civil but many a toupee have been lost in skirmishes.
Polls and surveys live in Grid’s arsenal to solicit feedback with a positive intent to course correct, hear back from those we do not speak of and let the system balance monarchy and democracy.
Certain polls have been very successful. In one such instance, people voted in favor of improving food options at our on premise restaurant by including “nicer delicacies,” AND also voted to reduce the meal price. Sky Chef gracefully declined to be our in-house meals service provider.
Where there are humans or machines, there are problems. If you remember any of the team names that were mentioned during early parts of this blog, you would have identified that some teams exist to work behind the scenes to keep the ecosystem running flawlessly. These teams - HR, Finance, IT, Facility Management make sure the rest of us can focus on our work without having to worry.
Things still go wrong though, and when they do, we don’t want to breathe down their neck or keep calling them till the time all coyotes have been shooed away from the premises. We have an electronic ticket logging and management system that folks use to raise their issues. Since Grid is powered by RBAC, we can easily add / change first responders and create escalation queues to ensure timely resolution of all tickets logged. Descriptive Analytics and a variety of reports (Aging, TTL, MTBF etc.) ensure everyone is on their A-game. Bite me Zendesk.
With Grid, one of the focus areas has been to give everyone the information they need to do their jobs while keeping it fun and engaging. With blue collars getting what they need, the white collars also need something. Monarchy and Democracy need to be balanced, remember?
The CXO dashboard gives the economic view on the projects being developed. Which projects are in red vs black? Which projects have the most number of bugs open? Which projects are unlikely to meet the timelines and do we send nine potential mothers to create that baby in one month? There are plenty of other markers, several proprietary, which I cannot discuss here.
The idea being that this dashboard provides an unadulterated, unfiltered view of what’s happening on the floor. Those found guilty are called for an inquest on Fridays.
This, ladies and gents, is our Grid. There are companion mobile apps for iOS and Android distributed through Enterprise deployment. There are several other components of Grid such as Predictive Analytics, Forecasting, Profitability Metrics etc., which I will cover in another post, someday.

tokenized:
Every month at 3 PM IST ( India Time ) on payday , the recreational area at Net Solutions ’ Chandigarh campus comes alive . No , people are not lining up with their environmentally friendly bags to collect bundles of cash . Salary disbursement is electronic and always has been . In fact , we are strong proponents of Prime Minister Modi ’s vision of a # cashless India . Why then , one wonders , are the people huddling on payday ? It ’s surely not to discuss climate change and its effect on bird migration .
 The real answer is a bummer . People line up to collect their pay slips . # incomprehensible # areyoukiddingme .
 Yes , I ’m with you . There are many hashtags that can be used to describe this ritual . A company that counts Xerox , Microsoft , Yahoo , HBR and Haymarket among its clients , this does not add up .
 The story starts much earlier than this . Most organizations , especially enterprises , have grown organically over the years . Net Solutions , too , has had a similar journey .
 2017 is our 17th year of existence . We started at a modest facility ( Sameer ’s garage really ) with a few people and even fewer execution tricks . Today , we have a state - of - the - art delivery center at Information Technology Park . Infosys is one of our neighbors ( we have a better view of the Shivalik foothills than they do ) . It has been a journey full of positive experiences and challenges . We sorted out most of the teething issues as we grew over the years and digitized almost everything . Yes , salary slips were n’t a priority and probably still are not; we will take care of them , eventually . The glass is half full , people .
 As a Product Development company that specializes in Digital Customer Experience curation and management , we have two facets . For the lack of creative nomenclature , let us call them : internal and external . The external experiences have always been top drawer . Right from that first call , logging the notes in Sales Force , conversion of the lead into an opportunity , closing the opportunity , Business Analysis , project execution and management , quality control , automated release management and iterative delivery of MVP / MVE , we have it covered . All electronic . All cutting edge . But , that is not what we will discuss today .
 We want to talk about the internal experiences . Our workforce . The folks who make us who we are . What sort of an experience do we get ?
 Biometric attendance , fiddle with tens of internal IT systems , fill time sheets , hop on calls with our partners ( clients if it is unclear ) , interact with various teams ( HR , Finance , Facility Admin , Sales , Pre - Sales , PMO , CX , UX , UI , Tech Leads , Product Management , Labs etc . ) , consume calories , hydrate , exercise , engage in mild gossip by the water cooler ( alright , alright , full gossip ) , power nap in the recovery room , 1-on-1 meetings with managers , career planning meetings , strategy meetings , training sessions , Wisdom Wednesdays , Digital Fridays , playing with the little ones at the onsite nursery , and much more .
 Phew . So many experiences . These have to planned , managed , tracked , optimized , and delivered . We would have no moral authority to build Digital Experience Platforms for our partners if we could not build one for our workforce . With this vision , a couple of years ago , we started unifying the experiences at our workplace . All those disparate experiences then started becoming Digital Experiences at Workplace .
 The journey has been … unique . Inertia is one tough , son of a gun . People get used to doing things , however inefficient they may be . Identifying change agents and having people rally around them is easier said than done . Digitizing institutional memory is very important , especially for a company like ours where the median tenure of an employee is 10 years . That ’s right , people do not seem to want to move out from here . We are like those kids who never outgrow their parental home . Lazy bums .
 Jokes aside , we have had the need for that single source of truth that not only replaced those tens of IT systems that we had gotten used to , but also held everything that we considered sacrosanct in one place : our institutional memory , our engagements and interactions with each other , and a seamless way to go about our day-to-day at work .
 Problem statements , meet the solution [ drum rolls ] : Grid .
 As misplaced as the name sounds ( since there is nothing to do with the literal or figurative [ if any ] meaning of the word ) , it encompasses the solution that we have created as an answer to our internal incoherence .
 Chest thumping and swagger aside , an intelligent reader might ask , what does it really do , dude ?
 Yes , we chose to eat this frog . ( If you want to learn more about frogs and why you should eat them , take a look : https://goo.gl/JBHgmI ) . It seemed like a logical thing to do . We had tens of IT systems , we could not replace them all overnight . We went after the pain point . Multiple systems mean multiple accounts , which translates into every individual needing to remember those many passwords .
 The smart ones just use 123456 as a password for all their accounts . The not so smart ones create secure passwords that are at least 10 characters in length , and contain numbers and special characters . We then write these passwords on a post-it note and stick it on our workstation monitors . Easy . God knows why people complain about password management .
 How are you feeling ? I am okay . Next day , how are you feeling ? I am happy . Three mornings later , how are you feeling ? I am groggy .
 Who wants to keep a manual record of how everyone is feeling in the organization at any given point in time ? More importantly , is it even recordable ?
 This needs to be done . Call it employee morale management , Sentiment Analysis or anything else that rocks your boat . The fact is , human resources are the most expensive investment for any organization and they need to be taken care of . Not just by doling out free lunches or planting expensive coffee machines ( they certainly help ) , but by going into the psyche of human behavior and aspirations , and bridging the emotional disconnect .
 Our implementation features logging of sentiment during work hours ( and offwork hours if one chooses to share that they slept on the couch ) . Our Analytics engine then operationalizes the mathematical model ( hand - crafted by our Data Scientists sitting in the House - of - the - Lords Labs area ) over the data sets to identify areas where we need to bolster our defenses and make the workplace more hospitable .
 Since our workforce does not believe in attrition , we might as well make sure they are happy during their decade - long pit stops with us . Sadly ( or fortunately , whatever your taken on this is ) , we do not venture into fixing the couch fiascos .
 Our engagement program includes rewards and recognition in the form of popular choice ( peer to peer ) and critics choice ( ahem , HR ) awards . Folks earn points for contributing to the learning ecosystem in the form of blogs , knowledge sharing sessions , hackathons , critiquing posts , etc . It all links together ( now this is the only known instance of validation of the name Grid ) into a social network .
 In fact , a few weeks ago , our engine detected a few people trading appreciation notes to notch up points on the leaderboard ( shame , shame [ Game of Thrones , anyone ? ] ) . The engagement grew further after an incremental product release where we disclosed how people have fared on the leaderboard over the months . Darn peepers . The more graphs we release , engagement goes up each time . People love to know what others are doing . Zuckerberg beat us to this revelation by 13 years . Alas .
 All fun and no work makes Net Solutions an unprofitable enterprise . In the spirit of getting paid for an honest day ’s work , we need to manage our assets and the so called institutional memory . We built the DAM module to manage our memory bank and regulate its access through RBAC ( role based access control ) .
 In fact , RBAC is in the foundation of Grid . People can be given privileges to perform a variety of functions and these privileges can be upgraded and downgraded on demand , without the person having to … .. wait for it … .. wait for it … .. without having to logout and back in for the updated permissions to kick in .
 These assets can be organized around a partner project , an internal initiative or anything in between . No more tossing documents over Skype or email .
 We realized that we were tired of sending companywide emails that in essence were “ this is to inform you that Nyquist wo n’t be running in Preakness Stakes this year . ” Boring . Drab . Dull . Stoic . Yada yada yada .
 We want emotions pouring in , a way for people to engage in a community dialogue and not let announcements be a monologue . We created a module that lets relevant stakeholders ( nah , we are n’t publicly traded , yet ) announce their bit , ruffle some feathers and kick back with a beer and watch the fun . People , given an opportunity , can be pretty darn vocal about how they feel about things . We try to keep it civil but many a toupee have been lost in skirmishes .
 Polls and surveys live in Grid ’s arsenal to solicit feedback with a positive intent to course correct , hear back from those we do not speak of and let the system balance monarchy and democracy .
 Certain polls have been very successful . In one such instance , people voted in favor of improving food options at our on premise restaurant by including “ nicer delicacies , ” AND also voted to reduce the meal price . Sky Chef gracefully declined to be our in-house meals service provider .
 Where there are humans or machines , there are problems . If you remember any of the team names that were mentioned during early parts of this blog , you would have identified that some teams exist to work behind the scenes to keep the ecosystem running flawlessly . These teams - HR , Finance , IT , Facility Management make sure the rest of us can focus on our work without having to worry .
 Things still go wrong though , and when they do , we do n’t want to breathe down their neck or keep calling them till the time all coyotes have been shooed away from the premises . We have an electronic ticket logging and management system that folks use to raise their issues . Since Grid is powered by RBAC , we can easily add / change first responders and create escalation queues to ensure timely resolution of all tickets logged . Descriptive Analytics and a variety of reports ( Aging , TTL , MTBF etc . ) ensure everyone is on their A-game . Bite me Zendesk .
 With Grid , one of the focus areas has been to give everyone the information they need to do their jobs while keeping it fun and engaging . With blue collars getting what they need , the white collars also need something . Monarchy and Democracy need to be balanced , remember ?
 The CXO dashboard gives the economic view on the projects being developed . Which projects are in red vs black ? Which projects have the most number of bugs open ? Which projects are unlikely to meet the timelines and do we send nine potential mothers to create that baby in one month ? There are plenty of other markers , several proprietary , which I can not discuss here .
 The idea being that this dashboard provides an unadulterated , unfiltered view of what ’s happening on the floor . Those found guilty are called for an inquest on Fridays .
 This , ladies and gents , is our Grid . There are companion mobile apps for iOS and Android distributed through Enterprise deployment . There are several other components of Grid such as Predictive Analytics , Forecasting , Profitability Metrics etc . , which I will cover in another post , someday .


text:
Earn 10% of all revenue on the lifetime of customers you refer to Goldfish.
Do you want to earn generous revenue for customer that your refer?
Then join our generous affiliate programme and we will pay you for customers that you refer to us. What’s more, we won’t simply pay you a one off fee; as many others do. We will pay you a 10% share of the revenue from every customer you refer to us for the lifetime of that customer. That’s the whole time they are with us.
Right now, we’re offering our affiliates 10% of the revenue received from any customer that they refer to us.
That’s 10% of all revenues that we receive from any customer that you refer to us through the affiliate program for as long as that customer is with us.
Click on ‘sign up now’ to register your details with us and get started.
Sign up now – click here.

tokenized:
Earn 10 % of all revenue on the lifetime of customers you refer to Goldfish .
 Do you want to earn generous revenue for customer that your refer ?
 Then join our generous affiliate programme and we will pay you for customers that you refer to us . What ’s more , we wo n’t simply pay you a one off fee ; as many others do . We will pay you a 10 % share of the revenue from every customer you refer to us for the lifetime of that customer . That ’s the whole time they are with us .
 Right now , we ’re offering our affiliates 10 % of the revenue received from any customer that they refer to us .
 That ’s 10 % of all revenues that we receive from any customer that you refer to us through the affiliate program for as long as that customer is with us .
 Click on ‘ sign up now ’ to register your details with us and get started .
 Sign up now – click here .


text: Investment Casting Systems one of the only AS9100 accredited toolmakers in the world are currently looking for experienced toolmakers to join it’s team due to increased demand for its tools and services. We offer competetive rates of pay and benefits and would like to hear from anybody who would be interested in joining our highly skilled and motivated team. email your CV to us at info@investmentcastingsystems.co.uk.

tokenized: Investment Casting Systems one of the only AS9100 accredited toolmakers in the world are currently looking for experienced toolmakers to join it ’s team due to increased demand for its tools and services . We offer competetive rates of pay and benefits and would like to hear from anybody who would be interested in joining our highly skilled and motivated team . email your CV to us at info@investmentcastingsystems.co.uk .


text:
I thoroughly enjoyed this article. I think there were great pictures painted in my mind through the words even without the great photos that were included.
Looking forward to Baileys next story.

tokenized:
I thoroughly enjoyed this article . I think there were great pictures painted in my mind through the words even without the great photos that were included .
 Looking forward to Baileys next story .


text: Jennifer has served as CEO of the legal marketing firm, Integrity Marketing Solutions, for more than 20 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master’s degree in Business Strategy, Management & Leadership from Michigan State University. She specializes in helping lawyers discover their passion, develop a guiding strategy for growth and tell their brand stories in compelling ways. As a digital marketing agency, IMS leads the marketing implementation with comprehensive digital media — from website design and hosting to search engine optimization, social media management and automated online client intake. The agency offers a powerful marketing CRM with automated client intake and integrations with the most popular case and practice management programs.

tokenized: Jennifer has served as CEO of the legal marketing firm , Integrity Marketing Solutions , for more than 20 years . She has a bachelor ’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri - Columbia and a master ’s degree in Business Strategy , Management & Leadership from Michigan State University . She specializes in helping lawyers discover their passion , develop a guiding strategy for growth and tell their brand stories in compelling ways . As a digital marketing agency , IMS leads the marketing implementation with comprehensive digital media — from website design and hosting to search engine optimization , social media management and automated online client intake . The agency offers a powerful marketing CRM with automated client intake and integrations with the most popular case and practice management programs .


text:
real madrid football soccer jersey large. selling a kaka # 8 real madrid home jersey, size large white adidas.
Nike kaka #10 brazil away soccer jersey (s). You are bidding on a kaka jersey card. selling a real madrid kaka jersey # 8 home adidas large size.
Nike kaka #10 brazil home soccer jersey (2xl). Selling a kaka #8 real madrid home jersey, size large white adidas. for sale today is a used, vintage replica team brazil world cup soccer jersey, featuring kaka'.
From the era of ronaldo, ronaldinho, roberto carlos, kaka and may more legends. This AC Milan KAKA #22 Champions is in superior condition. Have a close look on the photos to have right idea of condition.Offered at 76.59.
kaka jersey . overall in good conditionâ€ A steal at 53.6 O.B.O. Please look at the photos to have the right idea of condition.

tokenized:
real madrid football soccer jersey large . selling a kaka # 8 real madrid home jersey , size large white adidas .
 Nike kaka # 10 brazil away soccer jersey ( s ) . You are bidding on a kaka jersey card . selling a real madrid kaka jersey # 8 home adidas large size .
 Nike kaka # 10 brazil home soccer jersey ( 2xl ) . Selling a kaka # 8 real madrid home jersey , size large white adidas . for sale today is a used , vintage replica team brazil world cup soccer jersey , featuring kaka ' .
 From the era of ronaldo , ronaldinho , roberto carlos , kaka and may more legends . This AC Milan KAKA # 22 Champions is in superior condition . Have a close look on the photos to have right idea of condition . Offered at 76.59 .
 kaka jersey . overall in good conditionâ€ A steal at 53.6 O.B.O. Please look at the photos to have the right idea of condition .


text:
PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION: WHEN GETTING PREGNANT GETS YOU FIRED.
Although terminating someone’s employment because they are pregnant has been against the law since 1978 when the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was first passed it does not stop some Minnesota employers from blatantly firing someone simply for being pregnant. Take the case of a woman who told her employer she was pregnant at the beginning of her second trimester. Her employer’s immediate response was “That’s not going to work.” She was fired the following day for no other reason than announcing her pregnancy.
Her employer simply said that since the company was small, it cannot afford to cover her when she would be on leave to have her baby. Then there are the numerous cases where pregnant workers are forced to take unpaid leave immediately upon announcing their pregnancy status. The forced time off is not based on a medical need or even requests for special accommodations such as lifting or other physical restrictions, but on an employer’s erroneous assumptions about the worker’s ability to do her job.
Then when the worker really needs to take time off, they have already exhausted their allotted time and are fired. Some employees are discriminated against over fears about how customers may perceive or react to, for example a pregnant restaurant server. The majority of female employees subjected to pregnancy discrimination are low-wage workers who really need to work as long as possible throughout their pregnancy.
But there appears to be hope on the horizon for pregnant women. The EEOC commissioner recently said that EEOC has chosen three legal issues involving discrimination where it wants to have an impact. One issue includes whether or not employers should be required to accommodate pregnant workers. Many women’s advocacy groups are pushing for changes to the ADA that in 2008, already expanded the definition of disability to include temporary disabilities.
No one should be discriminated against based on a disability, temporary or not and employees in Minnesota and elsewhere do have rights when it comes to the Family and Medical Leave Act as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act. Now the question seems to be whether a woman’s medical needs in relation to her pregnancy should be protected as a temporary disability.
Pregnancy discrimination is illegal and if the EEOC clarifies the language to include pregnancy-related disabilities, perhaps fewer women will be discriminated against in the workplace.

tokenized:
PREGNANCY DISCRIMINATION : WHEN GETTING PREGNANT GETS YOU FIRED .
 Although terminating someone ’s employment because they are pregnant has been against the law since 1978 when the Pregnancy Discrimination Act was first passed it does not stop some Minnesota employers from blatantly firing someone simply for being pregnant . Take the case of a woman who told her employer she was pregnant at the beginning of her second trimester . Her employer ’s immediate response was “ That ’s not going to work . ” She was fired the following day for no other reason than announcing her pregnancy .
 Her employer simply said that since the company was small , it can not afford to cover her when she would be on leave to have her baby . Then there are the numerous cases where pregnant workers are forced to take unpaid leave immediately upon announcing their pregnancy status . The forced time off is not based on a medical need or even requests for special accommodations such as lifting or other physical restrictions , but on an employer ’s erroneous assumptions about the worker ’s ability to do her job .
 Then when the worker really needs to take time off , they have already exhausted their allotted time and are fired . Some employees are discriminated against over fears about how customers may perceive or react to , for example a pregnant restaurant server . The majority of female employees subjected to pregnancy discrimination are low - wage workers who really need to work as long as possible throughout their pregnancy .
 But there appears to be hope on the horizon for pregnant women . The EEOC commissioner recently said that EEOC has chosen three legal issues involving discrimination where it wants to have an impact . One issue includes whether or not employers should be required to accommodate pregnant workers . Many women ’s advocacy groups are pushing for changes to the ADA that in 2008 , already expanded the definition of disability to include temporary disabilities .
 No one should be discriminated against based on a disability , temporary or not and employees in Minnesota and elsewhere do have rights when it comes to the Family and Medical Leave Act as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act . Now the question seems to be whether a woman ’s medical needs in relation to her pregnancy should be protected as a temporary disability .
 Pregnancy discrimination is illegal and if the EEOC clarifies the language to include pregnancy - related disabilities , perhaps fewer women will be discriminated against in the workplace .


text:
What began as a dust-up among a small group of Canadian writers has blown up into a confrontation over an issue that’s long troubled the literary community.
It’s about “cultural appropriation” – the practise of a dominant culture stealing the symbols, ideas and values of an oppressed minority. And it’s been going on for centuries, since long before the German amateur archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, desecrated Troy as he blasted his way through Turkish antiquity.
The controversy in Canada is over the use by white writers of Indigenous personalities and settings, thereby – so the argument goes – depriving Indigenous authors of opportunities to tell their own stories.
This is not the first time Indigenous authors have fought to retain control over their heritage. In 1989, Chippewas poet Lenore Keeshig challenged the Writers’ Union of Canada over non-Indigenous writers telling stories in the voice of Indigenous characters. “Stop stealing our stories,” she demanded.
It was a time when author J.P. Kinsella (Shoeless Joe) was writing of disreputable and drunken characters among the Indian tribes of the Hobbema reserve in Alberta. He was loud in defending Dance Me Outside and his right to tell any story, any time, about whomever he wished.
More recently, questions were raised about the authenticity of the Indigenous relationships of Joseph Boyden, author of Three Day Road and other novels set among northern Ontario’s First Nations communities. “Not Indian enough,” it’s been said of Boyden, “to write Indian stories.” (Yes, the term Indian is still being used, sometimes contemptuously, sometimes historically).
The current dust-up arose in the Writers’ Union of Canada (of which I am a member) when an issue of its magazine Write, devoted ironically to Indigenous writing, featured an editorial rejecting the concept of “cultural appropriation.” Write about the things you know nothing about, urged editor Hal Niedzviecki. “Anyone, anywhere, should be encouraged to imagine other peoples, their cultures, other identities.” He thought, satirically, there should be an Appropriation Prize for the best story by a writer of a culture she knows nothing about.
Of course this thoughtless and insensitive commentary soon landed Niedzviecki – and a number of prominent white Canadian writers who voiced support for him –in hot water. He resigned his position, the Writers’ Union issued an apology, and undertook to study a series of demands from its Equity Task Force.
Walrus magazine editor Jon Kay who had tweeted that Niedzviecki was being “mobbed,” resigned. The managing editor of CBC-TV’s The National, Steve Ladurantaye, was reassigned after pledging to contribute to a fund for an Appropriation Prize.
My sentiments are to come down on the side of freedom of expression. In my most recent book, An Act of Injustice, I devote a chapter to an Indigenous character who tells our young protagonist some brutal truths about the mistreatment of his people. In an article to be published in an upcoming issue of Canada’s History magazine, I reveal, through an interview with a Saskatchewan Indigenous chief, how he came up with the term First Nations to describe Canada’s Indian tribes. In my opinion, there’s no cultural appropriation here.
Today’s Indigenous authors – and there are many of them – are properly emboldened by the growing consensus among Canadians that the country must deal fairly, on a people to people basis, with its indigenous population.
It’s understandable that some Indigenous authors who have had trouble getting their work published will feel they’ve been frozen out by white writers who have trespassed on their territory. Honestly, I can’t think of many such examples.
More books are being published today by Indigenous authors that ever before. CBC Books is boasting that during June – Indigenous Book Club Month – it will publish a recommendation a day of a book by an Indigenous author.
This year’s Amazon First Novel Prize of $40,000 has gone to a Metis writer, Katherena Vermette of Winnipeg, for The Break. A deserving winner.
The $5,000 Aboriginal Literary Award will be presented for the third year this month. It’s an award in which I’m proud to say I had a hand in creating, along with the Periodical Marketers of Canada association and the Southern Ontario Library Service.
A Toronto lawyer, Robin Parker, has raised more than $100,000 via online Crowdfunding in support for an Emerging Indigenous Voices award.
There’s no doubt newly empowered Indigenous writers are asserting themselves as creators and as players in the marketplace. A book on an Indigenous topic by a white writer will have to be overwhelmingly compelling before any publisher will take it on. All this suggests the battle about cultural appropriation is over – and it’s clear who’s won.

tokenized:
What began as a dust - up among a small group of Canadian writers has blown up into a confrontation over an issue that ’s long troubled the literary community .
 It ’s about “ cultural appropriation ” – the practise of a dominant culture stealing the symbols , ideas and values of an oppressed minority . And it ’s been going on for centuries , since long before the German amateur archaeologist , Heinrich Schliemann , desecrated Troy as he blasted his way through Turkish antiquity .
 The controversy in Canada is over the use by white writers of Indigenous personalities and settings , thereby – so the argument goes – depriving Indigenous authors of opportunities to tell their own stories .
 This is not the first time Indigenous authors have fought to retain control over their heritage . In 1989 , Chippewas poet Lenore Keeshig challenged the Writers ’ Union of Canada over non - Indigenous writers telling stories in the voice of Indigenous characters . “ Stop stealing our stories , ” she demanded .
 It was a time when author J.P. Kinsella ( Shoeless Joe ) was writing of disreputable and drunken characters among the Indian tribes of the Hobbema reserve in Alberta . He was loud in defending Dance Me Outside and his right to tell any story , any time , about whomever he wished .
 More recently , questions were raised about the authenticity of the Indigenous relationships of Joseph Boyden , author of Three Day Road and other novels set among northern Ontario ’s First Nations communities . “ Not Indian enough , ” it ’s been said of Boyden , “ to write Indian stories . ” ( Yes , the term Indian is still being used , sometimes contemptuously , sometimes historically ) .
 The current dust - up arose in the Writers ’ Union of Canada ( of which I am a member ) when an issue of its magazine Write , devoted ironically to Indigenous writing , featured an editorial rejecting the concept of “ cultural appropriation . ” Write about the things you know nothing about , urged editor Hal Niedzviecki . “ Anyone , anywhere , should be encouraged to imagine other peoples , their cultures , other identities . ” He thought , satirically , there should be an Appropriation Prize for the best story by a writer of a culture she knows nothing about .
 Of course this thoughtless and insensitive commentary soon landed Niedzviecki – and a number of prominent white Canadian writers who voiced support for him – in hot water . He resigned his position , the Writers ’ Union issued an apology , and undertook to study a series of demands from its Equity Task Force .
 Walrus magazine editor Jon Kay who had tweeted that Niedzviecki was being “ mobbed , ” resigned . The managing editor of CBC - TV ’s The National , Steve Ladurantaye , was reassigned after pledging to contribute to a fund for an Appropriation Prize .
 My sentiments are to come down on the side of freedom of expression . In my most recent book , An Act of Injustice , I devote a chapter to an Indigenous character who tells our young protagonist some brutal truths about the mistreatment of his people . In an article to be published in an upcoming issue of Canada ’s History magazine , I reveal , through an interview with a Saskatchewan Indigenous chief , how he came up with the term First Nations to describe Canada ’s Indian tribes . In my opinion , there ’s no cultural appropriation here .
 Today ’s Indigenous authors – and there are many of them – are properly emboldened by the growing consensus among Canadians that the country must deal fairly , on a people to people basis , with its indigenous population .
 It ’s understandable that some Indigenous authors who have had trouble getting their work published will feel they ’ve been frozen out by white writers who have trespassed on their territory . Honestly , I ca n’t think of many such examples .
 More books are being published today by Indigenous authors that ever before . CBC Books is boasting that during June – Indigenous Book Club Month – it will publish a recommendation a day of a book by an Indigenous author .
 This year ’s Amazon First Novel Prize of $ 40,000 has gone to a Metis writer , Katherena Vermette of Winnipeg , for The Break . A deserving winner .
 The $ 5,000 Aboriginal Literary Award will be presented for the third year this month . It ’s an award in which I ’m proud to say I had a hand in creating , along with the Periodical Marketers of Canada association and the Southern Ontario Library Service .
 A Toronto lawyer , Robin Parker , has raised more than $ 100,000 via online Crowdfunding in support for an Emerging Indigenous Voices award .
 There ’s no doubt newly empowered Indigenous writers are asserting themselves as creators and as players in the marketplace . A book on an Indigenous topic by a white writer will have to be overwhelmingly compelling before any publisher will take it on . All this suggests the battle about cultural appropriation is over – and it ’s clear who ’s won .


text: In 1916 a report was written by Friedrich Hrozny in which he dealt with the Hittite language. He claimed that Hittite was Indo-European. If his argument was based on decipherment of the cuneiform, if his translations were impeccable, if the speech permits no other linguistic interpretations than those proposed, and if they do not represent a small selection of Indo-European assonances then Hittite must be Indo-European. Not until 1920 did Hrozny’s full treatise, Die Sprache der Hethiter, come out. On the face value of his text-readings, interpretations, and grammatical estimates Hrozny makes a strong case. As far as the author can see, the Indo-European aspects of Hittite have no basis in any known historic colonizations by Indo-Europeans as part of Asia Minor. Maurice Bloomfield believes that Hittite could show signs of Indo-European, though he does not believe the Hittite language to be a part of this etymological group.

tokenized: In 1916 a report was written by Friedrich Hrozny in which he dealt with the Hittite language . He claimed that Hittite was Indo - European . If his argument was based on decipherment of the cuneiform , if his translations were impeccable , if the speech permits no other linguistic interpretations than those proposed , and if they do not represent a small selection of Indo - European assonances then Hittite must be Indo - European . Not until 1920 did Hrozny ’s full treatise , Die Sprache der Hethiter , come out . On the face value of his text - readings , interpretations , and grammatical estimates Hrozny makes a strong case . As far as the author can see , the Indo - European aspects of Hittite have no basis in any known historic colonizations by Indo - Europeans as part of Asia Minor . Maurice Bloomfield believes that Hittite could show signs of Indo - European , though he does not believe the Hittite language to be a part of this etymological group .


text:
The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, today announced that Canada has successfully concluded new or expanded air transport agreements with St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Algeria, Qatar, Jordan, Côte-d’Ivoire and Mongolia.
These new and expanded air transport agreements were reached under Canada’s Blue Sky policy, which encourages long-term, sustainable competition and the development of international air services.
Under the Blue Sky Policy, the Government of Canada has concluded new or expanded air transport agreements covering more than 105 countries.

tokenized:
The Honourable Marc Garneau , Minister of Transport , today announced that Canada has successfully concluded new or expanded air transport agreements with St. Vincent and the Grenadines , Algeria , Qatar , Jordan , Côte - d’Ivoire and Mongolia .
 These new and expanded air transport agreements were reached under Canada ’s Blue Sky policy , which encourages long - term , sustainable competition and the development of international air services .
 Under the Blue Sky Policy , the Government of Canada has concluded new or expanded air transport agreements covering more than 105 countries .


text:
My blog this week was to be an essay on the similarities between my memoir of my two years teaching English and living in Kazakhstan as an older, married Peace Corps volunteer (At Home on the Kazakh Steppe) and Kathy Pooler’s memoir of living in and escaping from domestic violence, twice (Ever Faithful to His Lead).
Nice young ladies don’t complain.
Neither of us was willing to risk the relationship we had by speaking our truth, out loud.
Good girls play nice. They go along.
The blog, though, wasn’t coming together. Instead, it rambled, it bogged down, or it was confusing. Still, I forged ahead. I had a deadline to meet. Stiff upper lip.
With this last one I stopped, realizing I was in the midst of making that same mistake again.
What I was ignoring — a trauma I’d experienced only a few days before — wasn’t going away. And it was affecting my ability to concentrate or attend to what was in front of me, this blog being only the most obvious.
The real story for today had to be what was going on for me tonight, as I write this blog on December 8.
Wednesday night, December 3, on our way home from a chorus rehearsal of The Messiah, Woody and I had an accident.
We skidded on black ice and totaled our pickup truck. The GMC Sierra rolled over a few times, slid down an embankment, and landed on the driver’s side door.
I had initially been unaware Woody had lost control. Engrossed in my cell phone as we sped up the highway, my first indication something was amiss was the sudden jarring motion as the car skidded. I saw the road swerve before me as in one of those slow motion scenes in earthquake documentaries. I fully expected him to bring the truck back under control.
“Don’t overcorrect,” I told him. Twice. I thought it would help.
Then I watched out my side window as a reflector along the shoulder came racing toward me. I knew we were going over the embankment just beyond it. And I had no idea how steep it was, or how long the fall would last, or what would finally bring the truck to a halt.
I believed I could be meeting my death. But what I remember most was that in that moment I felt peaceful. It was out of my hands. I had given up trying to fix it; I’d let go of the outcome. There was nothing I could do and I knew it. I was certainly in the moment.
But the moment didn’t last long. We rolled over at least twice; I heard glass break; the truck bounced a few times. Then there was silence.
“Are you OK?” I asked Woody. “Yes. Are you?” he replied. I took a quick assessment.
The truck had landed on its left side, on Woody’s driver’s side door. Our seat belts held us securely in our seats, which meant I was suspended a few feet above Woody. Both side windows were blown out and shards of glass plastered my face and neck. Woody also lay on his side, his left arm through the former window and onto the snow beneath him.
Miraculously, neither of us had any injuries. But we were trapped in the cab and it would take nearly an hour for the rescue squad to cut us out and help us walk away.
Neither of us panicked. I called 911 from the cell phone that I still clutched in my hand.
“We’ve been in an accident,” I reported to the dispatcher, “Rt 91 Northbound.” I gave her our names and told her neither of us was injured, just unable to get out. She wanted our mile marker. Woody told me, “north of the Barnet exit.” She still wanted the mile marker.
I had seen the legs of people walking around above us while I was on the phone. I’ve got this covered, I’d wanted to tell them. Really; there’s no need to stay. I asked them for the mile marker and someone knew it, so I passed it on to the dispatcher. Then I noticed my phone was low on battery so we hung up.
I hadn’t even thought of that. But it explained the gusts of cold air that Woody was getting from beneath the car.
“Woody’s shaking. He’s lying in the snow and he’s cold. I want to get him out.” I took off my hat and handed it to him. He’d lost his in the roll.
Someone handed us a parka through my open window and I tried to get it over him, but my orientation was off. I’d think I was pushing it up onto his shoulder but I wasn’t even close; it would slide off. Eventually, we figured it out.
I was glad the people were there. Even if none of them had a phone charger I could use.
With the light from the wrecker upon it, our GMC Sierra lies on its side. It served us well.
The state trooper was the first to arrive, delayed by the icy roads, he said. He bent low and peered into the cab through my husband’s missing window.
“Put your car in park and give me the keys,” he said to Woody after asking us about injuries.
The rescue squad came next; they’d all been at home, warm and comfortable before we slid off the road. The EMS crew was the final set to join; they wanted to know our medical history. Really. While I dangled midair in my seat belt, the only medical condition I could think of concerned my overactive bladder.
After much analysis and discussion, the rescue crew cut the roof off the cab. This involved covering us with blankets so the glass from the front and rear windows that they needed to shatter first would not get in our faces. With the roof laid out on the snow, they guided us as we walked over it and up to the EMS van.
Our vitals were taken. My blood pressure was twenty points higher than normal, Woody’s was forty. The crew said they weren’t concerned by that, but I noticed they took Woody’s again after a few minutes; it had come down 20 points.
We chose not to go to the hospital and signed the necessary papers. Then, we waited in the trooper’s car for the wrecker that had to come.
Our entourage had left and I watched from the front passenger seat as the trooper combed the hillside collecting the bags of stones we had had in the truck for winter ballast against the weight of the snow plow (at home in the barn on this night).
After the trooper drove us home, Woody and I spent considerable time making sure we found all the remaining shards of glass. Really. My right ear was packed with glass but I had only a small puncture wound on my right pinky finger. Woody had his single puncture wound on his left ring finger. We felt immeasurably grateful and slept very well that night.
For the next day and a half I believed that we’d escaped unscathed. I posted to one of my closed FB groups, We Love Memoirs, and got all the necessary support and sympathy I expected and wanted. We sang in the first concert of The Messiah that Friday night and talked with the folks from the two cars who had stopped. It had been traumatic for them as well.
Saturday morning we drove into town to see the truck and collect those odds and ends that we wanted to hang onto.
That afternoon I had a massage, then went food shopping, planning to get home in time to have a light supper and dress for the second of the three concerts that weekend. But as I shopped I got angrier and angrier. When I overheard a conversation between the two store employees and a policeman about a shopper, I complained.
“That’s not a topic to be discussing where it can be overheard by a customer,” I told them in anger. They shrugged, but they stopped talking (though one of the managers rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath at me).
As I drove home I realized that the effects of the trauma I’d had just a few days before were beginning to show.
“I’m staying home,” I told Woody when I got home. “I can’t go anywhere tonight.” I just wanted to stop moving.
“I’m going,” he responded in an equally defiant tone. I ignored him. Eventually, as the reality sunk in, he admitted he’d also considered staying home. He just didn’t want to.
I took a bubble bath; he watched Netflix. Sunday we felt well enough, even eager, to sing in the final concert, an afternoon event. I was glad we did.
On Monday night, telling my hospice choir friends about it, I began to cry. I had no idea I was still so raw.
When I didn’t think about it, I’d carry on as though nothing was amiss. When I thought about it, I’d break down.
When I didn’t think about it, I’d snap at Woody and hear Woody snap back at me. When I thought about it, I’d cry.
I have a hard time concentrating. My mind is scattered. I can’t settle into a routine. Writing this blog, as you now know, has been difficult.
Cognitively, I know that I am grateful we were not seriously injured. But I don’t FEEL grateful. I feel outrage, fury. I want to hit something. I want to yell, to scream really. But I do neither. Instead, I write. I posted tonight to another closed FB group I’m on and am eager to hear from them. I talk on the phone to friends. I walk in the woods (on snow shoes). I take bubble baths.
The anger comes in spurts. Unexpected spurts. And as quickly as it surfaces, it evaporates.
I’m drinking lots of tea. I’m doing all the things I should be doing. I’m also playing computer solitaire like a junkie.
Woody and I stopped talking about it. What more can we say?
Don’t just do something; sit there.
And that is exactly what I will do.
I will allow myself time to wind my way through the many layers that have formed.
And, later, after we know what the insurance company will allow, I will help Woody find himself a new truck.
Time changes the needs of people.
It had a picture of an hour glass and a long, winding road in the background. I haven’t thought of it in years. With time, I feel myself back in my own skin once again. But I’m different too.
From the policeman at the food store talking out of turn, to my mother last week saying something I thought insensitive, to a woman in my recent writer’s group this week interrupting someone I wanted to hear, my reactions are different than they would have been just a few weeks ago. I’m speaking out, standing up, letting my reality be known.
Whether its because I realize my time on this earth really is limited (and precious) or something else, I don’t even try to know.
What I do know is that I felt peaceful at the moment I thought I was facing my death. And that is a gift.
As is our ability to replace our Sierra with a shiny new toy.
In 2000, my husband and I had a car accident and was lucky to be alive. It changed the both of us. Our whole outlook on life has changed since then. We appreciate each other more but I also use that for my decision making. When I don’t want to do something, I ask myself – If the one I loved died tomorrow, would I have regrets? If the answer is no, I don’t do it. If the answer is yes, I grin and bear it while I do it. Many of the little things that used to irritate me don’t any more because in the grand scheme of things – who really cares? I fight the fights that are important to me even if I feel it is a losing battle because it feels right to me. My sense of what is important has changed. Now we do a lot of traveling and meeting new friends. Life is too short so I need to get busy enjoying it! I’m so glad y’all are okay! Give yourself time for everything to make sense again.
Hi Pat. Yes, time. That is the great healer. Thanks for stopping and adding your thoughts. Btw, I’m going to send your website address to my colleagues in Kazakhstan; you can offer them an interesting new perspective on teaching.
I take walks along the beach and sing to the top of my lungs. A great release allowing fresh thoughts and ideas.
Why do you think you feel angry?
Hi Susan, I thought of you when I read the news recently of the contingent going to Uraguay. I need to learn more of your adopted land. In my mind I lump it in with Paraguay, something akin to American lumping all the Stans together.
As for the why, I can only say that I’m more focused on feeling the anger, on experiencing it, “honoring” it if you will. If I start to analyze it, I find myself going into my head and then I don’t feel it so much anymore. It really doesn’t matter to me so much, but honoring it, getting it out does. And, as I write these words, I have to say I’m not feeling it at the moment. As I wrote below, sometimes one trauma can raise old traumas never fully healed, so that’s a possibility.
Oh, Janet, your post took my breath away. I am so glad you and Woody were not physically injured. Trauma like that is not easy to just set aside to go away on its own. It will be with you for a while. Speaking and writing about it is the best medicine for now. Do not ignore it.
I pray your holidays will be filled with healing and peace.
Yes Joan, that’s another gift I have, that I can write about it and I have people in my life who (seem to) never tire of hearing the tale. Telling our stories of trauma, at all levels, is healing. That and hot baths (though someone on facebook did warn that too hot baths seem to be related to stroke, particularly after a physical trauma, so they are no longer so hot). And I also know that each tragedy or loss reignites those that may still lie unresolved, so I’ve got much to chew on since this happened. Thanks for your support.
Oh Janet, thank God you and Woody survived such a frightening ordeal. It’s amazing how near-death experiences wake us up to what really matters. When I was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease in 1996, my life came to a complete halt but in that halt, I learned a very important lesson–life is short and don’t sweat the small stuff. Enjoy the moments and yes. don’t just do something , sit there.” The rawness of your writing brings me right there with you and makes me even more grateful you are around to pick out that bright red truck! BTW, thank you for your thoughts about the similarities of our stories. At the time, they were ,of course, our life crises. But isn’t it grand to be able to look back and realize they were a detour that led to who we are today. Alive and well and very, very grateful. Sending healing hugs your way.
Hi Kathy I love that image of life coming to a halt, and in that halt seeing things more clearly. I shall accept your hugs and return them in full.
Judging from the previous comments, your readers can relate to the accident you’ve recently experienced. I know I can. Writing/illustrating your feelings will help you continue to process the trauma. I experienced something similar back in college when the car I was a passenger in flipped over on a snowy road – all in slow motion as you describe. No one wore seat-belts, so 6 bodies flew all over the place. I ended up with a bloody knee but did go to the hospital to get checked out.
Then, over ten years ago I was rear-ended by a fast moving vehicle which totaled my sturdy car, an Infiniti. Half of the car looked like an accordion. In the moment of crisis, common sense left me, and I handed a complete stranger my wallet so I could us his cellphone. Dumb – though he did hand it back. Like you, thoughts and actions registered as non sequitur.
After such dramatic events, we have to believe we live in an altered state at least for awhile, probably suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome, which may explain your anger. I like your recipe for healing, don’t just do something; sit there.
I hope it’s in front of a blazing fire with some hot chocolate. Blessings and healing to you and your family this Christmas season.
Hi Marian, Well, I can report that we had our woodstove moved upstairs this summer and it’s now ablaze about two feet from me here on the DR table. I find I prefer to write downstairs lately, not upstairs in my little corner of the world. Alas, the hot chocolate is tea, but there is more honey in it than usual. One more concession to where I am at the moment. Thanks for writing. As always.
Glad you and Woody are okay. That was quite an ordeal and it sounds life-changing. I think that is what transformation does. We are never the same. I am going through something similar as I continue to heal from an illness that has dogged my life for nearly four decades. I hear and understand your anger.
For me, adjusting to a new life that is one of health rather than chronic illness has been incredibly difficult. Letting go of life as I knew it–one fraught with illness–has meant changing, completely, how I live including my routine. Only now, am I stepping into my “new shoes,” as it were. A recent watershed moment revealed that transformation requires letting go of what one was for what one is now.
This post is so beautifully and achingly written, Janet. Thank you.
Thank you, Karen. And welcome. Your words are always a balm to me. I’ve been following your story through your blog posts and, with your comment here, I’m really struck by how easy it is for me to fall into that judgment trap. ( e.g., New found health after years of illess is Good. Traumatic auto accident is Bad.) And once again I’m reminded how limiting these judgments can be. Both situations involve change, a change in a sense of who we are, our identity of you will. And both require time and gentleness. I send you a warm virtual bear hug over the miles.

tokenized:
My blog this week was to be an essay on the similarities between my memoir of my two years teaching English and living in Kazakhstan as an older , married Peace Corps volunteer ( At Home on the Kazakh Steppe ) and Kathy Pooler ’s memoir of living in and escaping from domestic violence , twice ( Ever Faithful to His Lead ) .
 Nice young ladies do n’t complain .
 Neither of us was willing to risk the relationship we had by speaking our truth , out loud .
 Good girls play nice . They go along .
 The blog , though , was n’t coming together . Instead , it rambled , it bogged down , or it was confusing . Still , I forged ahead . I had a deadline to meet . Stiff upper lip .
 With this last one I stopped , realizing I was in the midst of making that same mistake again .
 What I was ignoring — a trauma I ’d experienced only a few days before — was n’t going away . And it was affecting my ability to concentrate or attend to what was in front of me , this blog being only the most obvious .
 The real story for today had to be what was going on for me tonight , as I write this blog on December 8 .
 Wednesday night , December 3 , on our way home from a chorus rehearsal of The Messiah , Woody and I had an accident .
 We skidded on black ice and totaled our pickup truck . The GMC Sierra rolled over a few times , slid down an embankment , and landed on the driver ’s side door .
 I had initially been unaware Woody had lost control . Engrossed in my cell phone as we sped up the highway , my first indication something was amiss was the sudden jarring motion as the car skidded . I saw the road swerve before me as in one of those slow motion scenes in earthquake documentaries . I fully expected him to bring the truck back under control .
 “ Do n’t overcorrect , ” I told him . Twice . I thought it would help .
 Then I watched out my side window as a reflector along the shoulder came racing toward me . I knew we were going over the embankment just beyond it . And I had no idea how steep it was , or how long the fall would last , or what would finally bring the truck to a halt .
 I believed I could be meeting my death . But what I remember most was that in that moment I felt peaceful . It was out of my hands . I had given up trying to fix it ; I ’d let go of the outcome . There was nothing I could do and I knew it . I was certainly in the moment .
 But the moment did n’t last long . We rolled over at least twice ; I heard glass break ; the truck bounced a few times . Then there was silence .
 “ Are you OK ? ” I asked Woody . “ Yes . Are you ? ” he replied . I took a quick assessment .
 The truck had landed on its left side , on Woody ’s driver ’s side door . Our seat belts held us securely in our seats , which meant I was suspended a few feet above Woody . Both side windows were blown out and shards of glass plastered my face and neck . Woody also lay on his side , his left arm through the former window and onto the snow beneath him .
 Miraculously , neither of us had any injuries . But we were trapped in the cab and it would take nearly an hour for the rescue squad to cut us out and help us walk away .
 Neither of us panicked . I called 911 from the cell phone that I still clutched in my hand .
 “ We ’ve been in an accident , ” I reported to the dispatcher , “ Rt 91 Northbound . ” I gave her our names and told her neither of us was injured , just unable to get out . She wanted our mile marker . Woody told me , “ north of the Barnet exit . ” She still wanted the mile marker .
 I had seen the legs of people walking around above us while I was on the phone . I ’ve got this covered , I ’d wanted to tell them . Really ; there ’s no need to stay . I asked them for the mile marker and someone knew it , so I passed it on to the dispatcher . Then I noticed my phone was low on battery so we hung up .
 I had n’t even thought of that . But it explained the gusts of cold air that Woody was getting from beneath the car .
 “ Woody ’s shaking . He ’s lying in the snow and he ’s cold . I want to get him out . ” I took off my hat and handed it to him . He ’d lost his in the roll .
 Someone handed us a parka through my open window and I tried to get it over him , but my orientation was off . I ’d think I was pushing it up onto his shoulder but I was n’t even close ; it would slide off . Eventually , we figured it out .
 I was glad the people were there . Even if none of them had a phone charger I could use .
 With the light from the wrecker upon it , our GMC Sierra lies on its side . It served us well .
 The state trooper was the first to arrive , delayed by the icy roads , he said . He bent low and peered into the cab through my husband ’s missing window .
 “ Put your car in park and give me the keys , ” he said to Woody after asking us about injuries .
 The rescue squad came next ; they ’d all been at home , warm and comfortable before we slid off the road . The EMS crew was the final set to join ; they wanted to know our medical history . Really . While I dangled midair in my seat belt , the only medical condition I could think of concerned my overactive bladder .
 After much analysis and discussion , the rescue crew cut the roof off the cab . This involved covering us with blankets so the glass from the front and rear windows that they needed to shatter first would not get in our faces . With the roof laid out on the snow , they guided us as we walked over it and up to the EMS van .
 Our vitals were taken . My blood pressure was twenty points higher than normal , Woody ’s was forty . The crew said they were n’t concerned by that , but I noticed they took Woody ’s again after a few minutes ; it had come down 20 points .
 We chose not to go to the hospital and signed the necessary papers . Then , we waited in the trooper ’s car for the wrecker that had to come .
 Our entourage had left and I watched from the front passenger seat as the trooper combed the hillside collecting the bags of stones we had had in the truck for winter ballast against the weight of the snow plow ( at home in the barn on this night ) .
 After the trooper drove us home , Woody and I spent considerable time making sure we found all the remaining shards of glass . Really . My right ear was packed with glass but I had only a small puncture wound on my right pinky finger . Woody had his single puncture wound on his left ring finger . We felt immeasurably grateful and slept very well that night .
 For the next day and a half I believed that we ’d escaped unscathed . I posted to one of my closed FB groups , We Love Memoirs , and got all the necessary support and sympathy I expected and wanted . We sang in the first concert of The Messiah that Friday night and talked with the folks from the two cars who had stopped . It had been traumatic for them as well .
 Saturday morning we drove into town to see the truck and collect those odds and ends that we wanted to hang onto .
 That afternoon I had a massage , then went food shopping , planning to get home in time to have a light supper and dress for the second of the three concerts that weekend . But as I shopped I got angrier and angrier . When I overheard a conversation between the two store employees and a policeman about a shopper , I complained .
 “ That ’s not a topic to be discussing where it can be overheard by a customer , ” I told them in anger . They shrugged , but they stopped talking ( though one of the managers rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath at me ) .
 As I drove home I realized that the effects of the trauma I ’d had just a few days before were beginning to show .
 “ I ’m staying home , ” I told Woody when I got home . “ I ca n’t go anywhere tonight . ” I just wanted to stop moving .
 “ I ’m going , ” he responded in an equally defiant tone . I ignored him . Eventually , as the reality sunk in , he admitted he ’d also considered staying home . He just did n’t want to .
 I took a bubble bath ; he watched Netflix . Sunday we felt well enough , even eager , to sing in the final concert , an afternoon event . I was glad we did .
 On Monday night , telling my hospice choir friends about it , I began to cry . I had no idea I was still so raw .
 When I did n’t think about it , I ’d carry on as though nothing was amiss . When I thought about it , I ’d break down .
 When I did n’t think about it , I ’d snap at Woody and hear Woody snap back at me . When I thought about it , I ’d cry .
 I have a hard time concentrating . My mind is scattered . I ca n’t settle into a routine . Writing this blog , as you now know , has been difficult .
 Cognitively , I know that I am grateful we were not seriously injured . But I do n’t FEEL grateful . I feel outrage , fury . I want to hit something . I want to yell , to scream really . But I do neither . Instead , I write . I posted tonight to another closed FB group I ’m on and am eager to hear from them . I talk on the phone to friends . I walk in the woods ( on snow shoes ) . I take bubble baths .
 The anger comes in spurts . Unexpected spurts . And as quickly as it surfaces , it evaporates .
 I ’m drinking lots of tea . I ’m doing all the things I should be doing . I ’m also playing computer solitaire like a junkie .
 Woody and I stopped talking about it . What more can we say ?
 Do n’t just do something ; sit there .
 And that is exactly what I will do .
 I will allow myself time to wind my way through the many layers that have formed .
 And , later , after we know what the insurance company will allow , I will help Woody find himself a new truck .
 Time changes the needs of people .
 It had a picture of an hour glass and a long , winding road in the background . I have n’t thought of it in years . With time , I feel myself back in my own skin once again . But I ’m different too .
 From the policeman at the food store talking out of turn , to my mother last week saying something I thought insensitive , to a woman in my recent writer ’s group this week interrupting someone I wanted to hear , my reactions are different than they would have been just a few weeks ago . I ’m speaking out , standing up , letting my reality be known .
 Whether its because I realize my time on this earth really is limited ( and precious ) or something else , I do n’t even try to know .
 What I do know is that I felt peaceful at the moment I thought I was facing my death . And that is a gift .
 As is our ability to replace our Sierra with a shiny new toy .
 In 2000 , my husband and I had a car accident and was lucky to be alive . It changed the both of us . Our whole outlook on life has changed since then . We appreciate each other more but I also use that for my decision making . When I do n’t want to do something , I ask myself – If the one I loved died tomorrow , would I have regrets ? If the answer is no , I do n’t do it . If the answer is yes , I grin and bear it while I do it . Many of the little things that used to irritate me do n’t any more because in the grand scheme of things – who really cares ? I fight the fights that are important to me even if I feel it is a losing battle because it feels right to me . My sense of what is important has changed . Now we do a lot of traveling and meeting new friends . Life is too short so I need to get busy enjoying it ! I ’m so glad y’ all are okay ! Give yourself time for everything to make sense again .
 Hi Pat . Yes , time . That is the great healer . Thanks for stopping and adding your thoughts . Btw , I ’m going to send your website address to my colleagues in Kazakhstan ; you can offer them an interesting new perspective on teaching .
 I take walks along the beach and sing to the top of my lungs . A great release allowing fresh thoughts and ideas .
 Why do you think you feel angry ?
 Hi Susan , I thought of you when I read the news recently of the contingent going to Uraguay . I need to learn more of your adopted land . In my mind I lump it in with Paraguay , something akin to American lumping all the Stans together .
 As for the why , I can only say that I ’m more focused on feeling the anger , on experiencing it , “ honoring ” it if you will . If I start to analyze it , I find myself going into my head and then I do n’t feel it so much anymore . It really does n’t matter to me so much , but honoring it , getting it out does . And , as I write these words , I have to say I ’m not feeling it at the moment . As I wrote below , sometimes one trauma can raise old traumas never fully healed , so that ’s a possibility .
 Oh , Janet , your post took my breath away . I am so glad you and Woody were not physically injured . Trauma like that is not easy to just set aside to go away on its own . It will be with you for a while . Speaking and writing about it is the best medicine for now . Do not ignore it .
 I pray your holidays will be filled with healing and peace .
 Yes Joan , that ’s another gift I have , that I can write about it and I have people in my life who ( seem to ) never tire of hearing the tale . Telling our stories of trauma , at all levels , is healing . That and hot baths ( though someone on facebook did warn that too hot baths seem to be related to stroke , particularly after a physical trauma , so they are no longer so hot ) . And I also know that each tragedy or loss reignites those that may still lie unresolved , so I ’ve got much to chew on since this happened . Thanks for your support .
 Oh Janet , thank God you and Woody survived such a frightening ordeal . It ’s amazing how near - death experiences wake us up to what really matters . When I was diagnosed with a life - threatening disease in 1996 , my life came to a complete halt but in that halt , I learned a very important lesson – life is short and do n’t sweat the small stuff . Enjoy the moments and yes . do n’t just do something , sit there . ” The rawness of your writing brings me right there with you and makes me even more grateful you are around to pick out that bright red truck ! BTW , thank you for your thoughts about the similarities of our stories . At the time , they were , of course , our life crises . But is n’t it grand to be able to look back and realize they were a detour that led to who we are today . Alive and well and very , very grateful . Sending healing hugs your way .
 Hi Kathy I love that image of life coming to a halt , and in that halt seeing things more clearly . I shall accept your hugs and return them in full .
 Judging from the previous comments , your readers can relate to the accident you ’ve recently experienced . I know I can . Writing / illustrating your feelings will help you continue to process the trauma . I experienced something similar back in college when the car I was a passenger in flipped over on a snowy road – all in slow motion as you describe . No one wore seat - belts , so 6 bodies flew all over the place . I ended up with a bloody knee but did go to the hospital to get checked out .
 Then , over ten years ago I was rear - ended by a fast moving vehicle which totaled my sturdy car , an Infiniti . Half of the car looked like an accordion . In the moment of crisis , common sense left me , and I handed a complete stranger my wallet so I could us his cellphone . Dumb – though he did hand it back . Like you , thoughts and actions registered as non sequitur .
 After such dramatic events , we have to believe we live in an altered state at least for awhile , probably suffering post - traumatic stress syndrome , which may explain your anger . I like your recipe for healing , do n’t just do something ; sit there .
 I hope it ’s in front of a blazing fire with some hot chocolate . Blessings and healing to you and your family this Christmas season .
 Hi Marian , Well , I can report that we had our woodstove moved upstairs this summer and it ’s now ablaze about two feet from me here on the DR table . I find I prefer to write downstairs lately , not upstairs in my little corner of the world . Alas , the hot chocolate is tea , but there is more honey in it than usual . One more concession to where I am at the moment . Thanks for writing . As always .
 Glad you and Woody are okay . That was quite an ordeal and it sounds life - changing . I think that is what transformation does . We are never the same . I am going through something similar as I continue to heal from an illness that has dogged my life for nearly four decades . I hear and understand your anger .
 For me , adjusting to a new life that is one of health rather than chronic illness has been incredibly difficult . Letting go of life as I knew it – one fraught with illness – has meant changing , completely , how I live including my routine . Only now , am I stepping into my “ new shoes , ” as it were . A recent watershed moment revealed that transformation requires letting go of what one was for what one is now .
 This post is so beautifully and achingly written , Janet . Thank you .
 Thank you , Karen . And welcome . Your words are always a balm to me . I ’ve been following your story through your blog posts and , with your comment here , I ’m really struck by how easy it is for me to fall into that judgment trap . ( e.g. , New found health after years of illess is Good . Traumatic auto accident is Bad . ) And once again I ’m reminded how limiting these judgments can be . Both situations involve change , a change in a sense of who we are , our identity of you will . And both require time and gentleness . I send you a warm virtual bear hug over the miles .


text: Williams Automobiles is one of the UK's oldest Morgan, Lotus and Caterham car dealers. Founded in 1911 by the Williams family, we have unrivalled expertise and knowledge of these unique vehicles. At Williams our aim is simple - to grow our business by continually exceeding customer expectations and delivering unparalleled levels of service through all aspects of our 105 year old company. With over 35 Morgan, Lotus and Caterham cars on site, our extensive selection of both new and used cars can be viewed and test-driven. Our showrooms are based in a stunning rural location in South Gloucestershire yet are easy to access form both the M4 & M5 motorways. We are dedicated to being as eco friendly as possible and have custom built our Cotswold stone showrooms to have as little impact on the environment as possible. We offer the perfect location from which to purchase your car or have your pride and joy worked on in our workshops. In the winter, you can warm yourself beside our log-burning fire. Or during the warm summer months, why not enjoy a drink on our south-facing courtyard? Should you wish to discuss any aspect of Morgan, Lotus or Caterham, be it buying, selling, servicing, racing, parts or upgrades, please call Williams Today.

tokenized: Williams Automobiles is one of the UK 's oldest Morgan , Lotus and Caterham car dealers . Founded in 1911 by the Williams family , we have unrivalled expertise and knowledge of these unique vehicles . At Williams our aim is simple - to grow our business by continually exceeding customer expectations and delivering unparalleled levels of service through all aspects of our 105 year old company . With over 35 Morgan , Lotus and Caterham cars on site , our extensive selection of both new and used cars can be viewed and test - driven . Our showrooms are based in a stunning rural location in South Gloucestershire yet are easy to access form both the M4 & amp ; M5 motorways . We are dedicated to being as eco friendly as possible and have custom built our Cotswold stone showrooms to have as little impact on the environment as possible . We offer the perfect location from which to purchase your car or have your pride and joy worked on in our workshops . In the winter , you can warm yourself beside our log - burning fire . Or during the warm summer months , why not enjoy a drink on our south - facing courtyard ? Should you wish to discuss any aspect of Morgan , Lotus or Caterham , be it buying , selling , servicing , racing , parts or upgrades , please call Williams Today .


text:
In the last post I discussed some of the issues surrounding gifting the family vineyard to your family. There are a number of reasons that a person or a couple might consider just giving their property. However, the primary factor in that decision process is: control over the decision. If you make a gift, that means that you are alive and able to consciously make the decision to give your property to another person, family or otherwise.
If you are dead, then you can no longer consciously decide. Your property is distributed the way your estate plan dictates. Now, if you’ve done a good job preparing your estate plan, then that distribution may happen exactly the way you wanted it to. Or maybe not…you just won’t know for sure…because you are dead.
So the trade-off between giving property during your life (gifting) and leaving property to someone in your estate (a bequest) is that of trading off decision making control for tax benefits in the form of a step-up in basis. Let me explain.
Let’s use the previous example, and say that you originally bought your 100 acre Napa vineyard in 1978 for $200,000. You planted some grapes, raised your family, and enjoyed the farm life of growing grapes. Now, forty years later, that vineyard with prime Napa Cab is valued at $250,000 per acre. The property is worth $25 million. If you sell it, you have a capital gain on the value it sells for, less what you paid for it ($25 million – $200,000), and will pay capital gains taxes on that amount, approximately $5 million.
However, if you leave it to your estate, your heirs will receive a “step-up in basis” on the property. That means that for tax purposes they will acquire the property at it’s current value, basically what it’s worth upon your death. After they jump through the hoops to get the property properly titled in their names, they will be able to turn around and sell the property without incurring any capital gains tax.
That is a pretty nice perk of receiving property as an inheritance. Again, the only thing you must do to be able to take advantage of this perk…is, well, give up control…forever.

tokenized:
In the last post I discussed some of the issues surrounding gifting the family vineyard to your family . There are a number of reasons that a person or a couple might consider just giving their property . However , the primary factor in that decision process is : control over the decision . If you make a gift , that means that you are alive and able to consciously make the decision to give your property to another person , family or otherwise .
 If you are dead , then you can no longer consciously decide . Your property is distributed the way your estate plan dictates . Now , if you ’ve done a good job preparing your estate plan , then that distribution may happen exactly the way you wanted it to . Or maybe not … you just wo n’t know for sure … because you are dead .
 So the trade - off between giving property during your life ( gifting ) and leaving property to someone in your estate ( a bequest ) is that of trading off decision making control for tax benefits in the form of a step - up in basis . Let me explain .
 Let ’s use the previous example , and say that you originally bought your 100 acre Napa vineyard in 1978 for $ 200,000 . You planted some grapes , raised your family , and enjoyed the farm life of growing grapes . Now , forty years later , that vineyard with prime Napa Cab is valued at $ 250,000 per acre . The property is worth $ 25 million . If you sell it , you have a capital gain on the value it sells for , less what you paid for it ( $ 25 million – $ 200,000 ) , and will pay capital gains taxes on that amount , approximately $ 5 million .
 However , if you leave it to your estate , your heirs will receive a “ step - up in basis ” on the property . That means that for tax purposes they will acquire the property at it ’s current value , basically what it ’s worth upon your death . After they jump through the hoops to get the property properly titled in their names , they will be able to turn around and sell the property without incurring any capital gains tax .
 That is a pretty nice perk of receiving property as an inheritance . Again , the only thing you must do to be able to take advantage of this perk … is , well , give up control … forever .


text:
Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving - Darts Point On the north-western side of Longnose Point there is a nice beach that is protected from all but southerly winds. I am not sure of the name of this beach. When I spent a weekend on the liveaboard Ocean Trek, we had lunch on the Sunday off this beach. Before lunch, we went for a dive on the point to the west of the beach. This is Darts Point.
The dive started by climbing aboard Ocean Trek's tender, Priscilla, and being taken around the point to a spot west of the beach. Here we entered the water and did a "drift" dive back to the mother vessel. The reef in closer to the shore is about 10 metres and there is a small wall dropping to about 12 metres. Darts Point itself continues under the water in a series of small ridges, running roughly north/south. Following the reef from where you enter the water to the south sees the reef get deeper to about 20 metres. The reef all along here consists of a sandy bottom with small boulders. The boulders have sponges, sea squirts and small gorgonias growing on them. There are the usual fishlife here, including some small rays, giant cuttlefish and various species of leatherjackets.
Once you hit the 20 metres, turn to the south-east and you will ascend to about 13 metres. It is now time to cross over the ridges. These are only a metre or so high and there are two or three of them. You are now heading to the north or north-east and eventually you will be on the sand again. Follow the sand edge (about 8 metres deep) to the north or north-east until near the boat and then cross the sand to do your safety stop under the boat.
Another very good dive, very easy but still interesting.

tokenized:
Michael McFadyen 's Scuba Diving - Darts Point On the north - western side of Longnose Point there is a nice beach that is protected from all but southerly winds . I am not sure of the name of this beach . When I spent a weekend on the liveaboard Ocean Trek , we had lunch on the Sunday off this beach . Before lunch , we went for a dive on the point to the west of the beach . This is Darts Point .
 The dive started by climbing aboard Ocean Trek 's tender , Priscilla , and being taken around the point to a spot west of the beach . Here we entered the water and did a " drift " dive back to the mother vessel . The reef in closer to the shore is about 10 metres and there is a small wall dropping to about 12 metres . Darts Point itself continues under the water in a series of small ridges , running roughly north / south . Following the reef from where you enter the water to the south sees the reef get deeper to about 20 metres . The reef all along here consists of a sandy bottom with small boulders . The boulders have sponges , sea squirts and small gorgonias growing on them . There are the usual fishlife here , including some small rays , giant cuttlefish and various species of leatherjackets .
 Once you hit the 20 metres , turn to the south - east and you will ascend to about 13 metres . It is now time to cross over the ridges . These are only a metre or so high and there are two or three of them . You are now heading to the north or north - east and eventually you will be on the sand again . Follow the sand edge ( about 8 metres deep ) to the north or north - east until near the boat and then cross the sand to do your safety stop under the boat .
 Another very good dive , very easy but still interesting .


text:
JOLIET – A Plainfield man was arrested after he allegedly hit his girlfriend and her mother and then tried to prevent them from contacting the police, authorities said.
On Thursday morning, Willie J. Akins Jr., 21, of the 1900 block of Cumberland Court in Plainfield got into an argument with his 24-year-old girlfriend, who is pregnant with his child, Joliet Deputy Police Chief Ed Gregory said.
The argument then turned physical, Gregory said.
The girlfriend alleged to police that Akins struck her in the face, slapped her and pushed her off the bed in their home at Cumberland Court, Gregory said. The girlfriend’s mother tried to intervene, but Akins allegedly slapped and pushed her as well, he said.
When the girlfriend tried contacting the police, Akins reportedly pulled the phone cord out of the wall, Gregory said. That is when the mother hit the panic alarm in the house and Joliet police responded, he said.
Officers arrived and arrested Akins on charges of aggravated domestic battery, interfering with the report of domestic violence and domestic battery.
Akins was booked into the Will County jail. He was scheduled to appear in court Friday afternoon.

tokenized:
JOLIET – A Plainfield man was arrested after he allegedly hit his girlfriend and her mother and then tried to prevent them from contacting the police , authorities said .
 On Thursday morning , Willie J. Akins Jr. , 21 , of the 1900 block of Cumberland Court in Plainfield got into an argument with his 24 - year - old girlfriend , who is pregnant with his child , Joliet Deputy Police Chief Ed Gregory said .
 The argument then turned physical , Gregory said .
 The girlfriend alleged to police that Akins struck her in the face , slapped her and pushed her off the bed in their home at Cumberland Court , Gregory said . The girlfriend ’s mother tried to intervene , but Akins allegedly slapped and pushed her as well , he said .
 When the girlfriend tried contacting the police , Akins reportedly pulled the phone cord out of the wall , Gregory said . That is when the mother hit the panic alarm in the house and Joliet police responded , he said .
 Officers arrived and arrested Akins on charges of aggravated domestic battery , interfering with the report of domestic violence and domestic battery .
 Akins was booked into the Will County jail . He was scheduled to appear in court Friday afternoon .


text:
Are you looking for an apartment painting contractor in Cary, North Carolina? Whether you're searching for a painting contractor to paint the interior or exterior of your apartment building or just a single apartment, look no further. Since 1980, Exceptional Painting has provided quality, affordable Cary apartment painting services. We work on all projects, no matter how big or small. Whether you're a resident looking to have your apartment painted, or a building manager looking to have the building painted, Exceptional Painting is the right choice for you.
Is the paint on your Cary apartment building chipped or just looking dull? Does it need to be rejuvenated? How about fresh new coat of paint? There's no better way to freshen up a worn out looking building than to apply a fresh coat of paint. Allow your tenants to take pride in their apartment building, or better yet, attract new potential tenants by giving your building a brand new look with a fresh coat of paint. Call the painting experts at (919) 435-2997.
Whether you're a resident looking to have your Cary apartment painted, or you a building manager looking to have the interior of the apartment building painted, call the Cary painting pros at (919) 435-2997. Having 39 years of painting experience, the painters at Exceptional Painting are the best fit for you.
Whether you're a resident looking to have your apartment or condominium painted, or a building manager looking to have the whole building or individual units painted, Exceptional Painting of Cary, North Carolina is the right choice for you. Call us today at (919) 435-2997 for your free estimates.

tokenized:
Are you looking for an apartment painting contractor in Cary , North Carolina ? Whether you 're searching for a painting contractor to paint the interior or exterior of your apartment building or just a single apartment , look no further . Since 1980 , Exceptional Painting has provided quality , affordable Cary apartment painting services . We work on all projects , no matter how big or small . Whether you 're a resident looking to have your apartment painted , or a building manager looking to have the building painted , Exceptional Painting is the right choice for you .
 Is the paint on your Cary apartment building chipped or just looking dull ? Does it need to be rejuvenated ? How about fresh new coat of paint ? There 's no better way to freshen up a worn out looking building than to apply a fresh coat of paint . Allow your tenants to take pride in their apartment building , or better yet , attract new potential tenants by giving your building a brand new look with a fresh coat of paint . Call the painting experts at ( 919 ) 435 - 2997 .
 Whether you 're a resident looking to have your Cary apartment painted , or you a building manager looking to have the interior of the apartment building painted , call the Cary painting pros at ( 919 ) 435 - 2997 . Having 39 years of painting experience , the painters at Exceptional Painting are the best fit for you .
 Whether you 're a resident looking to have your apartment or condominium painted , or a building manager looking to have the whole building or individual units painted , Exceptional Painting of Cary , North Carolina is the right choice for you . Call us today at ( 919 ) 435 - 2997 for your free estimates .


text:
San Carlos School, an educational ministry of San Carlos Cathedral providing a quality Catholic education for students in grades TK-8.
We welcome all families seeking a faith-filled learning community for their children.
We nurture the whole child by integrating spiritual and moral development with high academic standards.
We serve the local and global community by fostering a spirit of stewardship, safety, and peace.
San Carlos School is fully accredited by the Western Catholic Educational Association (WCEA) and the Western Association for Schools and Colleges (WASC). A 6-Year accreditation was awarded to San Carlos School through June 2022.

tokenized:
San Carlos School , an educational ministry of San Carlos Cathedral providing a quality Catholic education for students in grades TK-8 .
 We welcome all families seeking a faith - filled learning community for their children .
 We nurture the whole child by integrating spiritual and moral development with high academic standards .
 We serve the local and global community by fostering a spirit of stewardship , safety , and peace .
 San Carlos School is fully accredited by the Western Catholic Educational Association ( WCEA ) and the Western Association for Schools and Colleges ( WASC ) . A 6 - Year accreditation was awarded to San Carlos School through June 2022 .


text:
Short on time? Order Online!
Avoid the long queues. Have Malaysian Hawker food delivered to your doorstep. Award Winning Online Ordering and Delivery Service.

tokenized:
Short on time ? Order Online !
 Avoid the long queues . Have Malaysian Hawker food delivered to your doorstep . Award Winning Online Ordering and Delivery Service .