text:
import moduleForAcceptance from '../../tests/helpers/module-for-acceptance';
import { test } from 'qunit';

moduleForAcceptance('Acceptance | keyboard interaction');

test('up arrow selects the previous visible tree item', function(assert) {
  visit('/');
  triggerEvent('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")', 'dblclick');
  click('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Vegetables")');
  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 38);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Pears")').is('[aria-selected="true"]'));
  });

  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 38);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Bananas")').is('[aria-selected="true"]'));
  });
});

test('down arrow selects the next visible tree item', function(assert) {
  visit('/');
  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 40);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")').is('[aria-selected="true"]'));
  });

  triggerEvent('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Vegetables")', 'dblclick');
  click('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")');
  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 40);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Vegetables")').is('[aria-selected="true"]'));
  });

  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 40);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Broccoli")').is('[aria-selected="true"]'));
  });
});

test('left arrow moves to the previous parent node when the currently selected parent node is collapsed', function(assert) {
  visit('/');
  triggerEvent('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Vegetables")', 'dblclick');
  click('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Lettuce")');
  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 37);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Vegetables")').is('[aria-selected="true"]'));
  });
});

test('left arrow collapses the currently selected parent node if it is expanded', function(assert) {
  visit('/');
  click('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")');
  triggerEvent('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")', 'dblclick');
  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 37);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")').is('[aria-expanded="false"]'));
  });
});

test('right arrow expands the currently selected parent node and moves to its first child node', function(assert) {
  visit('/');
  click('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")');
  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 39);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")').is('[aria-expanded="true"]'));
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Oranges")').is('[aria-selected="true"]'));
  });
});

test('enter toggles the expanded or collapsed state of the selected parent node', function(assert) {
  visit('/');
  click('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")');
  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 13);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")').is('[aria-expanded="true"]'));
  });

  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 13);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")').is('[aria-expanded="false"]'));
  });
});

test('home selects the root parent node of the tree', function(assert) {
  visit('/');
  click('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Vegetables")');
  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 36);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")').is('[aria-selected="true"]'));
  });
});

test('end selects the last visible node of the tree', function(assert) {
  visit('/');
  click('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Fruits")');
  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 35);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Vegetables")').is('[aria-selected="true"]'));
  });

  triggerEvent('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Vegetables")', 'dblclick');
  keyEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', 35);

  andThen(function() {
    assert.ok(findWithAssert('[role="treeitem"]:contains("Squash")').is('[aria-selected="true"]'));
  });
});

test('asterisk expands all parent nodes', function(assert) {
  visit('/');
  triggerEvent('[role="tree"]', 'keydown', { keyCode: 56, shiftKey: true });

  andThen(function() {
    assert.equal(find('[role="treeitem"][aria-expanded="true"]').length, 6);
  });
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Vanilla - Eases breathing problems and sleep apnea. Helps to calm your nerve and brain cells. It is therefore an ideal choice for aromatherapy treatment on chronic stress, insomnia, anxiety, chronic fatigue, and restlessness. And as an aphrodisiac, it can also be used to address a wide range of sexual health problems such as loss of libido, impotency, erectile dysfunction, and frigidity.


PANDA allows you to stream music in stereo or separated in different rooms. For transportation, protection or piling you can snap together the two magnetic modules to a solid cube (35cm x 35cm x 35cm). For setting up the speakers just split the cube into two speaker modules and connect each to any socket. After connecting to a local WIFI you can play any music from your SONOS app.


text:
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StarTroopers – Episode Four
Written by shadar	:: [Thursday, 29 March 2018 21:19]	Last updated by :: [Thursday, 29 March 2018 22:08]
1516 StarTroopers – Episode Four /index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=item&cid=203:storybank-by-title&id=1516:startroopers-episode-four&Itemid=228
by Shadar
The next weeks passed in a blur of activity. While Ariel was back in Michigan taking her exams, I was studying everything documented on both the Roci and the Dreadnought, which Jacobs had named Enterprise. The name came from the famous line of US aircraft carriers, Carmen told me, not Star Trek like most people thought. But it fit both, which was cool.
Manufacturing thought they were going to have the Roci ready to fly in another week, with the Enterprise a few days later, assuming they could fix a problem with the fuel cells. That was damned impressive given they hadn't finished building the Enterprise's hull.
Her outer hull was 10" thick battleship armor, the secondary hull was 6" plate, and the tertiary hull 3", so they had to build it up from the inside out. They were only halfway done placing the outer sections, which were taking longer to fabricate than initially planned. Even with Uber power, pounding old 10" armor plate into shape was hard work. It had initially been made from very hard steel that had become even less malleable over the decades. A dozen Ubers were working in the forming area now, and they were hard-pressed to keep up. The gap welding, required to ensure a solid weld went the full 10" deep, was also getting behind.
But by far the biggest problem was the fuel cells. The ones that had been immediately available were industrial grade, not aerospace grade, least of all military grade, and they weren't surviving the shock testing. Too fragile. If we got hit hard, we were going to lose power, permanently, which meant we'd have to detail Ubers to spin generators to keep life support running just when we needed them out there fighting bugs. Kedrik had pulled together a special team to look for solutions such as shock mounting, but it didn't look good.
I was working fifteen hours a day now, but still managed to spend another couple hours to help an engineer and a new and very controversial Uber named Alice to build something I felt they'd left out of the plans — a shuttle. We needed a way to carry Normals like myself between ships if necessary, not to mention getting us up and down from orbit. Even if we convinced Jacobs to only go with one Normal per Roci-class ship, we planned to build dozens of them.
We decided to form the shuttle by hand working scrap 2" plate, the same plating used on the Roci's inner hull. The idea was to build an entirely sealed steel tube that had only a small hatch and docking ring on the bottom to mate with Roci's airlock. I found a surplus oxygen-generator and CO2 scrubber system that I'd once used on a minisub. As long as the shuttle kept its pressure, an Uber and four passengers could breathe for the better part of a day without changing canisters.
One of Kedrik's electronics wizards came up with the idea of using an off-the-shelf Microsoft X-VR box, along with enough flexible OLED displays to completely cover the ceiling, walls and floor. Instead of feeding the immersive displays with computer-simulated VR like the original Microsoft box, he rigged up a dozen external cameras that were protected behind thick quartz lens. They fed real-time video to the corresponding areas of the OLED displays. Once inside, you felt as if you were sitting inside a glass tube. It was a quick and dirty version of the more capable imaging system on the Roci.
The shuttle's pilot station was a massive steel yoke that was welded into the exact center-of-gravity of the structure and designed to lot down snuggly around the waist of a seated Uber. It would tighten around her hips sufficiently to make her an integral part of the machine. Flight power did the rest. Two seats for Normals were in front of the pilot and two behind.
The problem was Alice, our metal bender. Given the need for construction staff, Jacobs had extended the qualification testing to any woman who wanted to take it. Alice turned out to have the right genes and she underwent enhancement, but she didn't come from the ranks of military, police or Intel agents like the earlier Ubers. Her only credentials, beyond her special gene sequence, were that she was a tall, slender and exceptionally attractive blonde who enjoyed having sex in front of a camera. She was, in fact, a porn star. Of course, now that she was Uber, and there weren't any supermen around, she was seriously out of a job.
The shuttle engineer, Tim Cook, and I were trying to get her to build our little ship from a huge pile of scrap steel plate. After a couple of disastrous days where she mangled everything into a blob, she kind of figured it out, although her fabrication style involved using every square inch of her body, unencumbered of course by clothing. Her amazingly long legs could shape the thick steel as she slid herself up and down the plating, bending and smoothing it between her thighs, forming it gradually into the rounded shapes we needed. She worked best when people were watching her. She was still doing porn, but now it was rocket ship porn.
Alice's method was kind of hard to describe — sort of like having sex with steel plates one engineer said — but it was working. She was getting the shapes mostly right and she was getting good at eye welding, and while the finished result had all kinds of irregularities, it passed x-ray testing. The little ship wasn't pretty, but she wasn't going to leak air or fall apart. I named the first shuttle Alice, which greatly pleased our metal bender.
Carmen took the shuttle for its first flight, and she hit Mach 4 before it started to get hot inside. She took the shuttle into space and then a mile underwater. No leaks. No outgassing. The cameras and display system worked fine, recording video of the real Alice as she flew nervously alongside her creation the whole way, making sure her proud little spaceship was going to hold together — dressed as usual in nothing. A replay of that video, which she proudly showed everyone, was very popular with the workmen.
Now that Alice knew what she was doing, we sent her off to build the hulls for another half dozen shuttles. The slogan of the EarthDefense Force was true: there was a job for everyone.
A few days after that, I was sitting in my room puzzling over the problematic fuel cells when I heard a knock on the door. I opened it to find Carmen standing there, dressed is a deeply-cut exotic blue gown, her overly-blue eyes staring intently into mine.
"Holy shit!" came out of my mouth before my brain caught up with my eyes.
She laughed as she pushed past me to float in mid-air in the middle of my room. "I just finished having a heart-to-heart with the Old Man on the way home. He and I flew Alice down to Luke AFB to pick up my boyfriend, Sam, and then my Mom for her birthday dinner, which we enjoyed in Paris. I did my first suborbital hop in Alice. Forty minutes, Phoenix to Paris. They were impressed."
"A super-daughter. A super-girlfriend. A shuttle named after a porn star. Sam's a lucky guy."
She grimaced. "Tell that to him. He's not so fond of this whole inviolate crush-you-to-death during passion thing. It's kind of a big strain right now."
"Ah, you know, Carmen, that that's not a problem everyone has. Some Ubers, after the later part of their training, have kind of figured it out."
She stared at me. "No way."
"Way. A friend of mine, her name is Ariel, is flying in this weekend. Talk to her."
"You have a girlfriend? Who's an Uber?"
I felt my neck reddening. "Not sure about labels yet, but we had a moment. She's coming to see me, so that's encouraging."
"Yet everyone says…"
"Everyone says what they want you to hear, Carmen. Limiting Uber and Normal fraternization is a goal, for obvious safety reasons. They've over-publicized some rather disturbing fails along that line to scare everyone. Broken this, broken that. Even a death, if I was to believe the bullshit. But like everything else, reality is more complex than the stories."
She shook her head, red hair flying. "This isn't what I came to talk about. My father listened to my pitch about increasing the fighting posture of the Roci-class. I told him I'd made the same pitch to you and that you'd agreed. Sorry if I'm stealing your thunder, but it was better if he thought it was my idea."
"If he listens to you, then we use that. I don't need credit, only results. Nice work."
"Anyway, talk to him tomorrow. We're almost done with construction, so it's time for crew selection."
"Wish that was true, Carmen. The fuel cells aren't going to hack it. Latest test results came in today. Worse than expected."
"I'll peddle the generators if I have to. We need to start killing bugs."
"We can't spin our way to Jupiter. Those stations aren't made for continuous use. Just backups."
She put her hand on my shoulder. "Someone will always find a way, Captain. Have faith."
And with that she floated out the door, red hair flying.
It took me a while to get back to work. She was a uniquely beautiful young woman.
I was waiting at Jacob's office when he arrived precisely at seven.
"I gather my daughter has been trying to convince you to change the crew makeup," he said.
"Yes, sir. I think she's on the right track. The Roci-class ships are going to get into the fight, whether we want them to or not. Bugs are smart. They'll discover that crew recovery is our weak point."
"Yeah, I heard it all last night. Get me a requested crew list by the end of the week. If Alana is on board with it, then you'll be the only Normal."
"The way I see it, sir, I'm just here for the first few battles anyway. Once Carmen and the others have some experience dealing with unconventional fighting, they won't need me. My first order to her was for her to make sure the Roci survives, even if I don't."
Jacobs grinned. "Once a SEAL, always a SEAL. I'm glad I've got you."
"While I've got you here, John, I think we've got a solution for the fuel cells. The Russians have a bunch of ruggedized fuel cells they were building for some military applications. They're on the shelf and ready to go. Enough to equip the Roci and Enterprise."
"That's wonderful," I gushed. "I was about to give you the bad news from yesterday's testing."
"Already saw it. That's why I agreed to the Russian's conditions."
"Ah, which are?" I didn't like the sound of this.
"They want one of their own on the Roci. An Uber by the name of Ivanka. You know her."
I felt the blood drain from my face. "Yeah, and she's fucking dangerous, sir. Damn near killed me. Probably would have just to make some bullshit point about the program if not for a couple of our Ubers who came to my rescue."
"I read your report. But I've already agreed. You and Carmen are just going to have to handle her. Once we're fighting bugs, she'll be an asset. Based on the file they sent over on her, her powers are off the chart. Claim is the Russians are implanting their Ubers with larger crystal shards than we do. Apparently overpowers them, but also messes with their heads."
"No offense, sir, but a hotshot, overconfident pilot and a combat crazy untrained arrogant super-Uber is a bad combo. Why not put her on the Enterprise? They're the tip of the spear."
"Carmen is at the top of her class, power-wise, John, and you have the experience to keep a crew together. We might change things up after the first few fights, but for now, she's your problem. Because without the Russian fuel cells, we don't fly."
"Yes, sir," I said glumly.
"Right now your crew list is Carmen, Alana and Ivanka, John. I want the other names ASAP. Kedrik just told me you're going flying this weekend."
"The fuel cells will be here by then?"
"Already in the air. We're about to have an Antonov transport from the Russian Air Force landing here at Groom Lake. That'll be another first."
I found Alana and filled her in on the new plan. Turned out that Carmen had already talked to her, and she was already going through the personnel files, looking for Ubers with medical training. Carmen had jumped the gun in talking to her first, but I'd rather have an aggressive XO than the alternative. Easier to hold someone back than to push someone who wasn't aggressive enough.
I called for Carmen so I could give them both the scoop on Ivanka. It didn't go well. Neither of them wanted anything more to do with Ivanka than I did.
"Don't think you're going to change the Old Man's mind on this one, Carmen," I said. "It's part of the deal to get the fuel cells. Flying with her is better than not flying."
"I'll kick her ass," Carmen said through clenched teeth.
"Actually, you won't. The Russians are souping up their Ubers. Implanting larger pieces of crystal. Makes them stronger, but also messes with their heads. Extreme arrogance is the first sign."
I handed her file to Alana, who started paging through it.
"So, we assign her to a torpedo. Right?" Carmen said.
I nodded. "Absolutely. The tip of our spear. But until we get into a fight, we need to somehow live with her."
Alana and Carmen looked at each other, and shrugged. "Doesn't sound like we have a choice."
"Nope. Right now our job is to fill the final crew positions. Carmen, I want your recommendation for three more torpedo crew ASAP. Alana, I need to talk with you a moment alone about your med techs."
Carmen took Ivanka's file from Alana and floated out the door.
"I've got something to tell you, Alana, but it can't go beyond you. No matter what."
"I know an Uber who has the ability to heal injuries. Likely just about any kind. Instantly."
She stared at me. "Go on."
I took her through the whole deal with Ariel. Including the fact that she didn't seem to have the usual limitations when it came to men.
"And you're sure its driven by orgasm and crystal proximity?" Alana asked.
"She believes that. Perhaps it's true. Or perhaps that's just when it happens naturally for her. With training, who knows."
"And only men?"
"Again, that's her experience. Seems odd to me that her power is that limited, but I suppose it's a valid question whether anything works the same on Ubers and Normals. But if Ariel is willing to work with you, hopefully you'll be able to figure it out. If it does have greater applicability, that'll make her incredibly valuable."
Alana looked doubtful, but nodded anyway. "When can I meet her?"
"She's supposed to come in this weekend, but I'm trying to move that up a few days. I need to have my crew list done by the weekend."
"So what's the depth of your relationship with her, Captain?"
"I don't really know. We had a day. She fixed my ribs before I made her break them again. Didn't want to have to lie to Jacobs about myself or Ariel."
"And I suppose she'll fix them again this weekend."
"That's my plan. Nobody else has to know the details."
"This is another serious complication for your crew. Captains aren't supposed to be shagging their crew."
"She won't technically be crew until after Jacobs approves our list. That'll be Monday. Technically, the weekend won't count."
"Not with him, because he won't know. But it will with me."
"That's why I asked for your discretion. I never expected things to work out this way, but her abilities might save lives, especially if they also work on Ubers. That's all I care about."
Alana smiled. "Not to mention putting you back together if you splat. I'll say one thing. You keep surprising me, John."
"The real problem here is that I'm already violating Ariel's trust by talking to you. This could get dicey when I tell her. But if you can reassure her, and if I can get her to work with you given your promise of discretion, then who knows. If we know what to look for, we may find more like her."
"Except she obviously has to open up on this if we decide to look for more like her."
"She's just embarrassed by how it works. But if you can find a way to make it work in more, shall we say, clinical conditions, then she'll be cool with it. I know that much about her."
Alana smiled. "You know, I used to have a nice quiet job at a Canadian Forces base, keeping an eye on some very healthy pilots. I went home every night to a loving husband and two wonderful kids. Now I'm on a space ship with you, who I don't even know how to sum up in words. I've also got Carmen the hotheaded, hotshot and Ivanka the arrogant crazy super-bitch and now an Uber who's apparently an orgasmic healer. I may be Uber myself, but I might be on the wrong ship."
"Or, you could be exactly where you were born to be, Alana. We're going to save the world."
The huge Antonov landed a few hours later, and Jacobs detailed several Ubers to help the logistics folks unload the fuel cells, flying them down into the hangar in minutes. The Russian crew looked a bit dazed with the scantily-dressed Ubers flying into their ship to lift the huge pallets of machinery from the floor by hand to fly them out the open nose of the huge transport. Apparently they hadn't actually seen an Uber before. But given this was the fabled Area 51, they'd come prepared to see amazing things.
I asked the pilot about Ivanka, but he had no idea who I was talking about.
Jacobs signed some papers and the big Antonov taxied out and took off. We weren't about to show them what we were doing underground. We might be cooperating on saving the Earth, but US and Russian relations were still very chilly otherwise.
I left a voicemail for Ariel, hoping she'd pick it up soon. The quicker she got here the better. I didn't want to have to make a call about putting her on the crew until Alana had spent a few days with her. In any case, Alana had to accept her on her medical team. I might be Captain, but Jacobs had given her the deciding vote on her people.
The Life Support teams worked all night to replace the fuel cells, and Wednesday morning the final sections of outer hull were cut and ready to be welded into place on Enterprise. Even better, it truly looked like the Roci would be operational by that night. We'd need a day or two to test things out and complete the x-raying of all the welds, but it really did look like the Roci was going to fly by the weekend, and Enterprise by the end of the weekend.
I hadn't told Carmen yet, but after proving we could fly and safely land and maneuver, and then doing some testing in Earth orbit, I was going to fly to the Moon and recover some old Apollo gear to return as a memento for the crew who built her.
I had visions of putting one of the old Apollo descent stages in the Manufacturing office, and I wanted to put the flag they'd flown on the Moon in Jacobs' office. I figured an old Moon Buggy would look good in the Engineering office.
The idea was to demonstrate to everyone that we could now fly to the Moon in hours, on a lark even. We could make it to Mars in days and Jupiter in a few weeks. We were about to be a truly spacefaring planet.
After that, things were going to get deadly serious. We were building warships. We didn't know where the bugs were, but they had to be hiding somewhere in the Sol system. For all we knew, we'd find them on the backside of the Moon. It was going to take time for the pilots and crew to learn to fly and fight their ships. I just prayed we had the time.
Ivanka arrived at Area 51 with a crash that shattered the thick concrete parking area outside the hangar, the shockwave of her supersonic arrival tipping an Air Police vehicle over on its side and sending bits of flying glass from its blown-in windows to cut up two APs. She casually flipped their truck back upright before walking over to the personnel elevator, where she rudely pushed the AP guarding the entrance to the side to rip the armored door open. Before the guard could do more than key his radio in alarm, she stepped inside to push the Down button.
I got a panicky call from Security in time to stick my head out of the Roci to see an exotic redhead descending in the plastic-tubed elevator. It didn't look like Ivanka, but whomever it was, she was wearing another exotic costume, this one apparently some kind of black and silver Supergirl thing. She was just as tall as Ivanka, but with a broader face and she carried more muscle.
I was reminded of something I'd heard rumors about but never seen — Ubers who could shape change. If so, and if this actually was Ivanka, then that could be useful.
Looking closely as she approached the floor, I saw the same arrogant, haughtiness in her green eyes as she glared down at me.
I walked down the Roci's steps to meet her on the manufacturing floor. She pranced across the floor, swishing her black and red cape behind her to draw every eye. She was almost to me when Carmen appeared in front of me like magic. "Welcome Ivanka," she said, trying to be civil. "I'm Carmen, the XO and pilot of the Roci."
"And he's Captain?" Ivanka said, glaring at me.
"Yeah, he is." Carmen reached out to clasp hands with Ivanka, who stood a head taller than her. They struggled for a brief moment, and then Ivanka's green eyes turned blue and she easily pushed Carmen's arm down and to the side. That at least confirmed the shapechanger thing.
"Silly game," Ivanka said as she pulled her hand free. "No one is my equal." She stepped past Carmen to face me. "I should have killed you then. Now I must work for you. Orders."
"I'm really glad you're here, Ivanka," I lied. "When we get into a fight with the bugs, you're going to be our main weapon. I hope your performance lives up to your, ah, new costume thingy. I need you to kill bugs."
"I'll kill your bugs. All of them. Just get me there."
"Then how about if Carmen shows you the ship and then gets you a place to sleep in the dorm. We're going to start flight testing Roci soon. You'll have a cabin on board when we fly. Time enough after that for you to learn the systems you'll need to know."
Carmen glared at me, clearly unhappy with my tossing Ivanka into her lap. "Follow me," she said icily. "But don't touch a fucking thing unless I tell you. We've worked too hard to built Roci to have anything go wrong now."
Ivanka sent a wave of heat flashing across my face as she turned to follow Carmen toward the ship, her cape swishing.
Kedrik walked over to stand beside me. "Jesus. What a bitch. She broke the entrance to the elevator, not to mention a two-foot thick section of pavement outside the hangar. Messed up some Air Police too. None of that was necessary."
"Look on the bright side, Kedrik, she didn't try to kill me this time. Sounds like she's got orders to cooperate."
"Did she really just push Carmen around? Carmen is the strongest Uber in this entire place."
"You mean, she was. Hopefully I can convince Ivanka to save it for the bugs. All the more reason to get this show on the road."
"Well, the good news is that the fuel cells fit and work as we hoped. Given their armored construction, I don't think we need to worry about bruising them. Still, I've got one being tested by the Reliability guys, but I'm guessing they won't be able to break it."
"So, we fly tomorrow?"
"We at least try to fly, although Carmen hasn't told me who she wants to fill the other three flight positions yet."
"Don't worry. She'll be ready."
I finished my long day before heading back to my quarters, hoping I'd find a message on my phone from Ariel. Cellphones didn't work in the hangar bay, just the special internal Comm units that IT had given us. But there was nothing on my phone. Worried now, I turned to walk into the bedroom of my upgraded quarters, only to be shocked to see Ariel sound asleep on top of my bed. Her only clothing was a pair of jeans that she'd half removed before apparently passing out.
I stared at her perfectly lovely backside for a long moment, my heart pounding. Whatever questions I'd had about the next stage in our relationship, I think Ariel had just answered them.
I carefully walked around the bed to gently remove her jeans, and then got undressed and turned out the lights before getting into bed with her, snuggling up to her warm back. She purred as she curled up in my arms, spooning herself into me, her body seemingly made of liquid steel, but didn't wake.
It took me a while to relax, for obvious reasons, but eventually the exhaustion from my long days and short nights caught up with me. I fell asleep, dreaming about waking up with her in my arms.
I awoke to the soft brush of silky hair across my face. The room was completely dark, but Ariel's warmth radiated from above. She was floating just above me.
"Sorry about last night, John," she whispered in my ear. "Three weeks of studying around the clock and all my exams — I was wiped out. I couldn't stay awake. Which is funny given I can bend steel in my bare hands like putty. I can fly around the world in an hour. I can stop locomotives with a single push. But my brain doesn't seem any stronger than it was before."
"I was exhausted too. We've all been working our asses off here. Sleep was what I needed too. But now with you in my arms, the world is suddenly a wonderful place again."
"So, how about I fix those damn ribs for good. Before we have a little fun."
"We haven't got much time. Mornings start early here."
"I need five minutes for the ribs. The rest of the time can be ours."
Carmen awoke in the next room, wakened by some soft cries and the sound of the Captain's shower running. Rising from her bed, she floated cross-legged in the middle of the room to look through the wall, surprised to see John standing in the shower with a lovely blonde, making love. The woman was clearly an Uber given her legs were wrapped lightly around him as she rose and fell in mid-air, his face nestled between her breasts. This must be Ariel, who he'd talked about yesterday — the Uber who lacked the usual limitations when it came to men. Carmen knew she should look away, but she couldn't. What secret did Ariel know that no one else did?
Alana continued to sleep in her room down the hall, dreaming of her husband and children. A dream that grew terrifying when huge bugs began to crawl in through their windows. She was frozen in place, unable to move, and could only watch as the bugs prepared to feed on their helpless victims.
She awoke with a start, trembling in the dark. It was a familiar dream. The nightmare that kept her focused on her job. If their warships should fail to do their job out in the blackness of space, her dream might someday be reality. And she might not be around to protect her loved ones.
In several rooms in other parts of the dormitory, young Ubers lay several to a bed, some of them sleeping, others enjoying each other's company in the dark, sharing and sharing alike. While most of them had preferred the company of men before their enhancement, they were now each other's only companions. There was nothing in the Uber enhancement process that reduced one's sex drive, if anything the opposite. Like everyone else on the program, they were making adjustments and accommodations, just as humans have always done to meet their needs. They might be saving the world, but a few minutes of pleasure each day made it all a bit easier.
Down on the still darkened manufacturing floor, during the few hours of the day when operations paused so technicians could maintain the equipment, three burly welders were working with blazing torches as they leaned over a very statuesque red-head who was sprawled naked on her back on the floor. As Ivanka had discovered back in Russia, only extreme heat seemed to release her passions now. She'd reward these men by not killing them. Assuming they did their jobs well.
Reveille sounded over the intercom, and pleasures and nightmares alike ended as everyone prepared for another day. Energy was high given they knew today was the day at least one of the ships would rise from her bed and try to fly. Today was the payoff for months of long hours and hard work.
The mess hall was fuller than usual this morning, with a few notable exceptions. John and Alana usually started their day together here, but both were missing.
Alana was helping the local medics with three welders who'd mysteriously been badly burned during the wee hours of the night when no one should have been working. It didn't take long to get their story. She flew off to kick down the door of Ivanka's room, only to find her sleeping naked in a bed of singed linen. Alana angrily shook Ivanka awake, only to be rewarded with a punch that sent her flying backward through two walls and halfway down a corridor. Alana picked herself up, covered in shattered sheetrock and insulation, and marched angrily back into Ivanka's room. She was determined to hold Ivanka to her promise to work as a member of their crew, and as medical officer, she outranked her. Russians understand rank and authority if nothing else.
Things were going even worse in John's room. Ariel had just punched her fist into the rough stone that formed the outer wall of his room, sending shattered bits of rock across the room.
"You told her what?!" she yelled at John.
"The information won't go beyond Alana. I need you on our crew for the reasons I've just explained, and she's the Doc. She can help you figure out if there are other ways to use your power. We're going to be dealing with wounded Ubers. You could make the difference between victory and defeat."
"Information won't go beyond Alana?" she shouted back at him. "Just like when you promised me that you'd never tell anyone in the program?"
"You don't understand how crews on warships work, Ariel. Think family. We don't have secrets. We do whatever we can for each other."
"Well, don't assume that this morning is ever going to be repeated. I may be part of your crew, given you aren't giving me a choice, but that's where it ends. Captain."
She stalked out the door into the hallway, only to realize that she was only wearing her jeans. She glared at me as she came back in, grabbed her top, and stalked out again. I watched her pull it on as she half walked and half floated down the hallway, passing a couple of men who stared at her in pleasant surprise.
Carmen came out her door to stand beside me. "Trouble with your girlfriend?"
"That seems to be over before it got much of a start, for more than one reason. She's crew now. I need you to catch up with her, Carmen. Show her to the mess hall, get her oriented, and then introduce her to Alana."
"I'm not sure I understand everything I heard her shouting. Seems she's got a secret that she doesn't want to share."
"For now, that's going to be between her and Alana. Just assume she's got some medical skills that need development."
"Like healing your ribs during sex, Captain?"
"Shit. You saw that."
"Walls are thin. Eyes are strong. I'm your XO. My job is to take over your job if you can't, so everything that involves you, involves me."
"For now, Carmen, you are going to have to trust me. Don't say anything to her about what you saw or heard. Let Alana work things out with her. But yeah, Ariel could be a real asset after a fight if her ability works on Ubers."
"I'm not having sex with her, John, no matter what's broken."
I turned to grin at Carmen. "The key is that she can. Have sex, and with men. You should find that interesting. Likely its not genetic but rather a learned skill. Like meditation or yoga or whatever. And as far as the rest goes, my bet is that she can do more than she knows. Under more clinical conditions."
"You two weren't doing yoga in the shower."
"Just go find her, Carmen. She doesn't know anything about this place or the Roci. She didn't even know she was coming here to be on our crew. She came to see me."
Carmen sighed. "There are parts of this XO job that suck. Cleaning up after you is the worst."
She floated off down the hall, moving fast.
I didn't see Ariel or Alana the rest of the morning. Carmen arrived just before noon with the three women she'd selected to form the rest of the flight crew. All three of them were top ranked for flight powers, and above average in all other areas.
Bella was in her early twenties. She'd been a undercover policewoman in Copenhagen before her enhancement. Attractively slender and tall, she had characteristically Danish features including straight blonde hair. She also spoke English with only a slight accent. Beyond that, she was ex-Danish military, where she'd been an expert in cryptography and communications.
I promptly assigned Communications as her second job on the ship.
Caitlan was from Inverness, Scotland, a striking redhead with a preference for denim and short skirts and an accent that said Highlands. Far more importantly, she was highly ranked for flight power. To my pleasant surprise, she was also an engineer, with degrees in both Electronics and Electrical Systems engineering and she'd worked for the UK military, which had gotten her into the program.
I had my Chief Engineer.
The last was Kara, who was a real eyeful. She was the only 99 percentile rated flier in the program, a trait that she promptly informed me was due to her large breasts. I didn't buy that, but given she'd grown up on a commune in California, she probably had lots of other odd ideas too. She was a dazzling redhead who dressed to show off her "flight assets" along with some kind of fur thing that sufficed as a short skirt. That was weird, but Carmen said she could fly better than anyone she'd met, so I was glad to have her. Carmen would fly lead position as Pilot and Kara would balance her out at the opposite end of the ship with Bella and Caitlan taking up the side stations.
Kara had also worked on fuel cells in her commune, and had maintained the systems for their commune's attempt to build a sealed ecosystem, so she knew her way around environmental systems.
She was now my Life Support tech.
Categories SWM Library | StarTroopers Tags Super Strength | Heat Vision/Laser Eyes | Costume | Flight | Military (Army, Navy, Air Force...) | 5000 - 10000 words

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


No chapter on transactions is complete without a discussion of transactions in SQL CLR. Transactions behave so differently with SQL CLR that this topic warrants its own section.
So far, we have discussed local transactions in SQL Server and ADO.NET, as well as distributed transactions in ADO.NET, SQL Server, and the .NET Framework in general. We noted that in PSPE, a distributed transaction might not be distributed. Thus, the boundaries of what is distributed and what is not are already blurry. Well in SQL CLR, they are not only blurry, they are downright indistinct.


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Cllr Stuart Crabtree
District Councillor for Hednesford South
"Working with the community over the last few years has been an immense privilege and something I will build upon with this new group. Our role of leadership in the community and the council chamber is showing a real and positive difference to our area."
Stuart was born in Cannock Chase to a military family, then stationed overseas, and now lives on Church Hill, Hednesford with his son who studies at Kingsmead. He works in a local supermarket as one of the key workers keeping the shelves stocked and protecting the shoppers. As a former Green Party member, he is passionate about climate and social justice becoming a core part of our area for the generations ahead.
Stuart has been working on many of our campaigns including the early campaign to save Our Countryside from being sold off by the County Council as well as supporting the litter picks in and around the town over the last four years and is passionate about working for Hednesford.
page published
Alan Lowbridge published Cllr Stuart Crabtree in Councillors 2020-06-12 17:14:52 +0100


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The Best Creative Marketing Campaigns: What We Can Learn from Them
When it comes to creating a marketing campaign, it's often viewed as all about the end result. How well did a given campaign perform? What was the increase in sales? How many new customers did it bring in?
We often try to quantify things after the fact, because that's what informs us about the success of the campaign.
While we are actively putting a campaign together, however, we can take the opportunity to learn detailed lessons from campaigns that have gone before us. While it is, ultimately about what works and what doesn't, these five campaigns can teach us marketing aspects that help us to craft a creative campaign with a greater chance of success.
Ikea's First :59 Campaign: Engage With Your Customers
This campaign from hugely successful home goods and furniture warehouse-style store Ikea centers on content directly from customers. Specifically, the company asked their customers about the details of their morning routine (especially the first hour of it) and how that beginning typically impacted the remainder of their day.
This allowed Ikea's customers a platform to speak about the things near and dear to them, such as family life, pets, and hobbies. In turn, the answers and input that Ikea received gave them deeper insight into their customers, allowing them to create content that would be helpful.
This content, as seen on the First :59 page on Ikea's website, includes videos, tips, and how-tos that help with everyday tasks and to-dos.
With a finger on the pulse of its customers, Ikea is able to reach them where it counts.
SEO Marketing Tips: Grow Your Business Organically
The lesson: Good marketing reaches to the heart of your customers, giving you insight into what is really important to them.
American Express' Open Forum: Show the Value
Lyft's Incentives: Don't Underestimate Word Of Mouth (And Incentives)
Airbnb's Instagram Campaigns: Dial Your Social Media Up To Eleven
Kentucky Fried Chicken's Eleven Herbs And Spices: Keep It Simple
The Open Forum page via the American Express website is doing what many companies claim to do: offering valuable insight and actionable content.
Community is a big deal to a lot of people. So much so that many sites and companies include message boards for discussion.
The difference here, and one that AMEX has definitely advertised, is that the content created through the Open Forum page is created by experts who are offering valuable advice to their customers.
Not just someone within the company, toeing the company line.
By making valuable third-party content available to all, American Express goes the extra mile to show their customers that they're invested in their success.
The lesson: Good marketing highlights the value of a product or service.
Lyft is right up there with Uber in the non-taxi-taxi market. As a rideshare company with decent prices, how much would you estimate that they need to spend on extensive marketing campaigns?
Well, as a matter of fact, Lyft has grown almost entirely due to word of mouth.
But they aren't completely reliant on a rider remembering to act as an advocate for the service. Lyft offers incentives to those who use the service, granting free rides for the use of referral codes.
Use Proof Leads Notifications to Increase Conversions
The referral system has worked a treat, as might be expected. Everyone likes to earn free stuff, right? And, as a matter of fact, positive reviews and word of mouth advertising is worth more than any amount of coverage and traditional advertising.
So the lesson for this one is twofold.
Lesson: Sculpt your campaign to increase word of mouth, and look for chances to include incentives.
Airbnb has taken a little flack over the past few years, for things like getting a company logo redesigned to reflect branding change-ups with policies.
But there's at least one thing that it does very well.
Social media is a pretty common way to operate a marketing campaign, and there's a good reason for that. Sheer numbers don't lie: more than one in every three internet users report turning to social media platforms for further information on any given brand.
We're just used to social media, now. We've come to expect a presence from any legitimate company, which renders social media a perfect opportunity for promoting a particular campaign.
Airbnb has hit the nail on the head with their Instagram campaigns, over and over. Since it is a company that covers areas worldwide, it's natural to use travel and exploration as jumping-off points for campaigns. And Airbnb has been incredibly successful with their photo-based campaigns, creating one million backlinks, and garnering huge numbers of new followers.
Lesson: Social media is the perfect spot to launch and operate a campaign for maximum interaction.
This last one is good for a laugh, and a great example of how campaigns don't need to be expensive and complicated to be effective.
Seize Opportunities for your Restaurant Placement
Simply put, KFC narrowed its Twitter followers down to eleven people: the five Spice Girls, and six guys named Herb.
They didn't announce that they were going to do this. It was first pointed out a few weeks later, in a tweet breaking the subtle nod down: "Eleven herbs and spices!" That tweet alone was re-tweeted over 300,000 times.
It was subtle, cute, funny, and it got people talking. And it cost virtually nil to actually put the "campaign" into action.
Lesson: Think outside the box, and keep it simple!
Whichever lesson you plan to opt for, make sure they match with your business strategy and worth the dollars you invest in it.
Graphic designer by night and writer by day, Cara Thomas thrives in sharing her expertise through fun and engaging content. "Why hate anyone when you can kill them with chocolates" is her motto.
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Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, Anchor Packaging
Inspired by her time at a farm in Brittany, France, Allison Hooper, Co-Founder of Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, was confident that she could bring time tested methods to the US in pursuit of a fresh flavor-rich cheese. With the help of Co-Founder Bob Reese, the company began to sell to French Chefs in New York and gradually branched out to mainstream consumers. Today, the company holds true to the time honored traditions of French cheese making. Vermont Creamery's Fresh Chevre is the fastest growing goat cheese sku in conventional retail. The company has won over 100 national and international awards in its time - Keep your eye out for its acclaimed Crème Fraîche, Quark, and Feta Anchor Packaging has a new addition to the team. Marilyn Stapleton has been appointed to the newly-created role of Director of Corporate Advertising and Public Relations. Stapleton previously served at Dart/Welsh as Product Manager, Take Out Packaging since 2010. Her resume boasts over 30 years of experience in the packaging industry, where she has been instrumental in the development and commercialization of a wide variety of products excellent foundation for her new role at Anchor. Michael Thaler, Vice President, Marketing and Custom said "Creating sufficient awareness of all elements of our portfolio has become vital to our growth strategy." As such, Mrs. Stapleton will undoubtedly prove to be an asset to this growing company.


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Het Uruguayaans voetbalelftal speelde in totaal tien interlands in het jaar 1986, waaronder vier duels bij het WK voetbal 1986 in Mexico. Daar werd de ploeg in de achtste finales uitgeschakeld door buurland – en tevens de latere wereldkampioen – Argentinië. Bondscoach Omar Borrás vertrok na het toernooi en maakte plaats voor Roberto Fleitas.

Balans

Interlands

Statistieken

Uruguayaans voetbalelftal
1986

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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← View All Articles
Rona Jaffe Foundation
Cayce fiction writer Julia Elliott receives $30,000 award
South Carolina fiction writer and 2008/2009 South Carolina Arts Commission Prose Fellow Julia Elliott is a recipient of the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer's Award, which is given annually to six women writers who demonstrate excellence and promise in the early stages of their careers. The 2012 Awards were $30,000 each and were presented to the six recipients in New York City last fall. Elliott's story "Regeneration at Mukti" received a Pushcart Prize and will appear in the 2013 anthology. Her stories have been published in Tin House, Conjunctions, The Georgia Review, and other journals. She describes her recent work as "examining emerging technologies and the production of scientific knowledge through the lens of experimental fiction." The Jaffe Selection Committee found her work "incredibly imaginative, sharply observed and totally original." Elliott plans to use her Writer's Award to take at least two summers off and pay for child care so she can work on two novel projects. The first novel, The New and Improved Romie Futch, is about a South Carolina taxidermist who, after serving as a research subject and receiving brain downloads of "complex humanities disciplines," returns to his hometown to confront his failed marriage. Her second novel project is based on her own field study of Hamadryas baboons. She says, "Rethinking the role of gender in scientific research, I plan to write a novel narrated from the perspective of a female primatologist who is observing a troop of baboons and residing at a decadent research institute in the desert where she encounters scientists of diverse gender identification and sexual orientation." Elliott received her M.F.A. from Pennsylvania State University and her Ph.D. in English from the University of Georgia. She teaches English and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina, where she also received her B.A. She lives with her husband and young daughter in Cayce, South Carolina.
About the Awards:
Now in its 18th year, the Rona Jaffe Awards have helped many women build successful writing careers by offering encouragement and financial support at a critical time. Celebrated novelist Rona Jaffe (1931-2005) established The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Awards program in 1995. It is the only national literary awards program of its kind dedicated to supporting women writers exclusively. Since the program began, the Foundation has awarded more than $1 million to emergent women writers, including several who have gone on to critical acclaim, such as Elif Batuman, Eula Biss, Judy Budnitz, Lan Samantha Chang, Rebecca Curtis, Rivka Galchen, Kathleen Graber, Frances Hwang, Aryn Kyle, ZZ Packer, Tracy K. Smith, Mary Szybist and Julia Whitty. Via: The Rona Jaffe Foundation


With the customisable controls, it is possible to allocate two or more button presses to one button. Going back to Street Fighter (I do play other games, honest!), the control customisation in that allows you to map certain button combinations to one button. For example, to throw you have to press two buttons together; a punch and kick button of the same strength (eg hard punch and hard kick). You can press whichever two buttons you have these set to, or you can set up a single button to be hard punch + hard kick. It's the same for the other commonly used button combinations in the game - all three punches together, all three kicks together. This basically comes from the fact the controls were based around an arcade stick, with all six buttons on the face in two rows of three. With the way Sony and Microsoft's game controllers evolved, the face only has four buttons, with the other four buttons being on the 'shoulder' of the controller - it makes certain combinations quite difficult, which is why I think Capcom went to such efforts to ensure that people could customise their controls. To play Street Fighter, you only *need* the six attack buttons (three punches, three kicks) and the d-pad to perform every single move in the game. Being able to allocate certain combinations to the 'unused' buttons makes it a lot easier on a standard controller.
So, I think if developers are looking to implement customisable controls, it's worthwhile considering whether there are any frequent moves or mechanics that require more than one button to be pressed at a time, and allowing the player to map that combination to a single button. For example, on an Xbox pad I can press X & A together, or Y & B together, but I struggle to press X & Y or B & A together with any degree of consistency. Although it's worth noting that some of that is down to game code - developers can set the tolerance, so the player doesn't literally have to press the buttons at exactly the same time. When pressing two buttons together, most people will press one a fraction of a second earlier. The trick (particularly in games that feature elaborate input combinations) is drawing the line between the player pressing X & A together, and the player pressing X and A in close succession because they want to do two moves quickly. It's fascinating playing the tutorial modes for Tekken and Dead or Alive (and I think Street Fighter IV), where it shows you exactly what the game *thinks* you're doing with the controller.
With the sensitivity, it's something that's not utilised that often. I *think* both the 360 and PS3 have analogue face buttons as well as sticks - I'd have to check, but the original Xbox and PS2 did - the functionality was there, but I don't think many games used them that often. Some first person shooters allow you to calibrate the sensitivity of the sticks for aiming/movement, but it seems to be something that's fairly specific to that genre.


Battisti Customs Inc. specializes in the Mercedes Benz Business Class Sprinters. Each Business Class Sprinter is hand crafted with extreme pride and care, with the finest in fabrics and finishes. We invite you to experience the luxuriousness for yourself.
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Q: Using MFC Csocket on azure website I'am developing web API app in azure website and i try  calling to unmanaged dll (c++) that use Csoket.
Is anybody know if azure website support using Csocket or maybe i need to replace it with web socket?
My error that get is "Unable to load dll (module not be found HRESULT: 0x8007007E)?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: uncaught reference error $ is not defined ajax-jquery I'm trying to pass some variables using jquery and ajax but for some reason its not working. Here is the code.

vote data

when i check chrome's developer tools i can see that the id and name attributes are set correctly .
Here is the javascript(using jquery) i put an alert box to see if the value was set but i get undefined. Just started learning ajax and jquery this week any help would be appreciated.
$('.rate_widget').each(function() {
        var widget = this;
        var out_data = {
            game_id : $(widget).attr('id'),
            user_id : $(widget).attr('name')
        };
        alert(game_id);
        $.post(
            'ratings.php',
            out_data,
            function(INFO) {
                $(widget).data( 'fsr', INFO );
                set_votes(widget);
            },
            'json'
        );

In case its not clear im trying to send game_id and user_id with the corresponding values to a php script but im getting the error. Also i know there is another question with the same name but i checked it and it didn't help.

A: You can't reference game_id like that.  game_id is an index in the out_data object.
To alert the correct value you'd have to use :
alert(out_data['game_id']);

I'd also recommend wrapping your object indexes with quotes - just to make it a little more readable -
var out_data = {
  'game_id' : $(widget).attr('id'),
  'user_id' : $(widget).attr('name')
};

A: Did you put your javascript inside this ?
$( document ).ready( function(){
     // .. your code
})

Your javascript must have run before your php finished generating html.


The North Broken Passage is a channel through another unnamed reef in the Cape Melville area. It's no secret that the coral reefs that we have visited are full of life, but many of the fish that live on the reef are small. It's channels, like the North Broken Passage, that are home to the larger pelagic and predatorial fish.


Taxation is fundamentally important for modern government. Some of BIT's earliest work showed that there were new ways of increasing tax compliance, apart from the traditional policy tools of fines and prosecutions.
We now work with national and local governments around the world, helping them to build tax and compliance systems that take human behaviour into account. This work includes ensuring that tax policies are designed in ways that are most likely to succeed (as for our work on the UK's sugared drink levy).
A publication series profiling BIT's capacity building work in Indonesia, Bangladesh and Guatemala.
The use of behavioural science interventions, and particularly social norms, in tax compliance has become a growth industry for scholars and practitioners alike in recent years.


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Franchisee/REP's name: Top Wealth Master Sdn Bhd | Franchise: License Code: 31307003
Alston Lau (Chief Advisor) | LL.B, CLP, ChFC, RFC, RFP, CFP, AEPP, ICSP
Language: English | 中文
Will Writing Services Malaysia
Register Your Marriage or Your Family Loses
by admin-rockwills • blog
What happens when the marriage is not registered? According to a decision made by the Federal Court, customary marriages after March 1, 1982 are not recognized under the law if they are not registered. Under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976, non-Muslim customary marriages solemnized after March 1, 1982 must be registered with the Registry of Marriages. The overall intention of zthis Act is to provide for monogamous marriages and the solemnization and registration of such marriages.
What this means is that if a man and a woman were to marry after March 1, 1982, their marriage must be registered with the Registry of Marriages for it to be recognized. If the marriage is not registered, any children born out of this union will be considered as illegitimate. As a result, the problems which will be faced by them as well as the wife would be countless as well as heart breaking.
If the man were to pass away and he did not write a will, his properties would be distributed according to the Distribution Act 1958 (as amended in 1997). Under this Act, the children that are considered as illegitimate will not be eligible to inherit his estate. The poor lady of the house, who will not be recognized as the legal wife, will also not be able to inherit her husband's estate.
Who will inherit the man's assets then? Without a will, the man's assets will then go to his parents and if the parents are not around anymore, his hard earned assets will go to his brothers and sisters and ultimately to other people instead of his loved ones.
Love is blind but are we going to go through life blindly and ultimately letting our loved ones suffer just because we did not take positive action to protect them? So if we come across any of our friends or relatives who got married after March 1, 1982 and did not register their marriages, we should advise them to register their marriages to make sure that their loved ones are recognized under the law. To make doubly sure that their hard earned assets only go to their loved ones and not to other people, they should write a will with a Professional Will Writer.
Do not take chances. Take the proper and immediate action to protect your loved ones.
« The Old Lady and New Technology	» Ex-Wife and His Family Fighting for the Custody of the Children
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TEL: +6019-338 2829 (PC Lim)
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98-1-15, Prima Tanjung Business Center,
Jalan Fettes, 10470, Tanjung Tokong, Pulau Penang
TEL: +6019-326 4243 (Alston Lau)
© Rockwills | 乐委 2021


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I'd like to... Select One Download an application View project plans Purchase a book Know if a property is "historic" Schedule a research appointment Talk to a CHC staff member Link to Chris Hail's buildings database
Learn about... Select One Cambridge buildings, industries, and people Preservation Grants Upcoming agenda items Available genealogy resources Frequently Asked Questions Cambridge History Inner Belt Highway resources
Choose a District... Select One Avon Hill NCD Fort Washington HD Half Crown-Marsh NCD Harvard Square CD Mid Cambridge NCD Old Cambridge HD
Charles M. Sullivan
831 Massachusetts Ave., 2nd Floor
Tue - Thu: 8:30 AM-5:00 PM
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Research Hours
Mon: 4:00-7:00 PM
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Fri: Closed to researchers
Contact the Historical Commission
Cambridge Historical Commission on Facebook Cambridge Historical Commission on Flickr Cambridge Historical Commission on Instagram
Cambridge Historical Commission >
Districts & Historic Properties >
Reservoir Hill Study
At a public hearing on June 4, 2015, the Cambridge Historical Commission voted to initiate, effective October 1, 2015, a combined neighborhood conservation district (NCD) and historic district study for the south slope of Reservoir Hill. The first step is the appointment of an NCD study committee by the city manager. An NCD study committee consists of seven members appointed by the city manager, including three residents and/or property owners of the study area, three members or alternates of the Historical Commission, and one additional person with knowledge and concern for conservation of the character-defining features of the city's built environment; we hope to ensure that all points of view are represented. The NCD study committee will meet concurrently with the historic district extension study committee, which is comprised of members of the Historical Commission. All meetings will be open to the public and the public is encouraged to attend and participate. A schedule of meeting dates and location(s) will be mailed to property owners and posted online here after the committee has been appointed.
The Reservoir Hill NCD Study did not result in a recommendation for designation but constructive meetings did provide greater understanding and appreciation for the history of the neighborhood.
December 6, 2016: Informational Meeting at BB&N School, 80 Sparks Street, 7:00PM. See meeting notice.
Sept. 2016: After a summer hiatus, the study committees will resume meeting this month. Meetings have been scheduled for Wednesdays Sep. 14 and 29. If further meetings are needed, that information will be posted on this page.
Dec. 2015: The NCD study committee has been appointed by the City Manager. The seven member committee is composed of the following Reservoir Hill residents: Peter Ellis, Bob Higgins, Arch Horst, Bracebridge Young and three members of the Historical Commission: Joe Ferrara, Chandra Harrington, and Susannah Tobin. If you have any questions, please call us at 617-349-4683 or email us here. The NCD study committee elected Peter Ellis and Bracebridge Young as co-chairs. The Cambridge Historical Commission, acting as an Historic District study committee, meets jointly with the NCD study committee.
A meeting schedule has been set for the following dates: December 9, 2015, January 13, 2016, February 10, 2016, March 9, 2016, March 30, 2016, April 13, 2016, May 11, 2016, June 8, 2016, June 29, 2016 (canceled), July 13, 2016 (canceled), September 14, 2016, September 29, 2016, October 19, 2016, November 2, 2016, November 9, 2016, and November 30, 2016.
To make an application for alterations to your property during the study period, please download an application form and return it to us by mail or email at (histcomm at cambridgema dot gov).
Meeting #15: March 8, 2017
Sample of postcard poll
Map of postcard poll results
Correspondence received (coming)
Informational Meeting: December 6, 2016
Property Owner Survey
Meeting #14: November 30, 2016
Meeting #13: November 9, 2016
Dormer Guidelines
Meeting #11: October 19, 2016
Avon Hill sample design guidelines
Meeting #10: September 29, 2016 (Note: meeting date changed from Wed. 9/28 to Thurs 9/29)
Case log Oct 2015 to present
Revised staff memo dated 092916 outlining draft NCD review parameters
Draft minutes of Sept 14 meeting
Meeting #9: September 14, 2016
Staff memo dated 050916 outlining draft NCD review parameters for discussion
Lower Common NCD Study Report for reference
Draft minutes of June 8 meeting
Note: The June 29 and July 13 meetings were canceled.
Meeting #8: June 8, 2016
Staff memo outlining draft NCD review parameters for discussion
Meeting #7: May 11, 2016
Staff memo
Assessors Analysis
Draft minutes of April 13, 2016
Meeting #6: April 13, 2016 (walking tour)
Map with dates of construction
Draft minutes of March 30, 2016
Meeting #5: March 30, 2016
Lower Common NCD Study Report and summary and staff memo
Meeting #4: Mar. 9, 2016
District Comparison and Case Studies
Minutes of March 9, 2016
Meeting #3: Feb. 10, 2016
Recent Building Projects 2010-2015 slideshow
Zoning Districts
Orthos
Required Open Space
Minutes of February 10, 2016
Meeting #2: Jan. 13, 2016
Minutes of January 13, 2015
Reservoir Hill Architecture slideshow
Building Permits since 2011
BZA Cases since 1991
Meeting #1: Dec. 9, 2015
Minutes of December 9, 2015
NCD enabling ordinance, Ch. 2.78 of City Code
Historic District enabling law, M.G.L., Ch. 40C
Preservation Tools slideshow
Reservoir Hill History slideshow
Neighborhood 10 Planning Study (2007)
Neighborhood 10 Statistical Profile (2013)
Download an application form online.
Map of Study Area
Street Listing of Properties in the Study Area (by address)
Measuring Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation
Memo re: appointees to study committee and meeting schedule
Study letter of July 22, 2015
Intro letter of May 21, 2015
Online CHC brochures:
Cambridge Historic Districts
Neighborhood Conservation Districts
Step by Step Guide (Permitting Procedures)
Charles Sullivan, Executive Director or Sarah Burks, Preservation Planner
TTY (for hearing impaired): 617-349-6112
Frequently Asked Questions about Districts (See below).
WHAT ARE HISTORIC DISTRICTS AND NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION DISTRICTS?
Historic Districts:
Historic districts are areas in which historic buildings and their settings are protected by public review of alterations. Historic district ordinances are local laws that are adopted by communities using powers granted by the state. Historic districts comprise the city's significant historic and architectural resources. Inclusion in a historic district signifies that a property contributes to an ensemble that is worth protecting by virtue of its historic importance or architectural characteristics. Historic districts deserve special protection because they enhance our shared quality of life.
Neighborhood Conservation Districts:
These districts are groups of buildings that are architecturally and historically distinctive. There are four NCDs in Cambridge: Mid Cambridge, Half Crown-Marsh, Avon Hill, and Harvard Square. A different commission administers each of the four NCDs. These NCD commissions are empowered to approve new construction, demolition, and alterations that are visible from a public way. The establishment of an NCD recognizes the particular design and architectural qualities of special neighborhoods in Cambridge and encourages their protection and maintenance for the benefit of the entire city.
WHAT PURPOSE DO HISTORIC DISTRICTS AND NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION DISTRICTS SERVE?
These designations were created to preserve buildings that are architecturally and historically significant. The establishment of such districts recognizes the particular historic and architectural qualities of neighborhoods and buildings in Cambridge and encourages their protection and maintenance for the benefit of the entire City.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HISTORIC DISTRICT AND A NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION DISTRICT?
The regulations in the neighborhood conservation districts are tailored to the needs of the particular neighborhood and are generally less strict than those in historic districts.
DOES BEING IN A HISTORIC DISTRICT MEAN THAT I CAN NEVER CHANGE THE APPEARANCE OF MY PROPERTY?
No. Properties in historic districts are not frozen in time. Historic district protection is designed to ensure that when changes occur, they do not destroy the unique qualities of the district.
WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION ON PROPERTY VALUES?
Though there's no one size fits all neighborhoods answer to this question, there have been many studies that showed that historic districts stabilize or increase property values. The following links have been provided by one of our commission members in answer to a question on this topic at the June 4 meeting of the Commission.
Donovan Rypkema is an economist who has focused quite a bit on culture and historic preservation. He has done some impressive economic analysis and has several books out that are easily found. In addition, here are a few links that might be of interest:
Web site: www.placeeconomics.com
He was one of several presenters last year at the Boston Preservation Alliance Forum on economics of preservation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4y5bZaaI7k
Economic Impact Studies: http://www.placeeconomics.com/category/economic-impact-studies/
A general article on preservation and economic development: http://www.placeeconomics.com/pub/placeeconomicspub1999.pdf
WHERE ARE CAMBRIDGE'S HISTORIC DISTRICTS?
Cambridge has two historic districts. An online map of the historic districts and neighborhood conservation districts is now available.
The Old Cambridge Historic District includes most of Brattle Street, the Cambridge Common and its surroundings, Berkeley and Follen Streets, and parts of Elmwood Avenue, Craigie Street, Garden Street, and Harvard Yard. The district has recently been expanded to include several properties surrounding Arsenal Square. Some of the properties in this district are important to the City's pre- revolutionary past; others illustrate aspects of Cambridge's 19th- century development.
The Fort Washington Historic District is located on Waverly Street in Cambridgeport. This small district protects the remains of a Revolutionary War earthwork fortification erected by soldiers of the Continental Army under the direction of George Washington. (Read more about Fort Washington on the FAQ page.)
DOES BEING IN A NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION DISTRICT MEAN THAT I CAN NEVER CHANGE THE APPEARANCE OF MY PROPERTY?
No. Properties in neighborhood conservation districts are not frozen in time. Neighborhood conservation district protection is designed to ensure that a neighborhood's distinctive qualities are taken into account when changes occur. Most routine and minor changes are reviewed on-the- spot by the Historical Commission staff. Many other changes are reviewed by the neighborhood conservation district commission in an advisory, non-binding capacity. Binding review in a public hearing is generally reserved for major changes, such as demolition, new construction, and major exterior alteration, that would affect neighborhood character.
WHERE ARE CAMBRIDGE'S NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION DISTRICTS?
Neighborhood Conservation Districts are comprised of groups of buildings that are architecturally and historically distinctive. There are four NCDs in Cambridge: Mid Cambridge, Half Crown-Marsh, Avon Hill, and Harvard Square. An online map of the historic districts and neighborhood conservation districts is now available.
The Mid Cambridge NCD is bordered by Prospect Street to the east, Prescott Street to the west, Kirkland Street and the Somerville city line to the north, and Massachusetts Avenue to the south.
The Avon Hill NCD, near Porter Square, is approximately bordered by Raymond Street to the west, Massachusetts Avenue to the east, Upland Road to the north, and Linnaean Street to the south.
The Half Crown-Marsh NCD is made of two areas, formerly each designated as a separate NCD, located west of Harvard Square between Brattle Street and the river, with Hilliard Street on the east and Lowell Street on the west. The consolidated district is bisected by Longfellow Park, which is located in the adjacent Old Cambridge Historic District.
The Harvard Square Conservation District is an area of mixed-use buildings in the historic center of Cambridge, and it is approximately bounded by Massachusetts Avenue and Mount Auburn, Eliot, Bennett, Story, and Church streets. It is administered by the Cambridge Historical Commission.
Districts & Historic Properties
Districts Map
Painting Historic Exteriors
Avon Hill Neighborhood Conservation District
East Cambridge NCD Study
Fort Washington Historic District
Half Crown-Marsh Neighborhood Conservation District
Harvard Square Conservation District
Mid Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District
Old Cambridge Historic District
Demolition Delay
National Register
Preservation Easements
Cambridge History
CHC blog
Ordinance & Laws
Historic Paint Colors
Brief History of Cambridge
Historic Site Markers
Little Known Facts


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text:
90 per cent of people are biased against women: New analysis on gender equality
The latest index released by the United Nations Development Programme shows that "enormous power gaps still exist between men and women".
(Photo: Unsplash/Brooke Lark)
08 Mar 2020 12:19PM (Updated: 04 Jul 2021 07:11PM)
International Women's Day (Mar 8) serves as an apt reminder that gender disparity still exists in every country – rich or poor, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
In a new Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) released by the UNDP on Mar 5, close to 90 per cent of men and women hold some sort of bias against women. The index measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in politics, work and education in 75 countries or 80 per cent of the world's population.
The GSNI revealed that about half of the world's men and women feel that men make better political leaders; over 40 per cent feel that men make better business executives; men have more right to a job when jobs are scarce; and 28 per cent think it is justified for a man to beat his wife.
Despite progress in closing gender inequalities in basic areas such as education and health, said the UNDP, "enormous power gaps still exist between men and women" in the political and corporate arenas. For example, while men and women vote at similar rates, only 24 per cent of parliamentary seats worldwide are held by women, and there are only 10 female heads of government out of a possible 193.
Less than 6 per cent of CEOs in S&P 500 companies are women. And even though women work more hours than men, this work is more likely to be unpaid care work, according to the UNDP.
While there have been improvements in some countries, in others, attitudes appear to have worsened "in recent years". "We have reached parity in primary school enrollment and reduced maternal mortality by 45 per cent since the year 1990," said Pedro Conceiçao, head of UNDP's Human Development Report Office.
"But gender gaps are still all too obvious in other areas, particularly those that challenge power relations and are most influential in actually achieving true equality."
Source: CNA/bk


The death toll in the Gaza Strip has now passed 1,200 people since Israel began bombing on July 8 and the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports Tuesday that more than 100 people were killed in the fourteen hours from overnight Monday into morning as mosques, homes, and other structures were hit during a sharp intensification of the bombardment.
In addition to homes, Gaza's main power plant was struck by Israeli shells which caused a massive explosion and a fire that sent thick plumes of black smoke into the air. Already suffering from massive power outages and a water crisis that puts the entire population at risk, the damage to the plant signals that those problems will likely worsen in the days ahead.
Earlier statements from the ministry had given the number of dead at around 57 for the morning, but after consultation with hospitals across the Strip the total was revised to more than 100 dead and hundreds more injured.
The Ministry of Health also said that as of Monday night nearly 5,000 homes had been completely destroyed, while tens of thousands more had been partially destroyed.
The United Nations, meanwhile, estimated that more than 215,000 Gazans had fled their home, or more than 10 percent of the besieged coastal enclave's total population.
Late Monday, Israeli authorities had given 400,000 Gazans evacuation orders, but with all the borders closed and the Israeli bombardment and ground invasion continuing in the northern, central, and southern Gaza Strip, the vast majority had nowhere to go except UN shelters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the military campaign against the people of Gaza will continue until all the tunnels used by Hamas are destroyed.
"We need to be prepared for a protracted campaign in Gaza," Netanyahu said on Israeli television.
Speaking about the continued attack on Gaza—which head of the UN Human Rights Council last week called could be considered a 'war crime'—President Obama's national security advisor Susan Rice on Monday again voiced the administration's support for Israel's offensive military campaign against a largely defenseless civilian population.
"Here is one thing you never have to worry about: America's support for the state of Israel," said Rice. "Hamas initiated this conflict. And Hamas has dragged it on."
[Rice] singled out the vote by the UN human rights council last week in favour of an independent inquiry into alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by Israel. Seventeen countries abstained during the vote, and only one country – the US – voted against.
Rice called the the UN inquiry "one-sided" and said it would "have no positive impact and should never have been created". "The United States stood with Israel, and said 'no'. We were the lone vote in the human rights council. Even our closest friends on the council abstained. It was 29 to one. But the one, as usual, was America. That is what we mean when we say: you are not alone."
Rice's remarks were briefly interrupted by a heckler, who later gave his name as Tighe Barry, 50, from Los Angeles. He said he had flown to Washington from California to attend the meeting and belonged to an organisation called Jewish Voices for Peace.
"The truth is, Israel is killing innocent people in Gaza," he yelled during Rice's speech, before he was quickly and forcefully wrestled out by security. "Stop the bombing, stop the killing, stop the hate."
According figures cited by the UN on Monday, more than 173,000 Gazans – nearly 10 per cent of the population – are seeking protection at facilities managed by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), but some of those shelters themselves have come under Israeli fire.
"In the name of humanity," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Monday night called for an "immediate and unconditional" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip which he said was in "critical condition."
"I repeat my call on Israel and all the parties to do vastly more to ensure the safety of these UN sites and the security of the people who have sought sanctuary there," the UN chief said.
Defense of Children International-Palestine on Monday said that despite international calls for an end to hostilities—none of which have resulted in anything more than a few hours of respite—the number of children killed in the conflict has surpassed 200.
Eleven members of the family were killed in a single strike Tuesday, their bodies now buried in two fresh graves on a sandy hilltop cemetery near their homes. The corpses — one man, eight women, a boy and a baby — were shrouded in white, in accord with Muslim custom.


text:
Birmingham Winners 2017
Outstanding Bravery Award - Anthony Mathers
A great-grandad who sent a gang of armed carjackers packing has been honoured with a Pride of Birmingham Award.
Anthony Mathers, 75, was hauled from his car by robbers who threatened him with a gun and knife in Acocks Green.
But he fought them off, and said afterwards: "I was so angry that I told one of them I'd stick his knife up his bum, although I used stronger language."
Now Anthony has won the Outstanding Bravery Award at Pride of Birmingham, in partnership with TSB.
He received his Award at a star-studded dinner hosted by TV presenter and campaigner Katie Piper, and attended by some of the region's biggest stars.
Anthony was driving his Ford S-Max under a railway bridge in November 2016 when a man blocked his way. After he stopped, another man put what is believed to have been an imitation firearm to the window.
Anthony said: "I got out and he ran off. The other one pulled out a knife and I said 'If you come near me, I will stick that knife up your a**e'."
One of the robbers pulled Anthony out of the car, and as he tried to climb back in, he was pulled out again and the robbers drove off. Even then, Anthony was not ready to give up. As the car stalled nearby, he gave chase and confronted the gang, who fled when they failed to get the car started again.
Investigating Officer Det Con Tom Lyons said: "This would have been a terrifying ordeal for anyone and I want to commend the bravery of the victim."
anthony mathers
Princes Trust Young Achiever
Lisa Case
Emergency Services Award
Midlands Air Ambulance Team
Young Fundraiser of the Year
Abbi Bennett
Teenager of Courage
Moin Younis
Special Recognition Award
Georgina Moseley
Michelle Quested
Outstanding Bravery Award
TSB Community Partner Award
Midland Langar SEVA Society
Dave Heeley
Judges Special Award
The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine & Help for Heroes
Marcia Shakespeare
Bradley Addison
Photo Credit: www.jonosymonds.com


Christmas used to be illegal!
I did not realize that Christmas used to be illegal here in Boston! How very strange it is to hear such things, but until 1681 you could be fined as much as five shillings for showing one's holiday spirit. Even now it isn't even a holiday here and people seem intent on continuing their work – although my parents will no longer be fined if they wish to mark the day in some way, thank goodness!
We do at least have a new Christmas hymn to sing at Church called Hymn on the Nativity, which has been written by a fellow Englishman, and will remind me of the carols we used to sing in Bristol..


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Research & Due Diligence
Email Keith O'BrienKeith O'Brien LinkedIn
Keith O'Brien
A seasoned consultant and researcher, Keith has worked with higher education, B2B and B2C leadership teams to solve complex strategic and operational issues. In higher education, he works on issues at the intersection of mission (access and success) and margin (net tuition revenue), with a focus on enrollment management, continuing and online education and student success. Keith helps EdTech companies enhance sales and marketing strategies targeting colleges and universities.
Previously, he worked at Discourse Analytics, an Artificial Intelligence-based EdTech supporting student enrollment and retention. Prior to that he led various teams at the Education Advisory Board (EAB), worked with companies advising businesses on best practices–Corporate Executive Board (now part of Gartner)—growth strategies—Frost & Sullivan—and talent and leadership at Spencer Stuart, the global executive search firm. A native of Ireland, he holds degrees from Trinity College Dublin, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
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Conflicts & Confidentiality


A video series as shown during Sunday worship at First Pres. There is a total of 5 videos to be shown over the next five Sundays.
Check back weekly for the next installment.
Copyright 2013 Rhemedia, LLC All rights reserved.


A guy came into the library today in what at first looked like a snuggie with the hood up. As he walked away the full effect hit me. It was a one piece outfit (romper? leisure suit?) with a zipper up the front and made of pajama material. It had large rainbow colored marijuana leaves all over it. Yikes!- he just walked in again. It has a black background and green, red and yellow leaves, about the size of the palm of your hand. I have $10 that says I will see his name in the paper sometime in the next two months.
I work in a different library now, a smaller one. This was not an easy decision for me. I hate change, but the money was considerably different with not many different responsibilities. I am in charge of adult programming including the adult reading program this summer. I was worried about learning to use a new cash register. Ha! It is a drawer with a compartmented wooden box inside for the change and a empty check box with a rock in it for the bills.
I am excited to be able to ride my bike to work come spring and I don't work evenings any more. My kids can ride their bikes here to attend Lego Club and Coder Dojo. All in all it was a good move.
A friend and I needed to get out of town, so we drove to Estes Park last night. We went to a bar and I spotted my first Hipster in the wild. We were way older than the others in the bar, but it was some good people watching.
I read the introduction and learned that the guy who wrote it had planned to write an essay, maybe a pamphlet when he set out. In case you are unfamiliar with this book it weighs in at 740 pages with barely 30 pages of endnotes and bibliography beyond that. Luckily for me it is full of pictures and little math games, and music too.
"What is it about?" I hear you ask. Godel was a mathematician towards the beginning of the last century I believe. Escher is the guy who drew all the posters you saw in dorm rooms with endless loops of stairs or a quilt turning into birds or the two hands drawing each other. Bach? "Ah, Bach," as Radar said in MASH to his woman-friend. The author, Douglas R. Hofstadter whom I will now refer to as "the guy" because I am not typing that again, wanted to show us the way music and math and art all weave into each other through the Socratic thought process. I think. It is pretty tough to explain. The guy wants us to think of things in new ways and to question everything. Everything. I gave my daughter an example, "Is one and one always two?" Of course it is. But what if two raindrops were running down a window and joined? One and one are one in that case.
After a month, I will decide if I can get through this book. I don't think I will be taking it to the beach this summer, although I probably could since the last person checked it out in 2002. They still use the little paper in the front of the book. No barcode or anything. Maybe GEB will help me with my seventh grade math homework. I have promised myself I will only read this or the book our book group is reading this month until I decide if I can handle it. My brain hasn't been required to do this kind of thinking since I was in college and it may no longer be capable of deep thought.
I pointed out to my mother that I will not likely be tested over this, so if I find myself not understanding a concept I can just keep going until I get to something that makes more sense. So far that has worked.
Have any of you read this? Can you describe it better?
When is a good time to stop by Walgreens to pick up my prescription? They were held up Wednesday for the second time in four months. (probably the same guy, but they haven't caught him) I would have been there at about that time but I was having my PE teacher do my taxes and we ran late. The dude wanted prescription drugs, although apparently not birth control pills. The pharmacist came in the library that night and was still a little shaken. The next nearest Walgreens is 90 miles away.
Now that I no longer spend my time parsing my words for fear of their results I find I get PMS. I think I was too scared to before.
I spent half an hour on the phone with Sarah's math teacher today. She keeps failing tests, but gets good grades on her homework. That is because I check it each night, which takes about an hour. Add that to the hour I spend checking Lydia's math and you now know why I am not watching Downton Abbey or Outlander. Next year we can add another hour for Thomas. Our current babysitter is good in math, which has cut down on this some.
My poor sons. They want me to read to them, or spend some kind of time with them, but it seems after supper we have math. They need another parent.
I say this, but my kids got snowed in last weekend with their dad, and my boyfriend drove five hours Monday to get them so I could go to work. And he lets me say mean things to him when I have PMS. He can't help the girls with their math, although he told me he can throw a dart with a rope on it over a haystack and tell me how many tons of hay are in the stack then balance a ration for pregnant cows. So far Saxon math has not covered this. Maybe in eighth grade.
I got five calls from Zach's first grade teacher about his behavior in January (there were only three weeks in this January) He was mostly not paying attention to the teacher and goofing off. According to 'The Birth Order Book' he is a little behind schedule in the whole goofing off thing.
If a can of beer has 12 ounces and a gallon has 128 ounces…ten and a half beers is a gallon.
Do any of you watch the Bachelor?
Not related to the Bachelor, we have a guy studying for the bar in our library. He told me he was at a conference a while ago where Sarah Koenig from Serial spoke.
I am sitting here in my bed eating crackers and goat cheese. I worked a 10 hour day and for supper I went to Jimmy John's. (You had me at Jimmy) When I asked the guy to cut my sandwich in half and wrap it separately he misunderstood and thought I asked for triple onions. The goat cheese worked. I get mine from a friend who raises goats and makes a living at selling cheese. I hate goats but I love their cheese.
Writing to public figures is on my mind lately. I wrote my state senator about some plans they have to lower child support payments for non-custodial parents across the board. They would be lowered anywhere from $40 less a month to $225 less. I think it is a done deal, but I wanted him to know that a guy who brings home $130-$150 K has kids on reduced price lunches. I am sure there are guys out there who have a hard time making child support payments. He is not one of them. An extra $200 won't change his lifestyle. Loosing it would probably rule out swimming lessons, band, tumbling, and piano for us. I am thinking if they are going to do this, perhaps they will make the changes based on current wages of the parents rather than the wages we had when the decree was issued.
Don't get me wrong. He pays every month on time, and we can certainly live fine off what we get. I just don't think it is very fair to reduce it.
A couple weeks ago my mother tried to get ahold of my brother but he was not answering texts or returning calls, so she called his wife to find he was in Greece. Yes. They needed him to go to Greece to help re-write this manual on cranes. Cranes like the ones at ports to load and unload ships, I presume. I am a little bitter. I have wanted to go to Greece since fourth grade when I did a report on Greece. Now, I have four kids who are on welfare and foreign travel seems unlikely.
My brother eats because if he doesn't he will die. There is no enjoyment in it, (which makes sense if you ever eat his wife's cooking) he eats for sustenance. He has traveled all over the world for his job (London, Singapore and Greece since Halloween) and I don't think he explores at all, just does his meeting thing and flies home. I guess he talked to Dad and he did take in some sights and gained seven pounds in two weeks. I feel a little better, at least he did some of the things I would have, although seven seems a little low for me.
I had a lovely talk with a social worker today, then a deputy sheriff. You see, last month my ex had a close call with a DUI and open container and child endangerment and who knows what-all. A state trooper pulled him over because of a phone call another driver made. He had been drinking, but had the kids cover up the cooler and hide the empties so the cop would not see them. The cop looked at four kids in the pick-up with him and let him go.
They interviewed the kids at school today. The social worker said they are going to confront him. So my ex thinks I made the first call. I didn't. He will be convinced I made the second call, which of course I did. The girls and I talked about it tonight.
They are sure the ex will scream at the kids about how awful I am and how great he is and that beer is mostly water for two-and-half hours on the way home, as he drinks beer. They are scared of him, and with some reason.
Now this is my question: how awful would it be of me to get a digital recorder to put in a backpack to record how he treats them? I would turn it over to a social worker Monday without even listening. Is that awful or just making sure the people who make decisions have the facts?