text:
FTSE 100 closed lower on the day and the[ week as traders fretted over political uncertaintry and the weak oil price.
The UK blue-chip benchmark closed down around seven points at 6,952 with resource stocks taking the brunt of the selling.
Brent crude is down 5.93% at $58.89 a barrel at the time of writing, while WTI - the US benchmark - is down 6.72% at $50.96 a barrel.
David Madden, at CMC Markets, said: "Stock markets are largely lower as political uncertainty persists, and the plunge in the oil price has hurt oil stocks.
"Dealers are still waiting for the Italian and UK situation with respect to the EU to play out. The EU summit over the weekend could shed new light on Brexit."
BP plc (LON:BP. lost 2.40% to 512.60p, while Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSA) shed 2.25% to 2,332.32p.
US stocks were seeing red at the time of writing, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off 117 points at 24,345.
As expected, US markets opened lower – possibly hungover after celebrating Thanksgiving Day.
On this side of the pond, the blue-chip index was also in the red, albeit after a mini-revival in the run-up to the US open.
The FTSE 100 was down 25 at 6,936, more than 20 points above its intra-day low.
“Oil is the key worry that could yet crack improving sentiment,” suggested Ken Odeluga at City Index, although if you were wondering what positive sentiment he was talking about, he was referring to indices on the European mainland.
“Participants in that market are beginning to require more solid evidence that Saudi Arabia is prepared to defy Washington calls not to crimp supply. All key energy futures are in the red. (Nymex Nat. Gas is 4% lower despite inclement weather across much of the U.S.) Stock markets will keep an eye in the rear-view mirror for better oil prospects as they test the floor,” Odeluga suggested.
While blue-chips in the UK look set to suffer a drab end to a dismal week, junior miner Galantas Gold Corporation (LON:GAL) shot up two-fifths after the planning consent for its Omagh gold mine in County Tyrone was confirmed.
A local resident had challenged the initial decision to approve underground work at the mine but the challeng was thrown out of court.
With US stocks set to open lower after yesterday’s Thanksgiving Day holiday, the Footsie has slipped further into the red.
The FTSE 100 was down 19 points at 6,942, with the top eight fallers all being resource stocks or, in the case of steel-maker Evraz plc (LON:EVR) – the biggest faller (down 4.6%) - a fellow traveller.
“Whether it’s a case of recovering from the previous day's celebrations or taking advantage of the deep discounts in store and online, activity in the US is likely to be more muted on the final trading day of the week. And who knows, maybe after a day of grabbing bargains, some of that Black Friday mentality may rub off investors with many stocks now trading at a deep discount themselves compared to a couple of months ago,” wondered Craig Erlam at Oanda.
“We’re not quite seeing that rub off on the markets just yet though with US futures trading in the red but we’re heading into a very interesting time of year and they may well now be primed for a so-called Santa rally as all the festive good will finds its way onto Wall Street,” he added.
Luxury items seller Burberry Group PLC (LON:BRBY) defied the trend with a little help from Kepler Chevreux, which has raised its rating to ‘hold’ from ‘reduce’.
The French broker cut its price target to 1,780p from the anagrammatic 1,870p. Burberry shares were up 3.5p at 1,822.5p.
Struggling airline outfit Flybe Group PLC (LON:FLYB) shot up 48% to 14.3p as it confirmed media speculation that Virgin Atlantic Airways is one of the parties it is in discussion with since it put up the ‘for sale’ sign.
Elsewhere among small caps, Amerisur Resources PLC (LON:AMER) soared as it completed a US$93mln farm-out agreement for four exploration blocks in the Putumayo basin, Colombia.
The oil & gas explorer said the deal would involve Occidental Andina, an affiliate of multinational US oil & gas firm Occidental Petroleum Corp (NYSE:OXY), purchasing a 50% interest in each of the blocks, and in return funding a US$93.25mln exploration and appraisal programme between 2019 and 2021.
London’s top-shares are in something of a holding pattern ahead of the open of the US markets.
Traders are also holding fire ahead of this weekend’s EU summit.
The FTSE 100 was barely changed at 6,958 while the FTSE 250 index was up 14 points at 18,544, led by Ibstock PLC (LON:IBST), up 9.5% following the sale of its Glen-Gery US brickmaking business for US$110mln as it looks to concentrate more heavily on its home UK market.
“The US$110mln booked from the sale of US-based Glen-Gery will boost the balance sheet and, in a sign that the non-core business will not be missed too much, full-year guidance is maintained despite the loss of a month’s worth of contribution from it,” observed Russ Mould at AJ Bell.
Debt-crippled support services firm Interserve PLC (LON:IRV) had more bad news for the market this morning.
The group said it would unveil its debt reduction plan next year – if it is still in business – but revealed its year-end net debt is now expected to be in the range of £625mln-£650mln – up from £614.3mln at the end of June when it guided to full-year net debt of between £575mln-£600mln.
The shares fell 6.4% to 32.75p and Liberum Capital Markets, which recommends shareholders hang on to their shares, recognised the precipitous decline in the share price by slashing its target price to 35p from 50p, despite calling the unscheduled trading update “reassuring”.
“‘Fit for Growth’ is on track to deliver £15m of savings in FY 2018 and £40m to £50m of annualised savings in FY 2020. There is anecdotal evidence that Interserve’s financial position is making it hard to win new work,” said Liberum, which said it would leave full-year earnings forecasts unchanged while increasing its forecast of net debt from £558mln to £618mln, which is an eye-watering four times projected underlying earnings (EBITDA).
Liberum’s slightly chilling verdict is “valuation is close to irrelevant given the financial risks”.
Despite the weakness of miners, the Footsie was enjoying a spell in positive territory mid-morning.
The FTSE 100 index was 22 points higher at 6,982, rising in line with other European indices.
“Markets have paused for breath in parts of the world after an adventurous few weeks. The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 barely moved on Friday morning, mirroring a similarly static performance across mainland Europe,” said Russ Mould, the investment director at AJ Bell.
“It was a different story in Asia where China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 2.5% as investors sounded caution ahead of next week’s G20 summit. US President Donald Trump will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the event for crucial talks on trade. The decline in the market on Friday implies that investors are nervous that the two leaders won’t come to an amicable agreement,” Mould asserted.
Resource stocks were generally not participating in the Footsie’s advance, especially Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES), which was down 26p at 776.4p after Morgan Stanley slashed its target price to 715p from 1,100p and moved to ‘underweight’ from ‘equal weight’.
BAE Systems PLC (LON:BA.), down 0.4% at 505p, held up reasonably well under a pincer attack from brokers SocGen and JP Morgan.
The former lopped a quid off its 720p price target and the latter chopped its price target to 625p from 695p.
The Italian wobbles over, the FTE 100 reclaimed some of the ground lost Thursday, moving 23 points higher to 6,983.72.
But tensions between the EU and its latest problem child could flare up at any time, analysts warned.
“Having set into motion the process of ‘excessive deficit procedure’ towards Italy the EU now runs the risk of its bark being worse than its bite if it now doesn’t follow through on its threats to sanction the Italian government for serious noncompliance,” said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.
The ‘bottom fishers’ came up to scoop up stock in Royal Mail (LON:RMG), which rose 1.7% early on.
Last week’s figures did little to shore up confidence in the shares, which have tumbled 40% in the last six months.
Dropping down a division, Ibstock’s (LON:IBST) shares advanced 9% after it unveiled plans to offload its US business.
An upgrade to ‘overweight’ by Barclays Capital lifted shares in insurer Hastings (LON:HSTG) 4.6%.
Among the small-caps, beleaguered airline FlyBe (LON:FLYB) was flying 20% higher amid reports Virgin Atlantic may be ready to ride to its rescue.
Directa Plus PLC (LON:DCTA) has inked a supply contract to provide its Grafysorber technology and oil absorption barriers to GSP Group, a Romanian oil & gas services firm.
Gaming Realms PLC (LON:GMR) has clinched a 3-year revenue share agreement with Endemol Shine Gaming for the distribution of Deal or No Deal Slingo.
Republic of Georgia-focused oil and gas producer Block Energy PLC (LON:BLOE) ended its financial year with a “robust cash position”.
Canada-based and London-listed Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd (LON:FOG CVE:FO) closed its third quarter with cash of US$7.5mln and no debt. The business has shale interests in Australia at Beetaloo and in South Africa’s Karoo Basin.
Capital Drilling Limited (LON:CAPD), a leading drilling solutions company focused on the African markets, announced the appointment of Peel Hunt as its joint broker with immediate effect.
Oracle Power PLC (LON:ORCP) confirmed on Thursday that, as advised in its release dated 20 September 2018, Anthony Scutt, who was a director of the Company up to the company's Annual General Meeting, was appointed as a consultant to the group with effect from 1 August 2018 for a fee of £2,000 per month.
W Resources PLC (LON:WRES), the tungsten, copper and gold mining company with assets in Spain and Portugal, has said its chairman, Michael Masterman, will be presenting at a forthcoming investor evening hosted by Turner Pope Investments on Monday 10 December 2018, to be held in London, W1 and which will commence at 5pm.
Alba Mineral Resources PLC (LON:ALBA), the diversified mineral exploration and development company, announced that it will be holding a shareholder update meeting and presentation followed by a Q&A session on 10 December 2018, at 6:30pm at 1 America Square conference centre, 17 Crosswall Street, London EC3N 2LB.
Asiamet Resources Limited (LON:ARS) said it will be exhibiting at the Mines and Money Conference in London from Monday 26 November till Thursday 29 November, hosted at the Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 0QH. The group said its management will be available to speak with investors at its stand, C20, throughout the event and will also deliver a presentation at 11:30am on Monday 26 November at the Mines and Money Premier Mining Spotlight Theatre.
With no US market performance for guidance, UK stocks were expected to drift lower at the outset.
Having tumbled 77 points on Thursday to close at 6,973, the FTSE 100 was tipped to open its account six or seven points lower on Friday.
Investors may well be keeping their powder dry ahead of this weekend’s EU summit meeting and next week’s G20 pow wow.
Asian markets were mixed this morning. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 139 at 21,646 but in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was 160 points lower at 25,856.
US markets were closed yesterday for Thanksgiving Day and if reports are to be believed, the whole of the USA will spend today online doing some shopping.
Naturally, the phenomenon of Black Friday has crossed the pond, usurping Boxing Day from its rightful occasion when the British public go potty buying things that are ostensibly cheap.
There has been much debate in recent weeks about how good the deals actually are on Black Friday, but we Brits are expected to part with £2.4bn, although that’s slightly less than what we spent last year.
Despite the scepticism, it signals the unofficial start of the Christmas trading period, a make or break time for the nation’s retailers.
It is also a fairly crucial time for the pubs, so it is appropriate that Fuller Smith & Turner PLC (LON:FSTA) is announcing its interims today.
The general trend for pubs groups over the summer period has been for “wet” sales – booze, in other words – to have been good, thanks to the hot weather and the World Cup, while food sales have been weak, for the same reasons.
The £300mln company is much more drinks-focused which means it should have received a big boost from the football and heatwave.
That said, pubs are still facing rising wage costs, higher business rates and increased food and drink costs, while intense competition is keeping prices low.
Investors will want to see how that is affecting margins, and some guidance on cost inflation for the year ahead would be handy, as well.
Nissan’s board votes to jettison chairman Carlos Ghosn, after he was arrested on suspicion of unlawfully understating his own pay in financial statements.
Theresa May presented the draft agreement on a future relationship with Europe yesterday to a largely hostile Commons, warning that the public wanted Brexit “settled”.
The electricals retailer Argos, which is owned by J Sainsbury, said that it had opened 100 collection points, 14 mini outlets inside Sainsbury’s shops and a £2.5 million centre in Croydon to win sales on Black Friday.
The spread betting group CMC Markets was forced to slash its dividend after first-half profits plunged on the back of a regulatory crackdown.
Financial regulators have warned that they are prepared to see some rent-to-own firms go bust after they launched a crackdown on the industry.
The Financial Reporting Council said it was taking KPMG to a tribunal over alleged misconduct in the restructuring of Silentnight, the beds maker.
Centrica, the owner of British Gas, revealed it was losing more than 90,000 customers a month and faced a £70 million hit from the forthcoming price cap, plunging its shares to a near 15-year low.
SFM UK Management, the British hedge fund run by George Soros, has made a £10 million stock market bet against retailer WH Smith.
Majestic Wine is to stockpile more than 1 million extra bottles of wine from France, Spain and Italy as part of its contingency plan in case of a no-Brexit deal.
Nationwide's boss Joe Garner has warned that the availability of homes in the property market is "pretty much at an all time low" and is creating pent-up demand.
Mothercare suffered a crash in sales due to negative publicity surrounding its financial health, the company has said, adding shoppers were reluctant to buy products from a retailer that appeared to be teetering on the brink.
Jaguar Land Rover has unveiled an updated version of its Range Rover Evoque that will be built in Britain, in what the company said was a demonstration of its "commitment" to UK manufacturing.
Retail tycoon Mike Ashley, who came under criticism for closing stores after buying collapsed firms, demanded an audience with MPs as he slammed politicians and landlords for not doing enough to prop up the embattled High Street.


text: This jumpsuit was a perfect fit and it felt very good on my body. The quality of the product was good as well. I recommend this outfit which I got so many compliments on it.

industry_corpus2: Others


text:
The UK government has announced that it ordered a drone strike in Syria without Parliamentary approval. The strike killed two British citizens.
Make no mistake – what we are seeing is the failed US model of secret strikes being copied wholesale by the British government. Ministers repeatedly promised Parliament and the public that there would be no military operations in Syria without Parliamentary approval. The fact that David Cameron has bypassed Parliament to commit these covert strikes is deeply worrying – as is his refusal to share what legal advice he was given.
This also comes at a time when numerous American officials have said their own global drone killing policy has failed.
As US strikes in Yemen and Pakistan have shown, this level of secrecy around drone killing is impractical and untenable – not least because mistakes are easily made, and can have devastating human consequences.
The CIA killer drones programme is the death penalty without trial, and the new face of US and UK counter-terrorism policy.
Reprieve opposes the illegitimate off-battlefield use of weaponised drones anywhere in the world. This programme has already killed more than 4,000 people – most of whom remain nameless, even to the Congressional Committees tasked with overseeing the policy.
We are assisting survivors and victims’ families in their fight for legal accountability, transparency and justice.

industry_corpus2: Politics & Administration


text: Are you navigating all of the five stages of grief? The denial, the bargaining, the anger, the depression, the acceptance and at times all crashing down at the same time? Welcome to our new normal. But now what? During this episode, I hope to share my own experiences from the depths of pain, sadness, and uncontrollable crying to gratitude. It is a journey, it is a process. Just like life.

industry_corpus2: Health & Medicine


text: Elbow designed to change direction of water flow by 90 degrees. Made from Black PVC, fits Schedule 40 Pipe. Slip x Slip connection.

industry_corpus2: Water Resources & Marine


text:
The Leftists running the Durham City Council are really out-doing themselves recently between their rampant anti-semitism and assault on Free Speech.
And Mayor-Pro Tem Jillian Johnson is leading the charge.
For starters, the Durham City Council apparently had issues with Jewish people.
In June, members of the Durham City Council decided that their police officers should not accept the offer of training with/from anyone from the Israeli Defense Forces or the Israel Police.
The Durham City Council members, led by radical Jillian Johnson, banned such training and any future exchanges between the Durham Police and Israel.
For those paying attention, Johnson spearheading anti-cop and anti-Israel activities is not a shock. She is, after all, a Black Lives Matter organizer.
With this action, Durham’s council members have the ugly distinction of being the first city council in the nation to do so.
The Durham Council’s decision was also influenced by one of the most vocal anti-Israel groups which masquerade as a pro-Jewish organization called Jewish Voice For Peace (JVP) and their offshoot, Demilitarize from Durham2Palestine. Both are Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions or “BDS” organizations and JVP’s BDS allies also piled on.
JVP was very happy the council went their way and employed the same slogan (#DoItLikeDurham) used to urge more property destruction of statues as was used by the group Communists who destroyed a statue in Durham last year.
I highly recommend reading this three-part series by Peter Reitzes which chronicles the entire affair.
Then there’s Durham City Council’s Free Speech problem. Apparently, destroying public property and seemingly attempting to incite a riot in Durham are considered approved speech by this council.
Apparently, @ProTemJillianJ issued a lengthy Facebook post wherein she simultaneously says she believes in free speech and yet some speech should not have a platform.
There is quite a bit more in the above series of tweets. Go read the whole thread.
Someone like Dr. Jordan Peterson, who does not subscribe to the realm of virtue signaling or political correctness, is not being accorded the same consideration. In short, the Durham City Council is trying to de-platform Peterson.
For Durham City Councilwoman Johnson, Peterson, for lack of a better summary, is engaging in wrong-think. This is not shocking given her long radical history and what a raging far-Left Socialist she is.
By the way, as if having her as a City Council member isn’t bad enough, Johnson is currently the Mayor-Pro Tem of Durham.
It also appears she’s wiped her @Jillian4Council Twitter account. That’s a violation of public records laws, I believe.
Johnson posted a lengthy message to Facebook condemning Peterson and the Durham Performing Arts Center for “inviting” him to use their venue for his upcoming event. The message was signed by all seven members and a full copy is available at the bottom of this article.
The message ends with a call for his event to be ‘rejected’ which means this is a call for a protest. This message Johnson and the other members approved and then circulated on social media is a fine illustration of just how off the rails this council is.
The irony here is that the Durham City Council is engaging in the very behavior Peterson rejects and often deconstructs with surgical precision. In fact, he surgically deconstructed their message.
Dr. Peterson begins first by correcting Johnson and the council on the lie they told about the event itself.
“The lie? The Durham Performing Arts Center did not invite me. I rented the theater,” wrote Peterson.
After clearing up the fact the Durham Council is lying, he then sets about dismantling the key passages that jam-packed with virtue signaling and blanket assumptions.
His closing paragraph was the best part, though.
Everything that is reprehensible about the radical and ideologically-possessed left – all the moral self-righteousness, the platitudes, the clichés, the mindless celebration of diversity for the sake of the demonstration of tolerance, the naivete, and the appalling malevolence of casual denunciation – is on painful display in this missive. Exposure to such a piece of writing left me with a strong desire for a hot shower accompanied by plenty of soap and a scrub brush.
We recently learned from coverage in the Indyweek that the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) has invited Jordan Peterson to speak in the venue this September. Though the DPAC is owned by the City of Durham, the theater’s management companies, Nederlander & PFM, are entirely responsible for the choice of shows and performers who appear at the venue. We would like to be clear that we respect Mr. Peterson’s right to hold his opinions and to freely state his opinions without government interference. However, we wish to emphasize that a person’s right to free speech does not include the right to a platform or an audience. As many in our community have been disturbed and angered by Mr. Peterson’s racist, misogynist, and transphobic views, we would like to use this opportunity to reiterate our commitments and values to all of you as your elected representatives.
We believe that Durham is a place for all of us – black, white, Asian, Latinx, indigenous, and mixed-race, trans and cis, gay and lesbian, queer, and straight, disabled and able-bodied, young and elderly, women, men, and non-binary, native and immigrant, secular and people of faith. Those who seek to exclude or deny the humanity of others will find no comfort here.
We believe that everyone in our city should have the opportunity to thrive in an equitable and inclusive community. We understand that this opportunity has been intentionally and unjustly denied to many of our residents on the basis of race, class, gender, and other aspects of their identities. We are committed to taking action to remedy these injustices.
We honor single parents, non-nuclear families, gay, lesbian, and queer families, and chosen families who are building lives full of love and support for each other and for the children in our community. We believe that all types of families raise healthy children who are prepared to succeed and make a positive contribution to the world.
We believe that men and women are equally competent leaders and thinkers and that women should be in leadership roles in our community. We believe that violence against women is horrific and unacceptable under any circumstances. Women do not owe anyone access to or any level of control over their bodies or sexuality. We honor trans and non-binary residents and believe that respecting each other requires a commitment to using the names and pronouns that each of us identifies with. We will do all that we can to ensure that trans and non-binary people feel safe and respected in our community.
We invite the Durham community to recommit ourselves to these values as a city and a community and to reject and resist bigotry wherever we encounter it.
This entry was posted in LL1885, Outrage Industry, POLITICS NC, Poltical Correctness, Shutuppery, THE LEFT and tagged Dr. Jordan Peterson, Durham City Council, Jillian Johnson. Bookmark the permalink.
The Durham City Council is an embarrassment to most educated North Carolinians.
Nice overview and analysis. And, yup, watch out for ideologues.
These two sentences, right next to each other, are stunning in their obvious contradiction and, frankly, lack of grasp on reality. “We would like to be clear that we respect Mr. Peterson’s right to hold his opinions and to freely state his opinions without government interference. However, we wish to emphasize that a person’s right to free speech does not include the right to a platform or an audience.” We are the government and acknowledge your right to speak without us interfering, but we are going to interfere and thus deny you that right. They also talk about not being entitled to an audience. Are they supplying the audience and now wish to withdraw it? Are they planning to deny the paying members of that audience the right to the free market, to enter into contracts for the exchange of money for services? What about Mr Peterson’s contractual rights to the venue he paid for? The virtue semaphore of their missive would wear out any navy signalman.


text:
This past weekend was one of the most exhausting, yet fulfilling weekends I've had in a while, as I attended Betty Liu's food stories workshop at Dirt Road Farm in Weston Connecticut. I'm planning to do a recap on the blog once I have a chance to look through my hundreds (!) of photos so I'll save most of my thoughts for that, but it truly pushed me out of my comfort zone with photography. I enjoy food blogging so much, but sometimes I feel like it's stagnant - I'm constantly taking photos in the same corner of my apartment, with the same props, plates, etc. Sometimes you just need to get a new perspective to change things up a bit. I'm so glad I attended the workshop!
It was nice to spend some time with my family when I was home over the weekend as well, even though my time was limited because I was up early each day for the workshop and home fairly late. Recently, I've enjoyed getting out of the city on occasion - it gives me some room to breathe! Tomorrow night I'm off to my third pottery class where (hopefully) I will not mess something up again. Fingers crossed!
I've seen Mexican Sour Gherkins at the farmers markets over the past couple of weeks and wasn't sure what to make of them. They looked like tiny baby watermelons - so cute! I decided to pick up a carton and when I bit into one they were sour and kind of like a cucumber with a very thick skin. Immediately I knew I wanted to make them into a salsa because the hot and salty flavors would complement them perfect. Alas, this Mexican Sour Gherkin Salsa is born!
Mix all ingredients together and squeeze lime juice over everything. Season with salt and pepper according to taste. If you don't like it too spicy, use half of the jalapeno or less.
Serve with chips, baby bell peppers, or other veggies!

industry_corpus2: Agriculture & Fisheries


text:
One of the best deals in college savings is also one of the least-used. You could be missing out on increased returns and reduced risk.
Today's Stocks & Topics: Buying Strategies, BGS - B&G Foods Inc., VGHAX - Vanguard Health Care Fund, Irrevocable Trust, GLW - Corning Inc., MMM - 3M Co., Trade Deficit, MAA - Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc., International Investments, IBM - International Business Machines Corp., SSYS - Stratasys Ltd., Mortgage Rates.

industry_corpus2: Finance & Economics


text:
What does the New Window VPS Have to Offer ?
We monitor each server 24x7 with server firewall and ready to mitigate any DDOS attack with multi-gigabyte attack.
VPS comes Easier server management with our in-house panel, to manage your website and associated services.
Our web application accelerator, powered by Cloud Technology for higher performance, ensures the maximum performance of your website!
Multi-Channel Support including WhatsApp available for Sales, Billing during business hours Monday - Friday and 24x7 for Tech Support.
What is a Window VPS?
Windows VPS hosting is a virtual private server hosting with Microsoft Windows as an operating system.

industry_corpus2: Computing & Telecommunications


text:
November 8th is the 322nd day in the Gregorian calendar. On this day the right ear of John Paul Getty III was delivered to a newspaper along with a ransome note, leading his father to pay a $2.9 million ransom; HBO made its first broadcast with the movie Sometimes a Great Nation, and Franklin D. Roosevelt launched the Civil Works Administration to create jobs during the Great Depression. Famous November 8th birthdays include journalist David Muir and chef Gordon Ramsey. Today is National Cappuccino Day.
We have 2 holidays listed for November 8.

industry_corpus2: Film & Entertainment


text:
where δ is related to the refractory period, x R is the reversal potential, λ controls the burst sizes, I t is an external current and K and T are gain parameters for neuron self-interactions. The hyperbolic tangent is biologically plausible, since it is a sigmoidal function that saturates at large absolute inputs.
This model exhibits a rich repertoire of dynamical behaviors, especially those of excitable neurons: bursting, fast and regular spiking, spikes with plateau, type I and II excitability, chaotic firing, among others [1–4]. When associated in networks, they exhibit synchronization, power law avalanches, criticality, etc. [4, 5].
However, hyperbolic tangent is a computationally expensive sigmoidal function. Considering the need of a good trade-off between computational efficiency and biological relevance [6–8], we then propose the use of the logistic function f u = u / 1 + u , which displays a similar asymptotic behavior and is computationally faster. We call it the KTz logistic model. A similar model has been recently used to study the unlearning hypothesis in REM sleep .
We determine the complete phase diagram of the KTz logistic model with details for z t = δ = λ = 0 . This phase diagram is similar to the hyperbolic tangent KTz under the same conditions , although it is more analytically tractable. We also determine the phase diagram of the logistic KTz model with δ = λ = 0 and z t ≠ 0 and compare with the hyperbolic tangent KTz [1, 4].
The myriad of dynamical behaviors of the logistic KTz model ( δ ≠ 0 and λ ≠ 0 ) and its T versus x R phase diagram are also described and compared with those of the hyperbolic tangent KTz [1–4], showing the regions of cardiac like behavior, bursting, fast and slow spiking and fixed point. A detailed analysis of the order of the transitions between these regimes is also made.
The preliminary results of networks of logistic KTz models connected by map chemical synapses [2, 4, 5] are displayed and compared with those of hyperbolic KTz model. Finally, we make qualitative and quantitative comparisons between computational efficiency of the hyperbolic tangent and the logistic KTz models, for many different behaviors of the studied neurons.
RVS, JJG and MGS acknowledge financial support from Brazilian agency CNPq.

industry_corpus2: Technology & Research


text:
Great skin starts with feeling good.
Every concern, every skin, every age, taken care of.
The Age Defying Trio enhances your skin’s radiance for renewed, refreshed and rejuvenated skin. Wake up to youthful skin day after day.
1. Open up the pores using the Hot Mode (Hot and Cool Facial Bar).
2. Purify and cleanse your skin (Anti Ageing Facial Cleansing Brush).
3. Clear clogged pores and remove impurities (Deep Pore Suction Cleanser).
4. Firm up the skin and close the pores using the Cool mode (Hot and Cool Facial Bar).

industry_corpus2: Biopharmaceuticals


text:
Newcomer of the Year: Nick Faust, Long Beach St.
G – Nick Faust, Senior, Long Beach St.
F – Roschon Prince, R-Sophomore, Long Beach St.
Reserves: Ioannis Dimakopoulos, 7‘2, Jr.; Aaron Wright, 6‘3, Sr.; Dominique Dunning, 6‘4, Sr.; Mike Best, 6’10, Sr.; Justin Wertner, 6‘5, Fr.; Max Hazzard, 5’11, Fr.
There’s a lot to love about this team. First and foremost, the mascot – the Anteater is a unique animal, and with the hilarious size that Irvine has, it does tend to make opponents look like ants. And although the team’s big men get the headlines, its true strength lies in the backcourt, where they return a four-headed monster that offers a nice combination of passing, shooting, and perimeter defense.
That perimeter attack is led by junior guard Luke Nelson, a gritty competitor who saw the team go 2-4 in his absence last year (with one win being over a non-D1 school). Although he was kind of an atrocious shooter from deep (29%), his fire and passing was missed greatly when he sat. If he can raise his shooting percentages while cutting down turnovers (no easy task), he could be a player of the year candidate. Two smaller guards will play a lot alongside the 6‘3 Nelson: 6‘1 senior Alex Young, a strong secondary ball-handler who doubled as the team’s most consistent perimeter defender, and 5’10 junior Jaron Martin, a knockdown shooter (48% from 3, 8th in the country) who predictably struggles when he takes it inside the arc. Young is a pest and could see a slightly bigger role this year next to Nelson, while Martin should find himself open for a bevy of threes, with the team’s hope being that he can maintain his stratospheric conversion rate. Finally, there is defensive specialist Aaron Wright off the bench, a senior uses his quickness and strength to get up inside of opposing ball-handlers and generally make their days miserable.
Although the Anteater bring a ton back outside, gunner Travis Souza does depart. His niche of standing and shooting (139 threes attempted vs just 23 twos) should be replaceable, however. Irvine brings in probably the strongest recruiting class in the conference, led by forward Brandon Smith and guard Justin Wertner. If coach Russell Turner can rein in Wertner’s shot selection, his catch-and-shoot ability could slide in perfectly to replace Souza.
Smith will play more of a role up front, despite his thin frame. Versatile forward Will Davis (the team’s MVP) departs, and he leaves a large hole alongside the team’s monstrous centers. Smith and senior Mike Best bring completely different games (Smith is a thin tweener who likes to slash, Best is a 6’10 shot-blocker who much prefers the paint), but both will probably get some minutes at the 4. To me, Smith is a better fit, due mostly to the absurd rim protectors he has behind him. Seven-foot-six (yes, 7‘6) Mamadou Ndiaye owns the paint, posting very good rebound and block rates along with 64% shooting. He has continued to get in better shape and was playing about 24 minutes per game at the end of the year despite foul issues. His backup is 7‘2 relative pipsqueak Ioannis Dimakopoulos, another good shot-blocker who managed to hit 6 threes and rebound pretty poorly for a man his size. The combination of those two should help the Anteaters own the paint in most games.
The combination between the colossal frontcourt and the experienced, potent backcourt has Irvine eyeing a second straight NCAA tournament bid, and I’m inclined to agree with them. Nelson’s progression into a semi-efficient lead-guard (not just volume production) will be the key, along with Ndiaye’s health.
Reserves: Eric Rwahwire, 6‘5, Fr.; DJ Sylvester, 6‘3, Fr.; Menno Dijkstra, 7‘0, Fr.; Steven Jones, 6‘0, Sr.
Riverside has the best returning duo in the conference, with two stud seniors in forward and player of the year candidate Taylor Johns along with guard Jaylen Bland. After a fairly disappointing finish at 7-9 in the conference last year, the rest of the conference’s personnel losses along with the strength of these two returnees should allow the Highlanders to compete for the Big West’s NCAA bid this year.
Johns is a do-it-all monster, leading the team in points, rebounds, and blocks while also averaging 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He was not, however, very efficient, with a questionable turnover rate and blah shooting percentages (47/24/64) serving to reduce his Ortg to 93.2. With the amount of possessions he uses (4th-most in the conference last year), improvement in that department would go a long way towards boosting the team’s miserable 298th-ranked offense.
Another huge part of that is Bland, who led the conference in % of minutes played last year while exhibiting a strong game as a perimeter gunner and occasional driver. He took more threes (234) than twos and free throws combined (231), which should give you an idea of his game. He doesn’t create much for others off the bounce, but the gravity he holds as a constant outside threat definitely gives Johns and others space on the offensive end.
Outside of these two stars, though, the roster is iffy and untested. They lose the other four players in their backcourt rotation (I don’t think we’ll see Bland’s minutes go down at all...), meaning the team’s newcomers will need to fill some major roles. Junior college point guard Malik Thames may start right away, though senior Steven Jones (who missed 18 games with injury last year) will also be given a crack at it. With the team’s thin backcourt rotation, the two will also probably play together at times with Bland. Freshmen Eric Rwahwire and DJ Sylvester will play almost by necessity.
The team has a little more depth in the frontcourt, led by sophomores Alex Larsson and Robert Boezeman. Larsson was an elite offensive rebounder and solid shot-blocker as a freshman, and his offensive game should improve in his second campaign. Bozeman won’t bring much, but will be able to fill in as a third big behind Larsson and Johns.
The Highlanders were a solid defensive team last year, but the biggest issue that needs correcting is the 39.7% 3-point percentage that they allowed last year. Some of that should be helped by simple opponent regression, but teams shot 38.2% (324th) against Riverside in 2013-14, so it seems coach Dennis Cutts’s defensive scheme might need to be tinkered with.
Overall, Riverside has the big guns to push the rest of the conference, but questions in the role players will probably hold them back slightly.
Reserves: Josh Martin, 6‘8, R-So.; Luke Meikle, 6‘9, R-So.; Jaylen Shead, 6‘0, Fr.; Serigne Athj, 6‘3, Fr.; Aleks Abrams, 6‘8, So.
I’m sorely tempted to pick the Mustangs to win the conference – they bring a very strong starting 5 back, and two solid Division I transfers give the team even more potential. But coach Joe Callero’s dreadfully slow offenses have never finished better than 12-6 in his 6 years in the conference, and despite their roster consistency, I’m not sure they have the firepower to actually win the league.
As mentioned, Poly plays at a snail’s pace (adjusted tempo the last 5 years: 342, 340, 345, 347, 347), which lends itself to a certain type of team. As expected by their pace, the Mustangs don’t turn the ball over (1st in opposing defenses‘ steal rate) and don’t force many turnovers of their own (276th in the country). That rate actually picked up as the Big West season wore on; there was a point last year where they were 1st in turnover rate (finished 5th) and 350th in forcing turnovers. Coach Callero prefers a plodding, halfcourt game, limiting opponent possessions and playing disciplined defense.
The team returns a roster accustomed to this style. Ridge Shipley handled the ball a fair amount last year and will take over primary point guard duties with the graduation of Maliik Love, and while Shipley is not super dynamic, he is steady and can actually knock down some threes. Joining him in the backcourt will be shooter Reese Morgan, who is the classic no-turnover, efficient, perimeter gunner that a lot of teams tend to have in the college game. Slashing senior David Nwaba also joins the backcourt, though his above average rebound and block rates allow him to swing into the frontcourt when needed. Poly will need freshmen Jaylen Shead and Serigne Athj to provide some depth, although on a team that plays this slow, depth becomes way less of an issue than for other, more uptempo squads.
The Mustangs might have the league’s best frontcourt (at the very least, it’s certainly the deepest). Starters Joel Awich and Brian Bennett both averaged better than 6 rebounds a game last year, actually an impressive feat with a depressed amount of possessions. Bennett was more effective on the offensive end, leading the team in scoring and field goal percentage, while Awich was the defensive specialist, flashing a solid 5.3% block rate. To back them up, sophomore Aleks Abrams returns, and he put up by far the best offensive rebound rate on the team in very limited minutes (Callero heavily stresses transition defense over crashing the glass). The biggest impact newcomers should be 6‘8 Minnesota transfer Josh Martin and 6‘9 Gonzaga transfer Luke Meikle. Martin was a high school monster in Washington and will be eligible in December after the first semester closes. Meikle, another Washington native, snuck into 15 games for an elite Zags team 2 years ago, and should give the team solid depth behind Nwaba and Bennett.
For Poly to be great, the team will need to execute extremely well, as the low possession count always gives them a limited margin for error. For this reason, roster continuity may be more important for this team than for most others, and bringing back 5 guys that played at least 50% of the team’s minutes give them a chance to push ahead in the standings. I think they will be near the top, with an outside chance of using their experience to win a conference title and earn an NCAA tournament bid.
Reserves: Gabe Levin, 6’7, R-So.; Lorne Currie, 6‘3, Fr.; Justin Bibbins, 5‘8, So.; Deontae North, 6‘4, So.; Jack Williams, 6‘8, So.; Noah Blackwell, 6‘1, Fr.; LaRond Williams, 6‘7, Fr.
I will always have a soft spot for THE BEACH, partially because of their awesome name and partially because of Dan Monson’s insane schedule. Due to a goofy clause in his contract, he’s incentivized to schedule “pay for play” games – aka a hellish nonconference slate. This year, he’s really outdone himself, with the schedule consisting of home games vs. BYU, San Diego St., and New Mexico St., away tilts at Oklahoma St., Colorado St., UCLA, Pepperdine, Oregon, Arizona, and Duke, and the Charleston Classic – which features an opener against Seton Hall and possible games against Virginia, Ole Miss, and/or Oklahoma St. again. Dear god.
The 49ers won’t be helped by losing their top 3 scorers (as well as another defensive specialist starter), but they have some talent to lean on, both returning and incoming. The most important players will probably be the newcomers, led by Maryland transfer Nick Faust and USC transfer Roschon Prince. Both will likely step in as starters right away, with Faust in particular bringing a high-level game from the ACC (he never played in the Big Ten) to the Big West. Along with returning leading scorer Branford Jones, he should be the focal point of the Beach offense. Prince is a long and athletic forward; he brings a degree of athleticism from the Pac 12 that is uncommon at this level. Beach also brings in a solid recruiting class, led by shooting guard Lorne Currie and point guard Noah Blackwell. Currie will probably provide depth to begin the year, but he could force his way into the lineup with his skill level if he can show consistent effort. Blackwell could be a key due to the painful inefficiency of point guard Justin Bibbins (70 Ortg). If he shows the ability to distribute without too many turnovers, Blackwell will play a ton. Up front, Beach is gonna be small – sophomore Temidayo Yussuf will play a lot, a wide bodied post man, as will Jack Williams, who is thinner and brings some perimeter shooting to the table. Loyola Marymount transfer Gabe Levin may start after playing a ton of minutes at LMU as a freshman; he was a decent shot-blocker and solid defensive rebounder in his time there.
Beach has a lot of good perimeter players to feed between Faust, Travis Hammonds, Jones, Currie, and Blackwell, and attacking the rim should be a team strength. Having the shooting to complement that slashing will be a minor issue – Faust, Jones, Hammonds, and Williams can all shoot a little (remains to be seen what the freshmen can bring), but no one is a true deep threat. Levin and Prince should help amp up the team’s defensive rebounding and interior defense, a major weakness last year, but last year’s inefficient offense was the biggest road block to success. The lack of a true point guard (unless Bibbins or Blackwell is better than expected) will likely hamper the team this year as well, as will a lack of spacing. Monson will have this team tried and tested after the insane nonconference slate, though, and I would guess they still finish in the conference’s top half.
Reserves: Lionheart Leslie, 5’10, Jr.; Sheldon Blackwell, 6‘5, Jr.; Sam Williams, 6‘7, Jr.; Jamar Akoh, 6‘7, So.; Temjae Singleton, 6‘7, Sr.; Khalil Ahmad, 6‘4, Fr.
Fullerton is a highly intriguing team to me this year. First off, there’s no way around it – they were atrocious last year. They went 1-15 in the conference, with the second-worst offense and worst defense efficiency-wise, with defensive rebounding being basically the only category in which they excelled. They lose four starters. So why would they jump up to the middle of the standings? Sometimes, roster turnover can be a good thing.
The team’s backcourt should be one of the best in the league, if not the best. Lanerryl Johnson returns after averaging 12.4ppg and putting up the best Ortg on the team at 105.5; he shot effectively from beyond the arc and was solid in both his assist and turnover rates. Along with Johnson, Fullerton probably has 2 of the best 3 newcomers in the league with Air Force transfer Tre‘ Coggins and Pepperdine transfer Malcolm Brooks. Coggins was Air Force’s best player in 2013-14, averaging 16.0ppg, 2.7rpg, and 2.6apg while using a lot of possessions and maintaining a shred of efficiency; he will immediately take over as the primary ball-handler and gives Fullerton a more dynamic threat with the ball in his hands than anyone they had last year. Brooks was a deadeye gunner for the Waves in 13-14, shooting 40% from 3 on 107 attempts on his way to an impressive 116.1 Ortg. Fullerton’s best recruit is also a guard, 6‘4 California native Khalil Ahmad. Ahmad will provide depth and more scoring, though hopefully he will be smart enough to defer to his talented teammates when necessary. With Brooks and Johnson gunning at strong rates from the wings and Coggins scoring at a high volume and drawing defenses, the Titans perimeter will be incredibly difficult to stop. The team also has junior college point guard Lionheart Leslie coming aboard, who should allow Coggins to play off the ball some and set up the other perimeter weapons.
The key, then, will be finding some interior consistency and defensive strength to shore up the sieve that they trotted out last year. The most likely candidates to start are 6‘9 junior Joe Boyd and 6’10 senior Kennedy Esume – both are pretty incompetent offensively, but with the strength of the backcourt, they won’t need to do much more than finish layups/dunks and chase down offensive rebounds. Their value will show most on the defensive end – both were very good defensive rebounders (Boyd especially), and Esume offers some hope as a rim protector. They have some other forwards to add depth (JuCo forward Sam Williams is the most intriguing option, compared to some blah holdovers), but the team’s defensive progress will likely depend on the two big starters and the newcomers in the backcourt.
After last year’s disaster, a leap seems unlikely, but the talented newcomers in the backcourt give reason for a lot of optimism. I’m buying low.
Reserves: Mike Thomas, 6‘7, Jr.; Quincy Smith, 6‘1, Sr.; Niko Folipovich, 6‘0, So.; Bryce Canda, 6‘3, Jr.; Dyrbe Enos, 5’10, Jr.
Hawaii’s status as Mizzou West took a major blow after Negus Webster-Chan decided to pursue a pro career (for his sake, hopefully in something other than basketball). But thankfully, 6’11 former Tiger Stefan Jankovic is still around to carry the torch (not to be confused with fellow 6’11 junior Stefan Jovanovic – how on earth does that happen on one team?). Webster-Chan and Garrett Nevels are the team’s two losses, returning a couple decent guards in sophomore Isaac Fleming and Roderick Bobbitt along with Jovanovic/Jankovic and bigger wing Aaron Valdes. Solid bench pieces Mike Thomas and Quincy Smith also return for a middle of the pack Big West team; Hawaii has a decent squad back, but I’m not sold on them rising up the standings.
The Rainbow Warriors played at a breakneck speed last year (16th in the nation in adjusted tempo), which helped the force a ton of turnovers (12th in the country). A big part of these turnovers are all in the team’s returning perimeter players: Bobbitt, Smith, Valdes, and Fleming had steal rates that rated 10, 12, 116, and 292 nationally (1, 2, 3 and 7 in the conference) – with their return, the team’s frenetic defense should continue. For a team that plays with that much pressure, Hawaii defended the rim pretty well; Jovanovic, Jankovic, and Thomas all had block rates over 5.5%. The biggest key to getting Hawaii up towards the top 75 of defenses is their defensive rebounding and fouling – finding a way to improve these areas (they probably won’t correct them entirely) without sacrificing the team’s collective pressure would be huge.
Hawaii was not great or poor at anything offensively, instead riding middle-of-the-road numbers to a middle-of-the-road finish. Some better three-point shooting would help, but Webster-Chan was the team’s highest-volume and most efficient deep option. It’s hard to see the returning guys getting better to the point that they can compensate for that loss and even improve on it, so this offense seems destined for mediocrity.
It comes down to Hawaii’s pressure defense this year – it was good but not great, but if Coach Benjy Taylor can push them up a tier or so, Hawaii has a chance to drive opponents insane. The conference doesn’t have a ton of elite ball-handlers, leaving them exposed to Rainbow Warrior pressure, but I’m banking on the offense holding this outfit back.
Reserves: DaJuan Smith, 6‘3, Sr.; TJ Taylor, 5‘9, Sr.; Sam Beeler, 6’10, Sr.; Grant Troutt, 6‘2, Fr.; Jarriesse Blackmon, 6‘6, Fr.; Tyler Jackson, 7‘2, Fr.
I could be low on a team that finished 11-5 in the league and only loses two starters, but the two that the Gauchos lost were pretty important. Gone is three-time first team all-conference performer Alan Williams, an absolute paint monster who led the team in points per game (17.8), rebounds (11.8 – he also led the country), blocks (1.8), steals (1.2) and minutes (32.6) while using 30.8% of the team’s possessions, good for 31st in the country. He drew tons of fouls, didn’t turn the ball over much, and oh yeah – did I mention he cleaned the glass better than Windex (92nd O-reb rate, 2nd D-reb rate)? In short, he was the team’s anchor. Also gone is point guard Zalmico Harmon, third in the team in minutes per game and the leader in assists.
Despite Harmon’s loss, the team’s strength will be in the backcourt, with another first-teamer returning (Michael Bryson) along with last year’s Freshman of the Year, Gabe Vincent. They are both very efficient wing scorers, with Vincent being a better deep shooter and Bryson favoring attacking the basket. Both are highly versatile, though, and avoid turning the ball over (especially impressive for the freshman Vincent). At point, junior Eric Childress and senior TJ Taylor will see expanded roles, but both (particularly Childress) have a bad propensity for turnovers, which could lead to Vincent handling the ball more to keep the offense on track. The 5’9 Taylor is more of an offensive threat (38% from deep), but neither he nor Childress are going to scare opponents.
The team’s biggest issue this year will be defense. They didn’t force turnovers last year, and lose the anomaly of having a big man with a decent steal rate in Williams. He was also their most consistent rim protector, though senior Sam Beeler posted a nice block rate (8.1%) in limited minutes and could help if he can stay on the floor. John Green returns as a starter, but he is more of a fourth guard than a second big man, knocking down a few threes and a plethora of midrange jumpers. The man in the middle will most likely be Mitch Brewe (unless Beeler grabs the role), a burly 6’8 fella who somehow managed to only rebound 8.7% of opponent’s misses, a disgusting rate for someone his size. In fact, that’s the area I’m most worried about – can they keep opponents off the glass without Williams’s otherworldly defensive board work? An already soft defense (6th in the league) could be way worse this year, which is the primary reason for me dropping the Gauchos so far down the standings. It could be too far with Bryson and Vincent heading up the backcourt, but I just like the teams above them a little better.
Reserves: Neal Monson, 6’10, Jr.; Rogers Printup, 6‘4, Fr.; Joe Schneider, 6‘1, Fr.; Lawrence White, 6‘3, Jr.
Uh-oh. Few teams relied on one player as much as UC Davis relied on do-it-all Corey Hawkins last year, with Hawkins leading the Aggies in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and three pointers, and led the conference in possessions used (19th in the country). The son of Hersey Hawkins, he has signed a contract with the Miami Heat, and his absence will be extremely troubling for his old school. That’s not their only problem, though – along with Hawkins, seniors Josh Ritchart, Avery Johnson, and Tyler Les (son of coach Jim) take with them 229 made threes, leaving behind just 26 total makes by the returnees. Shooting was the team’s biggest strength last year (#1 in the country in 3-point percentage, 3rd in effective field goal percentage), and without the departed gunners, Coach Les will likely have to completely re-calibrate the team’s offense.
Contrary to last year’s team, the strength for the Aggies will be in the frontcourt. Forwards Josh Fox and JT Adenrele should both start, with Fox being an extremely efficient inside scoring option and Adenrele being a monster on the offensive glass (87th in the country in O-reb rate) while also offering a bit of shot-blocking. Butler transfer Nolan Berry is a large, fairly skilled option in the middle, giving the team a second 6’10 player to pair with returning role player Neal Monson. Both should rebound and finish well, with Berry offering the better hope of a double-team-drawing inside scorer.
The biggest questions lie in the team’s backcourt. Point guard Darius Graham returns as the starter, but his horrifying 36.3% turnover rate dwarfed his meh assist rate of 20.7%, and his inefficiency was a large part of the team’s 297th turnover rate nationally. Another guy who didn’t help that was junior guard Brynton Lemar, who contributed turnovers on 31.7% of his own possessions. Those two combined for 24 of the team’s 26 returning threes, though, and will get playing time simply for that fact. Newcomer guards Rogers Printup, Joe Schneider, and Lawrence White will also get every shot possible of showing they can hit shots while not coughing the ball up constantly.
While the team’s shooting will inevitably suffer from the personnel losses, their limp rebounding should improve on both ends with the addition of Berry and the likelihood of the team playing some bigger lineups. Even with that boost, though, it’s hard to see the team being anywhere near as good as it was last year, and due to the stylistic clashes between the roster and Les’s preferred play, I’m expecting a pretty large drop-off for the Aggies.
Reserves: Jibreel Faulkner, 6‘8, R-Fr.; Jerron Wilbut, 6‘3, R-Fr.; Tavrion Dawson, 6‘8, R-Fr.; Zacarry Douglas, 6‘8, So.; Jason Richardson, 6‘2, Fr.
Northridge had an exceedingly weird year last year. A talented senior class plus a deep group of incoming freshmen had many around the program dreaming big, but questions about the team’s recruiting practices/newcomers’ eligibility led to four of the freshmen redshirting and another only playing in two games, as well as Seton Hall transfer Kevin Johnson sitting out a second straight year. The team’s depth suffered greatly, and it hampered the program’s momentum to the tune of a 9-24, 4-12 season.
With all of the questions cleared up this year (hopefully), some of the optimism is back, with the hope that the newcomers can finally contribute the way they were supposed to last year. Michael Warren and Jerron Wilbut will probably compete for a starting job, and the 6’8 trio of Jibreel Faulkner, Tavrion Dawson, and Zacarry Douglas will give the team excellent depth down low. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of them sneak in some starts at PF, either. Johnson, a 6’10 beast, hasn’t played since 2012-13 at Seton Hall, but in limited minutes that year, he had a monstrous offensive rebound rate of 17.3% (would have been top 5 in the country that year if he had played more minutes). He should step into the center void left by the departed Devonte Elliott.
For as much as they lost to graduation, the Matadors actually bring back some solid players. Guard Aaron Parks averaged 10.6ppg, though he did so in a very inefficient manner (89.1 Ortg). The likely starter at point guard, Landon Drew, had the 19th-best assist rate in the entire country last year (36.3%), but will need to cut down on turnovers to improve his own efficiency. Neither Parks nor Drew is much of an outside shooter, so that is something that will need to come from the youngsters. Up front, Tre-Hale Edmerson is yet another inefficient offensive option, but he at least provided some shotblocking/defensive rebounding and negated his inefficiency by using a paltry 12.7% of possessions.
Reggie Theus is a good coach, and I would guess he’ll have Northridge contending in the conference sooner rather than later. Along with the strong class of redshirt freshmen/sophomores, he has two solid transfers sitting out this year (Darin Johnson from Washington and Rakim Lubin from UConn), which means the turnaround could happen as soon as next year. I’m certainly betting against it this year, however.

industry_corpus2: Sports


text: Leather Chap & Vest Sets for your little cowboy and little Chap & Vest or Skirt & Vest sets for your Little Cowgirl. IF YOU HAVE ANY TROUBLE WITH THE CHECKOUT PLEASE CALL US. MON. - FRI. 10:30AM - 5:00PM CENTRAL TIME. 817-444-4320.


text:
Communities flourish when people of different ages are able to connect. The resulting social bridges create strong and supportive scaffolding for a community and environment that is inclusive and safe.
The realities of modern culture have made this type of environment difficult to achieve. As architects and designers, we have a strong sense of responsibility to the communities and the places we make, to ensure they provide sustainable infrastructure that encourages social encounters for all ages.
For this infrastructure to be successful, we must understand the particular nature of a community and their place. We have found that a collaborative approach with, rather than for, the community, allows the knowledge and experience of the residents to be embedded in the solution.
This Thursday, we are hosting an afternoon discussion with our collaborators, Rasmus Frisk and Thomas Aarup Due from arki_lab, as well as indigenous elder, Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison.
• Bridging the divide of age and culture.
• Designing urban spaces to meet the needs and aspirations of people of all ages.
• Understanding site and “country” in place making.
We hope you can join us. Please confirm your attendance at Eventbrite.

industry_corpus2: Real Estate & Construction


text:
As for pricing, well I'm starting to charge more than the £50 which we spoke about in the previous post!
If customers see this kind of power increase then I suppose a price rise is more than justified!
Lol! 0.5 KW. Not a laughable increase at all. But maybe the Sun was obscured slightly by a cloud on the first reading and out fully on the second. Or maybe during the hour or so it took to do the panels, the sun hit the panels at a slightly better angle for the second reading. It's not as straightforward as your statement above implies. Nor is it a reason for a price increase.
How much in money do you think your increase of 0.5KW gave the client? Any idea?
I have a customer who has solar panels on his roof. He is a very clever engineer. He told me that the sun does not have to be shining brightly to get the best out of the panels.
It certainly helps! It's about angle as much as anything. When I had them, I moved them about during the day to increase the output.
I'd put them to face East at night before bed so my batteries were being charged as the sun came up.
The highest I recorded ( display on charge controller) was when the sun was scorching hot and hitting the panels dead on.
I wasn't bursting a bubble. I was just explaining what else it may have been.
The customer was amazed! Do you not realise how much of a difference half a kw makes? It's huge for just a simple little clean! They weren't even that dirty!
They said they haven't seen that sort of output since new and when the sun was at its peak, so they were well chuffed!
It's such a fast easy job, but makes a massive difference.
Oh well that just goes to show cleaning filthy solar panels adds value in real monitory terms back to the customer.
Exactly, that's all I was alluding too.
Let's face it, I didn't need a course from Solar Steve to clean them!
Half a kW. Let's call it 400w after inefficiencies, heat loss etc. X 4 hrs average sunshine, that's what manufactures seem to use, is 1.6kwh per day.
40p a unit tarif (kWh) bit generous.
64 pence an average summer day.
Although 1.6kwh will run an efficient fridge freezer for half a day.
As if I care anyway, I'd clean them weather there was a 100% increase or a 1% increase, I'm a window cleaner,not a Green Party mp, it pays the bills, that's all I'm worried about!
As for me, I don't give two hoots about solar panels!
It is good! Don't get me wrong.
After a couple of months or so, the cleaning you've done will be making them money!
@Jake Remember this is a public forum. You don't need to be a member to view this.
'I'm going to start charging more than the £50'.
'It took me 10 mins'.
'They weren't even that dirty'.
'It's such a fast easy job'.
Not really the greatest advert for your solar panel cleaning service is it? "It's fast, easy, takes less than 10 mins and they didn't really need cleaning! And I want more money for doing this!" Mmmm. Reading the above would not inspire me as a potential client of yours.
If I were you, I'd try to clean as may panels as possible with your potential earning capacity. If you clean 2 arrays per hour, that £100.00 in 20 mins. You can afford to drive for 40 mins every hour and still make a huge profit.
You should go for it in a big way!
You say the 'extra 500 watts would power....lights'. Unlikely. Why would anyone have their lights on when the sun was shining so brightly?
Did you protect yourself from electric shock during the course of the clean? For your sake, I hope so. If you intend to clean more panels, please ensure you are safe.
Did I say they had lights on? No. I said 500 watts would power x y and z. It was an example. Learn some English.
As for it being a public forum, your right, however not one customer is going to be trawling through this to find out info. If they did they'd see a lot more than just people saying things about solar panel cleaning. Think of 1000's of posts about window cleaning that alude to similar things. Customers wouldn't have window cleaners if they read all our posts.
And anyway, I've said nothing that isn't true! So it wouldn't matter in the slightest. The price increase is fully justified, and even more so when obvious power gains are seen.
As smurf said in a previous post, it's not about the time, it's about the service. The customer was happy, and that's all that matters.
As for electric shock, You do realise that all domestic and commercial solar panels are fully waterproof, and all the wiring is waterproof as is the conduit and junction boxes. There is no danger Steve, your a plonker. Solar panels are safe to clean, the wiring is no more dangerous than any other electrical appliance.
So stop trying to make money by doing some stupid course which has no value what so ever.
So Steve, you mean protection against electrocution just like this guy on YOUR WEBSITE?
Ha ha ha ha, you don't even know how hypocritical you are!
This guy isn't even wearing gloves!!!
The extra 500 watts will NEVER power those lights unless they have them on in the middle of a sunny day. I will let you work out why, but that's a fact.
Regarding the picture, those were the VERY FIRST panels I cleaned about 6 years ago. We have developed our working procedures a lot since then. Thanks for pointing out the pic though, I have now changed it.
You obviously have an amazing portfolio of solar panel clients and I have no idea what I'm on about. I bow to your superior knowledge. Bye bye pigeon.
Yeah your spot on, but then, it's not hard to be superior to you is it?
What the heck are you on about with the lights? Have you admitted you were wrong yet? You seem to think I was saying thy had lights on while I was there. Why on earth did you think that? I can't believe you also can't read, as well as write.
Remember Steve most led lights these days use as little as 3 watts.
All your getting is people hammering you Steve, so will you bog off from the forums? Everyone on clean it up is also laughing at you. Go away. Stay away, and stop robbing people of money for some pathetic course.

industry_corpus2: Power & Energy


text:
I was born and raised in Athens. The last 15 years i DJ and produce music under various names and i have been releasing it through labels like Cooking/ Good Looking (UK), Pork Recordings (UK), Shadow Records (US), Irish Moss (IR), Gamm (SE), Bstrd Boots (US), Cast-a-Blast (GR), Rebtuz (UK) and Nice Up (UK).
In 2006 i co-found Cast-a-Blast, a recording label featuring artists such as BNC, Turntable Dubbers, Palov & Mishkin, Max Rubadub and Clinton Sly.
My DJ travels have taken me to Austria, Denmark, UK, Turkey, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Bulgaria and other nice places while in Athens i co-run “Mammy Hot Daddy Cool” nights with partner DJ Anna Mystic and the infamous Rewind Guaranteed!


text:
All Shook Up is a musical comedy built around a number of songs made famous by Elvis Presley. It’s not a biographical revue, but rather a tale of mistaken identity and romance inspired by Twelfth Night and other Shakespearean comedies.
It's 1955, and into a square little town in a square little state rides a guitar-playing roustabout who changes everything and everyone he meets in this hip-swiveling musical fantasy. Among the 24 songs featured in the score are classics like "Heartbreak Hotel," "Love Me Tender," "Don't Be Cruel," "Can't Help Falling in Love," and of course the title tune.


text:
I love Spring. Besides the fact that I’m a Taurus and my birthday falls within the season, the weather is perfect and there’s an overwhelming sense of possibility. As the weather shifts, I like to change my skincare routine. During the winter months, I always find that my skin tends to be parched and I end up using The Peacock Apothecary’s night creme during the day for extra moisture. As the weather warms, I switch to a face oil which is lighter, absorbs into the skin quickly and acts as a great make up primer.
The recipe below was inspired by Spring and combines a nourishing blend of vegetable oils, therapeutic grade essential oils and a pink primrose flower elixir to create an incredibly fragrant, hydrating and healing treatment. Thanks to Lotus Wei, I’ve been on a beautiful journey with flower elixirs for the past 7 months. These incredible potions have been used for generations and you’re most likely familiar with Bach’s Rescue Remedy. Flower alchemy is simply another way of receiving the nourishing properties of plants. When you work with flower essences, you bring your body back in tune with a subtle electrical vibration. Each flower holds a different vibration reflective of it’s essence which is used to treat the root (not the symptom). I chose to include the pink primrose because it blooms in spring and grows prolifically. This flower has a wild spirit and can grow in challenging conditions. It’s a hard flower to contain because it spreads so rapidly. The pink primrose flower essence prepares us for “rapid growth” while magnifying a sense of fearlessness. The essence births new ideas, prepares us for next steps and helps us move from one stage to another. I’ve added the pink primrose to activate the face oil vibrationally and create an intentional ritual during each application. If you find another flower elixir that you resonate with, feel free to substitute.
This recipe couldn’t be any easier to make. Simply mix all ingredients together and pour into a glass container of your choice. I prefer to use two 2oz brown glass bottles with dropper. I’ll keep one for myself and I’ll gift the second to a friend.
Enter your email address here to receive notifications of new posts by email!
© 2019 Friends of a Feather. All rights reserved.


text: December 1st is World AIDS Day. Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are supporting the cause by literally going red for one day. You can also show your support by turning your tweets red, wearing a red ribbon, or by purchasing this Stella McCartney for Gap (Product) RED t-shirt. Half the profits will go directly to the global fund to fight AIDS…and the tee is all kinds of cute!


text:
Often we are looking for a pen while traveling – without success. There is an end to it with the PICCOLINI ball-pen. He finds space everywhere, especially in our passport organizer with integrated elastic pen strap.
Wedo is known since 1933 for its high quality pens. A competence we like to use for the accessory of our products.
Comfortable writing in spite of the minimalistic design makes the PICCOLINI special. It comes with the blue ink standard D1 refill.

industry_corpus2: Manufacturing


text:
Today’s global is in turmoil. monetary crises are bringing international locations to the edge of damage, and outdated types are being puzzled. an analogous feel of drawback additionally exists in modern schooling, and there's a have to discover new academic versions. Digital studying Lives: Trajectories, Literacies, and Schooling is a contribution during this path. This ebook explores the significance of the adoption of electronic applied sciences by means of modern schooling platforms. partially a synthesis of findings from initiatives conducted in Norway through the writer during the last 15 years, the information were prolonged to elevate key questions about the effectiveness of present schooling ideas for the fb and YouTube new release. alongside the way in which, a promising process for destiny advancements in schooling is brought that embraces the engagement of electronic media what Ola Erstad phrases ‘learning lives.’ Use of electronic media in colleges and in daily tradition turns into the catalyst for exploring studying as life-deep (studying identification processes), life-wide (studying novices throughout contexts), and life-long (studying studying as trajectories and timescales). The ebook is focused towards classes on electronic studying, academic swap, college improvement, and formal-informal studying.
Cellular studying, or m-learning, can ensue in any atmosphere utilizing applied sciences that slot in the palm of the hand or should be simply carried from one position to another.Models for Interdisciplinary cellular studying: supplying details to scholars investigates m-learning purposes in built and constructing international locations as members and teams include cellular platforms. This cutting edge paintings expands on current views, purposes, theories, and philosophies whereas additionally exploring how combined studying practices have built into cellular studying possibilities.
This source for community specialists and engineers offers recommendation on auditing, reading, and comparing any community setting. It demonstrates the place and the way to collect proper details and the way to investigate it, and overviews the expertise at every one layer of the community. There are chapters at the open procedure interconnections version, LAN topologies, Ethernet, FDDI, telecommunications and telephony, body relay WAN research, and voice know-how. different issues contain distant entry, routing protocols, and multiprotocol label switching. pattern types for community auditing and documentation are integrated. Castelli is a expert and company community layout engineer for a world telecommunications integrator.
Within the attempt to fulfill enrollment goals for obligatory schooling in Latin the United States, the force to accomplish common assurance turns out to have left schooling caliber in the back of. within the face of meager scholar functionality, knowing what and the way scholars are studying have emerged as salient concerns dealing with coverage makers in a area that has already accomplished huge good fortune within the sector of entry to uncomplicated schooling. As many nations within the zone embark on a chain of reforms addressing problems with caliber and fairness in simple schooling, transferring their concentration clear of academic growth, details at the rules and courses which may give a contribution to attaining pupil studying could be very important. This ebook brings to mild fresh advances in our realizing of the regulations and courses that impact scholar studying with a view to offer coverage makers in Latin the United States and different constructing areas instruments for potent schooling coverage making.
With dwindling cash and assets, more durable nation and federal criteria, and fatigue from extra laws and trying out, many college directors are giving up _or 'crashing' and leaving their posts. This e-book examines the method of getting ready, encouraging, and protecting caliber leaders on the tuition and district degrees. starting with a bankruptcy outlining six steps of severe organizational helps, next chapters deal with elements in getting ready administrator applicants successfully; bettering beginner instructor retention via significant help and mentoring; using extra totally mid-career academics who come to colleges having labored outdoors of schooling; the position of isolation in new principals' experience of efficacy; examine findings approximately assistant superintendents approximately task pride, efficacy, and goals for promoting; and eventually, modern management demanding situations present on the superintendent point. Concluding with strategies approximately administrator responsibility, a few of the chapters supply modern perspectives at the training, usage, and retention of college directors in the course of the existence cycle. The chapters supply wanted perception into what may still and has to be performed to develop the easiest leaders for US faculties.
This publication presents useful instructions and a framework for academics as they fight to advance their colleges. The authors underpin the framework with insights, observations and findings from school-based researchers and builders and utilize the responses and emotions of academics. management, the administration of curriculum swap and INSET for improvement are lined and case experiences incorporated.
La Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH cuenta con más de 30 años de experiencia en el diseño de cooperaciones en todo el mundo, y ha condensado su extensa gama de conocimientos en esta obra. El modelo de gestión means WORKS se dirige a todas aquellas personas involucradas en contextos de cooperación: own directivo, responsables o asesores del zone privado, de l. a. administración pública, del ámbito de l. a. política y del area sin fines de lucro. Provee una introducción completa a los retos que plantea una gestión exitosa de los angeles cooperación y ofrece procedimientos de probada eficacia para los angeles práctica. Sus cinco factores de éxito describen distintas facetas, cuya perspectiva ayuda a mantener a los angeles vista los objetivos y resultados de sistemas de cooperación complejos: analiza las bases conceptuales de l. a. estrategia, l. a. cooperación, los angeles estructura de conducción, los procesos y el aprendizaje e innovación, y las completa con una amplia caja de herramientas que prestan apoyo en el trabajo práctico con estos factores de éxito. El presente handbook ofrece asimismo un acercamiento amplio y profundo al mundo de gestión de los angeles cooperación para el desarrollo sostenible, con numerosos ejemplos prácticos de distintos contextos , así como un acercamiento a l. a. exertions de l. a. cooperación internacional.
Those are difficult occasions during which to be an educator. The consistent stream of innovation bargains new possibilities to help newcomers in an atmosphere ofever-shifting calls for. Educators paintings as they've got consistently performed: benefiting from the assets to hand, and working with constraints, to supply reviews which foster development. This used to be John Dewey's perfect of schooling eighty years in the past and it truly is nonetheless appropriate at the present time. This view sees schooling as a convention that achieves its ambitions via artistic strategies related to either craft and layout. Craft is seen within the assets that educators produce and of their interactions with rookies. layout, even though, is tacit, and educators are usually blind to their very own layout practices. The speedy speed of switch is moving the stability from craft to layout, requiring that educators' layout paintings come into sight, shareable and malleable. The participatory styles workshop is a technique for doing this via enticing practitioners in collaborative mirrored image resulting in the creation of based representations of layout wisdom. The editors have led many such workshops and this e-book is a checklist of that endeavour and its results within the kind of functional layout narratives, styles and situations that may be used to handle demanding situations in instructing and studying with know-how.
Reveals pedagogical messages embedded in pop culture texts to suggested puzzling over the a number of methods better schooling isrepresented to society in the course of the media.
Informative and interesting, better schooling execs can use the findings to deliberately problem the (mis)educating messages approximately greater schooling via courses, guidelines, and perspectives.
This is the 4th factor of the fortieth quantity of the Jossey-Bass sequence ASHE better schooling Report. every one monograph is the definitive research of a tricky larger schooling issue, based on thorough examine of pertinent literature and institutional studies. subject matters are pointed out via a countrywide survey. famous practitioners and students are then commissioned to jot down the reviews, with specialists supplying serious stories of every manuscript ahead of booklet.

industry_corpus2: Subject Education


text:
The Guelph Hiking Club wants you to be part of a worldwide phenomenom! Get your finest Tweed outfit dusted off for Guelph’s first ever Tweed Ride, taking place on Saturday Oct. 1, 1-3pm. Come dressed in your tweeds or old-timey clothes! We’ll take a leisurely 7km bike ride through some of the city’s finest locations and trails. Admission is free!
For our ride, we’ll meet at the Arboretum and bike toward the University of Guelph Campus, enjoying the beautiful fall colours. We’ll stop at the University Bike Centre for refreshments, then ride through University Village on the way to the beautiful Royal River Trail. We’ll finish the ride at the Royal City Brewing Company, where we’ll celebrate the “spirit of a bygone era”, where cycling was more than just for sport.
Participants will have the opportunity to win prizes, such as those for the best dressed male and female as well as the coolest bike. While all bicycles are acceptable, vintage bicycles are encouraged. Sponsors included Speed River Bicycle, Wike, Royal City Brewing Co., Speed River Paddling, and Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation.
Please meet at the University of Guelph Arboretum Centre, College Avenue East, at 12:45 for registration and to sign a waiver. Ample bike and vehicle parking is available across from the Arboretum Information Centre.
← Dawson Road Lane Closure Starts Sept 26th #Guelph!

industry_corpus2: Travel & Geography


text:
The Great American Restaurants chain has always had pretty descent food for that price. So providers since they have heard of Sweetwater Tavern and Coastal Flats. Their newest is Ozzie’s. Walking in the same thing I see within just about all for the Great American Restaurants places, giant revolving door and booths with leather seat tickets. With the same feel as the others, but the Italian influences this establishment has an involving expectation for diners. Not quite all of mine were realized.
If have not already heard reference chilifood in our “fiat” money system, it is time you produced. Fiat money refers in order to currency and declared any government to legal tender but is not backed by anything touchable. When Nixon removed our gold standard, this put us within fiat currency system.
That is, before you follow a rule, see the purpose because of its existence and also would have a clear idea if is actually also justifiable getting accepted the rule given a special circumstance.
Eat More Protein. Now, I don’t mean eat only protein, but consider and limit the carbs and eat more foods of high protein. It keeps you going around the day, likewise makes a person are fuller extra time. Try to eat more dairy, eggs, meats (including chicken and fish), nuts and soy products. Lightening up on the carbs can prevent the crash in the time that makes you even more irritable. Doing all within this will surely improve your fast proper diet and will you in losing weight in two weeks.
The back of the bag Serba Sambal Pusat says that the rigatoni pasta “cooks up al dente”, knowning that the sliced tomatoes, roasted bell peppers, yellow peppers, and red chilifood are bathed in the spicy tomato sauce produce you a deliciously satisfying and classic meal. I love to my pasta al dente because I detest over cooked pasta, but on my opinion these could have cooked a few minutes longer while were just a little under cooked properly.
This herb is called a culinary plant, but it also makes a positive border plant or groundcover. The woody stems makes a hardy shrub-like tea. The dark green leaves and pointed flowers add variety on the herb vegetable.
23. Online Auctions: Individuals are making handsome incomes from their home through online auctions, especially eBay(TM). And no, it is not about emptying your garage (what takes place when your garage runs the stuff?). Also works well with Drop shipping (#19 above).
Try dining riverside. The european flavor of the region is evident in several French or fusion dinning establishments. Coffee and croissants for breakfast are as effortless to find as crackers. Sipping a BeerLao although sun sets over a backdrop of temple spires and melts into the Mighty Mekong is wonderful way to stop a day in this magical the town.

industry_corpus2: Hospitality & Catering


text:
“A wistful portmanteau piece about six lost souls trying to find their way in Macao, Chan Ka Keong’s debut feature is a film about dreamers looking to the moon but unable to find the magic in their own lives…."- Mike Goodridge, Artistic Director of the 2nd Macao International Film Festival and Awards.
Chan is a dedicated professional devoted to the promotion of film industry and culture. In 2014, Chan’s first feature film project “Passing Rain” was selected work of “2013 Support Programme for the Production of Feature Films” launched by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao S.A.R..
Things happen out of the greater plan of the cosmos, people look up and act along. In the tiny city of Macao, people come across one another somehow. One passing rain after the other, in the ordinary daily life, exception is taking its chance, to manifest its presence and spreads like murmurings of the heart.


text: The title you have selected ( An Eye for a Tooth ) is a post-1923 publication by an author who died more than 50 years ago. Such titles are in the public domain in many countries, particularly those outside the US and Europe. However, this title most likely remains copyrighted under United States law, where works copyrighted in 1924 or later can remain under copyright for up to 95 years after publication. It may also be copyrighted in European Union countries and other countries where copyrights can last longer than 50 years past the author's death. (Europe, for instance, uses a life plus 70 years term.) Follow this link for more details on copyright laws of various countries. Below, we provide author death dates and other edition information, so that you can check this information against the terms of your country's copyright law.

industry_corpus2: Literature & Emotions


text:
in its Energy line of business.
focused on continued expansion in the USA, China, Europe, Mexico, and India.
McCarty both expanded by opening new facilities in Texas and Ohio, respectively.
Spray Nine wipes kill 2-3 times more bacteria, viruses, and fungi on hard, nonporous surfaces than its top three competitors.
killing power for your facility!
NEW Spray Nine® Multi-Purpose Cleaner & Disinfectant WIPES Kills More. Kills More.


text: The official restaurant of the ride, so everything is themed accordingly. Serving the usual fast food, such as hamburgers, hot dogs and fries. An emphasis is made on cramming the tables in, so this isn't exactly relaxing, but good for cheap fast and quickly.


text:
You are in category for in the Fiat 500 2007-.
You will find all the accessories to dress up famous and give a new style in your Fiat 500 2007 -: look tuning, look luxe, rejuvenation, or simply refurbishing!
To change the style of your Fiat 500 2007 -: grids grille for Fiat 500 2007-, shell mirror stainless steel chrome for Fiat 500 2007-walking foot Fiat 500 2007-, spoiler for Fiat 500 2007-etc.
For comfort, find them carpet tailor-made for Fiat 500 2007-, carpet safe Fiat 500 2007-, armrest or sun visor.
All of our parts spare and accessories for Fiat 500 2007 - this category, are adaptable type coins, not original parts.
Fiat 500 2007 - current There are 2 products.

industry_corpus2: Automobiles


text:
You know how much I hate the commercial aspect of Christmas. I really hate it. I would much rather DO things than get things. Of course, it’s hard to get away from it entirely but this year I am trying to focus a little more on the doing, and less on the buying/getting.
My son quit one of this jobs to spend more time with the family before he heads to Orlando in January so I am spending a little time with my calendar today trying to fit some fun things in. We have some things scheduled but he still has the one job to consider and that schedule is not posted far enough ahead, in my opinion, for us to really plan things out the right way but we will try.
Tonight is the high school ministry party. Should be fun!
Later this month we are going to a special holiday lighting event called The Enchanted Forest of Light. Click that link for a video. We go on 12/23 and we are all looking forward to it.
This year, we are also picking up where we left off by taking our two special friends to look at Christmas lights. Due to crazy schedules, we could not do it last year so we are happy to be able to do it again this year.
My last day of work before the break is Thursday the 14th so I am beginning my countdown today!
My daughter has practices and rehearsals and her choir party this week. We also have a Christmas party to attend on Saturday.
We all got new phones on Cyber Monday since ours were falling apart. My poor daughter couldn’t even make or receive calls or texts. We all went with Google Pixels. I got the XL. It’s been fun listening to audio books right from my phone and not having to download them first to my iPod. I know, right? I was really roughing it. I expect to up my game this week with audio books so I can possibly make my reading goal this year.
I am still reading The Visitors by Catherine Burns. It’s a little odd.
I finished The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin for book club and it was lovely. I plan to post my review sometime this week.
The Walking Dead finale is tonight. It better be good. The teaser I saw looked pretty tense but it could also be a big hot mess depending on how they handle it.
As for Christmas movies we’ve seen Christmas with the Kranks and Christmas Vacation will probably be the next one up. I like to watch that one more than once during the holidays.
I will be making an apricot glazed ham with baked beans for the party I am going to. We haven’t had tacos in a while so maybe I’ll make those one night.
Great books, happy people, people who have a knack for just listening and being there for you, great food lovingly prepared, candlelit dinners, all the people who make me laugh. Thank you.
Experiences are wonderful gifts and we love them too. I hope y’all make lots of memories.
It’s more doing than buying for us this year, too, and so far I love it. I’m wavering on Manhattan Beach, so am glad you’re giving it a try… your opinion will help me make a decision!
Actual readers seem to not like Manhattan Beach. I’ve heard good things but from literary critics. I am anxious to find out for myself what they are all talking about.
I loved The Storied Life of AJ Fikry…and went on to read the author’s book Young Jane Young.
I’ve heard various opinions on Manhattan Beach. Literary critics seem to love it. Readers seem to not know what to make of it. I guess I’ll find out!
Did you have iPhones prior to this? If you did, I’m curious what you think of the difference between the two. I’m so tired of Apple deliberating making their phones to last less than two years, and it kills me to say that.
Your plans sound lovely! I hope the fires are well under control by you so that you continue to stay safe and also so that you can enjoy your remaining time with E.
My previous personal phone was Android based too but I use the iOS platform for work and I feel like Google and Android are far superior in consistency and reliability. A lot of what I use is Google already (Chrome, Drive, Keep) so getting the Pixel was a no brainer.
C has been an avid Android supporter since he started becoming cognizant of computer systems. Almost everything I own at home is Apple, so the syncing and integration between devices was always appealing. But, their phones don’t do anything for me anymore. It might be time to make a switch.
I am glad you’re loving your phone and what a bonus that you can now listen to audio books directly! My car is packed in case we get an evacuation order.
I heard that Montecito was evacuated. Are you guys okay?
I’m right with you on the idea of giving an experience instead of more “stuff” for Christmas. I need to plan this better for next year.
I did a bit of cooking today for the week ahead. Last week my oldest daughter was so irritated that she had no leftovers to take for lunch. We didn’t even have bread. So today I made cheeseburger soup and a pan of manicotti. We have things every single night this week, so I am hoping that people will heat up some of these items for their meals as well.
My daughter is a really healthy eater and we are about 80% of the time. This has posed problems because on the nights where that other 20% comes in she doesn’t want to eat at all even though we can usually strip something down for her to keep it healthy. Honestly, we should all eat like her but my husband would balk.
Yes, Christmas does feel like its all about stuff and not about the people or memories you make with them. I’m focusing on that part instead of the material side, too 🙂 All of your plans sound awesome! And the countdown is on for your days off to begin – Enjoy!!
Ti, TWD! I read about what happened? Did you see that coming? Wow! Did not expect that to happen! Let me know what you think!?!
Yes!! I predicted it last week. I was just surprised at how choppy the episode was and then it looked like it had ended without anything going on. They revealed it at the very last second.
For years I’ve always wanted to do things instead of get things. Spending time with my kids and grandkids is the most important thing to me. I’ll be waiting to read your thoughts on Manhattan Beach.
Hi Ti, how was the finale of Walking Dead? I missed the whole season. Was it worth it? You’ll be done with work soon this week; Enjoy the holiday season!
Three days away. Woot woot!
Sounds like your son has his priorities in order there. Wonderful! Wow, Pixel phones…I see the commercials, but haven’t thought about it much. My phone is going great, so far. I hope that continues. I really hate getting a new phone.
My last day of work for the year is Dec. 21; and I cannot tell you how much I need a break and time to destress.
I sure hope you get the break you need. I am very excited by my time off but the stuff with my BIL is very upsetting right now.

industry_corpus2: Others