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Proart relocates to Balmoral Park Stud

Promising sire Proart will transfer to Balmoral Park Stud this month on the back of another win by his talented filly Rosmartini at Belmont.

The Simon Miller trained three year-old is a stakes-winner of the future on the strength of her one-length victory in the Westspeed Hcp (1200m).  “She’s got a good turn of foot and is going places, this filly,” Miller predicted.  “She was dominant today and will only get better over longer trips.”

The Ascot conditioner wouldn’t be pinned down to a specific goal when interviewed after the race besides confirming she will race again at Belmont on Saturday, October 3.  “She’s set for a good campaign,” he said.  “I’ve got a plan but will lay low at this stage.”

Rosmartini (3f Proart – Rosmopolitan by Verglas) was bred at Korilya Stud and is raced by Jock Wilberforce with a Fremantle Dockers syndicate.  Her dam won four races up to 2200 metres in Perth and that opens up any number of options for the filly at the summer carnival.

Proart (Rock Of Gibraltar) won up to Group 3 level in the Scahill Stakes at Ascot and, apart from Rosmartini, his first crop includes brilliant Ascot juvenile winner Glitterbell.

Rapid Equine’s Neil Irvine stood Proart at Geisel Park until its dispersal earlier this month.  He will be given every chance to build on an encouraging start to his stud career at Balmoral Park which is located at Bedfordale, 30km south east of Perth.

For more information, broodmare owners can contact Balmoral Park studmaster Brian Collison on 0411 055 164.


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Ritchie targets Group 1 features at Te Rapa

The Oaks Stud and trainer Shaune Ritchie will attack Saturday’s Group 1 meeting at Te Rapa with class mares Zurella (Zabeel) and Artistic (Darci Brahma).

Zurella will contest the G1 Waikato Draught Sprint (1400m) and Artistic the G1 Darci Brahma International Stakes (2000m).  Ritchie took the opportunity to gallop the four-year-old mares between races at Te Rapa last Saturday and the pair finished on terms over 1000m in 60.95s.

“They just had a day out,” the Cambridge conditioner said.  “Hopefully, it will sharpen them up for the big races here on the weekend.”

Artistic defeated Zurella for a memorable The Oaks Stud – Ritchie quinella in last year’s G1 New Zealand Oaks and since then both have performed in stakes company in Australia.  Artistic was second in the G3 Doomben Roses and fourth in the LR Cranbourne Cup while Zurella landed the G2 Let’s Elope Stakes at Flemington.

“Zurella won the Let’s Elope Stakes fresh in the spring although I don’t think she’s as tuned up for the Waikato Sprint,” Ritchie continued.   “But Ocean Park and Veyron won’t be there and (King) Mufhasa might not be there, either.  We want to win a Group 1 with her this campaign and we are better off trying to achieve that this side of the Tasman rather than going over to Australia.”

Ritchie is thrilled with Artistic’s progress and said she had thrived since a first-up third at Awapuni last month.  “She’s a lot stronger now than I ever thought she would be.  And it would be nice to see a Darci Brahma mare win the Darci Brahma International.”

The Oaks Stud stands Darci Brahma and sponsors the weight-for-age middle distance feature.  The stud’s general manager Rick Williams will use the day to unleash a strong team with Devour, Passionate, Skysoblue, Somerset Rose, Roman and Bravado all in action on Saturday.

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Articles >

The New Face of Tibet

posted Jun 17, 2011, 6:58 AM by The Tibetan Political Review

By Sunanda K Datta-Ray
The Pioneer (India)
June 17, 2011

Lobsang Sangay, the new Prime Minister or Kalon Tripa of Tibet in exile, is an astute lawyer who can use Chinese law to the advantage of Tibetans.

When the Chinese rejected the offer of talks “any time, anywhere,” by Mr Lobsang Sangay, Tibet’s new Prime Minister or Kalon Tripa in exile, they fell back on the legality that only the Dalai Lama can speak for Tibetans. Of course, they placed restrictions on what even he can negotiate, but the very fact that they recognise his authority, vestigial though it might be, is a pointer to China’s sense of insecurity even in the artificially truncated Tibet Autonomous Region.

Beijing’s policymakers must recall with chagrin the scolding Nikita Khrushchev gave Mao Tse-tung at their last meeting on October 3, 1959. “You ruled in Tibet, you should have had your intelligence there and should have known about the plans and intentions of the Dalai Lama,” he stormed, brushing aside Mao’s attempts to blame India and Jawaharlal Nehru. With memories of butchering the Romanovs 40 years earlier, the Soviet leader said, “If we had been in your place, we would not have let him escape. It would be better if he was in a coffin.” Mao must have sounded naïve pleading China could not “arrest” the Dalai Lama or “bar him from leaving” and that the border was so extended “he could cross it at any point”. Khruschchev’s reply gives an insight into the Marxist-Leninist state’s methods. “It’s not a matter of arrest; I am just saying that you were wrong to let him go.”

The Soviets would not have bothered arresting the Dalai Lama. He would have been liquidated like Trotsky in faraway Mexico. The Chinese probably hoped that a Dalai Lama out of sight would be out of Tibet’s mind. Mao’s Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution killed millions of Chinese and Mao is suspected of engineering the September 1971 plane crash that killed Lin Biao, his designated successor. But Stalin’s Russia had more experience of solving political problems with selective murder. The Soviet state did not negotiate with the Cossacks: At least 1.5 million were massacred while others were transported to the Russian Gulags.

But as Mr Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, the Dalai Lama’s special envoy, reminded a Singapore audience last November, in 1979 Deng Xiaoping sent a message to the Dalai Lama through his elder brother, Mr Gyalo Thondup, saying that “except for the issue of Tibetan independence, all other issues could be discussed and resolved”. Mr Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari has led the Tibetan team in all the negotiations since then, the last being in January 2010.

The parleys have not produced the desired effect but it’s interesting that the emphasis on legality has been maintained. During the eighth round in November 2008, for instance, the Tibetans formally presented a Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People outlining 11 basic needs which are provided for in China’s Constitution and Law of Regional National Autonomy. As Mr Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari says, the document set out how genuine autonomy and “the specific needs of the Tibetan nationality for autonomy and self-government can be met through application of the principles on autonomy of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, as we understood them”. The Chinese could have refused to accept the document which had the potential of hoisting them with their own petard. But they didn’t. They studied and rejected the Memorandum on the basis of contents, whereupon the Tibetans gave them a Note addressing their concerns and clarifying Tibet’s minimum expectations.

No one can grasp the implications of these exchanges better than the new Kalon Tripa. Mr Lobsang Sangay is a law graduate of Delhi University and of Harvard Law School where he was a Senior Fellow at the East Asian Legal Studies Programme. As he told an interviewer, he is “in agreement with Tibet supporters that one tactic is to conduct a thorough examination of existing Chinese laws and use them to alleviate challenges facing Tibetans in Tibet”. He quoted Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic’s former President, saying in The Power of the Powerless that when a state mistreats people, it uses law as a justification.

“Therefore, the power of the oppressed is to utilise the same law to seek redress. It is a win-win proposition, because you can prove either that China does not abide by its own laws if they do not implement their laws or if they do implement, then we can gain our rights.” Mr Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru were all lawyers who used their oppressors’ laws to gain rights for their people. “I humbly feel my years of having studied Chinese politics, Chinese laws and monitoring the legal situation in China will come to good use in our movement.”

History is on his side. One of the “10 Major Programmes” that the Chinese Communist Party announced at its second national congress in 1922 and reiterated at the sixth congress in 1928 read, “We would be truly Communists only if we acknowledged the right to independence of ethnic minorities; in other words, acknowledged the rights of all minority groups to separate themselves from China and establish their own country.” Deng announced in 1931 that Article 14 of the new China Soviet Republic’s Constitution “recognise(d) the rights of ethnic minorities to self-determination, including their right to separate from China and set up their own nation” which Mao, as chairman, confirmed. It was not until June 15, 1949, shortly before the PRC was proclaimed, that the CCP changed its mind in favour of a “unified multilateral state” whose minorities would enjoy autonomy but not the right to independence.

Now, the Chinese object to the Dalai Lama taking up the cause of Tibetans outside the Tibet Autonomous Region. A junior Minister, Mr Zhu Weiqun, says he can discuss only his future and “that of a few of his personal aides”. These might be bargaining positions. Or, China may be using the dialogue process as a sop to the international community. An astute lawyer can sift the chaff from the grain. As for China talking only to “the Dalai Lama’s private representatives”, Mr Lobsang Sangay can be that as much as Mr Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari. If China doesn’t recognise him as Tibetan Prime Minister, neither does India. Neither refusal affects his credentials as representative of the Tibetan people. He can succeed if the atmosphere in Tibet and international pressure persuade Beijing of the need for a negotiated solution.

Originally published at

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK: VCPS Hires Activities Director

Heidi Harris
Staff Writer

At a special meeting Monday, June 26, the Valley City Public School board approved a one-year contract for Michael Schultz to be the district's new activities director.

Schultz is a native of Lisbon, graduate of Jamestown College and Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. and comes to Valley City with more than 30 of teaching experience and coaching experience in various sports.

Read the June 27 edition of the Times-Record for more on this story.


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Central Avenue Pharmacy Burglarized

Heidi Harris
News Editor

Valley City police responded to a burglary at Central Avenue Pharmacy in Valley City shortly after midnight Friday.

A release from Police Chief Fred Thompson says an investigation revealed that an entry was made through one of the accessible exterior doors of the pharmacy.

Crime scene officers seized physical evidence left behind by the suspects. It will be sent to the State Crime Lab for processing. The evidence will not be described at this time, Thompson said.

The pharmacy is still in the process of determining the items taken from the location.

The investigation is continuing, and the Valley City Police Department is requesting that anyone with any information on this case to contact (701) 845-3110.


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SCHODACK — The building of a business that manufactures firestarting bricks was consumed by flames Tuesday morning as firefighters from 15 departments worked to put the blaze out.

A thick column of smoke rose from the Excelsior Alternative Fuels building at 2 Den Besten Way.

Gary Roberts, South Schodack fire chief, said the roof had already caved in by the time the fire departments arrived. The company uses wood chips and sawdust to manufacture the bricks, which are used to start fires.

A neighbor called to report the blaze at 7:18 a.m., Roberts said. No one was in the building when the fire began and no injuries have been reported.

For updates throughout the morning, check back at


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Stanley Kubrick's underlings used to joke that one line you'd never hear spoken by the famously meticulous filmmaker was, "Use your own judgment, and don't bother me with the details."

Gov. Andrew Cuomo shares Kubrick's fondness for control and scene-setting. Just ask anyone who has ever sat in a room where the thermostat has been dialed back to tundra temperature in anticipation of a gubernatorial appearance. That's why Cuomo is the central protagonist in the two alternative narratives circulating in Albany about who will control the state Senate in 2013.

I heard the first version the day after the election, as Republicans and Democrats zeroed in on the race between Cecilia Tkaczyk and Assemblyman George Amedore — a contest previously thought to be a walk for Amedore in a district custom-tailored for him. Instead, Tkaczyk holds a slim lead as the recount begins.

If she wins, the mainline Democratic conference will hold 29 seats if you include Brooklyn's Simcha Felder, who has with great political conviction stated he'll be happy to sit with whoever holds the majority; the Independent Democratic Conference will still have four seats; and Republicans will hold 30.

I called a veteran Albany insider and asked for his sense of the near-term effects of a Democratic takeover. Specifically, would the lame-duck Senate GOP still return to Albany to vote for a legislative pay raise, knowing that the incoming Democratic majority would likely vote en bloc against it, then hang it around their necks in 2014 while still enjoying bigger paychecks?

Aw, the pay raise is definitely going to happen, said the insider (who isn't on the public payroll): It's been promised to lawmakers by their leaders, and hasn't been explicitly shot down by Cuomo.

But as far as the Democrats taking control of the Senate? His speculation was that it's never going to happen.

The governor or his minions, he surmised, will negotiate a backroom deal — holding the shotgun, as it were, at the wedding of the IDC and the Senate GOP, one of whom is pregnant with a baby the whole family can call "functional state government." Cuomo, he continued, can't afford a return to the bad old days of 2009 and 2010, when the Democratic majority seemed like the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight.

But, I sputtered, wouldn't the reconstituted Senate Democrats — now missing most of the worst actors from their previous majority — brand the governor as a traitor to the party? And couldn't they cast this outcome as a "Cuomo coup"?

No one, he responded, would ever see the governor's fingerprints on the deal, and Democrats would get just enough of their agenda passed to make the situation tolerable.

My brain was reeling: It was as if I had called my mother to wish her a happy birthday only to learn that she was not my mother — that she was, in fact, a dude.

In the second narrative, which is being circulated by hopeful Democrats, Cuomo does exactly what he has said he will do: stay out of the Senate power struggle altogether, as if it were a family argument among drunk and heavily armed Vikings.

There are several good reasons for doing this, beginning with the fact that no one who governs New York wants to have anything to do with handing the Senate off to an all-white leadership team, thereby denying a minority-rich Democratic conference its victory.

In the decade since his bruising 2002 primary battle against Carl McCall, Cuomo has worked assiduously to mend fences with the minority community. Despite occasional grousing, he has prevailed.

Undoing that good will would be bad news for a governor who is now two years from his first re-election campaign, but a far worse thing for any politician who carries even a tiny ember of presidential ambition. • 518-454-5619


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In the rolling farmland west of Albany, there's a bike route I love to ride that carries me along a ridge with a view for miles across the broad Mohawk Valley. It's a landscape of farms and hamlets that is reminiscent of the geography of our history, before the industrial age drove Americans to urban centers and then, after World War II, to the middle-class comfort of the suburbs.

Last weekend, the summer air was dense with the smell of fresh-cut hay. Pedaling among well-tended spreads, I noted a handsome dairy herd (though the cows seemed less impressed with me than I was with them). And I wondered if the sense of comfort I was feeling might somehow be hereditary — a genetic imprint, maybe, from the farmers who filled my family tree until my grandfather went off to college and then to graduate school, supposedly the first young man from his county to do so.

It's a ride I have made at least annually for more than a decade, and I've come to look forward to a place about five miles along where I know the sparsely traveled road is flanked by some volunteer apple trees. At this time of year the apples are still green, but even so I can always get some juicy bites of fruit that I consider a little reward for the hard climb I've enforced upon myself to that point. After the apple trees, the route flattens out as it winds through fields of corn, timothy and clover.

But when I arrived at the apple trees the other day, I was disappointed: the fruit was tiny and hard. The trees were a bit bedraggled.

It was hard evidence of the tough season afflicting so many Americans who make their living from the land. New York's cultivated fruit crops have been decimated, victims of the March heat and April freeze; if you can find juicy peaches, plums and cherries at local farmers markets, snap them up, because they're scarce. The Midwest, meanwhile, is enduring the worst drought in a half-century. That will not only force farmers to rely on federally subsidized crop insurance, but also will raise the price we pay this year and next for everything that uses corn in its production, from soda to beef to ethanol-enhanced gasoline (the latter thanks to presidential candidates' catering to Iowa voters).

Half the nation has been stultified by drought this summer. For some areas, it's the third straight year of waiting for rain that doesn't come. The economic hardship on families already struggling as a result of the world's sluggish climb out of recession has been staggering.

There have always been wet years and dry years, of course. I've been through sandstorms on the American plains that reduced visibility to zero, and seen swarms of grasshoppers rise up from wheatfields laid bare, turning rural roads into crunchy, slippery messes.

But the hot and dry weather we're increasingly seeing these days ought to worry us. A report from the Congressional Research Service suggests it's not just typical variation. That is, you can blame our fruit crop problems on this year's odd weather, but you can't ignore the link of weather to climate.

"Some studies suggest that the American West may be transitioning to a more arid climate," the CRS said, "possibly resulting from the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, raising concerns that the region may become more prone to extreme drought than it was in the 20th century."

The droughts of the Dust Bowl years, which devastated many families, may become the norm in vast swaths of the country, the studies suggest.

Climate scientists know the Earth is warming; that's beyond doubt. Why it's happening remains more a political question than a scientific one. Certainly, plenty of people believe the increasingly harsh weather patterns we're seeing have nothing to do with human activity, and even a tiny minority of scientists share that view. They could be right; there's strong evidence that during the last 10 centuries, North America has experienced "megadroughts" more severe than anything we've ever observed.

My experience suggests, though, that scientists are more likely to produce reliable information than politicians — and I say that with all due respect, knowing that public servants risk unemployment if they challenge voters' beliefs. Here, then, is the best that scientists can offer: It's more than 90 percent certain that human activities such as fossil fuel use and deforestation are causing climate change by increasing the concentration of greenhouse gasses.

The consequences of a warming climate are likely to be severe in so many ways. It's selfish of me to link such a massive problem to those little green apples on my favorite bike ride. But we dishonor not only the memory of our agrarian forebears but also the future of those who still make a living off the land if we fail to do all we can in the face of this impending disaster.

Rex Smith is editor of the Times Union. Share your thoughts at


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Insulation Complete

Now that work has moved indoors, the weekend weather has improved dramatically ;).  This weekend was no exception and I was able to get a ton of stuff accomplished.

Bright and early Saturday the building and electrical inspectors came to marvel at my tiny spectacle.  Actually, I think the building inspectors exact comment was “looks like it won’t be any trouble adding a couple of rooms to it”.  That comment and his signature is all that I needed to begin the next phase of construction.

The electrical inspector was happy with my wiring and signed off as well.  The neatness of my wiring and having a set of wiring diagrams seemed to smooth out the process.  He focused more on seeing that all the outlets were in the right places rather than the wiring itself.

Insulation Begins

The first step was to inspect every wall cavity for fasteners poking thru.  These fasteners are exposed to the outside and can “sweat” during cold months.  I cut them flush with a cut-off wheel and covered the stump with foam-in-a-can.  At the same time I filled in any gaps and cracks that seemed to need it.

I cut blocks of rigid foam and stuffed them behing every outlet and switch box.  Its tough to get fiberglass behind there and you typically end up with cold spots.  The foam blocks prevent this from happening.

My walls will be filled with R19 fiberglass, and the ceiling will have R38.  I am using unfaced insulation since the wall sheeting is air tight.  My walls with “breathe” inward towards the living space. and you don’t want an air barrier trapping moisture.

The Right Tools

Having the right tools will help make your insulation job go a whole lot faster be more comfortable.  Fiberglass insulation “sheds” little particles of fiberglass all over the place.  These fibers are itchy if they get on your skin and are not that healthy to breathe.

Start with clothing.  You want to cover up as much as you can.  I dressed in a long sleeve shirt, gloves, hat, and shorts.  Naturally, I wore a dust mask to keep from breathing in the fibers.  If I had to do it again, I would have bought a Tyvek suit they sell for painting.  I really hate fiberglass, but I’m too cheap to buy the alternatives.

For tools you need a good knife, a 4ft straight edge, and an 8ft straight edge.  The straight edges can just be pieces of strapping.  The knife can be any knife with a razor blade but honestly, typical utility or snap blade knives suck for insulation.  Before this build I used them, but never again.

I found a knife call the Superkut made by Vintool.  A long time ago in a galaxy far far away there was this guy named Vince who was an insulation contractor.  Vince thought that all the knives for cutting insulation sucked so he made his own.  It costs $25 and is sold at or at Amazon.  It kind looks home made but looks are deceiving.

The Vintool knife is the best 25 bucks I spent on this project!  I was making factory looking cuts in a single pass thru R38 insulation.  At one point during the day I left it downstairs and only had a utility knife on me and I needed to make a cut.  It was this point when I realized how bad utility knives suck at cutting thru insulation.  It’s a pretty specialized tool, but it’s not a ton of money, and it works really well.

Another tool you will want to manufacture is an outlet cutting template.  Take a piece of scrap plywood about 10 inches wide by 18 inches tall.  Cut a square notch out of it in the exact location of your outlet boxes.  Make the notch about 1/2 inch smaller than the box.  You simply line this template against the edges of the insulation, press down firmly, and cut the notch out.

I set up a piece of plywood as a work surface and made some marks corresponding to the lengths I would need to cut.  The pro’s cut insulation up on the spot against the wall…I am not a pro and prefer to measure and cut as needed.

The process I used was to cut a piece to the height of my wall plus one inch.  If it needed to be trimmed lengthwise I added an inch to the actual width and used an 8ft length of strapping as a straight edge to trim the sheet.

It seems fairly easy to “hide” 1 to 1.5 inches in the bay without having it bunch up on you.  You want the bay completely filled without bunching up as this decreases the R value.

When you encounter wires, you simply split the insulation and place half of the insulation behind and half in front.  Switch boxes I used the vintool to cut them out on the spot.  You just sort of compress the insulation and feel for the box edges and make some slices.

Saturday I was able to install all 6 rolls on the walls by days end.  Sunday I went to the building center and picked up 6 packages of R38 for the ceiling and had them installed well before the day ended.  All totalled, I would estimate the insulation took about 10 hours to install.

Whats Next?

After work this week I will install sheetrock around the windows and doors.  I also have some last-minute wires to run for the phone, speakers, etc.  Next weekend, Tim and I will begin hanging sheetrock after the building inspector comes by to sign off on my insulation.

Windows and Doors

This weekend I completed the installation of windows and doors on the Bodega.  I even have a front door key for my key chain!

Window Installation

Here is a flashing diagram to give you a rough idea what we need to do:

You will need some self adhesive window flashing material for this job.  I used Grace Vycor in 9, 6, and 4 inch sizes to install my windows.  You will also need a tube of goo to seal behind the window, I like the Lexel product but anything will work.  Some composite shims and a strip of composite (plastic) material 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick by an inch wide is needed to a backstop.

Under normal circumstances water leaks into your window.  This water will collect in the cavity under the window.  You must install a “drain pan” to gather this water and let it drain away and/or evaporate without rotting the wood.

The First part of the “drain pan” is the backer which makes a little dam to prevent water from flowing into the house.  This piece is applied across the width of the rough window sill about 4.5 inches back but will vary depending on the thickness of your window.  On top of the backer you will install a 9 inch piece of vycor window flashing.  You want to form this into a tray that will capture all the water.  You need to pay special attention to the corners as these are difficult to form.  I cut several small strips for my corners, but there are products that allow you to form the pan in one single piece.  There are also PVC molded drain pans available.

Once the drain pan is installed I wrapped 6 inch vycor flashing around each side and the top.  This is not really needed, however I wanted to seal the air gap between the foam insulation and the plywood window boxes.  Also its important to note that the Lexel sealant I use contains solvents which can “eat” rigid foam.  I apply the sealant to the vycor rather than the foam.

When you are ready to install the window you need to insert 2 composite shims on the drain pan to hold the window off the bottom of the window opening.  You also need to apply a thick bead or sealant to the top and sides of the window opening.  DONT EVER apply sealant to the bottom.  You want any water collected in the drain pan to drain out the bottom of the window.  If you seal up the bottom who knows what will be growing in there in six months!

The next step is to place the window unit into the opening.  My windows are very small and were 100% square when installed.  I had to insert a shim or two on a bottom corner to level the unit otherwise they just dropped in and were perfect.  I attached the metal window tabs to the edges of the plywood boxes.  I will install shims on all sides and install trim screws thru the window frame into the window boxes for additional support.  Larger windows may require more robust mounting than mine.  After shimming, I will apply spray foam to the gap between the window box and window unit.  At that point it’s not coming out ever except with a sawsall.

I installed the doors exactly the same as the windows but had to do quite a bit more shimming to make the doors work properly.  The front door is very “sticky” on the bottom as the adjustable wiper seems to just be tight.  The back door works very nicely with just a small amount of resistance on the bottom.  Overall I am 100% not impressed with the doors I bought.  I only paid about $250 per door and maybe its just a case of getting what I paid for.  The doors are flexible and just don’t seem that solid.  I will be sure to install the trim in a manner that makes door replacement easy since I think its likely to happen.

Next steps

I still need to shim and insulate the windows.  There is also a number of odds and ends that need to be taken care of to complete the exterior installation.  Next weekend I will complete these and add floor joists to the front porch so I can begin framing it.

Insulation Nearing Completion

Another weekend of Bodega building is in the books and I have a few things to share.  I have been taking it easy the past weeks to recover from the roofing ordeal.  I went to a couple of gun shows, and to the range to get in some bang therapy.  Now I’m back at it again…just in time for arctic weather ;).

At this point I have three sides insulated with 4 inch foam.  I even installed one window to get my process down.  I’m posting a video tour so you can see the progress in person.  Just ignore my babbling…I just started shooting and thought very little about what I was going to say:

I completed the left side of the house and the upper section of the end which involved quite a bit of cutting.  The straight sections make use of the tongue and groove built into the foam product I am using.  The upper triangle section wound up with a lot of pieces with no tongue and groove.  For these pieces I made them a nice tight fit and applied a liberal amount of foam from the foam gun.  naturally, the seams are taped using Zip tape.

The pro-pak foam I am using has not worked very well in cold temps.  I had to run the heater and heat the cans to make them flow very well.  When warm they work great.

The corners are a bit tricky since you need to get the 8 inch headlok fasteners into studs and there is 4 inches of foam in the way.  I took 1×8 pine boards and made corners (I said 2×8 in the video that is wrong).  I wished I could have found a lesser grade of pine as this stuff cost me an arm and a leg but sometime time is worth more than money.

USing gorilla glue and epoxy coated screws I glued and screwed the boards together.  The corners were then attached using 8 inch headlok fasteners.  You can see from the pics that the headloks are pretty far from the corners.  These corners will allow me to attach the finish corner trim and leave a place to nail siding on.

I will do an entire post with pics on the window install.  I just wanted to do one so I could refine the technique.  There is an error on the one I installed (DO NOT COPY WHAT I DID) you will see that I got carried away with the Vycor flashing and put a piece on the bottom…this is incorrect and I will be removing it.

From my window installing session I learned that its better to have 2 people.  At one point the wind came along and knocked the window out of its opening almost taking out Ajax in the process.  Fortunately for Ajax and the window, neither were injured.  All the shipping hardware came dislodged which made the window a bit more difficult to install.

Wrap Up

This week we’re expected to get bitter cold and snow.  Hopefully the really cold weather will pass by next weekend so I can install the windows.  I’m also going door shopping this week, hope to find something rejected or returned to save some cash.

Exterior Insulation

Been taking a bit of time off to clear my head after getting the roof on.  I’ve just been puttering around with the wall insulation and cleaning up the job site.

Since I have 4 inches of insulation going on the walls, the window installation is a bit tricky.  The openings are framed to be 1.5 inches larger than the required rough opening called for by the window manufacturer.  This 1.5 inches get occupied with a box made from 3/4 plywood that sticks out 4 inches past the window opening.

photo 1

You install insulation around this opening and the window will attach over the foam.  I will post pics with the details of the window install since its going to be complicated.  I have selected 24×38 inch windows for my project….a bit small, but they are cheap ($127), energy efficient, and in stock at Lowes.

The doors get a similar treatment as the windows except 3/4 plywood is not strong enough IMO.  So I built a frame from 2x material and attached it using headlock fasteners to the door opening.

photo 2

I am not 100% sure how the door and trim will be attached, but its likely that the door will be installed flush with the inside of the wall.  The door frame will be extended to fill the width of the wall cavity.  The storm door will cover the opening on the outside.  I will have nearly 9 inches of space between my storm door and main door….nice for package deliveries I guess.

It is very important to maintain the integrity of the air sealing applied to the walls.  I used a generous amount of Lexel caulking around the window and door boxes.  I also applied the remainder of the Grace Ice and Water that I had left to the outside of each box.  When I ran out of that, I switched over to 6 inch Grace Vycor plus window sealing tape.

I highly recommend the Grace Vycor plus.  It sticks well even in freezing temps and is easier to form compared to the ice and water material.

Working With Foam

Cutting foam sheets can be done with any kind of saw but it makes an awful mess!  Think foam sawdust that sticks to everything and gets everywhere.  I found this knife at Lowes:

Using a straight edge and this knife locked with about 3 inches of the blade sticking out I was able to make nice clean cuts without any mess at all.  There are two models of this knife (large and small).  I found that the small version does a better job since the blade is thinner.  I think the secret to success is the thinnest longest blade you can find.  You will also need some spares as the foam does wear out the edge fairly quick.

Holding the foam in place

Before you start it’s really important to mark the studs so you can screw into them with your strapping.  I mark the tops of each stud with a 2 inch screw from the inside.  Then I go to the outside with a sharpie marker and hammer to mark the spot and hammer the screw back in.
I am applying 2 layers of 2 inch thick foam.  The first layer you can tack in place with 3 inch roofing nails.  Be warned:  the roofing nails will “sweat” since they are on the cold side.  Before you insulate inside, you need to cut them flush and put a dab of foam on them.  If you go nuts with them this will become a lot of work later on.  You only need one nail per sheet…just to hold it in place.

photo 3

The second layer you can use a piece of scrap plywood (see triangles in pics) with a 6 inch screw to hold the sheets together.  When you have enough sheets on, tape the seams and screw your strapping on.  I use five 8 inch headlok fasteners per 8ft of strapping.  The building gods recommend every 2 feet for most normal wooded siding (heavier siding needs more).  In case you are wondering, the siding will attach directly to the strapping leaving a 3/4 inch air gap.

photo 4

photo 5
By Sunday afternoon I had the left side and the lower section of the back completed.  I started on the right side, but ran out of vycor plus and called it a day.  Insulation goes pretty fast and i’m hoping to get the right side finished during this week after work.

Roof Insulation…check!

Last night I finished up all the bits and pieces needed to complete the roof insulation work.  What you see in the pic is 5 of the 8 layers completed.  Here’s a cross-section of what the completed roof will look like:

Screen shot 2012-12-06 at 4.08.40 PMAs you can see we still have the final layer of OSB, felt paper, and shingles to go.  I found an interesting way that one fellow used to hoist his sheating up to the roof I may try something similar.

Have a nice weekend!

The Weather is Starting to Suck

This weekend the weather was lousy for working up on the roof.  Saturday there was a 1/2 inch dusting of snow frozen to everything.  During the day it all melted and I was hopeful to get something accomplished on Sunday.  Unfortunately, Sunday began below freezing with a bit of freezing rain.  For the first time since construction begain I did no work on the house :(.

The past two days its been unseasonably warm so I took afternoons off to finish up the insulation on the other side of the house.  Last night about 8PM I finished up.  Tim also came over to help me put the tarp over the place to help keep the rain off of it.

This weekend we plan to install the final layer of sheating which will be a royal pain in the ass I expect.  Once the sheating is on I will install felt paper, drip edge, ridge vent, and shingles.  I also need to figure out where the wood stove chimney and plumbing vent will be installed.

Rigid Installation Lessons Learned

+ As I previously posted the length of fasteners I originally selected was 100% wrong!  Having installed 500SF +/- of roof insulation I can say that 8 inch fasteners are the way to go when installing 4 inches of foam.

+ Keeping track of the location of your joists is critical.  The method I used of driving screws from the inside to mark the joist locations works perfectly.  I marked each joist with sharpie marker and was able to transfer those marks onto the insulation.

+ Hitting joists with a 8 inch fastener is tricky!  I only had one or two 100% misses but about 40% partial misses where the fastener entered the joist about 1/4 inch from the edge and poked out the side.  It it possible to adjust the entry point of the fastener by an inch or more by leaning the top of the screw in the direction you want to go.  Having a helper watch from inside is invaluable (unless you like climbing ladders a million times….ask me how I know).

+ Stuff attached thru insulation is not exact.  The squishy nature of insulation makes can make it look like something wont line up but with a bit of patience and a hammer you can make it line up.  A strategically driven headlok fastener can also help in some cases.

+ Get a can of foam or a foam gun.  There will be places where the gap is larger than you like or you will have a damaged corner.  Filling in the gap with foam is fast and easy.  You are spending $18 per sheet why put up with gaps between sheets.

+ Working on the roof sucks.  Get staging, ladders, a safety harness and work safely.  One slip can mess you up badly!  If the roof is icy or snow take the day off its not worth getting messed up.

Thanksgiving Break Work Party

Over the Thanksgiving break Tim and I worked long and hard trying to get the roof completed.  Everything we did took four times longer than expected and while we managed to make good progress, there still is not a roof on the Bodega.  The end is in sight however.

The soffits are made from 3/4 plywood with 2×4’s screwed to them.  They were constructed in 8 foot lengths and screwed on to the building with 8 inch headlok fasteners.  They are a bit cantilevered since there is only foam behind them.  The strapping holding on the foam will join up and form a brace that prevents them from bowing under load. When the final layer of roof sheeting is screwed on it will provide additional support.  Even without the strapping, I was able to sit on them without any serious bowing.

To trim the soffits to length, we used the front and back overhangs as a guide.  A string was tied between the front and back ans we used it as a trimming guide.  As part of this process we compared the left to right overhang to see how even we are.  It turns out that the left side has 1/2 inch less overhang than the right side.  I suppose we could have extended one side but I doubt anyone will notice 1/2 inch difference…it did not seem worth the trouble.

With the soffits installed, we began the task of installing insulation.  The overhangs for the peak seemed to have settled and we actually had to unbolt one to get the foam under it (another hour wasted on the unexpected).  With the peak on, the rest of the insulation went as expected.  I used 3 inch wide Zip tape to seal the seams between sheets.

To secure the foam to the roof, I used 1×4 strapping with headlok fasteners.  To prepare the strapping, I used a 3/4 inch spade bit to provide a counterbore for the head of the fastener.  Then I drilled out the center with a 1/4 inch drill bit (you don’t want this to split).  Fasteners were placed every 24 inches with the ones on the edge being set in 6 inches.
Installing the strapping is tricky because you must get the fastener into the roof joists.  Unfortunately, the roof is covered in Ice and Water shield so there is no way to see where the joists are.  A stud finder is a useless POS when dealing with Ice and Water covered sheating.  The solution Tim and I devised (might have actually been Tim’s idea first) was to drive in a short drywall screw from the inside on either side of the joist.  On the roof side the midpoint between the screws is the joist.  You then mark the spot and keep transferring it to the insulation sheets as you install them.

As the strapping was installed, Tim watched from the inside and told me which way to move the fasteners that had missed.  On a miss all that is need is to lean the fastener in the direction you need to go. By “leaning” the fastener you can adjust its position by an inch and sometimes over an inch.

Originally I planned to used 6 inch deck style screws.  As we worked with them, it became clear that 6 inches was not enough to get a good hold in the wood.  I scanned the internet for a source of 8 inch deck screws and came up empty.  It seems that 6 inches is the longest “deck style” screw you can buy.  I made the executive decision to use Headlok fasteners instead (I really like them).

Naturally it was 2 days before the holiday and I needed to find someone who could ship them in fast.  A place in WI had them and could ship in time but it was going to cost me $480.  Before I hit the “place order” button I did a quick search on Amazon and hit pay dirt.  There was a supplier with two buckets of 250 pcs for $136 with Amazon Prime Shipping!  For $290 including expedited shipping I had 40 pounds of 8 inch headlock fasteners on my doorstep the next day!  My Amazon Prime account costs me $79 per year and saved me over 100 bucks on shipping for this one order….worth every penny!

The 8 inch fasteners work fantastic for attaching 4 inches of foam.  If I were doing 2 inches of foam the 6 inch fasteners would have been fine….live and learn.  I now have 2 cans of gold colored really long deck screws as a memorial to this project.

Wrap Up

The soffits are on and one side is fully insulated.  I have a small amount of trim work to do on that side and it will be ready for sheating.  The other side still needs insulation but the first tier was installed when I did the peak so it should go fairly quick.

Next weekend I hope to get that side insulated and trimmed.  Then we begin sheating which I think will take another weekend day to complete.  Then I’m ready for felt paper and shingles.  This roof is taking forever!!!

Air Barrier Installation

The outside of the Bodega needs to be covered with a barrier that will keep air from leaking in or out.  Additionally this barrier should be capable of shedding any water that manages to get past the siding and insulation.  The preferred product for this application is an ice and water shield used for roofing.  I chose the Grace product but there are others that are cheaper but are not a highly regarded as the Grace product.

I had managed to wrangle up some additional help on Saturday since much of the days activities were up high and it really helps to have support from the ground.  We started by removing all the roof jacks but still leaving the nails in place so they could be easily reinstalled.

We began the first row so that half the sheet was on the wall and half on the roof.  The Grace product has a little wire embedded called a “rip cord”.  This wire allows you to peel off half of the release paper and leave the other half still stuck to the sheet.  The temps on Sat while warm, were still not warm enough to have the material stick on its own.  It was a bit tacky, but not sticky.  As the day went on, I realized that this material is easier to work when it’s not sticking to itself and everything else.  As a test we places a few pieces in front of the heater and they became pretty difficult to manage.

Saturday end of day progress

The safety hook up close

Making it Stick

My process for installing the underlayment was to use a couple staples near the top of the sheet and get it positioned in the correct location.  I then went back with a paint striping heat gun and warmed up the edges which caused them to become sticky.  Kind of a “stick it in place” operation.

For the walls we used a similar approach as the roof but instead of the heat gun, we used the 60,000 BTU propane powered jet heater.  I picked up the heater and directly heated the underlayment while an assistant used a stiff broom to “squish” the underlayment to the wall.  We melted the bristles of the broom, but otherwise it worked very well.  The neighbor stopped by to see me holding a huge ass jet heater over my head as we worked on the third tier of air barrier….he thought it was a pretty funny sight (don’t try this at home I guess).

Inside shot…still need to trim air barrier around windows and doors

Overall it took about 18 hours of labor over 3 days to install the air barrier.  I wish things were going faster, but anything up on the roof seems to take forever.  Work on the walls did seem to go pretty quickly.

Next weekend the goal is to apply four inches of rigid foam to the roof and possibly the final layer of sheeting.  The following week will be the Thanksgiving break when I hope to be putting on shingles.  Once the shingles are on the pressure is off and I can work at whatever pace I want.


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Taking a Lync Polcom CX600 home to meet the family.

When demoing Lync to teams within Freebridge one of the hardest concepts to get across is that a phone number is now not tied to a bit of plastic that sits on your desk but it is now part of your user account (the same as your email).

Some people thought still like the idea of having a traditional looking handset to pick up. For these people we supply either the Polycom CX600 or the Plantronics P540. Once our end users have the freedom to login from anywhere (home, coffee shop, train) then they start asking can they use their handsets there too.

The P540 is a dumb USB device so just taking it home with you and plugging into an internet connected and Lync cliented PC means that “it just works.” The CX600 is a different beast. It’s an IP phone using Power Over Ethernet (POE) that when on the corporate network finds our front end pool and allows you to login fully on the phone.

When at home then you have a few barriers to overcome to get the CX600 to login.

Barrier Number One

It’s a POE phone.

I would wager that not many people have POE on their home network. So you will either need a POE injector or a power supply for the CX600

Barrier Number Two
The phone needs to know how to connect to the Edge Server.

For a phone that has been setup at work this is no problem. The phone already has the domain name that it needs to connect and authentication details saved into its internal memory and when it boots up on an external network it simply finds the Edge server and signs in with the cached credentials

For a new out of the box phone we have an issue though. The sign in on the phone is your extension and passcode. The phone has no knowledge of what that extension number connects to and as such will fail to find the Edge server. The solution is to plug the USB cable into a computer that has Lync on it and then us the “better together” feature to pass the network credentials from the Lync client on the computer to the phone which will then be provisioned to find the Edge server and log in successfully in future.
CX600 plugged into BT Home Hub and connected to Edge server

Outlook not showing attachments

One of our users contacted the ServiceDesk to say that they were no longer getting attachments from specific senders. The email would show the paperclip icon but when the email was opened no attachments were there.

The emails were all from users of Applemail and the end user was on our Exchange 2007 server.

Client was Outlook 2007, upgrading them to Outlook 2010 didn't help.

Only change on the server was the patch Update Rollup 3-v2 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 3 (KB2530488) was applied to the server.

To fix on our server I followed http://support.microsoft.com/kb/954684 which was to run the following PowerShell command:

set-OrganizationConfig -ShowInlineAttachments:$true
After running the command I restarted the Transport service and the test email came through correctly.

Performing a Consultative Transfer using Lync

A consultative transfer is a common scenario where before transferring a call to someone you want to contact the person you’re transferring to first to ensure they are able to take the call. Let’s walk through this scenario to show how this is accomplished using Lync.

Matt Webster has called me and is inquiring about the project we are working on.

As I don’t have the experience in this specific project, I start a new phone call with Andy Robinson from the Contact List, the project manager for this specific project.

When I start the new call to Andy, Matt’s call is automatically put on hold.

Andy has indicated that he is free to take the call, so I return to Matt’s conversation window and click on the Transfer Button. The transfer menu automatically includes people I’m currently talking to, so I’m able to select Andy from here.

While the call is transferred I can see the status from both Matt’s and Andy’s conversation window. After the transfer has completed both windows are closed :)

The beautiful part about Lync is that you are not just limited to consulting using a phone call. Next time you want to consult someone before transferring, try using an IM.

As you can see from this simple scenario, the ability to consult with someone before sending a phone call to them can be quite useful in ensuring that the person is available, and has the background required to help the caller.

This blog post uses the text from http://blogs.technet.com/b/lync/archive/2009/10/21/using-consultative-transfer.aspx but with the images of Lync instead of OCS for all us early adopters!

Feel free to add me on your Lync - sip:tobie.fysh@freebridge.org.uk

Lync 2010 forgetting contacts

I have a problem with Lync 2010 on Windows 7 SP1 with Office 2010. Excahnge 2007
It is reproducible across other machines in the organisation on both Outlook 2007 and 2010.
The problem is as follows:

Create a contact with an email address and phone number in your personal contacts in Outlook

Then switch to Lync and search for the contact and add them

As you can see the contact is added with all information present.

Logout of Lync and back in, Lync will then try to sync contacts with Outlook (shown by updating…)

After a while the sync finishes but the contacts do not have the details left in them to be able to phone the contact. Sort of defeats the point of adding it in the first place.

Sophos Install on Vista/W7

Have recently upgraded to Sophos Enterprise Manager 4.5

Still didn't seem to be a way to push the install to the more modern of the Microsoft Windows family so had to work out how to script it.

I could see the PC's that were not showing up as connected in the Enterprise manager and hacked together this script:

e:\pstools\psexec.exe \\ComputerToInstallTo -u Domain\Adminitrator -p Password -h -i \\SophosServer\SophosUpdate\CIDs\S000\SAVSCFXP\setup.exe -mng Yes -crt R -user Domain\Administrator -pwd Password -s yes -ni yes

The PC that you are trying to push Sophos to needs to be logged on but only as a standard user

For information about the above check out these two help pages:

An Alarming Time (or Facebook stalking works out)

I live beside a Gardman warehouse, the one that is mentioned in this press release.

For some reason the alarm at the building was triggered between the end of 2010 and the start of 2011 (Saturday), being a good neighbour I wandered down to the sign saying who looked after the building to see if they were aware.

On phoning the local security company (GSL Darden) they informed me the key holder had been contacted but he was in Essex and it would be a while before he turned up.

A second night of the alarm sounding went by and (now Sunday) I again phoned GSL who told me that the key holder had decided to stay in Essex until late Monday probably Tuesday.

Humm – that’s a bit of a pain as this alarm is getting slightly annoying now. So what to do?

  1. I rang all the numbers I could find on the Gardman website (http://www.gardman.co.uk/contact-us) and got either no reply or automated “thanks for calling but we are closed”
  2. Searched Twitter for an account -Found @gardman but don’t think that Keith Lee is the guy I need!
  3. Did a bit of digging for directors names and came up with:
  • Mark Pearson (CEO)
  • Tim Stainton (Commercial Director)
Thought about buying the financial reports online from Companies House to get home details (did that before to get them for First Choice when they gave poor customer service) but didn’t want to spend the money.

So where to turn next...... FACEBOOK :-)

So, lets start at the top – Mark Pearson, I found this profile : http://www.facebook.com/mark.d.pearson who is friends with a Tim Stainton but not sure its the CEO

On to Tim – he was easier to find as he has a nice clear photo http://www.facebook.com/tim.stainton and reading down from his (unsecured) wall there is this comment about B&Q.

When you refer to http://www.diyweek.net/news/news.asp?id=12511 you can see that Tim came from B&Q in the past and he also has a boat http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=226355&id=777438972

so I’m thinking reasonably successful guy with the same name – probably a match.

It's time to craft a message to him:

Hi Tim,

Sorry to disturb you on a Sunday but myself and my family have been disturbed by one of the security alarms on your new West Lynn site since New Years Day. The site is the one this press release is about :

I phoned the local security company, who tell me that the key holder has been informed but wont be back until late Monday or probably Tuesday when the site re-opens.

I think this is a tad antisocial and would appreciate if you would please get someone to site earlier to firstly turn off the alarm and secondly for your peace of mind ensure that the site and products are secure.

With kindest regards
Tobie Fysh

I’ll post any response that I get.


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We are giving you this detailed information as part of our drive to comply with recent EU legislation regarding cookies and to make sure that we are totally honest, upfront and clear about your privacy when you visit Toft.  Our ethos largely focuses on being fair and ethical to our customers and suppliers and we are seriously passionate about leading by example.

What we collect

We may collect the following information: –

  • Name
  • Contact information including email address

What we do with the information we gather

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons: –

  • Internal record keeping
  • We may use the information to improve our products and services

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure.  In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

Controlling your personal information

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998.  A small fee will be payable.  If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to Toft.

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Fuji X-Pro1 on Vacation | Santa Fe, New Mexico | David Moore

See on Scoop.itFuji X-Pro1

There’s travel photography, and then there’s vacation photography. In the first you’re traveling to shoot, and your time and gear is chosen carefully to deliver great images. In the second, you’re just on holiday and like everyone else, you want to bring a camera along. This is specifically a review of using the camera on a family vacation – I wasn’t sent to England and France on assignment, nor did I spend lots of time there specifically going out to shoot. But I did want to bring a camera that wasn’t going to annoy me. Those of you who have been following along for a while will remember that it was a vacation trip to California last year that pushed me into looking for a smaller but high-performing camera. The willing but somewhat limited Olympus EPL2 has now been and gone, and it was the Fuji X-Pro1 (and 18mm F/2.0 and 35mm f/1.4 lenses) that made the trip with us across the Atlantic…

See on www.clearingthevision.com

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Fujifilm X100S Camera – Hands-On Preview | Imaging Resource

The Fujifilm X100 launched the highly successful X-series of cameras, offering great image quality in a relatively compact body, with loads of enthusiast-pleasing features and a unique „hybrid“ optical viewfinder. It was apparently very successful for its maker, with Fujifilm claiming sales of 130,000 units worldwide, not bad for a $1,200 rangefinder-style camera. The Fuji X100S is the successor to the X100, and while it looks very similar to its predecessor on the outside, the inside has seen some dramatic improvements.

Sensor. First and foremost, the Fuji X100S‘ sensor uses Fujifilm’s unique X-Trans technology, first introduced in the X-Pro1 in early 2012. We were very impressed with the X-Pro1’s image quality, but the Fuji X100S promises to go it a few steps better. Dubbed X-Trans II, the new sensor offers 25% higher resolution than in the X100, a better signal to noise ratio (30% lower noise, or about a one-stop ISO advantage) and on-chip phase detection elements for faster focusing. The updated sensor also boasts 16.3 megapixels, compared to the 12.3 megapixels of the original. The result is image quality that should not only be better than that of the higher-end removable-lens X-Pro1 and XE-1 models, but a quantum leap over that of the original X100.

Phase-detect autofocus. On-chip phase detection autofocus is a pretty big deal, too. Compared to contrast detect focusing, phase detect AF tells the camera how much it needs to move the lens to bring the subject into focus after just a single „look“ at the subject. By comparison, contrast detect AF requires the camera to repeatedly shift focus, then check whether the result is better or worse than with the previous setting. It thus unavoidably takes multiple steps to achieve sharp focus, greatly slowing the process, although it does have the advantage of confirming the precise point of focus very accurately. Cameras with on-chip phase detect typically take the best of both worlds, using a hybrid system that quickly approximates the focus correction needed with phase detection, and then fine-tuning the result for accuracy using contrast detection.

Digital Split-Image Focus Assist. You have to be of a certain age to remember split-image focusing screens, but we loved how easy they made it to achieve sharp focus. Features like focus peaking, which puts a colored outline around edges in an image that are sharply focused, help make it easier to determine focus, but we’ve always found the feature to be a bit too general for our tastes. (Does the fatter highlight mean it’s more in focus, or is that just because the contrasty area is wider? Is a given part of the image slightly behind or in front of the plane of focus? It’s simply not specific enough in the information it provides.) In a stroke of digital cleverness, Fujifilm has revived the split-image focus aid, but this time in digital form. The image inset above right gives an idea of what the effect looks like……
Summary. While we’ll obviously have to withhold judgement until we can put a sample of the Fuji X100S through its paces in our lab, it has the look of that truly rare beast in the camera world: the automatic upgrade. If you like your X100, you’ll probably want to run — not walk — to the nearest camera store or friendly internet retailer, to lay hands on the new X100S. We expect the improvements to be pretty dramatic.
See full article on www.imaging-resource.com

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Archives for May, 2012

MBT files for bankruptcy

MBT shoes seem to be in trouble. The parent company, Masai Marketing & Trading AG, in Switzerland has filed for bankruptcy and the United Kingdom distributor has been placed in administration.

Skechers settle with the FTC for $40 million

The Federal Trade Commission have announced that Skechers have agreed to pay $40 million to settle the charges it misled consumers with claims that its toning sneakers could do everything from help users lose weight to make their “bottom half their better half” without ever going to a gym. The settle will be used to provide refunds to the buyers of shape-ups. This follows the previous settlement with Reebok for $25 million

As part of the settlement, Skechers are barred from making unsubstantiated claims about the health and fitness benefits of Shape-ups and related footwear. The commission alleged Skechers also made deceptive claims about its Resistance Runner, Toners, and Tone-ups shoes.

They also claim a chiropractor named Steven Gautreau recommended the product based on a clinical study he claimed was “independent” and tested the shoes’ benefits compared to regular fitness shoes, the FTC said. The study did not produce the results claimed in the ad, the FTC said. Skechers also failed to disclose that Gautreau is married to a Skechers marketing executive and Skechers paid him to do the study, the FTC said.

In a statement Skecker’s stated:

“While we vigorously deny the allegations made in these legal proceedings and looked forward to vindicating these claims in court, Skechers could not ignore the exorbitant cost and endless distraction of several years spent defending multiple lawsuits in multiple courts across the country,”

Shoes that employ toning technology have been sold in the United States for more than 15 years and have been the subject of numerous research projects with at least 19 reports published in peer-reviewed clinical and sports medicine journals. Researchers from around the world have analyzed various models of toning shoes and found demonstrable fitness benefits from walking and standing in such shoes, as compared to flat-bottomed athletic footwear.

Link to the FTC press release.
Link to the Skechers Press Release

Minimalist Running Shoes

Minimalist shoes are the opposite of the toning shoes. While the toning shoes are unstable and use this instability to increase muscle activity, the minimalist shoe relies on the lack of support to change the gait to get a training effect. The minimalist or barefoot movement is a hot topic at the moment in the running community.

The first part of the debate that is going on is just what is a minimalist running shoe? A minimalist running shoe is supposed to be so minimal that the way the foot functions is supposed to mimic the motion of barefoot without any shoes. Some believe anything covering the foot is enough to interfere with foot function. Others believe otherwise. A minimalist shoe has no cushioning like the traditional running shoe. They have no support like the traditional running shoe and they have no differential in heel height between the forefoot and rearfoot.

Are there any advantages to minimalist running shoes? They are not for everyone. The transition to a minimal running shoe from a traditional running shoe is a long slow and gradual process (at least it should be). Minimalist running shoes encourage a forefoot strike and eliminate the impacts associated with heel striking. TO run more lightly this way in the minimalist running shoes requires greater muscle activity and does predispose those muscles and associated tendons to greater injury risk. A large number of people who have made the transition are claiming that they are getting less injuries since doing so. However, all those who work in running injury clinics are also aware of the higher injury rate that is occurring. There is no clear evidence on any advantages of heel striking vs rearfoot striking, just a lot of opinions.

Toning Shoes and Heel Pain

According to MBT:

MBTs can be helpful for plantar fasciitis as they reduce the pressure in the arches of the feet where the plantar fascia lies. You will need to gradually wean into wearing the MBTs and over time they will help to gently stretch the plantar fascia whilst protecting it and strengthening the muscles which support it.

Heel Pain Resources:
Pain in the Heel | Heel Pain | Heel Pain | Heel Pain | Heel Pain | Heel Pain


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History and the park

Loire chateau-hotel - The Domaine de la Tortinière’s history and park

The Domaine de la Tortinière is a luxury hotel at the heart of the Loire châteaux. The Amboise, Chenonceau and Blois châteaux are all worth a visit, just to mention a few. This unique setting, steeped in history, extends to the heart of the château de la Tortinière itself.

Mr and Mrs Capron bought the Tortinière from Mrs Saillard in 1954 and transformed it into a hotel in 1955. They have four daughters. It was the eldest, Denise Olivereau-Capron, who looked after the guests and ensured their well-being for the next 40 years.

Her son Xavier and Anne, his wife, both graduates of the Hotel School in Lausanne, are the third generation to manage this attractive château-hotel, which now has 30 rooms... and only time will tell if a fourth generation will continue the tradition!

Hotel stay

Enjoy a pleasant stay at the heart of the Château-Hotel Domaine de la Tortinière, surrounded by the Loire châteaux.

Since becoming a château-hotel, the Tortinière has had the privilege of welcoming many famous faces from various fields: in 1973, Georges Pompidou, the French President at the time, came on a private visit; not long thereafter, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who was the Finance Minister at the time, the Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter, the writer Françoise Sagan, Audrey Hepburn, Simone Valère, Jean Desailly and Pierre Bertin from the Comédie Française, Gérard Depardieu, Pierre Richard, Pierre Perret, Juliette Binoche, Sabine Azéma, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Inna and many others.

Set off from the château-hotel on a journey of discovery of the Loire châteaux and treat yourself to a stay that is filled with history and surprises.

Map of the establishment

The Renaissance chalet is 30m from the Château

The Pressoir building (hidden behind the trees) is 50m from the Château

The Tilleuls buildings are 60m from the Château, as are the Vieux Logis buildings

Park Chateaux of the Loire Valley - Domaine de la Tortinière

The Tortinière park

Between the months of August and December, a carpet of pink and white wild cyclamens covers the undergrowth, putting on a magical show.

Perfect for romantic walks and botanic discovery, the cyclamen flower is a symbol of the sincerity of romantic sentiments.

The cyclamen is an extraordinary plant. It is one of the rare plants that bury their seeds thanks to a sort of spring which uncoils and plants the seed around 10cm from the mother shoot!

Here’s an interesting fact - a cyclamen bulb can live longer than one hundred years!

The Domaine de la Tortinière is pleased to welcome you in its park stretching over 15 hectares, host to thousands of treasures such as the two-hundred-year-old Lebanese Cedars that surrounds the Château. the Redwoods and many more...


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Tweet #SpursAtWembley to turn the arch white

Posted on 27 February 2015  - 08:27

In the build-up to Sunday’s Capital One Cup final we are up against Chelsea in a bid to turn the famous Wembley arch Tottenham Hotspur white! The standings as of 11am today (Friday, February 27) are below.

We’ll have to wait until 4pm on Sunday to tackle Chelsea on the pitch but we can score an early social media victory over the Blues by using #SpursAtWembley on Twitter more times than their official hashtag. The more you tweet using #SpursAtWembley the whiter the arch will go and the less Chelsea blue we will see.

The innovative social media vote is the first time the iconic arch has been utilised in this way to let fans decide how the national stadium looks ahead of a major cup final. It will also be the first time it has ever been lit up in a football club’s colours.

The League is tracking the use of two designated hashtags on Twitter throughout this week - our is #SpursAtWembley. The hashtag that receives most use on the social network before 6pm on Saturday will be declared the winner and the arch will be lit up in that club’s colours the night before the Capital One Cup Final.

Updates on the #OwnTheArch vote standings will be provided via the @CapitalOne_Cup Twitter account throughout the week, with the arch itself lit up to show the latest standings from Thursday evening.

So be sure to tell your wives, husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends, pets, friends and family to tweet their messages or photos of support for the team using #SpursAtWembley as many times as possible before the deadline on Saturday 28 February.

Follow @SpursOfficial on Twitter for LIVE updates and images of the arch as we attempt to make it a whitewash.

Support your club - use #SpursAtWembley and let’s turn Wembley white!


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Our Other Websites

Leveraging 100% Middle-earth, 100% Pure New Zealand webinar

Tourism New Zealand is working hard to convert the international attention New Zealand will draw from The Hobbit trilogy into travel.

We're making a significant international push for new international visitors, with our latest 100% Pure New Zealand campaign, invoking the magic of Middle-earth.

On Tuesday 25 September, Catherine Bates, General Manager International Brand and PR provided an overview of the work Tourism New Zealand is doing to leverage the November world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, in particular with the International Media Programme and trade.

Tim Burgess, General Manager Australia followed up discussing how 100% Middle-earth, 100% Pure New Zealand was launched in Australia, and how other activity in market is being rolled out tapping into the Middle-earth theme.

To see a summary of the key points discussed in the webinar download the document here.


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Zoos in Copenhagen

Browse 62 attractions, meet 12 travelers, 3 tour guides and discover 211 photos

Travelers are voting Copenhagen Zoo as the best zoo in Copenhagen. There is 1 zoo in Aalborg a city just 306 km from Copenhagen. The most popular of these is Aalborg Zoo in Aalborg. You can find 2 Zoo in the country of Denmark and Copenhagen Zoo is our members favorite Zoo in all of Denmark. Want more? Check out our map of zoos in Copenhagen.


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Map of Cities in Clark County

Browse 115 attractions, meet 18 travelers, 16 tour guides and discover 305 photos

This map features 15 cities in Clark County. TouristLink also features a map of all the cities in Nevada. Want more information? Check out this list of top ranking cities in Clark County

Where are you going?

Check out our photos of "Cities in Clark County." Click a photo of a city to see its location on the map and find out more information. We have photos of all 104 tourist attractions around Clark County or add your own (Click here to browse them).

  • Las Vegas
  • Blue Diamond
  • Mountain Springs
  • Mesquite
  • Mount Charleston
  • Primm
  • Boulder City
  • North Las Vegas
  • Jean
  • Laughlin
  • Cottonwood Cove
  • Henderson
  • Overton
  • Goodsprings


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Welcome the Town of Clayton, North Carolina

Keeping Clayton safe is a team effort.

4 Girl Scout TroopThe Clayton Police Department Community Action team was formed to be the direct link from the police department to the community we serve.  We have two dedicated officers who provide dozens of services to the residents of the Town of Clayton:

  • Community Watch Programs
  • Tours of the Clayton Law Enforcement Center
  • Drug Presentations
  • Safe Driving Presentations
  • Fraud Presentations
  • Bicycle Rodeos for neighborhoods and civic groups
  • Work to provide public service announcements
  • Security Presentations
  • Provide crime prevention information and presentations
  • Plan and implement informative presentations based of the communities concerns or request
  • McGruff the Crime Dog
  • Park patrols
  • Greenway patrols
  • Residential Patrols
  • Drug Disposal Box in lobby of Clayton Law Enforcement Center
  • Planning and implementing security and traffic control tactics for special events within the town of Clayton
  • Responding to community concerns by developing plans of actions and implementing these plans
  • Work with school officials to provide officers for safety related events such as S.A.V.E. week
  • Provide officers to answer questions and vehicles to display at public events
  • Monitor the Clayton Crime Stoppers tip line

What sort of crime prevention presentations or educational programs does the Community Action Team provide?

As mentioned above the Community Action Team provides a variety of presentations and educations programs.  These presentations and programs are develop in response to residents requests or concerns.  We continue to develop new presentation as this unit continues to learn about the concerns of the residents of Clayton.  Since the implementation of the Community Action Team we have conducted presentations on a variety of topics (listed below); however we are not limited to these topics.  If a group within the community has a specific concern the Community Action Team will research the concern and provide some type of informational presentation based off the research.  Below are some of the current programs/presentations which that the Team has been requested to provide to the community:

  • Bicycle Rodeo – discuss with youth the safety concerns of riding a bicycle and provide cone courses for them to practice which promotes safe riding skills
  • Fraud Presentations
  • Safe Driving
  • Elderly Scam
  • Holiday Safety
  • Security for businesses and religious organizations (Q&A setting)
  • Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
  • Stranger Danger
  • Motorcycle Safety
  • Child Restraint Systems
  • Dangers of Drugs
  • Domestic Abuse
  • Bullying
  • Community Watch

What does someone need to do to take advantage of these programs?

Contact the Clayton Police Department’s Special Operations Unit office at 919-550-0826 and talk to and officer reference to your concern or request.  This office is not always staffed during normal business hours so please leave a message and a Community Action Team member will contact you back.

What is a community watch?

A community watch is a crime prevention program that enlists active participation of residents in cooperation with law enforcement to reduce crime, solve community problems, and improve the quality of life throughout an area.  Through a community watch program participants will learns strategies to:

  • Recognize and report crimes and suspicious activities
  • Protect yourself, your family, and your property
  • Protect your neighbor’s family and property
  • Identify crime and disorder problems in your area and work with Clayton Police Department personnel to resolve these problems

Community watch operates to educate participants in the principles of deterrence, delay, and detection.  The program is designed for residents to work with the Clayton Police Department instead of relying on law enforcement to solve all their problems alone.  Community watches across the nation have shown to be effective in decreasing crime while giving the community a greater sense of involvement.   Community watch programs work by:

  • Residents within the community working with the Clayton Police Department to reduce crime and improve the overall quality of life in the area
  • Residents within the community taking on leadership roles and accepting responsibility for their community
  • Residents within the community meeting to discuss their concerns, and developing a plan of action to address those concerns
  • Residents within the community joining together in a cooperative effort to create a sense of community and put the neighbor back into neighborhood

We currently have active community watches in the following neighborhoods:

  • Riverwood
  • Glen Laurel
  • Glen Haven
  • Cobblestone
  • Garrison

If a community within the town limits of Clayton is interested in developing a community watch program they need to contact the Clayton Police Department’s Special Operations Unit office at 919-550-0826 and talk to and officer.  This office is not always staffed during normal business hours so please leave a message and a Community Action Team member will contact you back.

What can I do with old prescription drugs or medicine?

We all have old prescriptions lining our medicine cabinet or random pills in our bathroom drawers that we can’t quite remember the name of. You might think it’s smart to hold on to them JUST IN CASE, but those drugs you’re letting languish in your home could lead to addiction, be swallowed by a child or grandchild, make someone sick because they’re out of date, or even harm the water supply when you flush them down the drain.

Now the Clayton Police Department is making it easy for you to get rid of those drugs – just drop by the Clayton Law Enforcement Center at 315 East Second Street and drop them in the drug disposal box right in the lobby. No questions asked! No paper work to fill out! You can come by any time 8am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday.

The free program was started on July 1st 2012 when the Clayton Rotary Clubs generously offered to pay for the collection box. The program was immediately popular and in the first year, Clayton Police collected more than 140 pounds of medications. There is a 5-gallon tote bag inside the drop box and on several occasions, the tote has been emptied on a Monday morning and was found overflowing again in less than four days.

Although legally prescribed drugs serve a useful medical purpose, they can be deadly if they get into the wrong hands and are misused. Cleaning out medicine cabinets and safely disposing of old prescription and over-the-counter drugs can save lives.

The Clayton Police Department continues to receive calls from residents outside of Clayton wishing to use our program and the Town welcomes that!

The types of drugs that people have dropped off include common over-the-counter medications, such as acetaminophen and Nyquil as well as Ben-Gay cream, vitamins, suppositories, and caffeine pills. The most frequently surrendered controlled substances include Alphamethadol, Codeine, Hydrocodone, Morphine, Oxycodone, Ketamine, Testosterone, Alprozolam, Clonazepam, Prozac, Valium, Ritalin, among thousands of other pills.

The disposal box is intended to make the community safer, prevent potential misuse and to protect the environment. The only items that can’t be dropped in the box include syringes and liquids.

New Peddler Ordinance to Thwart Non-Legitimate Door-to-Door Sales

Starting in February 2015, anyone selling or peddling products door-to-door must obtain a $50 permit.  Not only that, they must provide valid IDs and go through a criminal background check.  No one with any felony convictions, sex offenses, drug or fraud charges in the last 10 years will be allowed to get a permit.  And even if someone is approved for a permit, it's only good for 30 days and must be renewed for another $25.

The picture to the right is the ID issued by the Town of Clayton Police Department.  If the person at your door does not display an ID like this one - they do not have the required permit to sell in the Town of Clayton.  The police have also begun to add the expiration date to this ID badge so be sure to check for that.

You may also request to see the actual permit.  The sales person is required to have it with them.  Some people have reported that sales people are displaying letters that claim to exempt them from our permit process.  The Town of Clayton Police Department nor the Town issue any such type of exemption letters.

NO ONE can solicit at homes before 9:00 AM or after 8:00 PM.

If someone knocks on your door selling something, you can ask to see their identification badge and permit issued by the Clayton Police Department.  If they refuse to show their badge or become aggressive, threatening or intimidating, close your door and call 911.  Keep any printed info the salesperson may have given you and write down a description of the person, their vehicle or where they were headed.

Wondering if your girl scout or boy scout now will need to get a permit to sell their cookies or popcorn?  They don't.  Town Council made an exception for anyone operating for educational, religious, charitable or non-profit purposes.

You can check out the ordinance by clicking here.  If you have questions or want to report a solicitor, call out Police Department anytime at 919-553-4611.

Latest News
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Trade Cards Online
games : The War (Russian game) : Stalingrad III
Sniper group card scan: click to enlarge

Sniper group:

First line unit
Own attack phase, Tap, {D}: tap one opponent's unit on 1st line

  • Number: ST-259
  • Rarity: C
  • Card Type: Line infantry
  • Team Affiliation: Soviet Union
  • ATK / DEF: 1/1
  • Building or Playing Cost: 2/1/0
  • Line: 1 Infantry
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Trade Cards Online
games : Duel Masters : Stomp-a-Trons Of Invincible Wrath
Trench Scarab card scan: click to enlarge

Trench Scarab:

This creature can't attack players.
Power attacker +4000 (While attacking, this creature gets +4000 power.)
Since their sharp blades are dangerous even to one another, these Insects tend to live alone.

  • Collector Number: 110
  • Rarity: Common
  • Type: Creature
  • Race: Giant Insect
  • Power: 4000+
  • Mana Number: 1
  • Cost: 3
  • Civilization: Nature
  • Artist: Iron Pot
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David Weisberger
Traders Magazine Online News

Stop the BS & Promote Real Transparency!

In this shared blog, David Weisberger says a recent WSJ article is wrong and that traders do need to purchase faster and more comprehensive market data to avoid being fined for violating "Best Execution" obligations.

Traders Poll

Is information leakage a major concern of yours when you trade?

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April 1, 2000

Cover Story: Back to the Future

By Peter Chapman

Also in this article

  • Cover Story: Back to the Future

A new team is ready for the major leagues on the equity-trading desk at First Union Securities in Baltimore. First Union is embarking on a transition from retail trading focused on value stocks, to institutional market making focused on mid-cap growth stocks.

On the way, the broker dealer unit of Charlotte's First Union Corp., the sixth largest bank in the U.S., hired and fired dozens of traders. The brokerage is also committing $150 million in capital and dropping market making in a third of the 465 stocks it had traded.

First Union Securities is no investment banking powerhouse but the 50-person trading team is being nudged in that direction by management, which is intent on joining the industry's elite.

First Union's desk now comprises eight listed principal traders, 12 OTC traders, 10 OTC agency traders and 20 sales traders. There is an additional support team of 50 pros.

At the helm is Mickey Misera, a 19-year veteran of Alex. Brown & Sons and its successor firm under Bankers Trust.

His mandate: to build an equity capital markets group so that First Union's banking clients think of First Union first when they need to issue stock. The new strategy will be officially launched this month. Misera, a managing director and head of equity capital markets, oversees research, sales and trading.

The desk traded about 12 million Nasdaq and 4.3 million listed shares each day in February, according to Thomson Financial's AutEx/Block Data. Volume has been steadily climbing since the start of 1999. Due mainly to earlier acquisitions, volume is up fourfold since 1997.

Today, the equity capital markets unit occupies two floors in a skyscraper in the heart of Baltimore's swank financial district. Neighbors on the block include Alex. Brown (now part of Deutsche Bank), as well as Legg Mason, Ferris Baker Watts and T.Rowe Price.

Misera hired pros he knew and trusted. He selected his former boss at Alex. Brown, Mike Murphy, to run the trading room. Murphy had left Alex. Brown in the late '80s, spending the next decade in New York as a buy-side trader.

Most recently, he headed trading at Kerns Capital Management in the Big Apple. Murphy's right hand man is Chris Holter, who runs Nasdaq trading. He had the same job at Alex. Brown. Both are managing directors.

Others in the top ranks of the trading team are Jim Whelan, listed principal trading, and Tom King, sales trading, both Alex. Brown alumni.

Gale Force

First Union is obviously not short of Alex. Brown pros. Indeed, the transformation taking place at First Union owes much of its momentum to a raid on BT Alex. Brown, the firm created when Bankers Trust bought Alex. Brown in 1997. About one third of BT Alex. Brown's trading team, 30 traders and sales pros, were nabbed last summer by First Union.

The defection was probably the largest mass exodus of trading talent since a renegade group of traders and bankers bolted for Thomas Weisel Partners from Montgomery Securities. That occurred in 1997 when Montgomery Securities was acquired by Nationsbanc.

Misera and Holter say they were both unhappy at BT Alex. Brown.


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Alan Campbell

Alan James Campbell

Born: January 21, 1948 in Arbroath, Angus County, Scotland

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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Zane: I guess this is what it's like

No choice but to get used to it now... ladies, I'm one of you.

That's a freaky thought. I've had a week to get used to it, but it still doesn't make sense to me. I wake up and I think I'm still me for a split second, then my hand reaches over and pats my breast and... woop. There it is.

I was the last one to open up a suitcase. Anthony was first, showing what a good sport he is. Also he needed to find a pair of glasses because I guess his girl-body has vision problems. Shaun and Lisa followed suit because even though they're in strangers' bodies, they're not all that different. I just laid in bed all day overheating in my sleepwear trying to pretend it was all some sick dream.

Before I even read the letter I was not a fan of this chick. She did not pack any jeans or slacks or what I would call "sensible" underwear. I guess it's too much to ask that a girl wear boxers, but all I'm left with are these little triangles of fabric. I looked at these things thinking "these things are gonna choke me to death down there" but no, they slipped on nice and snug. There was nothing really "guyish" to wear, it was all summer dresses, light, billowy, flauncy things with girly patterns on them. Anthony convinced me to put one one just to see how it felt. I felt like a guy in a dress. He said I looked fine but I felt ridiculous. I'm not used to showing a lot of skin, so these wee thin straps over my shoulders, and the way it just barely comes up over my chest... I look down and I can see right down between my... my thingies.

I don't want to have them.

I love them, I do, on women. They're great to look at and I can't deny the longer I have a set of my own the more I cup them and rub them and smoosh them, but then a feeling goes through my body and I remember these are ATTACHED to me and that's not right. They feel inconvenient to jam into these stupid bras and dresses, even though they're not that big. They're just these little bobbles of flesh that bounce a bit when I move too quickly.

So let's talk about this woman. Clara, 24... a model from California. And I would think "Hey if I have to live someone's life, it seems really easy to be someone who's just hot for a living." But it sounds like a lot of stress, because half her letter to me was intricately describing her lifestyle, workout routines, diet, beauty regiments, blah, blah... as my eyes scrolled down this lengthy list of directions on hos to be this girl, I just felt sick. Like I wasn't in charge of anything anymore. Claustrophobic. She's in control of me. There's nothing I can do.

We're going to California tomorrow and I'm taking a break from writing out my own letter to let you know about me.

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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Tori: Christmas is here again

This is my fourth Christmas as a woman. This year, because there's not a ton going on in my life, I found myself thinking back to the first one.

I remember the stress of getting presents for a "family" that still felt largely like strangers, or at most recent acquaintances. I remember drilling the "real" Tori for ideas for mom and my brother Ken and my relief that I could relate somewhat to my new tech-loving dad and tomboyish sister Mae.

I remember having to feign excitement on Christmas morning as I opened boxes of cosmetics and fashions and jewellery that reminded me how uncomfortable I was in my new body, how the world wanted me to look, how much I didn't know. It was intimidating and scary and frustrating and annoying... and because I was "playing" Tori, I had to smile.

Then a little later I took it all out and laid all the clothes out on my bed and thought how it wasn't any different from what I was already wearing... clothes are clothes, after all, and even more, these would be clothes that the first Tori never wore, stuff that was all mine from the first go, picked out for me by someone with a better sense than I had. It was like how I went shopping with Karen when I visited her down in Louisville.

I'm still not exactly a fashionista, but I at least enjoy buying clothes, and I certainly don't mind dressing up now and again, if the situation calls for it. Most importantly, I enjoy, rather than resent, getting them as gifts. As a man I didn't need much in the way of new clothing, and it's still true that most of the year if I know I want something I buy it for myself... but the unexpected upside to the world of women is that there are always more clothes and accessories. Once I would have thought they were just for frivolous, style-obsessed girly girls, but even basic chicks like me can appreciate a nice-fitting top or a cool scarf.

It's taken a few years, but I've finally gotten the hang of these extended family gatherings... there were so many uncles and aunts and cousins I just never saw often enough to learn their names. It's been long enough that cousins who were just tweens when I met them are blossoming into wonderful gawky teens.

When Ken and Jana arrived with the baby, the family all congregated around to hear their tales of new parenthood. I'll admit, I love them as much as anything in this whole world but I've seen a lot of them lately, and I've heard all the stories, and they had a lot of people to catch up with, so I excused myself to the basement to idly putter around.

Surprisingly, I was followed by my sister Mae. One of my early great memories was from that first Christmas, bonding with Ken. Mae and I have gotten closer, but she remains elusive. I've been wrapped up in my own life too, so I don't blame her, that I don't really know what's going on with her.

I welcomed her into the rec room and cracked her a beer. "Don't tell anyone I gave you this."

"Everyone knows I drink," she said.

"Yeah, but I'm not supposed to approve."

"So how are you doing?" she asked, "With the breakup and all."

A few years ago she wouldn't have asked, except to bait me for snark, but she seemed genuinely interested. "Honestly? I don't know. Alex and I left things off on such a... weird note. But I miss him."

"Think you'd get back together?" she swigged.

"Out of the question. The reason we broke up... well, he wasn't who I thought he was. There were things between us that can't be undone. I have to move forward. But it's weird... none of that changes the way I feel about him, and somehow that's worse."

"You and your drama," she said. "If you like someone, just stay with them. Figure it out."

"Some things are more important than one guy or another," I told her with a smile, "And believe me, when it comes down to it, as much as I liked him... loved him... that's all he was. One guy. There was only so much... there was only so far I was willing to go to be with him. What he wanted, no guy is worth."

"And what was that?"

"Hm.... I don't know," I admitted. "Control, I think."

We talked a bit longer before finally being called back for dinner and other shenanigans. In my happy, drunken phase, I found myself wondering about the new - that is, the real - Alex, what he was doing with that life. It wouldn't be too hard for me to find him, I know he's still out there... but I convinced myself it would be selfish and perverse to assume I had any place in his life just because I dated someone who looked like him.

Then just as I was getting used to the idea of moving on, I found out one more thing. Sara and Thom bought a house in Delaware. These two people I've known almost as long as I've been this person, are headed out into the world to start their lives together. They're the same age as this body and considerably younger than my old one... but they're ready. And I'm nowhere near that. And that's just been nagging at me. I hope I haven't just been wasting my time, you know? The extra years I got from becoming Tori. I have to remember that I'm not really as old as I feel... I've still got time. There's a lot of fun I can have.

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