Good afternoon, everyone. I am so honored to be here. I'm Robin Daniels, and I'm one of the vice presidents with the Methodist Health System Foundation. Methodist wouldn't exist without the churches of the North Texas Conference, and we are so proud of that. Methodist Health System and Foundation and the Golden Cross are just synonymous with one another, and so we are really grateful for that. The Foundation will never forget the relationship that we have with the North Texas Conference and the churches. I want to take a minute to introduce Linda Roby, who is the chair of our Golden Cross Committee, and it's been an honor to work with her this year. Thanks, Robin. Thanks, Bishop, Cabinet, and members of the North Texas Conference. I may be retired, but I'm not done yet. I'm not dead yet either, because ministry is about being a part of what God is doing, and I'm excited about what God is doing through and what God has done through Golden Cross ministry for so many years. But, like the other ministries that we've been talking about, we need to move forward. So we need the collaboration and the words from you all about what your church needs in terms of offering healing and hope to its congregation through health ministry. So I want to take a minute for you to see this video, and then if you will stop by our booth afterwards, if you have some ideas about how we can help serve your congregation and the communities that you serve through Golden Cross, we want to hear from you. So watch this video. The Golden Cross began in the early 1920s with a group of men at First Methodist Church downtown Dallas. The conversation we had that day was to find a way to have a ministry that would help fund people who needed medical care and didn't have the funds to pay it. So these men came up with the concept of what became then Golden Cross ministry. I was fortunate to become a part of the Golden Cross academic clinic in 2004, and that was after the robust capital campaign that renovated the building that houses the clinic. And met Carol Summers-Clark very early on and understood her vision for expanding the Golden Cross ministry to include the concept of a medical home for patients. They created a program called Med Assist, and the board looked at that and made the decision that, oh my goodness, that works for everything we hope for because Med Assist covered the pharmacy cost for folks after they saw the doctor in the academic clinic. The three prongs of the program are the medication assistants, the education about their chronic health problems, and then the social work assistants to look at really their general barriers to self-care. What is it about their living situation that detracts from their ability to fully engage in comprehensive self-care? The focus of faith community nursing is to intentionally integrate faith with health. Faith community nursing helps us to do the mind, body, and spirit, and gets us balanced in all three of those areas. Like any nurse, we address whole person health, body, mind, and spirit, but in faith community nursing what makes it distinct is that it's intentionally inclusive of faith practices. I'm a registered nurse, and I'm a faith community nurse from Campus and United Methodist Church. What's special about it is that we get an insight into our members and the health issues that they have. Usually it's about patient education. I mean, there's nothing like having somebody be saved, not just spiritually, but saved physically. And the word of that gets out that that church actually cares about people and supports them. The hospital has been doing that. Here at Methodist, locally, for a long time. Times are changing, and needs are changing, and so we need to identify those needs, look for effective, efficient ways to minister to our congregations and to the people that they serve, so that Goldacross continues to be vibrant and current with that changing time. We need the churches in the North Texas Conference to engage with us. We need their perspectives. We need to know what the needs are inside their congregations and in the communities that they serve, because it's a partnership. Our relationship with the Methodist Church runs deep. We don't rely on them for funding, and they don't rely on us for funding, so we're not connected in that sense of the word. But we're so very connected in our belief that we have an obligation, a shared obligation, to take care of our community. We need you. We need your ideas. We need your input. We need your suggestions, and we need to hear from you what you need in your church and your community, so that we can better serve the people in the North Texas Conference through Goldacross ministry. But Isaiah once said these words, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to comfort all who mourn, to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They shall build up the ancient ruins. They shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey, a category four hurricane, slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast. The city of Rockport, located in the Rio Texas Conference, felt the full force of Harvey's 130 mile per hour winds. Harvey then moved inland, leaving ruins in its wake, before turning east, stalling over the region surrounding Houston and causing flooding of truly biblical proportions. Hurricane Harvey resulted in $125 billion in damage, the second most costly hurricane to hit the US mainland, behind only Hurricane Katrina. In the 17 counties that comprise the Rio Texas Conference, there are over 12,000 households that will require outside assistance in order to rebuild, 12,000. The cost in terms of homes made uninhabitable, lives disrupted, and communities devastated is stunning. Today, I am happy to report to you that the love and generosity of United Methodists in North Texas in response to this storm also have been stunning. In the weeks and months following the storm, a total of $362,258 was given to the North Texas Disaster Relief Fund. And this amount does not include additional gifts made by many individuals and churches directly to UMCOR. Right away in September of 2017, $50,000 each was given to the Texas Conference and the Rio Texas Conference to spur their initial relief efforts. But much more than money has flowed from North Texas to the Gulf Coast. In August 2017, after receiving a call from the Dallas County VOAD, asking for assistance with the Hurricane Harvey refugees in the Dallas shelters, the United Methodists from North Texas Conference immediately went to work. Volunteering in Dallas shelters, donating clothing and hygiene kits, packing plays, baby tubs, as well as preparing food for them. We had one church that even provided temporary living quarters for our family. The North Texas churches responded with compassion, preparing over 3,000 cleaning buckets, hygiene kits, school kits. Also, the North Texas Conference Disaster Response has held several UMCOR Early Response Team ERT basic and recertification trainings hosted by churches in all four districts. The North Texas Conference Disaster Response certified UMCOR ERT trainers have trained 140 persons to join the over 200 already trained ERT to go and go and do work in the devastated communities along the Texas Gulf Coast. After receiving the invitation from the Rio Texas Conference and the Texas Conference to come and assist with the cleanup, the disaster response certified response teams, the second responders answered the call. Several North Texas ERT volunteered to provide a caring Christian presence in the aftermath of a disaster. 10 of the North Texas Conference churches have led ERT teams of 7 to 25 people on disaster response trips. These teams have been the hands and the feet of Jesus Christ for the people along the Texas Gulf Coast. The North Texas Conference will be the first conference in the South Central jurisdiction to have a Spanish-speaking UMCOR early response team training held on June 9, 2018. And first, UMC Rallette. All persons, churches interested in going and being a part of this training, please contact me, Janet Bell Odom, at the conference office. I can be contacted there. Or you can send me an email at OdomNTCUMC.org. This afternoon, my sisters and brothers, we are honored to have some of the early responders as well as the UMVM volunteers and missions to have been the leading edge of our conference response to Hurricane Harvey among us. They're wearing their green, lime green shirts, or their colored church t-shirts. As they stand before us today, let us express our appreciation for their faithful service. They're 68 present, and this is probably just a fraction. And Dr. Odom, is it fair for me to say that one of the most coveted things is to get on the chainsaw crew? Yeah. Hey, thank y'all very, very much for being here. We appreciate you very much. Of course, Hurricane Harvey damaged not only homes, but churches. 44 United Methodist churches in the Rio Texas Conference alone, and one of those churches was first UMC Portland, a vibrant church located in near Corpus Christi. Their buildings sustained $1.5 million in damage, and after insurance, they had a funding gap of $286,000. But the people of first UMC Portland have been strong. Rather than hanging their heads, they have stayed focused on their mission and have become leaders in their community's recovery in profound ways. Then, on Easter Sunday, Pastor Larry McCrory of first UMC Portland was able to deliver some truly good news. Using some of the dollars you gave to the North Texas Disaster Relief Fund, the North Texas Conference partnered with Highland Park UMC to fill their funding gap and cover all $286,000. Later this month, first UMC of Portland, after ten long months, will move back into their church, debt-free, and will continue to fulfill their mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ. Today, we are honored to have with us Lisa Stewart, the Director of Outreach Ministries at Highland Park, United Methodist Church, Reverend Larry McCrory, the pastor of first UMC Portland, and will you welcome him now. Those pictures are still a little raw right now, so Bishop McKee and friends of the North Texas Conference. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. My name is Larry McCrory and I am the senior pastor at the Thousand Plus member congregation called First United Methodist Church Portland just across the Harbor Bridge from Corpus Christi. I bring you warm greetings from your sisters and brothers in the Rio Texas Conference and more specifically from the Coastal Bend District where we are blessed every day to wake up to the beauty of God's spectacular creation along that southern stretch of the Texas Gulf Coast. It is indeed my honor and my privilege to stand before you today to extend on behalf of a very grateful congregation, our heartfelt thankfulness and deepest gratitude for the extravagant generosity from all of you. Thank you. Thank you. Especially want to thank the North Texas Disaster Recovery Initiative and Reverend Andy Lewis, Lisa Stewart and Highland Park United Methodist Church who have partnered with the Portland Church to cover our significant gap from what insurance will pay and what our actual cost is. Nine months ago, Hurricane Harvey were to short leave it a path of devastation and destruction unparalleled in people's memory, wreaking catastrophic damage in our community and to our church campus. We can almost laugh now about becoming modern day disciples experiencing 21st century diaspora. Almost laugh. We're not quite laughing yet. For our recovery has been long. It has often times been frustrating. It continues to bear a cost on our people and our region. But we have remained united in our resolve to restore our church campus as a beacon of hope and resilience for our entire community. We may have been knocked to our knees last fall where we begin praying and we will celebrate our triumphant reopening in just a few short weeks. Thanks be to God. And friends, when we do, please note that without any shadow of a doubt that our great God has blessed us in ways unimaginable and yet realized. For our church is strong. Our church is growing. And our church is excited about our future and we are deeply appreciative to all of you for making our recovery possible through your overwhelming gift of love and generosity. I would be remiss if I did not think, again, the disaster recovery teams from the North Texas Conference who were some of the first to comment our area and who will continue to come over the next three to five years to not just rebuild churches but rebuild homes and rebuild lives. Thank you for your service. May God continue to bless each and every one of you and the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your generosity and servanthood have made a difference, but the work is hardly done. Our friends in the Rio Texas Conference estimate it will be three to five years before life returns to pre-storm conditions in many communities. In light of the long road of recovery ahead, our own Bishop McKee with the support of the CMO has cast a vision for the North Texas Conference to commit to a long term partnership with the Rio Texas Conference. Back in the fall, we began to ask, what could God do through the 300 churches of the North Texas Conference if we focused our energy and our resources on hurricane recovery in Rio Texas for the next several years? How many of those 12,000 homes could we restore? How many hearts could be filled with hope and offered a witness through word and deed to the love of Jesus Christ and the faithfulness of United Methodists? Captivated by this vision, we have set a God-sized goal of sending a total of 300 mission teams to Rio Texas in 2018, 2019 and 2020. We are 300 churches, 300 mission teams. Well, in April of this past spring, the North Texas Conference Board of Global Ministry sponsored a four-day recovery trip to Victoria. It was about eight months there in April past the coming of the storm, and that team found a community that was still very much reeling. The people were and continued to be exhausted. They struggled with feelings of being forgotten as though the world had just moved on. They need new roofs and other things, but with equal importance. Friends, they need encouragement. So imagine 300 teams over the next three years, 300 North Texas teams bringing good news to our neighbors to the south who are hurting. 300 teams binding up the brokenhearted, the brokenhearted and comforting those continuing to deal with tremendous loss. 300 teams answering prayers for help and reviving faint spirits. 300 teams, folks, we can do this. Yes, we can. Well, since the fall, the Center for Missionary Outreach has sought to equip churches to live into our bishop's vision in a number of ways. The CMO is a reliable source of guidance and up-to-date information for churches' planning and leading their own trips in large measure because we've been successful at developing close relationships with the leaders on the ground in Rio, Texas. In fact, this very afternoon, along with the good pastor here, Vicki McQuister, Disaster Recovery Resource Manager from Rio, Texas, is with us as well on the platform. Vicki, wave your hand. There, friends, would you greet Vicki today. Since we've been told we're not going to have a break this afternoon, that's okay because Vicki's still going to hang around and be here. And as you get up to take care and stretch your legs, she will be there at the CMO table in the display area and we invite you to go by and meet her and connect if and as you will. And in another way, in an important way, a way that you might find good news indeed, the CMO is also helping local churches and teams by offering grants. I said grants, indeed, dollars from the Disaster Relief Fund, one-on-one matching grants available to local church teams as you recruit and deploy for the purposes of making your contribution to the Rio, Texas Materials Fund. Note those things, if you will. And this coming fall, the CMO will continue to offer regular training opportunities for not only new early responders but also for United Methodist volunteers in mission, both team members and leaders. If it's not feasible at the present time, for your congregation to plan and lead your own Hurricane Harvey recovery mission team, remember that there are still ways that individuals in small groups in your congregation can be a part of making this vision 300 teams a reality. Your Conference Board of Global Ministries is committed to sponsoring multiple four-in-five-day recovery trips to Rio, Texas in these coming years. As you heard earlier, we already led a team in April to Victoria. And Friday of this week, under the able team leadership of Janet Cavalier, another Conference-sponsored mission team will be headed out to Rockport, Sinton, and Aransas Pass area. And so please keep this team about to deploy very much in your prayers for its ministry and the opportunities God will give it, if you will. On September in September, the 17th through the 21st, our final sponsored trip by the Board of Global Ministries for the year will head toward either Victoria or Rockport. We're waiting, Vicki, on our side, okay? Whatever we want to do. Any and all United Methodist in North Texas from your congregation for any of these trips will be welcome to sign on. The CMO also has established a partnership with a wonderful organization founded by United Methodists from St. Luke Community and Highland Park called Labors for Neighbors. Labors for Neighbors has been around since Hurricane Katrina and specializes in taking adults on low-cost, high-impact weekend roofing trips. A unique aspect of this ministry is they love to bring together small groups of people from different churches and using a weekend of service to break down walls and build relationships across our conference, something that I believe we need now more than ever. Watch this video about a CMO, Labors for Neighbors trip to Victoria, back in February. A couple of months ago after the storm came through, we looked at each other, we'd pass each other up. Well, how are we going to get this done? What are we going to do? We don't have the money. We don't have the insurance. What are we going to do?  We prayed about it and we just asked God to provide for us now. And I gave it to him and I knew that he would provide. But I didn't expect this. So we're looking forward to the whole day and with the extent y'all are comfortable, we would want to spend time with you guys. Okay? Please? Sure. I expected the roof to be patched, probably. But I came outside and this crew of 20 people, Amor, were tearing the roof off. And I came back outside a couple of hours later and they're putting shingles on the entire surface, which is something that I've never even dreamed of. I had fun. I actually was not planning on getting on the roof at all, so I was going to be on the ground. But once I sat up there and looked around and realized it's not as scary as I expected, I got to do it. And that's an experience I wasn't expecting to have. If I were to tell my friends about how today went, I would tell them that I didn't fix a roof. I fixed a family and I fixed a home. The satisfaction from that is very rewarding. It's a good feeling. Let me just tell you what I had to bring on this trip. Practically nothing. I think I brought some gloves to work, but they have plenty of those, so I didn't even need that. I've never even gotten on a roof before and honestly, I'm scared of heights. But I just, the level of leadership and the amount of support that they're pouring into us and the guidance they're pouring into us, I always felt really secure in what I was doing and I also felt like I was contributing even though I never really done it before. Labels for neighbors has a mission to go into other areas and to replace rooftops, do work, repair work for people that we do not know. And I think that's what God calls us to do. He wants us to reach out to our neighbors. I have to admit, seeing that look on that couple's face in Victoria was an amazing moment. I just feel so unworthy, but I'm so thankful because I know it's nothing but God and what He can do. And if He did it for me and Bruce, He'll do it for you too. Just believe, just trust, just pray and let God take care of the rest. To wrap up, Vision McKee's vision calls upon each and every one of our churches to respond. So let's seize this moment. Text the keyword 300 to Rio to 66866. If your church has already taken a trip to aid in hurricane relief or recovery, then text that number so we can get an accurate count and see how close we are to 300. We know we're already well past 50 or 60 trips from North Texas to the Texas Gulf Coast. And if your church will commit to being a part of hurricane recovery moving forward by planning and leading your own trip, or by sending a small group of volunteers as a part of a global ministry sponsored trip, a labors for neighbors sponsored trip, then text that number, you'll be asked to respond with your email address and we will follow up with you. Together, with the help of God, we can send 300 teams by the end of 2020. Bishop, this concludes our report. So we're going to see, Shelly Ross is the new Executive Director of Dallas, excuse me, of Wesley Rankin Center.  So I want you to meet Shelly Ross, who many of us already know, and she's going to introduce the video from Wesley Rankin. Hey, hold steady, we're going to be through about five o'clock it's looking like. You know, just because something's normal doesn't make it right. In this day and age, we look for heroes, heroes who energize and inspire us to do the work that we do. In the 1930s, a lady by the name of Hattie Rankin, she was a church worker, and she went over the Silvan Bridge daringly to enter a space in which law enforcement officers didn't even dare to go in that time.  Our archives say that her house was so packed with people that they existed in the trees to hear a good word and to know that they were loved. And then came the bold, united Methodist women who carried this mission, crammed, sewing, cooking, fundraising, and not taking no for an answer. Today, you know, these are my heroes. And Wesley Rankin continues the mission of bridging inequalities, and I'd like to tell you the mission is easier, but with recent gentrification, we've needed a larger strategy and we need a larger network. But what we've learned from Hattie is that once you form relationships with people you love, they become family, and family takes care of family, and just like our united Methodist women friends, we cannot accept no for an answer. So when a child has a learning difference and doesn't get the help they need, or a senior citizen doesn't have running water, or a child desperately wants to play a violin that doesn't have access to the arts, we say yes. And with your help, we continue to bridge inequality. So, you know, just because someone's house isn't suitable, or their middle school closes, or the color of one's skin denies someone kindness or service, just because this is normal, we say it isn't right. So on behalf of our ancestors, the Wesley Rankin Community Center, and the West Dallas Community, we give thanks for you. We give thanks for your advocacy, your prayers, and we ask that you please remember us. I'm foolish to believe that together we can offer a different way of life, and we can make it right. Here's a glimpse of our work at Wesley Rankin. My name's Jose Oviedo. I'm 18, and I'm a senior in high schools. When I first was born, my mom, she was the only one there, my dad wasn't there. And we had like nine cousins living with us, and one little small apartment, probably like five years old, and then they finally left on their own to different apartments and everything. So now it's just been me and my mom, been trying so hard to like just go down, and my mom's been going from job to job, job to job, just to keep this working. When I was an 8th grade, I was like a youngish rebelish. I loved attention, so I wanted to get attention. And so I did anything that I thought was really cool. Everybody started doing drugs, and I started doing drugs. There were just people trying to press. I left that school my freshman year. I didn't want nothing to do with it because that's where my past was. I made a vow to myself I would never be that person anymore. So I moved to Skyline, and that's where I started a new thing. I don't mind the driving because if I leave here at 8, I'll probably be there like at 8.20, plus I have field classes over there, so where else would I have some classroom?  Every summer I just wanted to sleep. I didn't want to do anything. She found wants to rake in, and I felt like I was not going to make friends. I thought I would just be the loner of that group and probably just sneak out whenever they don't notice. And then there was a girl. I knew her from my old school that I used to go to like in my middle school. That's when we started talking that she introduced me to her friends. It hit me. It felt like a slap on my face. Oh, I do have people care about me. Oh, I couldn't make friends because I'm a friendly person. We went to San Antonio, and I was just for university college tours. So because everybody had their little friend group, right? Everybody got up and sat at the same table. I sat. And they're like, nah. No one's left behind. With making new friends at Wesley Rake and making that family bond, they've basically changed my life for the better because beforehand I didn't know who I was. I didn't know who I wanted to be. Now I know who I want to be. Now I know who I am. So technically I have a new family now. I finally made a perfectly good, healthy family that doesn't really judge you for who you are. People who will be there for you when you need them the most and doing the same thing for them. All of them at Wesley Rake, even the little ones are considered my families. Sixth grade. Cassandra Luna and her two sisters, they've been coming here for years since they were kindergarten and first graders. I come here almost every single day. I usually do my homework. Then it's usually time for dinner and then we go to clubs. In that block of time, getting to know children and families, it's like intentional living. We really are doing life together here. And so having Cassandra and Alexandra and Felicia in the program, they begin having these behaviors that were a little bit out of the ordinary. And so when we started inquiring with the family, we found out that Cassandra's mom has lupus. Because of that disease, sometimes she goes in the hospital and sometimes she's not able to be the full mom that she wishes she could be. I think she got like a surgery and she forgot everything that happened before and after she couldn't remember and her hands were shaking and I was scared for her. This is another story of another family doing the best with their circumstances and just needing a second home to come home to and people to level on their kids and help reach the gap that maybe they can't for certain reasons. We asked the mom if she would be willing for these kids to go to counseling. She was 100% on board instantly. She wanted the best for her children and she thought that they should have someone that they could talk to. Pastoral Counseling Services has actually helped give her the tools that she needs to self-regulate and be the young adult that she is.  One of the things that gives Cassandra so much life is playing an instrument. I started playing the violin in fifth grade. The violin helped me become more calmer and less stress felt stuff. When they choose a middle school like any kid sometimes you don't get to continue talents like that unless the right magnet school picks you up. St. Mary's is an incredible school for Cassandra's academics but when it really came to her musical instrument this thing that gives her some hope and peace in life she wasn't able to continue. But Wesley Rankin uses a Connectional System. This is why it's important that we have people who are faith-based and people who are corporations and people who are just friends of Wesley Rankin because quite frankly we don't know what's going to walk through our doors next or what's needed. We had this donor who wanted to donate a violin that hasn't been used and they really wanted it to go to immediately which student this would be. It had to be Cassandra. I got to meet her and I wrote her thinking why I wanted this violin. So Cassandra not only has a violin today that is her own, Cassandra also has a teacher that comes here on Thursdays and practices violin with her. Sometimes you just look at a child and you know that there's so much promise there. That is Cassandra. You just know that she has enough grit and perseverance and she's responsible. She's obviously talented. Determined to get through school and really make something of herself and I would like to think that we had something to do with that maturity and getting her to where she is now. If I didn't have Wesley Rankin I think my life would be very sad and I would be left with no opportunities. Wesley Rankin they make my family complete.


Operation Reliant Giant 2015 is an active shooter drill designed to put the siganella emergency services to the test. Master of Arms Chief Petty Officer Delilah Cramer, the security training instructor, works long hours to ensure the success of the evolution. It's a drill that we're required to do on an annual basis. It's multi-agency, multi-service, it's seeing how all of our emergency responders work together in concert with each other in the event that we have something in a crisis or some kind of disaster take place. And we do this really to identify not so much how good we are, but where do we need to improve and how do we get better. Reporting from Naval Air Station Siganella, I'm Seaman Luke Aske.


Guess I could put on a little foundation or something instead of just lipstick.  So if it's too loud, you guys let me know 1110 about 130 everybody else's time Come in and say hi say hi need it. Let me know how you're feeling be it positive be it negative be it neutral I Want to know right when I came on my boy. He's Waking up. I have a lot to talk about but it's mostly Hi Lou. How are you honey? How's things going? You know what? Lisa Lisa I always mean to ask Brianna, and I always mean to ask you the Pronunciation of your name because I like to get the pronunciations correct. Is it Lisa or Lisa? Hello Bev Bev Are you the Bev that sent me something because a Bev sent me something. Hello Betty Short eye. It's short for Melissa. Oh, Lisa. So I was right. All right. I'm so glad I asked Hi Kristen Deborah I'm well, and I've got a lot going on. Look at all you guys coming in here. You got you tea I have my let me show you what I have. I'm talking slow because I Haven't been awake a long time, but when I talk fast I often skip over things that I want to talk about Okay, I haven't got I haven't gotten my post office yet today Bev But I wanted to ask you. Okay, I explained it in a minute. So I have my water. Do you guys have your water? Hide your main? Really awful smoothie, huh, Lisa? Okay, so I have my water and I have my iced coffee, and I'm all prepared to sit here and drink up Lou the thing is is what I want to talk about today is so important and while I look and I have the demeanor of Not jolly. I'll it's a jolly all day with me. You know, I'm really in a good mood because Steve and I had a talk last night and Let me get this adjusted here We've made some You know, we just talked over things and I want to share them with you guys to see if anybody is having Or was having the same problems as me and we can Tackle them together. Let's see. Kristen says I have my coffee and water bloody married later Lou says hi to Jermaine. Hey Lou mine either Lou and it gets me in trouble So how how are you guys doing? Are you? Are you still just kind of existing? Are we still each? waking up day-to-day One I open. Okay Is the world back to normal yet? Second I open. No, it's not Um So I want you guys to hear me out because I have to start With kind of like yeah, we don't want to hear that Nina, but it gets better. Okay. I need to drink coffee fast So I can talk a little bit faster Okay, the good news is it's 1030 and I'm up I'm gonna come and I'm gonna tell you guys hi Janet Yay, everybody's here and again, let me preface by saying that my Broadcasts lives whatever it is. We're doing here are for all of us. They are not just for me They are for all of you anything anybody needs to talk about Mental health is today's issue Today's issue is mental health combined with our weight and our weight gain and Getting back to our weight loss We all know all the stuff I know all of you guys all of you guys know me We've been doing this together for a long time people like Lissa have been doing it with Brianna for an even longer time You know what I'm saying burn We know all the stuff but sometimes we tend to Put it on the back burner I can't really be that important, right? Okay, so here's the thing. I have been Shoot I didn't want Oliver to hear me and he's up now But I think he's in the bathroom. I have been Extremely depressed. Okay Depressed to the point you guys where I am sleeping. I Will bev bev what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go after we're done here I'm gonna go over to my post office box and then I'll be in touch with you I promise okay. I'm gonna actually I'm gonna walk over there Okay, so I have been So depressed that I have been sleeping all day long Literally all all day long Steve didn't know He would come home from work. I would be laying in bed to the best of his knowledge I had been up and about and doing the thing and No, I never ever Oliver wasn't here He was with his dad because I text his dad and I said look not in a mental capacity to take care of this little boy right now Because all I can do is sleep When I'm sleeping, I'm not eating because it's kind of hard to do I'll get up maybe with Steve in the morning and I'll get an overnight oats and I'll eat that and maybe I'll grab a banana But I have not been Nutritionally sound I have not been mentally sound. I have to say I am pretty good on my water And while doing all this I'm thinking well have to be able to lose some weight, right?  We're getting up at a certain time. It doesn't matter if we have Everything in the world to do or nothing to do during the day We're gonna go.  We were in the garage And Oliver and his dad were riding their bikes and I thought I'll get on my bike, too I fell right off my bike right on my knee, but I'm okay So I'm just here because you know I like I've said in the past I failed to believe that I'm the only one that has fallen into this hole this This depression well, I'm crawling out today Today's the first day. What is the day today? And I know somebody would argue and go Nita You cannot just have control over depression like that and I know that because I am a depressant. I've been a depressant Since I can remember Today is the tenth I'm gonna start doing things differently. I'm gonna start eating at different things.  I've been fighting depression anxiety too. Some days are worse than others of course, but I'm with you and absolutely lose some days They're like, oh What was I so bummed out and sleeping all day you guys when I say I'm sleeping all day How does somebody sleep all day without being you know Having nightcliff or sleeping pills or anything.  I got last time I was on talking to you guys I'm tired of getting on the scale and having it go up I'm tired of it. I didn't do all this work over all these years to just Gain all this way back. I Haven't been to a zoom meeting and I've tried and I just can't get into it as much as I want to try to I just I can't do it captain Captain Kirk would say you're Scotty or whoever it was. I just kept do it captain Let's see what a total chaos homestead you are not alone along With pandemic life has decided to dump more on top of my house so full anxiety depression or full force here And Robby's Robby's so good to see you more is like apathy All right, let me say first of all, I'm glad I'm not alone that makes that gives me a little bit of relief because a lot of times I Feel like I am on a desert island I feel like I am the only one because it's not like I don't have the woe is me I want people to feel sorry for me. I feel Sheer complete to my gut depression and I'm sorry for you guys that are feeling the same way as me I'm so sorry because it's the worst feeling my dad was a depressant and he used to say Nita He'd say if I could tell you one thing in the world that you could have right now go right now Anything in the world the world is your oyster. What oyster do you want and your answer is I? Can't think of a single thing dad. He'd say then you're depressed and that's how I gauge my depression and that's how it's been But I'm going to turn it all around today Let's just says I'm currently working on overcoming multiple mental health conditions including three anxiety disorders and depression girlfriend, you're in the right place here because I really to all of those I have my whole life I've been on medication. I've been off of medication. I understand it You know some folks don't understand it and for those of us who suffer for it and From it and we're close to people who do my mom my mom didn't really ever understand it. She's still alive I make it sound like She's in the past, but she you know my dad Depressant me depressant mom not the present mom doesn't understand it So mom would be my dad's name is Chris, right? My name is Anita Chris need a snap out of it.  This is my mom She you know, she's not feeling but she's not making me feel much better But then you know as I got older and I came to realize that she just really didn't understand it Then I really feel bad for my dad and that's when my dad and I came together and talked about it Um, I don't have the woe was me either. I just don't get excited about anything. Oh My gosh. Hi, darling Hello, darling Lindsay All the work you've done. You're not helping me either. You guys check out Lindsay down at the mom logs She's like a go-getter. She's just been working like a little All weekend long while I haven't but go check out her channel the mom logs. She's lovely She's lost how much weight have you lost in what program are you on?  Just share it You know, okay, and let me touch on this. I used to get excited over Making videos. Oh my gosh, I get so excited I wake up every morning and I'd come on with bed head And I'd have something to talk about Rihanna. What a beautiful name and there's another I think the other homestead or chaos is Jen Hi, Soph What are you doing? Hey girl, I'm gonna order that stuff today. Thank you for reminding me But I would get so excited about making videos It's like I bugged the hell out of Steve and Oliver and everybody we're gonna do videos And now it's like I Can't think of a single thing to do a video about because my passion was Weight Watchers, right? my passion was waking up every morning and spreading the joy and and Trying to get everybody in here with me and I don't have any joy So what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna slowly work on getting some kind of joy back some Normalcy and I have to start with normalcy in order to get to the joy I have to start with the normalcy and that means pulling my you know If you're new here, you guys occasionally I'd like to throw a little teeny teeny tiny cuss words in now and then nothing that would make you clutch your pearls, but nonetheless, you know, I You know set my alarm and get my happy-ass out of bed by nine at least at least eight Then at this 12 o'clock caca la toro, you know Get dressed. I'm dressed today. I got up. I got in the shower. I washed my hair I I cleaned my pits and you know, it's almost a little bit of normalcy right now Also, I think what might Be helping is that we got I got Oliver's Chromebook on Friday anybody who may not know Oliver is my grandson. He lives with me. He's 10 years old He's going into the fifth grade virtually That is gonna bring normalcy into my house So we will be getting up at a certain time He will be sitting his happy-ass at the table with this Chromebook and we will be eating normal breakfasts and We've got to do the best we can out of it. Thank you, Lou. Thank you for putting Sophie's Channel here you guys go visit Sophie even though everybody always knows her. Let me scroll down and say hi to everybody and See what's going on? Popping in between work meetings. I'm so glad you did. Here's to you. Do you have your water or your coffee so? Avoid work to stay here with me. I'll write you a note. I'll be like Epstein's mother, okay? You might be too young to even know who Epstein's mother is Jermaine says now you've told us your tensions and I for one plan to keep checking on you and hold you to today's declaration You quite literally are not alone Thank you, Jermaine, but that means that I get to keep you guys Mom logs lose the best. I hope You did finally make it to a live video. How goes it lady? How goes it with the kids? And I'm so you know, I keep thinking about you having to quit WW and I just want you to know if there's anything I can do to help if there's any information I can get your way that you don't already know you've been doing this long enough Please please reach out to me. Hi Susan I didn't go to work today because my anxiety is through the roof. My co-worker came to work coughing Sore throat on Thursday and Friday. I'm terrified. Don't go. We all here are telling you not to go stay home It's therapy being part of your videos. Let's be therapeutic together. That's the highest compliment. You can you can pay me? Because I sit here and I think Should I talk about this stuff because you know it for the people who don't feel it it freaks them out They're like that's freaky stuff, man. What's wrong with their brains? When we're just as normal as they are we just have a little imbalance, right? If I came on here, and I said I broke my arm. Oh, I feel a little mouse Squeaking by good morning, mission.  I'm so sorry. What can I do for you? How you feeling better? I mean, is it her bad? Did you break it in 10 places?  When Carrie Fisher passed away, I promised because I was doing videos when she passed away I promised that I was going to speak up Louder stronger and more about it and then I was feeling better because I was doing my weight watchers And I was losing weight physically. I was feeling well and when we feel well physically we feel well Mentally so it wasn't on the front burner, but it is now And I'm going to address it and it may not be popular. You know, I may not A whole bunch of subscribers But the 5 10 15 23 of you who understand It's totally worth it to have somebody that you can relate to right I know when I find somebody I can relate to I just want to hug him I want to squeeze him and I want to put him in a bag and take him home with me Okay, so we give it we've given Sophie her shout out for her channel. Hi Patricia Somebody was talking about you the other day We do need some joy and we need to find Some joy within ourselves and joy in this wonky world And it's hard too because you know, it's hard is when you're watching all the people have all the joy while they're out canoeing and rafting and boating and Hiking and doing all the fun stuff while you're sitting at home making another haul on your couch Do you want me to Don't talk to Hannah says and neither there's a strength and joy and strength and giving joy. That's part of why I watch your videos Hannah, thank you So many of us are in the same boat But on our journey Diet Coke. Do you have it in aluminum or plastic? So So yeah hope being back on this normal schedule Is gonna greatly help and you know what I what I need to do because what I tend to do is I want to jump in All at once I want to go walking right now I want to ride my bike while I'm walking while I'm eating my watermelon while I'm drinking my water while I'm doing all the healthy stuff. I'm supposed to be doing right I need to just take it a little bit at a time Let's see. Let me go back here Hi, Jennifer. Oh, that's right. So I've got her a peloton Hi, Tony see. Hi, Cheryl Every yeah, everybody who's on here who has A channel if I'm yikity acting let Lou know that she so she can put your link up for you Sophie's gonna tell everybody about her peloton Which I could never ever do Yes through therapy, I have learned that it's okay to talk about it growing up that That is a gas growing up that gas and no no It doesn't have to be the way it doesn't have to be that way And this is how it changes folks like you and me talking about it just as though it were a broken arm I love that germine. Thank you because It's just different parts of our body Reacting in different ways, correct? I'm getting a note here Okay, it's baby Ice ice baby one day and one thing at a time Thank you for being so receptive to what I had to say you guys because I think that once I get This in order I'm gonna get all back this this all back in order I don't want to buy any more shorts. I've had I had to buy two pair of shorts since the pandemic I don't enjoy I don't enjoy feeling like this. I don't enjoy coming up my stairs And having it be a struggle We're just gonna get it all back together to the best of our ability And we can't get it all back together like we would if times were normal But we can do the best of our ability and I know that since day one people have been saying all the smart people make um a Schedule right out.   You don't want to be the troll wacker Okay, okay. All right, Lou. You got it Thank you But I think the answer to that question would be yes Does anybody here want to try it out for this this swell troll and get back to them on that? Sophie welcome to live trolls Have you gone live yet?  It's always different. It's always good. I'm always pushing water They can be entertaining and you know what it's just some My grandson once told me Nana.  How do you invite people or do you just tell an instagram like hey going live? I don't do anything. Sophie. I just come on and they find me What is what am I'm trying to think?  I don't know because like I'll come on and I'm trying to think of who I subscribe to that goes on live Brianna always sets hers ahead of time. I just you know what I do. I just I get lonely I want to talk talking make you get a notification Janet Okay, so everybody set your notifications and then when I come on you can come on And if anybody would like to give me a ding-a-ding thumbs up, I would just greatly enjoy that What's your main doing that? She's so great So, yeah, uh my my best mental outlet My best feeling is walking drinking water and talking and um I don't have anybody here to talk to well. I could talk to my dog She doesn't talk back too much my grandson's busy doing his thing grandpa's at work Yeah, see I don't ever ever plan mine. I just come on like today. I'm on really early I thought let's go on early for coffee because for me it's early. What time is it 10 to 11?  So I just wanted to come in and talk about this subject because I know that I cannot be the only one suffering from it And let's let's lift each other up That's I know it's hard because we're not physically together, but we in me technology we have so much Communication anything you guys need to talk about we can all talk about because we can all read it right here Granted I'm the only one you guys can hear but I can repeat anything that needs to be repeated When life was normal didn't you go live on Thursdays Kristen me? Um, no, I've never really done anything normal I would come on Fridays either recorded with my weight loss or Live with my weight loss or game and guys I'm up right now Um, my my goal this is my goal and I don't make goals so you can't stick me to this goal. This is just jibber jibber Lou you cracked we have a marat you're right This is just a goal for a goal It's not a real goal Because I I'm not a goal maker. I don't I don't write actually because my hands are breaking out again you guys Go go go go go go go What I would like to see happen Is I would like to lose three pounds this week and I'm going to work on that what germans is what's normal Wasn't there something always disrupting normal that is just a mass disruption? Let's not think abnormal. Let's think disruption We got you need a thank you Susan. It's so funny because I have people say The opposite it's like, uh We hate lives don't do lives ladies stop and then I have other people like you that say I think more of us who like to interact at the same time And you know what I have to say to my lives right now are really only it because again I don't have the passion because I I remember when I was like really successful at w w My passion was through the roof man I'd get on here and and I would make videos and Steve and I and and I'd look back at him. Oh my gosh. My face was so thin But you know what I can get there again and if anybody out there is in the same boat Oh, we can get there together, right? Uh, and again something else that I have touched on before on this subject is is embarrassment It's like, oh my gosh. I'm embarrassed. I I can't go on a video. Those guys can't see me looking like this especially the official 35 who saw I was so thin and and You know what it's life and it got to me and the pandemic Whoever thought we were gonna have a sinking pandemic.  Ever that we were just gonna have to stay home and do nothing because it never crossed mine Even if I saw it on the twilight zone it I never gave it a thought I miss seeing people that I love. I miss doing things that I love disneyland disneyland disneyland Hope says yes, we can we can do this together one step at a time Less rehearsed and edited. I love it You know what? I don't rehearse anything and I don't script anything The only thing I edit germane is if I I'm a lot That drives me It drives me crazy um That's when I edit the most for for the most part. I don't I don't I've never written anything down Then I'm gonna say because then that's not being me I gots to be I've got to be me So yes And you know, even if it just takes us some time because who knows we're how long we're gonna be doing this I tell steve, why don't we just Bring up the christmas stuff now, man. What do we got to lose? I'm gonna start listening on the christmas music Hey google put on some bean cross be christmas music Because why the heck not? I know janet, you know, I just never ever imagined such a thing Could happen It'll be just so nice like my last video when I was out for a walk and I was looking at the flowers And I was looking at the crosswalk to oliver's school and I was looking at an oliver's school And literally when that all comes back to be I'm gonna cry while I do it and I'm not gonna be embarrassed and I'm not gonna care Because I'm a crier and I'm gonna be so grateful To say hello to the crossing guard And say hello to the other parents that are walking their children or the grandchildren And to be making his lunch again and to have him Get in trouble have the principal call You know any of those things This is real life around a wild world coast to right of emotions best to share the good times and the tough times Absolutely, and you know what? What good does it do anybody? To be during this time for me again i'm speaking for me maybe for a couple of you During this time of discontent great discontent great We just don't know To just pretend everything's normal. Hey everything's normal. No, it's It's not and I refuse to believe Or pretend or come on here and like it. I'm gonna go make a cake Let's go make a weight watchers cake. Shall we now? I will be making weight watchers cake because a weight watcher gal's gotta have cake But do you know what I mean? I'm not doing it.  But when they see you again They're gonna be so so happy to see you Uh-oh, what kind of Pandora's box? What did I do? Come on you guys. You got to laugh with me not at me. How you can laugh at me? Abby normal abby normal There you go Lou You guys One thing that I've been doing and I've I've set it on my instagram I don't know how many of you guys are over there and over here I have been going to turner classic movies And I have just been recording the heck out of all the 40s and 50s movies And the dancers and Doris stay and everybody's dancing and singing and doing all that stuff I record them all And then when I sit here, I'm done with my dishes I don't ever do my dishes. Don't let me fool you Uh, and I'm done with my laundry Nobody has clean clothes. That's a lie, too I turn it on and instead of watching the news Instead of hearing the gloom and the doom, which is all true and we should know what's going on in our world We absolutely should but not hour after hour after hour I turn on these movies that are recorded and I'm getting so much joy out of them It's terrific. It's a great idea that it came up with myself So if anybody wants to borrow it Knock yourself out I should get off of here and make him something to eat. I need to make him some protein We're all sitting here in a funk together, but we're gonna try to laugh about it So what we're doing I am gonna wrap this up because I need to feed my boy. I let my dishes soak in hot water overnight Our dishwasher broke and I keep hoping Steve will say let's get a dishwasher But Steve hasn't said let's get a dishwasher.   So that's monday, right? So this week we'll kind of just Walk and ride around and do our best, but then we're gonna get up I wonder what time he's gonna go to school And we're not gonna have a full schedule like we normally would But we're gonna we're gonna have our water Coffee if we need it. We're gonna do what we need to do for us And if that means getting in the shower washing your hair that needs to be cut Oh, guess what? I have big news. Hold on. Hold on to your hats everybody. Hold on your hats. I have big news Steve's getting your hair cut after work today Oh my gosh, you have no idea You have no idea Oh my gosh, the man may just get lucky again in this lifetime now. I don't know. We got to see what kind of job is done Because when his hair is cut he is one and some guy with those big blue eyes So I'm telling you You know, he this is what he doesn't realize I tell him get a haircut. He comes up with this cock and I thought or he says Oh, I have a headache after I get my haircut.  Okay. Well now his excuse is that I'm not allowed to get a haircut There's nobody else I got a haircut. Well, I did some delving into the black market of hair cutters And I have like yesterday when he was taking a nap I found one. I made an appointment when he got up out of bed. Hi sunshine He got out of bed. I said, guess what? I have present for you. He goes, what? I said Tomorrow 515 you're getting your haircut I can't wait. It's going to be the greatest thing ever So if anybody needs a black market haircutter person, let me know I'll give you their name He knew what he was doing when he went to get a haircut Oh, I get a headache from getting my haircut. Okay. Well, let's talk about this for a second All of you who have met Steve know he doesn't have that many hairs He killed me right now He just doesn't he's the most handsome man with the most beautiful eyes And those big cheekbones and that sweet mustache and his beard But he doesn't have a lot of hairs. Okay. The pasture is not full His head he doesn't get a headache when he gets the two three four hairs cut. Okay. So when he gets home tonight Maybe I should make a special dinner. Maybe I should open a can of beef aroni Light a candle Tell him how handsome he looks Oh, but there's nowhere to send all over The But he doesn't realize how handsome he is and how I just kind of get tickled if you know what I mean When he's all nice and coughed but when he's got these hairs sticking up Like Cindy Lou who and they're coming out of here and they're coming out of his ears and they're coming out of his neck and it's like He looks like a human toothpick a gray human toothpick. It's like dude you know You want to see any action you might want to do something about that It's that plain and it's that simple We're old, but we're not dead.  I'm gonna give him some eggs something protein No cereal. I love you guys to death. Thanks for popping in Set your notifications like subscribe. I always The human great human party style toothpick I'm not toothpick Q-tip Oh speaking of q-tips that poor man How can somebody be so hairy? All over their body except for where it counts. I just don't understand Sophie I'm gonna be in touch with you over the moisturizer And I'm gonna feed this boy. If you're new here, please like give me a like Subscribe. I always feel funny saying this I feel like I'm saying I hope you like me. I really hope you like me like subscribe hit that notification bell And then when I come on and I feel like talking Or you feel like talking We can do that smash that like button like Lou says I'm gonna feed the boy go to my post office get in touch with Bev And also, please anybody if you guys ever need to talk I can be found man. You can find me anywhere instagram Anywhere I mean email instagram messaging with my stomach's growling Say nita. I'm feeling down. I'm feeling blue. I'm eating too much. I'm not eating enough And we'll get on here and we'll talk as a group because that's what we do right and I totally dig it I love you guys I'll talk to you later on Drink your water and know where your bathrooms are Thank you Lou for all that you do Excuse me. I'm sure you want to stop streaming


Welcome to Toffy TV, it is the Everton News Daily. Everton today of a game being linked with a move for Udenaisie striker, Bito. The Blues had had a £25m bid rejected in January by the Italian club, but the Italian press today reporting again that the player wants to leave Udenaisie this summer. In fact he's already prepared to say goodbye according to them. Once he moves to the Premier League he's interested in joining Everton, should they remain in the Premier League.  Quite clearly this would be, if there was anything in this, this would be dependent on Everton staying up, which at the moment is a tough one to call, but Everton linked with the striker again today. But Biritio Romano thinks it'll be very difficult for Everton to keep Belgium a field player Amadoub Aunana this summer. The Belgium international who joined from Leal last summer is attracting interest from Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and apparently athletic home Madrid. They're all interested in taking them and Everton will possibly be open to selling them. I am adding double the money for that and reinvest that back into the team. It's obviously not a route that you want to go down to regularly. Certainly after one season of the player being with you, otherwise your team never gets any better, but wherever it now right now, obviously we've got the situation with the Independent Commission due to the profit and sustainability stuff with the Premier League. They may well see this as a good opportunity to flip the player. We'll have to wait and see again. If Everton were to be relegated, Amadoub Aunana would leave the club definitely. If Everton stay up, we'll have to wait and see, but there are clubs out there wanting to take the 21-year-old Belgium international. Young Everton midfielder Sean McAllister has signed a new contract with the club that will run out next June, June 2024. McAllister has had 10 goal contributions for the under-21s this season and is ready to get his head down and work hard. He said after agreeing a new deal with the club. Finally, Everton is under 18, so I beat Middlesbrough 3-0 over the weekend. Martin Sheriff, Isaac Heath and Owen Barthet with the goals there. The under-21s, of course, through 1-1 on Sunday in the Mini Derby, Stanley Mills scoring Everton's goal there. That's it for the news day. Give the video a thumbs up and subscribe if you haven't already. Thanks for watching. See you later.


From the CUBE studios in Palo Alto in Boston, connecting with thought leaders all around the world, this is a CUBE Conversation. Hi, I'm Stu Miniman and welcome to a CUBE Conversation. I'm coming to you from our Boston area studio and looking forward we're gonna be digging into one of my favorite topics and also the community. Always loves when we have it. Talking about networking, of course. Happy to welcome to the program. I have two first time guests. First of all, we have Mike Sayer. He is a solutions architect of NetDevOps with CCI and joining us, a longtime friend of the program. First time on the program, Omar Sultan, who is a leader product management for network services orchestrator with Cisco, Omar, and Mike, thank you so much for joining us. Hey, thanks guys, good to be here. Thank you sir. All right, so Mike, if you could just set up for us, you know, CCI, Cisco partner, give us a little bit about, you know, the organization, what you specialize and what you're known for and tell us a little bit about your role there. Sure. CCI Systems is a trusted partner for typical mid-market-sized service providers. That's primary of the focus and that's a lot of different areas of the business. Cable access, CMTS, security, data center, and now this next evolution of adding NetDevOps as that next step for trusted advisor. I've been in my role for about a year now at CCI with a strong passion for automation and finding the right fit tools to solve problems for our customers, whether that's a commercial product or a open source tool. So a lot of different problems out there and no one size fits all. So it's my passion to bring those types of solutions to CCI's customers. Wonderful. Mike, you know, I'm hearing a lot of the themes that I'm very familiar with. I'm sure our audience is when we talk about Cisco. When we've gone to Cisco Live, we've been in the DevNet zone. So having a lot of discussions about that, that NetDevOps piece. Can you talk just a little bit more just the partnership with Cisco? It would love to hear how NetDevOps fits in with what you're doing and how that fits with Cisco too. Yeah, I've been working with Cisco on and off for the past 18 months to try to think outside the box. As we know, network services orchestrator was primarily targeted at the large providers that have the investment resources, the programming staff to be able to do that. So over the years having various discussions with product management, Cisco and CCI have come together to partner to solve two of the big problems in our space for our customers as far as the math problem of the investment that's needed to bring up network service orchestrator and then also the programming piece of that. So not a lot of the providers in the mid-market space have that expertise. So CCI and Cisco are really pulling that all together with various trusted partners to bring that to life for them in a shorter timeframe with more sets of controls to bring them up to speed faster so they can leverage it with a martial arts type journey of starting small and integrating over different phases of the life cycle of automation. Great, well Omar, let's pull you into the discussion here. It tends to be in general from a product standpoint, a little bit easier to grow up market. We want to talk a bit about the mid-market. So that network, services orchestrator, NSO, help explain how that really can support the mid-tier, as Mike was saying. Sure, so we're a little crazy. We started at the top end and started to work our way down. So we're well established with tier one service providers, large enterprises. We have good markets penetration there. I think for us there was a lot of growth opportunity down into the mid-market, both on commercial and tier two, tier three service providers. The challenge is NSO is awesome, but it's got a steep learning curve. So these partnerships like the one here is perfect because it allows the mid-market customers to access the capability, but at the same time they have someone to hold their hands. They have partners like CCI that have both the technical expertise as well as understanding what customer problems are, what operations and problem scaling look like at mid-market, not just tier one, where they're different markets, different requirements. Now, Mike, I would love to get your viewpoint as to what's happening inside your customers. So networking in general, obviously, there's always new technologies that they need to integrate, but there's also the skill sets, NetDevOps, of course, helping pull people along to work closer with developers. Coding is more something we have to talk about. So the mid-tier customers specifically, what challenges do they face with? Bring us inside some of those conversations, if you would. Right, so I preach a lot and talk about the vicious cycle of not automating. They don't have time because they're too busy doing the day-to-day jobs. And I love to get into that vicious cycle and kind of bust that up and help to kind of think differently. Would they need to operate their networks differently and they can take a lot of those tools and techniques from the software world and really help leverage them on their networks? There's just a skills gap right now with the mid-market type folks. They're overworked, stressed, and with obviously the growth of IoT, more devices means more work. It's just a volumetric problem that certain automation tools can really make a difference in their world. And that's really where my passion is at. Reducing human error, helping those businesses provide more uptime for their end customers and just driving a different way to operate networks in a more efficiently and accurate way. Yeah, and part of it, so. Please go ahead. Part of that is just not, you know, there's the technical expertise, but there's also the, how do you stitch things together? You know, any automation strategy is gonna have more than one tool. And there, you know, there's the idea of how do we stitch tools together? How do we, you know, build processes? How do we help upskill customers? Those kinds of things. I mean, this is kind of all the pieces that come together when you kind of mesh the technology and the part for capabilities together. That's really what drives successful automation projects and get some of these, you know, some of this problem solving and added to value that we're talking about here. Yeah, I mean, Omar, when I think about scale and I think about automation, service projects you think would be some of the leading edge for some of that, maybe just refresh our audience a bit as to, you know, how you help them along, you know, how much, you know, they used to kind of build a lot of their own toolings and, you know, that's challenging if you have to keep doing it itself. So, you know, why did they turn to Cisco for some of these solutions? I think two things. One, you know, we build tools that survive scale, right? For NSO, we have customers managing hundreds of thousands of nodes at one time. So there's a scale, there's a scale and performance that comes from building SP class tooling. But the second piece is just understanding, you know, the operational environment service providers, you know, or, you know, they have demanding requirements in terms of SLA, scale, reg compliance, those kinds of things. And that's really what we've bought to the table is not just tools that have the power and the scale, but kind of understanding the operational environment is for the typical tier one SP and making sure the tools mesh into that. Mike, please go ahead. Yeah, absolutely. And the idea of that businesses are changing fastly and keeping up with that speed of innovation is very difficult. And not to mention, I mean, as a trusted partner for our customers, maybe the answer is not Cisco every time, to be honest, maybe there's a different tool. So if we have a tool like NSO that could drive other vendors' equipment, I think that makes customers feel safer, better, not vendor lock in. So the power that NSO brings is second to none, in my opinion. So I'm just all about flexibility and solving problems for our customers. And to me, Network Services Orchestrator is that product. So, but like you said, there's a lot of integrations that need to be done and we need to break it down for these customers and get them to realize the value of it faster instead of the large deployments that you've seen in the tier one type of space. Yeah, Mike, you bring up a really good point. When I think traditionally about automation, it was, we take a process or maybe we optimize a process and we automate it. But what companies need today is I need to react fast and I need to be able to make changes in the future if that's needed. So, not fossilizing something but being able to move forward. So sounds like with NSO, some of your other things that you put together, you're helping customers not only do what they need today, but be ready for the future. Do I have that right? Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, it's just another progression of what CCI already is, that trusted advisor. We have the great opportunity that we talk to so many different providers of the same size, same business goals that we bring best in breed and our talent that we have at CCI is just amazing. And that's a passion that we're trying to get out there into the world that, that, hey, we have horsepower and we're ready to help. And that's, we're about making lives better. So it's exciting. Yeah, certainly in the mid market, one of the things we see is customers doing less building and more assembly. So, you know, in tier one, you know, they have the time and resources to build stuff from scratch, to write services from scratch, those kinds of things.  You know, maybe a little NSO, but it's also paired with a little bit of Ansible, a little bit of Python. And that's how they're going to handle their automation requirements, both cause it's probably faster and probably in the long run, easier to maintain. Well, you know, you bring up a great point, Omar, when I think traditionally that mid market and the channel partner often would be delivering pre-package solutions.    You take something L3 VPN, right? Everyone does it, but everyone does it differently. There's no better, there's no worse. But if you're going to say you're going to automate that, you kind of start with an 80% solution, but then you need to line it up with that customer's infrastructure, their operations, their staff capabilities, those kinds of things. That's kind of that getting over the finish line about CCI brings to the table in the mid-market, sure. Yeah, Mike, it's funny, I'm curious, CCI, does it have any relation with CCIE? Cause when we're talking about the skill sets that we need, you know, obviously, you know, you start, you think about Cisco certifications, how do you keep your team up on the latest technologies, making sure that they can be that trusted advisor that your customers need? Well, of course it's a combination of different things, classical learning, but I would say one of the big things is our collaboration capabilities. We have experts in many different areas and usually they have a secondary skill set and we collaborate and a lot of times we make our own internal training that's more specific to our customers. So example, I really try to recommend to customers to move to EVPN technologies, but there's that learning curve that they don't know how to configure them. Next-gen Ethernet type of technologies for service providers. So by building an EVPN model in NSO, we're empowering them to leverage that sooner, faster with a smart tool like NSO. And that's really, you know, some of the value that we have. We know what most of our customers use. The big guys tend to use layer three VPNs a lot of time. I would suggest that a majority of our customers are very L2 VPN based or infrastructure services and even offering them up to their own customers. So having a somewhat prepackaged 80%, as Omar had mentioned, nothing's ever really the same all the time, but 80% of it probably is.   Yeah, it's interesting. One of the biggest challenges out there for anyone is, okay, when do I have to just revisit what I had? You know, is there a new technology? Is there a new way of doing things? So you just laid out like, you know, one way that customers, oh, okay, this is the way I should be at my size thinking about VPN. Anything else? What kind of key things should people be hearing? And they're saying, oh, if I have this problem, you know, providers like CCI can help. Right, just trying to increase the health of their network by having consistency checks. Over the years, networks have config wander. It's very hard to keep that up even in the mid-market network. So the cleaner that your network is, the more uptime you're gonna have, the easier it is for your network engineers and it allows you to scale. Like I said, the time to business is just going rapidly. So, and being able to empower other teams like say a knock or even sales engineering to build those L2 VPNs for the customer. If you can build them faster by not escalating tickets to the core engineering team, you serve the customer faster and you freed up those network engineers to maybe be more proactive about building out the future network. Cause right now they're just stuck in that day to day grind. So config consistency and like primary like service builds, L2, L3 VPN, those are very popular. And one thing that I always like to challenge customers with is that a lot of times they're like, well, we can do it ourselves. And maybe some of these guys have developer teams and typically they're more focused on the public facing website, internal apps. And I challenge like maybe you could, but what's your time worth to you and the amount of man hours that were put into NSO jumpstart you faster. And a lot of times I think you're going to gain more value in just getting that product that you can customize. Cause at the end of the day, it's a developer platform.  Absolutely. There's so many things now that companies need to make that decision. Can they shift left? Can they push it to the platform? Are there solutions that just make things easier so that you can focus on, you know, really the things that are important to run your business and get the best utilization out of your people and the skill sets. Wonderful. Mike, Omar, I want to give you both, give us the final word takeaways. You want people to have regarding kind of the opportunity that they can take advantage of, especially in the mid-tier. Mike, maybe we'll start with you. Yeah, thanks. Thanks for having me on the show. I am just passionate about getting CCI's name out there, not only for Net DevOps, but all of the other practices that we have at CCI to be that trusted advisor and come talk to us. We have account teams that are ready. We have systems engineers that are ready. And I feel like one thing leads to another in its snowball. So reach out. And I'd love to have a conversation with every single one of them, whether it's a small organization or a large organization, we're here to help. And that's super important to us. I think for us, we see automation start tactically. It's a science project. Someone's trying to deal with the pain point or dealing with something to get frustrated with, which is I think where most folks start. I think that the trick is to work with your peers, talk to your leadership, and figure out how to go from science project to strategy, and kind of map out the longer journey and be a little thoughtful as you pick tools and figure out what you want to automate and make sure it has some value to you. Mike Sayer, Omar Sultin, thank you both for joining. Appreciate the update, especially on the CCI and Cisco partnership. Thanks, Stu. Thank you, have a great day. All right, I'm Stu Miniman, and thank you for watching this CUBE Conversation.


Kenya, a country that will captivate your senses and leave you mesmerized. Welcome to Kenya. A land of unparalleled beauty, rich culture, and extraordinary people. Located in East Africa, Kenya is a country that will captivate your senses and leave you mesmerized. Let's embark on a journey to explore the hidden wonders of Kenya. Before we continue, we would like to welcome you to the new Rakhgana where we now upload videos that showcase African people, African tribes, African countries, and African history in a positive light. Don't forget to like this interesting video. Your comments and suggestions are also welcomed, and please be reminded to subscribe and hit the bell notification icon so you are the first to receive our videos when we upload. Kenya is home to over 50 million people, making it one of the most populous countries in Africa. Its diverse population is composed of various ethnic groups with over 40 different tribes. The largest tribes include the Kikuyu, Luo, Mayasai, and Kalinjin, each with its unique cultural heritage and customs. Kenyan women are known for their beauty, grace, and resilience, while Kenyan men are renowned for their strength, courage, and determination. They have a deep connection with the land, and their way of life reflects a harmonious coexistence with nature and a strong sense of community. Kenya is also known for its unique and intriguing cultural practices. For example, the Mayasai warriors are famous for their jumping dance, traditional rite of passage, and the Samburu people are known for their intricate beadwork, which holds great significance in their culture. These customs, among many others, reflect the rich diversity and traditions of Kenya's people. Kenya gained its independence from British colonial rule on December 12, 1963, and every year on this day, Kenyans come together to celebrate their hard-fought freedom. It's a day of national pride, marked by colorful parades, cultural performances, and festivities that showcase the spirit and resilience of the Kenyan people. English and Swahili are the official languages of Kenya, reflecting its colonial history and diverse linguistic heritage. English is widely spoken in business, government, and education, while Swahili, a Bantu language, is the national language and serves as a unifying force among Kenya's diverse ethnic groups. Kenya's natural beauty is simply awe-inspiring. From vast savannas teeming with wildlife, to snow-capped mountains, to pristine beaches along the Indian Ocean, Kenya offers a diverse range of landscapes that are a paradise for nature lovers and adventure-seekers alike. Kenya is home to an incredible array of wildlife, including the Big Five, elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo, and rhinos. Its national parks and reserves, such as the Mayasaimara and Amboseli, are renowned for their abundant wildlife and breathtaking landscapes. But Kenya's conservation efforts go beyond just protecting its wildlife. Local communities are actively engaged in conservation initiatives, promoting sustainable practices that protect Kenya's natural heritage for future generation. Kenyan music is a vibrant expression of its culture and heritage. With a blend of traditional African rhythms and modern influences, Kenyan music is a celebration of diversity and creativity. Renowned musicians Sauti Sol and world acclaimed actress Lupita Nyong'o have gained international recognition, putting Kenyan creativity on the global stage and showcasing the rich artistic talent of the country. Kenya has a proud sporting legacy, with athletics being a dominant sport in the country. Renowned Kenyan athletes, such as Elliot Kipchog, have won Olympic gold medals and set world records, earning Kenya a reputation as a powerhouse in long distance running. Rugby and cricket are also popular sports in Kenya, reflecting the country's passion for sports and its competitive spirit. Kenyan cuisine is a culinary delight, with a fusion of flavors and influences from various ethnic groups. Neyama Choma, grilled meat, is a beloved dish that is often enjoyed with friends and family. Ugali, a staple made from maize, is a popular accompaniment to many meals, and Tsukumawiki, collard greens, is a nutritious and flavorful side dish. Kenya's cuisine reflects the country's agricultural abundance and the creativity of its people in creating delicious and satisfying meals. Kenya is a destination like no other, offering a kaleidoscope of experiences for visitors to explore. From thrilling safari adventures to immersed cultural experiences, from stunning landscapes to vibrant cities, Kenya has something for everyone. Its warm and welcoming people, rich culture and awe, inspiring natural beauty make it a truly fascinating destination to be experienced.


Note that in Tracker Capture, we can also register an individual without enrolling them in a particular program. For example, if I deselect the antenatal care program, I can still register a new individual in DHIS2. If I click on register, we have options first to select the entity type. In this case, person is the only entity available. We can then enter some individual details about this person. If we click on save and continue, it will take us to that person's dashboard page. We can see that this is a bit different than when we enrolled the person in antenatal care directly. When we enrolled that person in antenatal care, the program was available and we could enter the data associated with that particular program. If we register an individual without enrolling them in a program, the next step is to then enroll them in a particular health program. Here we can select a program from the prompt. Let's enroll this individual in the antenatal care program. We select the program and then click on add new. We then have to enter those details associated with this particular program. We can see that the first and last name carry over from our initial registration. We just have to enter in the individual details that are associated with the antenatal care program now. We can see that the profile begins to start populating with this information as we enter it in to the registration. If we click on enroll, this will enroll that individual into the antenatal care program. You can see that now I can enter the data associated with the antenatal care first visit. And the second visit has been scheduled.