Hello. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. My name is Atef Rashid. I'm an Alliance Solutions Architect supporting Google Cloud at GitLab. And I'm excited to spend some time with you today to talk about something near and dear to my heart, which is developer flow with GitLab on Google Cloud. First, I just want to say that the reason, so prior to joining GitLab, which was, I think, under a month and a half now ago, I was at Google Cloud for four years in a technical role. And it was a rocket ship while I was there. Google Cloud exponentially grew the number of people, the number of services that they provided. It's still a very exciting proposition for a lot of developers. I'm sure all of us know about all the different Google services that are out there, but they have global scale. And the sort of power that's unlocked to a developer to host their services on Google Cloud is pretty great. I mean, with a very small team of innovative developers, you could actually write a very small application that could scale to meet billions of users. And that's something that happens quite frequently for customers of Google Cloud. And you just see it everywhere you go when you start working with customers over there. You'll see that the innovative sort of creativity kind of exude from people's pores, right? It's a pretty exciting place. Google Cloud has a pretty cool network, in my opinion. They have capacity like all over the place. So they have 22 regions with 67 data center zones within those regions. And the one sort of exciting part about Google Cloud that I think is pretty unique is their entire network is kind of virtualized. So the entire backend and front end and edge is all containerized. And so they can get very clever and very smart with how they manage traffic across the board. They have 140 global points of presence with 96 edge nodes. Apparently the stat is that they go through or spin up 4 billion containers a week on their infrastructure. I believe GitLab and Google share a lot of key values. The list on the left is the eight sort of pillars of innovation at Google, not just Google Cloud. And you'll find that there's a really tight affinity of the same values at GitLab. And so Google Cloud employs more open source developers than I think any company that I've seen. And it's exciting that they pay developers to develop open source services, open source code. And that's very similar to GitLab. And so you'll see all of that sort of appear or manifest in the services that they deliver that Google Cloud delivers. And I think you also see it at GitLab. I mean, in my opinion, I feel like GitLab is just scratching the surface of unlocking all of the products and services of Google Cloud. And it's a very exciting time to be at GitLab, in my opinion. So for most cloud consumers, I would say that the cloud or the hosting providers kind of sometimes takes an afterthought to developing a product, right? So if I'm building a product or an app, then I'm usually thinking about my users and their usability and tracking them and all of the APIs I'm consuming to build my app. And while that's all fine and good, I feel like a lot of companies or a lot of customers have existing apps. And those apps are probably from the past 20 years, where they've, you know, have some business function related to an app or they're using an app that's, you know, helps them sort of generate their day to day business. And so for me, when I think about when I'm building an app, it usually comes from a place of iterating on top of an existing app. And so while there are use cases of customers like startups who build apps from scratch, but most companies have a legacy. And this diagram sort of articulates that legacy a little bit. And there's all sorts of ways to think about how to move to cloud. And where I see GitLab sort of shine or optimize that move or sort of iteration is around the improve and move. So usually what happens is an application decides to move to cloud, they go, oh, I'm just going to try to move it like for like, I'm going to try to do it exactly the same way I did it in the data center. They try to do it, they realize that it's not as easy as they thought there's some gotcha, there's some engineering hiccup. It's this forever scoped thing that they'll never be able to sort of land on. And so usually where it all ends up is this improve and move sort of approach to try to get to that target. And then once they get to cloud, then that's where in my opinion, the real sort of innovation and iteration start because there it's just become so much more flexible, so much easier to actually build stuff. So once customers build an app on the cloud, it's kind of a forever thing, right? They go out and they qualify the APIs or the technology they want to incorporate in their app or their application. They discover new services, new ways of doing things, they evaluate those new things, they try to solve existing problems, improve on those problems, and then they build some sort of proposal or some sort of bet. And it isn't until they actually start, that's when they actually put hands to keyboard and build stuff on a cloud provider. And so where most cloud providers see they usually start at that point, they usually say, look, we want to get our developers to the point where they're actually building stuff.  And then they start scaling users and more people and it goes on forever. And it's this ongoing thing. And the reason why customers consume cloud for years, like they commit to it for years is because they know, like there's so many services and so many iterations that they'll need to go through to really keep up with their business or their market or their customers or users. And so where things sort of go sideways a lot of the time is when they go and do a lot of discovery and qualify these new technologies, but they don't actually figure out, it really looks great on paper, right? So they kind of like any one would go out and start consuming these services. But then there's a lot of learning that's required to figure out how to fit all these pieces together, how your database is going to talk to Kubernetes, how you're going to host certain portions of your app, like what should be a cloud function versus what should be a container versus what should be a server. And it's those types of experiments that lead you through some design exercise that lets you figure out what you're ultimately building. And then there's the whole sort of relationship around a cloud foundation. Now to me, a cloud foundation is the constructs of security and the constructs of networking. And the reason I choose both of those is that usually networking is complex and security is even harder to achieve. And so a cloud foundation requires both of those things to have a very firm sort of, MVC type setup in order for a customer or anyone really to put their production application, their data, their company assets onto a cloud provider. And even then, to actually take it to the next step, then they decide, look, I want to actually build something, but I already have existing systems and existing processes or silos in my organization that I need to overcome. And that's, and it's those sort of key points of friction or that complexity that really causes a lot of gravity in your migration, but also your build, which ultimately slows down your adoption of cloud, but sort of the iteration onto cloud. And then it becomes very hard and slow. And that's where I see time and time again where customers sort of, or companies sort of have trouble adopting cloud. And where I see a lot of value, just to take a step back from sort of the migration or build on cloud concept is sort of this kind of approach toward thinking about how to do software delivery and sort of platform modernization on cloud. And looking at this sort of layered cake approach, what you'll notice is that the stuff at the bottom, which is again that those network sort of wins or their security foundation, those are very tactical and tangible results. Like if you spend some time to build that cloud foundation, you could very easily show that value to someone. However, in my mind, I feel like the true strategic outcomes are usually at the top. So if you think about how hard it is to sort of measure software delivery, there's a few ways to do it. You could think about monitoring like the number of lines of code that people write, but then ultimately a developer could just start writing more inefficient code. And then all of a sudden, they meet the metric, but then your code base isn't great. Or you could perhaps monitor the number of bugs that start appearing and the number of bugs that are smashed in any week or any month or any cycle. And ultimately anyone could just create a bug and then solve the bug. And it's a very hard metric to measure or sort of be accurate about. I propose to this audience that maybe the best way to measure productivity is employee or developer engagement. I feel like if a developer is unhappy, if the culture isn't great, they can't really be that effective. It's sort of necessary to kind of drive that engagement. And if they are sort of happy to be what they're doing, maybe they're passionate about what they're doing, then I actually think you can sort of measure that in the engagement, right? So if they're passionate, they'll care about your project. They'll care about the outcome. And then you kind of see that sort of manifest better. And that's, I think, the only metric at the top that I think any of us can measure. But in this middle tier, that's where I think GitLab shines. So it's that middle tier and the bottom tier. So in the bottom, you have a lot of DevOps foundations. And there's a lot of talk about DevSecOps and DevOps. And I'm sure there's a lot of really smart people who can talk about that.  All of that is a forever endeavor for a lot of people, right?  Where do I go? How do I do it? How do I think about it? How do I mitigate that risk? How do I mitigate that friction? The other sort of side of it is data. And so this is in data science, it's data management that I'm talking about. How do I control costs? I can go on to BigQuery tomorrow, type in select star, and maybe end up with a very big bill at the end of the month. And it's because I wrote poor queries. Perhaps I am putting data that's sort of production or sensitive PII data in a sandbox that has lower security controls. How do I classify my data? How do I think about that? How do I manipulate my data, process it at scale, start using those services? All of those questions can very easily be answered by GitLab. It's a very interesting sort of flexible full stack solution. And I'm going to walk through some of that today. So looking sort of back where I see GitLab sort of shine is in this sort of optimization of these things. And where you kind of see GitLab help customers or specifically cloud sort of migrations or iterations is that it really starts making it a lot more consumable for actual practitioners, right? They can actually go in and with an agile board and with runners hook into cloud in a way that's pretty compelling and sort of abstracting out a lot of the complexity that is sometimes overwhelming when you first sign into a cloud console for the first time. Where I see kind of all of this manifest is if people are sort of adopting GitLab correctly, they start optimizing how they're consuming cloud. And so that sort of cycle of, you know, I'm going to do a lot of discovery and evaluation, that starts happening a lot earlier in the process. And then you can quickly start getting into iterations faster. And that's where I think, you know, a lot of value starts being achieved by any project or cloud workload. Because the first shot that first MVC or that first thing that you build on cloud, it quickly disappears.  And then all of a sudden you start iterating faster and more and more. And then you realize, wow, I've completely crushed my design or optimized my product or introduced these new capabilities in a way I never thought possible. And that's where I see a lot of value. Another side of it is a lot of, like I have a very sequential mind sometimes when it comes to thinking about building stuff or moving stuff onto to cloud. This, you know, GitLab really does a really great job for developers to really experiment. So you can say, look, I have this application on premise or I have this application somewhere. I ultimately want to move that application to, I don't know where, right? I want to move it to some service, some other service, or perhaps I want to pick and choose across services. And so with GitLab, you can parallel all of that experimentation in a way that's pretty exciting. You can say, I want to, you know, decide if my job application is going to be a cloud function or another instance in cloud. And you can try it. And remember, innovation isn't the only constraint. Sometimes it's budgetary. Sometimes it's the constraint is time. And sometimes you need to move something really quickly to a place that isn't ideal. And by optimizing or parallel or making the sort of migration target parallel allows you to sort of, again, experiment with all these different services to find the best approach. And so I have a bit of a demo and I'm going to go through it with you. But before I do, I just want to say that there's maybe four personas that I'm going to reference over and over in my demo. There's going to be business leaders, data engineers, which sort of manage insights. There's going to be developers and there's going to be operations people that are focused on security and sort of risk. I'm going to take a moment and go through another slide here and show you the tools that I'm going to use. So in my presentation, I'm going to, or sorry, my demo, I'm going to show you Kubernetes and Cloud Run. I'm going to show you how easy it is to integrate with Cloud Run. Again, sort of going back to the beginning of my presentation, there's a pretty cool scaling story on Cloud Run where all of a sudden now I can develop something quite easily and scale it pretty significantly in a very short order. And Terraform is another key element. So Terraform and Helm, so in 14.0 or 14.1, I believe they released Terraform registry and a Helm registry, which allows for a lot of really great sort of management of Terraform within GitLab natively. Yeah, so just bear with me one second and I'm going to start my demo. Okay, so I'm right now in the GitLab console and I'm going to take you to my top level group. And the one thing I want to show you here is that I have three, again, personas. So I have an operations team, I have a data management team filled with data engineers, and I'm an application development team. And in this, each of these subgroups, I've actually defined a few projects. And so the projects that I have set up are AutoDevOps, Cloud Run, you know, I also have an operations cloud foundation, and I have a nice cloud functions project just here. And so the one few things I want to show you is that in this cloud foundation, I actually deployed a lot of Terraform. And with that Terraform, I actually used a lot of the tools or integrations that are native to GitLab. And so we actually have a Terraform state service, I guess, where I can save state. And so if I use Terraform to deploy a ton of infrastructure, well, I can't deploy it again because if I don't save the state, it'll just fail because it'll realize that those resources with the same names are already there. And there's also other ones, like they just actually released a Terraform registry, package registry. There's also a Helm registry now, which just helps you optimize how you're consuming these packages for your coding, basically. So going into it, I would say the Terraform itself is pretty straightforward, like I go in and I enable a bunch of APIs. I, you know, use the GitLab provider. I also use the Google provider for Terraform. I deploy, I enable a bunch of APIs, so I enabled the GKE API, the Cloud Run API, Cloud Functions. And then I deploy some networking. So, you know, I have like an ingress controller that, you know, like I set up a VPC, which has an ingress controller. Just going to the cloud console quickly. So if I go here and I show you my project, then it actually deployed my cluster, hopefully. Let's see. There it is. And then going into it, you'll see that I actually have some stuff. So I have my runners, I have Prometheus, I have an ingress controller. It deployed a Cloud Run instance for me via Terraform. I also deployed Cloud Functions via Terraform. And so if you look a bit closer, I actually have some stuff I had to set up outside of GKE specifically. So I was going to collapse this here. And so I had to set up a VPC. And I also had to set up an external IP address in order for me to access it. So going back to GitLab, if you look closely, I actually set up all of this through Terraform. But then specifically, I connected it up to my group. So that parent level group, like it's like two levels up, is actually integrated into that cluster. And so if I go in and I take a look around, I actually own this domain. And so I set up an A record with a wild card scope to this domain. So that way any time I go to that external IP address of Google Cloud, I then can access things. And so it maps it specifically to that domain. I also have Prometheus integration, which for some reason isn't enabled. So let's try it. Why not? And then there's a few other integrations, but those are the ones I picked. And if I was to go back down, I could see some cool stuff. So in here, I think, oh, I actually have runners that are shared throughout the group. So if I was to go and show you the runners really quickly, you'll see here that I actually have a runner that is on my cluster. This is all on GitLab.com. So it's not my self-managed or anything like that. This is just on GitLab.com. And so I actually have an AutoDevOps project here. So AutoDevOps is enabled. And just to confirm that I have my Kubernetes setup here, I do. And it's at the group level. My integrations are on. So I could actually go in and take a look at some stuff. So there's integrations here that are pretty cool. I have this one that's surrounding monitoring. Oh, wait, it moved me out of my project. Oh, there it is. So let's see if it worked. Is it pulling data? Oh, maybe because I don't have any environments yet or any builds. But let's see. I'm just going to pause this really quick. All right, I'm back.  These are auto-generated from AutoDevOps. This is actually a template that I downloaded from GitLab.com, which has AutoDevOps enabled. It's just an express application with a Docker file and whatnot. But yeah, it went through and it sort of connected. And so now I can go in and take a look around. And I think it has built-in sort of telemetry, yeah, that comes in from Prometheus, sort of built in. And then the other dimension is there's all these other features around how I manage environments. So if I have, say, 12 developers all located in this project, I can actually build an environment for each one and go in and it creates this namespace in Kubernetes, which allows me to build however I like. And that's just the tip of the iceberg for AutoDevOps. There's a lot of integrations into Kubernetes that are super compelling. And so even though it's connected to one cluster, remember, this is a pipeline. And so I can collaborate quite effectively on Kubernetes. And then if I decided to deploy, say, a global-scale application to clusters all over the planet, well, that can go through another pipeline or another subsequent project. And so here I did the same thing with Cloud Run. Like, I can deploy this. It actually uses a lot of environment variables.  And I've created into Cloud Run. And here is the same service that I just deployed located here. It has this GILab 14.1. This is exactly what's in this file, right? So where things get really interesting is you can actually build templates. And so I could go in and take exactly what I've done. I can create a template. And every single time I run this, I can pass an environment variable, which can then customize the name of that directly, I even think. Yeah, so we can call this, you know, happy day. And when I run this pipeline, let's pause real quick. Okay, my pipeline completed and looks like it deployed. So you should see here my new deployment called happy day. And this is deployed from an environment variable that I use to deploy Cloud Run. So I could create an infinite amount of projects, but also tie them to an infinite amount of services because of the way we manage environment variables in GILab. And so again, just scratching the surface, but if you start thinking about all the different products on Google Cloud and how they all operate, like Google Cloud has a Cloud Foundation toolkit all written in Terraform, managed and kept up to date by Google Cloud. With our Terraform integrations, it actually has a very compelling story for how we manage sort of the infrastructure, networking, security elements of Cloud. Data management is the same thing. We can control a lot around how we move data around, how we classify it. And also with how we develop applications. So if I just want to go out and create a simple, you know, one container pod solution, I can do that with a Cloud Run template. But if I want something that's a little bit more collaborative and tightly integrated into GILab, I can use an auto DevOps enabled project. And I can create all different kinds. I can create templates and I can organize all the security around how we manage change, how we deploy to production and how we sort of manage, you know, all of this work through the one sort of painting class. It's a very compelling story for how we manage Google Cloud. It really tames that complexity in a way that I personally find exciting. And I hope you found this talk very useful. Thank you for your time.


What's up everybody, Jason here for jaspyscasebreak.com. We just sold out 2022 Hip Parade Basketball Exclusive Jaspy Edition, which is a two case or dual case break, ran in teams number three, and I got guys 20 total boxes, two cases of 10 boxes each. Plus, we do have a hit list giveaway. So again, there are going to be some hit lists, right? Only 10 cards total, 30 teams, at least 10 for sure, of course could be more because there could be duplicates. So we want to give back something, right, to the hit list customers. So we have a little hit list giveaway. So basically, we'll keep track of who goes hit list. We'll gather up the list of names, top two names, win a box each of Optic Asia Basketball, and you guys have a chance to potentially hit something there. So a little extra there. Now here's the dice roller. Again, we're using Cyclic Signs, Rob Doherty's a little funky today again. So again, it works just like any, it works like random.org, just doesn't tell you how many times I randomize this, you have to just listen to the sound of my voice. So again, you got dice roller here, randomizer for the list of names and teams and then we'll do the break, of course, and then we'll track, of course, the hit list customers. So good luck, guys. Dice roll, one out of five, six times, good luck, here you go, six times, one, two, did it not randomize? What's going on? I don't think it randomized, two, how many times was it again? Six times, right? Three, four, five, six, sorry about that guys, it's a little weird right now. One out of five, six times, so again that was six, Oliver, down to Chad, and six times here now, teams one, two, three, four, five, six, so six, yep, Sacramento Kings, down to the Phoenix Tons, and it looks like Oliver matched up with the Sacramento Kings, I don't think he'd be mad about that, but now we just got to go look really quick where's Rex at, and you did not, you matched up with your technically home state team, Indiana Pacers Rex, so not today, but anyway, Oliver, you have the Sacramento Kings, Matthew with the Mavericks, Nick Stover with the Grizzlies, Mark with the Knicks, Chad with the Spurs, Craig with the Magic, Chad with the Raptors as well as the Pistons, Edward with the Celtics, Ken Bon, you have the Clippers, Rex with the Pacers, Nets, Nets, Ken Bon, Chad with the T-Wills, Edward with the Cavs, Jesse with the Nuggets, Steve with the Blazers, Charles with the 76ers, Matthew with the Pelicans and Heath, Kevin with the Thunder, Nicholas with the Wars, Chad with the Bucks, Steve with the Lakers, Nick Stover with the Wizards, and then of course Nick Stover with the Bulls, Edward with the Rockets, Steve Berger with the Hornets, Chad with the Jazz, Nick Stover with the Hawks, and then Chad with the Phoenix Suns. So, if anybody wants to make any trades, let's do it. If not, stick to what you got. Now again, we have like 30 cases. Usually, we usually have, well, the way hip-rate does is usually one per case is a preview, but it seems like we only have about like 12 previews. So, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, actually 10. So, doesn't mean that there isn't another bigger hits. Like I said, we pulled the Scotty Barnes in the last one I should say, for instance. It wasn't that Scotty Barnes, but it was a similar Scotty Barnes. So, I feel like this is kind of just like a preview of what you're potentially going to find besides these cards, and you could of course potentially get something similar, if not better than that. Alright, Chad saying teams are up for trade. Looking for Charlotte, Dallas, and Golden State. Chad, you do have the Toronto Raptors, which is a good team. I mean, obviously potentially Scotty Barnes in there. But if anybody wants to potentially make a trade, I don't know who has Dallas. Matthew does. Golden State, that's Nicholas T. Sorry. Charlotte would be Steve Birch. Yeah, that's pretty much it.  That's a good team with Kate Cunningham. But what I will say though, guys, is that there is a lot of rookies from like years past. So, like Chris Middleton in the last break was like a Detroit Piston. You know, so just remember that. Some of the rookies that are, you know, veterans now, they were on different teams early on in their career. So, they might be, you know, moved around that way. Alright, try to trade, couldn't trade Mojo, I guess, right? No one else is chatting. So, Sabonis was actually a rookie with the Thunder. But they could be Sabonis autos in here with Pacers though. Alright, one second, guys. I gotta do this thing that Nick told me to do. Yeah, sometimes people just don't like to trade. I mean, they'll put up a trade offer if they'll trade. They'll be willing to trade for their favorite team or something. But if anything, obviously, you know, if they don't like it, then they usually don't like to trade, right? Superstitious. Also, two guys, just FY. But we're gonna give away 20, well, not give away, but we're gonna do 25% off some of those soccer breaks.  So, I'm just putting that in the title.  I think it automatically adds 25% off in your cart. So, instead of paying 2.99, you're only paying 2.25. So, that's not a bad deal right there, of course. Brazil, England, some of the bigger teams, of course, can take off a good chunk. So, if you guys want to give that a shot, like I said, I don't know how much more we'll be doing tonight, but we can probably end it off with some soccer. It's my last night of the week. I'm off tomorrow and Monday.  All right, here we go, guys. Now, two cases here, of course. Here we go. All right, here we go, guys. First one. Wow, there's one of the cell sheet hits right there, actually. I think this was a cell sheet hit. Yanis Antetekompo, that is an on card from 2017 Revolution. And look at that, Chad. Last spot, Mojo, Milwaukee Bucks. So, boom, that was definitely one of the top chasers there. So, there you go. Try to trade couldn't trade Mojo. He was willing to trade any one of his teams. No one thought to think, oh, man, I could probably get a Yanis. There you go. 2017 Revolution. So, that'd be like his fourth, fiftieth year. That'd be like a Tatum Rickier. And then we got, sorry, this was backwards, a Grant Hill for the Pistons. And not numbered, it looks like. I guess not. Not numbered. Pistons. Of course, that is also Chad with the Pistons. Back to back hits. Although there was a little controversy with Yanis yesterday, right? And how about a little Bones Highland. I think this kid is awesome too. That is Rookie Year, Bones Highland, Elite, Donner's Elite. And that's for Denver. Jesse with that one. I mean, I get it. You know, Yanis wanted to work on his free throwing or whatever the case was because he played horrible. But I don't know, that video doesn't look too good. Did you guys check that out guys? Yanis is such a good person though. I feel like in the heat of the moment, I think he might have just been mad, but he's never really done anything wrong. So I feel like people need to kind of calm down with him. But it didn't look too good though. Wow. I haven't seen a Thunder James Harden card in so long. Look at that. That's from National Treasures Basketball. This is 2011. 12 out of 49. James Harden. Look at that. So different now. OKC going to Kev. Got my Thunder, man. I don't know. I'm going to send you an email or something to chat. We can talk further, man. I just feel like I got to do something for you, man, whether it's get you something, your favorite team or something, you know. It's like showing up to the party empty handed or something, you know. And wow, Jonathan Kaminga. This has been a great case so far. Fresh paint. Number 299 for the Warriors. Nicholas. Rookie ticket. And that's a variation rookie ticket as well. That is Orlando Magic going to Craig. So we're pretty much halfway through with that hit there. Let's go to the next couple here. And look at that. Wow, for Oliver and his Sacramento Kings. Although he's not a king anymore, but I'm sure you'll still appreciate that, right? Get drawn to my favorite team and look at that. Oliver with the Sacramento Kings. That is a Tyrese Halliburton. All right, couple more, guys. A couple more. And a Desunmoo for the Bulls. Stober in his hometown team right there, right? Chicago Bulls. I don't know how he's playing. Is he playing good, Nick? Or is he, is he even, is he healthy right now? I don't know. I'm just, I haven't really paid attention. I only kind of want, kind of watched some ThunderBass, but when I get a chance and then Laker games here at the shop is got a couple Laker friends here. And speaking of Lakers, Steve Birch, how about a Lonzo ball? That's a rookie signature from Select. And Lonzo ball had a very, very nice signature. That is 22 out of $1.99. All right, last one here, folks. And don't worry, we have one more case. Remember, this is a dual case break. And very nice, our Freny Simons. He's a baller too. Portland 22 out of 25. Trailblazers is Steve Birch. Solid hair right there. All right, folks, pretty solid first case I will say. Lonzo rookie, DeSoumon, Tyrese Halliburne, Cole Anthony, Kaminga, Harden, Bones, Grant Hill, and of course, the Yanis. I mean, good thing this is a dual case, right? So let me actually quickly see who's already got some hits. So that way I take you off the hit list list. And then we'll continue on to the next case. So Portland. So that was again, like I said, Steve Birch, not hitless. Lakers, not hitless Steve Birch again. Bulls, not hitless Nick. Kings, Oliver, not hitless. Orlando Craig, not hitless. Kaminga Warriors, not hitless. Nicholas. Thunder, Cavier, not hitless. Bones Highland, Denver, not hitless. Pistons, not hitless. Milwaukee Bucks, Chad, not hitless. Okay. So there you go. So for 10, different people right there. Now, I know in the last break, we had a lot of duplicates here on this side. So there was like 16 hitless when it could have been as little as 10. So we'll see how many hitless we take off. But hopefully, you can distribute more hits for everybody that bought in. Well, see, that's the thing. He's a pacer now. He's a pacer now. But that was a, that was a Sacramento King. I'm sorry, Edward. Hey, well, now that I know, I'm gonna do my best to start doing what I need to do to get you a hit, man. But you did get that from the Mosaic Cellopack. So that's good to pay a smaller fraction. It looks like we got an RJ Barrett for the Knicks. Knicks. That's Mark. I should just continue to tick you out as I go. Let's go, chat. I'm gonna get you a little Kate right here or something. Ice Dane, Dala Dane. That is a fusion. Red, PSA 10, autograph 10 for the Blazers going to Steve Verge, which is a very, very nice hit. And I believe this was also a cell sheet hit, which is awesome. Damian Lerner does not sign too much. So that's pretty sick right there. And I think that was already, that's our first repeat hit already, though. And for the Grizzlies next over, that's Jaren Jackson Jr., which he's back and he's such a great player. He can actually shoot the rock. He's a big dude, rebound, play physical in the paint. Get blocks. I like Jaren Jackson Jr. And then Memphis, that's minus you too as well. And for Dallas, that's Josh Green, Silhouette's RPA, two color, three color passion to say, to 25. That's Matthew Linder. Mavericks, Hitless, no more. After this box, we're halfway through guys, the second case. At Williams, that's our second repeats for Stober. That is a orange, which I believe are exclusive to either Timo or Blaster, I think. Pat Williams there for the Bulls. That's one here. Hakeem the dream. That is for Houston, which is going to Ed. Houston Rockets. And don't think that's numbered, right? That's not numbered, is it? But Houston off the board. I have four more guys, four more. And have a little Magic Johnson holding court autographs from Crown Royale, number to 75. Another one there for the Lakers, Steve Burch. All right, let's get some new teams to get some hits. There we go. There we go. Ben Wallace. It's another hit for Detroit in flight, numbered to 199. And that's another one there for Chad and the Detroit Pistols. Ben Wallace, those are the Troy Piston 2000s team, sorry. We're very intimidating to play against. Last two. And for the Miami Heat, that looks like Chris Bosch. Matthew with the Miami Heat. That's nine out of 25 game here from 1415 NT basketball. Matthew Heat off the board there. Boom. Alrighty folks, let's come down to the last box here. Here we go. Here we go. And for the Toronto Raptors, wow, this guy's also pretty good. Have a little Pascal Siakam. That's an RPA from Gold Standard, which is 1718 or actually, sorry, 1617. This is Ben Simmons, right here. That's 109 out of 199. And that's gonna go to the Raptors and Chad. There you go, man. He's a baller. It's a nice Pascal Siakam. And let's end it there. Let's take a chat off the list. Raptors, boom. And there you go, guys. That was it.  Maybe a couple more than I really wanted. But at the end of the day, sometimes it's just the way the cases go. But there you go guys, appreciated. But remember, it's not over just yet. Let's gather these names here. Let's put them here in the randomizer. Sorry, Edward. I mean, sometimes. Yeah, I feel like that could be it. I don't know. I can't really explain anything like that. But like you said, you win the pack fillers. It just don't get anything from the break. But so there you go dice roller. But good luck, man. Sorry about that. That's everybody there. Stover to Stover. Stover to Stover. Okay. So top two good a box of Asia optic. dice roll it. sick. Oh, sorry, not six. three and a four seven times. Good luck. Three and four seven times. 1234567. And Chad be right here. And next over top two, right? Was it two? Yeah, top two names. There you go. Those seven times top two get a box of optic Asia. So we'll send you those boxes, man. We're going to hit this with your teams. So appreciate it, folks. Next one's in the store. Jasper's case breaks.com


Alright, good morning. Once again, good morning everyone who's just joined in. Welcome once again. Maybe let's bow our heads and start with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we are so thankful to You, Lord, for bringing each one of us here. Thank You, Lord, for the eager hearts that You have bought this morning. Lord, we look to You for Your Word, for an institution, Lord, that You designed. Lord, we pray that You will open our minds, our hearts, You will illuminate it with Your Spirit and, Lord, with the power of the Holy Spirit, give us the ability to change things, Lord, in us, in our relationships, in our marriages. Thank You because You desire us, Lord, to be unblemished, Father. And we pray that in this journey that You will empower us greatly. Thank You, Lord. I pray for each one of us here, Lord, that You will minister to them. You will be with each one of us listening and interacting. Father, that Your Word, Lord, will stay in our hearts and make us alive. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right. Would somebody like to have a quick recap of what we did in the last class? Anybody? Anyone can just unmute themselves and brief, maybe one or two of you, a quick recap about what we worked on the last time. I generally don't like calling out names. I like when people take that initiative. So I leave it to you. Anybody? Maybe one man and one woman. We looked at... Yes, sir. Sorry, Sam. Oh, Sam. Sorry. Sorry, Sam. Go ahead. I remember talking about spending some time on the origin of marriage and how it was instituted by God and it was God's idea. Right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Sam. Thank you. Okay. Anybody would like to take off from what Sam left up with? So he said it was God who designed it. We were looking at, you know, God who brings man and woman together. So what were some of the biblical perspectives that we looked at last week? Maybe two or three points you could bring out. Anybody else? Marriage is sacred. Sorry, Kennedy. I didn't follow that. Marriage... Marriage is something sacred. Marriage is something sacred. It's holy. Okay. Rupa, you had unmuted yourself. Would you like to... Yes, Rupa. Marriage, we discussed that marriage is a good thing and it is finding favor with God and also it's an institution which we have to honor and we also talked about purity in marriage. Okay. Great. Thank you. Wonderful. So yeah, some of the pointers just to reiterate what Kennedy and Rupa said. We said that marriage is a good thing. We spoke about how marriage is a solemn covenant. We discussed how it is an institution to be honored as Rupa said. It is between one man and one woman. It's something that's bought together by God. It is a union of two people and it is a union of a man and a woman, sorry. And it is a journey till death do you part, right? So that's what we looked into the last week. This week is a very interesting one and I really enjoyed this topic, especially when we do counseling, premarital counseling. And so this is a question that I want to bring out to all the married people in this group. So before you got married, what kind of preparation did you follow or what did you do? Did you prepare to yourself personally? Or did you attend maybe a meeting or a seminar or something instituted by your church? What kind of a preparation did you do, right? So it'd be interesting to hear. Maybe people who haven't answered, I'd love to hear from you all too. Yes? Good morning, ma'am. Good morning, Apni. So to be honest, that is something that now when I'm studying about marriage and counseling, I really wonder that we actually were never counseled or it was never taken that way that we actually needed any kind of counseling. Only thing is what we've observed in the families, what we had learned from being in the families. That was the only kind of training we had.  So since we were away, we were not even born again. We were not even believers at that time. So the things that we are learning now are actually amazing. And it's something very shocking as well as giving us the perspective to prepare our children for that now. But not really, ma'am. We didn't learn anything. There was nothing that was being given to us. Absolutely. Thank you, Apni. In fact, I was looking for an answer. I was waiting for an answer like that because even I know in the time that I got married, probably because of the education I was in, maybe I had a little bit more of awareness and knew that I had to plan and prepare for certain things. But it's only as we started working through this today. I said there's so much more than what I thought was necessary. Anyone else? How anyone else has a different experience of how you have prepared for marriage? Anybody else? Ma'am, can I add one sentence? Yes, Amni. Yes. Completing 25 years seems to be a miracle for me. Okay. Yes. Anyone else? How did you prepare for marriage? Or maybe you were just pushed into marriage. I don't know if there were some of us who, parents felt that was the right time, the right thing to do and just found somebody. And sometimes that happens in the culture that we live in. So was that, was that something that people have gone through? Maybe one more response by somebody? Ma'am, should I? Yes. Yes. Kennedy. Was that Kennedy? Yeah, Kennedy. Yes, Kennedy.  Because we did the opposite. We cohabited first, instead of then later we went to see our parents. Okay. Then they went to the church meetings. Then they had the discussion with our counselors. Okay. Then they went to the church meetings, planned for the wedding. Okay. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Kennedy. Thank you so much for being honest and open. Thank you. Someone else? I'm sorry, I think I missed who that was. There was a lady who was speaking. Ma'am, it was me. Rupa. Yeah. Yes, Rupa.  I was waiting on the Lord before getting married and waiting for the person, God, ordained by God for me. I never mentioned I want this kind of person or that kind of person. But three things I asked of the Lord. I think that prayer also God has given me because I asked him for someone who is born again, who knows the Lord. And secondly, I wanted someone who will not ask me dowry. And third thing, I wanted someone in India, some of the people. They have two certificates in the corporate world or in the government. They have a certificate saying that Hindus and inside the church, they follow the faith. And when I was very young, I had a friend who had that kind of father who worked in the government and they had an Ambedkar photo in their house. And they used to come to the church also. That made me think and I was not happy with what was happening. Then I took a decision in that small age that whomever I'm going to marry should be able to proclaim that he belongs to God, not only in the church but also in the society. So that was the three pointers I asked God. And I had to stand in faith for some time because my father was also not very happy. He said, who will marry you without dowry and all that. But God has honored and he gave me a person with that commitment. And but learning, preparing for the marriage, to be honest, I have learned. I'm still learning. It's a journey. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you, Rupa. Thank you so much. Okay, wonderful. And I'm sure, you know, as we go on in this lesson, you'll probably find certain things maybe that you did, maybe you didn't. But I want to encourage you, even as we go through this portion of preparing for marriage and making a choice, you know, it's still not too late to change yourself. Yes, you do not, you do not change your spouse. That's not it. It's you change yourself. It's working on certain things that may not even have occurred to you as being important to deal with within marriage. So for those of you who are married, you know, I think it's a great opportunity to learn about how things can be different. And for those of you who aren't married, I think this is something that's wonderful for you to keep yourself prepared before you enter into this institution. Okay, so when, like we had discussed the last time, we said that marriage is a coming together of two people. And so when these two people come together, what you're saying is when two people come together, there are two different personalities who are coming together, two different experiences, two different individuals, their upbringing, their expectations, their dreams, and even the way that they have journeyed with God, right? So these the union of these two people can either be, you know, something that's beautiful or something that can be like like being in a boxing ring, right? It can be wonderful. It can work together so well, or it can be combative, like two armies together, right? But if these two individuals who are coming into marriage can be more prepared, can be more equipped, they are ensuring that coming together is going to definitely produce something that is beautiful, okay? And because that's what the scripture really talks about, you know, two are better than one. So when two come together, knowing that God has made each person differently, and we need to work together in order to make a good outcome or a good synergy. Now, we need to, I think first of all, understand that there may be very many reasons that we enter into marriage, and a lot of them may be wrong reasons, right? It could be especially maybe in the Indian culture, a lot of times people get into marriage because they are being forced by their family, or that they are pushed to, you know, get into the next phase of their life. So it's maybe an expectation that they are just hoping to fulfill, or it can be, you know, you need probably someone to take care of your elderly parents, or it could be just, you know, wanting to leave your own parental home and starting something else, or it can be other reasons like, you know, wanting to gratify your sexual needs. The very reason for why people get married is something that needs to be thought of, because that in itself can set a marriage, you know, the outcome of the marriage. So being in it for the right reasons, for the reasons that God had ordained, like we spoke about last week, you know, for those reasons is when you can expect that a marriage is in it for the best, okay? Now when we look at, you know, the Bible, we do also find certain Jewish traditions of how marriage is takes place. So, you know, so if you've read a little bit about how Jewish marriage is takes place, it gives you a good analogy of the way, you know, the union between Christ and the churches, and that is the similar custom that is being played out even in a marriage. So in the Jewish marriage, after, you know, the engagement or, you know, the families come together and arrange the marriage and decide that there will be an engagement or a betrothal, there is generally a year-long period of wait, okay? And during this wait, they are expected to the bride, to be bride and to be groom, are expected to prepare themselves. So what does a bride do? The bride prepares herself for the groom, so she keeps her chastity, she keeps her purity and her devotion to her groom, right? So that one year, it's a period of testing also. And for the groom, the preparation is that he goes and prepares a place, makes the place, the place and becomes responsible to bring about his bride to, you know, to his home. So although when we're looking at this, remember, we're not advocating that we need to follow this traditional custom, but we understand the depth of the value of it is that, yes, we need to prepare ourselves for marriage. So in or people's church, what we do is we do ensure that young people or people who are going to get married prepare themselves and we lead them through a premarital course, where we take them through a sense of preparation, where there are discussions that happen on practical things of life, on emotional issues, on past related issues that can impact the marriage, what is expected of them. So they go through a three to six month period of intense, you know, counseling and training, so that, you know, there is a sense of being equipped as they enter into marriage. So through this, we are going to be looking at seven important areas that need to be looked into with complete understanding, with complete seriousness, as you're going to be, as you're preparing for marriage. So if you are following along in the PDF, I'm on page 13 of the PDF, right? So we're going to be looking at the two, sorry, initial three areas in our first class and in next class, we'll be looking at the rest, the rest. So one of the most important things area is to understand how we can offer the best of ourselves. So if you look at, if you look into scripture in John chapter 14 verse 2 and 3, if any of you have that PDF opened on page, I think it's page 13, would someone read that verse out? John 14, 2 and 3, becoming the best you, John 14, 2 and 3, would someone kindly read that out please? Shall I read, ma'am? Sure, go ahead. John chapter 14 verse 2 and 3 says, in my father's house are many mansions.  Thank you. So if you look into this verse, what it's showing here is how Jesus died to bring back his bride to him and he has gone to prepare a place for his bride. So what, and as he prepares this place, he's left the Holy Spirit with us so that we can be made ready, we can be made pure and unblemished in front of him. So when what we are taking away from this passage is that sense of preparation, that sense of learning to equip ourselves or prepare ourselves to what we are supposed to be before the marriage. So then we look at, what to ask any person, what would you want for your marriage? The first thing, the first response you will get is a list of qualities that you want to see in your partner. But very often we don't think about what is needed within us to actually be the partner for the person you're looking for. And the focus is so much on having mis-right or mis-right. And while you're trying to do that, what is extremely important is to be able to look at yourself, to be able to see that what you are going to be offering in marriage is nothing can match up to that, nothing can change, nothing can substitute for that. So taking time to first of all prepare yourself, you're actually giving a wonderful gift to your spouse, to your future family and to your children. So the focus is a lot on how am I preparing myself, so becoming the best me. Because like we said, when we ask God to work within us, either through his word or by his spirit, we become more efficient and effective in everything in life and so also in marriage. So what is this becoming the best you or best me mean? So I'd like you to look at it as a wheel. Think of it as a wheel and in that wheel, you know the wheel has different spokes. So each portion of the wheel represents you and when you're looking at you as a whole, there are many parts of you. There is a physical part of you, there is the emotional part of you, the intellectual part of you, the social part of you, the spiritual part of you, the financial part of you, what else could be there? Maybe the professional part of you. So if you look at this wheel, if the wheel needs to run in a good balance, you need to have all the spokes in alignment. If there is one spoke that is functioning at 10% or is only 10%, the wheel is going to crack. So when we're looking at becoming us, we're looking holistically, we're looking completely at how we can prepare ourselves. So as an exercise, what I want to maybe encourage you all to do is to draw a wheel and in each portion, maybe label the portion of physical, social, intellectual, mental, financial, spiritual, and see at what optimum are you functioning. When you're looking at a zero to 100%, what optimum are you functioning at? Like for example, physical, maybe you probably need some bit of an exercise or for the fact that you don't sleep enough or maybe you don't eat healthy. So look at that part of you and say, what is it that needs to change? Or look at your maybe your financial self and say, how good a steward am I with the money? Am I able to save? Am I able to invest? Am I a spendthrift? Find that out. In your spiritual self, what is your walk of God with like? What time do you take with God to spend with him? How much do you learn the word? How much do you serve him? So having that, just drawing that wheel and this is what I generally make my young people do to draw that wheel and begin to see because when you actually draw it, you begin to see that there are some areas that really need some work and committing to do that. So the first area is look at yourself holistically and see how is it that you can become the best person for your partner. Any questions here? Because there's so much of silence, I just want to see if everyone's awake, everyone is here, maybe a thumbs up or a question or a smiley or a... It's a thumbs up. It's thumbs up. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you, Charles. Thank you, Dharvan, for the smiley. All right. Okay, so we'll look into this second area. The second area is our emotional health. Now, I cannot just specify how important this part of it is. When you're looking at emotional health or... So what does emotional health mean? The emotional health is the part of your... Some part of your soul. Now, I'm sure you have learned this in your last year that man is a tripartite being, we are made of body, we are made of a soul and we're made of spirit. So when you look at the soul, the soul has the mind, it has the will and it has the... What? This is just to see if you're... Okay, the soul has the mind, the will and the emotions. Yes, yes. The soul has the mind, the will and the emotion. That's right. Okay. Now, you know, when you're looking at a person, you cannot see very much of what is in their emotions or their attitudes or their perceptions or their thoughts. Right? The only way that you know that is in their behavior or in their speech or in their mannerisms and often that is not something that can be easily seen unless and until of course you spend a little more time with people and then begin to see how do they react? How do they relate to others? What are their specific attitudes? Now, unless and until that happens, you're not very clear of how that is and scripture does show through the verses that you see on page 13, it talks of how the importance of a cheerful disposition, the importance of a cheerful heart that is good for the health of the person that is good for a community or good for relationships. So scripture really brings that about in a great way. Now, a lot of people do get married for the sake or not for the sake because they think that if they do get married, it will cure all their emotional needs and all their emotional problems. Okay? But what they don't realize is that marriage can heighten or aggravate those emotional weaknesses. Okay? And like for example, there may be there may be times emotions that we may not share our emotions with everyone. We think it's either a weakness or we think it's not a good thing to do. So we may not share those emotions and we think, you know, maybe if I get married and I have that special person in my life, maybe I'll start to talking more, I'll start to be able to relate more. But in turn, it can be very detrimental because you've never trusted anyone to be able to share those emotions. And so when you come to a point of marriage, you're not going to be able to do that either. So it is important to identify and come up and face those emotional issues that you may have and begin to deal with it. Okay? Now if you look at the notes, there are on page 14, you will see that there are 17 different kinds of unhealthy emotions or attitudes or behaviors that is very important to to be addressed. Okay? Now we are all human and we will experience one, two or even many of these emotions. And if we are in a position to confront this and work on this, our relationships are going to be much better. So I'm just going to give you 10 seconds, look into that 17 list that's given to you and maybe you can mark it or mentally tell yourself, okay, this is something I know affects my marriage or this is something that affects my general relationships and I need to work on this as I enter into marriage. So quickly, 10 seconds, you know, have a quick look at those 17 pointers that are there and give yourself a mental mark as to what is it that you really want to begin to change by the help of the Holy Spirit. 10 seconds. Okay. Now since you've done that, I think it's also important to state that these emotions that you probably found, if you were to recollect, you will see that these affect your behavior. These affect the way that you decide on things. These affect the way that you problem solve. Okay. So why is it important is is because it has a relation, our emotion impacts our behavior. And these wrong wrong behaviors can disintegrate a marriage. It can bring about further problem. We don't deal with it. Like maybe maybe I'll bring up a bring about an example. Let's say I'll take up the fourth one that says critical and someone who's being critical and judgmental. Okay. If if we see everything to through criticism through and through a very pessimistic through a very fault finding eye through a very judgmental eye, and we don't recognize that that's what it is. When we are in a close marriage or close relationship, everything that you see that does not sit well with you is bought about as a criticism. Right. So you could maybe something about the way they look or something about the way they do do things or something about the way that they are or some the way that they speak the language they use. You know, a sense of negativity that's there around. Right. Or let's say if there is jealousy, you know, you tend to become over possessive about your spouse, do not want them to talk to anybody that you want them all for yourself. You know, they shouldn't go to their to their parents house. They shouldn't meet a friend. So that affects the way that you know, affects the behavior and that definitely brings about issues within the marriage. So you know, one of the examples that scripture talks about is, you know, a nagging a nagging spouse. So if you look at Proverbs 2715, it talks of how a nagging spouse is like the drip of a leaky faucet. Right. So it's so annoying. Right.  And it's very, very annoying. Right. And that it talks about how about emotional issues. Now it just doesn't mean just a nagging wife, you know, it can be a nagging spouse. So it can be, it can be any other behavior that can can deter the couple from coming in together. Okay. So negative emotions or a negative attitude is something that needs to be dealt with. And we will be looking at this greater as we as we move ahead in in another chapter where it talks about having about our attitudes and our temperament and our behavior. So we're going to be dwelling a little more into what can be done. Okay. So part of becoming one is recognizing these emotions and these attitudes and these behaviors and know that some of them are are not going to help you in in your marriage. Also, it is to understand the way that I may I am I react emotionally may not be the way that my spouse reacts emotionally. And the more that I'm able to understand that the more I'm able to accept certain things or the more that I'm able to understand that, you know, my spouse works certain things this way, the more that I'm able to respect that and to understand how we can work together and respond in situations. Okay. So so emotional health is is a very important part in in marriage because that's that's what you are you're actually relating to the soul of another not just bodily and not just in the spirit but also relating in the soul. Is there any question here before I move on to the third area? Any quick questions before I move on to the third area? Yes. Good morning, madam. Good morning, Abraham. Yes. So I want to know so in case you have a spouse who has this most of these things you are talking about, is it a mass that we accept them the way they are or we look for strategies on how to help them out because probably we might also need help for us to overcome this challenges on our own. So do we have to support each other to overcome or we just accept that because you are jealous, I just accept you the way you are and then I try to leave to please you? Is that something we can adjust or get better from each other? Okay, so you know there is a verse it says in the Bible where it talks about eye and sharpens eye, right? So when you are in a relationship, the way that you learn from each other is because of, you know, your love, your love, your face each other and we're living together. So I and I think it's so true that your spouse is the one who knows you the best, right? Or the people within your family are those who know you the best and if you need to grow, grow in the Lord, you need to grow as the person what resources God has given you, you need the help of somebody else. So as a spouse, if you have noticed something in your partner that definitely requires a change, I think it's important to lovingly address that and let them know that this is something that needs a dresser because we are also like mirrors, you know, we reflect things so to be able to do that is good because it is for the greater cause of your relationship, greater cause of the marriage and the family. So it is important for you to do that, whether your spouse does it or not of course is an individual response but I recommend that you know if you're in a marriage and you do find something, you know, gently, lovingly, encourage them to work on it or to get the help that they want or work on it together. So I would encourage that you help one another. Thank you, Mada. Thank you so much. Charles, you had a question. Yes. I am looking at when Jesus was talking about the speckle and logs in people's eyes that it is easier for you to see the speckle in your spouse's eye, however you have logs.  You change yourself. Now I'm looking at the human tenderness, the human character of looking at speckles in people's eyes, in the spouse's eyes. So now, how do you equitably balance and identify now the logs that you have in yourself?  I am wondering on how to handle this, especially on these vices that we have seen that might be negative in your spouse, when you yourself are not identifying them, especially on areas where you find people are not ready to be corrected or rebuked. What do you do? Okay. So that's a very good question, Janice. So when the issue, what I think what you're saying is how do we correct someone when there is a log in my eye, when there is a speck in the other. Now when we're looking at marriage, we're looking at a situation where one learns from another, and we're looking at a union which is willing to be vulnerable to the other, so much so that I can actually show all of who I am to my husband or to my spouse, and have him correct me. Now that is the best place, the ideal place for it to be in. However, not all of those relationships are in those ideal spaces. Yet it is our responsibility to be able to one, I think okay, so maybe I'll give you an example, like let's say being short tempered. So I may be just as short tempered as my spouse is, and maybe I have noticed that earlier on, maybe in my marriage, I've been really short tempered and over time, I've worked on it and it's getting better, but probably I'm not seeing the same in my husband or my spouse. So it is important to first of all own up and say that this has been an issue with me or an emotional concern problem with me, but I've begun to see that this is the way that I've worked on it and I think it's helping me. Would you want to work in that journey, walk in that journey alongside with me, or find someone who can lead you through with that. So it is important to do that, even though you may not be perfect, when you do see something that affects your marriage, it is important to bring it out because remember YOLA 1, what your spouse does affects you, what you do affects your spouse. Yes, bring it up together and at best see how this can be worked and we're also going to be looking at conflicts and problem resolutions later, but to be able to bring it up. Like we said, if they are not willing or if they are not receptive, bring it to the Lord in prayer, bring it to God and ask that He brings about a change for His glory, for the glory that He would want to see within the marriage. Okay, I hope I answered that. I know I have two more questions. May I request that YOLA could wait for probably to the end of the class and then I can take up those questions. Christopher and Charles and I think even Samuel had lifted his hand. So I will come back to this or probably at the end of next session, we will spend a little more time for questions. The third area is on personal management. How is it that I am able to work or do things for myself to keep my life in order? So a very important part of this preparation is your personal management. So if you look at Proverbs 25-28, it says whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls. Okay, now what does this mean? Is if we do not know how to manage us ourselves and the responsibilities around us and we do not have the skills for that now, that can give rise to a lot of challenges in marriage.  What have been your skills like your household skills? I mean, do you know how to cook? Do you know how to clean? Do you know how to make a bread sandwich? You know, are the beds needed? Is the laundry done? So all of this, it is important to personally build up in those responsibilities. And there are four key areas or pointers that we've spoken up. There are a lot more, but generally I think a lot of this can fit into these four areas. One is the career, the other is your finances. The third is your time and the fourth are your skills, skills of household skills. So when we look at career, you know, it's a good practice to check to see where is it that you, what is it that you want to do in your career? What is it that you want to do professionally? Find out to see, is there something that, do you have problems in just maintaining a job? Do you have problems in the way that you relate to people in the job? Also checking to see as to, you know, what kind of skills do you need to improve your current career or the current position that you are in? Is there something that you will need to do? Is there a necessity to change the job? Is your potential coming out in the best way possible? Because these plans will definitely affect your marriage. And it is important to discuss these things with the partner, with the spouse or your fiance so that things are well known. You know, if you do have career plans in your head and do not share it out with your spouse, with your partner, it can cause into trouble because they may be entering into marriage thinking that you're going to be staying in this high paying job all the rest of your life. But maybe in your mind you've decided that, okay, give it two years and then I'm going to move into something else or I'm going to change my career path or I'm going to be getting into full-time ministry. So it is important to open up and discuss these things. So career is one. The second that we're looking at is finances. Finances is a very important part of our marriage, right? One is, as a person, do you have a good understanding of how to manage your money? What is your thoughts about money? And practically, a lot more practically, are you able to live within the means of your marriage? Do you have a plan? Are there budgets that you have? Do you save money? Do you invest money? Are there specific goals that you have over a period of time on how much of money you would like to accumulate? Are you in debt? Is that something that has become a pattern? Also, as a person who's earning, do you have in your mind to support and contribute financially maybe to your family or to significant other people? What have your tithing practices been? What is your attitude about money when it comes in a marriage? I've seen a lot of people who come in for counseling, come in with this issue. This is my bank account, this is my money, and that is his or that is hers. And we don't touch each other and we don't even know what it is. So what are those thoughts? What are some of those principles that you have when it comes to finances? So that's something that is and needs to be discussed about. The third is, of course, time management.  Are you able to keep specific schedules? Do you work on a time plan? Do you portion parts of the day for important things in your life, for your devotion and your time with God, for your work, for building up maybe certain relationships, for your health, for ministry, for building up your skills? So how do you apportion that specific time? Are you a person who is able to set goals? Do you keep commitments? Do you ensure that whatever you have said, you have committed to is something that you would do? And so these are certain goals, again, that needs to be looked into. So career, finances, and time management, and lastly, of course, the household skills. Now, it is absolute necessity in our day and time to be able to know how to manage a home or how to manage the general working of the home, especially since now both men and women do work. It is important to work hand in hand together. And it is important for both the man and the woman to build themselves in those skills. So if you are a young man or a young woman, you know, get going. Ask the help of your mom, your dad, your aunts, whoever to help you to cook, to laundry, to clean, to grocery shop, to making the bed, to whatever. There are so many things to cleaning the refrigerator. There are so many things, but get to that. And this is important to discuss because I see, again, so many couples coming with this issue that their spouse does not help them with in-household skills, in-household work or chores. And that becomes a huge sense of a conflict between them. So being able to understand and preparing yourself so that you get ready for entering into marriage really helps you maintain a stable and a happier home. Okay. Now quickly, we have, we have quickly going to get into our break, but I'll take one question. And I think it was Christopher who raised a question last time. Christopher, would you like to bring up your question? Yes. So my, I just wanted to add when it comes to, you know, emotional conflicts and emotional outbursts, I think one of the key things to be aware of is that they can be emotional triggers, you know, certain, certain areas which are sensitive on both, on both, you know, both spouses and one, you know, both husband and wife. And, you know, be aware of those. And you're also aware that those need to be managed somewhere. I mean, I'm not going into the solution part because I'm sure you'll be able to cover that much more, much better. But I'm more, I mean, I think communication is very important.  Yeah. So just something I just wanted to add. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Christopher. Yes. He said emotional triggers. Yes. There can be times. Maybe I'll give you one or two examples just to highlight maybe what he said, what Christopher said is, let's say there is a person who has severe anxiety and, you know, is, has been having anxiety, which has not been managed or not been dealt with, that can sometimes become a trigger for very many things or, you know, just, just, and it kind of spirals the anxiety probably becomes larger when there are certain, certain things like maybe, you know, a person who's very anxious and the spouse does not give their whereabouts when they're going on an outstation trip for maybe 10 days, that can, that can cause a sense of conflict because there is one person who seems so anxious here about the whereabouts, whereas, whereas the spouse is very, you know, says, okay, you need to trust, you need to know that when I'm out, I'll be okay. So like Christopher said, communication is very, very important to, to tide through some of these, some of these triggers.  You're getting just before you're getting married because that's how you, you do know. So the more the conversation takes place, the more there are exchanges, the better you're able to see what could be some emotional problems that are there, right? Okay, we'll, we'll, we'll end the, this class right now. And I'm, can you just give me a minute?


Pikeville Main Street program held its second Hippie Fest along Second Street and Division Street on Saturday, September 30th. It's something that we do for our businesses downtown to have them come out and bring their merchandise out on the street to have sort of sidewalk sales. Many booths of all kinds and many local businesses lined the streets sporting their best hippie-themed gear. Live hippie-themed music also played all day, all with the goal of bringing people to explore downtown Pikeville. We thought, why not try a hippie fest? We saw it in some other locations around the country and thought that would be a really neat thing to bring to Pikeville.  It turned out it was a great success, so we just expanded that this year. For future events, you can visit the Pikeville Main Street program Facebook page. For Mountain Top News, I'm Kelcie Dean.


a warm welcome to the 30th session of the fourth module in signals and systems. We are now rather well equipped as far as determining properties goals. So, once I have a rational system, I know whether it is causal or stable, whether I am talking about continuous independent variable or I am talking about discrete independent variable that means I am talking about the Laplace transform or the Z transform. In the case of the continuous independent variable, I look at the imaginary axis and the right most extreme axis so to speak, real part of Z tending to infinity and real part of Z equal to 0 in the Laplace transform. These are the two critical contours. So, let us make a note of that, critical contours in the Laplace transform, real part of S equal to 0 or the imaginary axis and this is critical in determining stability. Real part of S tending to plus infinity or the right extreme vertical axis is critical in determining causality. Similarly, we can identify the critical contours of the Z transform, mod Z equal to 1 or the unit circle. This is critical in determining stability and mod Z tending to infinity, it has to be plus infinity, it cannot be minus infinity anywhere. Outermost circle so to speak, critical in determining causality. So, you see we have identified these critical contours. Now, a natural question is when I put these on the table before you in comparison, can we see an underlying relationship and this question becomes even more pertinent if we invoke some of our knowledge of module 3. Towards the later part of module 3, we had brought a union between continuous and discrete time systems. So, we said in some situation you could build a discrete time system which would do more or less what the continuous time system did. And that means there must be a way to relate the Laplace transform of the corresponding impulse response of the continuous time system or the system function of the continuous independent variable system and the corresponding system function of the discrete independent variable system. So, in a broader sense there should be some relation between these two transforms. The Laplace transform and the Z transform must share certain mutual characteristics. So, there must be a relation which tells you why it is these two contours which are critical when the other two contours are critical in the other transform and that is the relationship that we are now going to establish. Now, obviously it has to be something that brings together the continuous and discrete independent variable system and transforms work on the signal first. So, we have to see what is it that brought together continuous and discrete independent variable signals. It was the process of sampling. So, let us now consider that. So, let us take an xt with a Laplace transform assuming it exists given by capital X of S with the region of convergence Rx. Let us sample xt at a sampling interval of TS. In other words if we are doing ideal sampling, we are multiplying xt by a train of ideal impulses. This is the same as you know by using the fact that if you multiply a continuous function with an impulse it essentially picks the value of the function at the point of the impulse. So, you could now look at the Laplace transform of the sample signal and here we can invoke the property of the impulse term by term. So, what we will do is we will interchange their order and we will operate the impulse on e raised to the power minus xt. So, that gives us very interesting. So, you see we could think of a discrete sequence X square bracket n given by X at the point n TS. So, the sampling creates a discrete sequence and we could think of the Z transform of this discrete sequence. And we can now compare these two expressions. This expression and this expression. In fact, the expressions are very similar. If we accept this correspondence X of n is X at n TS and if we also make the mapping Z is essentially e raised to the power s TS that is the mapping that the expressions are identical. So, this is a central idea here. The central idea is the mapping Z is e raised to the power s TS. In fact, this mapping almost says it all it brings a correspondence between the contours because after all it is mode Z which is relevant in determining regions of convergence. And if you write down S in terms of its real part and imaginary part. So, sigma plus j omega real part imaginary part then mode Z is essentially mode e raised to the power s TS which is mode e raised to the power sigma plus j omega times TS which is equal to mode e raised to the power sigma TS because mode e raised to the power j omega TS is just one. So, what does it tell you? It tells you that the real part only the real part determines mode Z. So, this is one interesting correspondence. You see you notice that in the Laplace transform it is these vertical axis real part of S sigma which made all the difference as far as regions of convergence went. And here too you see that situation mode Z has only to do with the real part as a correspondence. So, it is not surprising that if you are talking only about the vertical axis of the S plane that implies talking only about uned or circles. Circle center at the origin mode Z in the Z plane let us make a note of that. It is the reason why vertical axis of the S plane corresponded to circle center at the origin in the Z plane. Now, let us take specific instances. Let us consider the unit circle. The unit circle comes from the unit circle comes from sigma equal to 0 and you can see very clearly that sigma equal to 0 is essentially the imaginary axis. Similarly, let us consider the other important contour of critical contour real part of S tending to plus infinity or mode Z tending to infinity. You see mode Z tending to infinity comes from of course, it has to be plus infinity comes from mode e raise the power sigma T s tending to plus infinity or T s being finite sigma tends to plus infinity and that is essentially the real part of S tending to plus infinity. So, that means this is this correspondence is also established. In fact, we can go a step further. We can establish a more general correspondence. Mode Z is constant which means a circle centered at the origin in the Z plane comes from mode e raise the power sigma T s is a constant and that means sigma must be a constant because T s is a constant and that means a vertical axis in the S plane. So, in fact, we have a much more general correspondence here. Vertical axis real part of S equal to constant in the S plane go to mode Z equal to constant in the Z plane and there is a one to one map and it is therefore not surprising that the critical contours also map. This is a beautiful correspondence that we have established between the continuous general transform variable S and the discrete general transform variable Z. We will say a little more in the next session. Thank you.


In 2021, actor-screenwriter Dionne Cole, who's well known for his role on the comedy series Black-ish and its spin-off, Grown-ish, purchased his current home in Los Angeles for $5.7 million. This mansion spans over 7,500 square feet and is built in an Italian villa style with luxury features like an elevator, resort-style swimming pool and much more. Considering his multi-faceted career, Cole has earned himself some stunning places to live over the years. Prior to this place in 2019, he sold a mid-century property in the Woodland Hills neighborhood as well. Dionne's lifestyle is full of laughter and success. Actor-screenwriter Dionne Cole has most recently appeared on screen starring as Alfonso in the 2023 film adaptation of The Color Purple.


I invite Coach Carlos Lim to address the Broadband Commission. Thank you, President. It has been a pleasure for seven years to meet this commission and work with the president, Paul Kagami, and with UNESCO and ITU. That is our 14th meet. And welcome to everyone that is coming for the first time to this meeting.  And we have advanced a lot in the conscience of the importance of broadband. Now we are going to discuss the universal connectivity but also some applications. And some things to be used for everyone in this target of universal connectivity. I will have a few minutes later to present a video of what we have done. We are working already in the area of education and health but mainly in education with a project, it's not a project, a program that is already underway in Mexico. Panaman will follow many countries of Latin America. And we already integrate the connectivity, the content, and the certification of the studies by no percent by internet. In this platform that we develop, we have academic studies with Khan Academy that you know, Khan Academy, has 10 years already working on that for free education, Coursera, and also programs of training, training for work, training to develop skills for working. And health information that is basic for everyone to have the opportunity to know what happened with different, to take care of his health. This video can explain and maybe I will make some comment at the end. And we are very glad that we feel that with this integration of education, training, culture, and health for free, for everyone free, it's not only free the content, but it's also free the access and it's also free the certification by the Minister of Education, in this case of Mexico, but it will be also in Panama. That can be a very important equal opportunities for everyone through education by internet without any cost. To make it happen also, we are talking not only about the Internet fixed line connection, that was the traditional way, but by mobile. You will know that most of the people have a mobile phone in the world, including under developed countries each time is more popular to use the phone. And it is moving very fast from the elemental telephone to smartphones. And that's the way that we can push that and complementary with digital classrooms in more public schools and digital libraries in other places.


The power of studying combustion on the ISS. Presented by Science at NASA. If you wanted to reduce the amount of pollution humans produce, where might you look? Here? Yep. Here? Sure. Here? Wait, what? That's exactly where scientists and researchers are looking. About 250 miles above Earth on the International Space Station. Here, astronauts are working on a series of experiments to learn more about combustion. Why combustion? Dennis Stocker, Project Scientist for the Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments, or ACME, says, Consider this. About 85% of the energy we use comes from combustion. The burning of some sort of fuel. About 70% of the electricity that we use at home and work comes from power plants that use combustion. The combustion of fuels powers the engines in many modes of transportation. Stocker continues, If we can learn more about the process, we might be able to find newer and less polluting ways to burn fuel. Three series of combustion experiments taking place on the International Space Station's Combustion Integration Rack, or CIR, are looking at combustion in very different ways. The Flame Extinguishment Experiment, or FLEX, examined the burning of a single droplet of fuel in the microgravity confines of the ISS. The last of the droplet combustion experiments were conducted in September 2017. ACME began in November of 2017. ACME is composed of six major experiments, with each taking about five months to complete. These experiments will examine how various gases burn without gravity affecting the flames. The Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction, or SOFI experiment, will explore the properties of burning solid matter. So why study combustion in microgravity? As Stocker explains, on the ISS you have conditions that you can't replicate on Earth. For example, consider a candle when it's burning. The flame flickers. Why? Hot gases from the flame rise, while cooler denser air is pulled to the bottom of the flame. This flow occurs at high speeds, resulting in turbulence and instability. That instability makes it hard to study the properties of the flame. But on the ISS, there's no flicker, which allows us to make more precise and consistent measurements. If we have precise measurements, we get closer to learning how to burn more efficiently. More efficiency could lead to real cost savings for producing power. The research could also lead to reducing the production of soot and other pollutants.  A new type of fire extinguisher is just one example. And as Stocker notes, I think we're in for a few more surprises as a result of these microgravity experiments. That's because, not surprisingly, Stocker knew where to look for answers to reducing the amount of global pollution. He looked up. For more from the International Space Station, go to www.nasa.gov. If you're burning to learn more about other hot science topics, visit science.nasa.gov.


Next question is from Kathleen Juergen-Symbaleo. Is there any truth that an imbalance in your microbiome can be directly linked to anxiety and depression? Yes, 100%. So there's two reasons why this is true. And by the way, this has been now studies are showing that there is a connection between our microbiome. Microbiome represents all of the bacteria and fungi and all the different cells in our body that are not human cells that also that live symbiotically, usually symbiotically with us. So you have a microbiome that's in your gut. There's a microbiome that's on your skin, on your eyes, your genitals, your feet. In fact, if you were to count all of the cells that are human cells and compare them to the cells that are in and on your body that are not human cells, they would actually outnumber human cells. So we evolved with them. They are definitely a part of who we are. So there's two reasons why a microbiome, what are they called, dysbiosis or it's off, let's say, could cause you to feel anxious or depressed. Number one, this is a very obvious one, you don't feel good. So imagine if you were chronically bloated after eating meals, which happens to a lot of people, or you're constantly battling constipation or diarrhea or heartburn, really bad acid reflux. That's obvious. If you have any kind of a chronic health problem, you're more likely to feel anxious and depressed just because you don't feel good. That's a very easy one. But there's also a much more direct link. Your gut, for example, produces quite a bit of the feel-good chemicals in your body, like serotonin. In fact, the second part of your body that has the most serotonin receptors, receptors are where the serotonin chemical attaches to, is in your gut.  I think the third place is in your heart, which is kind of interesting, right? We've, for thousands of years, we've talked about listening to our minds, our guts and our hearts, which is kind of interesting. And remember, serotonin is that kind of love, feel-good chemical. But there's other ones that are produced quite a bit by this microbiome. So if it's off, you're probably going to have less potentially of these kind of feel-good hormones. Your microbiome also is connected to your overall inflammation in your body. Well, systemic inflammation we know is connected to depression and anxiety. When you're just inflamed overall, they find that you tend to have those, you know, those types of problems. So it's definitely directly connected to those things. It's more of a physical, and then there's this kind of this feedback loop that happens. So I have, let's say, I suffer from digestive issues. That makes me feel bad. The microbiome is off, which also, you know, directly makes me feel bad. But now I start to feel bad about feeling bad. Now I start to feel bad about why the hell am I always bloated? Why am I always feeling this way? Now I feel bad about feeling bad. And it kind of becomes helpless and it's perpetual. Yeah. And it kind of, it starts to become this problem. So it's definitely connected. Your gut health is a huge part of your overall health. Well, I think that's, I think you beautifully broke that down scientifically. But I think there's a really simple way to show this or explain this to someone.  I mean, there's obviously communication that's going on. That's all a mind that's happening, right?  That's all stuff that's happening in your head. And if it somehow made you throw up, there's obviously communication that's happening there.  And they're connecting it to all kinds of different things. All kinds of foods, too. Like, I mean, we saw, we've talked about this, about, you know, how we visibly see this more like in our children after they eat certain types of foods. What types of behavior like happen as a result?  Like, you know, what that reaction looks like versus like a different type of like a balanced nutrient meal. You know, all these things, like it's very visible when you kind of take yourself out of it and look from the outside. Yeah, totally. And again, this is probably going to be in the future. There will probably be future treatments that use gut treatments as part of therapy. I don't know if it'll necessarily be the cure by itself, although in some cases it might be. But I think it'll probably be in combination with other types of treatments because again, I mean, look, I've battled with gut issues for a long time. Luckily for a while now, I've had zero issues, but I know when my gut is off, man, I definitely don't feel as happy and as calm and part of it is just not feeling good. The other part of it is just physically, you know, because there are, you know, there are emotional components to depression and anxiety, but there's also physical components. You can also have a physical body that just feels down and depressed. This is how medications will treat it when people take an SSRI. They're not fixing the problems in your life, but maybe it's helping with the physical feeling of those things.