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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

If you own or use firearms

There is a petition on the web against HR 1022, which is designed to erode the Second Amendment and the rights of the citizens of this country; please go and sign it. It may not mean anything to some people, but it will let our representatives know how we feel about it. If you know anyone who believes in the rights of the people to bear arms, let them know about it, and encourage them to sign it also.

Sign the petition!

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Utahns quick to donate in crisis

Living here in Utah, I have noticed that most of the population, especially the ones with roots in this area, are very good about helping their neighbors, regardless of race or religion.

A daughter swept away in a tsunami. Another murdered by her husband. A husband killed in a plane crash. And sons injured or killed when a van rolls during a university outing.
When tragedy strikes, Utahns step forward with open hearts to offer support - and open wallets - to help ease the financial burden through accounts set up at Utah banks and credit unions.
In the days after the Feb. 12 Trolley Square Mall shootings, donations flowed into accounts created to help victims' families with medical, funeral and living expenses and honor those who were lost with memorial scholarships and other endeavors.

People here are friendly, as a rule, and glad to help. Most of the negative things heard are usually about newcomers to the area. Back in the 19th century there were some problems with some zealots ( The Mountain Meadow Massacre), but on the whole the natives of this area are a decent bunch. A little odd, sometimes, to those of us who are non-LDS, but they are good people.
Just my opinion.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Woman Accidentally Swallows Lover's False Teeth

A Romanian woman recently needed medical help after she accidentally swallowed her boyfriend's false teeth during a moment of passion.

You can't make up this sort of stuff...

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Maybe I'm just jumping to conclusions...

Is it just me, or does anyone else get a creepy feeling when they see something like this? I was just looking over my sitemeter and ran across it.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Fast-thinking pilot drops hijacker

We need more people like these, who refused to be victims.

TENERIFE — A fast-thinking pilot with passengers in cahoots fooled a hijacker by braking hard upon landing, then accelerating to knock the man down. When he fell, flight attendants threw boiling water in his face, and about 10 people pounced on him, Spanish officials said Friday.

Interesting article; the pilot saw a way to enlist the passengers in taking down the hijacker, and went with it. It shows that thinking on your feet and making quick, on-the-spot decisions is important.

Monday, February 12, 2007

The only ones secure enough

These guys are partly responsible for national security?

The FBI lost 160 laptop computers in less than four years, including at least 10 that contained highly sensitive classified information and one that held "personal identifying information on FBI personnel," according to a new report released today.

The bureau, which has struggled for years to get a handle on sloppy inventory procedures, also reported 160 missing weapons during the same time period, from February 2002 to September 2005, according to the report by the Justice Department inspector general's office.

The report mirrors the results of a similar audit in 2002, which reported 354 weapons and 317 laptops lost or stolen at the FBI.

Idiots like Bloomberg are wondering how illegal weapons are getting on the street? And who knows what kind of sensitive information may fall into the wrong hands.
Sometimes I think the federal government's motto should be: "SNAFU is SOP".
Just my opinion.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Scientists develop portable generator that turns trash into electricity

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A group of scientists have created a portable refinery that efficiently converts food, paper and plastic trash into electricity. The machine, designed for the U.S. military, would allow soldiers in the field to convert waste into power and could have widespread civilian applications in the future.

Researchers tested the first tactical biorefinery prototype in November and found that it produced approximately 90 percent more energy than it consumed, said Jerry Warner, founder of Defense Life Sciences LLC, a private company working with Purdue researchers on the project. He said the results were better than expected.

This would seem to be a useful device for emergency situations in cities, for running hospital and other emergency equipment. If a reasonably priced model could be developed for civilian use, it would be good for small farms and ranches.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Just for fun

Anybody got some good captions to put on this picture of Giuliani?

Campus gun-rights duel erupts again

Legislation that could restrict guns on college campuses hadn't even been released to the public by late Monday, but already gun-rights advocates are lobbying to kill it.
An e-mail Gunowners of Utah (GOUtah) sent members calls on them to stop the "aging ex-hippies" at the University of Utah from restricting concealed weapons anywhere on campus.
"There's no reason why the University of Utah should be given any special perks with banning guns," said Charles Hardy, GOUtah's policy director. "There are no other state agencies that can ban guns without a legitimate, secure area."
The group's target is SB251, drafted as a compromise between pro-gun lawmakers and higher education officials. Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, the bill's sponsor, said it would allow faculty members to choose whether to allow guns in their offices, and it would regulate guns in dorms, requiring concealed-weapons permit holders to store their weapons in school-provided lockers.

I don't see why they need a solution to a problem that does not exist; can anyone tell me how many people have been threatened/injured/killed by legal gun owners on the campus?

But for many U. students, the bill doesn't go far enough.
Marko Mijic hopes the bill passes, but, ideally, the pre-pharmacy sophomore wishes guns could be banned.
"It would be nice to have guns prohibited on the entire campus," he said. "But I think this bill will help ensure the safety of faculty and the campus as a whole."
Jonah Petit, a junior in mechanical engineering, agrees.
"It could be harmful, even fatal to have guns on campus," he said.
Others, though, such as Marilee Larsen, a freshman, said she isn't worried about licensed gun-owners on campus. "If they're licensed, then they know how to handle a gun, and the U. is public property," she said.

Why is it harmful to have legal guns on campus, but no one seems to be worried about people who carry them illegally? It sounds more like a bunch of naive youngsters who have been well programmed by their parents/schools into knee-jerk reactions.
Just my opinion.

Monday, February 05, 2007

An important birthday 167 years ago

Feb 5 is the birthday of Hiram Maxim, inventor of the first true machine gun, as opposed to multi-barreled guns such as the Gatling gun. John Moses Browning would go on to improve the machine gun with the M2 and the BAR, but Maxim was the one who started it all. As a side note, he was also the inventor of the spring-loaded mousetrap that most of us have used at one time or another.

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Marneus Calgar and his command squad

I got this small commission the other week from on of the guys at my FLGS. Wondering if I could get it done in time for Christmas, I told him I figured it wouldn't be too hard to do.

Even though I've never actually painted any "Ultramarines" before, I figured it couldn't be too tough, besides, it was just Command Squad.

As soon as I got the guys, I knew I was in for some work. The paint was thick and they needed to be properly cleaned of mold lines too.

Time for some paint stripping.
I use Dawn Power Dissolver exclusively for metal models and for most plastics too. I let each one sit overnight to really soak in and make getting the paint out of all the cracks much easier. It only took a little bit of scrubbing and some picking with an X-Acto blade to get all the paint off.

With the paint off, I collected some new bases and backpacks for the squad since the old ones weren't worth saving quite honestly. A litle bit of GW sand and they were ready to go.

I'm moving right along, I've got one guy done, sort of a "test model" to make sure they look alright.

My Client is happy and I'm working on the rest of the squad now. I'll have pics of the finished squad next week sometime.

Sometimes I forget how heavy metal minis are since all I have are plastic these days. But there's no doubt about it, these sculpts are really nice regardless of what they're made of.

UPDATE: Here's the link to the finished squad.

Ron, From the WarpIf you've got any questions about something in this post, shoot me a comment and I'll be glad to answer. Make sure to share your hobby tips and thoughts in the comments below!

  1. Nice job! And the Dawn stuff works great!

  2. If my Calgar and Honour Guard can look half as good as this, I'll be a happy man.

  3. Wow, that Honor Guard looks great.

    I'll have to try the Dawn stuff. My son has developed a renewed interest in Space Marines and wants to re-paint all of the stuff that he did long ago.

  4. Nice job!! Do you know where can we buy extra honour guard models other than buying the marneus calgar set? since the box set only comes with 3 guard and a banner guy, how can i get more to make it 10 men??

  5. Anon: That's a good question, maybe an online bits store or convert your own to fill out the squad.
    That way you can pick and choose what weapons you want to equip the additional guys with.

  6. Very nice, very crisp. What colours did you use to get that ncie warm blue Ron? Some UM colours get a rather dark and colder looking appearance. cheers!

  7. Tas: It's Ultramarine blue base color over black primer. Then a quick wash with the GW blue one (I forget the name) and then I used a non-GW color (I don't remember the name either) that is lightly lighter than the result of the washed Ultra blue. The trick was to get a warmer blue as opposed to a cool blue. It took some hunting but I found one.

    You don't realise how big a part warm vs. cool makes when it comes to color selection until you start really looking into it.

If you've got a relevant tip, trick or link, make sure to include it in your comment for the rest of us to check out!

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.


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Friday, July 29, 2011

Silly Little Goals

Earlier this summer, when Biz started her summer fitness "101 days of summer" challenge, I thought about signing up.  Really I did.  But with full time job, kid, husband who travels...I decided to pass.

But I secretly had a goal.

It all starts in January.  My niece started a group called "Club 365".  The goal: we would aim to get 365 miles of exercise in this year.  I know that's only a mile a day.  Well, for some people the goal was probably to work out 365 days (depends on your level!)  I jumped into that head first and kept on going.  The group has petered out a bit.  There appear to  be only 8 people of the original 50 still tracking their miles.  And to give my niece credit, she's pretty pregnant now.

It did not require "running" or "walking".  There are basic running and walking miles, and a conversion for other activities.  I basically consider approximately 10 minutes of any kind of cardio to be a mile.  So my 45 min bike ride to work?  4 miles.  An 800 - 1000 yd swim?  3 to 3.5 miles.

So in June, I made a goal to hit 90 miles.  That's 3 miles a day.  Until that month, I had gotten from 55 to 80 miles.  Well, I didn't even come close - only 72 miles.  Partly because that included a week in Arizona.  And it was hot.

Well, it's July, and I decided to try again.  This month, triathlon training helps, as Saturdays I easily get in 7 miles or so, so I can afford to skip a day.  And I made it!  What's even better, I SMASHED it!

Already, with still two days to go (one of which a Saturday), I passed 100 miles this morning with my little Level 1 of 30 day shred (which I count as 2 miles, by the way).  Yay for me!

Now it's off to shower.

Joanne said...

Whoa! Super cool! Mega congrats, that is quite a feat! said...

i love this goal! what a fun way to encourage you to gt in the miles........


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Frustrated Incorporated
I just want something simple, like the TRUTH!

Obama inherits Petraeus. He didn’t hire Petraeus. Petraeus was there. Petraeus was hired by George W. Bush. Obama’s constantly complaining about all the problems he inherited from Bush. Now he’s inherited Petraeus. He got Bush’s general, who his party and his voters hate. And by the way, has removed their Petraeus ad from their […]

WJR radio Detroit, John Dingell, the senior Democrat in the House of Representatives. DINGELL: Paul W. (Smith), we’re not ready to be doing it, but let me remind you, this has been going on for years. We are bringing it to a halt. The harsh fact of the matter is when you’re going to pass […]

This Week, the fill-in host Elizabeth Vargas talking to Nancy Pelosi. “You understand, I mean, with Charlie Rangel. You promised the most ethical Congress in history, and — and, I mean, you gotta understand now why so many Americans think Congress is corrupt. It just doesn’t look good. This Rangel thing just doesn’t pass the […]

Senator Thomas Carper, Democrat, Delaware, member of the Senate Finance Committee, told the Cybercast News Service that he does not expect to read the actual legislative language of the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill ’cause it’s confusing and anybody who claims that they’re going to read it and understand it is fooling people. Senator […]

People see their liberty being taken away.  People see their freedom being taken away.  Old people see their health care being taken away.  They see it. They know what’s in the bill, and that’s why all this is happening. And now the president of the United States is leading and promoting an intimidation of average […]


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OBS Home Menu Events Underage Access Policy House Policy Our 180 seat restaurant and bar offers an expanded roadhouse style menu. We program a variety of events Monday to Friday evenings. One of the most successful activities is the co-sponsored pub on Thursday nights. The OBS may also be rented out for private parties, contact Tiffany Tapp at 519.452.4109 ext. 6317 regarding these bookings.

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Must Love Horses, Must Love Dogs

By Gina Easley

By Lisa Romeo

The first thing I remember about Nancy is her laugh—full throated, companionable, frequent, wise. Nancy was about thirty-three then; I was nineteen, in college studying journalism. With her, I felt secure and mature, understood and supported. We met at a competitive hunter-jumper show stable in upstate New York, where we both boarded horses, hers bought with a husband’s money, mine with a father’s funds. Nancy encouraged me to be more serious about my riding goals and slightly less serious about school, to have more fun, because if I wasn’t at the stables, I did little but study. Nancy was confident, capable, and spontaneous. She had grit, and what my father used to call gusto.

Nancy’s interest in me felt palpable, and it seemed I could tell her everything, if I wanted. I watched her keep confidences and protect others in the often snipey, political world of horse showing, and I saw that she was loyal. I knew a secret sent her way was sealed. And so I told her mine. That I was secretly in love with a black stable manager back home in New Jersey, that I was occasionally and of course also secretly seeing a married horse show manager, and that despite the horses and ribbons and Dean’s List and my father’s polyester money, I’d always felt like an outsider.

But here’s the funny thing about a friendship rooted in a shared and specialized activity: two people can spend a lot of time together—in riding lessons, on the trail, in the stalls, setting jumps, sitting up overnight when the other’s horse is sick, driving to look at horses to buy—and know everything about how the other rides and what she can and can’t do in the saddle, and what she dreams about in that narrow arena of equestrian longing, and still know little of that person’s life outside, in the world. It’s shocking then, and a bit sad, to find that the person you already counted as your closest friend (or maybe that’s closest horse friend), has another life away from you, and that it is also wide, satisfying, and absorbing.

Slowly, I realized that what I knew of Nancy was only what she chose to reveal to other horse people. It wasn’t until six months after we became close that I realized in many ways I did not yet know her at all. I knew she was married, but not to an erudite, urbane man twenty-one years older than she. I knew she was a part-time stepmother, but not to an out-of-control teenage girl who routinely told her to fuck off, and to a twenty-two-year-old money-sucking manchild. I knew the horses came via her husband’s money, but not that he was the founding partner of a prominent local law firm. I didn’t know she’d first met Mark when he was on a business trip and that it broke up his marriage and that his first wife went a little crazy over it and once tried to hurt some people she loved. I didn’t yet know that Nancy had started out in a lower middle class family and floundered after college, but that by the time I met her she could stage a charity gala, do the New York Times Sunday crossword fast and in ink, or that while she loved having time and resources to ride, she secretly speculated about doing something else entirely.

I learned all of this almost all at once the first few times Nancy invited me for dinner at her house, which was about midway between the stable and campus. I’d unknowingly driven past it almost daily. I quickly became a regular, eating, watching movies, playing Scrabble, settling in. I loved having a family to hang out with, a house to feel at home in, where I could walk in the back door without knocking. We three spent many nights, for many months, then for years, around their kitchen table, me trying to figure out so much, including what I should do about the married horseman and how much of my post-college life to spend on the show circuit. Because I took college courses over the summers, Nancy and I grew closer, and because the twenty-mile drive between campus and stable worried my father, I moved into a condominium steps from Nancy’s house.

I was five when my only sister left home in New Jersey for college in New England; the void seemed unfillable, but soon Laura and her family moved in next door. She was two years older; our connection was immediate and intense, and until midway through high school, we were often mistaken for sisters. We liked being called “Lucy and Ethel” for the hijinks we got into, especially when she traveled with my parents and me. Though Laura temporarily abandoned me for a boy, her future husband, I forgave her because I abandoned her, too, when my father’s business profits spiked, bringing me the horses I’d yearned to own.

Once I started riding—late, at age fourteen—I always also had a “best horse friend,” though typically not another spoiled teenager. I drifted instead toward young women who were older than me and either could afford only mediocre horses or whose parents managed a promising horse but not the monthly board and show fees—riders who were “working off” expenses by mucking stalls, resetting fences, cleaning tack, packing the horse van. I liked their workmanlike demeanor and pragmatic approach, because though I never needed to work to whittle expenses (at one point I owned three horses at a time or, I should say, my father did), I also had parents who didn’t brook entitlement.

Laura, a runner, had no interest in horses, and I had no interest in training for a marathon; she had a steady boyfriend, and I had a steady need to spend every moment with my horse. While this might have broken up other teenage girls who had been friends since preschool, it didn’t break us.

Mark and Nancy were good neighbors, and I burrowed further into their family. It was Nancy who found a handyman (before Mark came home) to fix the garage door that I backed into. It was Nancy who folded me in her arms and poured me a scotch and talked me over the unfamiliar grief when the married guy was killed in an accident. It was Nancy who kept me fed when I was too busy studying and too nervous about finals to shop or cook.

When I graduated, it was Mark who gave me a generous check and conducted mock job interviews, and helped me weigh unpaid internships and low wage journalism starter jobs against my father’s offer to fund a few years on the horse show circuit while I tried to make it as a freelance writer—and didn’t criticize my inevitable decision to light out for the West Coast horse show circuit, typewriter in tow.

And when, after eighteen months in California, I moved my horses back to New York and the East Coast circuit, it was Nancy and Mark who gave me their guest room while I apartment-shopped and healed from another break-up, and Nancy who performed a mini-makeover when I plunged into a depression about my big-boned, brown-haired, Italian-girl appearance, fueled by constant exposure to California girls, horse show princesses, and the hopeful actors who had lived in my Los Angeles apartment complex.

Nancy wasn’t classically pretty – she had a long nose, big teeth, kinky hair, freckles, chunky calves—and I liked that about her because I had a wide nose, a broken (and not very elegantly fixed) front tooth, frizzy hair, and thick thighs. But Nancy knew how to buy cosmetics and use them, what expensive clothes could do for a soft figure, the wisdom of paying for a great haircut, and how to use the right blow dryer and brush. She knew, in the early 1980s, about teeth-whitening, juice cleanses, all natural facials, the tonic of a weekly pedicure (manicures were a waste for riders), and what not to wear. She suggested, I nodded. She selected, I agreed. And though I could have paid, she treated.

I’m not sure what I did for Nancy, what I offered or gave her. Perhaps I was the stepdaughter she didn’t get—guileless, rule-bound, happy to hug and hang around the dinner table, who valued her counsel. Maybe I felt like family, when her own was hours away and disapproving, and her husband was consumed with work, and all around town she kept running into people loyal to Mark’s ex-wife. Though she was friendly with other riders, I was the only one whose reach extended beyond the stable driveway. Maybe there was no other reason except, as I’ve always believed, we just clicked.

What I knew about friendship by then was only this: you stuck, until the other person peeled away. And then, you stuck still; things might change. During college Laura was consumed with pre-med studies and her future husband; me with horses and writing, but we reconnected on college breaks and pretended to still understand one another’s lives. I was a bridesmaid in her wedding a few weeks after I graduated; she helped pack when my parents moved to Las Vegas; we loaned each other shoes.

After college, while I was riding on the West Coast circuit and writing for equestrian magazines, Nancy and I kept in touch with phone calls and letters. But her letters grew shorter, clipped, the calls abbreviated. I often reached her answering machine, and I wondered if she was standing in her kitchen listening, as I’d seen her do many times when someone she didn’t care much for phoned with some request. Soon, the letters and calls were mostly about why Nancy and her horses were leaving the fancy equestrian center for a smaller, less competitive stable when she grew more interested in the slow dance of dressage and the science of horse breeding—and in dogs.

When I moved back and settled in an apartment near her house, I returned to our old stable and trainer, but Nancy never visited me there, though I spent chunks of days at the barn where she’d moved her horses.

One chilled spring night she and I met a plane at the nearest major airport, where a flight attendant passed us a sealed medical bucket, a tube of high-priced semen from a champion dressage horse inside. We drove an hour back to Nancy’s stable, freezing because we blasted the air conditioning to keep the sperm active, and when we arrived, I held her mare’s tail aside as Nancy inserted the baster-like syringe. Eleven months later, we slept on horse blankets tossed over hay bales, taking turns to check on that mare every twenty minutes, and I was the one who first spotted the steaming foal in the straw.

Perhaps experiences like this seduced me into thinking we might stay bound, for a long time, forever. When my three-year post-graduate “parentship” of riding and writing ended, I left for a regular job in Manhattan and an apartment back home in New Jersey. There, I found a place at Laura and her husband’s kitchen table, where I also eventually found someone special, someone appropriate and available. I’d still occasionally make the four-hour drive north to visit Nancy and Mark, and one weekend I brought Frank. By then they were living on twenty acres in a stunning Danish modern house they’d designed together. Nancy, by then, had her own barn, but owned more canines than equines and was considering becoming a dog trainer.

For someone who, for thirteen years, had been spending much of each day in a stable and at horse show grounds, where dogs of all kinds and sizes were always in residence, I was surprisingly intolerant of the animal. I found many dogs cute and sometimes admired their loyalty and how their humans loved them, but I did not love dogs. I detested being licked, and I was always tamping down blades of fear that rose whenever any dog, large or small, got too close: as a child, I was once charged by my grandmother’s huge Collie, who lived, wild and wolf-like, on acres of his own.

I wanted to be good-friend-enthusiastic about Nancy’s dog plans, and I thought I was, but that weekend I sensed that she wanted more from me, wanted me to be invested in her three dogs and bigger dog dreams, to be physical with them, and to want to know everything about them, as we once wanted to know everything about one another’s horses. These were Australian Shepherds, energetic, and to my mind, frenetic, aggressive dogs, and I couldn’t get beyond an obligatory pat. The time I’d hoped we’d spend with her horses while Frank and Mark watched a tennis match, we instead spent in an open field, Nancy showing off her dogs’ natural and learned skills. I watched, muttered faint praise, but I was bored and at moments, frightened. I know it showed.

Years later, I would come to think of this as the reason our friendship fractured, but at the time it was clouded by something else that seemed more threatening. On Sunday morning when Frank was in the shower and the three of us were around the kitchen table, I asked what they thought of my boyfriend. Oh, he’s nice, they said, a really great guy—but. But he has no college education. But he’s kind of unsophisticated. But we always pictured you with someone older, someone with money.

I laughed it off, tried to lighten the moment: Ha! I know! Opposites attract, right? But the kitchen air felt heavy and no one was laughing.

I had valued Nancy’s opinions and Mark’s, too, for years, maybe too much. I wanted to remind Nancy that, years before, her friends had warned her off Mark (too old, too married, two kids). I also wanted to say that they were not the only people to think this, that what they were saying I had even said to myself a few times, but that my heart pulled me. But no words formed in my mouth. The subject changed.

A year or so later, I married him.

Since the weekend visit, Nancy and I had talked by phone, written letters. In those conversations, on those pages, everything seemed the same and also different. Though I still had a horse, my equestrian life was winding down, my career and home life expanding. Nancy was selling off her horses, immersing herself in the dog world.

Years later, re-reading those letters, it seemed clear that she was losing interest in what had tied us together, the horses and stables, and maybe more in the idea of keeping up a long distance friendship with someone whose life and interests now no longer matched hers. All I knew then was that so much was left unsaid, unexamined, so unlike in our previous friendship, the one we’d forged in person, on horseback and around a kitchen table.

Frank and I were getting married on Mother’s Day, and several people had replied “regretfully cannot attend,” citing mothers or mothers-in-law or stepmothers. Months before, Nancy had laughed off my request that she be my matron of honor (I’m too old. You should ask your sister), and she’d shown little interest in my wedding planning. Still, this didn’t alarm me. She’d always favored the unfussy approach to traditional events. I was confident I’d see Nancy and Mark at our wedding; Mark’s mother was dead, Nancy’s then estranged, and they disliked “Hallmark holidays”.

But they did not come to our wedding.

When no response appeared, I called, left messages (Did you get the invitation? Are you guys okay? Are you coming?). Even if the invitation had not arrived, my letters had all the details. I knew only that they were just 200 miles away, and that someone who they once held dear was getting married, and they did not respond, did not come, did not send a gift, or a card, did not.

In the end, one of those who stood by my side was my old friend Laura, and her husband handed Frank the ring. They had a child by then, were settling in to parenthood, had a sprawling expensive house, and ascending careers. None of that resembled the life Frank and I were then forging. But we’d stuck.

I thought I might try contacting Nancy and Mark again after my honeymoon, thinking that there must have been some major problem. Mutual acquaintances, however, shrugged and said they knew of nothing that might explain their absence. In the months that followed, I cried, but that was all I did. I did not call, did not write, did not.

In the silence of rejection, guilt and regret rose up. Something precious and important to me was ending and there must have been something I’d done.

Eight years later, I saw Nancy one more time.

After several years of infertility, I then had a two-year-old son and had just miscarried another pregnancy. What had always helped me after an emotional setback was a weekend on my own. I drove upstate on a Friday and spent Saturday visiting a beloved college professor and my old stable—people and places that once made me feel strong and confident, back at a time when I was sure so much good was ahead.

I knew Nancy and Mark had moved ninety miles away, and I took a quiet, long, out-of-the-way route home on Sunday, see-sawing in my mind those first eighty-five miles, debating if I’d stop in or not. I didn’t have an address, but I assumed it wouldn’t be hard to locate them or perhaps Mark’s son Alex, now a caterer in the same small town. When I phoned information, Alex’s number was the first offered, and when I called, he immediately realized who I was, his greeting so effusive that I wondered if we had once been friendlier than I remembered. He said he’d call ahead to let his dad and Nancy know I was on my way, that he was certain they’d both be so very pleased to see me after so long.

As I turned off the main road, it was Mark who was already waving, already trotting out the front door and across the porch and down the front steps, Mark who was smiling when he jogged to meet my car in the gravel drive that separated their large home, a converted Dutch colonial barn, from a huge metal pole barn and kennels where, I’d learn, Nancy ran a major dog training, breeding, and boarding business.

It was Mark who said how happy he’d been when Alex called, Mark who hugged me. It was Mark who assured me that Nancy would be thrilled to see me when she got back from the farmer’s market. And so it was Mark who I talked with for an hour over coffee, Mark who took me on a tour and explained how they’d moved the barn to the property and restored it with period materials and furnished it with regional antiques. It was Mark I told about my small struggling child and his developmental issues and the babies I’d lost and how I might not have another, and it was Mark who said how he was never so happy to have been wrong about someone, meaning Frank. As he talked, I realized that for the first time—which even then I knew was ridiculous given how obvious it suddenly seemed and must have been since the first night I’d had dinner with them—how much Mark reminded me of my father.

He said Nancy would show me around the dog operation, would want to tell me everything about her thriving new business, and why she didn’t ride anymore.

But none of that happened. Nancy came home and registered surprise but little other obvious emotion. She scrubbed vegetables while we talked, and the conversation didn’t have that intense compressed quality of reunited old friends who talk over one another’s sentences and are unable to stop grinning. She did not show me the dog buildings, and we did not talk of horses or the show ring gossip I’d heard the day before. Since I had already told Mark my other stories, I glossed over it all, hoping he’d fill her in later (hoping, too, that he would not). I felt the visit slipping from me. Until then, the weekend had done its job, replenishing my depleted energy, balm for my sore heart, reminding me of all that can still lie ahead; now, I was spiraling back in the other direction.

I had to go.

First though, and while Mark was out of the room, I did ask what I had come to say: “I’ve always wondered—why you didn’t come to my wedding? Did I do something?” I chickened out at the last moment from adding, Why did you leave me? Was it me? I missed you so much. You broke my heart.

I was prepared for anything—a secret illness, scandal, a simmering grudge, an argument that I’d forgotten or pretended was trivial when it wasn’t, some slight I’d once dealt and then denied—but mostly I was prepared for something, some reason, any reason.

The answer came, on waves of Nancy’s throaty laugh. She couldn’t remember, she said. It was years ago, she said. There must have been something going on, she said. Maybe that was when Mark’s business collapsed. The time she’d had kidney stones. Or when they were moving. It could have been breeding season. Maybe they were in Europe.

I am now warm friends with several women at least a decade older than me. Occasionally, when I’m having brunch or a glass of wine with one of them, I find myself thinking, this is someone Nancy would like. When I’m keeping in touch with them via text, Twitter, and Facebook, I occasionally think, if only we had so many ways to stay in touch back then, maybe Nancy and I would still be in touch. Maybe.

I thought of Nancy most recently when Frank and I were setting out food for the New Year’s Eve board-game-party we toss together at the last minute every year with Laura and her husband. Over the years, they have gone as far in the opposite directions as possible from us in matters of politics, religion, child-rearing ideas—even sport teams. But we stick, still. That night, in those quiet moments between our laughter, I drifted, as I do sometimes, to new theories about losing Nancy: I was searching for another older sister who, unlike my own, thought horses were important, and later, when my sister and I grew closer, Nancy sensed that I had less need of her. I was the younger sister Nancy always longed for, and then I eventually, naturally, outgrew the role. I took advantage of their hospitality too constantly. I was the child that she’d agreed, when she married Mark, never to have, and once I’d moved on to adulthood, we’d all outgrown those poorly understood roles.

A few years ago, I looked for them both on Facebook. Mark returned my friend request within hours: So glad to reconnect…what nice looking sons you have…I hope you and Frank are well. He was in his late seventies, posting about running road races, new business ventures, fine wines. He looked great, fit and friendly. For a year, I hit Like on many of his posts. Then they all stopped. I was afraid to find out why.

My friend request to Nancy (Hello old friendI’d love to be back in touch…I have so many great memories…) languished, and when finally she approved it, there was no personal reply. Her Facebook page was all about dogs. I had nothing to say about that, and finally, nothing to say at all.

LISA ROMEO is a freelance editor and founding faculty member of Bay Path University’s online MFA program. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, O The Oprah Magazine, Under the Sun, Sweet, Hippocampus, Sport Literate, Under the Gum Tree, and several anthologies. She is seeking a publisher for her memoir, The Father and Daughter Reunion: Every Loss Story is a Love Story. Lisa lives in New Jersey with her husband and sons. Find her on Twitter @LisaRomeo, or at her blog, where she posts interviews and resources for writers.

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Yin Yoga Class

Yin Yoga is a slow-paced style of yoga with poses, or asanas, that are held for longer periods of time--five minutes or more per pose is typical.

Yin yoga poses apply very little stress to the connective tissues of the body--the tendons, fascia and ligaments--with the aim of increasing circulation in the joints and improving flexibility. A more meditative approach to yoga, yin aims at cultivating awareness of inner silence and bringing to light a universal, interconnected quality.

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Branch Stories

  • Jun 26, 2015
  • Jun 22, 2015
    On June 22, 2015, WI Members from Algoma Centre District (North Central Area) had an enjoyable day with ladies from the Michigan Association of Family and Community Education (MAFCE). They enjoyed the Museum and Botanical Gardens in De Tour Village, Michigan and had lunch at the beautiful Marina in DeTour.
  • Feb 09, 2015
    From the organizational meeting on September 15, 1909, in a small brick house to the present time in our welcoming community centre, the ladies of our Institute have been a constant strength in our community. From the very beginning, the WI motto has guided our Members as they strive to provide a wholesome, healthy atmosphere for their families.
  • Jun 13, 2013
    Burnstown WI’s “Fidget Blankets” have taken the area by storm!
  • Dec 12, 2012
    There is nothing better than a summer excursion with the ladies you volunteer with! Our trips together are honestly something I look forward to each summer.  It builds friendships on a different level than just volunteering, work and meetings...on a more personal level.
  • Dec 12, 2012
    Pictured above: Members Marilyn Sararus and Kate Cressman, hostesses of the WI Tea Party, stand in front of the beautifully decorated table.
  • Oct 14, 2011
    On December 5, 1960, a group of women on the outskirts of Perth got together and decided to create an organization called the Second Line Women's Institute (SLDWI). It is with great pride that the SLDWI is celebrating its Golden Anniversary (50th) this year. It is an exciting time. After all, how many organizations can boast that they are as active and progressive, are as old as
  • Oct 14, 2011
    Here are 17 of the 24 Members at the celebration.


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Saturday, February 02, 2008

Finally Feeling Better

Got home walking on my knees. Spent an entire day sleeping in bed,but finally coming back to semi-normal. Still have a cold but no fever and not coughing every five minutes. My fingers are crossed that I don't relapse on my next trip. Leaving Monday for California, returning on the 8th. Planning on taking very good care while on the road.
However, being laid up is not such a bad thing. Kept my sketch book close at hand, along with a good book and my computer close so I could listen to old radio shows on Something about radio and music sparks the imagination that television often robs us in my feverish state ended up with some new possibilities for quilts.

You can tell they are still in the working stages but it felt so good to have new ideas.The well had been a dribble for so I feel there is plenty of fresh water.

Also with the help of Eric Maisel, we have a major work/exhibition in the planning stages.Can't talk too much about it at the moment since it is still gestating...but will post more later.

It is just good to be moving off the plateau and climbing the rocks again. Thank you all for your email and comments....always brightens your spirits when you are feeling like you can't put one foot in front of the other.

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Patricia said...

what lovely lyrical designs. Can't wait to see what you create with them

Jeannie said...

I am so glad you are feeling better. I really like Patricia's comment - lyrical really is a good word to describe your designs - just beautiful. Take care of yourself. Cheers

teri springer said...

Good grief....if you can do THIS while sick! You amaze me.

Still, I hope you are feeling better and STAY that way.


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Gallbladder Repairing

Gallstones Remedies Key Largo

Gallstones Remedies Key Largo

Posted on 2014/05/19 by Rigoberto

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Comment added on 28/12/2017 07:33:

Next day you eat.

Comment added on 05/01/2018 09:09:

These include pastries, sweets, like any other conflicts of interest.

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Copyright Gallbladder Repairing© 2014. All Rights Reserved.


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Quantum Art Provides the First SaaS .NET CMS Platform

October 11, 2010 San Francisco, CA –

Quantum Art announces a new market focus on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provisioning of its proven .NET Web CMS Platform.

Quantum Art designs, develops and manages on-demand business solutions utilizing its SaaS CMS platform. Trends in the industry reveal a growing interest in what Quantum Art previously marketed as QP7.Subscribe — a Software-as-a-Service version of QP7, their .NET-based web content management solution. Organizations are increasingly prepared to trust their vital processes and data to SaaS because of this provisioning models advantages. These include a significantly lower up-front capital cost, instant scalability, and multi-tenant efficiencies.

“There are thousands of CMS companies, but only dozens of them that are enterprise-class with a mid-market price, and only three of those are SaaS. We are the only one of those three that would be classified as a Platform (vs. a Product) by the leading industry analyst,” writes Mark McGee, the Managing Director of Global Operations at Quantum Art.

The Real Story Group classifies both of Quantum Art’s competitors in the SaaS CMS space as “Mid-Range Products,” whereas Quantum Art’s CMS would be classified as a “Mid-Range Platform” according to their criteriaand is unique in that category because of the SaaS provisioning model.

According to John Austin of The CMS Insider’s Blog, a platform is a “better fit” for organizations with complex needs than a productespecially if they expect the solution to have a long life-cycle. In a ‘productized’ CMS, many important decisions have been made in advance to simplify the solution design process, eliminating the crucial flexibility that a platform like Quantum Art’s can provide.

Since 2005, Cities, Counties, NPOs, and businesses have been running public and private sites and web applications on QP7.Subscribe, one of the earliest SaaS CMS options in the market.

Recently, Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties launched a new site on the Quantum Art SaaS Platform. Features include an interactive donation and store locator, links to the eBay and Amazon sites, a donation module, a job board and more — helping the community with online tools. For more information about the Goodwill Industries site and others are using Quantum Arts platform to achieve their goals, visit the Case Studies section of the site.


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Trouble-Free Plans In car Around The USA

any computer Technical Help needed u may post here
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:27 am

Trouble-Free Plans In car Around The USA

Postby ebafuha » Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:28 am

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Made in the South Awards

2016 Home Category: Overall Winner

Glassblower Colin O’Reilly crafts elemental barware as singular as the whiskey it’s designed to hold

photo: Whitney Ott

Overall Winner

Product: Glassware
Made in: Spruce Pine, NC
Est. 2016

Sometimes the most sophisticated objects appear deceptively simple. Consider the spare “Oklahoma” barware made by Terrane Glass Designs in mountainous Spruce Pine, North Carolina. The flawless whiskey decanter and matching rocks glasses have heft without heaviness, clarity save for a few carefully placed tool marks, and a meticulous balance. Unlike much hand-blown glass, which is typically highly decorated, these pieces have neither flashy colors nor elaborate flourishes to hide imperfections. Instead, the set’s classic marriage of form and function attests to the glassblower Colin O’Reilly’s skill and aesthetic vision.

The Oklahoma design began in a sketchbook in 2012. Some time later, O’Reilly reimagined the initial concept in his riverside Spruce Pine studio, tinkering with various shapes. After weeks of trial and error, he settled on an elegant, globe-topped decanter and a pair of colorless cylinders with thumbprint indentations, the better to see the amber liquid and feel its coolness—“something that for drinkers doesn’t take away from the experience of the bourbon or whiskey,” O’Reilly says.

That philosophy sounds straightforward, but it took years of apprenticeships for O’Reilly, who is thirty, to consistently produce work so elemental and refined. The Kennesaw, Georgia, native and aspiring sculptor first glimpsed glassblowing on a family trip to Santa Fe. There, he stumbled across a little hippie operation in the high desert named Tesuque Glassworks and begged the artists to teach him their craft. They agreed, allowing him to earn daily access to the furnaces and tools in exchange for cleaning the machinery and sweeping the floors.

O'Reilly begins working a piece inside his workshop in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.

photo: Andrew Kornylak

Playing with Fire

O’Reilly begins working a piece inside his workshop in Spruce Pine, North Carolina.

Still, nobody really taught O’Reilly how to handle glass; he just experimented. And at first, he broke almost everything he touched. But he grew to love the physicality and meditative rhythm of the medium: waiting an hour each morning for the furnace to heat hundreds of pounds of glass into a viscous honey, then gathering the bright orange syrup with a hollow steel pipe and blowing just enough air to form a bubble, next carefully working the shape, and lastly manipulating scissors and tweezers and blocks to fine-tune the piece before placing the object in a special oven, where it cools ever so slowly into something useful and lovely.

Available at Mercantile + Co

After Tesuque and a stint in California earning his bachelor’s of fine arts in glassblowing, O’Reilly briefly circled back South to take a course at North Carolina’s Penland School of Crafts. He then headed to Seattle, America’s glassblowing capital, and took a grunt job loading furnaces at the Schack Art Center, using the entry-level gig as a chance to work for—and impress—established glassblowers with national and international reputations. “He had a very calm approach to the material,” recalls the artist Janusz Pozniak. “You either have it or you don’t—and if you don’t, you have to work really hard to make up for a lack of intuitive skill.”

O’Reilly, his then pregnant wife, and their son left the Pacific Northwest about a year ago for Spruce Pine—a setting that’s influenced the fledgling Terrane line of modern barware and vases. “For Colin’s work to look as clean as it is, it’s a testament to how well it’s made,” says the sculptor John Kiley, O’Reilly’s other Seattle mentor. “Colin knows all those decorative forms. He’s choosing not to make them.” That choice has been inspired in part by the South’s subtle scenery. “I haven’t felt the need to design around brightly colored glass anymore,” O’Reilly says. “The beauty of clear glass is the beauty of this place, of letting something stand on its own.” Even his company name nods to regional identity; the word terrane refers to a rare geological feature found in Appalachia, the outcome of a piece of tectonic plate breaking and attaching to another. O’Reilly considers it a metaphor for how he and his family came to Spruce Pine.

He’s also experimenting with a series of vases that echo the topographic lines that mark the peaks and valleys of his beloved Blue Ridge. Eventually, O’Reilly hopes to open a shared studio in downtown Spruce Pine, so visitors can better access him and other artists—the least he can do, he figures, for the community that helped him reach a wider audience and a new level of artistic excellence. “It’s been unlike any other place,” he says. “It’s a place that just let us in.”

Price: from $275 (full set)

Home Category Runners-Up

Product: Bespoke Wallpaper
Made in: Witter, AR
Est.: 2011

From their remote farmstead in the Ozarks, the husband-and-wife team Christian and Heidi Batteau craft luminous wallpaper for some of the world’s pickiest clients. Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, and London Jewelers have all hired Assemblage to give their boutiques an opulent feel. The Batteaus use traditional Italian hand trowels to layer supple sheets of marble and mica plasters; the process builds a translucent stratum that reflects light and creates the illusion of depth. For their most luxurious designs, they add gold and silver leaf or crystalline jewels. The team works closely with business and residential clients no matter the size of the space, and mixes its own paints and plasters, so they can customize colors. The effect:  minimal yet striking—like an abstract painting wrapped around an entire room.

Price: $79-$310

Monolith Studio Knives
Product: Chef’s Knives
Made in: Charlottesville, VA
Est.: 2013

Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, George Washington, and other early American figures fascinated Zack Worrell growing up in Charlottesville—a city steeped in history that influenced this line of modern cutlery. The former furniture builder, who runs Monolith Studio Knives in his hometown, often grinds blades from repurposed steel and shapes wooden handles from a stash of walnut culled from a farm beside Monticello. Although rooted in colonial times, the sleek pieces take their visual cues from Japan, meaning they’re ergonomic, lightweight, and extra sharp. Worrell loves tweaking knives for professional chefs and home cooks alike. “Someone just asked me if I could make a handle out of a Nike sneaker,” he says, “and I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ It keeps the artistic exploration going.”

Price: $175-$1,000

Doorman Designs
Product: Canopy Beds
Made in: New Orleans, LA
Est.: 2013

Alex Geriner’s Josephine frame exudes all the romance of an antebellum canopy bed with none of the fussiness. Instead, the sculptural sleepers—designed to complement rooms in the Henry Howard Hotel, a circa-1867 townhouse in New Orleans’ Garden District—feature a scaled-back silhouette of black iron. In a nod to the inn’s Crescent City pedigree, Geriner added a subtle brass accent at the bed’s corners. From his Uptown warehouse, the self-taught furniture maker welds, assembles, and sands each frame before painting it a semigloss black. When he’s not working with steel, Geriner turns to reclaimed wood and antique ceiling tins. The pieces allude to New Orleans but don’t slavishly replicate its famed antiques. “What I’m trying to do,” he says, “is continue that story.”

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Garden Decor - The Search Engine for Gardening
Garden Holly Problems

Gardening Pest Control & Disease Disease ControlGarden Diseases Holly Bush Disea...

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While many people think of holly as a holiday decoration, the holly bush makes an interesting year round addition to the garden. Hollies come in many shapes, sizes and colors. Many have variegated lea READ MORE

Holly Diseases & Insect Pests

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Prepared by Marjan Kluepfel HGIC Horticulture Information Specialist; J. McLeod Scott, HGIC Horticulture Extension Agent; James H. Blake, Extension Plant Pathologist; and Clyde S. Gorsuch, Extension E READ MORE

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Ornamental Disease Note No. 7 D.M. Benson, Plant Pathologist R.K. Jones, Plant Pathologist (retired) Hollies are some of the most commonly used plants in the landscape in North Carolina. Japane READ MORE

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Most types of holly plants are normally very resilient plants. But all holly plants are susceptible to a few holly problems. One of those problems is holly leaf spot also known as holly tar spot. This READ MORE
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Sector: CNG

Ten thousand new NGVs in Germany in 2015

There are between 80 and 100 thousand natural gas-powered vehicles on German roads today. Drivers have over 900 refueling stations at their disposal, including 840 public ones. All this means there are good conditions for further growth of the NGV market.
CNG refueling at a station in Germany© erdgas mobilWill this happen 10000 times more in 2015 than in 2014?

Across entire 2014 as many as 8195 new NGVs were registered in Germany, including 621 in December alone. Compared to the previous year, this means a growth in sales by 1,8%. Most vehicles running on methane in Germany are passenger cars and light- to medium-duty vans, although there's also a fleet of 1700 CNG-powered city buses, which is Europe's third largest one (after those in France and Italy).

According to estimates, monthly sales of natural gas as motor fuel in Germany is 18 million m3. Impressive as the figure may seem, it only accounts for 0,36% of all motor fuels sold in that country every month.

Dr Timm Kehler, managing director at erdgas mobil, estimates that NGV sales in Germany in 2015 will exceed 10 thousand examples. Why should they? One factor is the 2020 climate protection program undertaken by the German government. It promises to retain tax breaks for natural gas and biomethane used for transport purposes.

The above political initiative is definitely an important one since it provides the CNG sector with appropriate conditions for growth. Besides, the number of available NGVs keeps growing and this helps, too – the more different car models on offer, the more people are willing to make the switch from conventional fuels to methane.

  • LPG and CNG cars
  • Hybrids and EV's
  • News and tips

Piotr Złoty
source: Autogazette, erdgas mobil

gazeo.com 2012-2018 All rights reserved. By using this site you acknowledge that you accept its Terms and Conditions


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Home > Articles > Cisco > CCNA Security

Threat Mitigation with ACLs

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Access Control Lists are a fundamental security mechanism that is used to guard against cyber-attacks in modern networks. This article examines the different types of access control lists that you can use right away in order to help “harden” your network.
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In networks today one of the most important issues that we have to deal with is security. Specifically, we need to make certain that our devices are "hardened" against the threat of a cyber-attack. Cyber attacks can take many forms; however, the majority of the methods used to reduce our exposure to these threats relies on or utilizes a very basic networking tool. We are talking about Access Control Lists (ACLs). Whether they are applied directly to a router or switch interface, or used as part of a Zone Based Firewall configuration, they quickly become one of our first lines of defense against external and even internal threats. As CCNA Security candidates, we need to understand that our network security depends strongly on well-written, organized, and concise ACLs to restrict access to network services. We are going to take a critical look at the different types of ACLs; specifically how they can be identified and applied.

What are the basic types of ACLs in IOS?

In IOS ACLs are divided into two basic types: Standard IP and Extended IP Access-lists. Here we will cover the very basics associated with each of these types as they relate to IPv4 and TCP.

  • Standard IP ACLs are used to filter IP packets based on the source of the address only.
  • Extended IP ACLs are used to filter packets based on several criteria, including but not limited to the following:
    • Source IP Address
    • Destination IP Address
    • Source TCP/UDP ports
    • Destination TCP/UDP ports

Shortly we will take a closer look at ACL types individually, but what we need to understand now is that Extended ACLs as their name implies, offer us much more flexibility than do Standard ACLs. We will see, however, that IOS is about using the best tool for the job and the differences between these types of ACLs will be reflected in how they are used and applied.

How do we identify the different types of Access Control Lists?

Either a number or a name can identify an ACL and the protocols they filter. We will discuss named access lists later. With regard to numbered ACLs, the number of the ACL determines what protocol is being filtered. We mentioned earlier that we are focusing purely on ACLs used with the IP/TCP protocols, so that means that we will be looking at the range of numbers used by these protocols. It is important to observe, however, those ACLs can filter other protocols than IP/TCP.

When we create a numbered ACL we assign it a numeric value that actually has a dual purpose. First, it specifies the protocol we will be filtering and second it makes the ACL locally unique. We can have up to 99 Standard IP Access Lists ranging in number from 1 to 99; the Extended IP Access List's number range is assigned from 100 to 199.

After a short period of time, it was decided that many environments needed more than the initially allotted number of Standard and Extended ACLs, so Cisco added expanded ranges for each type. Now we can use numbers ranging from 1300 to 1999 for additional Standard ACLs and 2000 to 2699 for added Extended ACLs.

Now that we know how to identify ACLs we need to take a closer look at each type:

What do Standard ACLs look like on a router?

A Standard Access List only allows you to permit or deny traffic from specific IP addresses. The destination of the packet and the ports involved do not matter.

Here is an example:

access-list 10 permit

This list allows traffic from all addresses in the range to

You can see how the last entry looks similar to a subnet mask, but Cisco ACLs use an inverse mask instead. Another very important rule about access-lists is that there is always an “implicit DENY” at the end of each ACL. What this means is that every Standard access-list has an invisible statement at the end of it. In our example, this would be

access-list 99 deny any

So if your traffic is not being explicitly permitted by a statement in the Standard ACL, then your traffic is DENIED. If you manually type the “deny any” statement, it will appear; but remember, even if you don’t type it, it is still there.

What do Extended ACLs look like on the router?

Extended ACLs allow us to permit or deny traffic from specific IP address and port to a specific destination IP address and port. They can also be used to specify different types of traffic such as ICMP, TCP, UDP, etc. This makes Extended ACLs very granular and allows us to be very specific about what we want to filter. As an example:

access-list 103 permit tcp any eq 80
access-list 103 permit tcp any host eq 23

In this example the extended ACL 103 will permit traffic from any source destined to any address ranging from to that matches port 80. The second sequence number will match any telnet traffic destined to What happens if telnet (port 23) traffic arrives destined to IP Address

Remember the implicit deny. This traffic would be blocked by the ACL. This leads us to one additional thing we should look at regarding how ACLs operate.

Top Down Processing

The lines of an ACL are processed in a top down sequence in the order that they are configured. When a packet being processed through an ACL matches a given statement in the list—all processing for that packet is stopped. As an example:

access-list 1 deny
access-list 1 deny
access-list 1 permit

In the instance where this ACL is being used to filter traffic in-bound on an interface and an IP packet arrives with a source address of, will the traffic be permitted or denied? In order to determine that we need to look at the ACL itself, because the access list will be processed from the top down the traffic will be denied. This happens even though it is permitted later down the list. The important thing for us to keep in mind is that the order of the permit and deny statements are crucial.

The three rules of ACLs and traffic filtering

The golden rule when it comes to ACLs is that you can only have one ACL per protocol, per direction, per interface. This means that you can use one access-list for each protocol (IP, TCP, Telnet, etc). You can only have a single ACL for each direction- IN, or OUT. You can apply an ACL on each interface type—FastEthernet or Serial. In its simplest terms, you are not allowed to have two inbound IP ACLs on the same interface. In situations where this may be a requirement, it will be necessary to combine them into a single ACL. Again, keep in mind that the order used to construct this combined ACL is critical.

Where do we apply ACLs?

Since Standard ACLs only match the source address of a packet, it is more effective to apply them as close to the destination of the packet as possible. If you don’t apply it close to the destination and choose instead to apply it near the source, the ACL might accidently filter traffic that we do not want filtered.

As a general rule, Extended ACLs can be placed anywhere since they match both the source and the destination of the packet. However, it is recommended to apply them as close to the source as possible. Applying these ACL's near the source will save resources like CPU cycles and bandwidth. If a packet has to be denied, then it does not make sense to let it be forwarded to the destination and thus waste resources; it should be denied near the source to prevent wasted bandwidth.

How do we apply ACLs?

ACLs must be applied to a router interface in order for them to have any effect. It is important to note that ACLs are applied to an interface based on the direction of the data flow we are interested in filtering:

  • Inbound (in) means that the ACL will filter packets entering the router interface.
  • Outbound (out) means that the ACL will be applied to packets exiting the router interface.

Before you apply an ACL to an interface, it is necessary to know what direction it will be filtering. Once this has been determined we will us the 'ip access-group' command under the interface configuration mode. On the router, it will look something like this:

R1(config)# interface Fa0/0
R1(config-if)# ip access-group 2 in
R1(config)# interface Fa0/1
R1(config-if)# ip access-group 3 out
R1(config-if)# exit

In this example we can see that we have applied ACL 2 and ACL 3 to two different interfaces.

A very common security practice in the real world is to create an ACL matching all of our internal networks, and then apply that ACL inbound on all external facing interfaces. This process will prevent a cyber attacker from using the well-known "IP spoofing" attack against the network. In an IP spoofing attack, unauthorized access to network hosts and services is gained by an intruder that is sending messages to an internal host with an IP address pretending to be a message from an internal trusted host. Applying an ACL that denies all traffic sourced from any subnet that we are using on our network will immediately prevent this type of attack.

Understanding the proper use of Cisco IOS ACLs is an essential requirement for any aspiring network engineer. In this blog we have looked at the essentials of Access-List that everyone should know to include how to create and apply them. We have analyzed how access-lists can be used to filter traffic that is flowing through the network, but there are so many more options and uses than what we were able to explore here. To learn more, go to your router and type access-list ?, or consult the Cisco documentation on Access-lists.

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Next: Multi-Frame and All-Sky Reduction Up: GCX User's Manual Previous: CCD Reduction   Contents

Aperture Photometry

The basic funtion of the aperture photometry routine in GCX is to measure the flux of a number of stars in the image (which will be expressed as an instrumental magnitude), and estimate it's expected error.

As an additional function, if some of the stars are standard stars of known magnitude the program will calculate the standard magnitude of the measured stars using the standard stars as a reference (ensemble photometry).7.1

Measuring Apertures

To measure the flux of a star, we add together the intensity values from a circular region around the target star (the central aperture), and subtract the estimated background contribution. The background is estimated from values in a annular region surrounding the star at a distance.

Normally, we choose the size of the central aperture to be large enough to include most of the star image. Common ranges are between 3 and 5 times the FWHM of the star image.7.2

The annular sky aperture is chosen to be far enough from the star so that it includes an insignificant amount of flux from it. The default values of the measurement aperture radiuses are 6 pixels for the central aperture and 9/13 pixels for the sky aperture. These values are appropiate for star images between 2.5 and 3.5 pixels FWHM. If one obtains consistently tighter star images, reducing the central aperture would help improve the SNR of faint stars. The three radiuses are specified by options under Aperture Photometry Options.

Assuming there are $N$ pixels inside the central aperture, the total flux (star + background) is:

F_T = \sum_i I_i
\end{displaymath} (7.1)

Where the sumation is taken over the pixels in the central aperture. If $\widetilde{B}$ is the estimated background level, the star's flux is taken to be:
F = \sum_i I_i - N \widetilde{B}
\end{displaymath} (7.2)

and the star's instrumental magnitude is:
M_I = -2.511886\log\left(\sum_i I_i - N \widetilde{B}\right)
\end{displaymath} (7.3)

The estimated error of the instrumental magnitude is calculated taking most known random error sources into account. A detailed description of the error model and the way the instrumental magnitude error is calculated can be found in Appendix A.

Sky Estimation

To calculate the instrumental magnitude above we used an estimate of the sky background near the star. This value is calculated from the pixels in the annular ring.

Given the relatively large size of the sky annulus, it is very likely that we will find unwanted stars in at least some of the annuli. We must therefore use a robust algorithm to obtain the expected sky value.

The program offers a number of algorithms: average, median, mean-median, $\kappa$-$\sigma$ and synthetic mode. The first four are described in Section

It is generally not recommended to use average, as it is not robust. The others, while not having a problem with robustness, will not produce the best estimate (which is the mode7.4 of the sky annulus pixel values) when the distribution of the sky values is skewed. In this case (which arises whenever the sky level is relatively low), the synthetic mode is the best algorithm. The synthetic mode is calculated as follows:

The histogram of the sky values is created. Then, the histogram is clipped using a $\kappa$-$\sigma$ algorithm in order to eliminate the effect of unwanted stars and other defects. The mean and median of the clipped histogram are computed, and the synthetic mode is defined as:

\widetilde{B} = {\rm mode} = 3 \cdot {\rm median} - 2\cdot {\rm mean}
\end{displaymath} (7.4)

If the distribution is not skewed, the mean equals the median, and the mode would be equal to both.

The desired sky estimation algorithm is selected by the Aperture Photometry Options/Sky method option. The rejection band for the $\kappa$-$\sigma$ and synthetic mode algorithms is set by Aperture Photometry Options/Sigmas.

Methods that rely on outlier rejection work best when a relatively large sky aperture is used.

Region Growing

Spurious stars in the sky annulus present a problem. While their peaks are easily rejected by the clipping algorithm, their ``tails'' are not, and will affect the estimated sky value. To avoid this, GCX can grow the area of rejected pixels, by including all pixels within a given radius of an outlier. This option can be enabled by setting the Aperture Photometry Options/Region growing option to a value larger than 0. Region growing is only applied when the $\kappa$-$\sigma$ and synthetic mode algorithms are used.

Placing the Apertures

In GCX all photometry targets are specified using their world coordinates (right ascension, declination and epoch). The targets and standards are generally taken from a particular star file called a recipe file. The WCS of the frame is fitted, then the coordinates of the standards and targets are transformed to frame coordinates. The resulting positions are used as initial positions for the measuring apertures.

If the Aperture Photometry Options/Center apertures option is set the program will try to detect stars in the immediate vicinity of the initial positions, and center the apertures on the detected stars. The maximum distance from the initial position to the detected star is specified by Aperture Photometry Options/Max centering error. If this value is exceeded, the star is marked with the not found flag and the aperture is not moved. Otherwise it is marked with the centered flag.

If the apertures were centered, the amount by which each star was moved is indicated by a line extending from the center of the star symbol in the direction in which the star was moved. The length of the line is a factor of Star Display Options/Plot error scale longer than the star's displacement.

Finding the Ensemble Photometry Solution

If we have the instrumental magnitudes of the target stars and at least one standard star, we can calculate the standard magnitude of our targets7.5 by simply adding the standard magnitude to the difference in instrumental magnitudes between the target and the standard. This is the simplest form of differential photometry.

We can however obtain significant advantages using more than one standard in the reduction:

We try to find the best estimate of the frame zero point, i.e. the value which is added to the instrumental magnitudes to obtain standard magnitudes. If we had no errors, all the standard stars' instrumental magnitudes would differ from their standard magnitudes by exactly the zero point value. This of course is never the case in practice. The differences will be dispersed above and below the zero point. We call the difference between a standard star's standard magnitude and the sum of it's instrumental magnitude and the zero point the star's residual.

We want to choose the zero point is such a way that the residuals are minimised. More specifically, we try to minimize the sum of the residuals' squares. It is easy to see that the residuals' sum of squares is minimised if the zero point is chosen so that the average of the residuals is zero.

There are two problems with this approach: First, by using many standards, we have a good chance that a few of the have ``bad'' values. They could be affected by a cosmic ray hit or a speck of dust that wasn't there when the flat was taken, or the catalog value may be in error. Or one of the standards may turn out to be variable. Secondly, if we use both bright and faint standards, the errors of the brighter ones are known to be lower. We would like the faint stars to have less influence on the resulting zero point than the bright ones.

The algorithm used takes care of both these problems. It assigns weights to each standard star according to it's estimated error, and iteratively downweights stars that have residuals that are larger than expected. For a detailed description, see Appendix B.

The algorithm produces it's best estimate of the frame's zero point, and a ``diagnostic'' value called the mean error of unit weight, usually abbreviated to meu or me1. The mean error of unit weight is a number that shows how well the spread of the residuals matches the estimated errors. It should have a value close to unity. A larger value shows that we have some error sources we didn't take into account. A consistently smaller value indicates that our error estimating parameters are overrated, and the estimated errors are too large.

Finally, the standard magnitude of the target stars is calculated by adding their instrumental magnitude to the estimated zero point. The error is the quadrature sum of the target's instrumental magnitude error and the zeropoint error.7.6

The instrumental magnitude obtained is given the name of the filter the frame was taken with. The filter name is obtained from the FILTER field. If the field is not present, or the Aperture Photometry Options/Force iband option is set, the filter name is taken from Aperture Photometry Options/Instrumental band. If any pixel within the central aperture exceeds Aperture Photometry Options/Saturation limit the star is marked with the bright flag.

Relevant information from the fits header and recipe header is carried on to the observation report. The fields include:
object the name of the target object, taken from the fits header or recipe.
ra, dec World coordinates of target object.
equinox Equinox of world coordinates and star coordintes in the report.
mjd Modified Julian Date of integration start from JDATE or MJD fits fields.
exptime Integration time from the EXPTIME field.
airmass Frame airmass, from either the AIRMASS field or calculated from the geographical coordinates and time.
aperture Telescope aperture from the APERT field.
telescope Telescope name from the TELESCOP field.
filter Filter used from the FILTER field or as set by the user.
latitude Location of the observing site from the LAT-OBS field.
longitude Location of the observing site from the LONG-OBS field.
altitude Altitude of the observing site from the ALT-OBS field.
observer Name of observer from the OBSERVER field.
sequence A string describing where the sequence in the recipe originated, from the sequence field of the recipe.

Running Aperture Photometry

To run the aperture photometry routine on a frame, load the frame into gcx (File/Open Fits), then load a recipe file or another star file that contains standard and target stars.7.7

Then fit the frame's WCS using Wcs/Auto Wcs and finally run the aperture photometry routine with Processing/Aperture Photometry to File. A report file will be created, that lists all the standard and target stars with their instrumental and standard magnitudes, general information about the frame and fit information. More details about the report format can be found in Appendix C.

When reducing a large number of frames, it is more convenient to invoke GCX from the command line, perhaps from a script. To reduce frame frame.fits using the recipe file vs.rcp and append the format at the end of the rep.out file, we can use:

gcx -P vs.rcp -o rep.out frame.fits
In addition, if we have a master dark frame mdark.fits and a master flat frame mflat.fits, we can combine CCD reduction for the frame with the aperture photometry, like this:7.8
gcx -d mdark -f mflat -P vs.rcp -o rep.out frame.fits
Aperture photometry reports from several frames can be combined by simply concatenating the files together. The combined file can be used for further refining the data reduction with the multi-frame reduction routine (Chapter 8).

Selected information from the (combined) report file can be set out in a tabular format using the report converter function of GCX. The format of the table is specified in the File and Device Options/Report converter output format option. Possible values for the format are described in Appendix E and the on-line help. After setting the format,7.9 invoke the report converter using:

gcx -T rep.out -o rep.txt
Which will convert the report file rep.out to a table named rep.txt.

Creating Recipe Files

Having a recipe file is central to running aperture photometry in GCX. Fortunately, creating one is relatively straightforward.

Let's create a recipe file for the uori-v-001.fits.gz  frame, which is included in the GCX distribution. Open the frame and match the WCS (using Wcs/Auto Wcs). The WCS matching command leaves the GSC field stars and the detected stars visible.

Target Stars

First, we add our target: select Stars/Add from Catalog, and enter it's name at the prompt (uori). An object symbol will appear on the screen (around the bright star near the center, which is U Orionis). Select it, and bring up the star editing dialog using Stars/Edit or right-click on the star and select Edit Star from the pop-up menu. Change the star's type to ``AP Target'' and click Ok. The symbol on the image should change to a big cross, indicating the star is a target.

If we don't have GCVS installed, we can identify the star from a star chart and edit a field star or even a detected star and make it the target. We normally want to change the star's name to something descriptive and check that the coordinates are correct.

If there is no star at the desired position (which can happen if we prepare a recipe for a very faint variable), just edit any star, change the coordinates to the desired ones and the type to target. A recipe can have any number of targets; more can be added in the same way.

Standard Stars

Now we need some standard stars. If we have a chart we want to use as the base of the recipe, we can create it on-screen similarly with the target (by editing field stars). The difference is that the standards are marked as ``Standard Star'', and we need to enter their standard magnitudes. Several magnitudes can be entered in the ``Standard magnitudes'' field of the edit dialog. A magnitude is given as:

where $<$band$>$ is the name of the standard band,7.10 (source) is an optional field describing where the magnitude value originated, $<$ magnitude$>$ and $<$error$>$ are the star's magnitude and error, respectively. The error field is optional, and it's absence means that we don't know the error of the magnitude. A few examples of magnitude entries are:

v(aavso)=12.5 A typical example for a value taken from a paper aavso chart; the error is unknown.
v=12.53/0.05 ic=11.2/0.03 A star for which we know the magnitudes in two bands.
b=13.2 v=12.7/0.1 r=12.2 We know three magnitudes, but only one error.

Another way to get standard stars is to use the tycho catalog. Remove all field stars, then select File/Load Field Stars/From Tycho2 Catalog. The Tycho stars will show up as field stars. All we have to do is to mark the ones that we want to use as standards.

Creating the Recipe File

Now we can finally create the recipe file. Select File/Create Recipe and enter a recipe name (or press the ``...'' button and select a file name). Then select which stars we want to include in the recipe file. We will most certainly want the standard and target stars, but we may include objects and field stars to be used for WCS matching if we envision using the recipe on a machine that doesn't have catalogs installed.

To verify our newly created recipe, remove all stars (Stars/Remove All) and load the file we just created (using File/Load Recipe). Run the photometry routine (Processing/Aperture Photometry to File) and check the output.

Working without an Image Frame

In the above examples, we have used a frame of the field as a backgound on top of which we loaded the stars. This is not required. If we select Stars/Add from catalog without having a frame loaded, the program will create a blank frame with the size set by File and Device Options/New frame width and height, and set it's WCS with the center of the frame pointing at the selected object, and the scale as set by File and Device Options/New frame scale.

Creating Recipies from the Command Line

If we want to create many recipies at a time, it can be more convenient to use the command line. To create a recipe from the Tycho2 catalog, use:

gcx -make-tycho-rcp 20 -j uori -o uori.rcp
This will create a recipe using Tycho stars situated within a 20 minutes radius from U Orionis and save the result to uori.rcp.

If we have a sequence file in a format supported by GCX , such as the ``.dat'' files made available by Arne Henden at:
it can be converted to a recipe file using the following command:
gcx -import henden <uori.dat -mag-limit 15 |$\backslash$
gcx -p - -set-target uori >uori.rcp
The first part of the command reads the uori.dat file and converts it to a GCX star file, keeping only stars brighter that the $15^{\rm th}$ magnitude, and writes the star file to the standard output. The second parts of the command reads the the file from the standard input, adds ``uori'' as a target, and writes the resulting rcp file to uori.rcp.

next up previous contents
Next: Multi-Frame and All-Sky Reduction Up: GCX User's Manual Previous: CCD Reduction   Contents
Radu Corlan 2005-01-17