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Saturday, December 31, 2011

Bucket List v.2012

I started keeping an actual bucket list instead of just randomly saying, "that's on my bucket list" this past year and it's been fun to look back over 2011 and see what I accomplished off the list and adding a few new things to it.

Things that are coming off the list, because I accomplished them:

1. I ran a 5K
2. I met my dad this summer, and we just spent Christmas together
3. I joined a lunchtime mentoring program through my work

The new and improved bucket list, v.2012:

1. Sing in a choir
2. Read the entire Bible
3. Go on a missions trip
4. Open a B&B
5. Visit Ireland
6. Go on a cruise
7. Give my Christian testimony
8. Finish a master's degree
9. Go in a hot air balloon
10. Take my kids to Disney
11. Be completely debt free
12. Learn to ski
13. Be in a movie
14. Visit South America
15. Visit Europe
16. Visit Asia
17. Visit Australia
18. Visit a National Park
19. Visit Mt. Rushmore
20. Go to Vegas
21. Blog my life story for my kids
22. Feed the hungry
23. Go to an NFL football game
24. Stay at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island
25. Visit Niagra Falls
26. Attend a church service at Saddleback Church
27. Run a 10K
28. Run 365 miles in a year (or more!)

Friday, November 25, 2011

November 25 - Cleanin House!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday! But what comes after Thanksgiving? Well this year, even sooner than usual, came the shopping! I can't say I was thrilled that the sales were starting at 10pm, but I made my list and headed out to tackle a few things and mission was accomplished.

Today I was working around the house and the yard a bit and decided when I went to put away some new purchases in Nate's dresser drawer that I was tired of all the chaos I was up against. I've mentioned before that I have been known to "UpCycle" things, so I thought a bit about what I could use around the house to bring some order.

Yes, I still had some old baby wipe containers stashed away that I just couldn't bring myself to part with and I used 2 of them to organize the every growing pile of Scout gear that lives in Nate's top drawer. One tub has neckkerchiefs in it, one has slides, and then I put his hat in the front. Nothing fancy, but it rounded up a lot of stray crap that was making me irritated everytime I had to put clothes away.

What else did we do post-Turkey Day? Nate had a friend come over and we took a break from organizing dressers and cleaning the basement to go to the park. The weather was amazing! I dragged the bikes up from the basement and we hit the road. We were not the only ones thinking of it because as we were there tons of families made their way up there too.

There are still plenty of leaves on the ground, and still lots of crap in the basement, but those can wait for a dreary day.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Nov 23 - Holiday Shopping

I am slowly starting to chip away at Christmas, one lunch hour at a time. It's so much easier to get my Christmas shopping done this way than having the pressure of going out once or twice and feeling like I have to get it all done in that tiny window of time. This gives me more time to spread it around, and also more time to shop around and find what I have in mind for people.

Right now my life is being ruled by a single little notepad that is tucked into my purse. What it is critical on that notepad that I would be lost without it?

The front page: List of what I wanted to get accomplished this week. Random things I needed from an assortment of stores, random Christmas gifts I wanted to get picked up this week. Movie times for Thanksgiving day to take the kids to go see the Muppets, stuff like that.

Store Pages for Black Friday: I hit up to find all the ads early and start my planning ahead of time. I wanted to make sure I was looking them over carefully and not missing anything and that I had a good plan well in advance. Since Walmart is price matching this year on pretty much everything, I will be spending most of my time there instead of just going store to store for 1 or 2 things.

Holiday Schedule: Matt and I had to coordinate our work schedules, our day off schedules, the kids school schedules, and our family holiday schedules to figure out where we are going to be pretty much every day between December 19 and January 2.

Our plans are to spend a couple of days in the Detroit area visiting my family over Christmas, so I did a quick check to see what that was going to set us back and was very happy to see I had quite a few points saved up towards rooms at the Holiday Inn. For 2 days during the holidays we're only going to pay $80 for our room, so I thought that was pretty reasonable. I booked the rooms today and even had a hard time finding hotel rooms that were open! So clearly I am not the only person thinking ahead.

As I am writing this post and looking down at my notepad, I have to laugh a little about the big sales I am so excited about. Who else but a frugal nut would get so excited about the great prices on socks and underwear?!?! Even better, cereal on sale!! Woohoooo!! Somebody at Meijer is thinking of me!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Matt has to work, so we'll be having the family dinner a little later than usual. The kids won't really notice a difference, but the rest of the family will. We'll do a lot of the dinner prep tonight so that it's a relatively smooth meal tomorrow. If we can get our butts up and moving early, I'm thinking a trip to the theater in Plainwell is in order! We can go see a first run movie (The Muppets) for $2.50 each if we get there before noon.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Grocery Trip - Nov 20

A friend of mine mentioned to me on Facebook the other day that I had a blog. Yeah, welllllll, about that. I admit, life has gotten super busy and I have terribly neglected this poor blog for quite some time. There was just so much more to blog about when we were attacking our debt on a daily basis, and we had so much more of it to tackle. Now that we are down to just my student loans, it's really not as exciting as it used to be.

So I thought I would challenge myself to really blog about my grocery trips and how a non-extreme couponer uses coupons to buy things for the family that isn't just boxes of Pizza Rolls and chicken nuggets. Don't worry, you will in fact see nuggets and Pizza Rolls as I continue doing this, we certainly aren't perfect eaters! But the one thing I hear from people all the time is, "I never see coupons for stuff we eat (or use)", so I am going to attempt to show that you can in fact feed your family on a limited budget and eat a good variety of food. Maybe if I am super motivated, I'll even post a few of our meals to show what we turn all these savings into.

Spent: $21.89
Saved: $25.27
What I bought: a turkey, fruit leather (6), dinner rolls (3doz), eggs (3doz), pineapple (2 cans), french friend onions, chips (2 bags)

Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: PB&J, pudding, and banana bread
Dinner: We ate out tonight

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Frugal Fitness

I realized about a year ago that I needed to start exercising more and taking better care of myself. There were a couple of issues with getting started on that, most of them geographic. We sort of live out in the sticks, so finding a fitness option that worked with my work schedule and that didn't break the bank ($$$) was definitely a challenge.

So I did something I never ever thought I would do - I started running. Well not really running at first, more like a very brisk walk that knocked the wind out of me. I very loosely followed the Couch to 5K program and it took me way longer than 9 weeks, but I am very proud to say, I can actually run an entire 5K now! Yes, that's me and my kiddos over there in the picture before the west Michigan Race for the Cure.

Running was a pretty easy way to get myself exercising with minimal start up cost. The basics:

1. Legs/feet
2. Running shoes
3. Music

I am always looking for a good deal on New Balance shoes, and a few months prior to starting C25K, I picked up a very cute pair of pink and gray shoes. When I decided to start running I looked and it turns out that the shoes I bought were specifically made for running! So no extra expense to worry about, shoes were on hand and they were in excellent condition.

I already own an iPod Touch, so it was just a matter of hunting around online a bit and finding some free podcasts to get started with. I thankfully found quite a few and was able to use those to help me get my timing straightened up. No real expense to get started there.

Now that I've been running for almost a year, I've picked up some things here and there that aren't necessary, but definitely make for a nicer experience. Things like wicking t-shirts, skull candy ear buds, and an armband holder for my iPod. I always check out the clearance racks when I hit the stores and see if I can't find some good exercise clothes while I am there and slowly I've added a few things into the mix besides cotton shorts and t-shirts.

I wish I could say I've lost all kinds of weight running, but I can't. I can say though that I've improved my fitness level tremendously over that time and I've forced myself to take better care of me. When I started out, running for 90 seconds was a challenge and I could hardly do that without gasping for breath. I hit a major wall when i worked myself up to a 5 minute running window and went to see my primary doctor. She ran a few tests, gave me an inhaler and suggested that it could be exercise induced asthma, or it very well could be I was just that out of shape and needed to keep at it. Turns out she was right, I really just needed to keep going and the inhaler did nothing to help me.

My previous primary doctor never sent over my blood work from the year prior, so I can't really compare before and after, but i know the after from just early this fall and I am very pleased! From cholesterol to glucose, everything is looking pretty darn good. The only problem area I have is my iron levels and I am focused now on boosting those through 3 times/day supplements.

Now that the fall is here, it's my goal to still keep at the running and to continue straight through winter as the weather allows.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

An Update

It seems like we've been working at this debt free stuff forever, seriously! It didn't take a short amount of time to get ourselves in trouble, so it only makes sense that it's taking some time to get out of trouble.

Good news, the only outstanding debt we have is student loan debt, a total of $8648.12. Not bad considering we started out over $40,000 in debt right?!? We've had a lot come our way since we embarked on this and we've weathered the storms for sure. I know that Dave wouldn't exactly be proud of the fact I am sitting on my brand new couch right now typing this, but he would be proud of the deal I got and that I paid cash for my new couch and love seat!

We had a great summer and fall is looking like it's filling up fast too! So what does a family of 5 do on a cash flow only budget vowing never to charge a penny to have fun? Here's what we do:

1. Cold Memorial Day at Gun Lake
2. Day at Charlton Park
3. Middlville Green Days
4. Swimming in Gun Lake (lots of it!!!)
5. Hawk Island Park in Lansing
6. Run the Riverbank Run
7. Wayland Main Street Days
8. PAWS Open House
9. Cousins came to visit!
10. Gun Lake fireworks
11. Dorr 4th of July Parade
12. Michigan Adventure
13. Miranda Park Party
14. Went wild berry picking
15. Visit Detroit to meet dad
16. Vacation Bible School
17. Nate went to Lake Ann
18. Family reunion at Gun Lake
19. Home Depot Workshop
20. Boys went to Camp Manitou Lin
21. Casino family picnic
22. Orangeville Days
23. Camping at Jellystone& Silver Lake Sand Dunes
24. Sand Lot movie
25. Overnight at the White Caps

We had a great summer, and the best part was the time I spent with my kids. I can't wait for next summer!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

On the Agenda

It's a bit of a down time for us right now, but we are getting ready to head into the fun full swing! I am so excited for our summer :)

We've been keeping plenty busy with trips to the Yankee Springs State Park and the Allegan County Park. Who needs swimming lessons when you have a couple of inflatable rings and you can chant "motor boat, motor boat" a thousand times? Lauren and Nick are getting so brave in the water and are starting to get the hand/foot synchronization down. I am betting that they'll be all out swimming by the end of summer. It's so much easier to teach kids to swim when it's a zero depth entry (aka BEACH) instead of just jumping in and suddenly the water is 3ft deep.

We've come up against some challenges since Memorial Day, specifically the transmission on our van went AGAIN. Thank goodness for family! Matt's uncle Larry towed the van from his house to Detroit where my brother fixed it. That alone saved us well over $1500! Not to mention a friend of mine from work graciously drove me to/from work for many, many days and we were able to survive with one vehicle. It's been a challenge, but we've come through it!

I was looking at our calendar today and getting an idea of what's to come, and so far we've got the following on our summer agenda:

1. Saturday, June 25: Wayland Main Street Celebration and PAWS Open House. Lots of free family fun! We'll be busy all day with activities and food, and we might stay that night for the free family movie (How to Train Your Dragon).

2. Sunday, July 3: Gun Lake Fireworks! So excited! We usually have a BBQ that day with Matt's family and then head out in the evening to watch fireworks.

3. Wednesday, July 6: Here we come, We get a small discount because our health insurance is Blue Cross, and we'll pack a lunch and spend the day there. It's close enough to be a day trip, so no hotel costs to deal with. We'll pack up the cooler and eat on the cheap instead of eating in the park. The kids are already talking about how many hours they want to spend in the water park and how many on rides. Oh yeah, it's my birthday that day too :)

4. July 11-15: Vacation Bible School at church. We had so much fun this year that we got this on the calendar MONTHS ago. I hope to be assigned the kindergarten group again so that I can be with Nick and Lauren. Rumor has it a couple of Nick's friends will be there, so that will be a great time for him!

5. July 23: The annual Ward Family Birthday Bash! We had a party last year for Nick and it was just so awesome that we're thinking it needs to be an annual event! We pulled a bunch of picnic tables at the Allegan County Park and grill hot dogs, have cupcakes and just enjoy the day. Thinking that a pinata this year might be necessary, but otherwise we just bring the chairs and relax! Let the kids swim, let the adults fish, and just enjoy each other in that laid back kinda way.

6. July 25-July 30: Nate is headed off to Lake Ann camp through church. They had a special rate if you registered early and if you were a certain age, and Nate just happened to meet the criteria! I am so excited for him to have this time to explore his relationship with Jesus and grow his faith with his friends.

7. August 8-August 12: Nate and Nick head off to daycamp at Camp Maintou Lin! We registered early and took advantage a lot of things to make this happen. I know that they are both going to have a great week. It will be Nick's first camp experience (kindercamp) and Nate's first time at watersports camp.

8. August 22-August 25: We'll be (tent) camping at Jellystone Camp Ground in Silver, Lake MI. Aside from all the fun at the camp to be had, we'll be visiting the Silver Lake State Park and the sand dunes (of course).

9. August 26: Scout overnight camp out at the West Michigan White Caps. Yes, it's minor league baseball, but it's so much fun for the kids! They get to camp out on the field and watch a video on the scoreboard.

Here's to another GREAT summer!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

We LOVE Summer!

How much do the Ward's love summer? Let me count the ways!

1. Free admission to the Allegan County Park. That's FREE beach access and a nice little playground for the kids. We've already gone once, and it's only the first of many, many trips I am quite sure.

2. You can add the yearly admission for the Michigan State Parks to the renewal of license plates for only $10/year! What an amazing deal! We haven't gone yet, but we will be spending a lot of high quality time at the Yankee Springs State Park, which is practically in our back yard, but who knows where else we might end up with a sticker!

Summer is always such a fun time for us. Our weekends fill up fast and it's so fun! We'll be spending a lot of time at family reunions, picnics, hanging out at the county park, scouting events, and then we want to do a few (frugal!) things as a family like Michigan Adventure and some camping. The 2 boys are registered for a week of daycamp at Camp Manitou Lin, Nate will be spending a week at Lake Ann Camp with church, and of course all kids will be going to Vacation Bible School.

School isn't even out yet and we've spent this whole weekend in our swimsuits, this is a GOOD SIGN!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Keepin Busy

My wonderful husband started working full time again January 2011. It's been a long time coming and we are THRILLED to see full paychecks again. Hoorray!!! When he was hired on, he was hired for day shift, and then through a whole lot of HR drama, ended up being assigned to a third shift position. This has been quite the adjustment for our family! To add to the fun, he has his days (nights?) off during the week, so that means that he needs to SLEEP during the day on the weekend. No easy task when you have 3 very active children at home.

We have been filling our weekends with tons of fun activities, activities that are either free or very inexpensive for us to do.

So what have we done? A quick glance at my calendar shows:

  • Saturday movies. There is a theater nearby where we can see first run movies in the morning very cheap. For the 4 of us to go and get popcorn and drinks it's only $15. There was also a free family movie festival of second run movies that we went to quite a few of. the kids loved it!

  • Scout field trip to the TV station

  • Camp Open Houses. The YMCA camp near us has held monthly open houses to recruit families for camp this summer. We knew we were going to register Nick and Nate for a week of camp, so we took the opportunity to attend both open houses. One time the weather was not that great and they didn't get to do everything they wanted, the second time they were able to do it all!

  • Easter came and went with the chance to go to a few egg hunts and other church/community activities.

  • Local (flower) nurseries have had season opening celebrations that had kid activities, food and fun
We've also been able to spend a few weekends almost completely outdoors. So nice to enjoy the good weather when we actually have it. The snow in April wasn't very welcome, but we made it through. Nate has really taken an interest in gardening this year, so we've also spent quite a bit of time scavenging for container garden supplies and plants. Because we live in a rural area and our yard is wide open, having a veggie garden in our yard would only be inviting critters in, so we decided to do our garden on our deck in containers.

I'm already filling up days on our calendar for the summer of activities we can't wait to do! The boys are registered for a week of daycamp while our daycare is closed, vacation Bible school, camping, a trip to Michigan Adventure, family reunions, family picnics, and some other community events sprinkled in there. the county park by us stopped charging admission, so we can go there to play on the beach and swim, or we can head over the Yankee Springs State Park and hit the beach there too!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Medical Expenses

For almost 2 years I took a daily medication (beta blocker) to help keep my migraines under control. It worked pretty well, but I still had quite a few bad days where I had to break out the Maxalt. The beta blocker was only costing me $10/month, but the Maxalt fell into the most expensive tier of my insurance, so it would cost me $40/month and that was only for 10 pills. The typical migraine took 2 pills to fully clear up. After ruling out physical reasons for the migraines, my Dr strongly urged me to start eliminating some things from my diet and also going off of the beta blockers to get a "base" of what was going on. My previous Dr had the dose on the beta blockers so high my BP was super low and all I wanted to do was sleep. I hated it! Not only was I constantly tired, but I was STILL getting headaches! I had some other medical things going on and the specialist flat out tell me to stop drinking Diet Coke because it was causing me all kinds of other problems. I figured it was worth a shot to give it a try and see if something as simple as eliminating Diet Coke could make that big of a difference. If it helped even one of the problems I was having, it would be worth it. No more beta blockers I gave up caffeine, except for one cup of "real" coffee per day I was still drinking a significant amount of Caffeine Free Diet Coke Then I gave that up As of January 1, I have not had a single drink of carbonated beverages. No Diet Coke (caffinated or otherwise) and switched to pretty much just drinking water and a very limited amount of brewed iced tea. Because I had weaned down on the caffeine, giving up the soda wasn't as hard as it would have been a few months earlier. The good news, I've not had to take ANY medication for my migraines since giving up carbonated drinks! It's AMAZING! I drank my last Diet Coke on New Year's Eve and it's April 15, NO HEADACHES! I was having at least 2-3 per week, so going this long without one is a huge accomplishment. The weather is getting nicer and I've not had to waste a day in bed nursing a migraine. I'm spending time with my kids outside, I'm working on training for my first 5K and I am LOVING every minute of it! Oh and as a hidden bonus, I'm saving money on my grocery bill by not buying soda

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Two Birds, One Stone

I have been struggling since my pregnancy with Nick with some weight gain, or I guess the more appropriate phrase would be struggling with weight loss since I have no problem gaining. I was finally starting to feel human again and then BAM, pregnant again! Lauren's 3yrs old now and it's a bit hard to consider my excess weight to be "baby weight" when I am shopping for her in the girls section and not the baby section any longer!

One of the items on my bucket list is (and has been) to run a 5K. I don't really care for running all that much and I have never gotten that "zen" like feeling that people talk about, but it's something I would like to accomplish. I started the Couch to 5K running plan this past fall and made it over half way through the program and then got side tracked by some medical stuff and weather.

Now that I have declared my bucket list as public knowledge, I am more motivated to get some things crossed off. Is there anything worse than a to-do list that has NOTHING crossed off? I think not! It's officially time to DO WORK SON!

Tonight when Matt woke up I put on ye old running shoes, grabbed my charged up iPod and hit the road. I am starting over at week 1 and I am hoping to finish the program by running in the 5th 3rd Riverbank Run on May 14. This puts a tight timeline, so I am going to have to really stick to it to make it happen. I sent a message to the person at work who is organizing our team to see if I can still get in as part of that, otherwise I'll just register on my own and meet up with the people from work when I get there.

So how is this a dual purpose bucket list item? Well I was thrilled to look at the list of charity partners affiliated with the race and find some of my most favorite charities are benefiting from the money race by the race!

Charity Partners

My very open ended bucket list item is to "feed the hungry" and I hope that I never ever cross that off. We support a local food pantry with money and donations as much as we possibly can. By using coupons and shopping sales, I can sometimes come across things that I know my family won't eat, but I can still pick up for pennies and donate to the pantry. Just because we won't eat it doesn't mean that someone else doesn't like it!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Bucket List

I try and keep the focus of this blog on financial goals and activities, but all considering, this very much ties together a lot of financial and personal goals. I have been thinking about putting this "Bucket List" down for quite some time and finally got my thoughts organized enough to begin it.

A lot of the reason why Matt and I have been so eager to be debt free is because we want to be able to use our finances to glorify God. What better way to be the hands and feet of Jesus than to be able to freely give to those in need when we are blessed with so much? Of course there are always way to do kingdom work without money, and we actively work towards that, but not having the stress of debt and the obligations tied to us will certainly open up doors for ministry that we might not otherwise be able to perform.

This is my first draft of my personal bucket list. Matt doesn't have one that I am aware of, but he is very much a part of many of these. Some are personal, some are family, but they are all things that I very much look forward to crossing off.

  • Run a 5K

  • Sing in a choir

  • Read the entire Bible

  • Go on a missions trip

  • Open a B&B

  • Visit Ireland

  • Go on a cruise

  • Give my Christian testimony

  • Finish a master's degree

  • Go in a hot air balloon

  • Take my kids to Disney

  • Be completely debt free

  • Learn to ski

  • Be in a movie

  • Be a mentor

  • Visit South America

  • Visit Europe

  • Visit Asia

  • Visit Australia

  • Visit Africa

  • Visit a National Park

  • See Mt. Rushmore

  • Go to Vegas

  • Blog my life story for my kids

  • Feed the hungry

  • Go to an NFL football game

  • Stay at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island

  • Visit Niagra Falls

  • Attend service at Saddleback Church

  • Meet my dad

Anyone else brave enough to blog what their bucket list is? Will you share?

Friday, March 11, 2011

Another Exciting Purchase!

I've been holding out for some time now on replacing my digital camera. I've had mine about 6 years or so, and it wasn't doing so well anymore. It's gone through a lot and has served us well and I will forever be impressed with Canon products after this. We spent some time researching digital cameras and decided on what we wanted:

1. Digital SLR
2. Canon
3. XSi, T1i, or a T2i

While we preferred to have a camera that took video clips, it was not on the "absolutes" list, so it did open up our options a bit. We've been scouting out the Canon website for refurbished models since they have an excellent reputation, and missed a great deal a few weeks ago. We've also been scouting out our favorite deal websites for any odd coupons or such out there with not much action. Target clearanced out a bunch of floor models on Monday and I missed them.

Well today I did my usual and found through a deal alert that Meijer of all places had the Canon T1i for 30% off on clearance! It was my lunch hour so I hit the road and went to the usual Meijer I shop at and they had the card on display, but the actual camera was gone. I was so bummed! The associate was incredibly helpful though and looked up to see what stores in the area had the camera and the one right down the road 15 minutes away had it, in fact they had 2! I hopped in my car and got there and my camera is MINE!

Another pretty major purchase that we've wanted to make and we've (well I've been patient, Matt not so much!) been patiently waiting for the right time to jump. Our patience saved us well over $200. I have no regrets about the purchase because I've had plenty of time to research and understand what I was getting. I knew my price point and I stuck to it. That $200 that we saved will surely be put to good use!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

New (To Me) Wheels!

Matt and I have been planning on getting rid of our Pontiac Aztek for quite some time because having 2 large vehicles for our family just seemed so silly. Whenever we all go out as a family, we go in our minivan, so we really didn't need another large vehicle. I was driving the minivan to work every day and that also seemed pretty wasteful.

I was pretty specific in what I was looking for: Honda Accord, Honda Civic, or a Toyota Corolla, 4 doors, under 150,000 miles and an automatic. I also had a magic number that I absolutely wouldn't pay more than because we were paying cash for the car. Tax return time was our plan and it all just fell nicely into place. My brother wanted to buy the Aztek, and was able to sell his car pretty quickly. I test drove a few small cars, but nothing really jumped out as "the car".

As I was getting down to the wire, as in the day I was handing the keys to the Aztek to my brother, I happened to talk with my sister Jamie on Facebook and suddenly remembered that my brother Scott used to manage a used car lot! I don't know why I hadn't thought of him before! Turns out he happened to have a Honda Accord that he was selling and it was exactly what I was looking for!

It has certainly been an interesting few weeks, but our patience and determination paid off! We have the car we wanted, we paid less than we had budgeted, and we did not take on a penny of debt to do it!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Long, Long Overdue Update

A friend of mine from work commented to me yesterday that she was reading my blog and I admitted to her that I felt bad because I hadn't updated it in so long. What can I say? Life caught up with me and life certainly got crazy really fast.

We made it through another "cash only" Christmas with much success. It's not as hard as I thought it would be and it was fun to try and find those best deals for the kids and also get them the things they wanted.

In December, Matt accepted a new full-time job and that's made our lives very interesting. We had to line up full time daycare for Lauren, part time daycare for Nick, and transportation for Nate, and juggle all the bus schedules for Nick. It was crazy there for a few weeks especially since Matt was working day shift for a bit, and then was switched over to third shift. He's been on third shift now for a couple of weeks and we are slowly getting used to the "new".

Before he even accepted the new job, we were thinking about our car situation and how we were being pretty wasteful by having 2 larger vehicles that take a lot of gas to run, especially since I am driving by myself every day to Grand Rapids in a minivan. We didn't have the cash on hand right away to make any changes, but we started saving up furiously to get a small economy car for me to commute to work with every day and keep the minivan for those times where all of us are in the car together. Since the Aztek doesn't really fit all of us all that well, we made the decision that it would be the car to go. Now we are on the hunt for a used Honda Civic within our budget, and we'll hopefully be able to get that taken care of in the next couple of weeks. Someone might buy the Aztek from us and we'll have that cash towards the car, or if that falls through we can just trade it in.

Another pretty big thing that hit our financial radar since my last post is that Nate has braces. Kind of bad timing, but it is what it is. Our plan year for flex spending has open enrollment in August and becomes effective in September, so I totally missed the window when we went to the orthodontist in October. When we went the previous year for our first consult, it was hard to know if he would need braces this past October (2010) or if we could wait another year (October 2011) and because of all the changes to flex spending and the healthcare reform, I decided not to guess high on my flex election and lost. I guess it's better than guessing wrong and being stuck with a bunch of money in flex that I lose, but it still would have been nice to have that money set aside. We did set up a payment plan with the orthodontist to pay it off rather quickly, but it was certainly medical expenses that we were not really counting on paying. I am just glad I could set it up on a payment plan because I was NOT going to open any sort of line of credit in order to make it happen. My dental insurance covered a small portion of it, we're making monthly payments, and when tax return money comes in, a nice chunk will go to the balance. If we owe anything when August comes up, I can flex the balance then. Nate better thank me later in life for all this juggling I'm doing to give him a nice smile!

Speaking of tax returns, I got those taken care of this past week and filed. We are getting back a nice return and have made a plan of attack as to what we are going to do with that money:

1. Economy car
2. Replace my digital camera
3. Eye exam/contacts for me
4. Orthodontist

Not very exciting, but all things that we need to take care of financially. I've been pricing the camera I want to get and missed a couple of great deals, so I am just biding my time and watching for the next one to come up. I have patience so I will wait a bit if it means saving a significant amount of money.


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Tuesday, 24 November 2015

Amazing... but bittersweet

The last couple of months have heralded a new start for Jess. One that should, hopefully, make such a massive difference to the quality of her life.

In October, I went on two courses. One was run by Rett Education UK, and the other (a two day course) was run by Rett University. Both courses were presented by the amazing Susan Norwell, who runs Rett University, and were focused on teaching our Rett girls to communicate, read and write.

There was so much information presented on these courses, and at times I felt very overwhelmed  - both at the steep learning curve ahead for me and Jess, and also the sense of responsibility of wanting to make sure we do the best for Jess, and give her every opportunity possible.

I so much want Jess to be able to communicate fully with us - to be able to say whatever it is she wants to say, whenever she wants to say it; and not be forced just to choose from two options. I want to get to know her properly. Being able to communicate fully like this would improve her quality of life - for her entire life - so much. Being able to tell us when she is in pain, who looks after her well, being able to communicate with ANYONE, not just us or those who know her well. The difference this would make to her life is immeasurable.

The courses really brought home to me was that Rett Syndrome is NOT a cognitive disorder, but a neurological, physical disorder. Rett girls are traditionally thought to have a severe learning disability, but with the advances in technology and the use of Eye Gaze computers, this assumption is being challenged. Many Rett girls, given the appropriate tools to communicate, are showing that actually they fully understand everything going on around them - they are just not able to express themselves easily. Susan had so many amazing videos of Rett girls and women communicating in a wide variety of ways - all in context and meaningfully, demonstrating that they had full understanding of the topics being discussed.

One of the factors that significantly affects Rett girl's ability to communicate is their apraxia. Apraxia is the difficulty or delay that they experience in completing a physical act on command. In simple terms it is the delay after the message leaves the brain, and then results in a physical action, even though the cognitive understanding and intention were there. This delay in a Rett girl responding to a question or command may mean their response is missed or misunderstood. It also means that people may assume that the Rett girl didn't understand the question or instruction, but this is not necessarily the case.

The other major take-away message from both courses was, no matter what form of communication your Rett girl is using - PODD books, Tobii, high or low tech - the key is in modelling it. Talk to them using their form of communication - in essence, learn to speak "symbol"! By constantly using their form of communication, they will see how to use it, as you are demonstrating it to them. They will be able to learn what lots of different symbols mean, and you will be able to really immerse yourself into the techniques required, and will see what works, what doesn't work, what symbols are missing and be able to amend as needed. However, this is much easier said than done, and this did made me feel very overwhelmed - how on earth are we going to achieve this?

There was so much information over the three days - far too much to include on the blog here - even if I had understood it all, which I didn't! So I will just put the links to Susan's two websites:

Focused Learning Solutions

Rett University

Rett University provides on-line courses for teaching Rett Girls literacy, reading and writing. If you are thinking of doing this, then definitely do look at these websites, if you haven't already. The guided Reading 1 course provides suggestions on how to adapt reading books and activities to teach the girls to read, which is something we are planning to do with Jess.

So, using the information from these days, we have started to use the flip chart books, sold through Rett University:

 Here is a link to Susan Norwell demonstrating how to use these books:

flip book demo

The first time I showed these to Jess, I showed her how to use them by writing "I love Jess". I wrote the "I" and the "love" using the core word book, and then spelt out "Jess" with the alphabet book. This is what she wrote back:

I was so touched - and amazed! She wrote "love" using the core word book, and spelled "mummy" with the alphabet book. It was such a lovely thing for her to say, it took my breath away and I was just amazed that she was able to communicate it.

Jess has used this system now several times:

This is what Jess wrote on the day her new hospital bed was delivered - she was very excited!!!

Anna is Jess's little sister.

The other amazing news is that Jess has received her first Eye Gaze device. An Eye Gaze Device is a computer that Jess can use by using her eyes to move the cursor, and click in the same way we would use a mouse. The device took over a year from being ordered to arriving (which is very frustrating). We opted for a device that could be mounted on to her wheelchair, so it will be able to always be available to her for communication:

This is the Eye Gaze Device mounted to her wheelchair

I have a few videos of her using the Eye Gaze Device at home. In the first video, she is playing a game where she has to throw snowballs at characters as they appear. In the second video, she has played a game where she has to make a spooky cake, and put creepy toppings on it. The video shows her re-telling what toppings she had put on the cake. This is a major part of being able to communicate - re-telling a story of something that has happened, so I was really impressed that she was able to do this.

This next video was actually taken at school by Jess's Speech Therapist. She is asking Jess what she thinks about the book they have just read, that is sat on her tray. However, I don't think the school knew that this is actually one of Jess's favourite books at home. In the video, Jess repeatedly says "cool" and "great", and then makes a sentence "I think it is cool". I am so proud of her.
 However, this sounds like we are steaming ahead, and everything is good. However, for every example given above, there are numerous times where Jess hasn't managed to communicate  - she's been ill, she's been too tired, she just hasn't been interested. Or I've been too tired, or Anna too grumpy to give Jess the time she needs with me to do it. Integrating all this into our already very full, overtired lives is definitely a challenge and it is going to take us a lot of time to get settled into a new routine with it all. BUT, this is Jess's future - teaching her these skills is the ONE way (bar The Cure for Rett Syndrome) that we can significantly enhance and improve Jess's life, so we have to do it. And we will. I just wish it wasn't so very difficult for us all.
 Through all this, one thing that has shone through, is despite all the medical issues Jess faces, the pain, the discomfort - my little girl is in there. She understands everything, which is amazing to know as it shows she has the skills to further develop her communications skills. But it is also very bittersweet - she is locked in, and everything is so very difficult and frustrating for her.
I wish her life could be easier.

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Tuesday, August 12, 2014

My Lexi girl got her haircut today, and she is looking all grown up!! I am not a fan!!

Can't she just stay little forever??

About Me

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I'm a stay at home mom of 3 gorgeous little girls and one hunka chunka baby boy! Photography is a passion of mine, and I'm always practicing and experimenting on my babies, and other kids I can get my hands on!

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'Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever... it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.'
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Called “the most sung artist anywhere” by TIME Magazine, multi-platinum selling artist Chris Tomlin announces the “Chris Tomlin Christmas: Christmas Songs of Worship” tour. Unlike the arenas and large-scale venues of past tours often associated with Tomlin, “Chris Tomlin Christmas” will incorporate historic venues and an up-close and intimate night of worship with Chris Tomlin.

“I want these nights to feel warm and cozy… that’s what I love about the beautiful, historic theaters,” shares Tomlin. “They provide the perfect setting for a night to come together as a family, celebrating the spirit of Christmas.”

Visiting ten cities throughout the month of December, “Chris Tomlin Christmas” will be a rare opportunity for the audience to engage with Tomlin on a personal level, experiencing the spirit and joy of the season in some of the most beautiful venues in the country.

“This is going to be an incredible night, an intimate night of remembering what this season is about, remembering what Christmas is about, remembering why we celebrate and why we worship, and remembering our Savior together,” Tomlin says.

Tickets available Friday, Sept. 15th at 12pm local time at

Artist Pre-sale: Tuesday, Sept. 12th 10am ET through Thursday, Sept. 14th midnight local time
Ticketmaster Pre-sale: Tuesday, Sept. 12th 10am ET through Thursday, Sept. 14th midnight local time
On-sale: Friday, Sept. 15th 12pm local time

“Chris Tomlin Christmas: Christmas Songs of Worship” Tour:
For the latest information visit
12/1 – Montgomery, AL – Montgomery Performing Arts Centre
12/2 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Theatre
12/3 – Birmingham, AL – Alabama Theatre
12/4 – Ft Wayne, IN – Embassy Theatre
12/8 – Louisville, KY – The Louisville Palace Theater
12/9 – Saginaw, MI – Temple Theatre
12/11 – Ottawa, ON – National Arts Centre
12/12 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
12/13 – Syracuse, NY – John H. Mulroy Civic Center
12/14 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre

Source: The M Collective

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Monday, July 02, 2007

(you just HAVE to click on these images to really see this little guy!)

Yup, another visitor under the old apple tree! This happened just this past Saturday. There we were. Karol was in the cabin visiting with Bert, Sue, and Penny when she glanced out to see if there might be a deer down by the apple tree and there was this little black bear! Now I've seen bear there before, but never in the summer and never when i had a camera available. We watched the little guy munch on some leftover beans and part of the deer block we set out for the deer to chaw on till the apples get ripe. Never expected a bear to come and snack on the deer block... but then its bound by molasses so i expect the sweet scent in the heat (it got up to near 100F over the 4th weekend) attracted him/her. So i snuck up as close as i could (i knew it wasn't a baby so the mom wouldn't be around) and took these shots. Amazing.
And if you look close you'll see the old apple tree is growing another crop. Yup those are flapjacks. Ok ok its not growing flapjacks. My grandson Clinton and i put them there from an oversized batch we couldn't finish for breakfast. We decided to hang them on the tree and see what they might attract. Maybe they had something to do with bringing in the bear, eh?
And although i don't have photos (don't have the slightest idea why) but both grandsons, Clinton and Colton, caught their first fish from the crick. We have Brook trout there and a few Rainbow. The first fish came from just under the bridge we built a few years back and its near where i caught my first fish as well. The others came from some nicely shaded spots where the water runs a little deeper upstream. Colton (4) decided he wanted to keep his in the freezer. He gets it out now and then just to study it a bit, then puts it back. Clinton (7)the carnivore ate his. We breaded it and put it in some foil with some genuine Deadman Crick bacon grease (you gotta fry fish in bacon grease up on the Crick or i think the lightning would come down or something bad like that would happen)and fried it on the bbq. I thought he was going to bust his smiler, he was so proud. He was all saying "oh this is the best fish i ever ate!". Then last thing before he went to bed that night he popped his head out the bedroom door and said "Poppa, (he calls me Poppa) that was a really great fish, wasn't it?".
Oh it was just about the best time yet up on the crick. Even if yellow jackets tried to spoil the whole thing by stinging Clint on the cheek and me on the eye. Small price to pay. Very small.

ok on to biddness

I've tallied the votes and guess what? The left hook gets to be the give away and the right one is up for bids.

Now unfortunately, i had a little brain vapor lock and deleted the votes. I was going to automatically enter the voters in the contest but now i can't because i stoopedly deleted the messages. So please forgive me and send me your entries again so you'll have a chance to win.

I'll make this a short contest and anounce the winner this coming Monday night (July 16) 10pm. Please enter, no mater where you are. I love to hear from folks outside the US and ANYONE, ANYWHERE is more than welcome to enter all my contests. Just send me an email with a little note that you'd like to be entered in the July hook contest and i'll put you on the list. Remember the chances of winning this hook is about a million times better than winning the lottery, so don't hesitate to enter (but one time only, please). Then watch the blog come Monday night or Tuesday morning if you don't want to stay up late... and see if you've won.

And at the same time i'll takd bids on the J hook on the right of the picture. You can send me your bids and I'll try to post them as they come in. Bidding will close at the same time as the contest ends. Please send your entries and if you're bidding, your bids to me at

Ellen is first in with her bid for $15
And Bonnie bumps the bid (like those B's) to $20 bucks
Lindsay's in with a big raise to $30
Danielle bids $35
We're up to $40 with Debbie O's bid!

This is a twofer. The left hook is a prize.. just enter by sending me an email with a little note expressing your desire to enter the contest. The hook on the right is up for bids. Send your bids if you wish, by email as well. You can do both! Enter the contest for the H hook and bid on the J hook. Or you can just enter the contest. Or you can just bid. Oh the choices!!! Either way... i'm here at

The contest hook... the one on the left is a real beauty. You don't see the hook part because its on the bottom side and I wanted to show you this beautious srtip of dark grain in contrast to the almost white wood. The hook is an H and its about 7 1/2 inches long. It has a nice thumb rest on the opposite side (same side as the hook) and a crescent shaped section of bark that partly defines the thumb rest. A phemominal beauty made of the Deadman Crick Bramble.

The second hook (up for bids) is also Deadman Crick Bramble, is about 6 1/2 inches long and is a J sizewise. Its also a really beautiful hook but more subtle with the grain, with little flecks of tan and fits the hand like a glove. Another incredible hook. It was taken from a long thorny bramble down by the remains of my deceased brother Lance's house up on the Crick. I saw this little straight piece of bramble while out on a walk and it was practically screaming "I'm a HOOK, I'm a HOOK!!" So what could i do? I made it a hook and true to its words, it became one and a beauty at that!

Once again... enter or bid, or just say hi... write me at:

angelfire said...

the grain on the hook on the left is were right to picture it as you did. I think all those entering into the contest are blessed to be able to receive either hook.

Pink said...

I love that the grankidlets are so proud of their fish, made me feel all mushy...especially after giggling at the flapjack cute, but that bear would've scared me you-know-whatless!

Will Blog for Yarn said...

OOOOO bears do...
eat flapjacks in the woods!

I love the story of the grandkids and their first fish!

The hooks of course are gorgeous as usual.

Glasgow Lindsay said...

Thank you! I still cannot believe I won the hook how wonderful. It is too lovely for words. :0)

Momma Bear said...

Hey! Those cubs look familiar! Grrrrrrrrrin!


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Table of Contents

Monday, April 02, 2007

Eric Milton Prospect Retrospective

Yesterday, John Sickels posted a prospect retrospective on Eric Milton. I haven't seen it posted elsewhere in RedsLand, so I thought I'd throw it out there with an excerpt:
Milton went 7-11 in '99 but he cut a full run off his ERA and his K/BB ratio improved sharply. He was a mainstay in the Twins rotation 2000 through 2002, until getting injured in '03. His fly ball and gopher ball tendencies became increasingly pronounced, and he's never quite lived up to expectations. . .certainly he hasn't been Viola or Pettitte. In his case, I don't think he suffered particularly in the long run for having skipped Triple-A. I think he's a guy who basically peaked at age 23-25, and my guess is that he'll remain at his current level of effectiveness for the remainder of his career.
Milton's been a guy who has puzzled me since we got him. Somehow, it always feels to me like he's just a bit away from finding his groove. Maybe I just want to keep believing that somehow he'll work out. I still think he could be a good bullpen lefty, a la Kent Mercker. But I'll be surprised if he lasts the whole year in the rotation.


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Monday, June 26, 2006

Still Using JDBC?

Still using JDBC? I am...I still like the power of using JDBC. I do like the new EJB 3.0 ease of use with both Netbeans and JDeveloper, but I still revert back to JDBC on my older applications. There are several new features in JDBC 3.0 which is part of Java EE 5.0. Check out this article for a look at the WebRowSet.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

JSF Managed Bean Binding

When coding any significant JSF application, it is always useful to have access to managed bean values from any other managed bean. This is almost a trivial procedure, but I often forget how to implement the code (after I haven't done it for a while) and end up looking in previous programs. Here is a good quick refrence for solving these issues:

JSF Managed Bean FAQ

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Log4J Bug

I painfully found a bug within Log4J while working on a project. It appears that intermittantly, the following error will be thrown while using version 1.2.13:

NullPointerException at org.apache.log4j.NDC.get(

There is no work around. The best bet (and my choice of action) is to download and use the repaired version 1.3-alpha 8...even though it is still in test mode.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Building Jython in Netbeans

I've added a guide to building Jython in Netbeans to the Jython Wiki.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Jython Update

I'm a huge fan of the Jython scripting language. In case you've never heard of this excellent language, it is basically Python on the JVM. is almost Python on the JVM. At this point, Jython is a few steps behind the current Python release in terms of functionality. There are also some issues which are currently under review regarding translation of some Python constructs into the Java platform. I am currently trying to juggle my time between many things (aren't we all), and one of the things I am doing is taking a look at the Jython Bug Listing and trying to find some bugs which I can repair. If you enjoy Python then you should definitely try Jython...and if you are interested in becomming part of the Jython project, submit a bug fix. Here is a listing of the current bugs in Jython.


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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

JavaOne and Oracle Develop 2010 - A New Experience

I took my first trip to JavaOne this year. There were many deciding factors that made me choose to make the trip this year, but perhaps the biggest reason that I attended was due to the Oracle acquisition of Sun Microsystems that took place earlier this year. I wanted to see what Oracle's viewpoint was on the Java ecosystem, and what they planned to do with it over the next several years. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with the message that I received at the conference, I think Java is alive and very well.

I attended several sessions each day, and the conference made for a very hectic week. I had never visited San Francisco before and I must say that I found it very similar to Chicago. Being a Chicago area person myself, I found nothing overly different about San Francisco as compared to Chicago, but then again, I did not take any opportunities to go sight seeing as I was completely focused on the conference itself.

Having never been to a JavaOne conference before, i think that it was fairly well organized. Now, JavaOne was spread across a few different hotels and one large tent...and in the past I believe that it was centered in the Moscone convention center. I thought that the hotel system worked, but it did make for some rather busy shuffles from session to session. I did like the fact that I had the opportunity to go outside in between sessions though, and since the Mason St. tent was in the center of it all, I could swing by the tent on the way to another session and pick up a coffee or chat with some interesting folk. This really enhanced the experience for me.

The sessions were well thought out and worthwhile. Of course, being a Jython fan I went to as many sessions that were centered on dynamic languages on the JVM as possible. Jim Baker and myself had put in for a Jython-specific talk at this year's JavaOne and unfortunately it was turned down. Our talk was going to focus on the overall picture of bringing dynamic languages to the JVM...and Jython was going to be the example-case. I wasn't too surprised when our session was turned down as there are thousands of submissions, but when I attended the conference it was clear to see why it was turned down...there were several excellent sessions regarding dynamic languages on the JVM already. To be quite truthful, the dynamic language sessions at JavaOne covered several different languages...and I feel that the most used languages on the JVM today were nicely represented. It would have been very nice to have a session devoted to Jython specifically, but the fact is that there are so many dynamic languages on the JVM nowadays, that there was just not enough room for a session on each.

To that end, I attended an excellent JRuby session as my first JavaOne session...it really started my experience off in a great way. The presentation was given by Charles Nutter and Thomas Enebo...a couple of JRuby architects. This was a solid session that really made me want to go and download JRuby afterwards and try it out. Having not tried JRuby prior to the session, I was really focusing more on seeing another dynamic language on the JVM and getting some ideas of how they implemented it. After the presentation, it was clear to see that the JRuby team has a focused effort and is doing very well in porting the Ruby language to the JVM...excellent session.

My second session also focused on languages on the JVM...it was entitled "Multiple Languages, One Virtual Machine". This talk was given by Brian Goetz and John Rose. They did an excellent job of discussing invoke dynamic and what the future holds for dynamic languages on the JVM. It was clear to see that Oracle is putting resource behind offering many different languages on the JVM...not just Java. They are behind the invoke dynamic effort, and it will be included in JDK 7...which is due out sometime in 2011.

I attended many sessions on Java EE 6, EJB, JSF, and other enterprise technologies as I am currently using EJB3 and JSF on many of my projects at work. After attending so many sessions on the EJB 3.1 Lite and JSF 2.0 features, it is clear to see that I need to update my code to take advantage of many of the new features that are available today. It is too easy to get a formula that works and just continue to develop applications using that formula. I fell into that trap over the last couple of years, mainly due to a shortage of time for learning the new stuff. Between my authoring of the Jython book and Oracle PL/SQL Recipes, I haven't enough time to devote an hour a day to learning EJB 3.1, JSF 2.0 or CDI. However, I am making a goal for myself to learn how to migrate my EJB 3.0 code bases to take advantage of the new technologies as I can see from the JavaOne sessions that the newest implementations of the APIs are clearly more productive and easier to manage.

And then there was JavaFX. This technology has always been in the back of my mind as something that I want to learn and begin to use in my projects. I had purchased and read the JavaFX Script book by Jim Weaver a while back...excellent book. As everyone knows by now, it was announced at JavaOne that JavaFX Script will be going away and that the JavaFX API will be changing so that it can be used directly with Java code. This is HUGE news for me as a Java and Jython developer. I attended a great session by Jonathan Giles and Stephen Chin regarding the development of JavaFX applications using alternate languages. They covered JRuby, Closure, Scala, and Groovy in the session. It really looks like the new JavaFX API is going to be great and I am looking forward to writing a JavaFX application using Jython. As a matter of fact, I spoke with Stephen Chin in the Mason St. tent later on, and he was also interested in developing a Jython demo. I hope to see something soon, and plan to develop Jython and JavaFX applications when the new JavaFX API is available.

My parting session was an introduction to Scala. I am glad that I attended this session as well as I have been in the dark about this language until now. I had been hearing lots of good things about Scala, but hadn't found the time to take a look. Attending this session gave me a great overview of the language and really gave me the bug that I needed to put it on my priority list as a language to learn in the coming weeks. Now I need to learn both JRuby and Scala...my time is really going to be growing thin!

Other activities that I took part in included:

Oracle Publisher's Seminar - Since I am writing the PL/SQL Recipes book, I was able to attend this great seminar. It gave me a good opportunity to learn about some Oracle strategies from the team leads themselves, and also meet other Oracle authors.

Jython BoF - Oti Humbel and myself gave a Jython BoF on Wednesday of the conference in the Parc 55 hotel. The BoF was not very well attended, but the appreciation event was also that evening and I suspect that had something to do with it. Overall, Oti and I were able to muddle through the list of open bugs that need to be repaired prior to a Jython 2.5.2 final release. I had a great time meeting with Oti and look forward to working with him on Jython for future releases. We also met with Frank Wierzbicki, the Jython project lead and one of my co-authors for the Jython book. It was great to talk Jython for a while with a couple of the core devs, and to strategize about future Jython developments.

Keynotes - The JavaOne keynotes were okay...lots of hype around the future of Java and JavaFX. Glad I attended them for the experience, but nothing too earth shattering. My favorite keynote was the Oracle Develop keynote by Tom Kyte. I have been a big fan of Tom Kyte for several years as he is a lead in Oracle database technologies and PL/SQL. Excellent keynote with some great insight on Oracle 11gR2 and some of it's new features (some that I have not used yet!).

JavaPosse - Perhaps the highlight of the conference for me was the JavaPosse BoF and rooftop party at the Passion Cafe. I listen to the JavaPosse religiously, and finally having a chance to see the crew in person and have drinks with them after the BoF was a great experience. They are truly great people who do an excellent job with the podcast. Thanks JavaPosse crew, excellent show at JavaOne.

So JavaOne 2010 was a new experience for me. I think that it was a great experience and I would be happy to attend another JavaOne at some point in the future. I think that given the atmosphere and the dynamics of the conference, it was a new experience for even those who had attended in previous years. It is nice to see that Java is in good hands with Oracle, and I am looking forward to a bright future.


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Monday, May 2, 2011

History 12: Monday, May 2

Today we read and briefly discussed the Spanish Civil War 1936-39.  We also looked at some posters/cartoons and discussed things like bias and audience.  Next we reviewed Caspr2 and the Hitler's road to war.  We also did a run-through of the first parts of WW2: Poland, Winter War, Phoney War (Sitskrieg), Battle (Fall) of France, Battle of Britain.

Next, we discussed the early history of China and Japan.  Please read the Global Forces text section on China (up to 1949).  There is also a brief section in DeMarco.  Finally, read the workbook pages 177-79.

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Sunday, September 25, 2005

More general wootage!

Another brief entry today to keep RD/KA! alive and well in cyberspace.

So, the wedding was just lovely. The ceremony was delightful, with a beautiful location in Malo Strana- the old centre of Prague. Your humble scribe was moved and touched by the events, and will even confess to having had a 'bit of grit in his eye...' We repaired thereafter to a nice restaurant, where a lovely meal and a nice evening was had by all.

Meanwhile, here I sit in a touristy internet cafe- as opposed, that is- to the more local cybercafe from which I have posted before. The first nice thing is that the keyboard is of a familiar standard. I also managed to get into my ISP, and thus check my emails. I got within an ace of being able to post an old article from my files, which I had cleverly emailed to myself for just such an eventuality. But it didn't quite work.

I learned a good lesson though: if you're going to do this sort of thing, use the simplest possible format- ie. Notepad; because there's always the chance that more highly formatted files- eg. MS Word, will not be available on the particular machine you end up using.

Anyhoo, that's it for today. This is my last day in Prague, and I plan to make the most of it. It's just a pity that something seems to have gone wrong with my damn camera! ;)
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100% fashion Staff with care

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Post Date: 12/11/2017 Job ID: 89153 Job Category: Accounts Receivable/Credit, Finance

Title of Job: Accounts Receivable Manager

Company Description: Footwear Brand

Location: NYC

Responsibilities: Strong analytical skills, Excel, EDI, Create and send invoices, Charge back analysis, Aging reporting and analysis, Tracking, Monthly statement reports, Collection emails and calls, Customer service

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Los Angeles, California 90050

Post Date: 08/23/2017 Job ID: 85340 Job Category: Design

Job Title: Designer

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Company: Full Collection Young Contemporary brand with a millennial following

  • Create a new line with a flirty, stylish vibe

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Real Estate Sr. Relationship Manager

Irvine, CA 92602 | Direct Hire

Post Date: 02/23/18 Job ID: 18011002-FS Industry or Function: Banking Compensation: $110,000 to $140,000

JOB #: 18011002-FS

KEY WORDS: Banking, Commercial, Credit, Sales, Portfolio

Establishes and maintains profitable, quality commercial real estate loan and deposit relationships to businesses and professionals in accordance with Bank policy, including any workout of loans required. Obtains appointments with prospects, evaluates the financial needs of the prospects and clients, obtains Bank approval to provide recommended products and services to specific prospects and clients, and coordinates tasks associated with assigned groups of business customers. Provides exemplary service to ensure customer satisfaction.

Job Duties:
• Develops commercial real estate loan relationships and enhances existing customer relationships.
• Makes quality prospect calls and customer retention calls each month to middle-market companies in the local service area.
• Obtains necessary information for preliminary underwriting purposes.
• Develops new business and referral sources.
• Assists the branch banking system with real estate loan requests.
• Manages all workout credits or disposition of REO assigned.
• Provides support to branch and business center inquiries on new real estate construction lending opportunities including prospect identification and risk assessment, project cost analysis, loan structuring and covenant guidance.
• Participate in marketing calls with branch personnel and credit pre-screen process;
• Manages the credit analysis process related to new loan requests, enhancements and renewals through the service provided by the Portfolio Bankers.
• Monitors and manages the quality and profitability of assigned relationships.
• Manages an assigned real estate portfolio to insure documentation and agreements are current, payments and disbursements are current, financial data is current, all modifications to the existing loan are completed and any other related items associated with managing the account.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Salary Range:
• $110,000 to $140,000

• Comprehensive Benefit Package

Job Requirements:
• Minimum of ten years of Commercial Banking experience.
• Commercial, Construction and Investor Real Estate experience.
• Strong Business Development skills.
• Ability to manage and monitor a portfolio of commercial clients.
• Excellent Credit skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Educational Requirements:
Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or Finance

Michael Wilson
Director of Commercial Banking

I joined the TriStaff Group in November 2014 as the new Division Director of Banking when I relocated back to San Diego from Ontario, CA. I was hired to promote and expand the new Banking Division at TriStaff Group. Before joining the TriStaff team, I spent 10 years as Vice President, Talent Acquisition Manager for Citizens Business Bank in Ontario, CA, where I was responsible for all recruitment efforts of the bank. My Team and I focus on recruiting top-talent primarily in the Commercial Banking space for banks throughout California and nationwide. We specialize in placing Relationship Managers, Business Development Officers, Portfolio Managers, Business Bankers, Commercial Underwriters, Credit Analysts, Compliance & Risk Officers, Operations Managers, Regional Managers, Center Managers and Executive level professionals. We have placed many candidates with some of the top-rated banks in California and the nation. I’m excited to have the opportunity to build a Banking Division at TriStaff Group and to further promote the excellent reputation that TriStaff Group has in the market-place. I enjoy partnering with my clients to find top-talent to assist them in achieving their company goals, as well as helping a candidate enhance their career. I’m passionate about recruiting and building long-term relationships with clients and candidates. I was raised in Chula Vista where I attended Chula Vista High, Southwestern Junior College and San Diego State University. No matter where I have lived, I have always remained a loyal fan of the Chargers, Padres and Aztecs. I enjoy following the local sports teams, football, collecting sports memorabilia & art, gardening, traveling and enjoying the company of my pets.
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Thursday, January 05, 2006

Right thing to do, but not likely to make her many friends

Bayou Buzz
Louisiana Governor Blanco has decided to step into a dispute among members of the city Council of New Orleans and between the council and Mayor C. Ray Nagin over the issue of trailers for Katrina victims.

There has been a controversy brewing over where to place the trailers. Many people in New Orleans and surrounding areas are concerned over the issue of crime. The slogan of “Not In My Backyard” has become a symbol for the issue.

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Leave Net Neutrality Rules Alone

I am hardly ever on the side of government regulation, but I have to confess that the thought of the FCC weakening 2015 “net neutrality” rules on broadband December 14 concerns me more than a little. I usually support free market solutions to problems so now I’m very confused. (More about net neutrality) Particularly when I look at the list of people and companies against the FCC’S proposed move. It just feels weird to be on the same side.

Anyway the gist of the story is that the FCC wants to reclassify broadband communications from Title II to Title I with “light-touch regulation” as the FCC Chairman Ajit Pai calls it. In doing so they would be placing less oversight on the large broadband providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon.  (Sounds a little like the fox watching over the hen house.)

So rather than just bellyache about it, I’m going to the FCC website to let my voice be heard. Let the FCC hear your voice too. (Click this link to the Filings page for Docket 17-108 and look in the right side menu for “express comment”.)

Should Congress Get Different Health Insurance?

Regardless of your political leanings, I think most Americans would agree that members of Congress should have to live with the same bad legislation that it foists on the rest of us. Somehow, though, they always manage to exempt themselves from laws that they pass while we the people are stuck and have no options. It is ridiculous. We are literally sheep being led around to do what they decide for us without any impact on their own priveleged and sheltered lives.

Today the case in point is healthcare. Why should we pay stupid, high cost health insurances premiums while a select 535 select individuals and their staffs enjoy their own good deal? Worse, do you think that anything is going to change with that inequity?

You not want to get out of the easy chair just yet and march or protest about this, but if you want to do something then click this link and add your name to a petition. That’s it, easy-peasy. Perhaps it will light a fire and start you thinking about something more substantial and if so, make it happen and be the difference!

Whirlpool dishwasher problem

I don’t usually post things like dishwasher repair fixes, but it took me forever to finally figure out how to get our Whirlpool Gold Series model #WDT710PAYM3 working so I hope that this may be of benefit to others with the problem.

The issue that we had is that when you’d press a button, any button, to start a dishwashing cycle, nothing would happen but the button with the lock symbol on it would flash three times. We learned that this was called a Control Lock, a safety feature that you can invoke on purpose to keep children from starting a cycle.

However we did not initiate this Control Lock, and were not sure how the dishwasher got into that state. The owner’s manual explains that pressing and holding the Lock button for three seconds initiates Control Lock and repeating that three second press disengages it too. But when we tried that, it didn’t “unlock” and allow us to operate the dishwasher.

There are many posts on the interweb regarding this Control Lock issue and multiple Whirlpool models, but none of the solutions provided any remedy. I continued to dig and then ran across an article describing how to cause the controller to go into a diagostic mode and generate codes that could be used to identify problems. This process can get pretty technical and fortunately for us we didn’t need to.

The fix for us was just causing the control to go into diagnostic mode which clears out errors and apparently also  “unlocks” the system. The way that you do that is to open the dishwasher door and press any 3 keys in the sequence 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3 with no more than 1 second between key presses. When we got out of dignostic mode, the dishwasher was unlocked. This article has more details on diagnostics if you need to go deeper into that. We may never know how our unit got locked in the first place, but at least if at happens again we’ll have a solution.

The Free Market and Stuff

I was surfing the interweb earlier today, being sucked into more of the seemingly endless Mac vs. PC debate when the thought hit me, isn’t it great to live in a society where that can even be an issue?

In spite of all the many political and social problems that the good ole US of A may have, we at least are blessed to be able to purchase and consume literally anything that we desire. Organic food, designer sunglasses, performance footwear, exotic cars, the latest gadgets, if you can think of or crave of something, in a mere moment it can be yours. Usually you don’t even have to leave your house to get it because it can be sent direct to you!

Now in the long term view of eternity, I’m not sure if this unbridled access to stuff is truly a blessing or a curse, today I can at least marvel at how this economic juggernaut works.

Why do we obsess over the presidential election?

Every four years the U.S. holds a presidential election and you’d think that nothing in this country was more important. We endure the intrusions of 24/7 news coverage and the seemingly endless stream of political ads. I’m agreed that electing a president is serious stuff, but does one elected office deserve this much focus? Did the decisions of just one person get our country to where we are today?

A columnist named Charley Reese back in 1984 penned a great column for the Orlando Sentinel entitled, “545 people are responsible for the mess, but they unite in a common con.” The whole column is well worth the reading, but one quote is particularly appropriate.

Reese wrote, “You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don’t have the constitutional authority to vote n appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don’t write the tax code. The Congress does. You and I don’t set fiscal policy. the Congress does. You and I don’t control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.”

“One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices – 545 human beings out of 238 million- are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.”

Thank you Charley, that is utterly profound. And think about this. Congress is apparently so arrogant and so full of itself that they insulate their own selves and families from the laws that they pass and foist on you and me. Really? Folks wake up!

America, don’t you think that it makes a lot more sense for us to be spending at least the same amount of time or even more time scrutinizing the candidates for the House or Senate than we do on the president? I think it does and it’s time to start some serious “House” cleaning.

Making the 2016 presidential choice simple

It’s a little less than a month before the presidential election and I’m sure that a vast majority of voters have determined how they’ll vote by now. So this post isn’t for any of you, but it’s for the small minority that are still scratching their heads. And without going through all of the issues and the candidates’ positions on them all, I’ve boiled the whole thing down to just two issues to make selecting a president simple. Here they are:

First, who do you want at the White House helm to nominate the next Supreme Court justice(s)? Second, and maybe more importantly, do you want more Washington intrusion in your life or less?

See, that’s it. Just two issues and your vote for president is now made simple. So you can make the election as easy or as complicated as you want. I’m going for easy! You can thank me later.

Respect authority

The story of the year will likely be about the set of events played out over this summer and also this past week in Ferguson, MO. And as I have watched it all unfold and reflect on it, this unfortunate and yet also horrible story has struck so many emotions in me.

One, sorrow for the community at large, having grown up in Ferguson in the ’60’s and ’70’s and remembering it’s glory. Next, concern and fear having a son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren who make their home there. Then there’s compassion for a family who lost a son in a most unfortunate way. But last, there was and still is the shock at the depth of depravity of citizens supposedly engaged in peaceful protests that turned into hate-filled, out-of-control mobs looting, stealing and destroying public and private property.

Has it now become acceptable to loot, steal and destroy property as part of a protest? Have we as a society finally embraced lawlessness and rejected the respect of authority and the law? Since very few of our leaders today speak out against actions like these, I suppose it now is politically correct to allow the mobs to break the law. I’ve heard some even refer to it as letting them vent their anger. Really? At whose expense do we allow this? More importantly, what’s the message that we’re sending in this? It’s the mob rules.

What a sad state of affairs our society has turned into! I close with a scripture that I pray all social, political and church leaders will begin to shout from their lecterns and pulpits. God’s word is the only thing with the power to cause change.

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.” Romans 13:1-5 (NIV)

Interesting gift idea

Now I don’t mean to disrespect the millions of men wearing goatees, but as I was surfing the interweb for personal hair trimmers, I stumbled upon this rather menacing, err… interesting item.

The first image that came to mind after looking at this was the villain, Bane, in the Dark Knight Rises.

Not the most attractive or calming image mind you. Seriously though this is the 21st century. Can’t we come up with something else to help you guys with goatees out?


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Every day a syndicated national columnist, a grieving minister, or a politician of some rank laments another shooting. I genuinely believe they all have varying degrees of sincerity. No one likes to see men, women and children slaughtered for no apparant reason other than the shooter(s) want to fulfill some twisted psyche only they, at that moment, own. Every reading or TV show experience illustrates the depth of this problem and an obvious solution NO ONE I have talked to is even close to endorsing. It makes me wonder if it’s possible to end the Age of Violence that grips our country and our world.  But it is a fact that few are willing to give up any of the weapons they own and do not see that as a part of the solution equation.

When you see or read about an act of violence it has already passed into history and cannot be redacted. An Event has occurred. Unfortunately these Events seem to be continual, systemic, and apparently ongoing. Who is responsible? We are. All of us are. Americans are a powerful people. We have fought huge wars for our freedom and that of others. We have defeated powerful enemies, evil men, and their attempts to conquor the world with force. We have developed tremendous weapons and we have used them, and still are using them. But time moves inexorably forward and even though some, myself included at times, long for the simpler bygone days, there will be no going back.

My hope is we will evolve as a species and be spared until enough of us embrace peace as the only solution to the Age of Violence. That peace will require a different mindset and most certainly a major third party of pragmatic souls, people who understand that the days of the social tribes are passing, but not soon enough.

The willingness to be specific, to act for the good of the country must be our destination but with barely 30% of our population educated past the 12th grade who will be the recipient of this argument? Are you starting to see how large the elephant in the roadway really is? All by themselves, with our blessing and permission, the social tribes, religious and political, have created an atmosphere of distrust, neglect, and a false sense of entitlement that only education and time will overcome.  We simply cannot solve social problems of the magnitude currently present as long as religious beliefs and political thought intersect at the highest levels. There is too much ideological conflict between these factions, always at odds with each other, never approaching an all out committment, which might cost votes or influence.

As I wrote Between the Walls of Time I came to appreciate that so many of us just do not have the tools to understand the world that has descended upon us. Today, we need an understanding of science and its application to real problems, yet, 70% or more of us may not be equipped to do anything of the sort. Enter the Millennials, who may not have been asked to do anything except consume, but who are more educated, less likely to join a tribe, and extremely wary of government in its current condition. I tell all the folks of my generation, black, yellow, brown, and white, who are waiting for the rapture not to write them off because they are, I think, headed in the right direction.

Help me tell the story of Cyrus Kohler and The Front by sharing this post on Facebook or your favorite social media platform. If you want to join The Front, send $1. Subscribe, comment on the posts, tell me what you think about our social society.

Michael Stafford

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Sourcebooks Publishing is growing because it has learned one simple but very important principle: treat your employees like entrepreneurs and be open to their ideas and input.

In other words, treat them like respected partners and be transparent!

Ann Meyer reports this in the Chicago Tribune:

Book Publishing Firm Finds New Sources of Growth

As the book publishing industry undergoes a transformation, at Naperville-based Sourcebooks Inc., Dominique Raccah (pictured above) is embracing the change with a confidence grounded in creativity.

By fostering an entrepreneurial workplace even as her company has become one of the largest independent book publishers in the nation, Raccah sees a bright future.

"We are pioneers in the most old-fashioned way. We are at the beginning again," said Raccah, founder, publisher and chief executive of Sourcebooks.

Sourcebooks was the second publisher in the United States to obtain an Apple developer license, Raccah said. Launched in February 2009, its $4.99 Most Baby Names app has become a top seller, drawn from the company's popular book, "The Complete Book of Baby Names."

Sourcebooks has 54 apps in development and is expanding its line of digital and mixed-media books to deliver content in whatever form the customer prefers.

Read more


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Pay Czar can't adjust pay before 2009 so he just makes the current pay NEGATIVE

Kenneth Lewis gets to pay for the honor of working for BofA the last year. Is this serious?

Kenneth Lewis, outgoing chief executive of Bank of America Corp., will get no salary or bonus for 2009, according to people familiar with the matter, the biggest Wall Street name thus far to come under the thumb of the government's pay czar.

In fact, Mr. Lewis will have to repay the North Carolina-based bank more than $1 million in salary he has already earned.

The move was demanded by Kenneth Feinberg, the U.S. Treasury Department's special master for compensation, and was agreed to by Mr. Lewis and the bank. Mr. Feinberg's rationale is based largely on the fact that Mr. Lewis will leave the firm with a package of retirement benefits and other stock awards worth between $69.3 million and $120 million, these people said. . . .

Mr. Feinberg doesn't have the authority to adjust compensation awarded before 2009, which would include Mr. Lewis's retirement package and the various stock holdings amassed during a four-decade career at the bank.

But the pay czar didn't want the CEO to take any more money, and used his leverage over pay instead, people familiar with the matter say. Mr. Lewis' base salary for 2009 is $1.5 million.

Labels: , ,

Blogger Harry Schell said...

Not exactly an ex post facto law but surely an application of one, with the facts/decision based on what Lewis' prior compensation was.

Just where are we going with these czars?

And isn't "czar" the wrong term? I thought the "czars" and retinue were executed and replaced by commissars when Russia was "transformed" as the US is now.

10/16/2009 12:55 PM

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Thursday, 29 December 2011

Nurgle Daemon-Possessed Vindicator

This is one of my kit rebuilds. I bought a somewhat beat up Rhino on eBay, fitted a spare demolisher cannon and dirtied it up a bit with some green stuff, multiple paint layers, Mig rust treatment and Mig Rust powder. I am inordinately pleased with it.

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

Sunday, 25 December 2011

Happy Xmas Gaming Geeks

Artwork: Darren MA Calvert

A Merry Xmas from all the Staff at John's Toy Soldiers (me and rabbit).

And see Toy Cutter for more great pics.

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Servalen & Travis - Blake 7

I suppose I am showing my age but two of my favourite SF baddies are President of the Federation Servalan (Killer Queen, Dynamite with a Laser Beam) and her psychotic lieutenant, Travis. Servalan is deposed and resurfaces as Commissioner Sleer. Travis is killed by Avon, the most intriguing character in Blake's 7.

Blake 7 was devised by Terry Nation, who also invented the Daleks, and it has the finest ending ever of an SF TV Programme.

Monday, 19 December 2011

Nurgle Obliterator

I paid £6 for both this model and the dreadnought previously featured in dodgy condition. I added a gun barrel, a new resin base and a lick o'paint.

Look out for old 2nd hand stuff that can be rebuilt because no one wants it.

Note there is a twitter group #miniaturemonday for crazed wargamers and modellers.

Sunday, 18 December 2011

Power Sword - Chameleon Nanoflakes

This is my first experiemnt to coat a power sword with Chameleon Nanoflakes, again using a clear varnish as the medium (Citadel Gloss). It is very diffcult to photograph this in late December even at midday as we have no sunlight - the the system depends for its colour on the exact angle light strike the plane of the surface.

Vevertheless I have attempted to shoot the model holding it in one hand in the window, while wielding the camera set on macro-close up in the other. Very far from ideal. I rotated the model to give some idea of the effect - which is inevitably very subdued by the dim grey light coming through the window.

Please scroll down.

Saturday, 17 December 2011

Nurgle Warband

The warband of Milord Nobblemusher, Daemon Prince of Nurgle, who sitteth at the right hand of the grandfather.

Reinforcements are on the painting table, just waiting for Nurgle's approval. Now you will have to excuse me. I have this bloody awful virus...

Friday, 16 December 2011

It's Lonely Out There - Baen Books

Photo by NASA
It's Lonely Out There –
The Evolutionary Explanation For
The Fermi Paradox
by John Lambshead

The Fermi Paradox is named after Enrico Fermi, who postulated it in 1950 during informal discussion. It can be summarised as: if the truth is out there, why haven't we seen some evidence? Or to put it another way, where are the intelligent aliens? Not a single shred of evidence has ever been found of a piece of technology that is not human. All around us broods a silent universe, the silentium universi (things sound so much more authoritative when translated into Latin, don't you think?).
Physicists have dominated discussion on the Fermi Paradox, Fermi was a physicist, because it appears to be an issue of astronomy. But actually it is an issue of biology since it is about evolution.
In this paper I am going to address two points: How common is life in the universe, and how common is intelligent life. To gain an insight into the second point, I will be obliged to consider how intelligent life might evolve. For the purposes of this essay, intelligence is defined as human-level intelligence, i.e. the capacity to create a technological civilization....

You can read the rest of this article for free on the Baen site, my publisher, as well as an original short story by New York Times best-selling author, Timothy Zahn.

Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Nurgle Dreadnought - back from the scrapyard

I bought this for a couple of pounds on eBay in a fairly shot up condition. Alittle bit of TLC and a lick of paint and our blood-crazed friend is ready to squish his way across the Imperium. Old knocked-about models are fine for Chaos and Orky armies. Never overlook them for some reinforcements on the cheap.

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

Finished Spinner

Decals and white trim added. Taken in the garden in the dark using a TTL flashgun.

Night lift.

The rabbit daemon decided to see if it would fly. Those are his teeth marks.

Things Wot I Grow In My Garden

Something to fry for lunch?

Saturday, 10 December 2011

Raid on Shaun's Flat

"Sweep Group to Foxfire?"
"Come in Sweep Group."
"Inform Lord Wolfram that the extraction is comprised. Ultramarines detected in ambush."
"Foxfire to Sweep Group, attack and destroy the minions of the corpse God. Lord Wolfram himself has decided to join the raid."

The Ultramarine vehicles move forward.

Illuminati infantry advance of left flank. Predator takes up overwatch position on right flank.

The Predator makes a kill.

The Predator makes a second vehicle kill, the Razorback, while the full power of the Ultramarine ambush is revealed. The first Illuminati squad is wiped out, except for two who run away into cover, and the Rhino is burned killing two of the second squad.

Lord Wolfram teleports down with his elite body guard and engages the Ultramarine command squad.

 The Ultramarine command squad and the second Illuminati combat squad are wiped out.

The Ultramrines fire a steady barrage wounding Lord Wolfram and killing all but one of his bodyguard. He teleports out after killing the two cowards skulking under the bridge. The Predator glides away to a rendevouz with a pick up shuttle.

The raid has been a failure with the artefact unsecured. Lord Wolfram has had a really bad day.

Thursday, 8 December 2011

Blade Runner Spinner - Chameleon Nanoflakes

This is a 28ml resin model of a Blade Runner Spinner. In order to give it an 'energy field' effect, I used acrylic varnish over the base paint saturated with Chameleon Nano-Flakes. They are intended to be used in a clear medium over black but I used it over deep blue and brown ochre. The micro-flakes are titanium compound covered silicon and cause a colour shimmer over the paint from copper to emerald green depending on the light interaction. It strikes me that the flakes could be great for power swords, holo-fields, force fields and so on. My next experiment will be to put them into the paint.

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

Illuminati Raid

My Illuminati Chaos Marine warband is making a 1,000 point raid soon on Shaun's flat in their ceaseless search for enlightenment about the true nature of the universe.

The raiders consist of Lord Wolfram Gutenberg plus elite five champion bodyguard in terminator armour, two squads of marines plus standard bearer, a Rhino and a Predator in tank killer mode.

Turner Prize

Turner prize winner announced. Three large white gallery pillars into square trees, topped by canopies of uniform white leaves.
Martin Boyce work at Baltic
Martin Boyce's works on show at the Baltic include a re-imagined library table and three artificial trees
Angular brown leaves made from wax-coated crepe paper are scattered on the ground, while a library table has been reconfigured into a playful modern creation.

Actually, I quite like this. It is at least creative. Who can forget the Light Switch?

Monday, 5 December 2011

The Slayer

Another great mini from reaper. Young lady with stake.

City of London Police Force

City of London Police distributed this letter around London businesses. We have witnessed the leadership of the Yard disintegrate under questioning as to why they turned a blind eye to criminality in the Murdoch empire - now this.

Hostile Reconnaissance?? Domestic Terrorists/extremists??

Reality Check: we are talking about a handful of people exercising their right to demonstrate, not Che bloody Guevara.

Are our senior officers half-witted?

Sunday, 4 December 2011