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Fourth of July and fireworks displays go together like baseball and hot dogs, but there's another vital patriotic piece to the holiday: old-fashioned parades.
Neighbors gather side by side to root on high school bands, Rotary Club members, city officials and more. Friends stake out the best viewing spots — sometimes hours ahead — so they won't miss their local favorites.
Parades differ in size and scope, but that's all part of the charm of these hometown fixtures. They're an entertaining ensemble of marching bands, scout troops, community floats, fire trucks and people — lots of people — all celebrating freedom and independence. They're homemade and hokey, and Americans love them.
It's where you can see the faces of youngsters beaming with pride as they slowly ride their hand-decorated bikes down the parade route in Long Beach. It's where firefighters aim hoses to gently sprinkle paradegoers with water in South Pasadena. It's even where a robed Tibetan monk can be seen shaking hands with a guy dressed like Uncle Sam on stilts in Claremont.
Here's a sample of some of the region's oldest and liveliest Southern California Fourth of July parades.
• Claremont — Most of the day's fun centers around Memorial Park, but the parade starts at 4 p.m. at Indian Hill Boulevard and 10th Street and ends at Larkin Park. There are about 90 entrants participating in the parade this year, ranging from students of the nearby Claremont Colleges to city representatives and Pilgrim Place retirees. For information, go to www.ci.claremont.ca.us
• Long Beach — The annual Kids' Bike Parade is a holiday tradition. Some of the city's youngest residents come out in full force for the 2-mile parade. It runs east along the beach bike path and continues along Bay Shore Avenue to Second Street. The parade begins at 10 a.m. Stay after the parade for festivities like a watermelon seed spitting competition and a patriotic costume contest. www.facebook.com/ 4thOfJulyKidsBikeParade
• Ontario — The annual Independence Day parade starts at 9 a.m. at Fourth Street and Euclid Avenue, continuing south on Euclid to B Street. Entertainment is scheduled throughout the day at the R. Jack Mercer Bandstand at C Street and Euclid. The city is also well-known for its All-States picnic where friends, families and neighbors proudly show off their roots, whether it be in Maine or the Golden State. The idea is to find a local neighbor who's from your home state, then sit and eat with those from similar backgrounds. A 2-mile-long picnic table in the Euclid Avenue median makes it easy to do. The All-States Picnic is an Ontario tradition that began in 1939. For information, call 909-395-2020.
• Pacific Palisades — This seaside community offers a small-town atmosphere for the holiday with a twist: skydivers who land in the town center. The 66th annual parade begins downtown at 1:50 p.m. on Sunset Boulevard and will feature NBA star and Pacific Palisades native Steve Kerr as grand marshal. Afterward, band members from Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters and more are expected to perform as part of Palisades Charter High School's Palisades Rocks the Fourth concert. A fireworks display is planned. The parade is free, but the concert is $5 for adults and free for children 12 and younger. For details, go to www.palisadesparade.org
• Redlands — Sylvan Park, on University Street near the University of Redlands, is the center of activities from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. The parade begins at 4 p.m. and the route takes participants around the park. Many local service and civic clubs will participate in activities from 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Live entertainment kicks off the day and includes the Redlands 4th of July Band. The annual parade, "Stars and Stripes Forever," will start at 10:30 a.m. at Franklin School on Colton Avenue and work its way around Sylvan Park. For parade information, call 909-255-5606.
• Santa Clarita — The grand marshal is Jim Ventress of the Santa Clarita Valley Boys and Girls Club and the theme of the 9 a.m. parade in Old Town Newhall is "Our Heroes: We Can Because They Do." Celebrate with floats, music, cars, military personnel and horses. The parade route starts on Main Street, travels along Lyons Avenue to Orchard Village and ends at 16th Street. For information, go to www.scvtv.com/parade
• Sierra Madre — Pat and De Alcorn have been named grand marshals of the 2014 Fourth of July parade in this foothill community. They are committed community volunteers who have given hundreds of hours of time to help others. The Sierra Madre Search and Rescue team also will be honored as "hometown heroes" for its volunteer members' service since 1951. The parade is from 10 a.m.-noon and runs along Sierra Madre Boulevard from Sunnyside Avenue to Sierra Vista Park. For those who can't wait for all the fun to begin, the city also plans to have a family picnic, a concert in the park and a beer garden on July 3. Groovy Lemon Pie will entertain from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Memorial Park, 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Youngsters can set off their own bubble wrap "fireworks." For information, call 626-789-5461.
• South Pasadena — The city is celebrating its 125th birthday along with its 31st annual Fourth of July Parade. It will wind down Mission Street to Garfield Park. Folks always look forward to the Stratford Wives dancers and getting sprayed by the fire engine. The day will start at 7 a.m. with a South Pasadena Kiwanis Club pancake breakfast followed by a 10:30 a.m. festival of balloons opening ceremony at the South Pasadena Library community room, 1020 El Centro St. The parade starts at 11 a.m. For information, call 626-441-2339.
• Palos Verdes — The 53rd annual Palos Verdes Fourth of July celebration centers around Malaga Cove School, 300 Paseo del Mar, Palos Verdes Estates. Activities start at 9:30 a.m., with a children's patriotic bike parade at 10:10 a.m. There also will be an apple pie contest. For details, go to www.pvjuly4.org
• Westlake Village — This will mark the city's 45th Fourth of July parade. Participants line up at 9:30 a.m. and start moving along the decorated four-block route at 9:45 a.m. Participants are encouraged to decorate bikes, scooters, skateboards or wagons. The parade begins at Lakeview Canyon and Agoura roads and continues to Berniece Bennett Park. When the parade reaches the park, there will be a U.S. flag retirement ceremony conducted by local Boy Scouts. Early risers can join Boy Scout Troop 752 at 8 a.m. for a pancake breakfast at the former Westlake Village Medical Center property, 4415 Lakeview Canyon Road. Breakfast tickets are $5 or $20 for a family. For information, call 818-706-1613.


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Knox is a killer hired to catch a thief, but what happens when the thief catches the assassin instead, and chains him up? Nothing good. Nothing … sane.
Knox Calvin has spent his life repressing his sexuality. When Mick Lannon picks at his carefully constructed mental cage with a knife, he isn't prepared for the fallout. Unfortunately, Knox isn't the kind of man who can be bound for long, and Mick has his own demons to wrestle into submission. When Mick's vendetta against his aunt's killer spirals into all out war, Knox escapes to watch the carnage from a distance.
Mick likes his sex casual, his partners breathing, and doesn't much care about anything else. Knox wasn't interested in sex at all until Mick shackled him to a wall. What happens when one moment's slip into darkness wakes up the monster in both men?
Be Warned: m/m sex, BDSM, knife play, blood play, breath play
Mick suddenly climbed on the bed, straddling Knox.
"Oh, Jesus Christ." The words fell out of Knox's mouth before he could stop them. Mick's weight pressed right onto his dick, hard and painful and fucking perfect.
Mick licked his lips. "Well, well. Clearly you didn't see that coming." He shimmied down a bit more, slotting Knox's erection right between his legs. The fucker looked like he was getting off on this shit.
"Fuck you." Knox refused to let his hips buck up into the bastard's heat. He was not gay. He wasn't anything at all. He wanted to twist Lannon around and crack his spine into pieces, but he didn't have the leverage. Not anymore. Not with the bastard on top of me, but the moment he moves…
"That can definitely be arranged."
Knox shuddered.
Mick ground down, sliding his knife up Knox's arm like a deadly snake. "I like blood." He pressed in with the tip, just enough to sting. Blood trickled down Knox's arm, circling the tattoo inked into the crook of his elbow.
"What the hell are you doing?" Knox couldn't seem to stop running off at the mouth. "What did you dose me with?" There had to be some reason his body was so hot to trot right now, after years of indifference to pretty much anything or anyone. Drugs were a likely culprit.
"BDSM baby." Mick laughed. "I chained you up. That's it." He leaned down and kissed the blood on Knox's skin. "And you like it. Who knew? I certainly didn't. They call you Fort Knox, you know. 'He's stone cold,' they said, when I got the file on you." He kissed the edge of Knox's biceps. "Such lies." His lips tickled against Knox's skin. "You're not cold at all, are you?"
"Whatever you pumped into my veins is doing this." Knox bit back a groan. The scent of chocolate swept over him. "Fucking get off me."
Mick licked up his arm, ignoring his pleas. "You are an unexpected treasure, Knox Calvin."
Knox pressed his lips together so tightly the skin went numb. "You're a fucking cocksucker."
Mick sat back up again, pushing Knox's erection flat. It hurt like hell. "Sometimes, yeah." He licked his lips. "And obviously," he punctuated his words with a roll of his hips. "So are you."
Knox growled, beyond pissed and heading straight into rage. "Motherfucker."
"Mmm. Look at you." Mick's eyes traveled along Knox's torso. "You had no idea you could feel this way, did you?" The thief grinned. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this."
"Fuck you." Knox felt like there wasn't enough air going into his lungs. Fucking drugs.
"You're repeating yourself." Mick slid his knife into the opening of Knox's t-shirt, and with a swift, sure jerk, split the fabric right down the middle. "Well, would you look at that?" He put his palm dead center on Knox's chest. The heat from his hand burned. "You have a picture of a cage inked into your skin, Mr. Calvin."
That's it. He's fucking close enough. Knox twisted, lifting up and using his legs to trap Mick. Using his chains as leverage, he tenses his shoulders and flipped them both over, pinning the bastard underneath his body. The mattress squeaked like an old whore, but he ignored it, trusting the steel bedframe to keep them off the floor. He shoved an arm over Mick throat, metal rattling.
"Where's the key?" Knox shifted the chains, digging the shackle's cuff into Mick's shoulder. I should just kill him and get it over with, he thought, but he didn't press harder. Something about this guy made him want to let the situation play out. What would the thief do next? And it's not like I have anything else to do right now.
Mick narrowed his eyes. "I have a knife at your jugular, Knox." He leaned the tip into Knox's skin.
"I don't fucking care." Knox pressed harder. The sting at his neck felt like hardly anything.
Mick's gaze went flat. "I really don't want to kill you."
"The feeling's mutual. This is business." Knox frowned. "Give me the key."
The blade at his throat sank in unexpectedly. This time the pain wasn't small. Wasn't good. Warmth blossomed over his shoulder, wet and strange. Knox blinked, trying to think, and then Mick flipped them back over. He threw his blade to the side and slapped a hand over Knox's throat. "You stupid fuck."
Vaguely, Knox realized that his hard-on had finally subsided.

subset: commoncrawl


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Howdy! I'm Janet. Welcome to my little corner of the web. Come on in, pull up a chair, and grab your favorite beverage (I prefer caffeinated most of the time, but a glass of wine is good sometimes too!)
Parents today are super busy – we all wear many hats, and we still have to take care of ourselves on top of taking care of the rest of our family. It can be hard to find the time and energy to tend our own spiritual fires with everything on our plates, and encouraging our children to build their own at the same time some days seems impossible.
Childhood is magical. I believe parenting should be too. I help families find their way – help them tend their flames and keep the magic in their lives.
Interested in hanging out here a bit, chatting more, and learning from each other? You might want to join the academy, or follow me on facebook, https://www.facebook.com/JanetCallahanWriter/


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This article was originally published in the January/February 1999 issue of Home Energy Magazine. Some formatting inconsistencies may be evident in older archive content.
| Back to Contents Page | Home Energy Index | About Home Energy |
Home Energy Magazine Online January/February 1999
|Structured insulated panels (SIPs) were used in CARB's Building America homes whenever appropriate because of the speed and ease of construction, because they contain renewable resources, and because of their high R-values.
|For this house at the Village at Washington's Landing, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, builder Montgomery & Rust specified Werzalit composite wood and resin siding, which features excellent moisture resistance. Rigid foam joints were taped to minimize air infiltration.
|Modular units by EPOCH being placed at the Hickory Consortium's Cambridge Cohousing site in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The units are completed up to 90% on the factory floor, reducing waste and allowing for factory quality control.
|Open-web trusses at this Washington's Landing home use recyclable steel for webs for clear spans, providing design flexibility and open floor plan.
|Icynene spray-in flexible foam insulation was used at Washington's Landing in areas where insulating with more traditional materials was difficult. Here, the foam is sprayed into the band joist area, with fiberglass batt insulation used in the wall cavity below.
|Combined roof and floor trusses in the Washington's Landing home allow additional ceiling height on the top floor. With structural components directly transferring loads from the roof to the foundation, less framing material was needed, increasing the effective insulation value of the shell.
|Field commissioning tests prior to wallboard installation at the Washington's Landing home identified thermal shell and duct system weaknesses at a time when modifications were most cost-effective. Pre-drywall tests demonstrated 0.13 ACH.
|The HVAC equipment in the 3200 ft2, four-story house is located on the second floor, reducing the amount of ductwork needed.
Today, more than 600 of these homes have been built and are currently occupied (see Table 1). According to James, the program is on track for meeting its year-2000 goal, and expects to have trained 15,000 to 20,000 individual builders through direct experience and on-site workshops. The homes built so far include town houses, multifamily developments using modular construction, and single-family homes, and are found in locations ranging from upstate New York to Los Angeles. They appear in standard, mainstream production homes as well as in projects that focus on energy efficiency and cost savings.
Most importantly, Building America has provided the opportunity for building scientists to demonstrate how a systems engineering approach to building can make homes better in many ways--less expensive to operate, yet more comfortable. The monitoring and testing of Building America homes has shown positively that this approach can be successful on a large scale.Cooperation for Success The success of the Building America program is the result of cooperation among the four winning consortia and a long list of partners (see The Builder Partners,). Homes are designed by the consortia and are financed, built, and marketed by the individual builder members of each consortium. The consortia are led by building scientists, architects, and engineers, and their members include a range of manufacturers and consultants. The program works with large and medium-sized production builders across a variety of demographics and regions. Unique Approaches One of the advantages of the Building America program is that, with the variety of groups involved, many different ideas have been explored and tested out. The four consortia have each taken different approaches to improving the homes they design and build.
Integrated Business and Construction Solutions (IBACOS), of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was the first Building America consortium. According to Glenn Cotrell, an architect at IBACOS, it has made some major changes in its approach. When IBACOS first worked with Ryland Homes to build pilot houses in 1993, it was looking for new products that would make the difference in energy efficiency. However, IBACOS soon learned that inefficient homes weren't necessarily the result of poor products. It found that the real problems were poor design and quality control, and a widespread attitude that efficiency is too expensive. IBACOS's current approach is to reengineer the building. IBACOS engineers start by looking at the entire home, finding ways to economize on HVAC, framing, and other areas. While saving money on extra framing members and duct runs, they also try to improve the energy efficiency of all the houses' systems, from lighting, to heating, to windows.
Steven Winter, president of Steven Winter Associates (SWA) of Norwalk, Connecticut, explains that the Consortium for Advanced Residential Building (CARB)--an SWA project--initially tends to pack pilot homes with as many improvements as possible, and then weeds out the improvements that don't work. CARB has experimented with a broad range of innovative materials, such as structural insulated panels, steel framing, and adhesive housewrap.
Betsy Pettit, architect at Building Science Consortium (BSC), of Westford, Massachussetts, says, We believe you can make a lot of improvements, even to a wood stick-frame house. As pioneers of systems engineering, BSC has focussed on design. However, they also aim to teach tradespeople their goals and techniques so the workers can offer improvements to materials and processes.
The fourth consortium--the Hickory Consortium, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts--has worked almost exclusively with modular construction. Hickory has facilitated the design, analysis, and construction of urban infill housing, including a duplex and an extremely efficient 41-unit cohousing condominium development.Pilots Lessons Although the specific changes they make to their buildings can vary, all of the consortia follow the same protocol in making those changes. They start out by creating pilot homes through reengineering one or two houses, while monitoring and testing one of the builder's standard houses as a reference. Once the pilots are built, the consortia collect feedback. The houses are subjected to a week of Short-Term Energy Monitoring (STEM) testing, an evaluation procedure developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL). Other feedback can come from interviews with tradespeople and focus groups with potential home buyers, to find out what can be improved. They repeat the process at least once, this time building five improved houses. They typically consider a particular approach to be production-ready after about ten reengineered houses are built. Even then, the consortia sometimes monitor energy use for as much as a year in the production-scale homes in order to verify the predictions of the energy monitoring.
The result of these extensive efforts is one or two pilot houses that are built with supervision and training from each consortium. The consortia also determine how comfortable the houses are, and how well the tradespeople working with the builder members adapt to the new techniques and designs. Finally, each consortium asks the crucial question: Does the new design cost more, or less, to build?
All the consortium members involved in building the pilot home report on their experiences and discuss options for how to build the home more quickly and smoothly, and at less cost. For example, a mechanical contractor with Town & Country homes developed a better return duct method for the HVAC system, while framers at the same project came up with a better header framing detail. Tradespeople also find that they benefit from sharing information (see Creating New Techniques,).
The dozens of Building America pilot homes brought to light many insights about such issues as attic venting, advanced framing, and using water heaters to heat homes. For example, Building Science Consortium showed that unvented roofs perform better than vented roots in hot-dry and hot-humid climates (see Conditioned Attics Save Energy in Hot Climates, HE May/June '97, p. 6). They also showed that in many cases, houses don't need a fully distributed return duct system, that supply ventilation works better than exhaust ventilation, that supply ventilation with dehumidification is necessary for controlled ventilation in hot-humid climates, that polyethylene vapor barriers are generally a bad idea, and that batt insulation in basements is always a bad idea because it causes mold problems. (For more information on ventilation, see Mechanical Ventilation for the Home, HE March/April '96, p. 13).
Despite these results in the pilot homes, however, the fact remains that some builders are legitimately skeptical of results from pilot homes that are built with the extra supervision from the consortium. The real proof of systems engineering comes when many production homes are built, sold, and lived in. The great success of Building America is that it has shown unequivically that systems engineering works in the real world, on large scales (see Building America: Real World Results,).The Question of Cash All of the Building America consortia have had great success in reducing energy use, increasing comfort, and reducing callbacks (see Table 2). However, one goal of the program has not always been met. The building costs have sometimes been slightly higher--rather than the same as--the costs for standard construction.
For example, BSC's analysis of its pilot homes in both Chicago and Las Vegas found cost increases for the builder. With the Town & Country homes in Vernon Hills, the price increases were minimal. However, the early Prairie Crossing houses cost about $2,000 more to build than standard code-compliant homes. About $1,000 of this increase came with a relatively long payback period, but it raised the average savings in heating season energy use to about 60%. BSC has since dropped this $1,000 worth of measures, bringing costs closer to parity with conventional homes, but the heating season energy savings are now predicted to average about 40%. To put this savings into perspective, it is greater than homes in the U.S. Energy Star program, which must reduce heating season energy use by 30%.
Other Building America builders have had the same experience. David Kipnis, a consultant for Civano, says, I can get you 30% savings at no cost. But with the next 20%, you start getting diminishing returns. I find there has to be a premium.
An untapped marketing angle of the Building America program is the issue of payback, or return on investment. The homes built under this program are selling for the same price as other homes with similar amenities built by the same builder (the builder absorbs the excess costs), but people who buy Building America homes see an instant advantage in reduced energy costs. The energy savings start paying off right away, since there's no extra first cost for the buyer.Market Transformation? While individual energy-saving houses are important, the real goal of Building America is to transform the market, which means getting enough companies to offer high-performance homes that performance becomes part of what consumers ask for. It could be that Las Vegas is closer to this goal than any other city. There, two large production builders--Pulte and Watt--have been vying for consumer attention as the high-performance home builder in the area.
Both are Building America partners. Watt, which builds more than 300 homes per year, now only builds homes that meet Building America standards. Pulte is not yet following Building America designs for all its homes, but the company is incorporating techniques learned from its Building America experiences in all of the 1,100 or so homes it builds this year in the city. For example, in one new project, it included unvented attic air space and hydronic heating systems.
For these companies, efficiency seems to be paying off. According to Angel Moran, construction manager at Watt Homes in Las Vegas, one surprise was that the company's own workers bought several of its first Building America development homes. She adds that the Energy Star certification from the joint DOE and Environmental Protection Agency program helps to show consumers that the improvements are not just hype.
To spread the word, the local building association just started an energy committee, with Dave Beck, Pulte's construction director, as chair. Now several more builders are jumping on the home performance bandwagon and plan to join the BSC team. According to Beck, Pardee Homes and Lewis Homes are both learning systems engineering techniques.Home Performance Goes Mainstream Gradually, Building America techniques are becoming more widely accepted. They have moved in two directions: around the market, and to different units of large companies. Within the Las Vegas market, for example, more and more tradespeople and builders are understanding how to use unvented roofs to increase HVAC efficiency.
Glenn Cotrell, of the IBACOS consortium, points to the RecreActions Group of Companies (RGC) as an example of this success. IBACOS worked with RGC on a pilot home, and then helped it to design three home models based on lessons learned from the prototype. RGC recently built 183 homes in Southern California using designs developed from this Building America pilot house.
Domega Homes in Pueblo, Colorado, built 10 homes under Building America and has continued building to that level of efficiency outside of the program. It is now building 230 systems-engineered, high-performance houses using the knowledge it gained through its participation with BSC.
Within companies, the knowledge spreads slowly but surely. For example, Angel Moran says that other branches of Watt--in Denver and Utah--are starting to pick up on the techniques learned in Las Vegas. Pulte's Beck sees his techniques spreading to Phoenix and Tucson.
Beazer Homes, a member of CARB, is unusual in that it pays David Root, its vice president of operations, to spread the systems engineering concepts learned through their Building America participation across its various units around the country. Beazer is currently building CARB system-engineered houses in Houston.
And knowledge of these techniques is spreading among tradespeople as well. Once construction supervisors have learned the new energy efficiency techniques, they sometimes implement them on other homes right away. BSC reports that supervisors who learned that stopping drafts around fireplaces and bathtubs could reduce backdrafting and pipe freezing immediately began to apply that knowledge on other projects.
Beyond its goal of building 2,000 homes by the year 2000, the Building America consortia intends to facilitate the adoption of a systems engineering approach to design and construction in 70 percent of the new housing market within 10 years.
Building America: Real-World Results
The Snapshot method involves tracking utility bills and measuring how long the water heaters and ventilation systems are on, as well as monitoring return air temperatures in the first- and second-floor return ducts; basement temperatures; and how often the thermostats call for heat, cooling, or activation of air handler fans. Prior to occupancy, BSC had tested total house air leakage, duct airtightness, and duct leakage to the exterior. Perhaps more to the point, BSC tracked comments on comfort from the home owners.Chicago Modifications The homes in the Chicago area were built in the first large-scale Building America development to get under way. At Prairie Crossing, a subdivision in Grayslake, Illinois, 130 of an eventual 400 units have been built. The subdivision should be finished by 2002. In addition, Town & Country Homes is building the Centennial Crossing subdivision in nearby Vernon Hills. Today, 30 of an eventual 216 Building America homes have been built there.
Both developments were constructed to standards developed by BSC specifically for Chicago's cold climate (see Table 3). The standards included efficiency measures that saved on construction costs, increased energy efficiency, or improved indoor air quality. Substitution of construction materials is permitted as long as these standards are met. In return for using relatively expensive insulating sheathing, for example, the builders didn't have to buy or install house wrap and plywood or OSB sheathing. Similarly, the cost of high-performance windows was offset by a 1-ton reduction in air conditioner size. Going to 2 x 6 framing was offset by a more efficient use of framing materials, while the high-performance windows allowed shorter, smaller and less extensive duct systems.Chicago Results These changes raised builders' eyebrows. To allay their concerns, from March 1997 through February 1998, BSC monitored 15 of the Chicago homes, examining some by Town & Country and some at Prarie Crossing.
The Chicago houses saved energy beyond their designers' expectations. According to BSC, the homes have shown an average of approximately 50% savings on heating energy, which translates into an average of about 40% savings on the gas bill (see Figures 1 & 2). The homes averaged a savings of only about 2% on air conditioning energy use, but the average cooling setpoint has been reduced to 72°F, much lower than the 78°F prescribed by the designer based on a computer model with the same setpoint temperature.
Because they were built without a vapor barrier, skeptics questioned whether excessive moisture would become a problem inside the walls of the Chicago houses. BSC engineer Joseph Lstiburek has maintained for years that so little moisture is carried by diffusion that all one needs to do is limit infiltration into the walls, keep a low indoor relative humidity, and use insulating sheathing (which warms the cavity) or semi-vapor permeable sheathing (which allows the cavity to dry). In the Chicago homes, indoor relative humidity remained around 40% throughout the monitoring period, thanks to controlled mechanical ventilation. And the walls were all air sealed by gluing the drywall to the framing--BSC's airtight drywall approach. The walls had vapor diffusion retarders, but not 6-mil poly vapor barriers. Paint provides a permeance rating of about 2 to 3 perms, Lstiburek says. With 1 inch of insulation sheathing [R-5], or with a semipermeable noninsulation sheathing [plywood, oriented strand board, or fiberboard], there is no problem.
Lsiburek's ideas were borne out in the Chicago homes. Moisture content on the outside of the studs and inside the plywood sheathing should be below 16% to prevent mold, and below 20% to prevent decay. We're running between 6% and 11% seasonally on the studs, he reports.Las Vegas Modifications Las Vegas is one of the country's hottest housing markets, both in sales volume and in temperature. With about 500 homes built every week in a climate where $200 per month cooling bills are considered a cost of living, this is a market in serious need of energy efficiency. And with high-speed production builders dominating the market, any measures that reduce callbacks are sure to be appreciated.
As in Chicago, BSC brought to Las Vegas a combination of simple improvements and slightly more unusual measures. Some of the simple improvements involved modification of the HVAC system. The number of ducts was reduced, and the ones that remained were shortened. The air handler and all the ductwork were located inside the thermal and pressure boundaries of the house, and no ducts were located in outside walls. Furthermore, all the returns were fully ducted (there were no panel joist spaces or stud cavities), while transfer grilles and jump ducts were added for pressure balancing.
Another change in the Las Vegas buildings was reducing air conditioner size by about 2 tons compared to the ones the builder usually installed. The smaller sizing was due to the envelope modifications and correct load calculations, and the units have since proved themselves more than adequate for the task of cooling.
One of the most controversial design changes was to use unvented roofs, so that all the ducts and mechanical systems (except the outside coil) were located within the conditioned space. This increases the amount of conditioned space and makes builders worry about excessive heat on the roof deck. The advantage was that, through having the air handler located within the conditioned space, there was no duct leakage to the outside, and therefore no energy penalty for duct leakage.
Analyses show that the total cost of the Las Vegas efficiency measures was only $200 higher than the cost of a barely code-compliant house. And with the latest round of refinements, these measures will actually save builders $200 on the cost of a standard, code-compliant house. The $700 extra in labor costs for unvented roof construction was partly offset by the $250 savings from not buying and installing roof vents. The remaining expense was recouped--the unvented attic accounted for half of the 2-ton reduction in air conditioner size.Las Vegas Results As of October, 1998, 134 Building America homes were on the ground in Las Vegas, built by two of the BSC members, Pulte Homes and Watt Homes. Twenty of the homes were monitored from January through April 1998. Again, BSC sought to determine if the HVAC systems were correctly sized and if the houses were durable. BSC monitored the following items: supply and return air temperatures; supply and return water temperatures of the combined domestic hot water and heating system; attic temperature; roof deck temperature; water heater on-time; and thermostat calls for heat, cooling, and ventilation by the air handler fan.
The results are promising. Energy use in the new homes was compared to that in homes of almost the same size that Pulte and Watt built using their usual techniques. At Pulte's Cypress Pointe development, heating energy use in the Building America homes was about 50% below that in Pulte's standard-construction houses, while cooling energy use declined by about 25%. The gas bills also fell about 30%, though electric bills held steady, while the mechanical ventilation increased the electricity use by approximately $35 for the entire year.
At Watt's Four Seasons development, heating energy savings were approximately 25%-45%, and cooling savings were about 10%-25%. The lower energy savings may have been due to Watts's decision to go with conventional 2 x 4 framing, rather than the 2 x 6 framing used at Pulte's development. Neither builder elected to use the 2 x 6 optimal value framing suggested by BSC, as they were both concerned about using stucco over 24-in centers. (At that time, they had not found a manufacturer who would test stucco with 24-inch centers for code compliance, although they have since found such a manufacturer.) The 2 x 6 framing system saves energy because it uses less wood, which allows for less thermal bridging.Climates and Costs BSC found that cost increases or savings depended on what specific measures were required for houses in different climates. The average cost for cold-climate efficiency measures is now $200-$1,000, although reduced callbacks recoup $200 of this amount. The home in hot-dry climates initially cost $200 more than conventional homes, but the current list of trade-offs leaves builders in those regions $250 ahead (see Table 4).
To bring cold-climate costs into line, BSC allowed the measures that were least effective and had the longest payback time to be changed to buyer optional. It no longer requires the exterior foam sheathing to be glued in an attempt to increase airtightness (the airtight interior drywall is enough), and gone is the condensing gas furnace. Also gone are the wood window returns--BSC's term for the extra wood detailing that is necessary when building with 2 x 6 rather than 2 x 4 framing. Most builders now do not use wood window return in conventional [base] construction, says Lstiburek. They now return the drywall. The extra cost of high-perfomance windows increment has been cut from $500 to $300, mainly because more builders are using these windows, and so prices are dropping.
--Steven Bodzin
Funding for Building America is provided by the Department of Energy. Analysis support came from the Florida Solar Energy Center, and testing support came from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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Ottawa star Jason Spezza to return to Senators lineup for Game 3 against Penguins
OTTAWA – Jason Spezza will make his much-anticipated return to the Senators on Sunday.
The Ottawa star forward hasn't played since Jan. 27 because of a back injury that required surgery.
Spezza is expected to line up with Milan Michalek and possibly Colin Greening for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series that the Pittsburgh Penguins lead 2-0.
The 29-year-old will immediately add depth to a struggling offense and power play. Spezza had two goals and three assists in just five games during the regular season.


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Author Laurie R. King Offers Nightmarish Elements with The Bones of Paris
~review by Amy Lignor
When it comes to the spectrum of human emotions this author has done an A+ job of presenting every single one. From the cruelest and darkest to the most stunning and decadent, King has written a frightening tale. (Yet another 'King' who can scare readers to death).
Harris Stuyvesant is a private investigator who seems to have landed a sweet job. He literally has to walk around the stunning streets of Paris in the 1920's, and track down a beautiful girl who one day, out of the blue, simply stopped talking to her family. Her parents are back in Boston scared to death, trying to understand why Philippa (AKA Pip) fell off the face of the earth.
Harris believes that the exciting, enticing world of Paris is to blame for Pip choosing to ignore her family. After all, she's among well-known writers and artisans who literally broke the mold during their time period, bringing about a movement that told one and all to live life to the fullest, no matter what the cost.
But what looks like complete and utter fun from the outside is far different when the private investigator begins to delve into the case and uncovers layers of darkness that he never imagined could possibly exist. Pip is not the only one; she is not the only victim of a true dark monster who would have given The Ripper a run for his money.
Leaving the bright lights of the city, Harris goes into the back alleys and dark, haunted places to stop a perverted soul who's truly insane.
This plot is so well-written that readers will feel as if they're in a nightmare and not reading a book. Not for the faint of heart; creepiness, blood and sexual deviance abound. And although the path to the conclusion is marred with some serious fear and depravity, the end is definitely worth it!
Until Next Time, Everybody,
Amy Lignor


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Cranberries for beauty and health
If you're fond of cranberries, you're doing good because recent research indicates that they're packed with plenty of beauty and health benefits.
First, it is widely known that cranberries are chock full of antioxidants that eliminate free radicals in the body reducing the risk of cellular damage. They've also been shown to prevent plaque formation on teeth and kill H. pylori bacteria, which can cause stomach cancers and ulcers.
And according to experts at the National Institutes of Health, cranberries have been shown to prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women.
Cranberries have long been known to ward off urinary tract infections (UTIs) due to unique compounds in the fruit called proanthocyanidins, or PACS. PACS offer an anti-adhesion mechanism that prevents harmful E. coli bacteria from adhering to the urinary tract wall. Cranberries may be a useful tool for helping women to maintain a healthy urinary tract, naturally.
The good news is that cranberry research supports not only the reduction of recurrent UTIs by half, but now a new study suggests cranberry compounds may help prevent recurrent UTIs for as long as two years.
There are a variety of ways to get the cranberry's benefits. Apart from fresh or frozen cranberries, you take take cranberry juice cocktail, dried cranberries, or cranberry sauce. In addition, while cranberry packs a nutritious punch, drinking one 8-ounce serving of any of the premium 100% juices, or eating 1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries counts as half your daily requirements for fruit.
I don't know about you but I'm certainly going to load up more cranberries in my diet. If you've ever had urinary tract infection before, you'll understand why prevention is definitely better than cure in this case.
How does the cranberry supplement compare to the real fruit?
The natural source is always better but depending on the supplement, there could be other vitamins added.
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Porsche 911 Black Edition Is Ready to Impress 5
Porsche 911 Black Edition Is Ready to Impress 5
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Digitalizze vs. Netflix: Which Streaming Service Reigns Supreme?
Are you tired of the same old streaming service options? Are you looking for a platform that offers more than just movies and TV shows? Then maybe it's time to check out Digitalizze, the up-and-coming streaming service that's giving Netflix a run for its money. Digitalizze offers a wide variety of content across multiple categories, […]Read More
How to Amplify Your Skin's Overnight Regeneration Process
Your night-time skincare routine is incredibly important. Using the right products can help to boost your skin's natural overnight regeneration process, so you can wake up to hydrated and glowing skin in the morning. Below, we take you through the ideal night-time skincare routine, starting from cleansing all the way through to an overnight face […]Read More
The Power of Collaboration: How to Combine Performance and Influencer Marketing
Collaboration has always been a powerful tool in marketing. By combining forces, brands can reach a wider audience and create more impactful campaigns. In recent years, the combination of performance marketing and influencer marketing has become increasingly popular. In this article, we will explore the power of collaboration and provide tips on how to combine […]Read More


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Grassroots unconference
Translate this page with Google -español -български -中文(中国大陆) -中文(台灣) -hrvatski -čeština -dansk -Nederlands -suomi -français -Deutsch -Ελληνικά -हिन्दी -italiano -日本語 -한국어 -norsk -polski -português -română -русский -svenska
|NOTE: The contents of this page are not set in stone, and are subject to change!
This page is a draft in active flux ...
- When: June 7-8, 2008 (10am - 6pm Saturday, 10am - 3pm Sunday)
- [followup teleconference Sunday @ 4pm.]
- Where: 1 Cambridge Center, Kendall Square, Cambridge MA and online on IRC, #olpc-groups channel (freenode)
In the tradition of Barcamp, we will be holding Grassrootscamp Boston, an unconference dedicated towards community-organized, bottom-up, user-group, grassroots groups, initiatives, events, structures, and best-practices for all of the above.
This is not just an OLPC event, though there will be a practical focus on how to make educational grassroots groups succeed, with examples from OLPC projects in Peru, Nepal, Ghana and Uruguay. Anyone from any grassroots group, or with interest in volunteer-run physical or online organizations, is invited to attend.
There will be coffee and donuts both mornings starting at 9am.
To participate
Just sign up below. Please do sign up! Having a head count of how many people are likely to come is immensely helpful to figure out how many chairs, tables, etc. we need.
Attendance is free as in "no monetary cost,"* and every attendee at an unconference is expected to contribute something to the event. For some people, this means giving a presentation or running a tutorial; for others, ordering 10 large pizzas to feed others during lunch one day is their contribution. For yet others, photographing and liveblogging the event is their chip-in, and for others... well, you get the idea.
Some notes/transcripts were taken on #olpc-groups. See /saturday notes and /sunday notes.
Please sign up below if you can come, and indicate what you are bringing!
- --Sj talk
- Mel Chua - will serve as scheduleboard creator/maintainer/moderator, and plans to take profuse notes/transcripts.
- AuntiMame - only able to attend on Sunday.
- Christoph Derndorfer, inside-the-beltway perspective
- Holt
- Ccarrick, hardware input
- Adricnet
- user:Michael Richards - may come sunday have to do class reading too
- Ankur.verma, persistent wifi
- Elise Moussa (after workshop)
- Josh Gay - one day
- your name - what you're contributing
Please bring one of the following:
- Drinks
- Ideas
- Presentations/tutorials
Related events
If you can't come to the grassroots bootcamp here, there are other events you might be interested in coming up over the next 3 months.
- Open Community Camp - in the Netherlands, August 10-17
- iCommons, in Sapporo, Japan, early July
- Online grassroots conference, hosted by OLPC@Duke


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Preacher1011· Registered
8,571 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
I just wanted to take some time and thank all you military men and women out there. I tried to make it in the Marines, but medical stuff kept me out. A bunch of my buddies are in and I wanted to tell you I appreciate what you do. You have to deal with people who say you are worthless and put your butt on the line for what most people take for granted. No matter what others say I'll always be behind you guys. :thumbsup:
Thanks Again.
Thanks Again.


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Thursday, September 11, 2014
5 p.m.
Joukowsky Forum
Dara Kay Cohen is an assistant professor of public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Her research and teaching interests span the field of international relations, including international security, civil war and the dynamics of violence, and gender and conflict. Her current book project examines the variation in the use of rape during recent civil conflicts; the research for the book draws on extensive fieldwork in Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste and El Salvador.
Her research has appeared or is forthcoming in American Political Science Review, World Politics, Journal of Peace Research, International Security, and Stanford Law Review, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the United States Institute of Peace, Folke Bernadotte Academy and the Peace Research Institute Oslo, among others.
In 2011, Cohen was awarded the American Political Science Association's Award for Best Dissertation in Women and Politics, and in 2014, Cohen received the Heinz I. Eulau Award for the best article published in the American Political Science Review in the previous year.
Cohen received her Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University and an A.B. in political science and philosophy from Brown University. Cohen served as a paralegal in the Outstanding Scholars Program in the Counterterrorism Section of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2001-2003. Prior to joining the Kennedy School, she was an assistant professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.


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Product 28/34
Supachet depicts a large elephant female that carefully watches over the somnolent white calf beside her. Printed and signed by the artist in 2010. This is the 20th print in a limited edition of 40.
To make this print, artist Supachet uses the linocut printmaking technique. He carves the wanted design into a linoleum sheet with sharp tools. The uncarved areas represent the parts that get printed. He inks the sheet with a hand-powered roller, and then impresses the design onto the paper.
This is a limited edition.
This item will be shipped with mat and frame.
Exterior: 22.0 cm width x 22.0 cm height x 2.3 cm depth.
Print: 12.0 cm width x 12.0 cm height.
Weight: 0.445 kg
Materials: Printing inks on paper. Rubber wood frame. Glass pane.
About the Artist:
This print was made by Supachet Bhumakarn. The talented artist studied at the College of Fine Art in Bangkok and later at the Faculty of Fine Art in Chiang Mai University from where he graduated.
Between 1996 and 2009, Supachet has exhibited his artworks 17 times in Thailand and oversees. He received the following 2 awards:
- Year 1997: Thai Farmers Bank Special Award in the 14th Exhibition of Contemporary Art by Young Artists.
- Year 1996: Second Award in Gilt Lacquer at College of Fine Art, Bangkok.
... Read Supachet's full biography on Ezistock Blog.


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Veteran educator replaces principal on leave after ex-student's extortion attempt
Ucola Barrett-Baxter to serve in temporary capacity for Mallissa Hamilton
A veteran St. Lucie County educator will temporarily be assigned to Fort Pierce Westwood High School while the principal there is on a medical leave of absence after being extorted by a former student.
Parkway Elementary School Principal Ucola Barrett-Baxter "will temporarily provide daily, on-campus assistance" at Fort Pierce Westwood High School when students and faculty return from spring break on April 1, school district spokeswoman Janice Karst said.
Principal Mallissa Hamilton told detectives she began receiving anonymous text messages in February. Those texts "would reveal a secret that would cause problems for Hamilton on a personal and career level."
Carla Anderson was arrested on extortion charges after detectives pulled her over with $500 in marked bills that Hamilton was instructed to leave in a bathroom.
Detectives said Anderson confessed that she needed money and came up with the story to convince Hamilton to give it to her.
Barrett-Baxter has been a St. Lucie County school district employee for 18 years. She was named the district's principal of the year for 2013.


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A round-up of today's lawsuit in the news:
As Reuters and the AP have picked up the story, it's now appearing in dozens of papers and web sites nation-wide. From the Reuters coverage: "Occupy Wall Street filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against New York City, claiming authorities destroyed $47,000 worth of books, computers and other equipment confiscated from the protesters' encampment in lower Manhattan last fall." and includes the case information "The case is Occupy Wall Street et al. v. Michael Bloomberg et al., U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-4129."
The Republic uses the Reuters coverage and writes of the November raid and today's lawsuit: "Police conducted a surprise overnight raid at Zuccotti Park . . . clearing scores of protesters who had set up tents at the plaza near Wall Street and dealing a significant blow to the movement's potency. As part of the sweep, Occupy claims, police officers seized more than 3,000 books from the "People's Library." While some of the books were eventually returned, many were in unusable condition, while the rest were apparently destroyed, according to Occupy's lawyer, Norman Siegel. The lawsuit also questions whether the raid itself was constitutional, Siegel said."
The Wall Street Journal is using the AP report which says that the "federal lawsuit accuses New York City of violating the Constitution by raiding an Occupy Wall Street site last year and destroying books."
The Gothamist coverage quotes Norman Siegel, "one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit says 'It not only addresses the seizure and destruction of the books, but it also seeks to show why, how, and who planned the raid on Zuccotti Park.' Siegel adds that the city should have been subject to a court hearing before seizing and destroying the thousands of books that made up the library—including Bloomberg's own book. 'Every other city did it before they raided encampments, but not here. The city violated the civil rights of the librarians. The Bloomberg administration had the power to do what they did, but not the right.'"
The NY Daily News reports "The bookworms of Occupy Wall Street have slapped the city with some hefty library fines."
Democracy Now! reports on the lawsuit, noting that "With thousands of books, the library was a proud fixture of the occupation of Zuccotti Park" – video at 11:44.
The Paramas Post covers the lawsuit here.


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Catzowey! March 5th is older than Me & Myself and its gotta lotta historicatical events. So get yur cup of Catpuccino and hang out cuz weeza gonna march through March 5th!
On March 5th in 1558, yep uh huh itza fur shure, smoking wazza invented in Europe! Oh I luvs my EyeTailYun seegars.
Me & Myself izza exhausticatted from remembering all da things that happened on March 5th, so I'ma gonna catnap before March 6th arrives. Wishing you a nonCATastrophic week!
Ciao & Meow,
GUIDO the Italian Kitty


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Zack Snyder is coy about General Zod, but he's got a clear idea for what he wants to do with Superman. Plus more on the "Brad Pitt in Super 8 rumor," and Bruce Willis talks two very different superhero movies!
Superman Reboot:
It's been rumored that General Zod will be the villain in this movie. When asked about this, Snyder said "For now it's just a rumor"...which doesn't really mean anything, if you think about it. Moving on, he explained what he wants to do with Superman:
I think that you have to do your best to describe this world and that the character of Superman needs to be relevant again, without disrespecting his mythology. That's my goal.
Super 8:
Brad Pitt was spotted in Boston yesterday filming scenes for Moneyball. That means, if he ever was in West Virginia filming for Super 8, it can't have been more than a cameo, and most likely didn't happen at all. [Splash News]
On a much more definitive note, composer Michael Giacchino, who has scored Up, Star Trek, and Lost, among others, is doing the music for this J.J. Abrams production as well. He also is composing the score for John Carter of Mars and Mission Impossible 4. [/Film]
Judge Dredd:
Karl Urban explains why this will be the definitive Judge Dredd adaptation:
"The Dredd story we are going to tell is really a day in the life of Dredd as he puts his rookie through her paces to determine whether she's going to make it as a judge. It's certainly going to be a high-octane, action-fueled kind of a film. I feel very confident that this is going to be the 'Judge Dredd' movie that audiences have been waiting for since 1977. I say that because we've got (Judge Dredd co-creator) John Wagner on board and he's 100 percent behind what we are doing. I think we're just going to be a lot closer to the source material than any other version that's been made."
For more on Judge Dredd and Red, including confirmation that he won't be taking his helmet off as Dredd, check out this interview on Attack of the Show:
Click to view
Iconoclastic auteur Steven Soderbergh's film about a plague outbreak is reportedly adding Alien vs. Predator actress Sanaa Lathan to the cast as the wife of Laurence Fishburne's Dr. Ellis Cheever. Aside from Lathan and Fishburne, the ridiculously overstuffed cast includes Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, Elliot Gould, star of the definitive 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries Jennifer Ehle, and, just because Soderbergh loves a challenge, hipster comic Demetri Martin. Somehow, I doubt this will be boring, if nothing else. [Variety]
Fantastic Four Reborn:
Bruce Willis says he hasn't been contacted to voice an all-CGI Thing in the new Fantastic Four movie, but he says he likes the idea:
"It's a rumor, but I love rumors. I haven't gotten that call yet. It's a good rumor, though. I like that film. It's a good comic, as well."
Unbreakable 2:
From the same report, Willis said he doesn't want to put M. Night Shyamalan on the spot and force him to make a decision about a new film, but he feels a lot of people would like to see a sequel to the original, and that he is definitely one of them. [Splash Page]
Transformers 3:
The Bumblebee car unintentionally crashed into a Washington DC police car the other day, so Michael Bay is going to take his lemons and turn them into explosive, pyrotechnics-enhanced lemonade by writing Bumblebee's crash into the movie. [Transformers News]
Update: according to the same link, no he isn't.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
A new trailer is out:
Breaking Dawn:
A whole bunch of new cast members for the final movie have been officially announced. Check out the link for the complete list, but the biggest name is probably Lee Pace of Pushing Daisies fame, who is playing American nomad Garrett. Actually, I'm most interested in the new character Alistair, who is "a nomadic vampire from England [with] a misanthropic, brooding personality and a deep mistrust of all authority." That's such an accurate depiction of me it's downright spooky - shame they misspelled the name though. Alasdair is spelled with a "d", people! [ComingSoon.net]
Lance Reddick explains what he sees as the crucial differences between Broyles and alt-Broyles:
Alternate Broyles has a bit more of a street twang to him, I put on a bit more of a Baltimore, South thing. They're both basically the same guy, so they're both really well educated, very smart. One's ex-military, but Colonel Broyles is still full military, he never left the military. I would say that Primary Broyles — I usually just say Broyles and Colonel Broyles — Broyles is more... It's interesting. One of the things that was described to me by our showrunner, is that the alternate universe is much more devastated, physically, but the people are happier and their relationships are better. So that's what I'd say about Colonel Broyles. He's a happier guy. Even though he's a colonel in the military in charge of a division that's basically in charge of making sure that the end of the world is stopped, something is more relaxed about him. He's still married, so he's still happily married.
No Ordinary Family:
Here's a promo for the next episode, "No Ordinary Vigilante": [SpoilerTV]
And some promo pictures for episode 5, "No Ordinary Quake": [SpoilerTV] [gallery 5662524]
Here's a couple sneak peeks at the next episode, "Things We Lock Away": Click to view
Click to view
Stargate Universe:
A new sneak peek is out for the fourth episode, "Pathogen": Click to view
And here's a promo for the same episode: [SpoilerTV]
And, just for good measure, some promo photos: [SpoilerTV]
The Sarah Jane Adventures:
Writer and co-producer Phil Ford tackles a number of issues about the show (albeit obliquely), including whether past Doctors could show up, if the show would continue if Elisabeth Sladen left, and whether the cracks in Doctor Who also affected the SJA team. He also explains why Matt Smith makes an appearance this season...and whether he'll come back again:
"We pretty much always knew we were going to bring Matt into the series. And it was wonderful to have Russell [T Davies] come back and write that story. But I'm not sure about bringing the Doctor into every series. We have to remember that this is The Sarah Jane Adventures, and Doctor Who is another show. Crossing the boundary is fun every now and again, but I'm not sure we should do it all the time.
"This was a great opportunity for Sarah Jane to meet the new Doctor - and to meet Jo Grant - so there was a good reason for this story. But I'd be wary of him coming back too much; it just starts to look like a stunt. Schedule-wise for the two shows it can be a logistical nightmare, too. Having said that, I'm sure he'll be back again some time. I hope we see Jo again, too."
He also says that, as good as the upcoming series four, he's even prouder of series five, which they're halfway through shooting. There's a ton more at the link. [The Last Broadcast]
Additional reporting by Michael Ann Dobbs, Charlie Jane Anders, and Katharine Trendacosta.


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LEVEL UNLOCKS: 20 UNLOCKS: teen hobby and sim sign TIME LIMIT: 7 days PRIZE: premium instruments
This quest unlocks the sim sign and teen idol hobby for your teenage sims to complete, most of this quest is completing the hobby. If you complete this quest in the 7 day time limit you will unlock premium 3 star instruments. You can still complete this quest once the time limit is up to unlock the hobby but you won't get the premium instruments
How long does this quest take to complete?
Times may vary depending on the star rating an item has
NOTE: You need a teenage sim to complete this quest
- Buy a stack of magazines- these can be found in the living room section of buy mode (you won't be able to buy anything else until you buy these)
- Make a teenager read teen celebrity magazine- 4 minutes 33 seconds (click on the stack of magazines and choose the teen celebrity option- only a teen can read this!)
- Make a teenager watch funny cat videos- 1 hour 40 minutes (on the computer)
- Send a teenager to the park
- Create a plan to become famous- 6 hours 10 minutes (using the blackboard in the park on the pier)
- Buy a keyboard from the home store (in the hobby and career items section)
The next goals have you completing the Teen Idol Hobby, each time you use one of the instruments you unlock in this quest you will write a piece of music, once you find all pieces of music you will have completed the hobby collection.
- Write music (using the keyboard to find notes- cheapest keyboard takes an hour)
- Write 3 pieces of music (you have to find a new note to be counted as a piece of music using the keyboard so you need to find 2 more new pieces of music, when you have found all 3 you will unlock the next instrument)
You unlock different instruments with each line of notes you find, the higher star rating the instruments have, the faster your sim will write music
Once you've found all the keyboard notes you will unlock the bass guitar which you can buy from the hobby and career items section of buy mode (cheapest takes 2 hours to make music) then when you have found all the bass guitar notes you unlock the drum kit and so on..
- Write 6 pieces of music (you need to use the bass guitar to find the next 3 pieces)
You can buy a drum kit from the hobby and career items section of buy mode
- Write 9 pieces of music (you need to use the drum kit to find the next 3)
You can buy an electric guitar from the hobby and career items section of buy mode
- Write 12 pieces of music (you need to use the electric guitar to find the next 3)
You can buy a microphone from the hobby and career items section of buy mode
- Write 15 pieces of music (you need to use the microphone to find the last 3)
When you complete the last row you will unlock a magazine photoshoot, this is a resource needed to upgrade the sim sign, keep reading for more information!
This post explains the Teen Idol hobby in more detail
Once you complete this quest you unlock the Sim Sign
You will find the sim town sign near the premium residences by the estate agency- you need to upgrade it to get the chance to earn a bonus in revenue. When you upgrade it to level 3 you unlock the teen idol mansion- the first one is free! To upgrade the sim sign you need to collect the resources, to find these resources you can redo the collection and when you finish a line you get a resource or you can find them randomly when you do an action!
This post explains the Sim Sign And Teen Mansion in more detail
Time Limited Prize: Premium Instruments
Is the prize worth it? they are 3 star instruments so you can complete a collection quicker without buying the 3 star instruments that cost LP (but there is no difference between premium and 3 star instruments apart from the cost)
Where can I find them? In the hobby and career items section
Cost? Keyboard (S6,000) Bass (S6,500) Drumkit (S6,000) Guitar (S6,200) and Microphone (S5,500)
Watch my step by step video of this quest here[updated version is coming!]:
The next quest Adulthood ages teens to adults!
please read before asking
I have missed this quest! Why can't I start it yet?
You cannot miss main quests they have to be completed in order. You need to complete all previous quests (list can be found here) and reach level 20 before you can start this quest
Can I complete this quest even though I have passed level 20?
Yes, you just need to complete all previous quests then this quest will start automatically
I can't place the magazines in my house, why?
You need to put them on a table or counter, you cannot place them on the floor
My sims won't read the magazine, help!
Do blue footprints appear? Read the answer below
Why do blue footprints appear when I try to use an item?
Blue footprints appear when your sim cannot access an item you want them to use, you need to either rotate the item or move an item that has been placed in front of it so they can use it
Help, all items are greyed out apart from the magazines! What should I do?
Buy the magazines again, this should allow you to access the rest of buy mode
Do I need a teen for this quest?
Yes, in this quest you complete the teen idol hobby for the first time so a teen is required to complete all the goals
Can I have more than one teen doing this at once?
No, only one teen can be the teen idol and complete this hobby at one time
I have done the task write 3 pieces of music but it will not complete, why?
You need to write 3 different pieces, you cannot just do the task 3 times
Why can't I buy the microphone yet?
You need to find all 3 pieces of music on the keyboard, then all 3 on the bass guitar, then all 3 on the drum kit, then all 3 on the guitar and then you will be able to buy the microphone
I cannot find one of the pieces, what should I do?
Some take longer to get than others to find so just keep going, you will find them eventually!
What do I get if I complete this quest in the time limit?
The premium instruments
What is the difference between the 3 star instruments and the premium instruments?
Apart from cost (3 star instruments cost LPs) there is no difference
What happens if I don't complete in the time limit, can I still finish this quest?
Yes you have to finish it to unlock the teen idol hobby and sim sign before you can move onto the next quest
I didn't complete in the time limit, can I restart the quest?
No, you cannot redo quests
Can I still get the prize if I don't complete in the time limit?
No, the only way to get the limited time prizes is by completing the quest in the time limit
I don't like this quest! Can I just skip it?
No, you have to complete this quest before you can move onto the next one
How do I build the sim sign?
You need to complete the teen idol hobby several times, each time you complete a row in the hobby you earn a resource to build the sign, this post explains this in more detail
Some times are slightly different on my game, why is this?
Times may vary depending on the star rating of the item you are using, as the higher star rating an item has the quicker you will complete a goal
Some times are really off/ different goals show for me, why is this?
This will be because the quest has been updated recently, I try my best to keep these posts up to date but it is difficult as I cannot redo every quest each time the game is updated. If you notice any changes please let me know so I can update the post


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Seagate today announced a battery-powered wireless external drive for mobile devices, including those powered by Apple's iOS, such as the iPad.
Seagate's GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage , offers up to 500GB of additional storage wirelessly for any mobile device with Wi-Fi access over 802.11 b/g/n.
The GoFlex Satellite drive has a rechargeable battery; mobile devices are connected directly to the drive by use of the free GoFlex Media app -- available now on iTunes and the Apple App Store -- or a Web browser.
GoFlex Satellite is available immediately for preorder from Seagate.com, Amazon and BestBuy.com for a suggested retail price of $199.99. It is scheduled to arrive in Best Buy stores in July 2011.
Lucas Mearian covers storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, financial services infrastructure and health care IT for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at @lucasmearian or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed . His e-mail address is email@example.com .
Read more about storage in Computerworld's Storage Topic Center.


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Dems: Fluke files for Waxman seat
Women's rights activist Sandra Fluke has filed paperwork to seek the congressional seat being vacated by the retirement of Rep. Henry Waxman with the local party, but her team says she's just keeping her options open and hasn't made any final decisions.
The California Democratic Party lists Fluke's name as having officially filed with the party to run in the California district of the retiring Democrat. Two other candidates have filed to run and three others are considered potential candidates, according to the party's site.
But a spokeswoman for Fluke said the move was simply a necessary step if down the line she wants to seek the party's endorsement and said no final decisions have been made.
( Also on POLITICO: Limbaugh regret: I put Fluke on Time list)
Fluke has not filed campaign paperwork with the FEC.
Fluke became famous in 2012 when she was denied the opportunity to testify before a Republican-led congressional panel about contraception, and then Rush Limbaugh called her a "slut" on his radio show. She became an icon for the left and advocate for women's issues.
Last week, Fluke told a local radio station that she was " strongly considering" a run for Waxman's seat and had been encouraged to run.
( Also on POLITICO: Limbaugh: Pope flap like Fluke)
On Tuesday, Fluke's spokeswoman said that statement was "still accurate."


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One day has passed since the Supreme Court ruled on Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, but soon enough the case will be coming to a theater near you.
Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who is also CEO of EchoLight Studios, plans to release this fall "One Generation Away: The Erosion of Religious Liberty," based in part on the case that the Supreme Court ruled on Monday. While the film has been in the works for several months before the Hobby Lobby ruling, the case is one of seven highlighted in the "docudrama" on religious freedom battles in the Supreme Court, accordingto Deadline Hollywood.
EchoLight Studios, according to its website, "produces and distributes high-quality movies for families of faith."
( Also on POLITICO: Hobby Lobby decision: 5 takeaways)
The documentary's title is derived from a quotation by President Ronald Reagan: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." According to the website of EchoLight Cinema, the distribution arm of Echolight Studios that partners with churches to screen EchoLight films, the film's core message is "religious liberty is never more than One Generation Away from extinction."
"One Generation Away" makes the argument that religious freedom is in jeopardy in the United States. It uses as an example the Hobby Lobby case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that for-profit companies can opt out of providing employees and their families with birth control for religious reasons, as well as examples involving the U.S. military, high school sports, college campuses and wedding services.
"'One Generation Away' is less about victories and defeats than about highlighting the ongoing tension and promoting dialogue and engagement on the issues," Echo Light President Jeff Sheets said in a statement to POLITICO. "An informed and engaged populous is the greatest defense against the apathy and tyranny spawned within a void of religious liberty."
( Also on POLITICO: The Supreme Court did not just kill public sector unions)
The film will feature politicians such as Santorum and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and will be co-produced by Abington Ridge Films, American Family Studios and Triple Horse Studios.
"One Generation Away" will premiere Sept. 1 in select churches before opening in theaters.


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Kierkegaard on "Dialectic"
A reader wrote recently to inquire about what Kierkegaard meant by "dialectic." That's a good question because whatever he means, it is clearly not the same thing that Hegel famously means by this term. First, I have to say that like so many of Kierkegaard's favorite terms, it does not appear to have a single meaning.
"Dialectic," or more correctly, Dialektik, comes originally from the Greek διαλεκτική, dialektikē, so you won't find it in Christian Molbech's Dansk Ordbog, the standard Danish dictionary from Kierkegaard's time, but must turn to Ludvig Meyer's Fremmedordbog (dictionary of foreign words) from 1853. Meyer defines Dialektik as "samtalekunst" (i.e., the art of conversation), as well as "Fornuftlære," "Tankelære," "Logik" (the first two translate literally as, "teachings of reason," and "teachings of thought, " but are probably best translated as "informal logic," while Logik is best translated as "formal logic"). In Plato, continues Meyer, Dialektik refers to "higher speculative philosophy," whereas in Aristotle and more recent thinkers it refers to "probability theory" as well as "eristic," "sophistry" and "casuistry."
Interestingly, Kierkegaard never seems to use Dialektik in the last two pejorative senses. My guess is that that is not because a dialectical contemplation of something could never lead one way from the truth, but because of the high esteem in which he appears to have held ancient skepticism. That is, a dialectical contemplation of any question that does not admit of a clear and uncontroversial answer, will ultimately bring the individual back to him or herself and in that way accentuate the role of decision and the will.
There is an extremely helpful Terminologisk Register, or glossary, by Jens Himmelstrup in the second half of volume 15 of the second edition of Kierkegaard's Samlede Værker. The glossary contains a long entry on Dialektik. Himmelstrup explains here that the term comes originally from the Greek διαλέγομαι, dialegomai, meaning "to carry on a conversation with someone." "The term," he continues, "became associated with Socrates, in that he employed the art of conversation, or dialogue, in his activity as a philosopher which was generally aimed at achieving clarity concerning the precise meaning of individual terms and concepts."
Himmelstrup then proceeds to give a brief history of the meaning of the term in philosophy. What is important for our purposes here, however, is what he says concerning its meaning for Kierkegaard. Sometimes, he explains, "dialectic" refers to "purely logical determinations" (I presume that by this he means it refers to formal opposites such as a and ~a). Other examples he gives of Kierkegaard's use of the term suggest it means something more like "dynamic," as when Kierkegaard writes in the first volume of Either-Or: "Love from the soul has, secondly, yet another dialectic, for it differs in relation to every single individual who is the object of love" (This reference is from Alastair Hannay's translation for Penguin. Even though the ebook version provides only a location number [1587-1588] rather than a page number, the Hongs' translation of this passage is so tortured that I could not bring myself to use it. This is probably also a good place to point out that neither the Hongs' "psychical love" nor Hannay's "love from the soul" is a particularly felicitous translation of Kierkegaard's "sjælelig Elskov." That expression is probably best translated simply as "romantic love").
Suffice it to say in answer to the question of what Kierkegaard means by the term "dialectic," that the meaning appears to be as protean as is the meaning of the term "knowledge." That's not to say that Kierkegaard equivocates on its meaning, but simply, as I explain in Ways of Knowing, that Kierkegaard was extremely sensitive to how fluid are the meanings of most terms in everyday speech and that he abhorred the tendency of academics to artificially fix meanings.
Stay tuned for my next blog post "Those Crazy Hongs!" an examination of how the Hongs (or more likely Howard Hong) could conceivably have rendered "Sandselig Genialitet, bestemmet som Forførelse" as "The Elementary Originality of the Sensuous Qualified as Seduction."


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David Ortiz is 'resting comfortably' after a second surgery as police try to learn why he was shot
A man detained following the shooting of Red Sox all-star David Ortiz in the Dominican Republic appeared in court late Tuesday on a charge of being an accomplice to the attempted murder of the former baseball player.
Eddy Vladimir Féliz Garcia was held by police in connection with the shooting of Ortiz at a nightclub Sunday might.
Prosecutors asked that he be held in custody for a year of pre-trial detention. But defense attorney, Bunel Ramírez Merán, told CNN after the court hearing that he argued against his client being held on pre-trial detention, instead requesting the judge postpone the decision so defense lawyers could gather relevant evidence.
Merán said he plans to demonstrate to the court his client would not present a flight risk due to his "family, social and work ties."
The judge said he would rule on the prosecution request Wednesday.
One man is still at large
Ortiz and a friend were shot Sunday night at the Dial nightclub in Santo Domingo. The man who police say fired the shot is still at large.
Ortiz, 43, was struck in the back, and "the bullet went through his stomach," Felix Durán Mejia, a spokesman for the Dominican Republic National Police, told CNN. Ortiz is recovering at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital.
Féliz García and a second man arrived at the nightclub on a motorcycle before one of them opened fire, police said. The two tried to drive away after the shooting, but the motorcycle fell to the pavement, police said.
A crowd attacked Féliz García and handed him over to police, but the second man got away on foot, police said.
Deivi Solano, Féliz Garcia's attorney, said his client is a motorcycle taxi driver and may have unwittingly driven the shooter, but he did not shoot Ortiz.
Justina Garcia, the suspect's mother, said her son is innocent.
"We really like him, and my son and I are fans of his," Justina Garcia told CNN. "My son had nothing to do with this."
Justina Garcia said she wants police to provide security for her son because she fears for his safety.
Féliz García, who has a 2017 drug charge, lives in West Santo Domingo.
On Monday, the Red Sox sent a plane to carry the retired star, a married father of three, to Boston from the Dominican Republic.
Strides in his recovery
Ortiz took his first steps on Tuesday afternoon after undergoing a second surgery to address his injuries.
Earlier on Tuesday, Tiffany Ortiz said her husband was "stable, awake, and resting comfortably" in Mass General's intensive care unit, "where he is expected to remain for the next several days," according to a statement released by the Major League Baseball club.
David Ortiz, also known as Big Papi, was raised in Santo Domingo and made his Major League Baseball debut in 1997. A first baseman and designated hitter, Ortiz played 20 seasons before retiring in 2016.
He is best known for his 14 seasons in Boston as the Red Sox's designated hitter.
In 2004, Ortiz helped the Red Sox win their first championship since 1918, ending the "Curse of the Bambino." Fans, mostly tongue-in-cheek, blamed the team's decades-long championship drought on the 1919 decision to trade legend Babe Ruth, aka the Bambino, to the rival New York Yankees.
Ortiz played on the Red Sox World Series championship teams of 2007 and 2013. He was named World Series MVP in 2013.
He is beloved in Boston for many reasons, including his charitable work through his foundation and his love for the city.
Ortiz emerged as a champion for the city in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 200 others in 2013.
"This jersey that we wear today, it doesn't say Red Sox. It says Boston," he said, standing on the infield as the crowd cheered police officers on the field.
"This is our f***ing city, and nobody's going to dictate our freedom," Ortiz said. "Stay strong."


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Giants WR Beckham Jr. to sit out Jets game
EAST RUTHERFORD — Giants first-round draft pick Odell Beckham Jr. has nothing to show for the preseason.
Coach Tom Coughlin announced Tuesday that the rookie wide receiver will miss the annual bragging rights game against the Jets (2-0) because of continuing problems with a hamstring injury.
The LSU product pulled a hamstring two days into training camp and he has participated in six practices. After missing the Giants' first three preseason games, this was supposed to be the week that he played.
However, Beckham was hit in the back of his leg late in practice Monday and he did not practice Tuesday. Coughlin ruled him out for Friday night's game.
Beckham remains confident he is not dealing with a long-term issue.
"We have progressively built up my workload," he said. "I was sore this morning, and I didn't work today because we didn't want a setback, and I don't consider this a setback. I see it as another step in getting back to full strength."
Coughlin said Beckham did not practice on Tuesday because he was sore.
"They don't feel like it is a re-injury," Coughlin said. "They are going to be cautious because that's what it takes. They are saying it's no setback so that's where we are on it."
Coughlin saw Beckham catch a pass and run down the sideline late in practice Monday, but he did not see him being hurt.
Beckham's injury, though, is frustrating for the veteran coach because the rookie had a shot at being a contributor in the new offense being installed by coordinator Ben McAdoo.
The rookie has the speed and hands to be the deep threat in a receiving group that has Victor Cruz in the slot position and Rueben Randle as the other outside receiver.
Beckham played in 40 games in three seasons at LSU and had 143 receptions for 2,340 yards, a 16.4-yard average, and 12 touchdowns. He also averaged 24.9 yards on 42 kickoffs returns and 9.0 yards on 62 punt returns, scoring twice.
He had never missed game action due to an injury.
Beckham has not missed any classroom time with the Giants (3-0), but he has to get into football shape with the season opener at Detroit less than three weeks away.
With Beckham out and fourth-year receiver Jerrel Jernigan having a so-so training camp, rookie free agent Corey Washington and Marcus Harris, who was on the Giants' practice squad last season, have stepped up and impressed the coaching staff.
Washington has caught a touchdown pass in each of the preseason games, including two game-winning passes, while Harris has a team-high eight catches for 90 yards.
Harris is happy both players are contributing.
"I made my plays and he made his," Harris said.
Washington and Harris also have made the most of their opportunities with Beckham sidelined.
"I've earned the reps I got and I kept making plays so they kept giving them to me," he said. "Hopefully I keep it that way."
NOTES: The kicking competition between veteran Josh Brown and rookie Brandon McManus remains close with two preseason games left. Neither has missed a field-goal attempt. McManus is 2-for-2 and Brown made his only attempt. . . . The Giants are doing more game planning this week and they worked against some formations the Jets might use on Friday.


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Just when Spurs fans think it can't get any worse this season, now this. A year ago, in February 2009, we here at Project Spurs posted a story about photos surfacing of a nude
"The San Antonio Spurs are SOL in their attempt to have nude pics of one of their players removed from a website — for now — because the site's lawyer just said the pics of their player's basketballs are there to stay."
For obvious reasons, the Spurs want the photos taken down since it shines a negative light on their otherwise "choir-boy" image. Seems the Spurs organization will continue to fight the website in removing the photos.
However, it's in Hill's and the Spurs best interest to take a page out of Greg Oden's book when his nude photos surfaced. Come clean and defuse the issue now. Don't drag this out fighting it in court. Coming clean, admitting it was a lapse in judgment and apologizing to the fans and to the Spurs organization will simply display Hill's character and willingness to take ownership in his mistake. It is simply that, a mistake. Now lets move on.
George Hill has issued an apology over the nude photos.
In a statement issued by the team on Tuesday, Hill said: "A year ago I made a mistake and take full responsibility for my actions. I have matured and learned from this episode."
This is exactly what Hill should have done a year ago in February 2009 when it first went public. Regardless, this was the right decision for Hill and the Spurs organization. Now let's move on.


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Grey, Charles Grey, 2d Earl
Grey, Charles Grey,
2d Earl, 1764–1845, British statesman. Elected to Parliament in 1786, he was one of those appointed to manage the impeachment of Warren Hastings. From 1792 he was a leader of the movement for parliamentary reform and opposed the repressive policies of Sir William Pitt. He succeeded (1806) Charles James Fox as foreign secretary in the
ministry of all talentsand Whig leader of the House of Commons, putting through the measure to abolish the African slave trade (1807). As prime minister (1830–34) he secured the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832 (see under Reform Acts) by threatening to force William IV to create enough Whig peers to carry it in the House of Lords.
See biography by G. M. Trevelyan (1929, repr. 1971).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: British and Irish History: Biographies


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camping, Cuyamaca, cuyamaca peak, hiking, mexico, mountain, nature, outdoors, point loma, san diego, stonewall peak
We went to Cuyamaca over the weekend of February 13-15. My boyfriend and I were trying to make an effort to wake up and watch the sunrise at the top of Stonewall Peak or Cuyamaca Peak. I had only watched the sunrise one other time in my life when I was 14 in Mexico. We had just got done building houses for some of the families from the local churches- it was one of most memorable experiences I've had.
Stonewall Peak is a 4 mile hike that has short switchbacks running along the backside of the mountain. Its a fairly easy hike with a huge reward at the top. Once you come to the base of the peak, you climb up about 2 flights of stairs with a handrail. At the top, 3 views will have a viewpoint description of what you're looking at. Anza-borrego desert, Point Loma, and Mexico are all visible on a clear day.
My boyfriend and I woke up around 5:30am Saturday morning. With a few beers and some water in hand, we power walked all the way up to the top. We didn't manage to see the sunrise at the top but we were the first ones up there for the day and the view was absolutely amazing. As I cracked open my celebratory beer at the top and looked at the young sky, I remembered it was Valentines Day which made the moment even better!
Later that day, my friends that came with us wanted to hike Stonewall since they didn't quite make it out to the sunrise hike so I jumped at the opportunity again. We headed up right before sunset and walked the same trial I did hours earlier. With the same beautiful view, I thought to myself, "I've already seen the sunrise and sunset today. My life is good!"
During the night, while hanging out with friends, we discussed going on another sunrise hike to Cuyamaca peak which is a little over a mile further than Stonewall and has longer switchbacks. Its about 500 feet higher in elevation but I had never hike Cuyamaca Peak so I was definitely in! We left around 6:15am and started the trek up the peak. The views were stunning! There are lookout points along the way with benches that make for a great rest point. There was only shade about ¼ of the trail but the tall trees will make you fall in love with nature.
I hiked over 12 miles that weekend. Saw 2 sunrises (well sort of) and 1 sunset. Made great memories and had tons of laughs.
Happy Camping and Hiking 🙂