After talking to the guys at Evans cycles after my run in with the motorist last Tuesday, my bike has now been assessed by the mechanics. The verdict is not good. I will need a new frame. It appears that not only are the carbon forks out of action but the integrity of the aluminium alloy frame has now also been compromised. When I spoke to the guy who hit me, he was not surprisingly unhappy. Not only will I need a new frame, I will also need a new front wheel, potentially handlebars and front break levers. So, it may well be actually more cost effective to replace the entire bike I was told.

Great but I still don’t have a bike and will not have a road bike for a while it would appear. Just magic, the moment I need one the most to rack some miles up on and I am left high and dry, not being able to cycle at all.

On the plus side, I now have a fantastic, small HD camera, which I shall be filming this little adventure on. I just hope the crappy weather we have been suffering over the weekend gives way to better conditions. After all, we have less than 2 weeks to go!

The quick and dirty list for those that don't care to hear the long story:

• Kelty Big Bend 5000 backpack (5000 cubic inches)
• Camelback M.U.L.E. Hydration pack/daypack (300 cubic inches)
• Panasonic DMC-TZ5 digital camera
• Handheld GPS
• Cell Phone
• queen size sleep sheet
• 5 shirts
• 2 pants
• 2 shorts
• lots of socks
• hat
• String and clips for clothesline
• toiletry bag - toothbrush, paste, tylenol, pepto, claratin, contacts, glasses, razor, shave gel, aftershave, shampoo, soap, soapdish, nail clippers, band aids.
• sewing kit (really just a needle and some thread) - this may get nixed since I won't know how in the hell to fix something that rips anyway.
• passport
• Eurail Global 21 day Pass
• Journal

The longer version:

First of all, I just gota Kelty 5000 cubic inch pack and a camelback that serves as both a hydration pack and a daypack.  The Kelty pack may be a bit too much, but the external size was not much larger than the smaller packs and it gives me the option to carry more stuff back if I choose.  The camelback is going to be clutch.  I don't know what the water situation is throughout Europe, but a $9 bottle of water doesn't sound like much fun.  I'd rather mooch off of any water fountains I can find.

I'm fighting with myself with exactly what clothes to take.  I've been to Academy and Gander a million times trying to find something to wear that will be functional but won't make me look like too much of touristy douchebag.  

I have a couple of columbia fishing shirts, one long sleeve, and one short that will for sure be along for the ride.   I also have a pair of columbia khaki pants that zip off into shorts.  I'm not sure how I feel about these, but they will be handy for changing weather and I can throw the bottoms on when I visit churches.  I'm also thowing in at least one pair of khaki shorts. 

I ordered some Merrell Chameleon Hex shoes from Zappos. http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7459463/c/46658.html  Once they get here and I get them broken in, I'll give a quick review of them.  Also, I ordered them with regular shipping, but they upgraded them to next day for free.  I highly recommend that anyone looking for shoes or clothes check zappos first.  If the product you order doesn't fit, you can send it back and get another at Zappos expense and the customer service is spectacular.

I've conned my mother into sewing a queen size sheet together for me to use as a bed sheet to avoid having to rent one from the hostel.   I'll probably get her to put a flap somewhere on it to that will hold my cash, passport and other valuables while I sleep.

A lightweight micro-fiber towel will be my next purchase.  I never would have thought of this on my own until I got there.  A wet towel in your pack is sure to cause some stress. 

A clothesline and some pins will be handy if/when I use a sink for laundry.

It was very important to me to have a quality camera for this trip without spending more than $300-400. I researched camera after camera and decided on a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5.  It has the photo quality of some higher priced cameras but is much smaller and has an amazing display.  The trade-off is that there are no manual settings.  There are between 25 and 30 presets such as night scenery, beach, low light, etc...  Since I am a total camera novice and I don't know the first thing about raw images or other manual settings, this is great for me.  A handy site for researching your camera is www.dpreview.com.  I looked at Best Buy first and then at Circuit City.  I've never been a Circuit City fan, but they had a much larger selection and were generally much cheaper.  I suggest that you research the features on your own as the employees are not trained about these products and draw on their own knowledge which is often limited and or flawed.

I started out apartment hunting and saw this dark, damp little place off Queen Street. After talking to a friend, I decided to go to the Bathurst/St. Clair area to do some apartment hunting. I was feeling all happy--it was a nice day downtown and I got to do one of the things I love: explore Toronto.

The streetcar I was on passed Honest Ed's, a place I've been dying to go to for a while now, so I thought "no time like the present!" I went to Honest Ed's, got a file-in-a-box, and then found this great place in the area that gave me free moving boxes.

Once I got out of the store I realized I probably made a mistake taking all those boxes with me on public transit, but decided to go ahead and try to get home to drop them off and then head back out to look for apartments.

Well, I left my wallet on the bus. I tried walking home but it was just to far to lug large boxes with me, so I called a friend and waiting an hour or so for him to pick me up and help me out. After canceling my cards, I planned to go out to try and find the bus that I thought I left my wallet on... my metropass was on it, and I knew that if I didn't have it, I'd basically be trapped for the weekend.

My friend tried to discourage me from doing that, seeing as I'd probably be outside all day looking for the one bus and one bus driver who still had my wallet seemed unlikely, but after my friend dropped me off, I decided to do it anyway. I started looking at the bus driver's with determination; I still wanted to try.

As soon as I got on a bus, I saw my wallet sitting on the driver's dashboard. Four hours after losing my wallet on the TTC, I found it again. My parents say I'm lucky.

So with the joy of finding my wallet, I set out apartment hunting again and found some nice looking places around Bathurst and St. Clair. But while I was rejoicing with the friend who told me to go home, I saw an elderly woman fall on the street.

After getting her to her feet, we started talking and she told me she has nobody. No one visits her and she lives alone. I walked her back to her apartment to make sure she got home safely. I wanted to get a phone number for her children or relatives to yell at them and let them know their blood fell on the street today and they weren't there to make sure she was ok, but she would never have given me their numbers.

Instead, I decided to go to a wedding reception I was trying to avoid (family issues). Rosalia (I think that is how her name is spelled) helped me change my mind. But if I hadn't lost my wallet, I wouldn't have met her and gone to the family affair, where I was able to talk/laugh with my father, who I haven't spoken to in months.

Today wasn't about me though, it was about everybody, a little bit, I think. I'm not going to try and make some huge conclusion about the "state of humanity" or our "social condition". I think anyone reading this can find their own message...

We have been preparing for this moment for years. We have saved up the money, booked and planned our trip extensively. We searched websites for tips on how to get the most out of our money, time and energy (The 3 currencies that we all have available to us). We have planned how we were going to get there (Southwest Airlines http://www.southwest.com/, where we are going to stay http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdwi/en_CA/resorts/resortLanding?id=AllStarSportsResortLandingPage , what theme parks we are going to visit, and even which restaurants we are going to eat in.(Because you have to book 180 days in advance to get reservations to some restaurants).

In fact, we have spent almost as much energy planning for this trip as we did for our wedding (17 years ago). And you may be asking yourself why have we spent so much time and energy into planning for this trip?

The reason we have invested so much into the planning of this experience is that we want to have the best time. We have tried to plan for and eliminate all of the things that could possibly go wrong, in order for us to have a fantastic (and memorable) experience.

So all this planning got me thinking.

Why don't we put the same effort into delivering a killer sales presentation or a speech?

The truth is that the pros do.

They invest time / energy / money into preparing in order to eliminate all the things that could possibly go wrong.

According to David Peoples, in his awesome book Presentations Plus http://www.amazon.ca/Presentations-Plus-Peoples-Proven-Techniques/dp/0471559563,

"95% of how well your presentation is going to go will be determined before you even begin."

And I say that, "Increased Preparation leads to Increased Confidence and Increased Confidence leads to Increased Success."

So think about how you are going to prepare for your next presentation.

Think about how you are going to Prepare your Material.

Think about how you are going to Prepare the Environment.

And think about how you are going to Prepare for the Moment.

I will go into more detail on these topics (and lessons learned from Disney World) in future blogs.

As for now, my family and I have a date with Mickey Mouse and we are prepared to have an awesome experience. So as Tigger says, "TTFN (Tah, tah for now)

My car is in the shop right now getting the timing belt done and other various preventative maintenance in preparation for the trip.  The bill is going to be substantial but I've planned for it.

My list of things to do before I leave is becoming very small these days.  Over the last few weeks I've been chopping away at it and pretty soon I'll just be waiting for my last day at work to be over.

I can't wait to leave.

i thought i would get stumped on the mathematical and phisiology questions and not the environmental questions but heck no!... it's always the irony that catches you eh?!!@h oh well at least i passed so no complains! Going to my diveshop later to meet Chris my instructor, Suresh as well who will help me get the last thing i need for Mexico...diving shears, won't be glamming up diving with a Lara Croft diving knive, have decided to go practical with a pair of nice gardening shears instead! Also got myself a hammock thanks to Mark's suggestion when i told him i sometimes like my personal space. I'm also off to the library to return 4 very overdue lonely planet books and maybe if i have some time today go down for a hair cut... it's growing out like a wild bush!

Ok back to packing... ah but first 1 more quick fact about Mahahual my expedition site... why not ;)
The road to Mahahual (pronounce ma-ha-wal) is long. It's suppose to be like Playa del Carmen 30 yrs ago... Mahahual is suppose to be very laid-back, with inexpensive accomodations, dirt roads, backpackers, and lots of small restaurants serving fresh fish. Activities include lounging (hmm looking forward to this), fishing, snorkeling and diving(oh yeah!). An airport has been built here (though it's now suppose to be lying abandoned), as well as the huge cruise-ship port (i heard part of my expedition is to give reef talk to the tourists from these cruises) and passengers-only shopping plaza of Puerto Costa Maya - so hopefully, it will be a long time before this place turns into the next Cancun!

Reference: 1215082349

ERS have a Client who is looking for a CAD Manager for development of application media for the knowledge management of company configuration records.

Location

Aldermaston

Salary

Competitive salary based on qualifications and experience

Job Responsibilities

A working understanding of relevant British and European Standards and legislative requirements.

Compliance of drawings with company standards.

Maintenance of site drawing standards database.

Provision of internal drawing capabilities to all facilities and projects.

Development of an integrated configuration team, looking at application and storage of configuration data.

Completion of drawings to meet programme requirements.

Carry out surveys to support the completion of drawings.

Preparation of work to pass onto draughtsmen for production of drawings.

Verification of the drawings to appropriate company standards.

Reviewing updating of CAD Manual.

Tel: 01454 203 460

cv@energyrs.co.uk

Reference: 1215082349

ERS have a Client who is looking for a CAD Manager for development of application media for the knowledge management of company configuration records.

Location

Aldermaston

Salary

Competitive salary based on qualifications and experience

Job Responsibilities

A working understanding of relevant British and European Standards and legislative requirements.

Compliance of drawings with company standards.

Maintenance of site drawing standards database.

Provision of internal drawing capabilities to all facilities and projects.

Development of an integrated configuration team, looking at application and storage of configuration data.

Completion of drawings to meet programme requirements.

Carry out surveys to support the completion of drawings.

Preparation of work to pass onto draughtsmen for production of drawings.

Verification of the drawings to appropriate company standards.

Reviewing updating of CAD Manual.

Tel: 01454 203 460

cv@energyrs.co.uk

Being part of choral groups helped us source our mananahi. Our choral friends from UE always wore stunning gowns and through them we met Ate Adel. She was once the main cutter for Manila's top couturier who opened up her own shop as a mananahi. Marissa shortlisted some bridesmaid designs from the net and we asked around how much it would cost us to get it made. Divisoria by far offers the cheapest textile and labor but since we didn't want to take a risk on getting gowns from them, we did the next best thing, we sourced our tela from Divisoria (boy were they heavy!!!) and we got Ate Adel to replicate the designs Marissa wanted. Of course all of this happened with the help of Rhussel who helped us from contracting Ate Adel to buying those rolls of silk in Divisoria.

He was constructing an entry point through the careful collaging of photographs he had taken over a long period of time – this kind of thoughtwork was never simple. It was different to the rewriting he had done before – with that he had just sat down with a pen, tuned out the conscious mind and let what he liked to think of as the silent majority in the electric voice phenomenon spectrum channel in through him. Words were locks on perception and if the dead had a consciousness which had survived the limitations of material perceptual apparatus they might just have got some kind of perspective on what made the universe spin in that idiosyncratic way that it span. This was the best way to communicate with them – as if you were a pre-verbal child that only saw in pictures.

Anyway, it had given his remote viewing an edge – a scalpel sharp edge that allowed him to shift bodily from one place to the other. This technique, with its heavier reliance on the visual was supposed to circumvent some of the psychic bandwidths that someone such as him would usually narrowcast on. You had to change your game up once in a while or the people on the other side of the fence would get wise to you and then the game was well and truly up.

Gain lit up a clove cigarette. As a mental exercise to sharpen his focus he would paint with the smoke, pulling those atoms around until you could see all kinds of things in them. This was no game of spot a face in the clouds though – he would shift from Manet impressionism, through Goya vivacity, Boschian horror, Leonardo precision and then leap into architectural blueprints for the building that he intended to infiltrate.

He plugged the earpieces for his quantumslice music player in and breathed deeply as the first sounds of the Buddhist temple music floated around him. His breathing rate slowed, as did his heart rate. All of these practices that he utilised made him harder to spot as he pushed in through whatever baffles and psychic lattices they had stitched in around the place. You couldn't really scout the sensitive psionics of a place without tripping the alarms. All the mundane systems were left to the AI he'd slaved to that task and that was usually enough: he had a great system whose adaptive neural net, thanks to some customisation, allowed it to outstrip most things that it came up against. Despite the number of times that people like him broke into places there was still a certain amount of disbelief in their abilities.

His mind floated around a central illuminated image of the building in question, zeroing in on certain areas, pulling them into focus, relating them to the various maps, and then rotating the whole construction through three dimensional space until he snagged upon an entry point. The air was suffused with a strange perfume – rust, sweat, sandalwood and burning leaves. His eyes rolled back in his skull, he bit his tongue like he often did and tasted blood, his body spasmed and there was a flash of light and the room was empty.

Besides all the waiting, I have been maxing out my credit card sorting out all the rest of the gear I will need for this outing. For a three week period of using human power to travel, this journey is sure costing me a lot!

An enterprising person is one who comes across a pile of scrap metal and sees the making of a wonderful sculpture. An enterprising person is one who drives through an old decrepit part of town and sees a new housing development. An enterprising person is one who sees opportunity in all areas of life.

To be enterprising is to keep your eyes open and your mind active. It's to be skilled enough, confident enough, creative enough and disciplined enough to seize opportunities that present themselves... regardless of the economy.

A person with an enterprising attitude says, "Find out what you can before action is taken." Do your homework. Do the research. Be prepared. Be resourceful. Do all you can in preparation of what's to come.

Enterprising people always see the future in the present. Enterprising people always find a way to take advantage of a situation, not be burdened by it. And enterprising people aren't lazy. They don't wait for opportunities to come to them, they go after the opportunities. Enterprise means always finding a way to keep yourself actively working toward your ambition.

Enterprise is two things. The first is creativity. You need creativity to see what's out there and to shape it to your advantage. You need creativity to look at the world a little differently. You need creativity to take a different approach, to be different.

What goes hand-in-hand with the creativity of enterprise is the second requirement: the courage to be creative. You need courage to see things differently, courage to go against the crowd, courage to take a different approach, courage to stand alone if you have to, courage to choose activity over inactivity.

And lastly, being enterprising doesn't just relate to the ability to make money. Being enterprising also means feeling good enough about yourself, having enough self worth to want to seek advantages and opportunities that will make a difference in your future. And by doing so you will increase your confidence, your courage, your creativity and your self-worth, your enterprising nature.

by Jim Rohn

Do you want to become an entrepreneur or develop your entrepreneurship? Stop reading and come to visit us and we'll show/teach you how to be enterprising enough to start your own business!

As the bride anxiously awaited the arrival of her fiance, she read and re-read the tattered love letters he had sent her. There were enough to make a book. She had gotten to know him very well through pen and paper during these past few months and could hardly wait for his return

She could think of none other than her beloved and the day they would be wed. Soon he would carry her off to the safety of his Kingdom, far from the danger of the great dragon that stalked villagers who strayed, seeking whom he may devour.

As she lit her lamp in the twilight, a rider on a dark horse rode up and handed her a letter.

Another one? At this hour?

The rider trotted away to deliver his sack of letters to every house in the village.

Her anticipation quickly faded as she broke the unfamiliar seal and saw the strange handwriting. Her heart raced as she read how the author claimed to know her beloved, but was saying things about him that she knew were not true. She gasped at the realization that everything she knew was being cleverly reworded…the agreed price of her dowry, how she had been found by her fiance and rescued from the wicked fate at the slave market. But now their story was being twisted on this paper she held in her trembling hands, as even the promise of his return and the planning of their wedding banquet were now being challenged and denied!

Hot tears rolled down flushed cheeks as the bride closed the door behind her, sank to the hard marble floor and wept. Not for herself, because she knew her groom. But she wept for all those who would surely believe this well crafted new tale that was being spread with the echo of each hoof beat.

She wondered if there would be any guests prepared to come to the wedding supper now.

There had already been rumours that she, a poor adopted peasant girl, was not worthy to be betrothed to the King, and that the people must begin building and preparing their own kingdom before He would even think of returning. To make things much worse, no one had sighted the sly dragon for some time now, but she had seen tracks beside the village fence every morning.

How many were already believing the false murmurings of peace? Would her groom find anyone left ready to accompany them into the new Kingdom where they would dwell in safety forever? She needed go quickly and warn the people! They must hear the truth before it was too late! Her groom was due to arrive any day now, her white linen dress was ready to go, her lamps were filled with oil...but perhaps there was still time left...

Day light was fading. Suddenly she felt very tired. Sighing heavily, she held the letter above the flame of the oil lamp. As she watched the fire consume the lies, she was startled by a knock on her door...

****

This touched my heart....

No matter how much they try, emulating the roller-coaster called life is difficult to the extent of being impossible. I just wish that this coming year goes smooth and sassier than before! It actually seems quite difficult because of a major kick-ass examination that's coming up. But lets hope that I get through easily.

Ok! That's all for now. I'll write more about the exam as it comes near because as you can u'stand, it'd be the only thing on my mind then!

P.S. My best wishes also go out to all those students who have been surfing similar tides! Besta' Luck guys!

Sooooo, I applied to the St. James Court Art Show in Louisville, KY on the advice of my buddy Paula. Mind you, it's been voted the best fine art and design show in the country by Sunshine Artist magazine. Nothing like starting at the top, eh? But it's a well known show, it's NOT in Michigan and I had a place to stay on the outside chance I juried in. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

I recently received notice that I made it into the show!! How about that?! Great news... except it's the week before the West Michigan Bead Expo that I co-organize... YIKES! How am I going to get everything ready? I'm going to have to be more organized than I've ever been before.

Here's the plan... I'm setting up a daily schedule. There's 12 weeks till the show and I'm going to be gone for 2 of them. I have a rough idea of how many pieces I'll need for a three day show. (Thanks Paula!) Earrings are usually a big seller so I'm thinking I'll need about 300 pairs (just to be safe) which means I need to make about 30 sets of earring beads per week, pendants... maybe 10 per week, etc. By breaking everything down and dividing them into goals per week, I'm hoping to stay on top of bead production... Now to figure out how to get all the jewelry made and what my booth is going to look like... I'll be back soon with more!

Nancy Sells Puffer is a lampwork bead/jewelry artist from Grand Rapids, MI. Check out her very own blog here and visit her website at www.nancysellsglass.com

PICT0040, originally uploaded by verdefresco.

Life takes preparation. As one wise nurse (or someone else) said: "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best and take what you get". That was pretty profound when I first came across it and it still remains with me today.

So whether you're trying to stick to that new diet you set out to conquer or you're working on personal finance goals or ANYTHING of importance in your life, make some good plans so that temptation doesn't steer you completely off course. Better yet, PLAN for temptations and PLAN for setbacks because as we all know, life isn't perfect.

(By the way, I only photographed those homemade cinnamon rolls; I didn't consume any. Aren't you proud of me?)

To stay true to the purpose of this blog, here's some fun facts about Sian Ka'an(my home for the upcoming 10 week marine conservation project) for you my friends ~ there's a sleepy lobster-fishing village deep within the Biosphere that has sandy streets, a big beach, giant palms and just a few easy-going restaurants and welcoming places to stay.  It is said to be founded by Blackbeard the Pirate, whose ship was called The Allen. The atrocious state of the road (4-wheel drive only) keeps visitor numbers down.  Wooo hooo, just another off-the-beaten track to walk down! 

Reference: 1214907457

ERS have a Client who is looking for a Senior Process Engineer for Front End Engineering Design Work for various nuclear waste treatment and decommissioning projects.

Location

Birchwood

Salary

According to experience

Job Responsibilities

Feasibility, technology identification and optioneering.

Process design development (conceptual, scheme and functional designs).

Production of flow sheets (heat, mass and activity balances), process flow diagrams and fully developed P&IDs.

Preparation of process data sheets (equipment and instrumentation) and various schedules.

Tel: 01454 203 460

cv@energyrs.co.uk

Reference: 1214907457

ERS have a Client who is looking for a Senior Process Engineer for Front End Engineering Design Work for various nuclear waste treatment and decommissioning projects.

Location

Birchwood

Salary

According to experience

Job Responsibilities

Feasibility, technology identification and optioneering.

Process design development (conceptual, scheme and functional designs).

Production of flow sheets (heat, mass and activity balances), process flow diagrams and fully developed P&IDs.

Preparation of process data sheets (equipment and instrumentation) and various schedules.

Tel: 01454 203 460

cv@energyrs.co.uk

Minimum entrance level: 20

Meetingstone level: 28-36

Advised level (most fun): 30-32

Attunement: None.

See wow-europe, wowwiki and/or thottbot for more information.

Map

This is the map with important spots of the dungeon: 

1. Bloodmage Thalnos     (E = Entrance,  CS = Chest span)
2. Interrogator Vishas
3. Azshir the Sleepless (rare span)
4. Fallen Champion (rare span)
5. Ironspine (rare span)

Quests for the dungeon

[33] Hearts of Zeal  From Master Apothecary Faranell in Undercity, this is the follow up of [30] Going, Going, Guano!

We need 20 hearts of any Scarlet NPC.

[33] Vorrel's Revenge from Vorrel Sengutz inside the dungeon.

We need to kill Interrigator Vishas.  After that, the dude should say "Finally, the bastard got what he deserved."  Then he should give us the quest.

All Bosses

(picture from wowwiki)

TODO's before entering the dungeon

This is a very small dungeon with little preperation:

Pick up the followup quest in Undercity, that's it......    no realy, that's it.

BUT. Because this is a short instance run. We have the time to do some preparation for the next dungeon Scarlet Monastery Library, that has a long list of pre-requisites. Otherwise we will not have enough time next Monday.