Sunday, August 30, 2009

interesting article

Powered by peach

It wasn’t so much a case of one giant peach but a giant pile of peach stones that got biomass specialist Greg Paxton thinking of new ways to re-use food waste and harness their unused energy.
In September 2008, when CEO of the Goulburn Valley Regional Waste Management Group (GVRWMG) Nick Nagle contacted Mr Paxton, the founder of biomass generation company Knetic Renewables (KRL), and asked if peach stones could be disposed of in an environmentally acceptable way, the company began to explore the possibility of using peach stones as a renewable energy source.
“There are only two other bioenergy .....
Link to the news Share Your 'Guiding Light' Memories ...
I am not sure what to think. I mean I know stuck here in the land of the desert, but I thoughtsomeone would have brought this to my attention. This is just further verifies I am getting older, Guiding Light is a generational legacy in my family. My grandmother watched it religiously, My mother watched it religiously and for years I watched it.
I used to get off the bus in front of the Food Town and run home only stopping at the bathroom to watch Guiding Light.
In the mid-eighties I was glued to this show - I wanted to be part of the Bauer family and go to the picnics. I loved the Spauldings. I had a crush on "Simon" for years and thought Harley was a very cool women. Phillip Spaulding was a heart throb. And to share a bit of truth here,there was a character named Chelsea on the show and where did you think I found inspiration to name my daughter... Just for the record not from the Clinton family in Arkansas. WOW. I have not watched the show in years, but some how I will make an attempt to watch finality this in the desert.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

book notes

Books I will be interested in reading...

Half the Sky
Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Written by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Voices of the Desert
A novel

Written by Nelida Pinon Translated by Cliff Landers

Swimming
Written by Nicola Keegan
Panera Rocks...

One thing I might be missing... If you live near one of the 50 locations, I would check it out. Love this place
Now the company is testing a $16.99 lobster sandwich in more than 50stores in New England.



“Panera has been bucking conventional industry wisdom during the downturn by eschewing discounts and instead targeting customers who can still afford to shell out an average of about $8.50 for lunch,” the Journal reported.

Must see this link...
This hit close to home, literally 20 minutes from where I grew up..
Click to see the local tomato that look like a rubber duck



Just finished a great book.... The Slippery Year by Melanie Gideon


ABOUT THIS BOOK
“We are all so curious. Hungry for the truth. If only we could ask the questions we really want to ask of each other and get the real answers. Like how many times a month do you have sex? What prescription drugs are you on? Are you happy? Really happy? Happy enough?”

For anybody who has ever wondered privately Is this all there is, Melanie Gideon’s poignant, hilarious, exuberant meditation, The Slippery Year, chronicles a year in which she confronts both the fantasies of her receding youth and the realities of midlife with a husband, a child, and a dog (one of whom runs away).

She reflects on the exigencies of domesticity—the need for a household catastrophe plan, the fainting spell occasioned by the departure of her nine-year-old son for camp, the mattress wars, and the carpool line. With tenderness, unsparing honesty, and uproarious wit, Gideon brings us back again and again to the sweetness of ordinary pleasures and to life’s most enduring satisfactions. She captures perfectly that moment right before everything changes and the things we have loved forever begin to fall away for the first time.

The Slippery Year is the story of a woman’s quest to reignite passion, beauty, and mystery and discover if “happily ever after” is a possibility after all.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Makes me want to go to Maine...
Travel-Tales

Another week down. It is always pretty productive.I was able to chat on the phone some, send packages to a few folks, write a few letters and even read a few blogs. I received a few nice packages and cards this week too.

I became an aunt again which is a great honor, I was able to call them while they were still at the hospital with the little guy.
I am working on my Spanish (mostly just reading and writing at this point), I have been reading my International Politics text book and catching up on other things. I did one day of yoga last week and we officially have yoga on the mwr schedule two days a week. (yeah). I will be able to do more in my room once the my computer gets here.

I am planning my R&R. I have specific details, but I am not revealing all the details now.

The most exciting thing is that it will be part ministry, part travel.

I am still working out all the details and trying to create a doable budget in Euros. I made a small list for my family to send for my birthday. I will turn 39 in Iraq.

I asked for Strawberry Rhubarb jam, Desert Bean Dip, a Pine scented candle and a large thick towel. Over here it is just the simple things...

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Loving these....


Pumpkin Spice Flax Granola Bar
Baked with whole flaxseeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, and a magical blend of spices, our Pumpkin Spice Flax granola bars have 4g of Fiber, 6g of Protein and 300mg of Omega-3s.
Good news
I was able to speak with her last night.
She is done. Free from Basic Training! She sounded good and relieved. She was anxious to spend time with the family and stay in the hotel over night and use the internet. She picked up an iPhone :).... She heads to AIT on Saturday morning, so she will on to the next stop very soon. Keeping busy here is the key and I am successfully doing so.
I have been working out and walking multiple times a week. I am getting into a routine and enjoying my new living space. The weather has been warm the last few days and cools down ever so slightly in the evenings.
The more water I drink, the more I sweat. I guess that is a good thing.. detoxicfication and cooling the body.
One of the Zonta ladies sent me a great care package this week. It was fun to spend time looking at the contents. I have not had as much time to read the last few days, but I will catch back up again. I am eager to get my hair cut in the next few weeks. I need to order baby gifts soon... My nephew will be in here in 10 days. Whew.
God continues to reveal himself to me. I am thankful.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

article caught my eye ... for a second

byline: Robert Matas
Vancouver — From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Tuesday, Jul. 28, 2009 06:53PM EDT

Chef Neil Wyles initially thought news of an arrest of a 25-year old woman in Vancouver for assault with a potato peeler was a joke. He does not regard a potato peeler as much of a weapon.
But Mr. Wyles is also painfully aware of the potential of a potato peeler to cause some real harm. “I often skin the back of my finger with a potato peeler,” Mr. Wyles said in a brief interview Tuesday while cooking lunch at the steakhouse, the Hamilton Street Grill, located about four blocks from where the assault allegedly took place.

Newer potato peelers with foam handles and plastic support are designed to minimize damage from accidents. But the old-fashioned metal peelers are similar to an exposed razor blade, he said. “Your old-school potato peeler [with a] metal handle, if you use it like a stabbing weapon, you could inflict some damage,” he said. “If you use it like a knife, your average potato peeler, your standard domestic one, you could puncture someone with it.”

Yurub Mohammed Arte, 25, was charged Monday with assault with a weapon after stabbing a woman she knew with a potato peeler following a shouting match in a nightclub in the heart of Vancouver's entertainment district.
The incident may be the first time that anyone in Vancouver has been charged with assault with a potato peeler.
“I've seen some strange cases over the years with assaults with any number of things used as a weapon,” Constable Jana McGuinness, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Police Department, said in an interview Tuesday.
But she could not think of another case with a potato peeler, she said.
“Anything used for an assault – a hairbrush, a rock or a baseball bat – could be considered a weapon,” Constable McGuinness also said. “If it is intended to inflict harm, that could be a weapon,” she said.
The incident began shortly after midnight Monday. The Republic nightclub's regular Monday evening entertainers – a musical group called Young, Rich and Famous – had been playing hip-hop, top 40 and party-rock classics. Five-dollar tequila shots were the featured drinks at the club that night.
Ms. Arte, who police say came to Canada from Somalia, became involved in “a verbal altercation” with a 20-year-old woman inside the club. The two women knew each other and had “a history” with each other. The exchange was fuelled by alcohol.
The two women were ejected from the club. On the street, Ms. Arte allegedly bit the 20-year-old woman on the left breast and then sliced her left ear with the potato peeler. Staff from the club intervened and held Ms. Arte until police arrived.
The victim's ear bled heavily. However medical staff at the hospital said the injury was minor. After receiving medical treatment for her ear injury and bite wound, the victim was released from hospital.

Police have not yet determined how Ms. Arte obtained the potato peeler. Constable McGuinness was not prepared to release any details about the type of potato peeler.
Police also refused to release the name of the victim. Neither women had criminal records, Constable McGuinness said.
Ms. Arte was held in jail over night and expected to be released today. Her first court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 6.

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I am leading a small group here.
Last night we met and watched the Rob Bell Nooma video "Shells".
It is good. Very poignant. I cannot wait to see what God does there
They had mangoes, and fresh peaches the dining facility the last few days!
Woo hoo.
The swiss and munster cheese are tasty as well. I had two half sandwiches for dinner. One toasted with swiss and tomato and the other toasted with peanut butter and honey.
loved it.
We had mail call today and I am once again very fortunate to have great co-workers and friends. I left the candy in the office for my vultures to eat (I really mean my co-workers, but they are like little boys when it comes to candy. I brought in Organic Late July cookies and only a few with sophisticated palates enjoyed them, I opened the skittles today and they were like a kittens looking for milk.)
She sent me Martha Stewart magazines! woo hoo :)
My trainee graduates on Thursday... I love her and I am very proud.
Good hour work out tonight.
off to sleep now.

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Sunday, August 02, 2009

this happened a few weeks ago

hits close to "home"
Remains of U.S. pilot missing since ’91 found
Speicher’s disappearance in Iraq had bedeviled investigators for 18 years


WASHINGTON - The remains of the first American lost in the Gulf War have been found in Iraq, the military said Sunday, a sorrowful resolution of a nearly two-decade old question about the fate of Navy Capt. Michael "Scott" Speicher.
The Pentagon said the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology on Saturday positively identified the remains, buried in the desert and located after officials received new information from an Iraqi citizen about a crash.
Speicher's disappearance has bedeviled investigators since his fighter was shot down over the Iraq desert on the first night of the 1991 war. more

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Learn something new everyday.
That I am trying to focus. Making an effort. I was able to study some Spanish today. One of my goals is to actually be able to say "yes" that I am proficient in a second language when I fill out applications for the State Department and US AiD.

I am beginning to read an amazing book The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz

Acumen Fund is a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. We seek to prove that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of the poor. Our investments focus on delivering affordable, critical goods and services - like health, water, housing and energy - through innovative, market-oriented approaches.

LOve that concept...

I moved into my official living space last night and cleaned until 11pm. I have a few more things to sanitize. I have a refridge, microwave, outlets and converters for the electricity which is a dangerous since I have no electric skills!

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