NASA scientists get first rover's-eye view of Gale Crater on Mars ( video)

The rover Curiosity, which touched down on Mars early Monday, has so far sent back seven images of the surface, including a fuzzy profile of Mt. Sharp, the mountain in the center of Gale Crater.

By Pete Spotts,?Staff writer / August 6, 2012

This photo provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows the gravel on the surface of Mars' Gale Crater where the Curiosity rover landed late Sunday, Aug. 5.

JPL-Caltech/NASA/AP

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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has phoned home, told its handlers all is well, and provided researchers with their first look at some of the rover's surroundings.

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As of Monday morning, Curiosity has sent along only seven small images, taken with the four pairs of hazard-avoidance cameras mounted on the front and rear of the rover's chassis.

Their fish-eye views of the surface, processed to look like normal photos, have given the science and engineering teams their first on-the-ground look at the rim of Gale Crater some 12 miles away, as well as the fuzzy profile of Mt. Sharp, the three-mile-high mountain in the crater's center, and dune fields a mile or two away. Beyond the dune fields, the region of the mountain's base that the science team would like to explore is about six miles from the rover.

Mt. Sharp is Curiosity's ultimate destination as it hunts for signs that, at some point early in the planet's history, Gale Crater might have sported habitats suitable for sustaining life.

In addition, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) snapped a "Welcome to Mars" image of the rover and its descent module, suspended from a 70-foot-wide parachute that helped slow the craft as it headed toward the surface.

The orbiter has taken more than 120 images of Gale Crater, images that played a key role in the site's selection as Curiosity's new home.

But the shot of Curiosity hanging from its 'chute "is the coolest one," says Sarah Milkovich, a researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., and a member of the science team using MRO's HiRISE camera to study the Martian surface. HiRISE captured Curiosity's descent from a respectful distance of nearly 215 miles.

The rover's unique descent system ? a descent stage that used automated navigation and steering jets to slalom its way through the upper atmosphere as well as the sky-crane system to lower Curiosity the final few tens of feet to the surface ? deposited the rover within a mile of its expected landing point. The rover's landing spot remained well within a 12-mile by 4-mile elliptical landing zone near the base of Mt. Sharp.

"We haven't been able to get our simulations to work that well," says Miguel San Martin, chief engineer for guidance navigation and control at JPL.

Indeed, such a precision landing ? in this case setting a craft down in a narrow region between a towering mountain and the inner walls of a crater's rim ? has never been achieved before, noted John Grotzinger, a planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., and the project scientist for the mission, during a briefing Monday.

For the first time, scientists were able to select a target for study purely on scientific grounds, he says, and not as a compromise between science and engineers' need to safely land a rover on the Martian equivalent of the Great Plains.

Oriented in a way that pointed one set of "hazcams" at the crater rim and the other at the imposing summit in the crater's center, the rover presented mission planners with a conundrum: Which set of cameras, fore or aft, did the scientists want to use first if time allowed for an initial photo to be taken and uplinked before orbiters acting as relay stations dipped below the horizon?

"All of the scientists wanted the rear hazcam," Dr. Grotzinger says. "And all of the engineers wanted the front hazcam."

The engineers were looking for the camera that would give the scientists the best view of the landscape, unobstructed by bits of the rover falling into the camera's field of view. Views from the rear cameras were partially obstructed by the rover's wheels.

"We said: No, we want to see the wheels on the ground, because this is not a moment for science, it's a moment for engineering," Grotzinger continued. "When you see that wheel on the ground, you know you've landed on Mars. That is the miracle of engineering."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/IGl8bflTXKg/NASA-scientists-get-first-rover-s-eye-view-of-Gale-Crater-on-Mars-video

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Griffin-American takes Schertz Medical Building - Austin Texas real ...

SCHERTZ - American Healthcare Investors and Griffin Capital Corporation have purchased the 20,000-sf Schertz Medical Building at 5000 Baptist Health Dr. on behalf of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II.


Austin Real Estate article courtesy of NewsTalk Texas who writes for NewsTalk Texas. You can find the original post at NewsTalk Texas.

Thanks for reading!

Source: http://www.affinityproperties.com/wordpress/2012/08/06/griffin-american-takes-schertz-medical-building/

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McCain, Haley among first announced for GOP confab

FILE - In this May 5, 2011, file photo, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks in Greenville, S.C. The Republican National Committee has announced that Haley will be one of the speakers at the GOP Convention in Tampa. (AP Photo/ Richard Shiro)

FILE - In this May 5, 2011, file photo, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks in Greenville, S.C. The Republican National Committee has announced that Haley will be one of the speakers at the GOP Convention in Tampa. (AP Photo/ Richard Shiro)

FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2012, photo, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez speaks in Santa Fe, N.M. The Republican National Committee has announced that Martinez will be one of the speakers at the 2012 GOP Convention in Tampa. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)

FILE - In this April 17, 2012, file photo, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice answers questions from reporters at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss. The Republican National Committee has announced that Rice will be one of the speakers at the 2012 GOP Convention in Tampa. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

FILE - In this March 28, 2012 file photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Republican National Committee has announced that McCain will be one of the speakers at the 2012 GOP Convention in Tampa. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - Int this Feb. 7, 2012, file photo, Ohio Gov. John Kasich delivers his State of the State address at Wells Academy/Steubenville High School in Steubenville, Ohio. The Republican National Committee has announced that Kasich will be one of the speakers at the 2012 GOP Convention in Tampa. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

(AP) ? A trio of female firsts and three former GOP presidential contenders are among the first speakers disclosed for August's Republican National Convention.

The GOP convention schedule is packed with high-profile names to fire up divergent wings of the Republican Party, from social conservatives to fiscal hawks. They will speak ahead of Mitt Romney's formal acceptance of his party's presidential nomination.

Convention leaders were not ready to announce the keynote speaker, a prime speaking slot that has the potential to catapult a rising member of the party to national prominence.

The schedule's outlines were first reported by The Tampa Bay Times late Sunday and were confirmed to The Associated Press by Republican officials with direct knowledge of the plan. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because convention officials had not yet announced the schedule.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, the first female governors of their states, are among party leaders slated to address the gathering that begins Aug. 27. Martinez has the additional distinction of being the first female Hispanic governor in the country.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the first black female to hold that job, is also scheduled to speak.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona was set to speak, as well as a one-time rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The two, along with Romney, vied for the 2008 presidential nomination, with McCain outlasting both Romney and the former Baptist pastor in the primary campaign.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who briefly ran for the GOP nomination in 2000, also was set to speak at the convention, as was Florida Gov. Rick Scott, whose state is host to the event. Both are tea party favorites and are set to speak to fiscal issues many Republicans hold dear.

"They are some of our party's brightest stars, who have governed and led effectively and admirably in their respective roles," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in prepared remarks. "These speakers ? and those that will be announced later ? will help make it a truly memorable and momentous event."

Republicans are holding back on announcing other speakers, including the keynote speaker.

In 2004, a little-known state senator from Illinois named Barack Obama used his turn at the Democratic National Convention in Boston to catapult to national prominence and ? four years later ? the White House.

When someone is announced as keynote speaker that could indicate that Romney has decided against that person as a running mate.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin are both big names in the party believed to be among those Romney is weighing for the vice presidential slot or for the keynote address. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio also were noticeably absent from the slate of announced speakers and may be contenders for running mate.

If passed over for the vice presidential pick, there is a very good chance they would earn speaking slots ? if not the keynote.

The speakers already announced suggest where Romney is looking to make progress as voters start to pay attention to the fall campaign.

The all-important female vote clearly is a priority ? evidenced by the choices of Haley, Martinez and Rice. Polls through the spring showed President Barack Obama outpacing Romney among female voters, although strategists from both parties say that gender gap is narrowing. A strong play for female voters at the convention should be expected.

Haley, who backed Romney in her state's first-in-the-South primary, is the youngest sitting governor in the country and her husband will deploy to Afghanistan next year. So she will probably have a strong message for military families, as well as for younger voters.

Martinez, who made history in her state and nationally when she was elected, could appeal to Hispanic women, a sizable demographic that broke for Obama four years ago. She can also address voters who feel securing the nation's Southern border is a top concern.

And Rice, an academic who was President George W. Bush's national security adviser and later secretary of state, could appeal to working women and those who put the United States' security as a top concern.

Some suggested she would be an excellent choice for Romney's running mate but conservatives in the party led a revolt, citing her support for abortion rights.

Romney, with limited foreign policy credentials, needs leading foreign policy figures like Rice to vouch for him.

Another prominent voice on foreign policy, McCain, will speak up for Romney.

The Senate veteran, who was a prisoner of war during Vietnam, remains among his party's most visible figures. His dislike for Romney has apparently faded since their primary fight four years ago.

"In these challenging times, America needs Mitt Romney in the White House," McCain said in a statement Republicans planned to release Monday. "The Republican National Convention in Tampa will help give us the momentum to get him there."

Another GOP rival from 2008, former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee, also will try to help Romney.

Huckabee's appeal among social conservatives has not shrunk and his backing is likely to help evangelicals who have been slow to warm to Romney and his Mormon faith.

Among tea party supporters, Romney will get a boost from Kasich. His home state of Ohio is a linchpin of Romney's strategy and no Republican has won the White House without carrying the perennial Midwestern battleground. No Democrat has won without winning Ohio since John F. Kennedy won the presidency in 1960.

Florida is another key state for both campaigns' path to the White House. Florida's Gov. Scott will address the convention, customary when the incumbent governor's party hosts the convention.

Democrats have rolled out their own convention schedule in recent weeks. Marking a first for Hispanics, the Democrats chose the mayor of San Antonio to deliver the keynote address in Charlotte, N.C.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro will deliver the high-profile, prime-time address on the convention's opening night, Sept. 4. First lady Michelle Obama will also address convention delegates that night.

Democrats also announced that former President Bill Clinton and Elizabeth Warren, the party's popular Senate candidate in Massachusetts, will have prime speaking roles at the convention on Sept. 5.

Vice President Joe Biden and Obama will speak in prime time on Thursday, Sept. 6, the convention's final night.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-08-05-Republican%20Convention/id-65ab28104b464e63aded7b32242d67e6

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Gorgeous Golden Gate Knife Packs the Same Steel as Its Namesake [Beautiful]

Though it was crafted in France, Laguiole's beautiful Golden Gate Bridge folding pocket knife was inspired the iconic red orange bridge spanning the San Francisco Bay. And in addition to a handle designed to look like it's made of criss-crossing girders, the knife is forged from the same steel used in the actual bridge that's stood the test of time since 1937. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/NauPQZQyXoQ/golden-gate-bridge-knife-made-with-steel-from-the-iconic-structure

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InvisibleSHIELD Full Body for HTC One X review

invisible shield full body for HTC One x

You bought the HTC One X because of its looks and you don’t want to cover it up in a case.

If you don’t want to put it in a case but you want to protect it from getting scratched, look into the invisibleSHIELD Full Body protective film.

Protective films aren’t new, but they do offer another way of protecting your smartphone. As long as you realize that a protective film won’t protect against drops and hard hits to the phone – it is worth considering if your main concern is scratching your phone.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/oA3TCibbeJE/story01.htm

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Willis Lease Finance Earns $2.4 Million, or $0.28 Per Share, in ...

NOVATO, Calif., Aug. 6, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) ? Willis Lease Finance Corporation (WLFC), a heading lessor of blurb jet engines, reported a net income accessible to common shareholders in a second entertain of 2012 was $2.4 million, or $0.28 per share. Willis Lease warranted $2.5 million, or $0.29 per share, in a initial entertain of 2012, and $2.7 million, or $0.31 per share, in a second entertain of 2011. In a initial 6 months of 2012, Willis Lease generated net income accessible to common shareholders of $5.0 million, or $0.56 per share, compared to $7.0 million, or $0.78 per share, in a initial 6 months of 2011.

Second Quarter 2012 Highlights (at or for a durations finished Jun 30, 2012, compared to Jun 30, 2011):

  • Net income was $2.4 million in a second entertain of 2012, compared to $2.7 million in a year ago quarter, due to reduce franchise franchise and upkeep haven income and differences in gains from sale of leased equipment, partially equivalent by reduce net financial costs.
  • Lease portfolio decreased 4% to $970.0 million from a year ago, with no engines purchased and 4 engines and 1 aircraft sole in a stream quarter.
  • Average function for a second entertain was 82% compared to 83% in a second entertain a year ago and 84% in a initial entertain of 2012.
  • Quarter-end function was 82%, compared to 83% a year ago and 85% during Mar 31, 2012.
  • Total revenues fell 9% to $35.2 million from $38.7 million a year ago, reflecting reduce normal portfolio utilization, decreased portfolio distance and reduce gains from sale of equipment.
  • Lease franchise revenues decreased 7% to $23.8 million compared to $25.7 million a year ago.
  • Maintenance haven revenues decreased 7% to $9.4 million, compared to $10.1 million a year ago.
  • Total net financial costs decreased 19% to $7.1 million, compared to $8.7 million in a year ago quarter, reflecting a majority of aloft cost seductiveness rate swaps and reduce levels of debt.
  • Liquidity accessible from a revolving credit trickery was $122.0 million during entertain end, adult from $90.0 million a year ago.
  • Tangible book value per common share was $22.62 compared to $22.24 a year ago.
  • Willis Lease was sum to a U.S. Small-Cap Russell 2000(R) Index, a subset of a Russell 3000 Index, in Jun 2012. Both indices are widely used by veteran income managers as benchmarks for investment strategies.

?We had a pretty good initial half opening in 2012,? pronounced Charles F. Willis, Chairman and CEO. ?While a franchise rates and portfolio function continue to be challenged, we?re saying signs that medium improvements in these pivotal opening metrics can be approaching over a subsequent integrate of quarters.?

?I am gratified to news that during a initial 6 months of this year we have done Willis Mitsui Co Engine Support, Ltd., a corner try with Mitsui Co., Ltd. formed in Dublin, entirely operational. we trust this corner try has good potential, and we am really tender with a mild and understanding suggestion we have seen in a partners. Although a strange vigilant of a corner try was to combine on appropriation and leasing V2500-A5 and CF34-10 engines, we are already deliberating others ways to gain on a particular strengths. Also during a initial half of 2012, we have spent a substantial volume of time with a bankers reviewing several options to raise a debt appropriation and collateral position in sequence to take full advantage of a ancestral low seductiveness rate environment. As we have pronounced many times before, collateral government is a full-time pursuit for us.?

?We finished a second entertain with a function rate of 82% that is down somewhat from 83% a year ago,? pronounced Donald A. Nunemaker, President. ?Contrary to what a stream portfolio function rate competence indicate, we continue to see good direct for many engine types, nonetheless there stays a stability oversupply of certain engine forms in a market. While a function rate hasn?t altered that much, we now have a aloft thoroughness of aviation resources that are unserviceable and not accessible for lease. Roughly one third of a off-lease resources are possibly undergoing repair, available correct initiation slots during correct comforts or tentative a integrity of repair, sell or consign. This is aloft than common especially due to 4 widebody engines undergoing normal maintenance, as good as a package of aviation resources acquired in unserviceable condition late final year that sojourn underneath repair. The sum net book value of these resources totals $49.0 million or 5% of a sum portfolio. We design by a finish of a year to have almost reduced a volume of unserviceable assets, that will lead to their chain on franchise or undisguised sale. As a result, we design function to urge between now and year-end, though a alleviation is expected to be medium rather than dramatic.?

?Our net financial costs continue to decrease due to low seductiveness rates, reduction debt superb and maturities of seductiveness rate swaps,? pronounced Brad Forsyth, Chief Financial Officer. Total seductiveness losses were down 19% in a second entertain and down 16% in a initial half of 2012 compared to a before durations in 2011. ?We had $60.0 million of high cost swaps mature on Mar 15, 2012, with a sum barter position dwindling to $315.0 million or 47% of floating rate debt.?

Balance Sheet

At Jun 30, 2012, Willis Lease had 191 blurb aircraft engines, 3 aircraft tools packages and 11 aircraft and other engine-related apparatus in a franchise portfolio, with a net book value of $970.0 million, compared to 186 blurb aircraft engines, 3 aircraft tools packages and 3 aircraft and other engine-related apparatus in a franchise portfolio, with a net book value of $1.0 billion a year ago. The Company?s saved debt-to-equity ratio continues to dump and was 2.82 to 1 during entertain end, compared to 3.03 to 1 during Dec 31, 2011, and 3.09 to 1 a year ago.

About Willis Lease Finance

Willis Lease Finance Corporation leases gangling blurb aircraft engines and aircraft to blurb airlines, aircraft engine manufacturers, atmosphere load carriers and maintenance, correct and renovate comforts worldwide. These leasing activities are integrated with a squeeze and resale of used and refurbished blurb aircraft engines.

Except for chronological information, a matters discussed in this press recover enclose forward-looking statements that engage risks and uncertainties. Do not unduly rest on forward-looking statements, that give usually expectations about a destiny and are not guarantees. Forward-looking statements pronounce usually as of a date they are made; and we commence no requirement to refurbish them. Our tangible formula competence differ materially from a formula discussed in forward-looking statements. Factors that competence means such a disproportion include, though are not singular to, a effects on a airline attention and a tellurian economy of events such as militant activity, changes in oil prices and other disruptions to a universe markets; trends in a airline attention and a ability to gain on those trends, including expansion rates of markets and other mercantile factors; risks compared with owning and leasing jet engines and aircraft; a ability to successfully negotiate apparatus purchases, sales and leases, to collect superb amounts due and to control costs and expenses; changes in seductiveness rates and accessibility of capital, both to us and a customers; a ability to continue to accommodate a changing patron demands; regulatory changes inspiring airline operations, aircraft maintenance, accounting standards and taxes; a marketplace value of engines and other resources in a portfolio; and risks minute in a Company?s Annual Report on Form 10-K and other stability reports filed with a Securities and Exchange Commission.

Source: http://www.pentelikonews.gr/video/21845/willis-lease-finance-earns-2-4-million-or-0-28-per-share-in-second-quarter-of-2012/

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HBT: 'The pain won't go away' for Big Papi

David Ortiz remains on the disabled list with an Achilles? tendon injury suffered on July 16 and the Red Sox designated hitter told Ian Browne of MLB.com that he?s ?thinking about? seeking an alternate form of treatment:

I have to talk to the doctors. I have to get more information. The doctors have given me some ideas, because I?m still very sore. I have to talk to them to see what?s up. ??I haven?t played in the past three weeks and I still have pain. I?m not worried about getting worse, because I know I?m getting better. But the pain won?t go away. I don?t know if that?s part of the healing process, I don?t know. Some days I feel better, and the next day is going to be even better, and the next day it continues to be sore.

He was eligible to come off the DL on August 1, but there?s no timetable for his return and Ortiz stressed that he?s not interested in getting a cortisone injection.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/06/david-ortiz-im-still-very-sore-the-pain-wont-go-away/related/

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The Car Seat ? A Practical Wedding: Ideas for Unique, DIY, and ...

This week marks our three-year anniversary (my favorite holiday). Since APW (of course) started as me writing about our planning and wedding, anniversary week always makes me particularly thoughtful. How does our wedding (now three years ago) relate to our marriage? How do relationships change and grow? So this week we wanted to talk about an idea that's integral to all long-term relationships: The Breaking Point.?That point where you come upon something that can?either?break you, or make you whole. This week, we're exploring how major events can enrich a relationship. And first up, we have A., writing about?becoming?a stepmom to a seven-year-old, at thirty-two.

Wedding planning traditionally involves shopping for silver, linen, and crystal. Flowers, candy, and jewelry are typically considered to be romantic gifts. Three weeks after moving in with my fianc?, he went out while I was at work and bought something for me: a pink car booster seat. I arrived home to find it in the foyer. He had picked it out with his seven-year-old daughter, my future stepdaughter, for use in my car when she rides with me.

I will admit right now that my first reaction was not positive. I am very glad to have my future stepdaughter, S., in my life. She's funny, smart, and eternally curious. I enjoy her company, and I feel like we're doing a pretty good job figuring out this whole living together as a family unit thing. But a car seat? in my car? My sporty single-girl truckette, now to be turned into a child-hauling grocery-getter?

A note of explanation on my relationship to my vehicle: My petite four-wheel-drive is practical, cute, and ready for adventure?words that I hope also describe me. It's not just a prized possession, paid off early through years of scrimping, but also one of my most personal spaces. Lacking a private study or home office, my car is the place where I can be by myself, crank up the music, and think. As in so many other areas, we have a gender role reversal in our relationship, as my fianc? couldn't care less about cars, while I tend to view mine as an integral part of my lifestyle (especially living in an area where public transit is not viable for our daily commutes). Suddenly, confronted by the brightly colored child safety device sitting in my new home, destined for a place in my motorized sanctuary, my head was spinning and the past few weeks of remarkably little moving-related tension seemed to fall away.

I had driven S. places before, but had always just borrowed the booster seat out of her dad's car. The purchase of a new car seat for my vehicle was precipitated by a commuting crunch. He's a professor at the university in the next town over, and is teaching an 8 a.m. class this summer. That means he has to leave early, and on the days we have S. with us, it would be impossible for him to get her to her summer day camp on time, plus make it to class. My work starts later and is near her camp, so it follows that I drop her off when she is with us. Thus it also follows that it made sense to buy an extra car seat for my vehicle.

Because I've always been cautious about the idea of parenthood or stepparenthood, we had, prior to moving in, tried to keep clear boundaries drawn around the work of parenting. He's the parent and I have been, in sequence, Daddy's friend, girlfriend, and now fianc?e. But I have never been a parental figure, to her or to anyone, up to this point. In fact, I would go so far as to say that being childless has been a defining point of my identity. In a society that encourages women to define themselves by their child-having status, and when you are of an age when many of your friends are having kids, it becomes easy to define yourself as "not-a-mom," and to incorporate non-motherhood into your self-concept.

The thing is, now that we've moved in together as a baby family, the lines are blurring, physically and emotionally. The physical manifestations of this blurriness are easy to point out: We eat groceries out of the same pantry. We share a mailbox. Possessions like towels, vacuum cleaners, flatware, and dishes are now held in common regardless of who originally bought them.

The emotional blurriness is harder to pin down. I do mundane parent-y things now, like asking S. to set the table and reminding her not to jump on the sofa. We also do fun things as a trio?like volunteering at the local food pantry together, taking walks that detour through the neighbors' lawn sprinklers, and planning Princess Bride?movie nights. S. and I have found common ground in a mutual love of glittery nail polish and history books. Slowly, the lines that once separated us into two distinct social units?him and her as family with me as a visitor?are starting to get fuzzy.

As I've discussed before on APW, the decision to marry my fianc??is also a deliberate decision to create a family with him and S. Like any engaged couple, we're creating a baby family?it just has more people in it than some, and thus is a little more complicated in the set-up.

As we prepared to move in together, we took inventory of our possessions and decided which items we could get rid of. Some things were easy?having two identical Ikea garlic presses meant we just had to put one in the charity box. Other things were harder. I gave up my favorite napping sofa. He gave up his 1960s sleeper couch and his bedroom dresser. Some negotiations over objects seemed little, but were actually kind of a big deal. I made the decision to use his fruit bowl in the kitchen, although I liked mine a bit better, because he was attached to it; he puts up with my enormous collection of FiestaWare dishes, to which I have my own unreasonable emotional attachment.

Feelings are a different matter. Difficult emotions aren't as easily discarded as a spare spatula. We can't transfer our feelings by putting them in a charity drop box. And we can't compromise on everything as easily as where we put our apples. So we have to talk about how we feel?ad nauseum, it sometimes feels like.

While walking and talking with my fianc?, I confessed that I felt a little weird about the car seat. The thing was, as long as I was just borrowing his car seat, I was also just borrowing the mantle of "parent" and all that goes with it. With the installation of the booster in my backseat, it felt like I was taking it on full-time, and that freaked me out.

My fianc? found this kind of amusing because, as he noted, our culture tells us that men are afraid of parenthood, marriage, and "settling down," while women push for it. Here we were, reenacting a clich?d scene in reverse. I was the one balking at the idea of any trappings of domesticity, from putting a car seat in my car, to having dinner on the table at a reasonable time every evening (a big change for someone who used to eat cereal for dinner when feeling too lazy to cook). Although he found this funny, I wasn't laughing?I was a little scared, as I felt like I was being pushed into a mold that didn't fit, needing to compromise who I had been for most of my adult life in order to accommodate our relationship and impending marriage.

Then, this morning, as I was driving S. to camp, her sitting in her pink-flowered car seat, I cranked up the radio. She said, "I know this song!" and started to sing along. I sang too.

She said, "My mom and dad always just listen to news in the morning."

"I like to listen to music, to get going," I said.

"Me too!" she responded.

So, we jammed to Top 40 the rest of the way to camp. I was doing things differently than her parents, and that was okay. We were having fun together, doing what I always do in my car in the mornings. I was being myself, and she was being herself. We were getting glimpses into each other's worlds as I listened to her talk about her friends, and she approved my choice of morning drivetime music.

Just as our stuff has gotten mixed up since moving in, our lives are all becoming ever more swirled together. Growing our baby family doesn't start when we say our vows next Spring?it starts now, through every small act of daily life. There are going to be concessions made, emotional fences dismantled, and self-concepts redefined. The process may get messy at times, just as our new home started as a mess of jumbled boxes. But as my future mother-in-law said, if we can blend our lives as well as we have blended our possessions, we'll be okay.

And I have to say, I think S. liked having her own seat in my car this morning. I certainly liked having her there. Next time I think I'll bring some Cyndi Lauper (one of her favorites and mine). Girls just want to have fun, after all, whether they're seven years old and getting a new stepmom, or thirty-two years old and becoming one.

Photo from A's Personal Collection

Source: http://apracticalwedding.com/2012/08/becoming-a-step-mom-and-a-wife/

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A Continual Commitment to Superb Customer Service | Business ...

Is great customer service a target you suddenly arrive at after years of experience, practice and research? Or is great customer service a commitment your business maintains consistently to reap the experience it wants? Is it the end or the means to reaching an end?

Excellent customer service is continuous. Constant. Persistent. Ongoing. Just like any commitment, you don?t maintain it for a temporary period of time ? you dedicate yourself and your efforts to it, endlessly.

A lot of companies promise their customers a lot of things?the vow, the promise, the wedding so to say?companies entice their customers with all sorts of sweet nothings to lure them in the doors ? but then what? Any company that?s good with words and charm can convince customers to give them a shot, but only companies that truly deliver will really win the hearts of those they aim to please. True loyalty breeds true loyalty. If you?re a leader, remember this: what you want your customers to give you, you must first offer them. You want them to be ceaselessly committed to your organization? Well, ensure your organization is ceaselessly devoted to them. It?s straightforward. Simple. And shouldn?t really be all that much of a secret. So, how do you do that?

You continually improve. The ultimate goal of great customer service is to avoid complacency. Your customers don?t stop changing, so why should you? And the economy, industry and external environment doesn?t stop changing, so why should you?

Now, although there are various ways to perpetually build progress ? here are my top 3 tips:

Schedule it.
Don?t assume that with time, it?ll happen ? instead, be intentional. Schedule a weekly or bi-weekly meeting with essential teams, so that your constant commitment to delivering great customer experiences is continually communicated, reiterated and expressed.

Measure it.
Don?t assume you?ll know when it?s different ? rather, take steps to measure the steps your organization has taken. Without tangible tracking in place, it?ll be hard for you to know when your employees are doing things differently, when your customers are experiencing things differently, and what it is that?s influencing your bottom-line. Regardless of what happens, you want to be able to understand why it happened.

Revisit it.
Intentionally making time and diligently recording progress are the first two ways to demonstrate your continual commitment to delivering great customer service ? but the third (and critical) way will put real weight behind your words. You must regularly revisit your original commitments ? not only to reiterate their importance, but to update them appropriately, adjust strategies prudently, and celebrate progress excitedly!

Schedule, measure and revisit ? it?s a cycle that never stops?because great service never stops becoming better than what it is and reworking what isn?t working.

Source: http://wcwpartners.com/customers/customer-loyalty-retention/a-continual-commitment-to-superb-customer-service/

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Retiring? Finding a Home for Your Books and Papers Will Be Topic ...

Preserving Your Intellectual Legacy at UNC

An Information Session for Faculty and Staff Nearing Retirement
Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012
4-6 p.m.
Wilson Special Collections Library, Pleasants Family Assembly Room
Information: Emily Silverman, Library Development, (919) 962-3437

Retiring faculty and staff members can get answers to the question ?What do I do with my books and papers?? during a free program on Sept. 6, from 4 to 6 p.m., in the Wilson Special Collections Library.

Librarians and archivists will discuss ways to preserve your intellectual legacy at UNC by donating books and papers to the Library, and options for placing scholarly materials elsewhere if the UNC Library is unable to accept them. Attendees will also learn about achieving charitable goals through gift planning.

Following the panel discussion and Q & A, a reception will take place in the North Carolina Collection Gallery of Wilson Library.

Topics will be:

  • Managing and placing your personal book collections ? Libby Chenault, Davis Library
  • Preserving your scholarly work (papers, research materials, data) ? Jay Gaidmore, University Archives
  • Accomplishing personal and charitable goals at Carolina ? Elizabeth Ayers, J.D., Gift Planning

Registration is requested. RSVP by Aug. 31 to Emily Silverman, Associate Director of Library Development, (919) 962-3437 or essilver@email.unc.edu.

Spouses and guests are welcome.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library and the Office of Gift Planning.

Source: http://www.lib.unc.edu/blogs/news/index.php/2012/08/retiring-faculty-staff-program-intellectual-legacy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=retiring-faculty-staff-program-intellectual-legacy

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