I came across some information recently, while writing No 7-Eleven NYC, Labor, and “Free Markets”, from the National Employment Law Project, a national advocacy organization for employment rights of lower-wage workers, to quote their web site. Some of this restates what I wrote already, except it focusses on violations of the law instead of exemptions from it, and is more specific to food stores:

The grocery and supermarket industry is divided into three main segments:
1. Green grocers, bodegas & delis sell fresh produce, dry and prepared foods, and household items. They are small stores and often family-run.
2. Gourmet grocers are the fastest-growing industry segment and are defined by luxury products (including health food and organic food) and a high-income consumer base. Stores are mid-sized and often owned by chains, although some have independent owners.
3. Supermarkets are larger, carry a wider range of products, and are often owned by chains. Historically, this segment has had higher union density and job quality, though both have been declining because of non-union competition.

Wages and working conditions vary by industry segment and by the degree of unionization. The most unregulated stores are green grocers, bodegas and delis – margins are razor thin, wages are low, and workplace violations are chronic.

Immigrants make up about two-thirds of the workforce, and increasingly hail from Latin America and especially Mexico. Many find jobs through friends and family already working in a store that is hiring. But some employers advertise in ethnic newspapers, and green grocers frequently hire workers through storefront employment agencies. Bodegas rely heavily on family members, who put in very long shifts.

In our interviews, non-union grocery jobs were widely considered the least desirable of employment options. While the jobs are easy to get, requiring little English or previous training, they are exploitative and dead-end (“There’s only one type of job,” as a bodega owner put it). Turnover is high across all segments, although workers may stay in the industry for several years because there are few alternatives.

INDUSTRY SEGMENTS WHERE WORKPLACE VIOLATIONS ARE COMMON

• Green grocery stores, bodegas and delis (violations are prevalent).
• Gourmet grocers/health food stores (violations are frequent).
• Non-union supermarkets (common violations in some occupations).

THE JOBS WHERE WORKPLACE VIOLATIONS ARE COMMON

• Occupations – Occupations most impacted include cashiers, stock clerks, deli counter workers, food preparers, delivery workers, janitors, baggers, produce washers/watchers, and flower-arrangers.
• Typical wages – Green grocery, bodega, and deli workers: $250-300 per week is typical. Produce washers and food preparers earn between $4 and $5 per hour.
• Typical hours – Hours average 55-75 hours per week in green grocery stores; 40-60 hours per week in gourmet grocery stores; and 40-60 hours per week in non-union supermarkets.
• Payment method – Workers are largely paid in cash at green grocery stores, with the exception of occasional cashiers and family members of the owners. Gourmet grocers and supermarkets generally pay on the books, though at least a few workers are always paid in cash.
• Benefits – Health benefits and vacation and sick days are rare in non-union stores.

THE WORKERS MOST AFFECTED BY WORKPLACE VIOLATIONS

Workforce is almost exclusively immigrant, from Mexico, Central America, Korea, Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. Delivery workers are mostly African immigrants. With the exception of cashier jobs, most occupations are male dominated. Ages range from the teens through the 40s.

Green grocery and delivery workers are often undocumented. Some undocumented workers in gourmet grocery stores and supermarkets.

INTERMEDIARIES PLACING WORKERS IN UNREGULATED JOBS

Storefront employment agencies are frequently used, especially for off-the-books jobs, charging the workers $100-$300 per placement, or $10 for a day job.

COMMON WORKPLACE VIOLATIONS

• Minimum wage – Violations are pervasive in green grocery stores, bodegas and delis. Workers commonly put in 60-72 hours per week, often resulting in hourly wages below the minimum. For example, a worker paid $300 per week for 60 hours will earn $5 per hour (without considering time-and-a half-pay for overtime hours). The worst jobs can be paid as little as $2.50 an hour. Similar violations are found in gourmet stores, but are somewhat less pervasive. Violations in non-union supermarkets are concentrated in the most vulnerable occupations (baggers, delivery workers).
• Overtime – Green grocery stores rarely pay overtime. Gourmet grocery stores may selectively pay overtime (e.g. after six months, or for more skilled workers). Non-union supermarkets often violate overtime laws for baggers and delivery workers.
• Meal breaks – Meal breaks are erratic, and green grocery workers in particular can work up to 14-hour days without a meal break. Delivery workers typically do not get meal breaks and have to eat on the job.
• Employer taxes – When employers pay in cash, they very rarely pay required taxes.
• OSHA – Chemical and pesticide exposure is a serious issue for workers handling sprayed produce, with few safeguards or training by employers. Stockers do not receive mandated training on lifting and moving.
• Workers’ Compensation – Smaller employers do not carry workers’ compensation, and across segments, workers rarely receive it when injured on the job.
• Discrimination – Workers report hiring, firing and promotion based on immigration status, ethnicity and relationship to owner, as well as harassment based on immigration status.
• Retaliation and the right to organize – Workers report being threatened, intimidated and fired for bringing complaints or attempting to organize.

Another topic I plan to take up soon is working in restaurants. If you want to get a jump on things, check out this web site.

=-=-=-=-=

Unregulated Work in the Grocery and Supermarket Industry in New York City

I’ve previously blogged about QH at least here, here and here.

This year, the approach is actually less thematic and more linear: we’re talking about time at home, at the airport, on board and on arrival. As of now discussion is at the first stage: at home. Where does travel experience begin? What is important before traveling?

I was just planning to drop a comment on their blog, but then, as usual, thoughts and words started flying and I had to write a blog post. It’s like getting a permission to dream about traveling AND talk about it aloud.

I heard on the radio today that from this April/May onwards, we can collect our new passports from R-kioski (link in FIN), the Finnish equivalent to a 7-Eleven. Previously, getting a new passport has been a dreadful, time-consuming effort involving lots of queuing at the police station. Maybe in the future you can have your passport delivered to R-kioski at the Helsinki airport (instead of the nearest R-kioski to your house)? Amazing innovation from a country who loves its officials.

Anyway, my passport is fine for a couple more years. The biggest task is always finding the passport before leaving.

For my travel plans, I nowadays mostly use SkyScanner and TripAdvisor. I particularly like using both apps with iPad. I don’t often use airline or airport websites, but when I do, the information I look for is almost always the airport floor and service plan in visual, downloadable or printable format. I need to see where I am, and besides, it’s crucial sometimes to know exactly where to turn right from, when you’re trying to make it on time to the next flight or trying to get out of the airport as fast as possible.

But my love for maps does not end at the airport. I love map services connected to all sorts of travel sites. It is important for me to see where I’m going, how’s the airport situated to the town, how’s the town situated to the country, how does public transport work etc.

I’ll share an example. Last December, I was traveling to Malta. As I’m a big fan of German Christmas markets, but did not want to fly to Germany only because of the market, I a) chose a return flight from Malta with a 4-5 hour layover in Frankfurt, b) checked the how, where and how long of public transportation from the airport to town, and c) checked the location of the nearest, most convenient Christmas market to the train station. End result: enjoying a few mugs of delicious mulled wine and stocking up on roasted almonds with zero haste.

Another example is from years back, but it’s a similar one. I was traveling to Brussels, and happened to notice an interesting concert in Paris around the same time. So I ended up securing a concert ticket in Paris first, and then booking a one-way flight to Brussels and a one-way flight back from Paris. A concert in La Cigale, one night in Pigalle. Great! Did you know the train connection between these two cities is fabulous and very fast?

Packing information to visual format is a very welcome, relatively new approach in many areas of life. I wonder if this blog post could have been presented in visual format instead of carefree rambling?

♣ In the meantime: Was just reading about the Finnish start-up Supercell in Forbes. Looking at those jaw-dropping figures and hearing the CEO Ilkka Paananen say (at least in Finnish media, link in FIN) that they pay their taxes happily makes me feel hopeful. You can have a prosperous business and not have to drain employees empty of all energy, kill the environment or bend rules on a regular basis. Impressive!

♠ Song of the day: Ralf Gyllenhammar, Bed on fire (this should have been the song to represent Sweden in the Eurovision song contest)

7-Eleven Located INSIDE Chiang Mai, Zoo grounds

I just wanted to write a quick post regarding the number of 7-Eleven convenience stores that are taking over the entire country.

Thailand is literally sprinkled with 7-Eleven’s, popping up in every town and city, kitty corner to .. well other 7-Eleven’s. They are a convenient stop I admit, for many things (including alcohol, and noodle cups galore in Thailand) but enough is enough!

A quick comparison for your enjoyment follows:

1,324 Starbucks locations in Canada

1,800 Esso Gas Stations in Canada

2,917 Subway Restaurants in Canada

3,355 Tim Horton’s locations in Canada

5,800 Taco Bell Restaurants in the US

Thailand has the 3rd largest number of stores world-wide, with a whopping 6,800 stores (and has plans of  opening 500 more this year).

Slurpee anyone?? Everyone??

All information referenced from wikipedia.org

BLACK BOX

April BLACK BOX Goodies

Does having beauty products and goodies sealed and hand-delivered right to your doorstep for free sound amazing to you? BLACK BOX does just that! BLACK BOX is a unisex subscription box that has at least 5 sample surprises waiting for you!

To receive your very own complimentary BLACK BOX , just go to http://www.blackbox.sg/
Scroll down and you will see the subscribe button. Simply fill in the simple subscription form/ survey and they will let you know if you qualify to receive your very own subscription box! By qualify, I mean they have a limited number of boxes every month! So hurry before all the subscription boxes are snapped up!

Also, do add no-reply@EDM.blackbox.sg to your email’s safe senders list so that you can receive news about BLACK BOX. BLACK BOX does NOT sell, rent, license or otherwise disclose any personal information to other parties.

Here’s what I received in my April BLACK BOX!

Vanish Pink, Uncle Tobys, Darlie, Zappy Baby Wipes

Coupons and zip lock bag

1. A card that lists the products that are in every box or selected boxes, where to get the full sized item and how much the full sized product costs.
2. L’Oréal Paris REVITALIFT LASER X3 Renewing Anti-Aging Serum (5ml tube)
3. L’Oréal Paris REVITALIFT LASER X3 New Skin Anti-aging Cream (5ml tube)
4. Zappy Baby Wipes (30 sheets in a pack)
5. Vanish Pink Power 02 Fabric Stain Remover Powder (30g Sachet)
6. Belif The True Cream- Aqua Bomb (3ml sachet)
7. Belif First Aid 360 Eye Care Mask (3ml sachet)
8. Belif Creamy Cleansing Foam Moist (3ml sachet)
9. Belif UV Protector Daily Sunscreen Gel (2ml sachet)
10. Uncle Tobys Chewy Choc Chip Muesli Bar (1 Bar 31.3g)
11. Darlie Double Action Enamel Protect-Strong Mint tooth Paste (50g 1 tube)
12. Coupons in a zip lock bag from:
    Q0010
    Zalora
    Body Contours
    Revive Wellness
    Orlon Crystal Jewellery
    7 Eleven
    The Ark
    Sold.sg

My favourites are the L’Oréal Paris REVITALIFT LASER X3 and Belif samples. Here’s some product description on them.

L’Oréal Paris REVITALIFT LASER X3

According to Her World Plus,
The Revitalift Laser X3 Renewing Anti-Aging Serum, $49.90, is said to improve your skin’s texture, replumps skin and promotes skin’s natural renewal process while the Revitalift Laser X3 New Skin Anti-Aging Cream, $39.90, aims to promote cell renewal, reduce pore size, smoothe out wrinkles and stimulates the synthesis of skin.

If your problem is around your eye area – try the Revitalift Laser X3 Anti-Aging Transforming Eye Cream, $37.90 which diminishes eye puffiness, refines the skin’s texture and stimulates skin fibres to provide firmness around the eye.

Belif Samples

Belif is a Korean Brand.

Belif The True Cream- Aqua Bomb

With Napiers aqua formula containing Lady’s Mantle, often called “a woman’s hydrating herb,” this refreshing gel cream supplies instant moisture to the skin while forming a protective layer that wraps the skin in comfort.

Belif Creamy Cleansing Foam Moist

This cleansing foam for normal to combination and dry skin types, is made with natural cleansing and moisturizing properties and using foaming action to softly wash away impurities from your skin. Formulated with Soapwort rich in vitamin C and Wormwood to remove toxins, it produces clean skin without dryness after washing.

Thank you BLACK BOX for giving me unforgettable indulgences in a box!

Some of you might already have access to your company’s job list database so you might already be up to date on lot’s of the positions that are available all around the US but for those of you who haven’t this would really come in handy when looking for housing or planning for your plane ticket and even just how to get there. As all of you first timers are going to a completely new place some of you might be scared. A lot of things are going to be different. Finding housing can be challenging, especially since you’re going to tourist spots. Many of the landlords are expecting tourist not work and travel students and the prices will be quite high. So when you look for housing you should always try to find a landlord that offers something for work and travel students. Trust me, they do exist and they know that you are there to earn money so they offer good housing for a suitable price. Another thing that is kind of urgent to know once you get there is the stores. I don’t mean shopping I mean food. You can’t afford to eat out every day, even if you can, you’re not going to end up bringing a lot of money back home with you.

Stores like Acme Supermarket and 7-eleven just the thing you should look for. For those of you on the east coast Wawa is also a good place to shop at and possibly get a second job. All three of them have decent prices and have some sort of sale going on every day. My personal favorite was the Chicken/Pizza with Coke discount. The way that works is simple. A pack of fried chicken or a medium size pizza cost $6 each. A big bottle of Coke costs $1.50 but that $1.50 is taken out of the price of the chicken and the pizza. Didn’t quite get it? Ok, look at it this way, if you buy a plain pizza you pay $6. If you buy a pizza and Coke you still pay $6. See, you pay the $1.50 for the Coke but since you got the Coke your pizza only cost $4.50 now. And yes if you buy 4 Cokes you get a free pizza. That is only valid on Friday, on Monday you get the same deal with a pack of fried chicken. As for the rest of the week, there are plenty of other sales, like 2 for 1 or even discounts if you have an Acme Supercard. And it’s the same drill at 7-eleven and Wawa. Some of you might not need anything more than snacks from these places. Why? Because, for those of you who have the luck to work in a kitchen, as a chef or even just a steward, you will be fed almost all the time. I know it sounds bad but it happens. You get to eat all the time. Just try not to do it while your manager is looking at you.

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Another important concern to keep in mind is laundry. Many places do not have a place for laundry. Housing can be quite literally just housing without a laundry room in the basement or anywhere on the property. You should ask around for a Laundromat. Now I know that you have to pay there every time you have to do laundry but what else can you do? Buy a washing machine? Yeah right. And trust me washing your things by hand after you’ve been working all day isn’t going to happen. When you get home you’ll be tired and cranky and with the sole though of crashing into bed. But there is a trick to this as well. For those of you that are working as housekeepers or housemen, most employers do allow you to bring you’re laundry and use the washing machine at work. Of course as long as it doesn’t delay that of the guests or doesn’t otherwise interfere with you doing your job.

As you’ve noticed some jobs come with perks. Now I can’t tell you for sure about what the perks are for every single job   there but I can tell you for some. Like, let’s say, you’re going to work at a gas station. You can use the air pump and the other tools for free whenever you want. Why would you need that? Well, if you have a bike and something goes wrong you wont need to pay $50 bucks to the mechanic. You can do it yourself or even kindly ask the mechanic there, being co-workers and all sure helps, provided you were polite and friendly to him beforehand. Another fun fact about working at a gas station is that after you put on the uniform people instantly see you as an authority figure. In their eyes you are an expert in all things car related. Also you hold their credit cards. You can see that they have some sense of higher respect for you, well most of them anyway. Also, did I mention the tips? Yes, tips at a gas station. Sometimes they are not even related to your job. See most people, especially spoiled rich folk, don’t know anything about their car. So, when you see a person who parked next to the air pump and is just wandering around trying to figure out how to pump up his tires or even how much, go over there and help them, if you’re not already busy with a customer of course. If you’re polite and friendly, they’ll tip you. Sometimes, if the gas station is in a convenient location, you even get people who ask if they can park there. Now this is a bit sneaky but hey a tip is a tip. The trick is to give them a “No” look but not to say no. Wait for them to react. They’ll almost always try to bribe you somehow. And it’s ok, they just need the space to park. They aren’t asking you to do something illegal. Just make sure that wherever you tell them to park won’t bother the other customers. Popular gas station chains in the US are Exxon, Shell, and again for the east coast Wawa. Yes, it can also double as a gas station and so can 7-eleven.

That’s all for this post but stay tuned for more. Don’t forget to follow the blog if you would like to see more of it. Also follow on Twitter and like on Facebook. The links to both are to the right. Hope you had a great start of the week. Hope you come back for the next installment of WAT USA.

Just before I sign off, here’s a little more on Acme, 7-eleven, and Wawa. Think of it as a little added bonus for the extra wait.

More on Acme, 7-Eleven, and Wawa storify.com/WATAUBG/more-o… via @wataubg #Survival #WAT #USA #Summer #Work #Food #Wawa #7-eleven #AcmeMarket

— WAT & AUBG (@WATAUBG) April 18, 2013

CHICAGO and LAS VEGAS -– 7-Eleven Inc. and Information Resources Inc. (IRI) teamed up to launch the 7-Exchange Next Generation solution.

This new solution is designed to help ensure that 7-Eleven and subscribing manufacturer partners work from a “single version of the truth” for elements such as identical basket-level transaction data, promotion optimization, trip-mission segments, store segmentation, and same-store and time-of-day information.

The approach will facilitate collaboration and accelerate return on investment for joint activities, the companies stated.

“This new solution offers the manufacturer a more robust way to partner with 7-Eleven on their category management processes,” said Brad Shelton, executive vice president, retail client solutions, IRI. “The new 7-Exchange will provide detailed insights into the purchase patterns of almost 7 million guests who visit 7-Eleven in a typical day.”

With 7-Exchange Next Generation, 7-Eleven becomes the first convenience store operator to share basket-level transaction data with its partners in order to accelerate innovative and more customer-focused products and merchandising approaches, according to the Dallas-based retailer.

Standardized category management workflows will encourage stronger alignment between all of 7-Eleven’s external manufacturer-partner activities and internal category management processes, including analysis, execution and measurement of key category sales information.

“The 7-Exchange Next Generation solution and its brand-affinity insights provide the detailed data manufacturers and 7-Eleven need to more effectively identify product assortment and merchandising opportunities, design more effective promotional strategies, and identify high-value, cross-merchandising opportunities,” noted Jim Hendrickson, 7-Eleven’s manager of market research and consumer insights. “This unprecedented access to precise basket-level data gives our manufacturer partners the improved insights they need to thrive at 7-Eleven.”

The 7-Exchange Next Generation solution is deployed using IRI’s Retail Advantage platform, the latest module under the Retail Advantage product portfolio that empowers integrated insights and closed-loop marketing for retailers and their supplier partners, according to both companies.

The Retail Advantage platform is a data-analysis tool that delivers improved access to integrated shopper, basket, panel, point-of-sale and third-party insights, and offers subscribers the flexibility to expand the 7-Exchange service to include “rest of market” and loyalty data.

Today also marked the announcement that SymphonyIRI Group is rebranding itself IRI. President and CEO Andrew Appel announced the change during the opening day of the company’s 2013 Summit conference held at the Wynn Las Vegas.

7-Eleven Inc. operates, franchises and licenses more than 8,500 stores in the United States and Canada.

IRI, formerly known as SymphonyIRI Group, provides solutions and services for consumer, retail and over-the-counter health care companies worldwide.

Read more at http://www.csnews.com/top-story-business_focus-7_eleven_works_with_iri_to_create__single_version_of_the_truth_-63463.html

Raymond Sean Clark, 38, pleaded not guilty in Long Beach Superior Court to one count each of murder and arson causing great bodily injury.

The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegations of murder by means of lying in wait, murder involving the infliction of torture and murder while engaged in the crime of mayhem.

Prosecutors will later decide if they want to seek the death penalty against Clark, who is behind bars without bail.

Clark allegedly walked up to the driver’s side of Jerry Payne’s Toyota 4-Runner at a 7-Eleven on Clark Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway Friday night and tossed a flammable substance inside.

The suspect was arrested a short time later.

Witnesses helped douse Payne with water, but the victim died at the hospital around 2 a.m. Monday from his injuries.

The investigation is ongoing.

RELATED STORIES:

Man Dies Of Burn Injuries 3 Days After Being Set On Fire

Man, 63, Set On Fire Inside His SUV Outside 7-Eleven In Long Beach

(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

7-Eleven will be giving away free Slurpee beverages on April 16 from 11 a.m. –until 3 p.m. at 13 Cadillac Square – at the corner of Woodward Avenue.

In a statement, 7-Eleven said Detroit, a.k.a. “Slurpee capital of the USA,” is making a comeback with several proposed downtown store locations. 7-Eleven representatives say the stores will bring shopping to the area, on top of business opportunities as the new stores become available to franchise.

Find a 7-Eleven near you at www.7-Eleven.com.

“There are way too many. They’re part of a larger trend of suburbanization that’s been going on in the city” largely over the last decade or so, said Jeremiah Moss, who runs the blog Vanishing New York, which documents changes in the Big Apple.

“These are not one-of-a-kind businesses, they’re clones of each other, and they don’t feel like New York because they’re not of New York,” Moss said.

A grassroots group called No 7-Eleven formed last year to protest the opening of the convenience store, focusing on the East Village, whose “neighborhood feel” would be diminished by more 7-Elevens, a group representative said.

“The chain stores in New York City take away from the city’s character,” a representative said. “Anything special, unique or culturally significant in New York City is being pushed out and replaced with big brand names and predictable experiences the tourists and transients feel safe with.”

The chain, which has 32 stores in Manhattan and reportedly plans to open about 100 more, said “there is opportunity to grow more stores based on unmet demand,” and that the “vast majority of our stores in NYC [are] met with no opposition.”

Welcome to your opposition.

As more chains hit the city could mom and pop be in trouble? [am New York]

Here are some of the freebies that you can take advantage of this Tax Day;

Arby’s
For the third straight year, Arby’s is offering a free value-sized order of curly fries or a small order of potato cakes.   Just use this printable coupon.  http://coupon.arbys.com/AprilArbysTaxday04152013/

 
Cinnabon
Customers can pick up two Cinnabon bites for free today from 6-8 p.m.  

 
Office Depot
It’s always helpful to keep copies of your tax return. Office Depot and receiving a free black and white copy of your tax return (up to 25 pages, single sided.  This offer expires May 1.

 
Boston Market
Today you can get a “Big Rib-bate” special:  two rib meals for $10.40  (no coupon needed)  The meal includes a 1/4 rack of St. Louis Style BBQ Ribs with mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet corn and freshly baked cornbread.

Chili’s
Get a free appetizer or dessert with the purchase of an adult entree April 15 through April 18.   You’ll need a coupon for this one.  You can find it on the Chili’sFacebook page.  Print it out or show it to your server via your smart phone.  https://www.facebook.com/Chilis#!/Chilis/app_443870895626234

 
7-Eleven
Get a medium Slurpee for free when you text “Slurp7″ to “711711″ (this offer runs through 4/30)

I love this story!  In fact, when I walked across the street to the store to see if I could meet Igor, the worker’s said, “Go ahead, he is around the corner in the office…he would love to meet you.”  That day, I met the man who is living his dream.  One thing that Igor said that stuck with me that day was this, “I am a nobody that worked hard.  My work somehow got noticed and now I am living my dream.”  He then said, “I would rather push a broom sweeping up the worst filth in the United States of America than be a dignitary in my former country.”  Wow!  What a powerful set of statements he shared!  The CEO of 7-Eleven changed Igor’s life!  Igor was given his own franchise in one of the busiest areas of Richardson, TX.  I guess it does pay to sweat the small stuff!

Luke, the physician/disciple of Jesus, describes Igor’s journey this way in Luke 16:10,

If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.  But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater things.

I love this!  Why?  Because faithful, trustworthy handling of small things builds trust with the person that is asking you to take responsibility for them and handle the issues they want completed.  It is character building.  It creates an ethic of dependability in and individual.  Once trust is gained and dependability built, larger assignments can be given and trusted to be completed.  However, the converse is also true.  If dishonesty, unfaithfulness and being undependable are evident, then greater assignments will not come.

I remember when I first went to a bank to get my first loan.  I went with my grandfather and my dad.  We walked in to the bank and I asked for my first loan of $1000.  There was one piece of paper that I filled out.  What was interesting about this paper was it just had my name and the amount.  It was and IOU!  I didn’t even have a place to sign it.  The deal was sealed with a question from the banker about repaying the amount and a handshake.  That was it!

People need to return to a lifestyle of honor and being people of their word.  Faithfulness is being true to your word and following through with what you say you will do.  When I am trusted to do the small things and have proven myself trustworthy, then larger responsibilities come my way.  I paid back the loan in full, early!  What was the beginning of my credit history, with the $1000 loan, now has helped me to buy cars, houses and even start my own business.  These things come from God.  These larger things may show up on your job, community, family or other unseen ways.  But, they are the result of being found faithful by the Omnipotent Boss.  Now for the bad news…the opposite of this is true as well.  If I would have been found to be untrue to my word with that $1000 loan, then I would have had a different path to redemption to take.  Trust would have been abated and I would have been stuck in my own consequences of dishonesty.

My prayer is the God continues to find me faithful and keeps his hand on my life…what about you?

What are some of the little things that God entrusted you with?

How did you handle those things…faithfully or dishonestly?

What larger things are you currently handling now?  

Is the ethic of dependability on display or are you being caught in the trap of dishonesty?

Fireball Special Projects Program
by, Concept Activity Research Vault ( CARV )

August 16, 2011 12:30:08 ( PST ) Updated ( Published: April 11, 2011 )

CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles – August 16, 2011 – When a brilliant object appears twinkles while hanging motionless like a star against a darkened sky, but is ‘not a star’, what is it?

Between 2010 and 2011, residents throughout South Bay cities surrounding Los Angeles in southern California have been trying to figure out what keeps appears to them like an early dark morning star, but is not.

What’s odd about this object’s brilliance is that this ‘bright white light shines from the opposite side of the object facing the horizon where the early morning Sun rises later in the day. The only way the Sun could illuminate the object would be that the object would either have to be ‘transparent’ or equipped with the new advanced military defense ‘light reflection projection technology’ ( LRP ) also known as “Advanced Stealth.”

Does this mysterious hovering object belong to the U.S. Department of Defense ( DOD ) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ( DARPA ), U.S. Navy ( USN ), U.S. Air Force ( USAF ), U.S. Navy National Reconnaissance Office ( NRO ), or is it an Unidentified Flying Object ( UFO )?

In early January 2011 an early rising resident of Carson, California assumed the ‘flickering starlight’ he saw against the pitch black sky of early morning was simply a passenger airline with runway lights on its approach to Los Angeles International Airport not far away, but a Torrance, California resident claimed he had been outside sipping on a coffee for almost 2-hours and the starlight object had ‘not moved’ from its position in the darkened sky so, he believed the starlight object was just a ‘star’ and that it would disappear when the Sun rose. Both residents were wrong because as the Sun rose the brilliant starlight remained where it had been positioned in the darkened sky for hours.

One businessman, stepping from his car in a West Carson, California McDonald’s fast food parking lot walked over to see what everyone was looking up at ( the starlight object ) in the early morning darkened sky, and overheard amongst a small crowd of people one woman say, “Maybe it’s a UFO!”

Smiling as though he would settle the dispute he asked, “Don’t you people ever read the newspaper around here? That’s just the U.S. Department of Defense ‘Unmanned Aerial Vehicle’ ( UAV ) assigned to keep watch over the Port of Los Angeles from terrorist attacks.”

A homeless man, sitting nearby drinking his cup of coffee, looked at the businessman and asked, “Does that ‘look’ like any UAV or balloon you ever saw before? The businessman shook his head in a negative reply, whereupon the homeless man further enquired, “Then ‘why’ hasn’t that object moved in the sky for over 2-hours now?”

The businessman, saying nothing further in reply, turned away and went inside to get his early morning McDonald’s breakfast.

Although few bother looking up around at darkened skies, or for that matter after daybreak, there are now more people – especially in southern California – beginning to look up and study what’s hovering overhead them. Are residents expecting to see something new or becoming paranoid after watching so many television news broadcasts about the rash of UFO sightings and lights all over the world?

One man pulled-up in a minivan with Virginia license plates for his early morning breakfast, but also strolled over to where the commotion was going on at whereupon after observing it for about a minute smiled and said, “Heck, we got one of those over in Charlottesville. Shows up like clockwork, every night, ’round 8:00 p.m.,” and then walked away toward his breakfast shaking his head while mumbling, “Durn government spooks - spyin’ on us everywhere!”

As the Virginian left with his McDonald’s bagged breakfast in-hand, he stopped at the table outside to share some of his first-hand experiences with ‘fireballs’ and other ‘strange lights’ in the sky – some that look like ‘aircraft landing lights’ twinkling off in the ‘low horizon distance’ and similar lights appearing like ‘real bright stars’ that suddenly disappear a short time later.

He reported that whatever this mysterious Virginia sighting really ‘was’, there was no public information detailing its ‘flight path trajectory’ or where it landed – and it ‘did land’! In fact, it exploded, according to our Green County Record newspaper in Stanardsville, Virginia spoke to an eyewitness named Judy Kilgus who gave her own experience about what happened just outside a farm neighborhood 7-Eleven convenience store.

Further research, into the Virginian’s story, found the following details:

The 7-Eleven ( store number 21482 ) was located at 1199 29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway ( also known as ) U.S. Route 29 ( also known as ) North Seminole Trail in Madison, Virginia 22727-0024 where Judy Kilgus additionally experienced strange pungent aromatics she identified as an “eerie odor” lingering in the night air after the unidentified flying object ( UFO ) – resembling a “fireball” – crash landed. ( See Newspaper Report – Immediately Below )

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Source: GREENE COUNTY RECORD – a Medial General newspaper – ( Stanardsville, Virginia, USA )

Experts Offer Guesses On Mysterious Fire Ball Sighting
by, April Taylor – Greene County Record Reporter

April 2, 2009

VIRGINIA, Stanardsville – April 2, 2009 – Judy Kilgus of Stanardsville was driving on [ Virginia, U.S. ] Route 522 [ Sperryville Pike ] near Culpeper [ Virginia ] Sunday [ March 29, 2009 ] night when she saw what she says looked like a burning ball of fire falling from the sky.

“It was me, my mother and one of my brothers, and we were on our way back from Salem [ Virginia ],” Kilgus recalled. She said they were about 3-miles out of Culpeper ( Virginia ] when the “ball” came shooting across ( the sky ).

“At first it gave the appearance of a shooting ‘star’,  and then it was just huge,” she said continuing, This was not like some little light. The colors were brilliant and it was ‘flickering’. It was falling and looked as if it was burning like a ball of fire – reddish with the hint of a green tint.  It was frightening.”

Kilgus said that once the mysterious thing fell, “There was a big light, like an explosion. I said to my mom, ‘Oh, my gosh, it hit something’. I had never seen anything like it. It was traveling very fast.”

Kilgus said she stopped at the 7-Eleven in Madison [ Virginia ], about 15-miles or-so from where she saw the object, and then noticed an “eerie” odor when she got out of her car. She says she’s not sure if the smell is related to what she saw earlier.

Regardless, Kilgus is ‘not the only one who witnessed’ a strange “ball of fire” and big boom that night.

Reports of a “bright light,” and in some places an ‘explosion like sound’, poured into law enforcement offices across eastern Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina on Sunday night [ March 29, 2009 ].

“The phone is ringing off the hook,“ said meteorologist Sonia Mark at the U.S. National Weather Service ( NWS ) Wakefield station.

All of the reports dealt with incidents that occurred ‘about’ 9:45 p.m.

Several calls came to Richmond International Airport, but [ airport ] tower personnel did not see anything unusual related to aircraft, airport spokesman Troy Bell said.

It could have been caused by a ‘meteor’, or even a falling part from a Russia ‘spacecraft’, experts said earlier this week.

“I know it’s one of the two,” said Geoff Chester, an astronomer and public relations officer with the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. “I just can’t tell you definitively’ which one it actually was.” Geoff Chester suggested that a falling Russian booster rocket caused the hub-bub. The booster – a steel cylinder about 25-feet long and 8-feet wide – was part of the Soyuz spacecraft launched Thursday on a mission to the International Space Station [ ISS / MIR ]. The booster was expected to fall toward Earth on a path headed ‘East’ that would have taken it across the Chesapeake Bay [ eastern-most eastcoast ] region Sunday night, Chester said. The booster would have burned in the friction of Earth’s atmosphere and, as it slowed below the speed of sound, it would have released energy that caused a sonic boom, Chester said. “My feeling is this is what people actually saw,” Chester said.

Stefan Bocchino, a spokesman for the U.S. Joint Space Operations Center [ JSOC ] at Vandenberg Air Force Base [ VAFB ] in California, said experts there [ in California ] do ‘not think the light was caused by a manmade object’.

Joint Space Operations Center tracks manmade objects that enter the atmosphere.

U.S. National Weather Service ( NWS ) has ‘ruled out any weather related cause’.

Other experts said the ‘light’ and ‘boom’ sound like the work of a meteor.

Meteors are bits of space rock or gravel that burn and create light when they hit the atmosphere.

“Some very bright ones are known to explode,” creating a sound, said Phillip Ianna, a professor emeritus of astronomy at the University of Virginia.

Meteors typically burn up in the atmosphere. Much ‘less often’, a small piece of the rock will hit Earth.

Steve Chesley, an astronomer with NASA [ National Aeronautics and Space Administration ] said the Sunday [ March 29, 2009 ] phenomena could be the work of a meteor the size of a ‘television set’ or ‘small car’. “These kinds of things hit the [ atmosphere ] once a month,” Chesley said. They usually fall over water or less populated areas and attract less attention. NASA doesn’t track such small objects, Chesley said, and focuses instead on big ones – ‘space rocks half the length of a football field or more’ – that are headed toward Earth. “It’s the big ones we’re worried about, and we need to find them decades in advance,” Chesley said.

The object on Sunday [ March 29, 2009 ] had to be ‘unusually bright’ to be ‘seen in urban areas’ where ‘artificial lights drown out’ most celestial objects, said David Hagan, a staff scientist with the Science Museum of Virginia.

At Record [ Greene County Record ] press time, on Tuesday, ‘experts were still offering various guesses’ as to ‘what the occurrence could have been’.

“One thing’s for sure,” says Kilgus, “It’s something I won’t soon forget. I was glad I saw ‘whatever it was’, but I kind-of ‘wonder what in the world is going on’,” she said. “I thought maybe it was a meteor, but whatever it was, it was ‘strange’.”

Article Reference:

http://www.greene-news.com/gcn/news/local/article/experts_offer_guesses_on_mysterious_fire_ball_sighting/38145/

- – - -

Now, the State of Virginia is infamous for its street and highway names – changing names – within a few miles of each other, making instant headaches for any outsider trying to provide location directions so, as close as can be determined – extrapolated from the newspaper description of the eyewitness ( Judy Kilgus ) account – Google Maps provides a “car” route that coincides with eyewitness Judy Kilgus’ claim she was “3-miles” outside “Culpepper, Virginia” on “Route 522″ ( also known as ) “Sperryville Pike” in “Salem, Virginia.” Interestingly, outsiders would ‘not know’ there are actually ‘two ( 2 ) towns’ named “Salem” in Virginia!

The particular town of “Salem, Virginia” the eyewitness ( Judy Kilgus ) mentions near “Culpepper, Virginia” and ‘that’ “Salem, Virginia” is ‘not easy to locate online’ at Google Maps.

After some ‘prodding’, Google Maps will eventually map ‘from’ “13300 Hunts Shade Drive, Salem, VA” providing its most direct route that quickly exits ( just outside Salem, Virginia ) off “U.S. Route 522″ ( also known as ) “Sperryville Pike” but turns onto “Norman Road” ( also known as ) “Hudson Mill Road” ( also known as ) “Reva Road” that leads to ‘yet another alias highway name’ for “U.S. Route 29″ – an address at 1199 on “29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway” in Madison, VA 22727 ( the 7-Eleven store ) where eyewitness Judy Kilgus claimed detecting a suspicious “eerie odor” outside that particular “7-Eleven” store ( Madison, Virginia ) on “U.S. Route 29.”

That aforementioned description explains why it’s no surprise as to ‘why’ or ‘how’ so many State of Virginia unidentified flying object ( UFO ) flightpath reports can so easily hide ‘landing site locations’ from much of the public observing them there.

The Green County Record newspaper account from eyewitness Judy Kilgus does not ‘detail the location’ ( e.g. NorthEast to SouthWest, etc. ) of where she was at 9:44 p.m. during the UFO fireball sighting.

Was Kilgus already traveling from Salem, Virginia – going through Madison, Virginia ( 16-miles from Salem, Virginia ) – enroute to her home ( Stanardsville, Virginia )?

Did she sight, on Sunday March 29, 2009 at 9:44 p.m., the UFO fireball ‘while she was still in Salem, Virginia’?

Did her sighting, ‘prompt her to leave’ Salem, Virginia earlier than she had planned, which placed her driving in a direction of her ‘home’ ( Stanardsville, Virginia )? If so, did the UFO sighting crash in the direction of where she resided ( Stanardsville, Virginia )?

Without a UFO ‘flightpath trajectory’ provided ( e.g. NorthEast to SouthWest, etc. ) information about this UFO fireball sighting, then perhaps only U.S. Fish & Game or U.S. Forest Service government officials located the UFO fireball landing / crash site. If so, it has undoubtedly been covered-up by now.

Was the March 29, 2009 9:44 p.m. central Virginia UFO fireball sighting really only just a “meteor” that ‘U.S. Space Command ( SPACOM ) government experts claim they were ‘unable to track’? What if it was some king of a rocket or missile launched from another location within the United States?

Could the sighting have been one of many U.S. Air Force Special Programs project spacecraft undergoing ‘classified flight tests’ for the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) that is conducted primarily by the U.S. Department of Defense ( DoD ) National Reconnaissance Office ( NRO )?

Were Virginians used as an unsuspecting audience for part of the test flight for the new U.S. Department Of Defense ( DoD ), U.S. Navy, National Reconnaissance Office ( NRO ) new ‘stealth starlight surveillance dirigible’ - a lighter-than-air vessel believed designed from the 1990 patented Aereon lighter than airship [ similar in design to that of the NASA VentureStar, X-31 and X-33 spaceplanes  [ Image References: http://unwantedpublicity.media.officelive.com/Gallery.aspx ] - that may emit what is tantamount to ‘artificially produced starlight’; flickering akin to ‘aircraft landing lights’ on an aircraft the public would only suspect appears about ready to land but doesn’t?

May even more mysteries continue hiding amidst ‘seemingly peaceful night skies’ where reconnaissance and other spacecraft are now capable of being missioned to commence activation of ‘classified artificial landing strategies’ cleverly resembling a ‘fireball meteor flight’ – complete with a firework flares jettisoned to additionally resemble ‘meteor crash explosions’ too?

Research into conflicting news report information suggests that one ( 1 ) UFO fireball incident may have actually been confused with another UFO fireball on the same date and around the same time of night, a ‘dual event’ in Virginia.

One ( 1 ) eyewitness report – in the central Virginia geographic region – may have been mixed with ‘another press report’ using its central Virginia eyewitness interview in-conjunction with another news wire service report.

Simultaneous report sightings along the eastern seaboard of the United States from up and down the Atlantic Ocean coastline as far south North Carolina ( far northeast ), Virginia ( far east ) and Maryland ( far east ) in the region of the Chesapeake Bay as being the ‘same’ as what was seen in Madison, Virginia as reported by the Stanardsville, Virginia newspaper?

A few miles south of eyewitness Judy Kilgus UFO sighting near the 7-Eleven store ( Madison, Virginia ), also on “U.S. Route 29″ ( also known as ) “South Seminole Trail” at the east corner where 2055 Boulders Road ( Albemarle County ) sees the U.S. National Ground Intelligence Center ( NGIC ).

Adjacent to NGIC ( National Ground Intelligence Center ) is a new construction site for the new U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency ( DIA ) complex buildings as well.

Just a few miles further south – again on “South Seminole Trail” ( Virginia U.S. Route 29 ) – is the NORTHRUP-GRUMMAN Sperry Marine Division where a classified secret-sensitive multi-story windowless bricked-up test site building is perched behind an innocent looking single-story red brick office building – also on “South Seminole Trail” (aka) “U.S. Route 29″ (aka) “Emmett Road” where all these spooky government offices are popping up all around Charlottesville, Virginia.

A few miles further north on the west side of “South Seminole Trail” ( Virginia U.S. Route 29 ) – is the old single story red brick face building that the other three ( 3 ) sides are painted white complete with pyramid shaped surveillance cameras mounted high-up on the building, and while it only ‘appears vacant’ is a honeycombed-out floor-plan inside, shared by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency annex with the DIEBOLD CORPORATION, but you’d never know it to drive by the facility or drive up onto the terraced hill it sits atop and drive around the building either because you’ll only see a few vehicles outside where everyone enters through the north facing single glass door where everything appears just normal. Again, just a few miles north of this facility is the U.S. National Ground Intelligence Center ( NGIC ) buildings on the east side of Seminole Trail ( Virginia State Highway 29 ) about 95-miles southwest of Washington, D.C.

In any event, loud noise explosions – especially when they are conducted over U.S. population areas – should have provided the public with more concrete information, especially what it hit during its crash landing.
Submitted for review and commentary by,

Concept Activity Research Vault ( CARV ), Host
E-MAIL: ConceptActivityResearchVault@Gmail.Com
WWW: http://ConceptActivityResearchVault.WordPress.Com

References

http://www.space.com/news/090330-rocket-debris.html
http://www.space.com/news/090331-likely-meteor.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,511857,00.html
http://unwantedpublicity.media.officelive.com/Gallery.aspx

/

/

This deer and I had a staring contest this morning, and I lost.

The deer didn’t let me get too close, before he ran off into the woods.

A couple of other deer showed themselves and followed suit.

Early in the morning, it was so quiet and peaceful on the way to grab a cup of coffee at 7-Eleven (their French Vanilla is a delicious favorite).

Thank you G-d for all the greatness that you bestow on us.

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

CALIFORNIA MAN ALLEGEDLY SET ON FIRE INSIDE HIS SUV BY HOMELESS PERSON IN ‘HORRIFIC’ ATTACK

 

 

”  A man was sitting in side his Toyota SUV in front of a Long Beach 7-Eleven this Friday afternoon when he was doused in a flammable substance and set afire, police Sgt. Aaron Eaton said.

The 63-year-old Long Beach man was badly burned on the upper torso and remained in critical condition Saturday as investigators tried to determine what motivated the suspect, a homeless man, investigators say.

“Officers were dispatched to a car on fire…that’s what they originally thought they were coming to,” he said. “But when they arrived, they found that there was a man who had actually been on fire.”

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Related articles

• Man In SUV Allegedly Set Ablaze By Homeless Man (newsone.com)
• Man, 63, Set On Fire Inside His SUV Outside 7-Eleven In Long Beach (losangeles.cbslocal.com)
• Man Set on Fire in SUV Outside Long Beach 7-Eleven (ktla.com)
• Homeless Long Beach man sets driver of SUV on fire for refusing to give him money (riehlworldview.com)
• California panhandler sets fire to man who refused to give him money (privateinvesigations.blogspot.com)
• Man severely burned in attack outside Calif. store (utsandiego.com)

—

Police say a homeless man set a 63-year-old California man on fire outside a 7-Eleven store by throwing a flammable substance inside the man’s parked SUV.

The unidentified victim is said to have walked past panhandler as he requested money.

As he got in the car, the man threw a flammable liquid into the vehicle and set it alight.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Horrific attack: A 63-year-old man was set alight in his car on Long Beach after he refused to give the beggar money

Firefighters rush to put out the flaming SUV after a 63-year-old man was set ablaze inside it

Long Beach Sgt. Aaron Eaton says the man suffered severe burns in the Friday evening attack.

Bystanders helped douse the flames and 38-year-old Raymond Sean Clark was arrested a block away.

Clark was jailed on suspicion of attempted murder and on some misdemeanor warrants.

He was being held in lieu of $502,000 bail.

The victim was hospitalized in critical condition.

He suffered third degree burns to his chest and face with his orange T-shirt burned off his body, according to the Beachcomber blog.

It looks as if a bomb went off inside the SUV after it was torched by a panhandler

Suspect Raymond Sean Clark is taken into custody on charges of attempted murder

‘This is an unsettling crime, a horrific act,’ Eaton told NBC Bay Area.

‘The potential for other people to get hurt through the vehicle catching fire next door, the building, someone walking by … it’s extremely unsettling for sure.

‘Right now it appears to be a random act,’ he said.

Steve Cox said he gave spare change to the alleged attacker minutes before the fire.

‘He didn’t seem like he was going to harm anybody. He wasn’t very aggressive or anything. I mean, asking for change, he seemed like a nice guy,’ Cox said.

‘I’m really surprised about what happened. It’s outrageous.’

‘This is an unsettling crime’ a police officer said of the attack

One witness said he’s seen the suspect, Clark, often around the neighborhood.

‘He’s always outside the 7-Eleven asking for money and smoking cigarettes,’ the man, who did not want to be identified, told the Los Angeles Daily News.

Shannon Flynn, 16, of Long Beach, said the victim ‘was engulfed in flames. The fire was so big, people were screaming. I just can’t believe this happened here.’

Robert Linkroum saw Clark approaching the SUV and described him as a man ‘walking on a mission’ as he threw what looked like a bottle into the vehicle.

‘It was crazy,’ he said. ‘The vehicle went up in flames immediately, just totally engulfed. It was all flames. It became so hot in 7-Eleven that I moved towards the back of the store because I thought the windows were going to blow.’

Police arrested a panhandler who reportedly lit man on fire outside a convenience store in Long Beach, Calif. after not receiving money.

The 63-year-old victim was hospitalized with third-degree burns. He is in critical condition.

ABC Los Angeles affiliate KABC reported Fridaythat a panhandler approached the victim walking into a 7-Eleven store and asked him for money. The victim said no.

When the victim left the store and got into his SUV, the 37-year-old transient reportedly doused him and the inside of his vehicle with a flammable substance and lit it on fire, engulfing the truck in flames with the man inside, KABC reported.

“With the door open you could see the entire insides were ablaze,” one eyewitness told “Good Morning America.” “He came out and he was horrifying. His entire shirt was on fire, his head was on fire.”

Authorities said it was a random act of violence. The two men did not know each other, police said.

“It’s a horrific crime to think that somebody’s, really no motive, just sitting there, minding their own business and then to be lit on fire,” Long Beach Police Sgt. Aaron Eaton told KABC.

KABC reported the transient was arrested and will be charged with arson and attempted murder.

Police have not released the names of the two men.

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We need a Bloomberg intervention,

-Shady

We headed into the heart of Melbourne and before we’d even left Delilah the noise was uncomfortable. It was a busy Saturday night and plenty of people were milling around restaurants and cafes, walking to and from Flinders Street Station and hanging out in video game arcades. It was as busy as Northbridge but far fewer people were drunk, so everyone was broadcasting their thoughts loud and clear. It was so hard not to shut my mind and force the voices out but I wanted to show Rhiann I was a quick study and I certainly didn’t want another migraine. I focussed on a man nearby, listening to his internal monologue and dulling the rest of the babbling, until he got too far away and I had to switch targets. Staying focussed wasn’t easy, every time I got distracted or began to subconsciously pull away from my target, as I’d been doing for years, the nonsensical chatter grew louder and I would instinctively try to shut it out entirely. The beginnings of the headache were always the thing to jar me back on track and remind me to find a proper target. It was exhausting; I was beginning to think it would be far easier to simply pull out my mp3 player but I wanted so badly to prove to Rhiann – and myself – that I could do it. We finally settled into a spot on the lawn in front of St Paul’s Cathedral with a nice view of the 7-Eleven across the road. Before Rhiann could even say anything I began my first attack. I’d been focussing on an elderly lady on the bench nearest us for the past few minutes so I figured I might as well start with her.

I tried to imagine a sugar craving and the sweet, smooth taste of a grape Slurpee. She roused a little, entertaining the idea. She turned to her husband and suggested they visit the 7-Eleven across the road. “Harold” took a little while to get up and I found my mind flicking to his, feeling his old bones rearrange into a standing position and his muscles quivering to support him before he could grab his cane. When I shifted back to “Marie’s” mind I felt something new there. There was a concern in her mind; her doctor had told her to go easy on the sweets, hadn’t he? At first I thought it was because I’d left her mind for a moment – that her own sensibilities had surfaced in the absence of the craving I’d begun to sow – but there was something a little too familiar about it. There was a warmth to her mood that I recognised. Without missing a beat I hopped back into Harold and pushed him towards the convenience store. His lovely wife wanted a sweet-treat and who was he to deny her? He wanted to lavish her with treasures and while his pension was not enough to allow such a thing, he could at least fulfil her cravings, couldn’t he? The couple continued towards the store and it wasn’t until they’d entered that Rhiann must have caught on to my ruse. He’d stayed with Marie, thinking I’d stick it out with my first target but instead of now switching to Harold, he fought back in his own way.
“I shouldn’t, dear, I’ll never get to sleep tonight if I do. You know how sugar gets to me.” Marie said to her husband.
I felt Harold falter; if his wife didn’t want a Slurpee anymore, what could he do? But I wasn’t letting him give up that easy.
“She’s just saying that,” I planted in his mind “she really does want one but she doesn’t want to appear gluttonous.”
“Oh, go on dear, carpe diem.” He said with an old man chuckle and he received a hint of my pleased approval as a reward for playing into my hands.
“No, no, no, it’s not necessary,” Marie said in Rhiann’s retaliation, “You’ve got all the sugar I need.”
I audibly gagged at the overly sentimental display, and the implied intimacy between the two octogenarians. Rhiann was winning and I couldn’t stand it, but he had a weakness for these people that I didn’t and I hoped I could use it to my advantage.

I fed my annoyance at Rhiann into Harold and aimed it at Marie.
“Silly woman keeps changing her mind all the time. Perhaps she really is becoming senile.”
He was disconcerted at first; they’d been married for 57 years and he loved her now as much as the day he met her, why should such a thing suddenly bother him? I pulled back a mite, worried that this approach might not work as smoothly as I’d hoped. I solidified the annoyance into determination.
“I’ll get one, then if she wants a taste she can have some of mine without feeling bad about it.”

As I’d hoped, it was too late for Rhiann to stop the man from going to the counter and purchasing the cup before going to fill it at the machine.
“Not bad.” He said to me, “but that’s still a tie. He bought one, she didn’t.”
He was right. It would be stupid for me to attempt to deny that she’d been my original target, and he had in the end dissuaded her from buying a Slurpee, but there was still some pride to be found in winning over the man and blindsiding Rhiann for as long as I had.

I looked around for a new target. There was a group of girls already inside the 7-Eleven but that would probably be the first place Rhiann would look for my influence and besides, they appeared to be the kind who were obsessed with dieting. I decided to find a person further away at random so that it might take Rhiann longer to find my new target.

I launched my consciousness into a young man walking by McDonald’s. Perfect! He was already looking to buy a sundae but was lamenting over the length of the queue. It was no trouble to slip him the suggestion of a Slurpee and he changed course, heading towards the 7-Eleven. I’m not sure whether Rhiann was scanning the minds of whoever approached the store or was blanketing the entire area and listening for buzzwords but as soon and “Jedd” was a few metres from the entrance I felt that familiar calming glow once again. Rhiann had joined me within Jedd’s consciousness, but I wasn’t losing this one, not after finding such a convenient host. I pressed harder, sending him my own growing sugar cravings to supplement his, but Rhiann was a smooth operator and after a moment of what I assumed to be “getting to know” Jedd, he used his own knowledge against him – or more accurately – against me.
“I want ice cream, not a Slurpee, and the 7-Eleven has ice creams. Better ones than McDonald’s sells!”
Jedd fell for it because Rhiann was right, he had been craving ice cream. It was such a sneaky, little loophole, and I cursed Rhiann for thinking of it. Intensifying Jedd’s desire had been a bad move on my part; it was like using a charge attack, only to have Rhiann trip me at the last moment, using my own momentum against me.

I floundered, panicking and trying to think of something, anything I could use to win him back.
“Ice cream has more fat and uhhh, it’s more expensive!” I tried to reason with the guy and it did give him some pause on the matter.
If I’d had more time and foresight I might have searched his memories for something to help me but there was no time for that now. Jedd stood between the ice cream freezer and the Slurpee machine trying to make a last minute decision. It was my last chance to swing this contest in my favour and as I felt his desire for ice cream strengthening at the hand – or mind – of Rhiann I realised I would never be as good at “want” as I was at “don’t want”. I made my final attack on Jedd’s mind in the form of disgust; disgust of ice cream. It was more difficult than hating on a hotdog because I certainly had a weak-spot for ice cream myself, but I focussed on the overwhelming creaminess and cloying taste of chocolate. It was a difficult thing to make seem unattractive but as Rhiann had said earlier, I was good at crushing desire. Finally Jedd swung back to my way of thinking and abandoned the ice cream freezer to buy a delicious icey beverage.

I’d won this round. I’d actually won it. I revelled in the pride it brought because I’d not only convinced Jedd to change his mind, but I’d done so in a direct battle of will against Rhiann. I should’ve quit while I was ahead, but like an addicted gambler, I thought I was on a roll.

My next target was a man wandering by with his wife. I leapt into him and, supported by my newfound confidence, I began fantasizing about a Slurpee and all the delicious flavours that might be on offer. The man silently guided his wife into the store, apparently they were the sort of couple who communicated non-verbally and pretty much knew what each other was thinking all of the time anyway. I was beginning to wonder why Rhiann hadn’t intervened yet as the man walked up to the counter and attempted to purchase a cup but at that very moment his wife spoke up for the first time. All too late I realised, Rhiann had only let the man get this far because he was influencing the man’s wife instead… And he’d had a major ace up his sleeve.
“Don’t be silly, Frank, you know how much sugar is in those things.”
I refused to let him back down, pushing the hunger with all my might. And he attempted once again to pay for his cup. His wife stopped his hand as he presented the cash to a confused cashier.
“No thank you,” she said to the cashier this time, “my husband seems to have forgotten he’s diabetic.”
I swore and Rhiann laughed at my surprise. I felt so stupid. How could I have overlooked such a glaring flaw? But I wanted to win – I was desperate to win – and just because he wasn’t supposed to consume so much sugar, didn’t mean he couldn’t be convinced to.

Once again I fed my frustration to my host, and this time it was more well-received.
“Dammit Jane! It’s my body, I’ll do what I want with it!”
He was willing to turn against his wife with surprising ease and all of a sudden I was reminded of the way my father would speak to my mother. Obviously this man was not as cruel and arrogant as my father, but if I had once cared for the man’s health, I certainly didn’t now. As I pressed forward with anger and determination he bought the Slurpee and filled it at the machine.
This is when Rhiann realised I hadn’t stopped when I found out about the diabetes. He certainly would have; he never pushed anyone to do anything they didn’t want to, and that was his weakness.
“What are you doing, bru?” he said, with an edge to his voice.
I didn’t stop. Frank brought the Slurpee to his mouth.
“Riley! Stop it!” Rhiann asserted and I was thrown by his authoritative tone. “It’s over.”
I stopped now, because he was right; it was over. Whether or not he drank it, the man had bought it. I’d won again. This time, however, I was not as proud of my victory as I would’ve liked. I’d upset Rhiann and perhaps taken the friendly competition too far. I wanted to revel in my achievement but all I could feel was guilt, not for pushing the man beyond his limits but for upsetting Rhiann. I wanted him to like me, but instead of earning his respect by winning, I’d lost it by escalating things beyond control.

In the vain hope of resurrecting the light-hearted atmosphere I sprang to my feet and said teasingly, “Well I know one person you can’t stop from getting a Slurpee!” before striding across the street to get one for myself. I needed the sugar after such mental strain, and I needed a break from Rhiann’s disapproval.

Frank had come to his senses at the last moment – whether Rhiann had played a part or not, I didn’t know – but Jane was overwhelmed with relief and they’d left the store, throwing the beverage in the rubbish bin on the street.

I took my time pouring the drink, mixing the coke and grape flavours into a delicious chimera of sweet ice. I was in no rush to go back to Rhiann, I needed some time to digest the events of the last hour.

I noticed that while Rhiann had sown desire as a voiceless ember when we’d competed in Fed square, he extinguished it now with words, not emotions. I’d used the strength of my disgust to win that day – and again tonight with Jedd – but Rhiann always had an undeniable calm about his consciousness. It may not be as intense with emotion as my own, but he was clever, and calculating. The strength of my cravings seemed useless against his logic and reason. Wordless emotion was such a primitive tool and humans had apparently found ways around it since the evolution of a developed brain. Rhiann used this to his advantage and his ability to dig up information hidden beneath the surface of a person’s mind quickly and effortlessly made him a master of finding a person’s weakness.

I also noticed that twice he’d used a person’s companion against them. Perhaps humans are weak to peer pressure and the sociality of the species is just another facet Rhiann could use as leverage. Or perhaps he wanted to avoid challenging me directly within the one person because he knew I was stronger. Then again, it was probably just for the host’s sake. He probably didn’t like waging war inside them because conflicting emotions are often painful. I wondered now if he’d let me win over Jedd just to avoid a struggle inside his mind.

All three times Rhiann had tried to remove the temptation with a reassuring and positive approach. He gave Marie the option to be proud of listening to her doctor and being strong enough to withstand temptation. He’d tried to give Jedd his so desired ice cream. And he’d tried, and succeeded in saving Frank from a diabetic coma. He had a level of caring and tact that I lacked. I’d only ever thought to strip the desire completely and had even made a business man physically ill. I was beginning to understand why Rhiann was so social; compassion didn’t make him weak, it gave him an edge when it came to controlling people. It was just like he’d said in the café, if you make it seem like something they want, people are more likely to play along.

I clearly had a lot still to learn.

Chapter 19

LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A 63-year-old man was set on fire while sitting in his SUV outside of a convenience store in Long Beach Friday night.

The incident, which was captured on cellphone video, happened just after 5 p.m. in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven near the intersection of Clark Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway.

Police said the victim was in his Toyota 4-Runner with the windows open when a man walked up and threw flammable liquid inside the vehicle.

Witness Robert Linkroum was in the store when he saw the entire situation unfold.

“A man had something in his hand, quickly throws whatever he has in his hand into the open window and the SUV’s interior immediately burst into flames,” he said.

A Good Samaritan helped the driver to safety.  He was taken to the hospital in critical condition with burns over most of his body.

The 39-year-old suspect was arrested a block away and is in the process of being booked on attempted murder charges. Neighbors said he’s a known transient who frequently hangs out in front of the 7-Eleven.

“He’s always here talking to himself,” said Shannon Flynn. “I would never expect for him to snap like that.”

Some residents said they heard an argument between the suspect and the victim before the explosion, but police said they didn’t know each other.

“There’s no information that they had a relationship and there was no incident prior to this crime, so right now it looks like a random act,” said Sgt. Aaron Eaton of the Long Beach Police Department.

__________________________________________________________________________

Sports editor of the Riverside City College newspaper called “Viewpoints”.

Sports writer for the Downey Patriot.

Freelanced for the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

Founder/Editor of @Sports_Minded

Two lottery tickets worth a total of more than $1 million were sold in Allegheny County before yesterday’s drawing.

One of the tickets was purchased at Smoker Friendly on Route 8 in Gibsonia. The $750,000 ticket correctly matched the six winning numbers of 4-15-16-33-37-38.

A second ticket worth $325,000 was sold at the 7-Eleven in Bigelow Square. The ticket matched the five winning numbers of 8-10-13-16-26.

The Smoker Friendly will get $5,000 for selling the winning ticket, and the 7-Eleven will get a bonus of $500.

Winners have one year to redeem their prizes.

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During daylight: People sit at tables in front of one of Jakarta’s 7-Eleven convenience stores. JP/Nurhayati

One of the rare wonders of nature Jakartans can still observe in their beloved city is the swarms of moths fluttering around lights after a rainy evening.

But Jakarta is also home to a human version of this, as urbanites have taken a fancy to hanging out in front of bright neon-lit 24-hour convenience stores and cafes, like moths to light.

The area around Sarinah mall in Thamrin, Central Jakarta, with its many coffee joints and fast food places, is one that comes to mind when people want to meet up without having to worry about being kicked out of establishments late at night.

Kemang, South Jakarta, with its clubs and restaurants and East Jakarta’s Tebet with its indie clothing stores and small restaurants are other options for late night rendezvous.

But aside from 24-hour restaurants, there are now new hangouts proliferating around the city: 24-hour 7-Eleven convenience stores.

The biggest global chain in the world from Japan, which entered Indonesia in 2009, has been expanding in full force with 21 stores in Jakarta alone as of now.

And sure enough, Jakartans are lapping up the store’s slurpees (7-Eleven’s signature frozen carbonated drink) and do-it-yourself hotdogs.

Parking attendants are busy directing a constant flow of cars coming and going from the 7-Eleven corner in Menteng, Central Jakarta, until wee hours of the morning, almost every weekend. Small traffic jams form under the saturated yellow hue of the streetlight. 7-Eleven customers can be seen drinking, smoking and playing cards at the tables provided.

So what is the appeal of hanging out in a convenience store? 7-Eleven regular Andi Annas, a 25-year-old account executive at a magazine, said he had been to almost every 7-Eleven store in Jakarta.

“The atmosphere is different. The concept is similar to Circle K’s, but the products sold are different. There is a self-service snacks counter… They sell slurpees, Coca Cola — they also offer a variety of coffee and hot chocolate. I enjoy that,” he said.

“The place has tables and chairs so people can hang out. It’s nice to chat with friends, and hang out in the center of town. The products [sold] are affordable and we can make up our own food and drinks,” he said over the phone.

Some of the places also have power outlets so customers can charge their mobile phones, laptops and use Wi-Fi for free, he added.

Annas said his long working hours made it impossible for him to see his friends during the day, so 24-hour 7-Elevens had become his favorite meeting spot.

“We never plan our get-togethers. We usually arrange them at the last minute, by SMS, or on Twitter, Facebook or BBM [BlackBerry messenger],” he said. “Once 20 of us met at 7-Eleven.”

Annas never liked 24-hour restaurants, so before discovering 7-Eleven, he would hang out in the parks like Menteng or Suropati.

“I don’t like having to have to buy something to sit in a restaurant. And I feel uneasy if I stay there too long,” he said.

His favorite 7-Eleven branch is the one next to the BCA tower at Grand Indonesia shopping mall.

There, he can indulge in his favorite past time: people watching. And there is always something interesting to observe at this branch, which seems to attract a wide variety of people, he went on.

“ABG [Anak Baru Gede: youngster] come from the afternoon until night time; A bit later, office workers will drop by after work; later into the night, young adults will come,” he said.

Annas said he saw different cliques claiming spaces in 7-Eleven.

“Once I was there. It was around 8:30 at night. [The visitors] were so diverse. There were straight couples inside. There were junior high school kids and high school kids outside, who wanted to look like grownups. Next to them sat gay men and lesbians.”

According to Annas, people think of 7-Eleven as a hip spot.

Urban expert Johannes Frederik Warouw from the University of Indonesia said the emergence of 24-hour hangout places like 7-Eleven could be likened to “cozy corners”.

“This tends to happen in metropolitan cities with large spaces, in cities that have many development areas, with several business districts,” he said.

Business owners look at setting up these cozy corners in high-density strategic areas. “They chose places that are both residential and business-oriented,” he explained.

These places are also usually located in two-way roads. “If it’s in a one way street, it will only live for half a day.”

Business owners, Johannes went on, have been cunning at reading the public’s need for public spaces. The 24-hour convenience store is a public space provided by commercial entities, he went on.

Indonesia has had minimarkets for a while, long before 7-Elevens began popping up everywhere.

Some of these local minimarkets are also open 24 hours, such as Alfamart, which has 4,700 stores in Indonesia, and more than half in Jakarta. Indomaret had 4,626 stores as of September 2010 with almost 500 outlets in Jakarta.

Let’s not forget Circle K, Starmart, Yomart and AMPM’s 24-hour convenience stores.

However, using convenience-store spaces as a hangouts did not really take off until 7-Eleven and its dedicated tables and chairs.

It seemed this trend is likely to catch on in other Javanese cities as publicly listed Modern Internasional has increased the capital for its subsidiary Modern Putra Indonesia, the franchise holder to develop the 7-Eleven chain in Java.

Modern Putra Indonesia spokesperson Neneng Sri Mulyati declined to comment on the matter because she was on leave.

Johannes highlighted that the difference between 7-Eleven and other traditional 24-hour establishments was the former was selling more than products and services. “It’s selling an identity as well,” he said.

The convenience store has grasped city dwellers’ need to create an image and socialize. “There’s a shift from [selling] utility to selling pride,” he said.

“People go there to socialize but also to see and be seen.”

Annas thinks hanging out at 24-hour convenience stores may end up just being a fad. The 7-Eleven hype has become a victim of its own success, he went on. “The place is now crowded and there are traffic jams around the area.”

Johannes believes the trend is likely to stay if owners can continue to create a demand for these types of places.

But not all Jakartans have succumbed to potter the night away at 7-Eleven stores. For Mono Manata, convenience stores are “ABG clubs”.

“I don’t find it nice to hang out in a convenient store. The tables and chairs are not that comfortable either,” said Mono.

He does however, need a 24-hour place to hang out. He prefers Oh lala at the Djakarta Theater, opposite Sarinah Mall. The coffee shop was a symbolic part in his and his wife’s relationship when the two were still dating.

“We both worked crazy hours so the only time we could catch up was at night, after work,” he said. The two would talk until morning at Oh la la.

“I think places like that get more crowded around 3 or 4 a.m, when people look for something to eat after clubbing,” he said.

For Mono, a good hangout has to have good couches.

“I think it’s a necessity for people living and working in a big city,” he said. He hopes more cozy coffee shops will open 24 hours.

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Lifestyle | Mon, January 31 2011