Here are notes from the sessions I attended.
PCATT 2013 reflections.2

The George McDonald ranch house sits within an 85′ x 85′ stone wall. The house was built  in 1913 by Franz Schmidt, a German immigrant.

On July 12, 1945 two hemispheres of plutonium were carried to the George McDonald ranch house two miles from ground zero. At the McDonald ranch house the master bedroom had been turned into a clean room for the assembly of the bomb core.

The windows were covered with plastic, tape was used to fasten the edges and seal doors and cracks in the wall to prevent dust and sand from getting on the instruments and tools.

Though the explosion was only 2 miles away, only the windows were blown out, the rest of the structure remained intact.  Years later the roof was damaged from rain water dripping through holes in the roof.

The barn, corrals and holding pens were damaged in the explosion.

In 1982 the U.S. Army stabilized the house to prevent further damage. The U.S. Army and the Department of Energy provided funds for the National Park Service to completely restore the McDonald ranch house. The work was completed in 1984 and the house looked like it did on July 12, 1945 (before the bomb testing).

This was one of the most interesting and educational events I had been on with the Meetup group. To be in the place where history was made and reading about all the events leading up to the actual event was beyond fascinating. I have learned so much. I hope you get a chance to visit this historical landmark. It is only opened twice per year –  the first Saturday in April and October. For more information please visit: 
http://www.wsmr.army.mil/PAO/Trinity/Pages/default.aspx

Now for some interesting facts and quotes.

Brig. Gen. Thomas Farrell said this about the explosion. “The effects could be called unprecedented, magnificent, beautiful, stupendous, and terrifying. No man-made phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before. The lighting effects beggared description. The whole country was lighted by a searing light with the intensity many times that of the midday sun.”

At the McDonald ranch house when Brig. Gen. Thomas Farrell was asked to sign a receipt for the plutonium, he later said this. “I took this heavy ball in my hand and felt it growing warm. I got a certain sense of its hidden power. It wasn’t a cold piece of metal, but it was really a piece of metal that seemed to be working inside. Then, maybe for the first time, I began to believe some of the fantastic tales the scientists had told about this nuclear power.”

Dr. Phillip Morrison said (regarding the explosion), “Suddenly, not only was there a bright light but where we were, 10 miles away,  there was the heat of the sun on our faces… Then, only minutes later, the real sun rose and again you felt the same heat to the face from the sunrise. So we saw two sunrises.”

At ground zero, the elements emitting gamma rays, alpha and beta particles are Europium, Cesium, Cobalt, Strontium and Plutonium.

A one-hour visit to the inner fenced area will result in a whole body exposure of one-half to one millirem of radiation.

Trinitite is the green glassy substance found on ground zero. It contains several radioactive elements and is an alpha and beta particle emitter.

For additional reading material check these out:

The Day the Sun Rose Twice by Ferenc Szasz

Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Vorm

City of Fire: Los Alamos and the Atomic Age. 1943-1945 by James Kunetka

Day of Trinity by Lansing Lamont.

Source: WSMR

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This is an excerpt taken from Yahoo news.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two million people marched in protest against seed giant Monsanto in hundreds of rallies across the U.S. and in over 50 other countries on Saturday.

“March Against Monsanto” protesters say they wanted to call attention to the dangers posed by genetically modified food and the food giants that produce it. Founder and organizer Tami Canal said protests were held in 436 cities in 52 countries.

Genetically modified plants are grown from seeds that are engineered to resist insecticides and herbicides, add nutritional benefits or otherwise improve crop yields and increase the global food supply. Most corn, soybean and cotton crops grown in the United States today have been genetically modified. But some say genetically modified organisms can lead to serious health conditions and harm the environment. The use of GMOs has been a growing issue of contention in recent years, with health advocates pushing for mandatory labeling of genetically modified products even though the federal government and many scientists say the technology is safe.

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I don’t know how many, if any of you were aware of the GLOBAL March against Monsanto yesterday, May 25, 2013! There are many Utube videos to view if you’re interested! I urge you, if you care anything about your health or the planet, to get informed on what GIANT corporations like Monsanto are doing to you, the food chain and the planet!

It seems, at a glance, with the number of companies in on this, (to a depth you could not imagine), and the lack of involvement of our Governments, that we are all science experiments! This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, “Only the strong will survive!” What exactly do they have in store for us?????

Does anyone have the Movie “Soylent Green” FLASHING in their minds????

Pardon me if I’m sounding over dramatic, but seriously, try to detach yourself from your body for a moment and use that thing on your shoulders that contains THE BRAIN! It’s an amazing organ!

I don’t know how we can ‘undo’ this situation that has been quietly forced upon us, in the name of Science. The tentacles are so deep and the money involved is astronomical! It does seem we are on the losing side.

The only thing we can hope for right now, is having the RIGHT of CHOICE, which seems to have been taken away from us! Quietly, of course!

If you care, exercise your Right of Choice! Know what you’re eating! Read your labels kids!!!!!

Have a great day!

I have been using the following method for several years now and am very happy with the results.  :-)

Instructions for traditional top loading washing machines:

(I do not have experience with high efficiency, front loading washing machines.)

-First select your various wash cycle settings and then start the wash.

-As the water is filling the machine, first sprinkle ½ to 1 cup of baking soda into the water (use half your reg. amount of bleach when applicable) followed by your regular liquid detergent  (dye free detergent strongly recommended but not required).

-Then add half of your load of clothes and as water starts to cover that half, add 1-2 cups of White Distilled Vinegar to the water and finally proceed to add the rest of the load to the washing machine.  **Do not add vinegar when washing silk, acetates, or rayon fabrics.

Here are the results you should find:

Baking Soda-   *More effective cleaning           *Brighter colors

*Whiter socks        *Softens water  (so you can opt to use less detergent)

*Remove age stains from linens and clothing     *Removes odors

Notes:   For sensitive skin, add baking soda to rinse cycle in place of fabric softener.

Control foot odors and moisture by sprinkling baking soda into clean socks

before you put them on.

Vinegar:    *Prevents lint from clinging to clothes        *Brightens colors

*Eliminates manufacturing chemicals from clothes

*Dissolves soap scum and mildew smells

Note:  Dab on mustard stains before washing clothes.

Happy washing!

I wish I could make this bigger for ya’ll. I think you can still make out the basics.

[via Afristar Foundation ]

Allison’s Pre-Moving Tips

Lighten the load. Purging clutter will help you not only beautify your space, but also lighten the load for when moving day comes! (You don’t realize how much stuff you have until you start boxing it up.) It’s time to let go of things you no longer need, want, or use. Offset your moving costs by holding a yard sale or selling items online using Craigslist or Ebay. If you’d rather just unload unwanted items, enlist a local non-profit like Salvation Army to come and take those things off your hands.

Set the stage for a sale. Once your domain is decluttered, it’s time to get your home prime for showing! The key is creating a clean slate. While you might love your tchotchkes and collectibles, prospective homebuyers probably won’t. You want them to be able to picture themselves in your home and not be distracted by family photos or your teapot collection. Still not convinced? Here’s another incentive: the less stuff you have, the bigger the space will appear!

Think inside the box. Now that you’ve de-cluttered and streamlined your stuff, you’ll only be taking the items you’ll actually use in your new home. (Right? Say it with me: “There’s no place like [a clean] home.”) Packing will be so much easier! To simplify the process even further, pack room by room and label each box with its contents and corresponding room. It’s also helpful to number boxes and create a spreadsheet that keeps track of the numbered boxes and their contents.

All of that labeling does take a little extra time, but it will be well worth it in the end. If a box is missing, you’ll know right away by looking at your inventory, instead of tearing boxes apart looking for your prized possessions.

Allison’s Must-Have Tools

Sturdy appropriately sized boxes—In this case, one size doesn’t fit all. Take into account all of the items you will be packing and get boxes that will match your needs.

Good quality packing tape—Save yourself the hassle of dealing with flimsy packing tape that tears too easily.

Sharpie—Make an indelible mark! Use a thick black marker so you (and your movers) can clearly see where the boxes go and what’s inside.

Bubble wrap and packing paper—Don’t pack your home without these must-haves for protecting fragile items in transit.

Handy Hint

Color you organized! Using color-coded labels will enable you to easily see which boxes go where as you settle into your home.

Writing is a collaborative process so it will always involve input from others – and more often than not, it will be annoying (see Client Feedback from Hell).

So where do we go from here?

Let’s get out of the jungle
Remember, feedback aims to help everybody get the right result. It’s a process, not a confrontation, so we should help it along.

A Guerrilla writer has a less rigid relationship with clients, so it’s easier to define a common ground for how feedback is delivered:

1. Request specifics
Ideally, clarity should be established before writing even starts, but it’s not always the case. Vague feedback only makes matters worse. “It doesn’t work,” goes nowhere; you need to specify what doesn’t work and why.

2. Lean on examples
Often clients don’t have the right words to explain what they mean. In this case, it would help to see examples of things they like. If nothing comes to mind, you might have to make a suggestion and explain to them why you think it works.

3. Get consolidated feedback
Rewriting isn’t always fun, but it can become hell if your feedback comes in waves or carries conflicting suggestions. Try to make your client appreciate this to improve the odds of getting a unified response in fewer installments.

4. Track changes
Every once in a while, a proactive client will return a document, saying: “I made some changes, what do you think?” If it’s a hard copy, you only have to worry about handwriting legibility. But with MS Word files, you want them to use ‘Track Changes’ so you don’t rack your brains figuring out what they changed.

5. Keep it friendly
Feedback is about a particular piece of writing produced, not the writer’s skill, so it shouldn’t be taken personally. And if the client doesn’t see it this way, then it’s probably time for the farce to end.

How do you deal with poor feedback? What’s the worst thing you ever heard? 

♥

(From LaurenConrad.com)