By Andrea McCallum

SINGING sensation Susan Boyle today (fri) prepared for the launch of what is expected to be her multi-million selling debut album launch on Monday – by going shopping in Bathgate.

And showing the celebrity status hasn’t gone to her head she even travelled the short distance from Blackburn by bus, stopping off at her favourite store to buy a new outfit before her appearance on this weekend’s X-Factor.

Casually dressed in a rain coat and black trousers, and sporting her signature Burberry scarf and a splash of red lipstick, SuBo showed no sign of nerves as she wandered along the West Lothian town.

The star walked confidently from her house past the local primary school before being called over by a friend outside the newsagents.

The blonde bespeckled woman, in her 50s, shouted across the street to SuBo before walking over to have a chat.

Laughing and smiling, the pair talked for a couple of minutes before Susan said goodbye and continued on her way to the village’s Mill Centre.

Walking confidently, she said she was “busy” and couldn’t stop for a chat.

But she had time to mention her upcoming trip to London and the States, suggesting that as famous as she is, she still gets excited about her new lifestyle.

Moving on to Blackburn’s main strip, the singer popped into the Mill Centre.

Home to just a few small shops and the local library, Susan found a way to pass the time as she wiled away an hour inside.

On her way out, she was approached by an elderly woman who gave her a big hug.

Ruffling the star’s hair, the OAP looked as though she was teasing the singer before she rushed across the road to catch the bus.

She flagged down the 11.49am number 557 bus to Bathgate outside the Mill Centre.

Mobbed

Squeezing into the busy small single decker vehicle run by local company E&M Horsburgh, she made her way into town for her shopping spree.

Alighting in the town centre, the international celebrity sauntered around the streets, stopping at the bank on her way to her favourite shop.

Those stopping her in Bathgate were more fans than friends, and she graciously smiled and said hello.

During the hour she spent in local department store M&Co, more fans gathered outside, taking snaps of the singer on their mobiles as they waited for her to come out.

Eventually, the star emerged from the shop clutching a bulging bag of purchases.

According to staff, she had bought a longline cardigan and a couple of pairs of trousers.

The bus Susan jumped on

Janice Hendry, the shop manager, said: “She’s been a customer with us for years so it was no surprise to see her coming in. She was quite funny when she was in, laughing and joking with the staff.

“A few people were asking her for autographs and she was great with them, posing for photos and everything.

“Other than that she is treated as a normal customer.

“I said to her today ‘why are you still shopping in M&Co now you’re famous?’ and she said to me ‘nothing wrong with that’.

“We wish her well with everything in the future; her album is already a hit. It’s quite phenomenal.”

Smiling to those waiting, she started to walk down the street when the two most determined admirers called out to her.

Susan ambled back to the builders in fluorescent vests and posed with them as they took photos on their mobiles.

After a five minute chat, she wandered off smiling at passers by.

I Dreamed a Dream

She had been splashing the cash ahead of her album’s debut on Monday, but with sales from the expected sales of the CD, she will soon be able to visit any designer emporium she wants.

Amazon reported earlier this week that the album had already sold more copies than any other pre-order.

And bookies and so certain that she will top the album chart next week that they are refusing to take bets.

With an appearance on the X Factor on Sunday and a raft of publicity events lined up in the States next week, todays (Fri) shopping trip was a relaxing break for the singer.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

Where do I even begin with this topic? I guess I will start with the whole notation that we were too right handed of a line-up in the 2008 NLDS. I am not going to get into the details of that playoff series against the Dodgers because everyone knows how much of a disaster that was. It was being sad by many fans that after that series we needed a big left-handed bat because the cubs could not match up well against some pitching staffs.

The market in the offseason for a left handed bat came with options that include Raul Ibanez, Adam Dunn, Bobby Abreu, and of course Milton Bradley.

Raul Ibanez (2008): .277/.358./.479 23 HR 43 2B 110 RBI

Adam Dunn (2008): .236/.386/.513 43 HR 20 2B 100 RBI

Bobby Abreu (2008): .296/.371/.471 20 HR 39 2B 100 RBI

Milton Bradley(2008): .321/.436/.563 22 HR 32 2B 77 RBI

Going by the stats it seems like Bradley would have been a very good fit with the Cubs because of his career highs in AVG and OBP. With Bradley though comes many intangibles that can be very detrimental to the overall mindset of a clubhouse. As history has it though on January 8th, 2009 the Cubs went ahead and inked Bradley to a three year deal with $30 million dollars, the longest deal of his career. After what looked like a promising spring training it was time for the regular season, which I am going to mini breakdown of.

April:

Here is where it all began with Milton Bradley as a Cub, April 2009. This month was not quite the start anyone wanted especially Milton Bradley and you would have to think Jim Hendry since he brought Bradley in. The Cubs started the season with a six game roadtrip and he only managed to whip up one hit in those games, it was time to head back to Wrigley. Bradley would go on to miss the first two home games with an injury and would come back for the first game against the rival Cardinals. In that game Bradley didn’t even manage to get into his first at bat without arguing with an umpire, real way to win those fans over Bradley. For this he would receive a two game suspension for language used which he appealed and got knocked down to one. This was exactly the nightmare everyone imagined starting.

April Stats: .118/.333/.294 2 HR 2 RBI

May Stats: .268/.348/.489 3 HR 12 RBI

June:

June would roll around and the love for Bradley isn’t getting any stronger to say the least. During the series against the Twins at Wrigley Bradley managed to throw the ball into the crowd thinking there was three outs when there were only two, I knew this was the beginning of an interesting month.As the month was coming to a close it was time for the series with the crosstown rivals on their on the south side. Lou Pinella would send home Bradley early in the middle of the game during the series for taking out his frustrations on a Gatorade cooler. You could see there was a heated exchange between the skipper and Bradley and then he was seen leaving the stadium. Just another day in the world of Milton Bradley I guess.

June Stats: .274/.377/.348 0 HR 3 RBI

July:

Around came the allstar break and Bradley was not looking anymore like the player he was expected to be in this city. He went on to say something along the lines that he has watched the tape found the problems and self-proclaimed he was back.

July Stats: .275/.457/.420 3 HR 9 RBI

August Stats: .308/.427/.484 3 HR 10 RBI

September:

The month of September would bring what one would perceive to be the end of his time in the friendly confines. Milton would say in an interview he has not enjoyed his time in Chicago and “you understand why they haven’t won here in 100 years”. Wrong fanbase to upset Mr. Bradley, he also went on to say he needs a healthy stable environment with less negativity than Chicago. Welcome to expectations Bradley, how are you? On Sunday September 20th, Jim Hendry went ahead and made the decision to suspend Bradley for conduct detrimental to the team for the rest of the season.

September Stats: .196/.226/.275 1 HR 4 RBI

Season Stats: .257/.378/.397 12 HR 40 RBI

As anyone can tell the “Milton Bradley Experiment” was and is a complete disaster. Somehow they need to move this contract in the offseason which is going to require the Cubs to eat  a lot of money. Not only is this stop for Bradley another horrible one on his “wonderful” resume, it’s also a huge hit on Jim Hendry’s resume. Is this the end of Jim Hendry in Chicago? Especially with these new owners? Time will tell to say the least this is going to be an interesting winter. I will leave you with my favorite Bradley quote of the season.

“All I’m saying is I just pray the game goes nine innings so I can go out there for the least amount of time as possible and go home.” -Milton Bradley
Sources: www.espnchicago.com www.espn.com

Oh Milton, what have you done?  As this Milton Bradley story gets weirder and weirder I can’t really think of anything other than who else is at fault for this whole mess.  I would say that about 90% of this shit storm is on Bradley’s shoulders.  He was standoff-ish, never really gelled with his teammates, didn’t develop any kind of friendship with the fans and most importantly he didn’t produce.

Let’s take a look at 5 other people who all should share some of the blame for this whole Bradley mess.

Jim Hendry

No big surprise here, the guy that signed him deserves much of the blame for the whole situation.  I understand that you wanted to bring a big name left handed bat to play the outfield and Milton was one of the top guys out there, but how could you give a guy who is that crazy a 3 year deal?  Even a guy like Abreu (who yes, is older) only could pull off a one year deal.  My question has always been, if no one could match your one year price then why not play with that and see what happens, if Milton didn’t want the deal then walk away or give his contract the club option.

Noooooooooooooooooo

Joey Gathright

Milton claimed, after Gathright was traded, that Joey was his only friend on the team.  Well after being totally useless for the Cubs Joey was shipped out to make way for Ryan Freel.  I blame Gathright because had he actually been productive and stayed around maybe him and Milton could have cultivated their friendship and Bradley would have felt that not everyone in the clubhouse hated him.  Again you could probably put the blame on Lou and Hendry for this one too, but its just fun to blame Joey.

People let me tell you about my best friend...

Josh Hamilton & Michael Young

In 2008 these two guys were the protection for Milton in the Texas lineup, and they did a damn good job of it.  I won’t go all the way and say that Hamilton and Young were the fat ugly friends that made Milton look amazing but they undoubtedly helped.  While we are hear let’s blame The Ballpark at Arlington as well, talk about a hitters park, but again all things Hendry should have taken into consideration.

Cub Fans

If you read Roman Is Burning you know my feelings towards most of my fellow Cub fans.  I’m not saying that booing or getting on Bradley wasn’t deserved but I think to the extent that the negativity was rained down on him was a little over the top.  To be honest I would venture a guess that around 70-80% of fans at the game who were booing had no idea what they were booing about.  Yes he did deserved to hear it from the fans when he threw that ball into the stands with only two outs or his lack of production, but just booing the guy because the drunk frat boy next to you is doing it is just plain stupid.

Sammy Sosa

The Curse of Sammy Sosa?  Oh you better believe it exists, I am fully convinced that Sammy is haunting us from where ever he is these days.  Jacque Jones, Matt Murton, Jeromy Burnitz and Cliff Floyd just to name a few have all felt the curse of Slammin’ Sammy.  I don’t know how long this curse will last but lets hope it doesn’t last half as long as it took the Bears to find a solid starting quarterback.

Happy Jay Cutler Day!

Hendry R (1999): ‘British Railway Goods Wagons in Colour: For the Modeller and Historian’
Midland / Ian Allan: Hersham ISBN (10) 1-85780-094-X ISBN (13) 978-1-85780-094-4
96 pages, 217 colour photos, glossary, facsimile wagon diagrams (21),lamp head-codes

I have only just acquired a copy of this book, but as it was reprinted in 2003 and 2007, copies should still be available It is a detailed history of the British goods wagon from the days of the small, wooden-framed vehicles up to the 1970’s. I gather that a second volume covers the period 1970-2000, but I have not come across this yet. There are separate sections for general merchandise opens; vans; cattle wagons; tanks; bulk traffic; conflats; bolsters; brake vans; service stock and “special vehicles.” The book is very good on the transitional BR period from steam to diesel and the introduction of block and liner trains. It is in fact a history of freight handling as well as the wagons themselves, with a few bits of social history on labour and union relations included. The Irish content is quite small, and since the author seems rather strict on the geographical term “British” limited to Northern Ireland, but as published photographs of Irish wagons are rather rare, the five shots are still interesting:

p. 5: an ex-BNCR 3-plank open, presented as a late survivor, with many primeaval design features.
p. 6: a more modern NCC van
p. 6: another NCC van but one that quite foxed the experts, being an obsolete Midland (of Derby) design, turned out by LNER shops as a stop gap for service in Northern Ireland in World War Two.
p. 54: Shell Mex & BP tank wagon 271, Adelaide Yard
p. 55: Irish Shell & BP tank wagon 2617 at Grosvenor Road Depot [AO'R]

RJA Pue: ‘Steam Locomotives of Irish Railways’
Published by: the BCDR Museum Trust, 9 Kilbright Rd, Carrowdore, Newtownards. Co. Down BT22 2HQ Tel: 0870 740 9311 E-mail: countydownrailway@yahoo.co.uk

No. 7 The PP Class 4-4-0s of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) ISBN 978-0-905196-13-8 56 pages £8-95 softback

No. 8 The Locomotives of the Ulster Railway ISBN 978-0-905196-15-2 60 pages, £10-95 softback

The seventh book in this series has now reached one of the more numerous groups of GNR 4-4-0s,the PP class of seventeen engines built between 1896 and 1911, the last scrapped in 1963. As with the earlier books in this series, each of these begins with a brief survey of the class, and then tables of key dates, dimensions and rebuilding. There follows a portrait and “bibliography” for each engine in the class, although much of this information is repeated in summary tables. About half of the book is a photographic album of the class, with a good mix of in-action, on shed and makers’ photographs, spanning the whole history of the class, the various metamorphoses these engines passed through, and with several shots of some of them running in the pre-World War I livery of lined green with name plates. Despite the use of un-glazed paper, reproduction of the photographs is generally good. There is a very diagrammatic outline drawing, which shows dimensions, but which is neither detailed nor accurate enough on its own to support building a model of one of these engines.

The eighth and most recent addition takes a step back in time from it usual format of describing one specific class of relatively modern engines, to review the entire motive power of the Ulster Railway, which lost its independence in 1876. As with such remote periods of railway history, there is little to add to what has already been published, allowing for the gaps in the extant records, and most of this topic has already been covered in Norman Johnston’s detailed history of GNR locomotives. There is a short history of the Ulster Railway itself, followed by a description of its engines, in the form of tables of dates, rebuilding and renumbering of each machine. The author has classified the stock his own way into twenty types. This nomenclature includes two classes delivered during or shortly after the formation of the GNR, and one which did not emerge until 1881 being three rebuilds of older engines into a small class of 0-4-2s.There are some 68 photos in the book, again finding unpublished ones for this period is rather hard, and slightly over a third have already appeared in Mr Johnston’s book, in some cases several enlargements from one of the shed scenes providing illustrations of different classes. The author, however, does find some shots from the FitzGerald Collection which I have not seen before, but as with earlier books in the series, reproduction on un-glazed paper, while keeping costs down, impairs reproduction of some photos.

These booklets are produced as limited print runs, on a subscription basis, with future plans to cover the U2 and W classes of the NCC; the Q, and S classes of the GNR; the DNGR 0-6-0STs; and the Queens. [AO'R]

Jeremy Clements & Michael McMahon: ‘Locomotives of the GSR’
384 pages, 346 photographs, colour dust jacket pictures, 2 line drawings, maps, tables etc
ISBN 978-1-906578-26-8 £35-00 From: Colourpoint Books, Jubilee Business Park, 21 Jubilee Road, Newtownards, Co Down BT23 4YH

Wow! For some time, Southern locomotive fans have cast envious eyes at the Colourpoint histories of the GNR and more recently NCC engines. Well, their own volume has proved well worth the wait At first sight it sounds expensive, but taking account of size and photographic content, it is actually very good value for money. Of course, a book limited to the machines built for or by the GSR would be rather slim, and this covers all the stock inherited in 1925, even if some never carried a GSR number plate. As much pre-group stock had long lives, it is a really a history of locomotives built from about 1880 onwards for the constituent companies. The authors have done their homework very well, and although there may be room for a bit more scholarship on the mechanical dark ages at Inchicore and Broadstone, as regards the post 1925 era, this really is the definitive account. Some material has appeared before, but is well integrated, such as the 1948 summary of each surviving class, a pithy, unsentimental few lines saying what the operating department thought of its antiques on day-to-day basis, and often far removed from dewy-eyed enthusiasts, coming across some ancient engine, or logging a spectacular one off run.

This is of course an era now slipping from living memory, and some decisions may not have been “minuted,” so there has to be a bit of reading between the lines. Here the authors are very perceptive. One problem was that in the newly formed GSR, MGWR men took many of the administrative positions, and to even up the power balance, the chief mechanical post went to Bazin, whereas Morton, your man from the Midland who had already proved himself an astute fellow in spotting bargains off the shelf, had a much more enlightened view on superheating the better older classes. In fact, Broadstone seems to have thumbed its nose at Inchicore on this issue, and quietly finished superheating the 650 class: in 1948 they were about the only Midland engines to get an unqualified thumbs up, the larger 4-4-0s being damned as poor timekeepers on the DSER section.

However, for a company that prided it self on thrift, GSR locomotive practice was decidedly wasteful at times, with each CME determined to produce “something new,” although this lead more to technological vanity than genuine progress. 850, always an engine to provoke partisan views, but the one genuinely innovative design was doomed to be a one off; the 670s were a retrospective step. In fact, Inchicore should have adopted a Darwinian “survival of the fittest” approach to selecting the best of the later pre-group designs: a dozen more 257 class would have been more welcome to the operating department than “improved J15s.” A few more DSER moguls and B4 Bandon tanks would also have been useful additions to the fleet. Maybe nothing illustrates this principle more than the 4-6-0s: the 500s did everything required of them, and more, for thirty yeas, with only minor modifications, whereas the mechanically more sophisticated 400s needed radical and expensive rebuilding to make them efficient engines. The cost of reconstructing them might have been better spent on a few more 500 and Woolwich class engines. The authors even take on the legend of the 800s, suggesting that their main value was boosting morale and for publicity, whereas from mechanical point of view, they were a luxury the GSR could ill afford and minor changes to working practices would have made them un-necessary. But, as the authors comment for much or their period, passenger traffic was actually in decline on the GSR system, whereas goods receipts held up much better, and so, while the company fiddled around trying to produce “fixes” for the Cork mails and the Bray suburban services, it was just as well that it had inherited a fleet of hardy 0-6-0s, which could handle the bread-and-butter traffic.

The photographs are generally well reproduced, just a few for obscure engines are a little soft, and for “spotters” there are good shots of some rather camera shy specimens, like 211, 250, 441, 618 and 621. Sadly, the only scale plans are of two patterns of WLWR tenders, from the Stephenson Locomotive Society book on Robinson’s work: there may be a book of drawings later if there is enough demand (hint, hint!). There are chapters on tenders; the fuel crisis (a detailed account of a difficult time, which bridged the GSR/CIE transition); and a brief account of steam loco policy under CIE (for more details of this period see the Decade of Steam book). Wisely, the turf-burner is left to its own specialised books, but the authors take “locomotive” as a broad term for any self propelled vehicle, so the Claytons, Sentinels (both shunting engines and railcars), Drewry vehicles (broad and narrow gauge) and Drumm trains are all covered. All narrow gauge engines extant in 1925 also feature, but these are well documented elsewhere, and I think the real strength of the book is the detailed accounts of the pre-1925 engines, their rebuilding and modification, and the critical discussion of GSR locomotive policy down to 1940. For the not so technically minded, there is also a very clear and illustrated account of the working of locomotive valve gears and superheating. Finally, the book also includes detailed tables of GSR and GNR returns, which suggest that the GSR was not quite so economically backward as followers of the “enterprising” cross-border line would have us believe! In fact, allowing for the fact that GSR engines and rolling stock were older (and in many cases fully depreciated), the return on capital may have looked even better for the GSR. [AO'R]

DVD: ‘The West Cork Railway  1958, 1959 & 1961 Cameo Memories’ by Brian Baker
Produced and distributed by: Signcraft, Bretby, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire DE14 0PS UK Tel. 0044(0) 1283 551581 E-mail: signcraftbretby@aol.com
Running time approx 60 mins Price: £18 including p&p 

Included with this DVD is a section of the 1897 Railway Clearing House Map of southern Ireland showing the west Cork railways, in order to help the viewer visualize the lines depicted.  The reverse side carries additional notes which give mileages for the different sections, a very brief history and a list of books on the  west Cork lines. From the turning of the first sod of the Cork & Bandon Railway on the 16th September 1845, up till the complete closure on the 31st March 1961, the west Cork railways served a large area on the southern coast of Ireland.  The story is recorded in full colour on the DVD with both cine film and still photographs taken in 1958, 1959 and 1961,  and including the final four days of operation, and brings to light some very interesting footage and photographs of the west Cork system.  It also covers the Shannon Vale Mill, showing the working of the line by horse power.  It will be of interest to people who knew the system and people with a general interest in Irish railways, but above all will  be of immense value to modellers of Irish railways as it shows the  many different operations that were typical of the period, including shunting, running, and some beautiful landscape that will inspire modellers of any of the Irish railway systems.

It also includes cab rides for the sections Clonakilty Junction-Ballinascarthy- Courtmacsherry-Clonakilty, Skibbereen-Baltimore and Cork-Bantry. Starting at Albert Quay with steam locomotive No.90 shunting the diesel railcar set, the film takes us through the rural and beautiful countryside that is west Cork, and over some of the best kept track on any railway of the period, as well as over some extremely neglected rails.  The line had the distinction of serving the most southerly railway station in Ireland, and also boasted the first tunnel in Ireland to have steam working through it. The line was worked at this period by diesel railcar sets and C-class Metro-Vick locomotives, with short mixed trains made up of as few as two coaches plus a wagon of pigs, and strengthened on Thursdays by an ancient six-wheeler.  The line also saw excursion traffic as well as loose coupled freight trains which since the 1930’s include beet trains for Mallow sugar factory.  Running through one of the most tranquil scenes in Ireland, this is surely a modeller’s dream railway, with the variation of changing landscape as well as delightful stations along the line and at the termini. There is also an extract of an interview by Brian Baker with 96-year-old Mr. Champion who was a former employee of the railway, man and boy, who recalls some of his railway memories.

The material is professionally produced and narrated by Brian Baker who grew up in west Cork, his father having spent his working life on the west Cork lines apart from a short time at Charleville, and being station master at Clonakilty in the 1930’s. His final appointment was stationmaster at Bandon.  The programme deliberately does not set out to be a source of reference but simply a shared record of a once proud system.

After production and distribution costs, all profit is being donated to the Railway Children charity. [POS]

Two weeks ago I attended another winemaker tasting a Bon Vivant in Smithfield, VA with guest speaker, Susan Ridley of Hendry Wines.  Sue joined Hendry as a partner in 1995, and currently has the responsibility of developing Hendry’s brand and managing sales and marketing.  Sue provided our group a lot of historical information on the early years of the Hendry family and their vineyards. 

Hendry is a small estate winery located in Napa Valley, between the Carneros and Mt. Veeder viticultural districts.  Their 117 acres currently under vine is divided up in to 50 different vineyard blocks (yep, that’s five zero, fifty), and each of the 50 different vineyard blocks is managed separately.  Now I’m not a farmer, winemaker or viticulturalist, but I can imagine the work that goes in to managing 50 separate vineyards blocks is just a bit demanding.

The land that the Hendry Ranch sits on was purchased by George Whiting Hendry in 1939, and is managed today by his son, George Ott Hendry, who has lived on the property and tended the vines his entire life.   Although I have not yet met George, he appears to be quite an interesting dude.  He received his undergrad and graduate degrees from UC Berkely and divides his time between growing grapes and designing and manufacturing particle accelerators. 

 I find these second and third generation family wineries often provide the most sincere wines, and Hendry is certainly part of that group. 

Hendry Ranch 2008 Rose Wine ($16):    Hendry produced 650 cases of this wine.  This is a busy Rose – a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Merlot, Malbec and just a tad of Primitivo (the Hendry Primitivo is supa dupa!).  13.5% alcohol.  Bright pink in color, leaning towards salmon.  Strawberry Jolly Rancher jumped out at me on the nose accompanied by a watermelon and slight citrus aroma.  The strawberry Jolly Rancher continued in the mouth and was balanced with a crisp acidity along with flavors of pink grapefruit and apricot.  Near the end of the bottle, I picked up an unusual alcohol taste that lingered on the finish.

I’m looking forward to visiting Hendry for a tour and tasting during my trip to Napa in July to attend the Wine Bloggers Conference.

 On Facebook?   Facebook me:    www.facebook.com/frank.j.morgan

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Even though the housing market shows faint glimmers of recovery, tough times are by no means over — bankruptcy filings in the Tampa-Fort Myers district are pouring in at a near-record pace.

On Thursday, court clerks logged in the 11,000th case filed since Jan. 1 — a Palm Harbor cleaner who makes $378 a month and has $228,000 in debts, mostly on credit cards. If filings continue at the same rate, the total for 2009 will exceed 27,000, more than at any time except in an unusual year when debtors rushed to file ahead of a new law that made it harder to declare bankruptcy.

“What startled me about that (11,000) number is that the numbers are beyond anything we had anticipated,” said Judge Michael Williamson of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Tampa.

“We knew at the beginning of the year that given economic conditions, our filings were going to increase, but we didn’t estimate that they would increase so steadily to the levels they are today,” he said.

The Tampa-Fort Myers division, which stretches from Hernando County to Naples, includes communities like Spring Hill and Cape Coral that were especially hard hit by the collapse of the housing boom. Many people now in bankruptcy took out multiple loans to buy homes at inflated prices, then were unable to sell or refinance as values plunged.

“We’re seeing a record number of second and third mortgages that are completely underwater, meaning that the value of the property is just enough to cover the first mortgage,” Williamson said.

One fallout of the housing crisis is an increase in filings under Chapter 13, which automatically stops foreclosure proceedings and lets debtors work out a court-approved repayment plan over three to five years.

“The number of cases has gone through the roof, and those are people trying to save their houses,” Williamson said. “That’s become particularly difficult in today’s market, because it’s hard to save a house that’s completely upside down.”

Among those filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy on Thursday was an unemployed Riverview man whose home, refinanced for $157,500, is now worth $140,000. On his unemployment income and his wife’s $42,000 yearly pay as an administrative assistant, the couple will try to pay off debts totalling $318,400.

As of the end of April, the last month for which complete statistics are available, 3,106 debtors in the Tampa-Fort Myers division had filed under Chapter 13. Another 5,929 filed no asset, liquidation bankruptcies under Chapter 7.

“It’s pretty much the same as what we’ve been seeing — people reaching the end of the rope because they’ve lost their jobs or taken a reduction in (hours) as more businesses start to get tight,” said Judge Catherine Peek McEwen.

And the soaring number of personal bankruptcies puts even more pressure on local businesses. Debtors struggling to make their Chapter 13 payments stop dining out, delay getting their hair cut, skimp on car repairs or cancel the gym membership.

At the current rate, bankruptcies in the Tampa-Fort Myers division will hit 27,128 this year — about 500 more than the highest level ever reached in a “normal” year. The all-time record of 30,048 was set in 2005, but that is considered an aberration because of the rush to file before the tough new bankruptcy law took effect.

Nationally, bankruptcy filings are expected to exceed 1.4 million this year, compared with the 1.1 million recorded in 2008.

While the majority of debtors are individuals who defaulted on their mortgages or can’t pay their credit card bills, the next wave of filings could include owners of vacant commercial properties that are no longer bringing in rent.

“The scuttlebutt is that a lot of those troubled assets are being worked out outside of bankruptcy, but the workouts have to run out of gas at some point,” McEwen said. “We have yet to see the shoe drop in terms of commercial buildings.”

După înfrângerea lui Ronnie în optimile de finală şi a lui Hendry în pătrimile de finală, iată că a sosit şi ziua cea mare, a finalei.

Aceasta se va desfăşura între jucătorii John Higgins şi Shaun Murphy, care după o primă întâlnire au terminat la egalitate. În această seară va fi aflat deznodământul. Oare va câştiga Higgins al treilea titlu al carierei sale sau Murphy îl va învinge?

Sandra Hendry was born 1796. She married Abrham Merritt.

Children of Sandra Hendry and Abrham Merritt are:

1. +Phoebe Merritt, b. 26 Oct 1824, Hampstead, Queen’s Co, N.B. Canada, d. 17 Jan 1914, Hampstead, Queen’s Co, N.B. Canada.

Homes for Heroes is always pursuing ways to save our Heroes money. I have a good example of that below. Read on and save some money.

Today sitting in the Homes for Heroes office, as I often do, I was looking out the window, as I often do, wondering, as I often do, what could I do to get out of the office and into the blustery outdoors. My boss usually wants me to work but a Ninja must spend time with nature to keep his skills finely tuned. The drone of keyboards clacking and people talking on the phone can keep a Ninjas mind from remaining focused on the task at hand. That task at hand was figuring a way out for some simple Ninja exercises.

Ninjas do their best work outdoors.

I had tried everything from Ninja hypnosis to ancient Ninja mind control powders. Nothing was working, each attempt to get my boss to drink a fresh cup of coffee or a bottle of water was met with a “I have my own, thank you.” I resigned myself to indoor exercises. I started to focus on various people in the office, listening to what they say, blocking out all other intrusions. This was working until one young lady put down the phone and started to frantically hack away at her keyboard. This intrigued me and I wandered over to see what was up.

Before I even reached her desk, Kacy was telling me that Florida has some great first time buyer programs. Now this was weird. Normally I move through the office so quietly now one knows I have moved until I am at their desk. But it was soon forgotten as to how Kacy knew I was there, she was pulling up some very good information on some of Florida’s housing assistance programs.

Florida Housing’s First Time Homebuyer Program provides a continuous stream of lending throughout the year for eligible first-time homebuyers. If you’re not a first-time home buyer, you may still be eligible if you’re purchasing a home in one of 13 GO Zone counties that include Brevard, Broward, Collier, Glades, Hendry, Indian River, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie.

Here are some of the program highlights. She was scanning so fast it was hard to keep up. When she is on the trail of savings, all I can say is, step back and let her get you those savings.

The program offers low-interest 30 and 40 year fixed-rate loans, down payment and closing costs assistance as well as access to credit counseling.

Teachers, firefighters, health-care workers, police officers, as well as active duty and veteran military personnel could be eligible for lower interest rates.

These savings from Florida as well as the Homes for Heroes savings can pile up to a whole lot of dough. Now I gave you a quick run down, Kacy will know a lot more. You can get a hold of her by calling 1-866 4-heroes orrrrrr send her a message through the Homes for Heroes website. Either way you will save some money and get some good deals on buying that home of yours.

Coincidenţă sau nu, astăzi am avut ocazia să joc biliard, glumind că m-aş antrena, acum că începe campionatul mondial de snooker.

Într-adevăr, a trecut un an de când l-am putut urmări pe Ronnie O’Sullivan câştigând titlul de campion mondial la snooker. Iată-ne acum în faţa unei noi ediţii a acestui prestigios concurs, care se va desfăşura în perioada 18 aprilie-4 mai la Sheffield, în incinta binecunoscutei gazde dintotdeauna: Teatrul Crucible. Cele mai importante momente, dar şi meciuri întregi, vor fi transmise de către canalul Eurosport în această perioadă. Rămâne de văzut ce se va întâmpla de data aceasta.

Vor juca din nou cei mai buni dintre cei mai buni. Se va păstra oare clasamentul? Va câştiga din nou O’Sullivan, reuşind astfel să-şi păstreze titlul mondial, sau poate Stephen Hendry va fi pentru a opta oară campion? Va mai reuşi cineva un spectaculos break maxim? Toate acestea sunt întrebări pe care le veţi putea afla pe parcursul campionatului, urmărindu-l, iar cele mai importante momente vor fi prezentate aici, pe blog.

ini adalah post pertama saya d WORDPRESS!! Di blog blog sebelumnya saya udah kebanyakan nyampah dengan tulisan yang gga guna. Semoga dengan kepindahan saya ke WORDPRESS ini, saya gga jadi nyampah lagi~ **semoga.

THIS IS FIRST! sebelas GRADE HMMMM! uda ampir SATU SETENGAH semester, saya berada di kelas paling aneh semasa idup saya. sebelas GRADE adalah kelas yang berada di lantai dua, sebelah nya RUANG GURU(!) dan hanya dibatasi oleh tembok setengah tanpa PINTU dan JENDELA-hemat gila sebelas GRADE awalnya berisi 25 siswa dan berubah menjadi 24 siswa (yang satunya nyasar entah kemana). SENSUS DIMULAI

**dimulai dari

–ALBERT HARTONO LIANTO — saya udah sekelas sama anak ini dari kelas sepuluh. Sumpah GEJE ne orang. Sesuai dengan absen nya yang pertama, dia selalu jadi yang pertama bukan soal kegantengan tapi paling pertama nanya, ngedebat, daaaan ngejawab pertanyaan. Emang bagus sih kalao kita punya sifat pemberani kaya dia tapiii ngejawabnya suka kaga nyambung a.k.a OUT OF TOPIC — so MR. OOT maap ajaa yaa~ — dan gga tau kenapa NOW. dia part-time menjadi agenWUSHU dan hampir tiap hari ia menawarkan ilmu WUSHU nya kepada teman-temannya termasuk saya dengan sangat terlatih bak agen 1000 sunlight yang menawarkan barangnya dengan berbagai cara.and he always said,”jangan lupa ya hari RABU”–wew

***ALBERT

–ALBERTUS ALVA PUTU S — panggilannya ALVA (ALPA-red) hahaha. emmm si absen ke 2 ini adalah anak dari GURU AGAMA kelas 3. namanya BAPA YULIUS–hha. APAKAH anak ini sesuai dengan ayahnya yang notabene adalah guru agama ?? — Cuma Tuhan yang tahu-SATU ciri khas dari si ALPA, BUKALAH SEPATUnya — dan INNALILLAHI~

***ALVA
–ALEXIS SURYANA — dia adalah SEKRETARIS kelas, walaupun dia laki laki tapi tulisannya BEUH lebih bagus daripada tulisan SAYA. matanya min 7 ato 6 ya–lupa. Pokoknya kalo lepas kacamata dia tuh rabun gga bisa liat apa2, makanya kalo disuru maju ke depan dan beliau grogi lepas kacamatamu! dan kao tidak bisa melihat apa apa. FYI : buka kacamata ganteng loh~ hahaha

***ALEXIS dan TULISANNYA

–BOBBY CHANDRA — ayah buat para ranger. SOSOK kebapaannya parah! kalem pokoknamah bukan gemulai ya sodarasodara. hmm mungkin gara2 itu banyak cewe2 yang kesemsem sama dia — (apa yang kao lihat para wanita???) dan cewe2 yang suka sama dia selalu nitip salam lewat saya dan berkata “mana BOBI??”, si bobby pun bingung apa yang cewe2 itu lihat pada dirinya kenapa cewe2 suka sama dia — sampe suatu hari dia berkata “Win, aneh siah mamah gua bilang temen2 nya pada suka sama guah.”— jiahh TANTE TANTE dongg! – JK!

***BOBBY

–ELWINA WILLIANTO — ah saya mah gga usah diceritain pokoknamah ya anak ini teh baik, sopan, tidak sombong, rajin menabung – hahahhaha – bikin dosa de gueee gara-gara bikin tulisan kaya ginian – daripada kebanyakan bohong dan menambah dosa saya, mendingan selanjutnya aja d. NEXT! RANGER||YELLOW mode OFF!

***I am !!!

–GABRIELA YESSICA SALIM — twinsEFFECT! kembar kembar kembar – dia punya kembaran, yang mau kenalan sama kembarannya baca keterangannya di bawah namanya SESSILIA YESSLYN SALIM – gimana nyeritain ini anak soalnya saya baru sekelas sama dia baru d sebelasGRADE-awalnya saya gga bisa ngebedain mana YESSICA sama kembaranya lama kelamaan siii bisa!!-ah cetek **hahahha

***YESSICA

–HANA CHRISTINE YOHANNA — emm sama kaya di atas – baru sekelas sama dia di sebelasGRADE. 1 yang UNIK dari s hana lamun seuri kos kunti, ketawana parah!! Pantes we waktu kita di sekolah ngadain rumah hantu, dia lah kandidat utama yang menjadi kunti. hihihihihihihihihihihihihi

***HANA

–HENDRY BENNY SAPUTRA — yeee ayo kita bernyanyi bersama!!-hilang akal sehatku karena kau R*CUN!!—hahaha salah satu anggota RANGER ne!!—RANGER||WHITE–s ALUNG tukang moci, badan paling wangi seantero sebelasGRADE-sumpah ini orang badan nya WANGI banget dan sampe sekarang saya gga tau dia pake ramuan apa. “ayo dong cici kasih tahu akika dong!”-LUNG ngomong ulel melingkel d pagel mutel mutel coba bisa gga??—hahahha–uda wangi lucu pula!!! bagi temen2 semua yang menyukai makhluk ini, silahkan pesan bungkus dan bawa pulang dan jangan lupa ada hadiah langsungnya lho sekotak MOCI asli—dan klo mau ngambil hadiah langsungnya jangan hari RABU ya sodara2 kulantaran tokona TUTUP.

***ALUNG

–INDRA PRASTA –salah satu anggota RANGER!RANGER||BLACK–cing2?? king2??—sodaranya s encim paling tinggi dan paling langsing kos tiang listrik!FYI:saya pake hak 7 cm naek tangga 1 biji tetep sepantar juga kaga, edan ini orang, kebiasaan s INDRA klo moto suka nutupin muka dan u know?? Alasannya cuma biar keliatan COOL!!he always said,”COOL teu aing??”—wew

***INDRA

–ISAK PANSIANG — paniseeeeenggg!!-panggilan baru buat ini anak-dia adalah makhluk sulawesi yang nyasar ke sukabumi-beliau adalah murid yang preparenya paling banyak-buku FIS taun sekian.MAT taun sekian dibawa semua!!! heuheu-pernah suatu ketika beliau bawa hpe ke sekolah, otomatis dong hpe kita silent klo mau bawa ke sekolah-nah dia udah silent tuh hpenya tetapi karena hpe nya otomatis bunyi kalo kepencet apanya gitu, hpe dia taro d tas nya dan alhasil kepencet de ama punggungnya—BUNYI dong sodara2 pas pelajaran matematika hahahhaha mukanya langsung pucat tak berwarna~

***ISAK dan PREPARE-an nyah

–LIANA ANTONI – hahay saya sama liana udah sekelas dari kelas sepuluh dan bertemu lagi di sebelasGRADE—si teteh jago lukis ini rajin pisan hahahha gga kaya saya alhasil dia dapet rangking 1 d sebelasGRADE. si teteh liana jadi ketularan twilight sampe twilight parody pun dia suka!! BERHASIL-menularkan virus kepada teman teman semua-hahaha

***LIANA

–NINDYA PUTRI APRODITA TARIGAN — pake bayclin buu ama mamanya??ini anak PUUUTIIIH banget kalo saya berdiri bareng beliau.ya ALLOH kabanting jauh neh saya seperti kuda zebra yang tiba tiba muncul di sebelasGRADE—inggrisnya jago makanya tiap ada tugas bahasa INGGRIS always diperiksain sama dia, hahahha “WIN ini banyak yang salah”—-OMG hancur hati sayaaa.wakakakakakkakakakakak**sst beliau adalah tempat curhatnya ayah bobbi dalam mencari mamah–hehehJK

***NINDY dan ayah bobi KEPERGOK di sesi CURHAT cari mamah euy!

–PUTRI INDRAYANTI — put kita kok sama ya tes glukosa nya, hiks. GLUKOSA positif3 aya gumpalan deui. saya sekelas sama putri baru di sebelasGRADE. suatu ketika, gara2 sisir baru s putri jadi korban saya ngeritingin rambut waktu pelajaran kosong bahasa inggris—sorry ya put, kapan2 lagi ya!!(**LHO)

***PUTRI

–REYNATA HADIAN — salah satu anggota RANGER!!RANGER||GREEN-panggilannya naa duduknya d sebelah saya, ternyata eh ternyata dia adalah cucunya SBY soalnya dia punya tompel yang sama persis kaya beliau cuma ketutupan poni aja tuh jadi gga kliatan-riweuhh anaknya daddy BOBBY tuh yang ada d absent 4 dasar BIG BABY a.k.a bayi tabung hhe.walaupun dia disebut BIG BABY dia paling berani diantara kita2 dan FYI dia jago nyatok lurus sama nyatok keriting jadi kalo para ranger wanita mau pergi ke tempat spesial(swiiit) dia lah penata rambut kami!dia sama kaya saya, suka banget sama TWILIGHT SAGA-love EDIT!!!dia CINTA AARON!-now, dia menjadi bandar pulsa d sebelasGRADE, saya aja masih ngutang sama dia, hhi.dia adalah partner dalam membasmi kejahatan dan konser RACUN DUNIA—oh ya dia adalah moderator dari TFC bersama saya dan SHERLY.

***NAA

–RICKY ALEXANDER — beb beb beb….BEBEK!! suaranya lucu, hahahha saya sama beliau uda sekelas dari kelas sepeluh dan bertemu lagi di sebelasGRADE. emaknya muritt mama saya tuh hahahhaha.tu anak ampir tiap hari pake jaket yang sama JAKET BIRU PLUS KUPLUK!ujan om?

***RICKY waktu jadi hantu

–RINI ANDRIYANI — hei neng RINI paling tombooooooy sejagad sebelasGRADE-rambutnya pendek pula mendukunglah pokokna.nilai matematikanya anjrit DASYAT!!-klo di sekolah dia tuh yang jadi guru les saya—“RIN kok ini begini?? Masa?? OH ya??”, tabahlah menghadapi saya mbaa—s RINI adalah partner saya sama RENA kalo kita mau konser RACUN DUNIA dan diselingi koreografer poco-poco ciptaan kami berdua hahahha—

***RINI

–SELFIANA ATMACENDANA — dia partnernya ALEXIS dalam menjadi sekretaris kelas—dia dan saya sama2 punya masalah sama yang namanya DEFEKASI—padahal uda minum vegeta anggur loh kok gga keluar2 hahahahha—payah ah VEGETA~

***SELFIANA

–SESSILIA YESSLYN SALIM — nahh ini dia twinsEFFECT sebelas grade dia kembarannya YESSICA yang tadi uda di certain di atas—saya sama dia juga sekelas baru d sebelasGRADE. dia bendahara d kelas dan partner sekaligus tukang nagih uang kasnya adalah INDRA PRASTA, he said “WIN, bayar 7rebu”, **banyak amat.

***YESSLYN

–SHERLY YOSVARA — awalnya saya ngeliat anak ini seperti anak yang sangat amat teramat pendiam, ternyata setelah ditelusuri lebih jauh dia sama gilanya kaya kita.dia adalah pencetus awal dari nyeri TFC dan saya meresmikannya menjadi TFC addict. Dia adalah moderator dari TFC, dan pembuat lambang TFC.***parah—-saya suka banget sama rambut keritingnya dan selalu berkata kepada beliau,”SHER pengen di keriting” dan dia menjawab “sok atuh” saya pun menjawab dengan sangat sedih dan kecewa,”gga punya duit…”

***SHERLY

–SIMON NORMAN – panggilannya putra, saya sama dia baru sekelas di sebelasGRADE–SATU ciri khas dari dia–tiap pulang sekolah, dia selalu menjadi sukarelawan waktu pulang sekolah yaitu jadi pemimpin DOA PULANG dannnn setiap kali dia doa AMIN nya itu suka kaga kedengeran, sampe sampe yang pada doa uda pada sadar kalo kita uda BERSIAP dan BERISALAM, dan kami selalu bertanya, “Kapan Aminnya???”

***PUTRA

–SOFIA NOVIYANTI – ternyata eh ternyata gara-gara saya sekelas sama dia d sebelasGRADE, saya dan dia adalah sodara!!!plok plok plok—panggilannya NOVI cerita dimulai waktu pengambilan rapot kelas dan saya bertemu dengan neneknya yang ternyata adalah sodara nenek saya—ngerti tidak para pembaca????

***NOVI

–SUSANTI SUGANDI — iyeu budak SMA apa budak SD?—kalo anda2 semua tidak mengenal baik dengan anak ini anda tidak akan menyangka bahwa dia adalah murid SMA di sebelasGRADE dan sekelas dengan saya yang berbadan besar—badannya kecil banget, jika ia disandingkan dengan saya yang berbadan besar bak ibu dan anak yang hendak mengambil rapot semesteran.

***SUSAN

–WENNY MONICA SIGAN – badannya besar seperti saya dan saya pun tidak akan minder-sedikit.kenapa??soalnya kulitnya putih—s WENNY kalo lagi debat NYOLOOOOOT minta ampun galak lah pokokna mah!!dan membuat saya ingin ***kaboooor.

***WENNY

–YASON NUGRAHA — akhirnya sampai juga d absent terakhir—cape juga ngetik kaga jelas dari atas sampe bawah—namanya YASON NUGRAHA, panggilannya YASON dia ketua kelas d sebelasGRADE dan d wakilkan oleh saya—saya dan yason sekelas baru d sebelasGRADE, dia jago maen ALAT MUSIK. LOVE music lah—now, dia partime dipabrik teh botol, bingung dong?? sama saya juga–karena dia membuka TUTUP botol yang ada menggunakan G*G*2nya yang sangat kuat!!!—–semua karena ciptadent microactifoam—hahahahhahaINTERMEZO brow–karena keistimewaan yang dia miliki kami selalu menyebut2 benda keramatnya(G*G*-red), dia pun kesal dan menyebut kami, “b*****”–heheh DAMAI ITU INDAH!

***YASON

*********banyak banget spesies yang berbeda beda(jiaah spesies) dan TUHAN sudah menciptakan mereka dan juga saya bermacam-macam rupa biar kita tetep terlihat ORIGINAL dibanding yang lain and I LOVE U OLL!!! –plok plok plok—selesai juga maap apabila kepanjangan dan maap pula apabila sangat membosankan saya ELWINA WILLIANTO sang pembela kebenaran **hahahha pamit dan “hati-hati di jalan”

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**cuma sebagian ne!!

belakang ki-ka : Indra Prasta;Alexis Suryana;Bobby Chandra;Simon Putra;Yason Nugraha;Reynata Hadian;Elwina Willianto;Rini Andriyani;Hendry Benny Saputra;Albert Hartono Lianto

depan ki-ka : Gabriela Yessica Salim;Sofia Noviyanti;Sessilia Yesslyn Salim;Sherly Yosvara;Susanti Sugandi;Hana Christine Yohanna;Selfiana Atmacendana;Wenny Monica Sigan;Liana Antoni;Isak Pansiang.

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The new Jason Marquis?

Literally less than an hour after I posted about how the Cubs might try and get Peavy, ESPN breaks this story.  The Cubs have just acquired pitcher Aaron Heilman from the Seattle Mariners.  Who the Fuck is Aaron Heilman?  Apparently, he’s a 30 year old pitcher with a 22-33 record and a 4.24 ERA in 6 seasons and has pitched as both a starter and a reliever.  The Cubs gave up Garrett Olson and Ronny Cedeno for this guy.  This means that the Peavy trade looks dead because Olson was suppose to be a key guy in the Peavy trade.  I have no idea why Hendry did this or how this helps the Cubs.