WASHINGTON, Nov 23, 2009 (AFP) – Astronauts from the US space shuttle Atlantis were to venture into open space Monday on a third and final spacewalk of their mission aimed at maintaining and installing more high-tech equipment on the International Space Station.

Mission specialists Randy Bresnik and Robert Satcher were spending the night in the Quest airlock of the shuttle as part of the overnight “campout” procedure that helps purge nitrogen from their bloodstreams, preventing decompression sickness once they move out into the vacuum of space.

This picture provided by NASA shows US astronaut Randy Bresnik, STS-129 mission specialist, saluting crewmates on November 21, 2009 (AFP photo)

The walk was slated to begin at 7:18 am EST (1218 GMT).

The second spacewalk on Saturday, executed by Bresnik and Mike Foreman, was shortened by about 30 minutes due to false depressurization and smoke alarms, but the duo completed all their scheduled tasks in six hours and eight minutes, according to the US space agency NASA.

The pair installed a cargo attachment system on the space-facing side of the station’s Starboard 3 truss and set up a wireless video system to transmit images to the station and relay them to Earth.

During a separate mission next year, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer will be installed at the attachment point.

Foreman and Bresnik also tackled a task that had been planned for the third spacewalk — deploying the final attachment system on the Earth-facing side of the truss, where a logistics carrier will be installed next year.

In addition, they installed two antennas on a Columbus European lab assembly to track ships on Earth, and relocated a floating unit that measures electric charges on the station.

Prior to the spacewalk, two other astronauts used the station’s robotic arm to transfer a cargo pallet containing 10,000 pounds (4,545 kilograms) of spare parts.

Bresnik will undertake Monday’s spacewalk buoyed by a happy event in his personal life. On Sunday, his wife back on Earth gave birth to a baby daughter, NASA announced.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said it was the second time a baby had been born to a US astronaut during a spaceflight. In June 2004, astronaut Mike Fincke’s daughter was born while he was aboard the ISS.

After Atlantis, just six space missions will remain in the shuttle program before the fleet’s three orbiters are retired.

NASA’s shuttle program is due to be mothballed next year, but the White House could still decide to extend it through 2011 to reduce America’s future reliance on Russia for transporting astronauts to the space station.

The shuttle remains the only spacecraft that can carry heavy, bulky equipment that is key to maintaining the ISS, itself set to remain operational until 2020.

Sixteen countries participate in the ISS program, at a cost of 100 billion dollars with most financing coming from the United States.

The US human space flight program, which swallows up 10 billion dollars of NASA’s 18-billion-dollar annual budget, is at great risk of being grounded.

A panel set up by President Barack Obama and tasked with assessing its future has said an additional three billion dollars per year is needed for NASA to meet its goals.

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Here’s another piece that’s going int the knitted chakra anatomy series. This is a representation of the Third Eye or Ajna (to perceive and command in Sanskrit). This energy center in the body is related to vision and the eyes.

Three years ago today I logged in to my first ever virtual world of any sort. I have been one and then I was two, but now I am three.

At one I wrote a lot about how my life had changed and I had a big old party. At two I did neither. At three I think I shall only do the former.

I came in as the Boy Next Door av and was lost. I enjoyed flying, but kept myself to myself and found the world cold and sort of unfriendly. I camped. I wanted a better skin. I gave up camping and put some money into my life. I ended up at Murray. I made some poor choices. I wasted so much time pissing about fighting silly griefers when I could have been doing something worthwhile. Still, I made friends and laughed a lot. I remember looking like an extra from The Matrix for a while *shakes head*. I was like a child growing up, distracted by what my more eloquent friends would call ephemera but in reality was just crap. I didn’t take photos for the first six months because I didn’t realise they could be free – hell, at first I didn’t know you even had a camera. The only shots I have of me at this time are after the Murray & griefer fighting stage. I was no longer a Neo-clone but back to being the boy next door, just with some spending money…

I continued to grow up. I bought land, began to explore, began to learn about the history of the world. I wanted more. I was hungry for something. I found I had few friends left, people leaving or partnering up or getting on with their lives. I started to travel, to write and I began to suspect I had found a purpose. I began a process of remoulding myself. I stripped away what I was and had been. I became abstracted. I changed. I became the gazelle. My form solidified.

I continued to grow up. I mourned – and still mourn – the loss of so many friends, but I met so many new ones. I had left home, left my family and was now in the world on my own. It had taken a year but I had done it. I found new outlets for my creative purpose. I joined the show, I explored, I wrote tales, I took photographs.

And now, three years into my second life, I continue to grow up. I am still in the show, but my explorations and photography have given way to an increased desire to roleplay and write. In the last few months I have created and written more than I had done in the entire preceding two and a half years. After years of looking without realising it, I have found a community for the first time. I am making new friends – this time though, my old friends aren’t leaving and vanishing, indeed one or two of my oldest friends may even be on their way back which makes me very happy indeed (come back Anni – I miss you!). I am on the cusp of a new phase of my second life – although it ceased being my second life a long time ago and is simply my life, as real as my house, family and work.

I’m a lucky Burro. I continue to grow up. I look forward to the next twelve months with excitement.

I is three.

Apple’s 3rd generation iPod Shuffle unveiled a feature new to most portable music players. The iPod Shuffle 3rd generation not only comes in sleeker and slimmer design but has the capability to voice-over the name of songs, artists, or playlists too.

Read more…

Master bedroom (17 x 13 sq ft)

Master bedroom with striped paint wall

Master bedroom windows let in lots of light

Master bedroom windows at sunset

Master bedroom triple sliding closets with built-in shelving

Master bedroom windows in the evening

Second bedroom (12 x 11 sq ft)

Bedroom two with sliding glass door

Bedroom two

Bedroom two with sliding glass door to outside catwalk

Bedroom two with full wall of closets with built-in shelving

Third bedroom/den/office (10 x 10 sq ft)

Den, office or third bedroom with cork floors and glass sliding door out to catwalk/deck

Den, office or third bedroom with built-in desk area and TV shelf

Den, office or third bedroom, with sitting area, overlooking entry

Den, office or third bedroom with built-in desk/closet area and TV shelf (at night)

Bathrooms

The “blue” bathroom (complete with blue tub) is upstairs. The “yellow” bathroom is downstairs in the entry area.

Blue bathroom (original porcelain floor tile); blue tub /shower and linen closet opposite vanity

Blue bathroom window overlooking catwalk and front yard

Blue bathroom original mosaic tile countertop

"Yellow" full bath downstairs - great opportunity to give this your own touches

"Yellow" full bath downstairs with blue slate floor and terrazzo shower base.

A third man, aged 28, is charged in connection with an attack in Norwich city centre…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: free city. For a different topic see here. The blog is also related to: uniform city.

With investors’ confidence seeming to return, the benchmark VN-Index was up for a third day in a row November 13.

The measure of 181 companies and four mutual funds listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange rose 2.23 points, or 0.41 percent, to 548.21.

Trading volume was at around 48.5 million shares worth VND2.4 trillion (US$134.3 million) as 94 shares rose, 62 fell, and 29 remained unchanged.

The three most active stocks were Sacombank with 2.13 million shares changing hands as it gained 0.58 percent to close at VND86,000.

Eximbank, which remained unchanged, came next with 1.84 million shares, followed by the HCM City-based Tan Tao Investment Industry Corp. with 1.74 million shares. The latter closed up 2.53 percent at VND44,600.

The gainers were led by the Hanoi-based Petrolimex Gas Joint Stock Co., the HCM City-based Transforwarding Warehousing Joint Stock Corp, and Truong Thanh Furniture Corp. based in the southern Binh Duong Province. All gained by the maximum 5 percent allowed in a session.

Sugar stocks enjoyed a bullish trend as Bien Hoa Sugar Joint Stock Co. based in the southern Dong Nai Province rallied 4.66 percent to VND36,500 and Bourbon Tay Ninh Joint Stock Co. in nearby Tay Ninh Province added 2.21 percent to VND13,600.

Rubber stocks also continued to perform well. Hoa Binh Rubber Joint Stock Co., Tay Ninh Rubber Joint Stock Co., and Dong Phu Rubber Joint Stock Co. all stayed in the green after sharp gains the previous day when rubber futures in Tokyo climbed to their highest level in 13 months after gold rallied to a record for a second day, boosting speculation that demand for commodities will grow.

But Hanoi’s HNX-Index fell to 183.64 after losing 0.40 percent or 0.73 points. Nearly 22.8 million shares worth VND973 billion changed hands.

The UPCoM-Index gained 0.83 points or 1.26 percent to 66.93 as 93,615 shares were traded for VND1.04 billion.

US stocks finished near their worst levels of the day Thursday, with the Dow industrials logging their first drop in seven sessions to finish at 10,197.47, as a stronger dollar and a drop in crude oil prices took their toll on the energy sector.

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Celebrities plant an apple tree orchard on the site of the proposed third runway at Heathrow airport… From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: manchester flight. The blog is also related to: cheap airline flight.

It’s eight hours until I get up, my cat has developed an interest in human food – even oatmeal cookies, I have a smiley face drawn on my left hand in marker pen, and I have the soundtrack to The Third Man stuck in my head. Hit it.

Brett Patrick Markley
41839 Amberly Dr.
Clinton Twp., Michigan 48038
Home: 586-416-4875
Cell: 586-214-8027

Objective
To promote the implementation and advancement of technology where my skills, education, and experience can be utilized.

Functional Experience

Senior Lead Electronics Repair Technician/Software Engineer
ABB Inc.
Auburn Hills, MI
06/2003 – 10/2009
Administrate Daily Repair Operations, Coordinate Personnel And Work Assignments, Provide Production And Performance Tracking Of Jobs And Technicians. Forecast Monthly Earnings And Provide Monthly Reports And Analysis. Assist With Warranty Tracking, And Problem Resolution. Facilitate Weekly Departmental Safety Talks. Manage And Source Equipment, Supplies, And Parts. Build, Maintain, Audit, And Repair Test Equipment. Analyze And Expand Repair Capabilities, Create Documentation, And Procedures. Manage, Train, And Assist Repair Technicians. Clean, Test, Repair, And Refurbish ABB OEM Electronics. In-circuit Repair Of Discrete And Surface Mount Component Technology. Administrate Test Computers, Robot Controllers, Networking, Internal Software, Customer Software Creation, Firmware, And Firmware Production. Submission Of Bug Information And Change Requests To Main Office. Expand Product Knowledge Through Periodic Training. Provide Technical Support For Electronics, Computers And Software. Member Of ABB Emergency Response Team, ABB Certified For Hazardous Material Manifest.
Electronics Service Engineer

St-Lawrence-Troy LLC
Madison Heights, MI
10/2001 – 06/2003
Third Party Repair Services. Clean, Test, And Repair Power Supplies, Servo Amplifiers, Teach Pendants, Main CPU, EMG Modules, And I/O Boards From Various Manufacturers Containing Both Discrete And Surface Mount Technology. Identify, Source, Order And Maintain Components And Consumable Inventory Used For Repair. Prepared Documentation For Repairs And Test Procedures.

Electronics Service Engineer/Proposal Engineer
Argus & Associates Inc.
Wixom, MI
10/2000 – 06/2001
Contracted for FANUC Robotics North America Inc. Rochester Hills, MI. Creation Of Custom Rebuild, Refurbishment, Repair, P.M. And Spare Parts Support Packages. Coordinate Customer Contact Meetings, Part Orders, Part Packages, And Material Planning. Provide Interdepartmental Communications And Data Acquisition. Clean, Test, And Repair Power Supplies, Servo Amplifiers, Teach Pendants, Main CPU And EMG Modules Containing Both Discrete And Surface Mount Component Technology. Prepared Documentation For Repairs And Test Procedures. Expand Product Knowledge Through Periodic Training.

Electronics Service Engineer/Proposal Engineer
Epcom Corporation
Troy, MI
01/1999 – 10/2000
Contracted for FANUC Robotics North America Inc. Rochester Hills, MI. Creation Of Custom Rebuild, Refurbishment, Repair, P.M. And Spare Parts Support Packages. Coordinate Customer Contact Meetings, Part Orders, Part Packages, And Material Planning. Provide Interdepartmental Communications And Data Acquisition. Clean, Test, And Repair Power Supplies, Servo Amplifiers, Teach Pendants, Main CPU And EMG Modules Containing Both Discrete And Surface Mount Component Technology. Prepared Documentation For Repairs And Test Procedures. Expand Product Knowledge Through Periodic Training.

Electronics Service Engineer
Tarus Products Inc.
Sterling Heights, MI
08/1997 – 01/1999
Clean, Test, Repair, Assemble, And Retrofit Prototype/Production Computers And Circuit Boards Containing Both Discrete And Surface Mount Component Technology. Software And Hardware Installation And Support. Field Service Support Of CNC Milling And CMM Inspection Machines. Installation And Support Of In-House Network. Organize And Maintain Component Inventory.

Education

ABB Inc.
Auburn Hills, MI
06/2003 – 10/2009
Certifications In S2, S3, S4, S4C, S4C+, IRC5, Trallfa, S4P, S4P+ Electrical Maintenance, Robot Safety, Electrical Safety, Mechanical Safety, HAZMAT, ERT, Ethics, Diversity, SAP, JDE, Leadership, Team Work.

FANUC Robotics North America
Rochester Hills, MI
01/1999 – 06/2001
Certifications In R-J, R-J2, And R-J3 Electrical Maintenance And P200 Mechanical Rebuild, BAAN, MS Office, Visual Basic, ACT, Safari Report Writer, Robot Safety, Electrical Safety, Mechanical Safety, HAZMAT, ERT, Ethics, Diversity

ITT Technical Institute Associate Degree
Troy, MI
03/1996 – 4/1998
Computer and Electronics Engineering Technology
GPA Of 3.85 Member Of National Vocational Honor Society

Affiliations

National Vocational Honor Society in Electronics Engineering Technology Member
06/1997 – Present

Skills

Fabrication & Assembly
Customer Service
Hardware
Programming
Servers
CMM
Database
Industrial Controls
Project Management
Software
CNC
Design
Installation
Repair
Technical Support
Communications
Electronics
Microsoft/Windows
Rework
Technical Writing
Computers
Engineering
Networking
Robotics
Training
Content Management
GNU/Linux
Open Source
Schematics
Troubleshooting
CSS
XHTML
XML
PHP & MYSQL
Apache

Portishead é uma banda britânica de trip hop formada no ano de 1991 em Bristol, Inglaterra. Ela foi formada quando, numa fila de desempregados, Geoff Barrow (samples e letras) encontrou Beth Gibbons (vocal). Geoff fazia samples para outras bandas, mas depois que formou o Portishead com outros integrantes de uma banda de jazz, ele passou a se dedicar somente à banda. No início, o Portishead era definido como lo-fi mas depois de algum tempo seu estilo foi modificado para o que é conhecido como trip hop. Portishead é o nome da cidade natal de Geoff Barrow.

(Fonte: wikipedia)

Eu achei o último CD deles, o Third, lançado ano passado (2008) para vocês baixarem:

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Capa do CD Third lançado em 2008.

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Click aqui para baixar esse CD.

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Q3 Sales Trends Summary

There Were A Grand Total Of 121 Homes Sold In The Third Quarter 2000 Across All Price Ranges Shown. 50.4% Of These Sales Were In The $100,000 To $150,000. 4.1% Of The Homes Sold Were In The $300,001 To $400,000.

134 Homes Were Sold In The Third Quarter Of 2001, Which Represented A 10.75% INCREASE For The Same Period Of The Previous Year. 53% Of The Homes Were In The $100,000 To $150,000 Price Range, 20.1% Of The Sales Were In The $150,001 To $200,000 Price Range. 23.1% Of The Homes Were in The $200,001 To $300,000 Price Range And There Were 5 Homes Sold In The $300,001 To $400,000 Price Range.

In 2002 108 Was The Total Number Of Homes Sold In The Third Quarter. $100,000 To $150,000 Price Range Represented 47.2% Of The Sales.

For 2003 There Were 160 Properties Sold In The Third Quarter. 33.1% Of These Homes Were In The $100,000 To $150,000 Price Range And 31.9% Of The Sales Was For Homes In The $150,001 To $200,000 Price Range. 30% Of The Home Sales Were In The Price Range Of $200,001 To $300,000.

The 190 Homes Sold In The Third Quarter Of 2004  Represented A 18.75% Increase From The Same Period Of The Previous Year With 35.8% Of These Sales Falling In The $100,000 To $150,000 Price Range And 32.6% Being Sold In The Price Range Of $200,001 To $300,000.

Of The Total 235 Homes Were Sold In The Third Quarter Of 2005, Approximately 33.6% Of These Were In The $100,000 To $150,000 Price Range, 34.5% Falling In The $200,001 To $300,000.

The 238 Homes Sold In The Third Quarter Of 2006. The Most Popular Price Range For Sales (35.7%) Was $200,001 To $300,000.

We Had A Total Of 228 Homes Sold In The Third Quarter Of 2007. Of These, 22.4% Were In The $100,000 To $150,000 Price Range, 31% Of The Sales Were In The $150,001 To $200,000 Price Range And 25.4% Of The Sales Were For Homes In The $200,001 To $300,000 Price Range.

For 2008 There Were A Total Of 145 Homes Sold In The Third Quarter. 14.5% Of These Homes Were In The $100,000 To $150,000 Price Range, 29.7% Of The Sales Were In The Price Range Of $150,001 To $200,000, 43.4% Of The Homes Sold Were In The $200,001 To $300,000.

In This Current Year, 2009 152 Homes Were Sold In The Third Quarter, 36.8% Of Which Were In The $150,001 To $200,000 Price Range, 36.2% Of The Sales Were In The $200,001 To $300,000 Price Range And 17.1% Of The Homes Being In The $100,000 To $150,000 Price Range.

Ghana: Day One

[6:17pm, Sunday, November 7^th]

Okay, now that I’ve gotten “Sweat” out of the way I can tell you about the rest of my day, from the time that the plane touched down until now, and probably through the rest of the night.

The plane landed safely. This may seem an arbitrary and unimportant detail in my journey, but trust me when I say that without it there would be a serious problem; but fortunately my journey was free of serious problems, and even moderate and minor ones (except for the taxi fare, apparently paid in gold); I chalk this up to the distinct possibility of some more exotic expiration that gets me in the middle of the trip. Better notify REI.

Let’s skip to the part where we caught the taxi, or in financial terms, where the taxi caught us: leaving the airport. The first thing you notice when you step outside the airport (if you use the forbidden side doors that we had to ask really nicely to be let out of so we wouldn’t be trampled by…everyone) is that the airport itself is one of the tallest structures in the immediate vicinity. It is a vantage point – which is saying something because it’s no more than four stories on a hill. I counted five skyscrapers – seven-story buildings – on the way to the orphanage, and a plethora of small walled communities (not “gated-neighborhood” walls, concrete “let’s not get robbed” walls), open space, and burned refuse. In my limited experience in temperate Third-World countries, this is the signature, what I expected from the rural areas – not necessarily from the country’s capital.

My next tourist thought was, “Ghana is not a pretty country.” I admit, that thought crossed my mind a couple times. Here’s the first major issue with that judgment: Ghana is not a hilly, verdant landscape replete with middle-class homes in nice neighborhoods, nice sidewalks (or sidewalks at all), copious amounts of lakes and streams, public art, and a visible, solid infrastructure. For those of you who don’t know, that’s Seattle. Ghana is not pretty, in my opinion, because my definition of a pretty city turned out to be Seattle. Whether that’s because I am predisposed to like Seattle, or because that’s where I feel safe, my definition of beauty will have to change a little bit more – which is not a bad thing. I’m not saying that I’m going to decide that Accra, specifically, is a beautiful city when I wake up tomorrow – I’m just saying I need to better define my criteria.

Enough self-righteous self-wronging. We arrived at the orphanage; we forgot to check the price ahead of time and was hit with 15 cedis fee (todays exchange rate is 1.4 cedis per dollar) when the fee usually costs less than ten. We unloaded the bags and the fun began.

First, we dropped our bags off with Samul (all spellings are phonetic estimates, with which the accent doesn’t help), a young boy at OSU who watched them while we paid a visit to the head of the orphanage, a stout Auntie (as all the older women are called) who after neither asking for my medical note (one of the requirements) or background check, nor asking/telling me what my duties were, gave me a room (the room?) for a rate I have to discern. The room in question is exactly that: room. Roughly 6.5×5x10 (w,l,h; in feet), I have enough “room” to stand, lay straight on the bed, and sit on the upper bunk (next to where I crammed my stuff). Yes, there’s a bunk bed, which takes up more than half the room; a mini, mini fridge (electric icebox?), which isn’t cold but serves as a great end table for one of my bags; and an upright fan to serve as my air conditioning. It’s broken, which is why I know the fridge isn’t cold – so now I have the windows (3×1.5, w,h, in feet) open letting in the cool night air (about 75 Farenheit). I’ve never felt safer, though, since I’m in the inner sanctum of what I think is, in fact, a guest house – the walls are about four to five inches of concrete on the inside, closer to seven for the outside wall, with burglar-proof windows and two currently bolted hardwood doors. I have a key, which is the only reason I haven’t termed my room “The Cell.” I was thinking more along the lines of “Emerald Fortress” – not because it’s protecting the guy from the green city, but because the only light in my room is a dark, vibrant green that makes everything  bit trippy. Yes, my Emerald Fortress is nigh impenetrable except for its Achilles’ heel, namely the light switch being outside the door, enabling a switch-happy kid the ability to render the Emerald Fortress into a normal, boring one. On a side note, I managed to st up some clothesline and my mosquito net using one string of rope, the doorknob, and a bedpost – not quite MacGuyver, but the point here is that I’m sleeping on the lower bunk, hanging the mosquito net from the upper bunk. This reduces the overall efficacy of the net by roughly 130%; for those of you not familiar with new math, we minus 90% because the net is against my skin (not so great for keeping those bloodsucking festerpools off my skin) and the other 40% because I’ve effectively cocooned myself into smothering immobility (I’m thinking they made this net out of kevlar – great if the mosquitos are packing heat, no so great for moving, breathing, or surviving).

So I got my room! While they were preparing it (I’m not sure what exactly they were preparing) we gave bread and fruit to the collection of boys who had gathered around us, and this is when I stopped thinking and started learning. If you only notice one thing about the youth here, it will undoubtedly be that they touch. Everything. I had the contents of my pockets examined, and then returned to me; I shook hands, gave hugs, held kids, gave piggyback rides, and carried little ones around with me; each one probably a hundred times over. While you’re standing and talking to someone, they’ll just keep on shaking your hand (which for the record goes broshake-handshake-snap) for minutes. All the kids come and touch you, even though they don’t know you – I was constantly holding hands. As I found out later, if you at ll bend down, sit down, or squat, you’ll induce a dog pile. I say “induce” because it borders on being one of the laws of physics – probably even more reliable. What’s fascinating about the whole thing is that touching is almost subconscious here; whereas in America we try to not touch, anyone or anything.

We began by dropping off our bags at the office, and then toured the infant’s house. These children are by far the cutest things you’ve never seen, hands down; but they are in these moldy cribs (by no fault of the orphanage – they have gotten some new ones in thanks to some serious fundraising, but not quite enough) with torn mattresses. We then visited the younger boys’ (6-12) house, and stopped by the older boys’ (13 and up) house where they were getting ready to watch the Manchester vs. Chelsea soccer match (soccer is BIG here – I’ll probably end up getting a lot of practice). Finally, we took some of the boys and went to…

…Celsbridge, one of the places (specifically a cafe) that will end up being one of my staples outside the walls of OSU. See, I don’t get fed here. I completely understand this, since the food should be saved for the children, but that leaves me with the following options (as best I understand them):

Celsbridge (the cafe): open air, very relaxed, this place is about 300 feet straight out of the front gate and specializes in meat. Well, supposedly. We ordered chips (fries), two sausages and one beef something-or-other; they were out of beef so we ordered kebab; turns out they were out of kebab, so we got the spicy chicken – and when I say spicy chicken, I mean a little chicken and a lot of spicy. I don’t believe I’ve ever tasted meat that was so searingly spicy before – I’ve done hot satays, I love kim chi, and I do like wasabi, but this was completely different. Good, but definitely an acquired taste; and speaking of acquired tastes, I was introduced to the joys of Malt soda, a barley-based carbonated energy drink, supposedly healthy and tastes like it.

Churchie’s (the pizza place): the second best pizza place, and where I think I’m going for breakfast tomorrow morning. Limited options, remember? It’s out the gate and to the left, down the street an indeterminate distance.

Novatel (the hotel): where the crews lay over, also known as one of my two lifelines – the other being the the American Embassy. I don’t know how to get to either one, yet, but I intend to find out. the reason they’re on this list is because they supposedly have the absolute best pizza, ever. I may have to check that out.

Frankie’s (the greasebucket): a hamburger and pizza place that was warned in earnest against visiting.

The Mall (…): It may or may not be close by, but it’s definitely overpriced. Still, I might stop by and get something to snack on.

Street Vendors (the natural selection): I’ll try these out when I’m ready to expire in the most grotesque display of intestinal fireworks. I think they serve goat, might be fun to try. Once.

The other building of note is the bank, where I’ll be changing my money tomorrow; out the gate, take a left, walk a bit, take another left, and walk some more. People here are reeeeal precise, let’s hope that doesn’t apply so much to the money exchange.

And after seeing all this, and learning all that, and meeting all of them, I retired to my room at one in the afternoon to blog, take a shower, and pass out.

Wednesday roundup: Phantoms rally past ‘Tigers in thirdNovember 4, 2009

Wednesday’s AHL Boxscores

ADIRONDACK 4, BRIDGEPORT 2
Adirondack defenseman Joey Mormina put up a goal and two assists as the Phantoms scored three unanswered goals to double up Bridgeport by a 4-2 count in a Wednesday afternoon matinee at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

The Phantoms initially grabbed a 1-0 lead in the contest when Jon Matsumoto scored on the power play with 2:45 to play in the opening period.

But Bridgeport got on the board 15:11 into the middle frame, as Greg Mauldin converted a penalty shot attempt against Phantoms goaltender Johan Backlund. Mauldin then gave the Sound Tigers a 2-1 lead at 9:30 of the third period.

Adirondack was quick to respond, as Stefan Legein scored just 10 seconds after Mauldin’s go-ahead goal, and Andreas Nodl cashed in on a power play at the 15:08 mark to put the Phantoms on top to stay.

Mormina, who entered the afternoon without a point in his first nine games of the season, assisted on both of those tallies before scoring a power play goal of his own at the 18:41 mark to provide insurance.

Patrick Maroon chipped in a pair of assists in the win, and Adirondack finished 3-for-9 on the power play after totaling just five power play goals in its first 10 games of the campaign (5-for-49; 10.2 percent).

Backlund made 29 saves to pick up the victory, which moved the Phantoms to 5-2-1-0 in their last eight contests.

HERSHEY 5, LOWELL 2
Massachusetts native Keith Aucoin tallied a hat trick on Wednesday to power Hershey to a 5-2 road win over Lowell at Tsongas Arena.

Aucoin, in his first game back with the Bears following a stint in the NHL, scored once in the second period and twice in the third frame. The veteran forward, who played in Lowell during the 2001-02 and 2005-06 seasons, has now registered eight points (4-4-8) in five AHL games this season.

Oskar Osala and defenseman Patrick McNeill also scored for the Bears, who began a New England road trip by capturing their season-high fourth straight win.

Andrew Gordon (0-3-3) and Kyle Wilson (0-2-2) each chipped in multiple assists, and Hershey goaltender Michal Neuvirth picked up the victory with 24 saves in net.

Nick Palmieri and Dean McAmmond notched goals for the Devils, who saw their three-game home winning streak against Hershey come to an end.

BINGHAMTON 2, ALBANY 0
Goaltender Mike Brodeur posted a 25-save shutout as Binghamton captured a 2-0 road win over Albany on Wednesday at the Times Union Center.

It marked the first shutout of the season for Brodeur (3-2-0) and the first for the Senators since Martin Gerber blanked Philadelphia in a 3-0 win on Jan. 21, 2009.

Cody Bass’ second goal of the campaign gave Binghamton a 1-0 lead at 5:37 of the second period, and Martin St. Pierre sealed the victory with an empty-net tally later in the third frame.

The River Rats are now winless in four straight games (0-3-0-1) and have dropped under .500 overall (5-6-0-1) for the first time since dropping their season opener on Oct. 3.

CHICAGO 4, MILWAUKEE 3
Tim Stapleton’s second goal of the night came at 9:44 of the third period, breaking a 3-3 tie and sending Chicago to a 4-3 road win over Milwaukee at the Bradley Center.

Stapleton also scored in the first period for the Wolves, and defenseman Chris Chelios picked up an assist on both markers.

The Wolves also received a goal and an assist apiece from Anthony Stewart and defenseman Arturs Kulda en route to capturing their first road win of the season (1-4-0-0).

Chicago goaltender Drew MacIntyre, who suited up for Milwaukee last season, made 14 saves in the winning effort.

Tomi Maki, Wacey Rabbit, and Mike Santorelli each scored for the Admirals, whose brief two-game winning streak came to an end.

ROCKFORD 5, SAN ANTONIO 3
Rockford ended its five-game winless skid (0-4-0-1) with a 5-3 triumph over visiting San Antonio at the MetroCentre on Wednesday.

Mark Cullen registered a game-high three points (1-2-3) for the IceHogs, including the eventual game-winning goal at 18:03 of the third period.

Rockford’s Rob Klinkhammer posted a goal and a helper, while Akim Aliu and Bryan Bickell each added single goals in the victory. IceHogs goaltender Corey Crawford earned the win with 28 saves on 31 shots in net.

Kevin Porter registered a goal and an assist for the Rampage, who also got scores from Chad Kolarik and Kyle Turris. San Antonio is now winless in five straight games (0-4-1-0) heading into a date with Peoria on Thursday night.

Wednesday roundup: Weiman leads Monsters to second straight shutoutLa Liga round-Up

M.I.A. is working on her album despite being busy with Christina Aguilera’s. The rapper is working with Diplo and Switch mainly, but also has other producers. Diplo has already done 2 tracks with her. The album’s set to be her third after Arular and Kala. Everything she touches turns into gold, so we are not doubting the result. Diplo says that the songs are a cross between Animal Collective and Gucci Mane, which is very interesting if anything.

“Good Causes”

There is nothing inherently wrong with mission trips, volunteering abroad, or building houses in such-and-such impoverished country; but where the issue arises is when people think that they are saving the day by “sacrificing” their time for these causes. There are so many things wrong with that mentality, and this topic seems to arise enough, that it warrants being explained in detail.

Primarily, there is no physically possible way that a scrawny teenager on a mission trip is going to be able to do more (close to, or even ballpark amount of) work per day than any of the big, burly natives who undoubtedly have more time, energy, and experience building houses. Don’t get me wrong – I was that teenager once, scrawny and all. The city was El Maizal in El Salvador, and I went with my friend’s church group as a part of Episcopal Relief and Development. I actually went twice, and both times we spent a few days sightseeing and the rest working- digging, wheelbarrowing and dumping. This was all necessary for laying the foundation for more development, and it felt like good, honest work that the inhabitants would appreciate; I realized, later on, that the “construction workers” we were staying out of the way of could have gotten our job done in half the time. When I asked about this, I was told that the trip was never about building the houses; it was about building the community and connection that the group had with the town. That really stuck with me, and I realized that that is the important part about all these trips abroad.

That’s not to say that someone can’t do some serious good while they’re abroad – it happens all the time. But that’s the result of a much longer commitment, and the travelers/ volunteers usually have more appropriate positions while they’re their; or maybe they are bringing donations or business. The reason why I wrote this, though, is because of all the people who think that just because they’re going over for a bit to do whatever, they’re awesome. It’s not that easy to help others this way; and that “precious” time that you’re donating is that of an infinitely more privileged middle- or upper-class lifestyle, complete with disposable income and leisure time (the definition of which changes drastically when you throw a Third-World country into the mix).

My solution is not to try and find a longer, more expensive trip, or even to donate your allowance to charity. It’s much more simple: allow the trip to change you. Don’t go forth with an unshakable devotion, staunch morals, or any kind of self-righteousness – you can get those while you’re there. Go forth with an open mind, and learn about the situation and how to help; and in the spirit of teaching men to fish, when you come back from your trip, teach other people what you learned; don’t be the Third-World’s savior; be their messenger.