View allAll Photos Tagged Congested
I just wanted to let you all know that, Vera died, yesterday of congestive heart failure.
Born January 1-1925
Died January 17-2008
A wonderful Mother, Grandmother, Mother-In-Law, a friend to everyone she met.
We love and miss you dearly...
Army childcare expands programs to meet Kaiserslautern community needs
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Childcare for Ingrid Duty often meant hectic mornings, driving more than 30 miles before work to drop off her two daughters at separate care centers.
Duty, a government civilian, spent more than 45 minutes fighting congested autobahn traffic, driving from her Mehlingen home across town to Landstuhl, then back into Kaiserslautern. But that’s changed, thanks to a new school age services at Sembach Elementary School – one of a few Army childcare programs in Kaiserslautern growing to meet the community demands.
On Oct. 14, Lt. Col. Kevin Hutchison, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, cut a ceremonial ribbon – officially opening the Sembach program center. Now, at Sembach, Duty’s daughters are both just four miles from home.
“When this came up, it was a blessing,” Duty said. “This is awesome.”
Duty has more time for herself, her girls and her husband, a Soldier who commutes 50 miles north to Wiesbaden, she said. In other words, there’s more time for breakfast.
“It’s a whole lot better now. I come and pick my daughters up and they don’t want to leave,” Duty said. “It’s great, they love it.”
Offering childcare at Sembach kaserne is among several ways that the garrison’s Child, Youth and School Services program is working to meet the demands of a growing community, said Elena Smeltz, acting CYSS coordinator.
“The community here has been growing faster than the infrastructure, so childcare is a big issue in the community,” Smeltz said.
In Landstuhl, finishing touches are underway on a child development center, creating more space for kids in kindergarten and younger. A CDC already at Landstuhl provides care for up to 126 children in that age group.
“An additional CDC was important, because there was great demand,” Smeltz said.
Set to open in January, the new center will allow another 76 children, from infants to kindergarten, to receive care. The project moved faster than originally planned due to the garrison’s commitment to the Army Family Covenant, an Army-wide program that includes a guarantee of quality CYS support to Soldiers and their families, she said.
Roughly, 920 Soldiers have children enrolled in CYS. But in Kaiserslautern’s joint service community, Army CYS also serves more than 675 children of Air Force personnel and roughly 20 children from Navy and Marine families. Serving so many, CYS works with parents to find space in childcare programs often near capacity.
At Kleber kaserne, CYS recently made space for 17 more CDC children. By mid-2011, they hope to open expand Kleber’s capacity, once minor construction is undertaken.
On Oct. 1, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern
officially assumed oversight of the former Air Force base, now known as Sembach kaserne. When school started on Aug. 30, the Army garrison began offering onsite childcare, before and after school, to Sembach students.
“We have two rooms inside the elementary school that we have converted into our school age program,” Smeltz said. “So, the children simply have to walk from their classrooms down to ours.”
The new program is also more convenient for parents who, in the past, would often drive across Kaiserslautern to pick up their kids after work.
It was a relief to Lt. Col Roy Manauis, a father of two whose family faced their share of childcare challenges over the past two years. Now, both children go to the Sembach center. Knowing his children are cared for eases his mind, Manauis said.
“That’s imperative, that Soldiers and their families are looked after,” Manauis said. “This is a great example of the Army doing that.”
For more information on Kaiserslautern Child, Youth & School Services, call 0631-3406-4516 or visit their website at www.mwrgermany.com/KL/KLCYS
Cleared for public release. (Photos by Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Garrison, Kaiserslautern)
LMS Class 5MT "Black Five" No 45154 "The Lanarkshire Yeomanry" heads a Blaneau Ffestiniog-Preston "Conway Climber" working across a rather congested River Weaver near Frodsham
...RM1033 heads up a congested Oxford Street underneath the Christmas Lights on the evening of 8th December 2012. Having been a regular on both routes 12 and 159 in her service life, a scene like this would have been a regular sight every Christmas time...
Hanging out with the Delhi donkey rider and his cadre.
Flash Parker Photography:
My Blog | On Facebook | Flash Light Expeditions | The Ubiquitous Kimchi | The Metro Project
Charles was going to have a rotten tooth out, but abnormal abdominal breathing led to tests to see if he would survive the anaesthetic. Seven hundred bucks later, we established what I kind of knew already, which is that he's a fifteen year old cat approaching his retirement in the sky. (As a buddhist, I think he might come back for another life, though........maybe as a yak in Tibet? :):):)........I really wouldn't be surprised if he made human birth one day either...........).
I figured, if I paid the money and there was nothing else now to be done, the least I could do was share this in the interests of scientific knowledge.
www.flickr.com/photos/ommane/1251643145/
ANOTHER LITTLE SELECTION from my hard-drive, dated 2010 ................
This rather congested area, on the forecourt of WalterMart in Dasmarinas, is unbelievably hard to photograph ~ without getting yourself run-over !! . . because it is right on the road !!!
This angle shows at least part of the Jeepney-Park . . the Pinoy equivalent of a bus-garage !
There are often upwards of half-a-dozen Jeepneys drawn-up outside the main entrance . . .
The important trick is picking the Jeep' with the right destination-board !!
Army childcare expands programs to meet Kaiserslautern community needs
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Childcare for Ingrid Duty often meant hectic mornings, driving more than 30 miles before work to drop off her two daughters at separate care centers.
Duty, a government civilian, spent more than 45 minutes fighting congested autobahn traffic, driving from her Mehlingen home across town to Landstuhl, then back into Kaiserslautern. But that’s changed, thanks to a new school age services at Sembach Elementary School – one of a few Army childcare programs in Kaiserslautern growing to meet the community demands.
On Oct. 14, Lt. Col. Kevin Hutchison, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, cut a ceremonial ribbon – officially opening the Sembach program center. Now, at Sembach, Duty’s daughters are both just four miles from home.
“When this came up, it was a blessing,” Duty said. “This is awesome.”
Duty has more time for herself, her girls and her husband, a Soldier who commutes 50 miles north to Wiesbaden, she said. In other words, there’s more time for breakfast.
“It’s a whole lot better now. I come and pick my daughters up and they don’t want to leave,” Duty said. “It’s great, they love it.”
Offering childcare at Sembach kaserne is among several ways that the garrison’s Child, Youth and School Services program is working to meet the demands of a growing community, said Elena Smeltz, acting CYSS coordinator.
“The community here has been growing faster than the infrastructure, so childcare is a big issue in the community,” Smeltz said.
In Landstuhl, finishing touches are underway on a child development center, creating more space for kids in kindergarten and younger. A CDC already at Landstuhl provides care for up to 126 children in that age group.
“An additional CDC was important, because there was great demand,” Smeltz said.
Set to open in January, the new center will allow another 76 children, from infants to kindergarten, to receive care. The project moved faster than originally planned due to the garrison’s commitment to the Army Family Covenant, an Army-wide program that includes a guarantee of quality CYS support to Soldiers and their families, she said.
Roughly, 920 Soldiers have children enrolled in CYS. But in Kaiserslautern’s joint service community, Army CYS also serves more than 675 children of Air Force personnel and roughly 20 children from Navy and Marine families. Serving so many, CYS works with parents to find space in childcare programs often near capacity.
At Kleber kaserne, CYS recently made space for 17 more CDC children. By mid-2011, they hope to open expand Kleber’s capacity, once minor construction is undertaken.
On Oct. 1, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern
officially assumed oversight of the former Air Force base, now known as Sembach kaserne. When school started on Aug. 30, the Army garrison began offering onsite childcare, before and after school, to Sembach students.
“We have two rooms inside the elementary school that we have converted into our school age program,” Smeltz said. “So, the children simply have to walk from their classrooms down to ours.”
The new program is also more convenient for parents who, in the past, would often drive across Kaiserslautern to pick up their kids after work.
It was a relief to Lt. Col Roy Manauis, a father of two whose family faced their share of childcare challenges over the past two years. Now, both children go to the Sembach center. Knowing his children are cared for eases his mind, Manauis said.
“That’s imperative, that Soldiers and their families are looked after,” Manauis said. “This is a great example of the Army doing that.”
For more information on Kaiserslautern Child, Youth & School Services, call 0631-3406-4516 or visit their website at www.mwrgermany.com/KL/KLCYS
Cleared for public release. (Photos by Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Garrison, Kaiserslautern)
First East Lothian 69403, SN09 EZX. Urban bodied B7RLE. Seen here on a very congested High Street in Haddington, working the X8 Edinburgh service.
Edinburgh Bus Tours 505 climbing Candlemaker Row in the 'Auld Toun', sweeping passed parked vehicles congesting a road built to carry horse and carts
PictionID:45523595 - Catalog:14_018893 - Title:Atlas Equipment Details: Sound Stage and Movie Production Materials; Congested Area Date: 07/06/1961 - Filename:14_018893.TIF - - - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
An 'ordinary' evening commute in Dublin city in the eally 2000,s, busy, and congested with not a square milimetre of road space available. Times were good, money no object it semed, taxis,buses,traffic a plenty. At the time it struck me as a chaotic scene, the RV on the southbound 16A caught my eye, he was going to have some task in changing lanes in that cosmolopitan meltpot that was the evening commute.
Jump forward to the next decade and perhaps there was something prophetic in the logo on the front of the red Ford transit mini-bus. 'Over the top tours'. That is precisley where Ireland went. Over the top!!!
In some of the more congested areas of the historic Georgetown quarter, cycle tracks are clearly marked. I guess these are for the beca trishaws for I did not see any bicycles around. Unlike India, where it is usually a free for all, marking or no marking, I was pleased to see beca drivers not infringing on the unmarked areas, nor other motorists, including the notorious motorcyclists straying onto the cycle track. (Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, Nov. 2013)
....to Sainsburys.
Having spent the last few days driving up and down the congested motorways of the UK, I was only too happy to revert back to pedal power (the simple life) for a shopping trip this afternoon.
The wartime Sun tandem (albeit upgraded in places) still plods on like a good'un, this time accompanied by my wifes stylish mixte framed 1980's Raleigh Misty.
I wished I could have a pound for everytime someone has come to talk to me about either a tandem or a delivery bike when I've been parked up waiting for the other'arf to do a "quick shop" !
Péage urbain de Londres, institué en 2003. La zone est traversée par un très grand nombre de lignes de bus, en rouge sur la carte
The spicate inflorescences bear congest cylindrical head comprising only disk flowers. The styles are long and bear long terminal appendages. This site lies in the mountain big sagebrush steppe of Burke Park, Bozeman Montana.
The first area I stayed in Hong Kong - Causeway Bay - a vibrant, congested area but always fascinating.
Bhleshwar is one of the m\oldest and congested areas of Mumbai, full of temples of different hues and denominations
Army childcare expands programs to meet Kaiserslautern community needs
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Childcare for Ingrid Duty often meant hectic mornings, driving more than 30 miles before work to drop off her two daughters at separate care centers.
Duty, a government civilian, spent more than 45 minutes fighting congested autobahn traffic, driving from her Mehlingen home across town to Landstuhl, then back into Kaiserslautern. But that’s changed, thanks to a new school age services at Sembach Elementary School – one of a few Army childcare programs in Kaiserslautern growing to meet the community demands.
On Oct. 14, Lt. Col. Kevin Hutchison, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, cut a ceremonial ribbon – officially opening the Sembach program center. Now, at Sembach, Duty’s daughters are both just four miles from home.
“When this came up, it was a blessing,” Duty said. “This is awesome.”
Duty has more time for herself, her girls and her husband, a Soldier who commutes 50 miles north to Wiesbaden, she said. In other words, there’s more time for breakfast.
“It’s a whole lot better now. I come and pick my daughters up and they don’t want to leave,” Duty said. “It’s great, they love it.”
Offering childcare at Sembach kaserne is among several ways that the garrison’s Child, Youth and School Services program is working to meet the demands of a growing community, said Elena Smeltz, acting CYSS coordinator.
“The community here has been growing faster than the infrastructure, so childcare is a big issue in the community,” Smeltz said.
In Landstuhl, finishing touches are underway on a child development center, creating more space for kids in kindergarten and younger. A CDC already at Landstuhl provides care for up to 126 children in that age group.
“An additional CDC was important, because there was great demand,” Smeltz said.
Set to open in January, the new center will allow another 76 children, from infants to kindergarten, to receive care. The project moved faster than originally planned due to the garrison’s commitment to the Army Family Covenant, an Army-wide program that includes a guarantee of quality CYS support to Soldiers and their families, she said.
Roughly, 920 Soldiers have children enrolled in CYS. But in Kaiserslautern’s joint service community, Army CYS also serves more than 675 children of Air Force personnel and roughly 20 children from Navy and Marine families. Serving so many, CYS works with parents to find space in childcare programs often near capacity.
At Kleber kaserne, CYS recently made space for 17 more CDC children. By mid-2011, they hope to open expand Kleber’s capacity, once minor construction is undertaken.
On Oct. 1, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern
officially assumed oversight of the former Air Force base, now known as Sembach kaserne. When school started on Aug. 30, the Army garrison began offering onsite childcare, before and after school, to Sembach students.
“We have two rooms inside the elementary school that we have converted into our school age program,” Smeltz said. “So, the children simply have to walk from their classrooms down to ours.”
The new program is also more convenient for parents who, in the past, would often drive across Kaiserslautern to pick up their kids after work.
It was a relief to Lt. Col Roy Manauis, a father of two whose family faced their share of childcare challenges over the past two years. Now, both children go to the Sembach center. Knowing his children are cared for eases his mind, Manauis said.
“That’s imperative, that Soldiers and their families are looked after,” Manauis said. “This is a great example of the Army doing that.”
For more information on Kaiserslautern Child, Youth & School Services, call 0631-3406-4516 or visit their website at www.mwrgermany.com/KL/KLCYS
Cleared for public release. (Photos by Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Garrison, Kaiserslautern)
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A congested clump of unidentified Water Lillies is still in the process of opening in mid-morning.
Nymphaea spp.
Family Nymphaeaceae
Fruit & Spice Park, Homestead, Florida, USA.
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This is the radio ad I recorded today.
I can't believe I'm doing this, because I don't like the sound of my own voice! I sound like a congested Cindy Brady.
Aspecto congestivo y eritematoso de la mucosa gástrica, además se aprecia bilis espesa adherida a los pliegues gástricos.
Péage urbain de Londres, institué en 2003. La zone est traversée par un très grand nombre de lignes de bus, en rouge sur la carte
Hempstead harbor seen from Seacliff, Long Island. 3-image panorama.
Amidst streaming traffic and congested suburbs you may still find beauty on Long Island ... if you know where to look.
I don't know what they're worried about... this doesn't look too congested.. at least it's moving :-)
Location: Kodachadri Hill
We had horrible night on top of the hill...! didn't have proper sleep in the tent...!
Disturbance - Uncomfortable - Very Congested - Hang out!
But we had fun...! :P
Army childcare expands programs to meet Kaiserslautern community needs
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Childcare for Ingrid Duty often meant hectic mornings, driving more than 30 miles before work to drop off her two daughters at separate care centers.
Duty, a government civilian, spent more than 45 minutes fighting congested autobahn traffic, driving from her Mehlingen home across town to Landstuhl, then back into Kaiserslautern. But that’s changed, thanks to a new school age services at Sembach Elementary School – one of a few Army childcare programs in Kaiserslautern growing to meet the community demands.
On Oct. 14, Lt. Col. Kevin Hutchison, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, cut a ceremonial ribbon – officially opening the Sembach program center. Now, at Sembach, Duty’s daughters are both just four miles from home.
“When this came up, it was a blessing,” Duty said. “This is awesome.”
Duty has more time for herself, her girls and her husband, a Soldier who commutes 50 miles north to Wiesbaden, she said. In other words, there’s more time for breakfast.
“It’s a whole lot better now. I come and pick my daughters up and they don’t want to leave,” Duty said. “It’s great, they love it.”
Offering childcare at Sembach kaserne is among several ways that the garrison’s Child, Youth and School Services program is working to meet the demands of a growing community, said Elena Smeltz, acting CYSS coordinator.
“The community here has been growing faster than the infrastructure, so childcare is a big issue in the community,” Smeltz said.
In Landstuhl, finishing touches are underway on a child development center, creating more space for kids in kindergarten and younger. A CDC already at Landstuhl provides care for up to 126 children in that age group.
“An additional CDC was important, because there was great demand,” Smeltz said.
Set to open in January, the new center will allow another 76 children, from infants to kindergarten, to receive care. The project moved faster than originally planned due to the garrison’s commitment to the Army Family Covenant, an Army-wide program that includes a guarantee of quality CYS support to Soldiers and their families, she said.
Roughly, 920 Soldiers have children enrolled in CYS. But in Kaiserslautern’s joint service community, Army CYS also serves more than 675 children of Air Force personnel and roughly 20 children from Navy and Marine families. Serving so many, CYS works with parents to find space in childcare programs often near capacity.
At Kleber kaserne, CYS recently made space for 17 more CDC children. By mid-2011, they hope to open expand Kleber’s capacity, once minor construction is undertaken.
On Oct. 1, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern
officially assumed oversight of the former Air Force base, now known as Sembach kaserne. When school started on Aug. 30, the Army garrison began offering onsite childcare, before and after school, to Sembach students.
“We have two rooms inside the elementary school that we have converted into our school age program,” Smeltz said. “So, the children simply have to walk from their classrooms down to ours.”
The new program is also more convenient for parents who, in the past, would often drive across Kaiserslautern to pick up their kids after work.
It was a relief to Lt. Col Roy Manauis, a father of two whose family faced their share of childcare challenges over the past two years. Now, both children go to the Sembach center. Knowing his children are cared for eases his mind, Manauis said.
“That’s imperative, that Soldiers and their families are looked after,” Manauis said. “This is a great example of the Army doing that.”
For more information on Kaiserslautern Child, Youth & School Services, call 0631-3406-4516 or visit their website at www.mwrgermany.com/KL/KLCYS
Cleared for public release. (Photos by Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Garrison, Kaiserslautern)
7090. Men resting among the dead and wounded, on the crowded beach at Anzac Cove. As the area remains congested, medics of ther Australian Army Medical Corps are tending some of the wounded. Elsewhere, members of the First Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train [RANBT] - a unique 300-man unit of engineers and wagon drivers , led by LCDR Leighton Bracegirdle of South Australia - were to distinguish themselves by landing in advance of the British forces at Suvla Bay on Aug. 6, 1915, and it would become the most decorated unit in the RAN. At the withdrawal of the Allied forces from the Peninsula in Dec. 1915, they would be the last to leave, remaining behind to complete the demolition of facilities.
While debate continues over whether the Anzac's were landed a mile, or up to two miles too far north, the precise position on the beach was never pinpointed on Allied plans of the little-known enemy shore, and navigation at night was difficult. British commanders were to claim that they were landed in the generlly correct area.
Photo: Australian War Memorial, AWM_PS1659-L.
Entering a congested Victoria Coach Station is Southern National MCW Metroliner SN7 (B530 AYA).
going on stand for the return trip to Westward Ho! on service 502
When James Madison (1751-1836), one of the last surviving Founding Fathers, died of congestive heart failure at the age of 85, he was interred at the family cemetery at Montpelier. His wife of 42 years, Dolley Todd Madison (née Payne; 1768-1849), seventeen years his junior, sold the property to pay off outstanding debts and moved to Washington DC. After she passed in her home at age 81, she was buried in the Congressional Cemetery, but later interred at Montpelier next to her husband. According to legend, it was at Dolley's funeral that incumbent President Zachary Taylor eulogized her as "First Lady," perhaps being the first known use of the title--but no record of his eulogy is extant.
Montpelier, set on a 2,700-acre estate facing the Blue Ridge Mountains, was the plantain house of the Madison family, including James Madison, who was hailed as the "Father of the Constitution," and served as the fourth President of the United States, his wife, Dolley Madison, and six generations of enslaved individuals The manor house was originally built around 1764 by Madison's father, James Madison Sr., on a 2,700-acre estate originally granted to Madison's grandfather Ambrose Madison and his brother in law Thomas Chew, and expanded by Madison himself in 1797 after returning home with his new wife, and then again in 1809-1812. William du Pont, Sr., bought the estate in 1901 and enlarged the mansion. Now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it has been restored back to its 1820's design and is open to the public.
Montpelier National Register #66000843(1966), VLR #068-0030
Madison–Barbour Rural Historic District #90002115, VLR #068-0304
A Pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. Pilots are expert shiphandlers who possess detailed knowledge of local waterways. Pilots are responsible under the law and maritime custom for conducting the safe navigation of the vessel. With the exception of the Panama Canal, the pilot is only an advisor, as the captain remains in legal command of the vessel.
In English Law Article 742 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 defines a pilot as "any person not belonging to a ship who has the conduct thereof". In other words someone, other than a member of the crew, who has control over the speed, direction and movement of the ship.
Pilotage is one of the oldest, least-known professions, it is as old as sea travel itself. The oldest recorded history dates back to the 7th century BC yet it is one of the most important in maritime safety. The economic and environmental risk from today's large cargo ships makes the role of the pilot essential.
Here the Algeciras Pilot (Corporación de Prácticos del Puerto Bahía de Algeciras) is heading towards a vessel in the bay of Algeciras.
Here is their website detailing contact and boarding procedures to the followed. Boarding a container ship from the pilot vessel can be very dangerous:
www.practicosalgeciras.es/English/Main.php
This vessel is an Interceptor 48 named 'Getares' manufactured by Safehaven Marine in 2012. It is fitted with a pair of Volvo D13 500hp engines.
Safehaven is a Irish company based near Cork. They build Pilot boats, Search & rescue vessels, Naval and patrol craft, Wind farm support catamarans, Hydrographic survey vessels & Commercial work boats.
More about Maritime Pilots here:
From October 1, 2022: The last few days have sucked: I’ve come down with some kinda flu. My main symptoms have included a sore throat, hacking, becoming stuffed up, congested, and really fatigued. Just no energy. At times, ready to pass out, and how could I forget the headaches. Not fun. On Friday, I ran a fever of about 102-103 for most of the day but on Saturday it’s been more of a slight nuisance, hovering around 100. Finally, I’ve had horrible stomach cramps - not able to hold food down, finding it escaping in two different ways when one’s under the weather. And to top it off, my Mums now sick with all the wonderful things I’ve had.
I still had some Covid tests from earlier in the year and took one on Friday and again this morning and it’s not that. A friend has been in and out of the hospital and I did take her there and picked her up last week… but I didn’t wait with her so I don’t know if what I have is because of that. We have some of the same symptoms but not exactly the same. And she seems to be doing a lot better today. I even warned her I was feeling bleh last week and did take her a few things I had gotten myself, including: @jamiesoncanada chewable vitamin c, echinacea, zinc, and @coldfx. I also had some @tylenolcanada @tylenol total cold and flu pills I’ve taking. Lots of water, tea oh and nighttime @neocitrancanada which feels so good on the throat. @LiptonChickenNoodleSoup has also become a staple, although I should try and go get stuff to make my own chicken soup stock from scratch.
I was hoping this would be a weekend of catch-up but it’s another weekend of loss. I wake up to drenched PJs and bedsheets. I’m at my Mum’s so her washing machine has been on overtime cleaning sheets and towels. No yard work done again. No garage cleaning. No homework. No housework. My anxiety is through the roof. As I write this on Sunday afternoon, I feel a bit better… the fever is gone but my throat is still sore, and my stomach still cranky. One bonus is I’ve shed a few pounds, down to 222.8 pounds, after hitting a high of 233 in early September. I should’ve gone to the hospital to maybe try and get some record of this. But I didn’t.
Bleh.
274/365.
Army childcare expands programs to meet Kaiserslautern community needs
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Childcare for Ingrid Duty often meant hectic mornings, driving more than 30 miles before work to drop off her two daughters at separate care centers.
Duty, a government civilian, spent more than 45 minutes fighting congested autobahn traffic, driving from her Mehlingen home across town to Landstuhl, then back into Kaiserslautern. But that’s changed, thanks to a new school age services at Sembach Elementary School – one of a few Army childcare programs in Kaiserslautern growing to meet the community demands.
On Oct. 14, Lt. Col. Kevin Hutchison, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, cut a ceremonial ribbon – officially opening the Sembach program center. Now, at Sembach, Duty’s daughters are both just four miles from home.
“When this came up, it was a blessing,” Duty said. “This is awesome.”
Duty has more time for herself, her girls and her husband, a Soldier who commutes 50 miles north to Wiesbaden, she said. In other words, there’s more time for breakfast.
“It’s a whole lot better now. I come and pick my daughters up and they don’t want to leave,” Duty said. “It’s great, they love it.”
Offering childcare at Sembach kaserne is among several ways that the garrison’s Child, Youth and School Services program is working to meet the demands of a growing community, said Elena Smeltz, acting CYSS coordinator.
“The community here has been growing faster than the infrastructure, so childcare is a big issue in the community,” Smeltz said.
In Landstuhl, finishing touches are underway on a child development center, creating more space for kids in kindergarten and younger. A CDC already at Landstuhl provides care for up to 126 children in that age group.
“An additional CDC was important, because there was great demand,” Smeltz said.
Set to open in January, the new center will allow another 76 children, from infants to kindergarten, to receive care. The project moved faster than originally planned due to the garrison’s commitment to the Army Family Covenant, an Army-wide program that includes a guarantee of quality CYS support to Soldiers and their families, she said.
Roughly, 920 Soldiers have children enrolled in CYS. But in Kaiserslautern’s joint service community, Army CYS also serves more than 675 children of Air Force personnel and roughly 20 children from Navy and Marine families. Serving so many, CYS works with parents to find space in childcare programs often near capacity.
At Kleber kaserne, CYS recently made space for 17 more CDC children. By mid-2011, they hope to open expand Kleber’s capacity, once minor construction is undertaken.
On Oct. 1, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern
officially assumed oversight of the former Air Force base, now known as Sembach kaserne. When school started on Aug. 30, the Army garrison began offering onsite childcare, before and after school, to Sembach students.
“We have two rooms inside the elementary school that we have converted into our school age program,” Smeltz said. “So, the children simply have to walk from their classrooms down to ours.”
The new program is also more convenient for parents who, in the past, would often drive across Kaiserslautern to pick up their kids after work.
It was a relief to Lt. Col Roy Manauis, a father of two whose family faced their share of childcare challenges over the past two years. Now, both children go to the Sembach center. Knowing his children are cared for eases his mind, Manauis said.
“That’s imperative, that Soldiers and their families are looked after,” Manauis said. “This is a great example of the Army doing that.”
For more information on Kaiserslautern Child, Youth & School Services, call 0631-3406-4516 or visit their website at www.mwrgermany.com/KL/KLCYS
Cleared for public release. (Photos by Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Garrison, Kaiserslautern)
Late morning on Monday, October 5, and we step off the train into yet another quite warm autumn day, this time in hectic Varanasi, at the eastern edge of Uttar Pradesh. Though we’d be going to Delhi/New Delhi on the noon train tomorrow, I didn’t realize at the time that this would be the last of my photo shooting in India for this trip. (We were in Delhi for roughly 48 hours, but I got sick from train food on the 18 hour journey between Varanasi & the capital. Since the capital seemed way too smoggy, dirty, congested, disorganized…I didn’t feel like I’d missed out terribly, though there were a few places I would have liked seeing there.)
I’ll finish this posting on a good note, though, and focus on Varanasi. Before getting there, I wasn’t terribly excited about the tourist attractions I’d read about, but that’s not why people come to Varanasi. Varanasi is to Hindus what Mecca & Medina are to Muslims, or Jerusalem to Christians. It’s their holiest city. On the banks of the Ganges, people come here to die, then have their ashes spread in the river.
Varanasi has a lot of poor and indigent people as well, who come and hope to be cremated and buried in the river, and there are a few places that serve as pseudo-hospices to help them. They tend to try to collect donations from anyone to afford to pay for the wood – it’s a specific wood they use for the cremation – so they can help these people.
So Varanasi is an interesting place. There are many ghats (ghat is like…a pier, or a place where you can access the river), and the most famous are probably Dashashwamedh Ghat (the liveliest and most colorful) and Manikarnika (the Burning Ghat). There are many other ghats, as well, and some have specific histories attached to them.
For me, the best plan was to stay in a hotel near the ghats in the Old City so we could enjoy the sunrise and stroll around. The Hotel Alka was my random choice, and it turned out to be good. It’s cheap, riverside, has a decent restaurant (though, as it’s a hotel restaurant, not as good as many of the others where we’d eaten in the past two weeks), and overall a comfortable room.
After getting checked in (and this place was pretty crowded), I took a shower, then headed off with a local guy who gave me a tour of the Old City. Now, a word on that… It’s not recommended that you go with any local who offers because most of them will steer you into various businesses, or towards people who are all too happy to try to get your money. I was very firm with this guy, though, and told him the maximum price I’d pay regardless of what he showed me, and that he should plan accordingly. He didn’t, and was a bit disappointed when I paid him exactly what I said I would.
The tour included stops at a few temples – they all started to look a bit alike after the second one – and at Manikarnika (one of the places where you’re herded and they try to make you feel guilty if you don’t fork over five million dollars to pay for everyone’s cremation). The last stop was at his boss’s store, well away from the old city, over in the Muslim Quarter, where I had to sit patiently through a whole lot of lecturing on textiles and their pleading that I buy the entire building. I tried to be as polite as possible with the last part, stating up front that I wouldn’t buy a thing before going in, though that disappointed them to no end. In the end, perhaps it’s better to go on your own…
After about four hours with my guide, it was already dusk and the city actually felt less safe than others. (There were a lot of police out and about.) It turns out that there wa s a religious ceremony that the police were banning this particular year for some reason, so there was a bit of tension. And since Varanasi isn’t a city that is lit up much at night, there wasn’t much to see, so I was glad to just get to my room and call it a day.
Waking early on Tuesday morning, I caught the sunrise over the Ganges, then wandered up and down the ghats for an hour or so. This really was an interesting experience as it seems the entire city comes to bathe in the river, and everyone seems pretty happy. There are plenty of boat tours, too, which I skipped, as I just wanted to take a walk.
After an hour or so of wandering the riverside, I went back to the Alka, had breakfast, and enjoyed my remaining few hours just watching the sun rise higher before heading to the train station for the unofficial (though still unbeknownst to me) end of this trip to India.
In hindsight, this was a terrific two weeks. Though I enjoyed Uttar Pradesh, I wouldn’t go out of my way to return here – unless going to different parts of the state, and I would certainly include a trip to Agra in that – but Rajasthan…I would gladly go back to anytime. However, India has a lot to offer, and I’m not sure if I’ll return here or go to different parts of the country. Anything is possible…
Selkent MT 6 VLT 77 is caught in a very congested Orpington High Street (nothing changes there then) on Monday 14th March 1994. 245-24.
Mercedes MB70D-Reeves Burgess. New in January 1989 to London Buses Selkent at Catford and originally registered F396 DHL. In March 1989 it received cherished plate VLT 77.
Army childcare expands programs to meet Kaiserslautern community needs
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Childcare for Ingrid Duty often meant hectic mornings, driving more than 30 miles before work to drop off her two daughters at separate care centers.
Duty, a government civilian, spent more than 45 minutes fighting congested autobahn traffic, driving from her Mehlingen home across town to Landstuhl, then back into Kaiserslautern. But that’s changed, thanks to a new school age services at Sembach Elementary School – one of a few Army childcare programs in Kaiserslautern growing to meet the community demands.
On Oct. 14, Lt. Col. Kevin Hutchison, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, cut a ceremonial ribbon – officially opening the Sembach program center. Now, at Sembach, Duty’s daughters are both just four miles from home.
“When this came up, it was a blessing,” Duty said. “This is awesome.”
Duty has more time for herself, her girls and her husband, a Soldier who commutes 50 miles north to Wiesbaden, she said. In other words, there’s more time for breakfast.
“It’s a whole lot better now. I come and pick my daughters up and they don’t want to leave,” Duty said. “It’s great, they love it.”
Offering childcare at Sembach kaserne is among several ways that the garrison’s Child, Youth and School Services program is working to meet the demands of a growing community, said Elena Smeltz, acting CYSS coordinator.
“The community here has been growing faster than the infrastructure, so childcare is a big issue in the community,” Smeltz said.
In Landstuhl, finishing touches are underway on a child development center, creating more space for kids in kindergarten and younger. A CDC already at Landstuhl provides care for up to 126 children in that age group.
“An additional CDC was important, because there was great demand,” Smeltz said.
Set to open in January, the new center will allow another 76 children, from infants to kindergarten, to receive care. The project moved faster than originally planned due to the garrison’s commitment to the Army Family Covenant, an Army-wide program that includes a guarantee of quality CYS support to Soldiers and their families, she said.
Roughly, 920 Soldiers have children enrolled in CYS. But in Kaiserslautern’s joint service community, Army CYS also serves more than 675 children of Air Force personnel and roughly 20 children from Navy and Marine families. Serving so many, CYS works with parents to find space in childcare programs often near capacity.
At Kleber kaserne, CYS recently made space for 17 more CDC children. By mid-2011, they hope to open expand Kleber’s capacity, once minor construction is undertaken.
On Oct. 1, U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern
officially assumed oversight of the former Air Force base, now known as Sembach kaserne. When school started on Aug. 30, the Army garrison began offering onsite childcare, before and after school, to Sembach students.
“We have two rooms inside the elementary school that we have converted into our school age program,” Smeltz said. “So, the children simply have to walk from their classrooms down to ours.”
The new program is also more convenient for parents who, in the past, would often drive across Kaiserslautern to pick up their kids after work.
It was a relief to Lt. Col Roy Manauis, a father of two whose family faced their share of childcare challenges over the past two years. Now, both children go to the Sembach center. Knowing his children are cared for eases his mind, Manauis said.
“That’s imperative, that Soldiers and their families are looked after,” Manauis said. “This is a great example of the Army doing that.”
For more information on Kaiserslautern Child, Youth & School Services, call 0631-3406-4516 or visit their website at www.mwrgermany.com/KL/KLCYS
Cleared for public release. (Photos by Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Garrison, Kaiserslautern)