I have to feather back the paint edges, apply some primer , then color and blend in the clear coats. There will be some baking and sanding mixed in there also.

"Notre-Dame de Reims" replaced an older church, burnt down in 1211. That church had been built on the site of the basilica where Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi, bishop of Reims, in 496. The erection of the the large Gotihc cathedral, the place,where the kings of France were crowned, started before 1220. In 1233 a dispute between the cathedral´s chapter and the population regarding taxation and jurisdication ended in a revolt. After several clerics were killed during the uproar, the chapter fled the town and work on the new cathedral was suspended for three years. By 1241 the choir was already used, the nave got roofed in 1299.

Work on the western facade was slow. It was completed within the 14th century, a hundred years after the work started.

During the Hundred Years' War the English held Reims after a long siege, but it got reconquered by Jeanne d'Arc´s army in 1429, so that Charles VII of France (aka "le Bien-Servi") was crowned here on 17 July 1429.

In the first weeks of WWI German shellfire burned, damaged and destroyed important parts of the cathedral. Restoration work began in 1919 - and is been steadily going on since.

Standing near the choir´s altar, facing west. The distance from the choir to large rose window is more than 130m.

I've replaced my trusty but aging Tamron 18-250 superzoom walk-around lens with a swanky new Sigma 18-250 macro with HSM focusing. Popped out this evening to take a few sample shots with it. Very happy so far. The HSM is superb!

Certainly can't complain about this handheld shot. Has picked up a terrific amount of detail on the moon's surface. It also locked focus first time even shooting through the branches of the tree.

In the future, all Fast Food restaurants will limit their drive-thrus to two vehicles at a time and all fast food drive-thrus will include electric stop sign gates to warn drivers that the drive-thru is at its limited capacity and this will help to save the environment and reduce litter and keep the whole world nice and clean and fast food restaurants like McDonald's will have more dinning tables and will have arcade games in the playplaces in the future which is the 1997 My McDonald's rebrand to limit down the drive-thrus too stop from pollution and everybody who uses drive-thrus must wait until they get to their designated areas to eat their food instead of eating in the vehicles for safety and that will be the new law for the future. Pear-shaped wrecking balls MUST BE BANNED and NEVER EVER get restored and revived in the future and Pear-shaped Wrecking Balls also MUST GET BURNED INTO ASHES AND GET SHATTERED INTO TINY PIECES and get replaced by new modern spherical wrecking balls forever because pear-shaped wrecking balls are trash and very ineffective and makes people upset. This is why Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992) MUST BE BANNED and NEVER EVER get revived in the future I am glad the new Tom and Jerry movie that is coming out this year is replacing the old Tom and Jerry Movie from 1992 which is the movie this pear-shaped wrecking ball that destroyed a good house is from this movie which abused Blue's Clues Steve Fans. Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992) MUST BE BANNED never ever get revived in the future because Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992) does have an upsetting unrealistic house demolition with an old fashioned pear-shaped wrecking ball destroying a beautiful old fashioned living house because of it being decades old ruining nostalgia and ruining my golden toddlerhood and abused many Blue's Clues Steve fans making them think the wrecking ball destroyed the handy dandy notebooks which we all love because the destroyed house at the beginning of Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992) does look slightly identical to the Blue's Clues House and now even the destroyed Handy Dandy Notebooks are getting mended back together. So I hereby Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992) to BE BANNED FOREVER due to abusing Blue's Clues Steve Fans like me. Tom and Jerry: The Movie MUST BE BANNED because it has an unrealistic house demolition with a very bad old fashioned wrecking ball that upsets people so bad and abused many Blue's Clues Steve Fans and some bratts were getting bad advice from this movie with convience taking over good old fashioned traditional stuff is the exaggerated house demolition in 1992's Tom and Jerry the movie with a pear-shaped wrecking ball destroying the beautiful old fashioned living house and replacing it with a garage full of ice cream trucks with the bad old outdated confusing misleading red trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO which is extremely mean-spirited and is a yield sign that says stop which is extremely wrong and confusing to people who are deaf, color blind, can't read, or don't speak English. Also old fashined traditional stuff are extremely important not just conviences and even polluting andhaving Eastern cottontail rabbits extinct. Good thing I am making safety collaborations by updating all ice cream trucks to all have the current updated yellow trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word children slow crossing and or school bus swing arm stop signs which are octagon shaped especially I know for a fact in all traffic signs the shape is the most important not just the word and color especially in all stop signs the octagon shape is the most important not just the word and color.

. Similar to modern Simpsons (seasons 19 to 30) 1992's Tom and Jerry the movie is another bad media showing convience taking over good important traditional stuff with a pear-shaped wrecking ball destroying a beautiful old fashioned living house and replace the house with convient high rise appartment building with a garage full of ice cream trucks with the bad old oudated confusing misleading red trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO which was mean-spirited and ruining my golden toddlerhood. In the 2000s, Warner Bros reviving 1992's Tom and Jerry the movie and and selling too many DVD copies of that movie surpassing Corduroy the Bear and his buttons was all McDonald's corporation and Bogen Communication's fault because the super size at McDonald's was brainwashing many people by reviving the bad old 1992 Tom and Jerry movie and popularizing Bogen Multicom 2000 and their mean spirited bell tones that are haunted chimes that don't sound like a bell at all scaring off kids especially kids with autism and making them not want to go to school and abandoning my golden toddler stuff like Corduroy the Bear with two buttons on his green corduroy overalls but good thing I am undoing all of the bad influence the super size gave us by restoring my golden toddlerhood, safety improvements, kindness improvements, reviving Nelvana's version of Corduroy the Bear with the premiere of Two Buttons again and Forever fixing Betty Quan's upsetting mistake for good by showing that they did get Corduroy's button out of the storm drain and put Corduroy's button back on Corduroy the Bear's green corduroy overalls and that corduroy the bear does have two buttons on his green corduroy overalls forever and bringing back all nostalgic inducing stuff like green chalkboards and electric mechanical wall bells etc and create a nostalgic inducing future. So this is why all broadcasts of The Simpsons MUST BE BY LAW MANDATED to be ONLY reruns of classic Simpsons (first 18 seasons of The Simpsons). This is why all schools MUST BE BY LAW MANDATED to be set up like Middleborough, Hilltop School from Timothy Goes to School, and or my DeVry building in North Brunswick, NJ and all with green chalkboards, electric mechanical wall bells, and Corbeil school buses and other school buses with electric stop arms, and only kind-spirited stuff like Disney Snow White and Pinocchio stuff and Corduroy the Bear with two buttons on his green corduroy overalls and Steve Notebooks etc, and no mean-spirited stuff like Bogen Multicom 2000 and that mean scary looking grumpy face with the freaky spikey eyelashes and triangular eyes and razor blade forehead wrinkles they used to have on Gordon in the old live action model version of Thomas and Friends and no processed foods in the school lunches. This is why McDonald's restaurants MUST BE BY LAW MANDATED to be McEyebrows with the yellow and orange striped awnings, arch wedge the new aluminum exterior I have created, or the original 1970s version of the iconic double sloped mansard roof and better and safe updated indoor PlayPlaces with low and safe steps and slides and green chalkboards and or just the dining room option (no playplace), This is why all ice cream trucks MUST BE BY LAW MANDATED to be all updated to the current updated yellow trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word CHILDREN SLOW CROSSING and or school bus stop signs and that all ice cream trucks MUST BE BY LAW MANDEDTED TO GET RID of the bad old outdated red trapezoid children slow crossing warning blades that word IF-SAFE STOP THEN-GO for good, This is why Crayola Crayon boxes MUST BE BY LAW MANDATED to be new modern 1997 boxes. This is why school PA systems MUST BE BY LAW MANDATED to be Rauland Telecenter or PA systems with no bell tones. And this is why Nelvana and Hanna-Barbera MUST TAKE OVER Warner Bros. Animation. The reality is that demolition are based on how bad the building is damaged not on how old the building is like in 1992's Tom and Jerry the movie.

The F-105 Thunderchief, which would become a legend in the history of the Vietnam War, started out very modestly as a proposal for a large, supersonic replacement for the RF-84F Thunderflash tactical reconnaissance fighter in 1951. Later this was expanded by Republic’s famous chief designer, Alexander Kartveli, to a nuclear-capable, high-speed, low-altitude penetration tactical fighter-bomber which could also replace the F-84 Thunderstreak.

The USAF liked the idea, as the F-84 had shown itself to be at a disadvantage against Chinese and Soviet-flown MiG-15s over Korea, and ordered 200 of the new design before it was even finalized. This order was reduced to only 37 aircraft with the end of the Korean War, but nonetheless the first YF-105A Thunderchief flew in October 1955. Although it was equipped with an interim J57 engine and had drag problems, it still achieved supersonic speed. When the design was further refined as the YF-105B, with the J75 engine and area ruling, it went over Mach 2. This was in spite of the fact that the design had mushroomed in size from Kartveli’s initial idea to one of the largest and heaviest fighter ever to serve with the USAF: fully loaded, the F-105 was heavier than a B-17 bomber. The USAF ordered 1800 F-105s, though this would be reduced to 830 examples.

Almost immediately, the F-105 began to be plagued with problems. Some of the trouble could be traced to the normal teething problems of any new aircraft, but for awhile it seemed the Thunderchief was too hot to handle, with a catastrophically high accident rate. This led to the aircraft getting the nickname of “Thud,” supposedly for the sound it made when hitting the ground, along with other not-so-affectionate monikers such as “Ultra Hog” and “Squat Bomber.” Despite its immense size and bad reputation, however, the F-105 was superb at high speeds, especially at low level, was difficult to stall, and its cockpit was commended for its ergonomic layout. Earlier “narrow-nose” F-105Bs were replaced by wider-nosed, radar-equipped F-105Ds, the mainline version of the Thunderchief, while two-seat F-105Fs were built as conversion trainers.

Had it not been for the Vietnam War, however, the F-105 might have gone down in history as simply another mildly successful 1950s era design. Deployed to Vietnam at the beginning of the American involvement there in 1964, the Thunderchief was soon heading to North Vietnam to attack targets there in the opening rounds of Operation Rolling Thunder; this was in spite of the fact that the F-105 was designed primarily as a low-level (and, as its pilots insisted, one-way) tactical nuclear bomber. Instead, F-105s were heading north festooned with conventional bombs.

As Rolling Thunder gradually expanded to all of North Vietnam, now-camouflaged Thuds “going Downtown” became iconic, fighting their way through the densest concentration of antiaircraft fire in history, along with SAMs and MiG fighters. The F-105 now gained a reputation for something else: toughness, a Republic hallmark. Nor were they defenseless: unlike the USAF’s primary fighter, the F-4 Phantom II, the F-105 retained an internal 20mm gatling cannon, and MiG-17s which engaged F-105s was far from a foregone conclusion, as 27 MiGs were shot down by F-105s for the loss of about 20. If nothing else, Thud pilots no longer burdened with bombs could simply elect to head home at Mach 2 and two thousand feet, outdistancing any MiG defenders.

If the Thud had any weakness, it was its hydraulic system, which was found to be extremely vulnerable to damage. However, it was likely more due to poor tactics and the restrictive Rules of Engagement, which sent F-105s into battle on predictable routes, unable to return fire on SAM sites until missiles were launched at them, and their F-4 escorts hamstrung by being forced to wait until MiGs were on attack runs before the MiGs could be engaged. The tropical climate also took a toll on man and machine, with the end result that 382 F-105s were lost over Vietnam, nearly half of all Thuds ever produced and the highest loss rate of any USAF aircraft.

The combination of a high loss rate and the fact that the F-105 really was not designed to be used in the fashion it was over Vietnam led to the type’s gradual withdrawal after 1968 in favor of more F-4s and a USAF version of the USN’s A-7 Corsair II. An improved all-weather bombing system, Thunderstick II, was given to a few of the F-105D survivors, but this was not used operationally.

The Thud soldiered on another decade in Air National Guard and Reserve units until February 1984, when the type was finally retired in favor of the F-16, and its spiritual successor, the A-10 Thunderbolt II.

59-1743 went through many names in its USAF service. Delivered in 1960 to the 4520th Combat Crew Training Wing at Nellis AFB, Nevada, it trained new F-105 pilots. With the attrition of single-seat Thuds in Vietnam, 1743 was transferred to the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Korat RTAFB, Thailand. Several pilots flew 1743, but the most famous was Colonel Paul Douglas, who commanded the 388th TFW in 1968. Though 1743 had carried the name "Darn Dago," Douglas renamed it "Arkansas Traveler" after the P-47 Thunderbolt he had flown during World War II. Since Douglas had scored eight aerial victories during the war, he applied those to his F-105 and flew with them in combat over North Vietnam.

Later, after a stint with the Takhli-based 355th TFW (during which 1743 was renamed "Lead Zeppelin"), the aircraft returned home. It was passed to the 192nd TFG (Virginia ANG) at Richmond, where it was renamed for the fourth and last time, as "Hanoi Express." Because of its history, 1743 was spared from the scrapyard when it was retired in 1981, and donated to the Hill AFB Museum in Utah. It was restored back to its Vietnam appearance and went on display in 1987.

When I saw "Arkansas Traveler" in 1996, it was starting to look a bit faded after a decade outdoors in Utah. Still, it showed off the majesty of the F-105 design, and the friend I was traveling with said seeing it was the highlight of the trip. Though the picture quality is poor (it was taken with a disposable camera and the original photo sat in a box for years), it shows the standard USAF Southeast Asia camouflage 59-1743 wore in combat, as well as Douglas' eight World War II kills below the cockpit, represented by German swastikas. 1743 has since been moved inside.

We had a weekend in Borrowdale recently, a Christmas present that we tagged a day on to. After calling at work on Saturday morning to open for business we headed up the motorway to Penrith. The road through the central lakes was washed away in the recent floods and it is going to be a long job replacing it. This made the diverted journey around 145 miles but we had a good run up there. We wanted to get walking ASAP so we pulled in at Threlkeld with a view to heading up Clough Head, and subject to conditions, head over the Dodds and back by the Old Coach Road. We had left appalling weather at home, wind, rain, fog and sleet on the tops. Thankfully it was better further north. There was laying snow on the summits, it was fairly calm low down and some summits were cloud free.

We left the car at 11.10 in our winter gear, straight up through the quarries and the steep scree slope (another Red Screes), by now we were into the snow line. The cloud was down, the wind gale force and the summit frozen hard – a different world up here. South next to Calfhow Pike, the wind made it difficult to talk and it was around -4 so the there was a fair wind-chill factor. It was tough going to our next top – Great Dodd, part of the Helvellyn massif – It was to icy to walk in places which meant deviating from the path, and losing our bearings, visibility was around ten yards with spindrift creating a whiteout at times. We battled on to the top and found the summit cairn. Great Dodd isn’t the easiest top to find your way off in low visibility, we would have gone further but in these conditions it was pointless so we retraced our steps to Calfhow and clear conditions. From here we followed Mosedale beck to Mariel Bridge, which is on the Old Coach Road, this gave us a circular route back to our start. The Old Coach Road has been wrecked by the floods and the 4x4 off roaders are making it a lot worse. 9.25 miles in 3 ¼ hours and we were in Brysons Tearooms in Keswick for Coffee and cake by 3.45pm. We carried on to Borrowdale and checked in at our hotel, not a bad day really.

After a poor night in a poor bed we were breakfasted and out for 8.30. We drove the few miles up to Seatoller and we were kitted up and away at 9.10. A bitterly cold and icy morning, there was some sun but not as much as promised. We could see the summit of Great End covered in cloud, we were heading up there on to the Sca Fell massif. We followed the valley to the east of Seathwaite Fell, a new path for us. Once in the snow the going was very icy with the path ice covered in places. The snow was dry and powdery and in places it had blown over the underlying ice. At this point I might add, we do own crampons. After a winter of splashing around soaked we didn’t expect to need them and they were at home – very clever! This was our first real winters day this winter, other than an hour on Sca Fell Pike on Christmas Day, we haven’t seen winter conditions this winter. By the time we got to Esk Hause it was difficult to stay upright and on our way to Great End we had to pick our way very carefully around the worst of the ice. The spindrift made it difficult to see the ground at times, spinning around our feet in a mist. Once on the summit the cloud was thick and the wind speed high. We had been here fairly recently so I knew the layout of the summit and we had little difficulty finding the summit cairn. We were cursing our lack of crampons and the cloud. Instead of heading into the cloud along the Sca Fell Pike path we decided to get under the cloud, back to Esk Hause and head over Allen Crags and Glaramara. At this point we both took some heavy falls, as did others up there, a lot turned around and headed back down, it was deadly. The cloud had thickened, there wasn’t a ray of sun to soften things. Our chosen route was one of the hardest afternoons we had ever had. Everywhere was frozen solid, we had to kick toe or heel holes to move on slopes that we wouldn’t have broken stride on normally. Minor rock scrambles down steep crags had become life threatening in places and we proceeded with extreme care. The knees were creaking on the long descent to Seathwaite. 10.3 miles in six hours, almost half the speed of yesterday. We made it Keswick for afternoon tea – and bought some Micro Spikes for unfinished business to deal with tomorrow. A beautiful day was forecast so fingers crossed we headed back for a soak in the tub.

Day three, a gorgeous icy, sunny winters day. Things looked promising. We left along yesterday’s route at the same start time – with walking poles and Micro Spikes! At the top of the valley we met a guy who had set off before us, two guys known to him were picking their way through the crags, tiny specks on the 800 foot rocky crag. Some appeared to have tried to climb the snow filled chimney that runs to the summit but we heard later that conditions weren’t suitable. Even though it was minus four the sun had softened the snow just enough to get a grip and it was easier to avoid the worst of the ice, unlike yesterday. The summit of Great End was incredible with never ending vistas. We could see a steady stream of walkers on every path by now. Word had got out that we were in for a rare treat today, plus it was school half term so a lot of people were off work. I visited every possible viewpoint as we went to the summit of Ill Crag , Broad Crag and finally Sca Fell Pike. It was 1.00 PM by now and a steady stream of elated walkers were arriving on England’s highest point. It was bitter but beautiful. We had around five miles back to the car along the Corridor Route to Styhead, Stockley Bridge and Seathwaite. Part of this route we had covered recently on Christmas Day and despite the snow and ice we powered along. We would have been back in two hours but! A mile from the car, following the manmade path down Taylorgill Force to Stockley Bridge Jayne Stumbled. It’s not often she walks in front. I normally lead and relay instructions and warnings back to her. She hit the rock path with her head and face really hard, stunned, she rolled off the path over a drop. She was vertical, resting on a rock on her knees and clinging on to the edge of the path with her fingertips. I grabbed her rucksack and held her whilst I checked her injuries. She had a bad bump on her temple, another on her forehead, split the bridge or her nose, her glasses had gone flying but would straighten. Being left handed she had stuck her left hand out and it had been bent back, it was swelling and discolouring pretty fast. When I had established that nothing was serious enough to stop her moving I got her back on to the path to see to her injuries. The pain initially made her think that she was in a worse state than ( I thought) she really was. She could move her fingers and wrist, albeit with some pain but not enough for it to be broken. The wound to the bridge of her nose although very painful wasn’t going to be a problem. The bumps on her head were turning into eggs by now. I gave her Ibuprofen and Paracetemol and she sat and composed herself for the final mile. We made it to the café in Keswick and got a slightly later afternoon break, our first of the day again. 11.3 miles today in 6 ¼ hours and fairly tough going. It was nothing more than a careless, tired perhaps, stumble on one of the horrible ( our own opinion, I might add) manmade paths made out of irregular stones which are laid at odd angles and are a nightmare to descend when wet on tired legs. A few days later and Jayne is sat on reception at the doctors looking like she’s been boxing, with a purple eye and nose, her left hand swollen and purple – otherwise she’s OK. I came down with mild food poisoning during the night and had to drive 145 miles home at 8.00 the morning after feeling extremely ill. I was due to start fasting for a Colonoscopy in three days. I ended up eating six slices of toast over a four day period – Monday evening to Thursday evening- Having had over 40 stomach endoscopies in twenty years the colonoscopy was nothing more than uncomfortable and , subject to biopsy results, everything looked OK. The trapped wind was another matter – for two days! All in all a very traumatic week. Needless to say we didn’t use the Micro Spikes.

Map Number 2018-194; Replaces Map Number 2017-233

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To view a larger version of the map, click on the Download this photo button on lower right corner and choose a different size from the "View All Sizes" links. For directions on how to download a map, our contact information, and answers to other questions, please click here.

After running in the Nike Lunarglide (left) for about a year it was time for a change. I don't need the "dynamic support" on the LG so I decided to try the Lunarfly 2 (center). After 2 months and 350+ miles I felt like the lateral cushioning was breaking down and my ankles were being rolled outward and I was just banging my feet on the ground. Now I'm trying the Nike Air Pegasus 28 (right), thanks to a good sale and awesome colors. They felt pretty good today (straight out of the box) so I have high hopes.

We're going to try and save the rest of the paint on the frame, which was just repainted this spring...damn.

Including warning: The batteries are next to the 200V capacitor for the flash.

I've not got new batteries yet, but they are only 3V litium ones so should be dead easy to replace.

For more, check out my Hyundai Tucson 2.4L i4 Engine Oil Change Guide.

Replaced those glass leaves with flowers I like it much better - now to grout and put a few other things on her!

Native copper-replaced cross-bedded sedimentary rocks from the Precambrian of Michigan, USA. (CMNH 20309, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, Ohio, USA)

A mineral is a naturally-occurring, solid, inorganic, crystalline substance having a fairly definite chemical composition and having fairly definite physical properties. At its simplest, a mineral is a naturally-occurring solid chemical. Currently, there are over 5500 named and described minerals - about 200 of them are common and about 20 of them are very common. Mineral classification is based on anion chemistry. Major categories of minerals are: elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, phosphates, and silicates.

Elements are fundamental substances of matter - matter that is composed of the same types of atoms. At present, 118 elements are known. Of these, 98 occur naturally on Earth (hydrogen to californium). Most of these occur in rocks & minerals, although some occur in very small, trace amounts. Only some elements occur in their native elemental state as minerals.

To find a native element in nature, it must be relatively non-reactive and there must be some concentration process. Metallic, semimetallic (metalloid), and nonmetallic elements are known in their native state as minerals.

Copper is the only metallic element that has a "reddish" color - it’s actually a metallic orange color. Most metallic elements, apart from gold & copper, are silvery-gray colored. Copper tends to form sharp-edged, irregular, twisted masses of moderately high density. It is moderately soft, but is extremely difficult to break. It has no cleavage and has a distinctive hackly fracture.

The unbelievable copper specimen shown above comes from northern Michigan's White Pine Mine, which is developed in the Precambrian-aged Nonesuch Shale (~1.07 to 1.08 Ga). At this mine, native copper is usually encountered filling fractures (joints). This large, 70-pound specimen represents actual sedimentary rock that has been replaced by native copper. The irregular layers are crossbeds, which formed as the original sediments were deposited by a one-directional current. The small black-colored patches are bits of the unaltered sedimentary host rock. White Pine Mine copper mineralization occurred at 1.05 to 1.06 billion years ago.

Stratigraphy: lower Nonesuch Shale (near the contact with the Copper Harbor Conglomerate), late Mesoproterozoic, ~1.07-1.08 Ga

Locality: near the southwestern shaft at the 2500 foot level, White Pine Mine, Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA

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Photo gallery of copper:

www.mindat.org/gallery.php?min=1209

The Ford Model A finally replaced the aged Model T on December 2, 1927. Available in a variety of configurations, trims and colours, the 'A' finally caught up to the variety of choice available from competitors, in particular, General Motors.

Shown here in the common Ford Roadster trim. Two doors, two seats, open roof and externally side mounted spare.

This vehicle has been modelled using Lego Digital Designer. A more realistic look for the wheels can be made by stretching over a hollow 30.4 tyre over the fitted wheels. A more attractive two-tone paintwork here, tan with brown trim.

Our rear living room window, now repainted, from the inside. The only true single-pane window left in the house; this one would be over $1000 to replace thanks to government building codes requiring much more expensive tempered glass to be used, because this window is over stairs and could hurt someone on the stairs when it breaks. So government safety regulations actually made it so expensive to replace that we changed our mind and didn't -- actually making things less safe and less energy efficient. This is how government regulation often has the opposite effect, and are not a magic silver bullet that solves all societal problems. A non-tempered $500 would be safer than these loose panes! But no! Big Brother won't let me get that. So instead it's technically way more dangerous, as any pane could fall out once the glazing compound dries out.

Oops, painted this window shut too.

Sacrificial boards are used a lot in my house. I guess it's an "old wood window thing". I paid a good $5+ for another piece of crown moulding to put over the sill. The idea is that the sacrificial wood rots before the actual sill, much like sacrificial anodes on boats. In this window's case, the old sacrificial board was so rotten you could rip it off the nails and into pieces with your pinky finger. The sill itself was rotted out too. I spent a week or two building it up with successive layers of Elmer's wood filler. It kept raining on my wood filler and I'd have to start over! Eventually, though, it was built up enough to be flat enough to nail a NEW sacrificial board to. Hopefully this is the last paint job this sill will ever need. At some point in the future when we have more disposable income, we'll replace this window. (We need about $5,000 in new windows, so it's going to be awhile...)

And no, we didn't use edgers. We just got paint on the glass. BFD. I'm not focused on the window when I'm looking out of it. That stuff could be razor-bladed off if we cared enough. But what's the point? This window will likely be replaced someday. If we really wanted to, we could fix this with a scraper and a ladder. It would take at least 30 minutes (20 scraping, 10 ladder setup), and require 2 people (Carolyn as the ladder stabilizer, me as the elbow grease). Don't care enough to do that.

house maintenance, kudzu, living room window, sacrificial board.

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

October 14, 2011.

... Read my blog at ClintJCL.wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL.wordpress.com

BACKSTORY: So our homeowners insurance (Farmers) got dropped due to having peeling paint on our window sills (among other things). Weak. It was a LOT of work AND money for us to repaint all our sills. Wood windows SUCK!! Modern vinyl windows are MAINTANENCE-FREE!! Wood windows... You gotta re-glaze the panes when they fall out, and then the wood itself is always going to slowly rot away. We already had our cats knock a pane out, so we already had glazing compound for pane repairs. This came in handy when we painted our various window sills, as some also needed glazing compound.

It was quite a pain because it cost so much money and had our living room in disarray for so many months, and the whole insurance basis for the situation was pretty bullshitty in the first place. We're not going to make a property damage claim due to moisture that occurs because our windows let in moisture because their paint was peeling! Ridiculous... Is paint really all that's holding us back from having property damage through our windows? I DON'T THINK SO, as no moisture was getting in prior to repainting. Just total hassling from Farmers *AND* Progressive Insurance. NationWide, however, appears to finally be on my side.

Replacing the normal 02-, 03- or the new 06- Setra, morning commuters on the 0620 Mountmellick - Dublin run had 00-WW-1498, a DAF SB3000 / Plaxton Premiere new to Slieve Bloom, for the trip up to Dublin

A few images of Blackpool's South Pier at night.

South Pier (originally known as Victoria Pier) is one of three piers in Blackpool, England. Located on South Promenade on the South Shore, the pier contains a number of amusement and adrenalin rides. It opens each year from March to November and is owned by Six Piers Limited.

The Blackpool South Shore Pier & Pavilion Co. Ltd. was registered in November 1890 and work began to build the pier in 1892. It was constructed, at a total cost of £50,000, using a different method than that used for North and Central piers, the Worthington Screwpile System. It opened, with a choir, two brass bands and an orchestra on Good Friday, 1893. The 3,000 capacity Grand Pavilion opened on 20 May. At 149 m (488 ft 10 in) long, it was the shortest of the three piers, and had 36 shops, a bandstand, an ice-cream vendor and a photograph stall. It was built shorter and wider than North and Central piers to accommodate pavilions.

Victoria Pier was considered to be more "upmarket" than North and Central piers, and at first provided little entertainment. Holidaymakers started visiting the South Shore in 1896 when a carousel was installed on the sand dunes. In 1902 the south entrance of the promenade was widened with the construction of the present promenade, and the pier entrance had to be moved back. In 1930 the pier was renamed South Pier. In 1938 the entrance was widened, and the Regal Pavilion constructed.

Two fires in six years changed the pier dramatically. First in 1958, a fire damaged the Grand Pavilion, followed by a further fire in 1964 which completely destroyed it. It was replaced with a theatre. In 1963 the Regal Theatre, at the entrance, was converted into the Beachcomber Amusement Arcade.

The pier head theatre was demolished and replaced by a white knuckle ride in 1998. The pier now contains numerous rides including dodgems, Crazy Mouse and a waltzer, the Laughing Donkey Family Bar, which has live entertainment, a Kiddies Ride Arena, as well as the Adrenaline Zone which houses: "Skycoaster", a freefalling swing at a height of 38 m (124 ft 8 in); "Skyscreamer", a Reverse Bungee ride; "Spider Mountain", a multi-storey climbing spiders web; and "Maxibounce", an acrobatic, safety harnessed trampoline.

On 10 April 2011 70 people were trapped by the tide near the pier.

For more, check out this 2009-2013 Toyota Corolla Front Brake Pads Replacement Guide.

Replacing the ED, the new EF Falcon was built from Aug 1994-Aug 1996, a more rounded look, all body panels were changed except the doors. Sedans and wagons were available, also the longer Fairlane and LTD.

The utility and van, known as the XH, got the EF look front clip but was still the old XF from the windscreen back.

The base GLi got 4.0 6 cyl, man (auto option), airbag.

The Classic option pack; air and alloys

The Futura; body coloured mirrors and bumpers, cruise control and ABS.

The Fairmont: fake grille, trip computer, climate control.

Fairmont Ghia; CD stacker and XR6 engine.

The sporty XR6 and XR8 got Tickford improved running gear, quad headlight front fascia, body kit, rear spoiler, sports interior

The 1995 EFII got better suspension and body coloured B pillar.

Engines; 157kw 4.0 6cyl (Tickford 164kw) and 170kw 5.0 V8

This Fairmont has the optional Tickford body kit and wheels

The Nationals on the Irish Ferries work were replaced by Scanias, one very rare example was C353SVV with two door Jonckheere bodywork, one of a handful new to Scancoaches of London. Although out of use for some time it has only recently been scrapped. Photo taken at Holyhead Port on 10/04/99

Washtec Softcare Pro at Shell Bourne End services on A41 near Hemel Hempstead.

Brushes look like rotten red meat...they're never getting a wash again. This machine will be 20 years old now since it was first installed by Total.

Motorway Services Online

Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 23-Oct-19, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 30-Jan-24.

Landing on the far runway with quite a bit of heat shimmer!

A purpose built freighter, this aircraft was first flown in Feb-99 with the McDonnell Douglas test registration N9030Q.

It was stored at Kingman, AZ, USA after it's 1st flight and returned to Longbeach, CA, USA prior to delivery to EVA Air Cargo as B-16113 in Aug-99.

After only 16 years in service the aircraft was permanently retired at San Bernardino, CA, USA in Mar-15. It was last noted still at San Bernardino in Oct-16.

Liverpool Castle was a castle which was situated in Liverpool, England It stood from the early 13th century to the early 18th century.I AM STOOD ON THE SITE OF THE CASTLE

It was probably erected in the 1230s, between 1232 and 1235 under the orders of William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby. No record of the castle construction survive. Nearby in West Derby, there had long been a castle, which was taken by the Ferrerses in 1232, but by 1296 it lay in ruins. The castle was built to protect King John's new port of Liverpool and was sited at the top of modern day Lord Street, the highest point in the city and overlooking the Pool. This corresponds to present day Derby Square (Queen Victoria Monument) near the city centre.

LIVERPOOL JUNE 2012

See where this picture was taken. [?]

Replace the central gear.

Replaced. If you have a Mac, this will look very contrast-ey, sorry ):

+1

Replace the blue parts.

The Point Perpendicular Lighthouse was established in 1899 to replace the inaccurately placed Cape St George Lighthouse.

The original 1860 lighthouse had been built in the wrong position due to inadequate supervision by the authorities of the day. It was not visible to the northern approach at Jervis Bay and failed to warn of offshore reefs.

Even though when the error was realised it was intended to show a light at Cape St George only as a temporary measure it was not until 1898, over 30 years later, that work began on its replacement on the northern side of the entrance to the bay.

This tower is believed to be a "first" in New South Wales. It is erected on a flat concrete base and is the first tower to be constructed of concrete blocks - made on the ground - lifted into position, then cement-rendered on both the inside and the outside.

This building technique eliminated the use of heavy scaffolding and shuttering which is necessary for the "concrete poured" construction of towers.

Most of the stores and materials for the new lighthouse were landed at Bindijine Wharf, constructed in 1898, on Honeymoon Bay inside the sheltered side of Jervis itself. They were then carted by house and cart to Point Perpendicular.

The original apparatus was vapourised kerosene, 100,000 cd with a range of 33 kilometres. The power was increased to 222,000 cd in 1909 and again to 316,000 in 1923. The light was converted to electric operation in 1964 with the installation of 2 diesel generators. When to light was finally replaced in 1993 the power was 1,200,000 cd.

The new "lattice" style tower is solar powered and the lightstation has been demanned.

There was much protest when the Department of Defence fenced off the area preventing public access to the lighthouse even though it had been agreed that access should continue. There have been mixed reports about what the current situation is though the restriction does seem to have been relaxed.

Also the keepers complex was put on the market at this time and it is also not known what the outcome has been.

The window above the main door is interesting as it displays the Waratah, the state flower of New South Wales, and the construction date of the tower.

The light was last lit by Ian Clifford on Saturday 17 November 1999 for the Seafarer's Festival Ball and to celebrate the centenary of Point Perpendicular.

ELEVATION: 93 metres

RANGE: 26 nautical miles (42 kilometres)

HEIGHT: 21.4 metres

To replace modern construction vehicles at the Théâtre Antique d'Orange (a UNESCO site)? The theater is one of the best preserved ancient Roman theaters -- bulit early in the first century A.D, (during the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus) and likely renewed in the 2nd century A.D. Its back wall is roughly the equivalent of a 10-story building (37 meteres tall), and was originally covered in marble. Built into the hillside, a semi-circle of stepped seats provide seating for 7,000 people.

The theater was used for its intended purpose for many centuries; but, eventually, it was viewed as merely a supply house for handy construction materials (the marble, the building blocks, etc.). Finally, the back wall was used as a 4th wall for other buildings and houses popped up in the interior space. In a more enlightened era, restoration of the theater commenced in 1825; and in 1869, it was once again used for its intended purpose, and has been ever since.

Located in Orange, Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, southern France.

Brief note, November 2010: I have replaced the original shot with a reworked copy. This tries to remove some of the yellow spots, and various colour casts that were on the original. The new Photoshop Auto Align Layers works much better than previously, and seems to be able to conform the plates to one another much better, correcting for some of the distortion that can be introduced by the differential shrinkage of the emulsions. I've also done a slight bit of re-contrasting here and there, and changed the title to reflect Slava's comments (Tkx!).

There still is a town called Gunib in Dagestan, and interestingly, it is the place where Shamil (third imam of Dagestan and leader of a rebellion against the Russians) surrended to Russian forces, and was for a while imprisoned. SPG has several photographs depicting Shamil's place of imprisonment, and shows again his fondness for juxtaposition; Gunib is a part of the Russian Empire, but also a site commemorating rebellions against the autocracy.

What's interesting about the composition, for me, are the strong verticals of the poplar trees, clearly planted as windbreaks to shelter the houses, and the verticals of the deeply eroded gullies in the mountainous background, criss-crossed with many many terraced fields. For this is, in spite of what a cursory look might argue, a deeply socialized landscape, with the land back as far as one can see being worked, and clearly having been worked for a long time.

The light is afternoon, so we are likely facing south, and the (relatively) long shadows allow us to guess that it is getting on towards the later end of the day, closing in on suppertime. And in spite of much minute examination of the shot, I still can't see the Church which Slava says he can see.

Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) NS 386 of the type Mat '54, plan Q, ElD2 serie 371 - 393, built in 1962 preserved at the Het Spoorwegmuseum / Railway Museum in Utecht Maliebaan former Station. July 15th, 2022.

After the railway company had recovered from the worst war damage, it was time to replace the oldest equipment with new. It is known that in 1958 the last steam train ran with the last wooden carriages. Steam locomotive 3737 and wooden carriage C 5055 of these came into the museum. But even the oldest electrical equipment had had its day. After the war, the ZHE men were no longer in service except for two carriages. And it was done for those two in 1947. The motor vehicle is in the museum as ZHESM 6. From 1956 the Block Boxes were withdrawn from the electric service and in 1959 the last train of this type ran under its own power. This was made possible by the influx of electrical equipment type 1954 (EM '54). 7 train series were ordered:

Plan F: 2-car multiple units 321 - 334: 4-car multiple units 711 - 741: 1956

Plan G: 2 car multiple units 335 - 350: 4 car multiple units 742 - 757: 1957

Plan M: 2 car trainsets 351 - 365: 1958

Plan P: 4-car multiple units 761 - 786: 1959 - 1962

Plan Q: 2-car multiple units 371 - 393: 1962

The equipment was fitted with steel (impact) noses for the cabs to better protect the driver in the event of a collision. Because of that nose the nickname was 'Dog's head equipment'. The equipment stood out because of its good driving characteristics and was therefore ideally suited for the Intercity services between the Randstad and the north and east of our country.

From 1977 they were succeeded in these services by new Intercity rolling stock with continuous heads (ICM).

History of trainset 386:

In 1962 the 2-car train set in the grass green color entered service.

In 1965 she was equipped with ATB.

In 1969 the 386 was slightly modernized, with the conductor's room being converted into a mini kitchen, and a toilet into a new conductor's room.

In 1971 the train set was equipped with 3rd front signals.

In 1977 the 386 received a major overhaul, with the train being painted yellow.

In 1996 the train set was taken out of service and handed over to the Railway Museum.

In 2005 the house style yellow of the exterior was replaced by the original green. The ABDk was placed in the museum and the Bk stored in a shed in Utrecht. '

In 2008, the couple was reunited and made serviceable. As of April 1, 2009 ATB became mandatory for all equipment that travels faster than 40 km/h. Until 2011, the 386 was the only museum train set that ATB owned, with which it provided rides with the Heimwee Express every second weekend of the month.

The Mat '54 'Hondekopvier' Foundation is the owner of the also preserved four-car set 766 of plan P.

Hornfels with pinite (= muscovite mica replacing intergrown cordierite-indialite; “cherry blossom stones”), Tamba Group, Mesozoic (Triassic to lowermost Cretaceous), ~98 m.y. contact metamorphic date.

Locality: at or near Ashio, Tochigi Prefecture, Honshu Island, central Japan

(Limper Geology Museum specimen, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA)

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One of the most famous & visually intriguing geologic materials collected in Japan is the cherry blossom stone. These interesting structures have a complex geologic history.

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What are they now?

Cherry blossom stones are relatively small, subhexagonal-shaped masses of fine-grained muscovite mica that show a flower-like pattern in transverse cross-section.

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What did they used to be?

The muscovite mica is not the original material making up these structures. Before the growth of muscovite mica, these were complex intergrowths of six cordierite crystals and one indialite crystal. So, cherry blossom stones represent muscovite mica replacing cordierite-indialite (muscovite pseudomorphs after cordierite-indialite). Such complex pseudomorphs have been referred to as pinite.

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What is the host rock?

Cherry blossom stones are hosted in a matrix of hornfels, a fine-grained, contact metamorphic rock. Hornfels form by intense alteration (heating & chemical alteration) of shales by nearby lava or magma.

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How did they form?

The hornfels host rocks were originally fine-grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks (shales) of the Tamba Group (Triassic-Jurassic-lowermost Cretaceous). In the mid-Cretaceous (early Cenomanian Stage, ~98 m.y.), underground igneous activity resulted in granites and granodiorite intrusions altering the shales into hornfels by contact metamorphism. These hornfels had decent-sized masses of intergrown cordierite-indialite.

Indialite is a magnesium aluminosilicate mineral (Mg2Al4Si5O18). Cordierite is an iron magnesium aluminosilicate mineral ((Fe,Mg)2Al4Si5O18). The subhexagonal-shaped masses of cordierite-indialite in the hornfels consist of seven individual crystals. At the center of each mass is a dumbbell-shaped indialite crystal - very narrow at the center, and relatively wide at the ends (look at the varying sizes of the center hexagon in the cherry blossom stones in this photo album). Surrounding the indialite crystal are six prism-shaped cordierite crystals. They are widest at the center of each cherry blossom stone and narrowest at the ends.

A second metamorphic event altered the cordierite-indialite masses. Hydrothermal metamorphism resulted in fine-grained muscovite mica replacing the original minerals.

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Much info. from:

Rakovan et al. (2006) - Sakura Ishi (cherry blossom stones): mica pseudomorphs of complex cordierite-indialite intergrowths from Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. in Minerals from Japan. Rocks & Minerals Reprint 2006: 31-39.

We had a weekend in Borrowdale recently, a Christmas present that we tagged a day on to. After calling at work on Saturday morning to open for business we headed up the motorway to Penrith. The road through the central lakes was washed away in the recent floods and it is going to be a long job replacing it. This made the diverted journey around 145 miles but we had a good run up there. We wanted to get walking ASAP so we pulled in at Threlkeld with a view to heading up Clough Head, and subject to conditions, head over the Dodds and back by the Old Coach Road. We had left appalling weather at home, wind, rain, fog and sleet on the tops. Thankfully it was better further north. There was laying snow on the summits, it was fairly calm low down and some summits were cloud free.

We left the car at 11.10 in our winter gear, straight up through the quarries and the steep scree slope (another Red Screes), by now we were into the snow line. The cloud was down, the wind gale force and the summit frozen hard – a different world up here. South next to Calfhow Pike, the wind made it difficult to talk and it was around -4 so the there was a fair wind-chill factor. It was tough going to our next top – Great Dodd, part of the Helvellyn massif – It was to icy to walk in places which meant deviating from the path, and losing our bearings, visibility was around ten yards with spindrift creating a whiteout at times. We battled on to the top and found the summit cairn. Great Dodd isn’t the easiest top to find your way off in low visibility, we would have gone further but in these conditions it was pointless so we retraced our steps to Calfhow and clear conditions. From here we followed Mosedale beck to Mariel Bridge, which is on the Old Coach Road, this gave us a circular route back to our start. The Old Coach Road has been wrecked by the floods and the 4x4 off roaders are making it a lot worse. 9.25 miles in 3 ¼ hours and we were in Brysons Tearooms in Keswick for Coffee and cake by 3.45pm. We carried on to Borrowdale and checked in at our hotel, not a bad day really.

After a poor night in a poor bed we were breakfasted and out for 8.30. We drove the few miles up to Seatoller and we were kitted up and away at 9.10. A bitterly cold and icy morning, there was some sun but not as much as promised. We could see the summit of Great End covered in cloud, we were heading up there on to the Sca Fell massif. We followed the valley to the east of Seathwaite Fell, a new path for us. Once in the snow the going was very icy with the path ice covered in places. The snow was dry and powdery and in places it had blown over the underlying ice. At this point I might add, we do own crampons. After a winter of splashing around soaked we didn’t expect to need them and they were at home – very clever! This was our first real winters day this winter, other than an hour on Sca Fell Pike on Christmas Day, we haven’t seen winter conditions this winter. By the time we got to Esk Hause it was difficult to stay upright and on our way to Great End we had to pick our way very carefully around the worst of the ice. The spindrift made it difficult to see the ground at times, spinning around our feet in a mist. Once on the summit the cloud was thick and the wind speed high. We had been here fairly recently so I knew the layout of the summit and we had little difficulty finding the summit cairn. We were cursing our lack of crampons and the cloud. Instead of heading into the cloud along the Sca Fell Pike path we decided to get under the cloud, back to Esk Hause and head over Allen Crags and Glaramara. At this point we both took some heavy falls, as did others up there, a lot turned around and headed back down, it was deadly. The cloud had thickened, there wasn’t a ray of sun to soften things. Our chosen route was one of the hardest afternoons we had ever had. Everywhere was frozen solid, we had to kick toe or heel holes to move on slopes that we wouldn’t have broken stride on normally. Minor rock scrambles down steep crags had become life threatening in places and we proceeded with extreme care. The knees were creaking on the long descent to Seathwaite. 10.3 miles in six hours, almost half the speed of yesterday. We made it Keswick for afternoon tea – and bought some Micro Spikes for unfinished business to deal with tomorrow. A beautiful day was forecast so fingers crossed we headed back for a soak in the tub.

Day three, a gorgeous icy, sunny winters day. Things looked promising. We left along yesterday’s route at the same start time – with walking poles and Micro Spikes! At the top of the valley we met a guy who had set off before us, two guys known to him were picking their way through the crags, tiny specks on the 800 foot rocky crag. Some appeared to have tried to climb the snow filled chimney that runs to the summit but we heard later that conditions weren’t suitable. Even though it was minus four the sun had softened the snow just enough to get a grip and it was easier to avoid the worst of the ice, unlike yesterday. The summit of Great End was incredible with never ending vistas. We could see a steady stream of walkers on every path by now. Word had got out that we were in for a rare treat today, plus it was school half term so a lot of people were off work. I visited every possible viewpoint as we went to the summit of Ill Crag , Broad Crag and finally Sca Fell Pike. It was 1.00 PM by now and a steady stream of elated walkers were arriving on England’s highest point. It was bitter but beautiful. We had around five miles back to the car along the Corridor Route to Styhead, Stockley Bridge and Seathwaite. Part of this route we had covered recently on Christmas Day and despite the snow and ice we powered along. We would have been back in two hours but! A mile from the car, following the manmade path down Taylorgill Force to Stockley Bridge Jayne Stumbled. It’s not often she walks in front. I normally lead and relay instructions and warnings back to her. She hit the rock path with her head and face really hard, stunned, she rolled off the path over a drop. She was vertical, resting on a rock on her knees and clinging on to the edge of the path with her fingertips. I grabbed her rucksack and held her whilst I checked her injuries. She had a bad bump on her temple, another on her forehead, split the bridge or her nose, her glasses had gone flying but would straighten. Being left handed she had stuck her left hand out and it had been bent back, it was swelling and discolouring pretty fast. When I had established that nothing was serious enough to stop her moving I got her back on to the path to see to her injuries. The pain initially made her think that she was in a worse state than ( I thought) she really was. She could move her fingers and wrist, albeit with some pain but not enough for it to be broken. The wound to the bridge of her nose although very painful wasn’t going to be a problem. The bumps on her head were turning into eggs by now. I gave her Ibuprofen and Paracetemol and she sat and composed herself for the final mile. We made it to the café in Keswick and got a slightly later afternoon break, our first of the day again. 11.3 miles today in 6 ¼ hours and fairly tough going. It was nothing more than a careless, tired perhaps, stumble on one of the horrible ( our own opinion, I might add) manmade paths made out of irregular stones which are laid at odd angles and are a nightmare to descend when wet on tired legs. A few days later and Jayne is sat on reception at the doctors looking like she’s been boxing, with a purple eye and nose, her left hand swollen and purple – otherwise she’s OK. I came down with mild food poisoning during the night and had to drive 145 miles home at 8.00 the morning after feeling extremely ill. I was due to start fasting for a Colonoscopy in three days. I ended up eating six slices of toast over a four day period – Monday evening to Thursday evening- Having had over 40 stomach endoscopies in twenty years the colonoscopy was nothing more than uncomfortable and , subject to biopsy results, everything looked OK. The trapped wind was another matter – for two days! All in all a very traumatic week. Needless to say we didn’t use the Micro Spikes.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 20-Oct-16, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 05-Jun-25

With additional 'Continental Connection' sticker by the passenger door.

The camera came to me with a decayed mirror damper foam.

I replaced mirror damper for some of my cameras before, using black foam sheet from Michaels store.

I find that a piece of foam on a respirator mask (see the photo) is softer than the one from Michaels store, probably a better material. Let try it. I cut a strip of it, glue it in. Well done!

The only thing is that it has grey color, not black, it won't be a problem, I hope.

Will run a roll of film soon to see how things go.

Split oscillating ink drum and rider roller, can be replaced with regular units on shelf.

25 Oct 1988

This station has been replaced by one further along the line.

The trains went to Essen to be trams!

via WordPress ift.tt/2I4RpLj

While James Stuber was changing a burned out light bulb in his home one day in 2012, he had his own personal light bulb moment. {media_1}

“I took out the lightbulb to replace it and I looked at it and on it was the GE (General Electric) logo and underneath that in all capital letters was the word CHINA,” Stuber said. “The juxtaposition of the two things — since I considered GE stood for Thomas Edison and all things American — made me think if GE is making its light bulbs in China, maybe we have a problem.”

Stuber had been shopping a few days prior to the light bulb moment and noticed that most everything in the store had been made in China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

“These things all kind of grabbed a hold of me and I wouldn’t let go,’’ said Stuber, who has built a career as an attorney, legislative aide on Capitol Hill, entrepreneur, and candidate for Congress. “I really wanted to know what the heck was going on.”

He began what turned out to be three years of research and in 2017, Stuber added author to his resume with the release of his book “What if Things Were Made in America Again: How Consumers Can Rebuild the Middle Class by Buying Things Made in American Communities.”

The goal of Stuber’s book was to answer three pertinent questions: Why does it seem like everything is made somewhere else? Isn’t that causing a problem? And if it is, what can be done about it?

America has an approximately $800 billion trade deficit with countries around the world, nearly half of which is a whopping $365 billion trade imbalance with China.

But despite the complexities of trade policy and the U.S. economy, Stuber reached the conclusion that American consumers are the most likely of all factors to rein in the constantly rising trade deficit and help put America back on a level playing field with our trading partners.

Stuber holds bachelors and masters degrees in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, respectively, and a law degree from Georgetown University. He resides in Berwyn, Pa. with his wife and four teenage children.

In an interview, Stuber explains why American consumers can provide the most effective economic bailout with their power to purchase American-made goods.

Jeffrey Bonior: Why does it seem like everything we see in our stores is made in some other country?

James Stuber: The short answer is because it is. I did research on the various categories of goods, and 95 percent of our apparel is coming from overseas, 70 percent of our appliances, 70 percent of our electronics. There are whole categories of goods that over the decades we have just sent somewhere else to be made.

JB: How and why did this happen?

JS: The U.S adopted faulty free trade theories, globalization happened, and China entered the global market. China had gone communist in 1949, so a lot of this was fighting communism by giving countries like Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and these Asian tigers whole industries starting with clothing. It gave these countries some of our markets instead of having them trade with communist China.

The second era is what I call the China Globalization Era, from 1995 to 2015, when we stepped onto the globalization merry-go-round just outsourcing everything. The big thing, the inflection point, was in 2001 when we granted China permanent favored nation tariff treatment and admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Then things really took off. The irony about this and the thing that really bothers me is that our leaders, who are supposed to know what they are doing, were pursuing these free trade policies that clearly made no sense.

JB: The stock market is thriving and unemployment is at 3.9 percent, so isn’t America doing well?

JS: Most of us are not doing very well at all compared to the cost of living in America. And what we’ve been doing to ordinary Americans raises profound moral questions. The stock market almost has nothing to do with the working and middle class, and the unemployment numbers are misleading because it counts bad jobs, jobs where people are working almost no hours even though they wish they had a full-time job. So, when you look deeper, 10 percent would probably be a more realistic number for people that are underemployed and underpaid. Wages are basically stagnant. The Federal Reserve said that 40 percent of Americans couldn’t immediately come up with $400 in an emergency. We are on thin ice and people know it.

JB: Your book touches on all things made in America, but how important is it for the U.S. to have a thriving industrial base like the steel and automotive industries?

JS: My passion for this grew out of my family working in the steel mills in Pittsburgh and Steubenville. The mill where The Deer Hunter was filmed in Mingo Junction, Ohio is the town where my parents grew up in and all my family worked. I pick up the story in in the book in 1945 when our soldiers were fighting their way across Europe and the islands of the Pacific and there were a couple of places where the Japanese and Germans both saw these columns and columns of American tanks, jeeps and trucks and realized what they were up against. There was a mill in California that made all of the Liberty Ships and it was really America’s industrial might, the core of which was steelmaking, that carried the day in World War II.

Now we are locked in another geopolitical fight with China and Russia and not realizing the importance from a security standpoint of the steel industry. I’ve concluded no economy is strong without a strong manufacturing sector. And to rely on other countries for either the raw steel or things in the steel supply chain is just hollowing out our economy. You need steel for security and you need steel for a strong economy.

JB: What is your opinion of President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs, and why do you think there is such a pushback from some downstream manufacturers?

JS: It is disheartening to see how quickly many U.S. companies are to throw under the bus those companies farther upstream in the supply chain just to protect their own niche. But they are mistaken if they believe that they are not themselves vulnerable to foreign competition. The Chinese and other mercantilists want to occupy the entire supply chain, especially in high value-added products. This is all spelled out in China’s “Made in China 2025” plan.

I don’t understand why we are hearing such vociferous objections to paying a fair price for steel, one that includes paying workers a living family wage and a modest profit for the company. {media_2}

JB: How will consumers purchasing Made-in-America products alleviate our trade deficit?

JS: Consumers, and only consumers, can solve this problem. We can bring home $650 billion in spending, create 6 or 7 million jobs and get a virtuous circle going in the economy.

I think that if consumers realize that what we are doing now is not sustainable and that there is a very high cost to that low price of goods, it will drive consumers to want to do this. If they realize the stakes are high and they really have the power to rebuild the American economy and get us growing at a faster clip, I think they will do it. They need this education. Once they read my book and get the facts, they will stop and just pay attention to their purchasing power.

I sometimes approach people and say, ‘I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your smartphone was made in a labor camp, your clothes were made in a sweatshop and your fish were caught by a slave ship.’ This is morally wrong and has caused a massive increase across the world in what two Princeton economists have called Death of Despair.

JB: Your theory has merit, but isn’t the bottom line that people will be spending more for products?

JS: Yes, sometimes. My son’s first hammer cost $25 instead of $15. It was worth it to support the community that made it. Often things don’t cost more. Oreo cookies, now made in Mexico, cost the same price as they did when they were made in Chicago.

JB: How can you get the American consumers to understand that something Made in America is an investment in their own lives and communities?

JS: It is going to require an education process to change a lot of consumer thinking. Where we are right now [is] just focused on price, price, price. We are not recognizing the high cost of that low price. In foreign countries where laborers are exploited and the high cost in the U.S. starting with families that lose their manufacturing jobs in the community and the high cost to all of us who are paying taxes and trying to deal with all this dependency, drug addiction and social problems. If you add all that up into the price of that good, [what] we thought was a low price really wasn’t such a low price at all. That’s going to require a wake-up call for many Americans.

JB: Is it realistic for American consumers to pay higher prices for Made in America products?

JS: It is. Just look at the evidence for people willing to buy organic or buy green. People are paying a lot more for these things, which they perceive of particular value. We see other trends where people are willing to pay more for something they really care about. Of course, you start with the people that are able to pay more, and work your way down through the economy, and as you do the prices come down and it will kind of converge at some point. It seems like right now everything in the food store is organic, and the prices are a lot less than they used to be.

At one time I was involved in the tourism business in Florida and you heard about hotels advertising they were green hotels. I was thinking, ‘Who cares if their hotel is green?’ Well, it turned out consumers did. The hotel companies responded by rebuilding or retrofitting those hotels to make them green. So, consumers are saying to builders: ‘I care about those components in my house,’ and there was a change to make them green. It’s not going to be easy but it’s doable, very doable.

And then you really know you are helping someone in America. It is easy to look up these companies if you want to. (Editor’s note: Check out our directory!) They are often in small towns and your purchase is helping these communities. You can indeed be assured you are helping someone when you buy American.

JB: Do you have additional strategies to influence Buy American?

JS: There is a third leg to my story and it is the policy leg. Although I believe consumers can do this without asking the government for support or permission, there are other things we want to ask the government for. And two of them are related as a consumer solution.

The big one I want to pursue is a fair country of origin labeling where people can tell really where something is coming from. While there are several laws that cover that, the information should be prominently displayed in advertising, in catalogues, in online displays and in stores so through the packaging consumers can make an informed choice. This is an area where we are sorely lacking right now.

The other thing is to strengthen the Buy America laws at the national, state and local levels so when the government is spending your tax dollars, the school board is going to be able to buy a desk that was made in Pennsylvania or someplace in the United States. And these American companies end up paying taxes that will go to the schools. It really is a no-brainer.

The best thing a consumer can do is to support an American community by buying something made in that community. Every American needs to know this story. It will be a game-changer for them in their purchasing habits. And a game changer for the American economy.

To purchase “What if Things Were Made in America Again” and learn more about the consumer Buy America movement, visit www.themadeinamericabook.com or www.madeinamericaagain.org

Q&A: Want to See More American-Made Stuff? Buy More American-Made Stuff. syndicated from petroteksdnbhd.blogspot.com

Replacing an earlier digital pghoto with a better version 24-Dec-19.

Suffering from some heat shimmer...

Originally built as Boeing 747-243B/M Combi with a side cargo door, this aircraft was capable of carrying both passengers and cargo in the main cabin. It was delivered to Alitalia as I-DEMC in Nov-80. It was sold to a lessor in Feb-94, converted to full freighter configuration and leased back to Alitalia Cargo. It was sold back to Alitalia in Sep-04. The aircraft was due to be leased to Belgian Cargo operator 'Cargo B' in Oct-07 but the lease was cancelled. It was sold to Adventar Ltd and leased to Air Bridge Cargo/Volga-Dnepr Airlines as VP-BIB in Oct-04. The aircraft was returned to the lessor in May-08 and stored at Chateauroux, France. It was leased to Southern Air (USA) as N795SA in Sep-08. It was sold to Air Mobility Inc in Jan-09 while the lease to Southern Air continued. It was permanently retired and stored at Mojave, CA, USA in Oct-10 after 30 years service. It was last noted still at Mojave in Oct-13.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 02-Mar-14.

Remember the days when we were all trying to squeeze 37 (or even 38) shot's out of a 35mm film. Well on this day I didn't quite make No:38... and didn't have a spare film to take another shot (it's the only Canafrica photo I have - Oh well, some you lose...)

Considering the long lives of Douglas DC-9/MD-80's, this aircraft had quite a short career, although it was very varied. Delivered new to CanAfrica in Apr-87, they were re-named Air Sur in Jun-88. Returned to the lessor in Oct-90 as EI-CBO, it was leased to Turkish charter airline TUR Avrupa Hava Yollari in May-91 as TC-TRU. It was returned to GECAS in Mar-94 and leased immediately to Transwede Airways as SE-DRU. It was only with Transwede for a year before being leased to Swissair in Mar-95 and immediately sub-leased to Balair as HB-IUL. Becoming EI-CBO again in Feb-96 it was leased to Nouvelair Tunisie the following month. It was leased to Yugoslavian airline Interimpex in Sep-99. The airline was renamed Avioimpex in Jan-00 and in Dec-00 the aircraft was re-registered Z3-AAC. A year later it was returned to the lessor and sold to Wells Fargo Bank NW as N494AP. It was stored at Goodyear (GYR), AZ, USA in Dec-01. The last reported sighting at Goodyear in my database was in mid 2007 so it's probable that it's been broken up by now (Mar-14).

Replaced

Replacing and earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 24-Feb-24.

Usually, A310-200's didn't come with 'wing fences', however, Hapag-Lloyd had them fitted to their A310-200's. I think they were the only airline to do so.

First flown with the Airbus test registration F-WWBO, this aircraft was delivered to Hapag Lloyd as D-AHLX in Dec-88. Hapag-Lloyd was renamed Hapagfly .com in Apr-05.

The aircraft was sold to Cramlington Services in Mar-06 and ferried to Maastricht, Netherlands for repaint in S7 Siberia Airlines livery. It was leased to S7 Airlines as VP-BTL in Jun-06.

It was withdrawn from service and stored at Amman-AMM, Jordan in early 2011 and was last noted still there in Jan-16 with many parts missing. It was broken up at Amman in 2019.

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 14-Jan-18.

Operating on behalf of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Volkonskoite-replaced fossil wood from the Permian of Russia. (4.3 cm across at its widest)

This is a very rare specimen of fossil wood from Permian rocks in western Russia. Most fossil wood is preserved by quartz-permineralization or carbonization. This fossil wood has been replaced by a rare chromian smectite clay mineral called volkonskoite (Ca0.3(Cr,Mg,Fe)2(Si,Al)4O10 (OH)2⋅4H2O - hydrous calcium chromium magnesium iron hydroxy-aluminosilicate). The chromium (Cr) content gives the fossil its green coloration. The striations appear to be remnants of the original wood structure. The broken sides show that the massive, fine-grained volkonskoite breaks with a conchoidal fracture.

Host rocks & age: soft fluvial sandstones, Kazanian to Tatarian Stages, upper Upper Permian

Locality: Mt. Efimiatsk (Mt. Efimyatskaya), near the town of Efimyata, ~10 miles west of Votinsk Reservoir & ~30 miles southwest of Okhansk, Chastinsky District, southwestern Perm Region, western foothills of the southwestern Ural Mountains, western Russia

Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 19-Jul-19, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 14-Apr-26.

First flown with the Boeing test registration N1786B, this aircraft was delivered to GECAS and leased to Futura International Airways as EC-HMJ in May-00. It was sub-leased to Futura Gael (Futura Ireland), re-registered EI-DIT and leased back to Futura International in Dec-04.

It was wet-leased to Ryan International Airlines (USA) the following day and operated on behalf of Transglobal Vacations (USA). It was returned to Futura International in early May-05 and operated a series of flights from Dublin in May before being returned to GECAS in Jun-05.

The aircraft was immediately leased to SpiceJet (India) as VT-SPE. It was returned to the lessor in Sep-13, re-registered EI-RUK at the end of Oct-13 and leased to Transaero Airlines (Russia) in early Nov-13.

The aircraft was returned to the lessor in mid Oct-15 and stored at Teruel, Spain just before Transaero ceased operations. It was sold to Magnetic Parts Trading Inc in Feb-18. It was permanently retired at Teruel and broken up there in 2019.

Built in 1930 as the Maple Avenue School, this Colonial Revival-style building replaced an earlier school on the same site, built as the Hogsett Academy for Boys in the 1890s, which was purchased by Danville Independent Schools in 1912 to become the Maple Avenue Public School. Initially serving 1st through 5th Graders, the school saw the addition of a 6th Grade program in 1936. In 1957, after serving the Maple Avenue School for 33 years as a teacher and principal, Mrs. Edna L. Toliver retired, with the school being renamed in her honor. Initially being one of three elementary schools in Danville (with the others being the Broadway Street School and the segregated Bate School), the school later became accompanied by Jennie Rogers Elementary, which opened in 1952 to replace the Broadway Street School, and Mary G. Hogsett Elementary, which opened on the rapidly growing south side of Danville in 1958. When Danville’s schools were desegregated in 1964, Bate School became home to the city’s Junior High, and the elementary program was folded into the other three schools in the district. The building served as an elementary school until 2018, when the district’s elementary programs were restructured, and Jennie Rogers Elementary School was closed. Following the restructuring, Edna L. Toliver School was opened as an intermediate school for grades 2-5, with Mary G. Hogsett School becoming a primary school for grades PreK-1. The building was expanded with a rear addition in the postmodern style, which has features that mimic the original building, and wraps around the rear of the school’s gymnasium, added to the school in the mid-1950s. The original building features a red brick exterior with a three-story front portico with corinthian columns, a front pediment with a clock, bracketed eaves, replacement windows in eight-over-eight-over-eight and six-over-six-over-six configurations, as well as eight-over-eight windows at the central portico, arched windows above the front entrance on the second floor, decorative surrounds at the front doors, including a broken pediment over the central door and doric pilasters, limestone trim, ionic pilasters, half urns, and an undulating cornice at the ends of the side wings, a side gable roof over the central front wing with a cupola in the center of the ridge, low-slope roofs with parapets on the side wings, side entrances with surrounds featuring doric pilasters and limestone trim panels, and, a low-slope gable roof, and clerestory windows. The rear additions, built in the mid-1950s and 2018, include a square modern gymnasium with buttresses and clerestory windows, a utilitarian two-story classroom wing with large ribbon window openings and a low-slope roof, and a postmodern addition with buff brick mimicking the ends of the side wings of the school, an arced roof over the entrance and on the entrance canopy, vertical window bays with glass spandrel panels and screens, and a low-slope roof with a parapet. The original section of the school is a contributing structure in the Maple Avenue Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

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Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 06-Dec-19.

"Dedeman Hotels & Resorts" logojet.

Named: "Kayra Aliouglu".

Originally odered by Asiana (Republic of Korea), the order was cancelled and the aircraft was delivered to the Sunrock Aircraft Corporation as N775SR in Aug-97. It was stored until it was leased to Jet Airways (India) as VT-JAN in Oct-97. It was returned to the lessor in Apr-07 and leased to Saga Airlines (Turkey) as TC-SGE a few days later. The aircraft was wet-leased to Air Algerie between Jun-07/Mar-08. It was also sub-leased to Pegasus Airlines (Turkey) between Apr/Oct-08. It was wet-leased again to Air Algerie between Nov-08/Sep-09 and to AnadoluJet (Turkey) between Jan/Apr-10. The aircraft was returned to the lessor as N775SJ in Sep-10 and stored at Istanbul-IST. It was leased to Yamal Airlines (Russia) as VQ-BIK in Mar-11. It was returned to the lessor in Oct-17 and stored at Shannon, Ireland. The aircraft was re-registered N775SJ again in Dec-17, ferried to Kelowna, BC, Canada in Jan-18 and converted to freighter configuration with a main deck cargo door in Aug-18. In Sep-18 the aircraft was due to be leased to CargoLogic Germany as D-ACLW but the lease was cancelled and it was leased to Atran - Aviatrans Cargo Airlines (Russia) as VQ-BFR in Dec-18. It returned to the lessor in Dec-19 and is currently parked at Liege, Belgium awaiting a new lease to CargoLogic Airlines as D-ACLW. Current, updated (Dec-19).

Replaces the factory 3 piece brace and mounts. Bolts directly to the strut top.