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Can Vera Bradley Stitch Itself Back Together?
Just a year and a half ago, things looked so promising for Vera Bradley . The handbag company had gone public in the fall of 2010, and by May 2011 its stock had risen 104%, to over $50 per share. Since then, however, times haven't been so great for Vera, and after its latest earnings call, executives have lowered guidance for the year. Are the company's hardships simply due to a tough climate for retail, or is something else at play here?
Not-so stylish sales
There doesn't appear to be a lot of positivity on Vera's latest quarterly income statement. Revenue dropped 5.9% and comparable store sales were down 6.5%, largely due to soft mall traffic. As sales fell, so did Vera's ability to hold onto profits- operating income fell 12.2% to $24.2 million, and its profit margin tumbled from 19.1% of Vera's revenue to 18.6%. At the bottom line, net income plummeted 14% compared to the year before, to $15.2 million.
Even metrics that are gaining prominence in the overall retail industry, like online purchases, took a hit within Vera Bradley's business model this quarter. E-Commerce sales dropped 8%, because of lower traffic and lower average transaction size than usual. That said, there wasn't all bad news on the financials- new CEO Robert Wallstrom explained that traffic from mobile devices was increasing- the amount of users buying Vera products on their phones was up 10% from the year before, and took up close to half of the quarter's overall traffic.
Meet the new CEO
The market may also be uneasy about Vera Bradley right now because Wallstrom has only been CEO for a little over a month. That's not to say he doesn't have an impressive track record - Wallstrom has 30 years of experience in the retail industry under his belt. Most recently, he served as President of Saks Fifth Avenue's clearinghouse-turned-retailer OFF Fifth, spurring on a 50% boost in sales for the brand, as well as increasing the fledgling brand's profitability by 100%.
At first, Wall Street took kindly to Wallstrom's arrival- Vera's stock jumped 4.7%, from $23.12 to $24.22 on Nov. 5, the day of the announcement. A week later, the handbag biz was selling at over $25 a share, its highest point within the past three months.
Despite Wallstrom's noteworthy professional past, it's still a bit too soon to tell what exactly he has in store for the Vera brand. At Saks OFF Fifth, he focused on maximizing brand value and turning the company into a growth vehicle. By the end of his tenure, the brand had expanded from a base of 40 stores to 71 locations.
In Vera's case, the company simultaneously appears to be trimming some major fat as well as unveiling new promotional options. The company is now implementing at more selective approach to its previously widespread specialty gift locations, with plans to reduce it base by 400 retailers. At the same time, the company has aligned itself with some pretty strategic partnerships- namely, Disney. The Vera Bradley for Disney Collection opened at the Florida World of Disney Store in September, and according to Wallstrom, that's not the last investors will hear of a Vera-Disney collaboration.
Should you buy into that patchwork handbag?
As Wallstrom's tenure progresses, the market may have a legitimate reason for enthusiasm, but for now it appears to be biding time and waiting for something more tangible. His previous accomplishments are impressive, but they also involved expanding a company with a more diversified product line, and therefore more variation in revenue streams as opposed to strictly handbags and related accessories. Wallstrom has his work cut out for him right now, and if Vera can't generate respectable revenue during the holidays, the company's stock market woes will be far from over.
The article Can Vera Bradley Stitch Itself Back Together? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Caroline Bennett has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Multiple counts of theft have been filed against a Minden woman for allegedly stealing cash and business records from her local employer.
Webster Parish Sheriff Gary Sexton said 41-year-old Erin B. Maness of the 1400 block of Lewisville Road in Minden is currently being held at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center on $48,000 in bonds.
Maness is charged with one count of felony theft over $12,000 and 28 counts of theft of business records, Sexton said. The sheriff said the business records were state certificates which potentially could be valuable.
"The company performed an internal audit and found the losses. They provided us with the information uncovered by the audit and we arrested the suspect Wednesday morning," Sexton said.
Maness had been taking checks and cash intended for her employer for more than a year, Sexton said. The thefts reportedly occurred from January 2013 through April of this year. She had been employed at the business a little over a year and a half, the sheriff said.
"She would have customers make checks for the business services payable to her and if someone paid in cash, she would divert that for herself," the sheriff explained. "She has not told us why she was taking the money or what she was doing with it. We're still investigating to determine exactly how much was taken."


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I always saw breastfeeding as something natural. I didn’t think much about it before I became a mom but the day my daughter was born I became a nursing mom, a pro-breastfeeding mom and my views on breastfeeding changed. Any mom has the right to chose what’s best for their child, for me, it was breastfeeding.
My daughter is currently 18 months old and we’re still nursing and going strong. It wasn’t an easy journey but it wasn’t hard enough to make me stop.
I’ve come to learn about challenges in nursing, that I didn’t even know existed. I’ve met women with lots of nursing challenges that made it and were able to nurse their kids and some other that had to turn to formula. I’ve heard nasty comments of people saying you shouldn’t nurse in public and seen moms proudly nurse in public. Once you’re a nursing mom, you learn about all the good and bad stuff that comes with breastfeeding.
During this World Breastfeeding week I don’t want to give any advice or tell a mom what’s best or how to do it or what to expect I just want to say
thank you! Thank you, nursing mom, for nursing!
It’s because of you, nursing mom…
It’s because of you nursing your child anywhere that future moms, like myself, see breastfeeding as something normal.
It’s because of you that I was able to swallow my shyness and nurse my daughter without a cover because she hated it.
It’s because of your blog posts that I learned about nursing challenges and how to overcome them.
It’s because of your videos that I learned how to latch my daughter properly and hold her while she nursed.
It’s because of your videos and patience that I learned how to nurse in a baby carrier.
It’s because of you that I learned that my child’s nutrition is more important than what other people think about me nursing.
It’s because of you that I became informed about the benefits of nursing.
It’s because of you that my confidence grew and I am a proud breastfeeding mom of a toddler.
It’s because of you that I learned to trust my body and trust that I can make enough milk for my child.
It’s because of you that I had someone to share my toughest breastfeeding moments with.
It’s because of you that I will nurse all of my children.
It’s because of you that I see beauty when I see a nursing mom.
It’s because of you that I will always support breastfeeding and help any mom that comes to me.
It’s because of you that I am a nursing mom and proud of it.
So thank you, thank you to you, nursing mom. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for you.

domain: sociology


text:
NEW YORK — The deepest U.S. stock market sell-off since the 2008 financial crisis is prompting some financial advisers to tell wealthy clients to hold steady or even increase their equity exposure if they have at least 10 years until retirement.
Remaining fully invested in stocks despite the volatility and economic shocks from the rapidly spreading coronavirus is easier said than done. Yet financial advisers predict a broad economic recovery without a depression, thanks in part to extraordinary Federal Reserve measures to backstop financial markets.
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These advisers said they believe investors with a longer timeline have an opportunity to buy equities at low valuations.
The benchmark S&P 500 trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 13.8, about 30% less than when it hit record highs on Feb. 19 and 11% below its long-term average, according to Refinitiv data.
“The reality is that no matter how you think about it, the next five-year return given these valuations is undoubtedly higher than it was two months ago,” said Joe Duran, chief executive of Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s United Capital division.

domain: economics


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SITE VISIT TO TOLL WOOD, LYNSTEAD, KENT
Barry O' Dowd.
Toll Wood stands on the gradually rising northern slope of the North Downs, just to the south- east of Lynstead. It is a linear woodland running north - south, some 400m long and averaging 130m in width - appx 6 ha. It slopes westwards into a shallow dry valley and is bounded to the east by a narrow road - Toll Lane. The wood is an important natural feature in the landscape where the nearest significant woodland is a mile to the south.
As far as we know Toll Wood stands on a thin layer of clay overlying the chalk and contains four distinct habitats: the tall forest, the northern alkaline or chalky grassland, the scrub surrounding the grassland, and the western cut ('coppiced') edge.
The southern 2/3rd's of the wood is generally uniform in terms of structure and tree age. The trees are tall and generally even aged, most are close standing reflecting secondary growth following clearance some time in the past. The dominant tree is Sycamore Acer Pseudoplatenous, a long- standing introduced species to the UK which is invasive and casts a heavy shade. This species tends to exclude native tree regeneration and produces copious quantities of seed, so spreads rapidly, eventually dominating the canopy, as it has here. Sycamore supports very few insect species though abundant quantities of aphids feed on its leaf sap and are an important bird food. Some trees are multi- stemmed indicating localised coppicing/ tree felling in the past.
There are a small range of native trees present in the tall woodland including many fine Hornbeams Carpinus betulus and some Beech Fagus sylvaticus both of which appear to predate the Sycamore thus indicating a long-standing history of trees/ woodland on at least part of the site. There are also some huge tall Wild Cherry Prunus avium trees though no younger trees were seen. One or two Field maple Acer campestre occur with lots of young Ash Fraxinus excelsior along the western edge. The history of woodland on this site is not known, a ground flora study in the summer should determine if it is an ancient woodland site or not. There is evidence of old wood banks in the wood which were historically constructed to mark ownership and wood boundaries.
Of greater interest is the northern third of the tall forest which has extensive elm Ulnus stands, specific species yet not determined. There are a number of tall fine trees which are not apparently suffering from Dutch elm disease. From these there are younger suckers forming extensive stands. These trees have extended into the grassland at the northern end of the wood but are being superseded by elder scrub and sycamore invasion into the alkaline grassland. This is undesirable as the open grassland is probably of significant conservation interest (see below).
The northern third of the wood has some induced structural diversity and also dead wood (biologically valuable) as a result of the 1987 storm. Many trees, especially hornbeam, were blown down and most have re-grown in their prone position. Light penetrating the lost canopy is encouraging shrub and herb growth. The shrub layer within these gaps consists largely of Elder Sambucus niger. Otherwise there is little shrub cover within the wood apart from some hawthorn in localised areas, especially where there once existed a broad track through the wood. The ground flora could not be surveyed at this time of year although dogs mercury is abundant and there are small areas of bluebells which may indicate ancient origins.
The northern alkaline grassland
This area of only 3 or 4 acres may be the richest part of Toll wood in terms of uncommon and valuable species. The substrate of the area needs further examination but probably consists of a thin layer of clay over the chalk which forms the North Downs. This would produce an alkaline soil, chalky clay in simple terms. Chalk grassland is highly localised in the UK and good examples contain some of the richest plant communities found in the British isles. Orchids are likely to occur and the range of nectar- rich plants throughout the summer should support a colourful range of butterflies and rare invertebrates. There was not time to look closely at the grassland and a further trip in the spring/ summer is necessary to see what is there. If of high value the sward may require grazing management to optimise its richness, it seems that rabbits are presently doing a reasonable job.
Unfortunately the sycamores are seeding into the grassland with mixed scrub spreading in from the woodland and perimeter hedges. The removal of some invading trees and scrub would help restore the grassland which is being lost. Further surveying is required to determine the exact value of this area and recommended management.
Scrub surrounding the grassland
A hedge borders the eastern edge of the wood (along the roadside) where there is much hazel Corylus avellana. The hedge continues around to form the northern perimeter and north-west section surrounding the grassland. Here there are hazels, though blackthorn Prunus spinosa is the most common hedge constituent surrounding the grassland. The hedges here are tall and largely unmanaged and spreading as suckers and seedlings (especially hawthorn) into the grassland. The hedge and scrub forms a rich habitat in its own right and a natural border between the 'natural' grassland of Toll Wood and the surrounding orchards and improved sheep pasture.
The gradation from grassland into scrub forms a rich invertebrate habitat and fine bird habitat which is certain to provide prime habitat for breeding songbirds, especially warblers, in the summer and residents such as the Long tailed tit and the declining Bullfinch all year. As mentioned earlier the scrub may require management to maximise its value and maintain some open grassland.
The western cut or 'coppiced' edge.
Telegraph/ electric wires run along the western edge of the wood and the shrubs/ trees below are cut close to ground level every few years (maybe 3-6yrs). This 'coppiced’ strip is probably flailed and does provide a species-rich shrub strip which is dense and was about 4 -6 feet tall at the time of the visit. Dogwood, spindle, privet and travellers joy are all common here, a rich nectar source for invertebrates which will be warmed by afternoon sun in the summer months. This long dense strip should provide good feeding and nesting sites for birds in the summer and provide autumn fruits also.
Birds of interest recorded on the visit:
Long-tailed tits, Mistle thrush, Song Thrush, Redwing, Sparrowhawk, Goldfinch, Bullfinch.
Barry O' Dowd, Elmley RSPB reserve, Sheerness, Kent. ME12 3RW.

domain: geography


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The Pro Hart Outback Art Prize (PHOAP) will return this year with entries for the major event opening soon.
Artists will be able to submit their work from next Monday as the local Art Gallery prepares for a bigger 2022 showcase.
Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery manager, Blake Griffith, said the return of the well-renowned event was “really exciting”.
“It’s extra special because we had a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
The exhibition for the Art Prize will be hosted in a new space in the upstairs area with the below level dedicated to the Gallery’s collection.
Mr Griffith is hopeful the popular prize will receive a record number of entries this year and is eager to see what will be presented.
“Hopefully we can smash the record from previous years,” he said.
“People have been in lockdown and spending time in their studios so we might see more entries.”
“We never know what we are going to get until the first judging.”
The goal is to surpass the 474 entries in 2020 and reach a new milestone of 500 or more.
The PHOAP is an acquisitive competition that showcases work in any media that reflects the spirit and diversity of the Australian Outback.
The prize consists of an acquisitive first prize, a non-acquisitive second prize and a people’s choice award that totals a prize pool of $23,000.
Organisers believe the different art forms add different elements but make the judging process “extremely difficult.”
“In that way, the exhibition is quite unique and showcases artwork from perspectives,” Mr Griffith said.
“We the public get to enjoy that but makes judging difficult because it’s different forms of mediums being judged against each other.”
PHOAP recognises the Hart family’s continued support and contribution to the arts.
“The legacy of Pro Hart is in the psyche of the Broken Hill creative industry,” Mr Griffith said.
“The support from the Hart family is an incredible act of generosity towards the Art Prize.”
Entries will close on Thursday, August 11, ahead of the finalist notification on Friday, September 2.
The exhibition will run from Friday, September 30 to Sunday, November 20.
Mr Griffith expects the exhibition to draw large numbers of people from near and far when open to the public.
“From an arts tourism point of view, it attracts people from all over to come and have a look,” he said.
“It’s great for locals to come and see what is going to be included in the collection. We do have high visitation in that period and people do enjoy voting.”
For more information or to access the entry form, visit www.bhartgallery.com.au/Whats-On/Pro-Hart-Outback-Art-Prize.

domain: artistic


text:
Sleep is something that our bodies literally can’t function without. Of course, from time to time, you may find yourself waking up without sleeping a good 7-8 hours. Maybe you were tossing and turning because you had too much on your mind, or maybe you were up until the early morning hours, working on a deadline. However, not getting a good, full night of sleep should definitely be the exception, not the rule.
If you find that not getting enough sleep is the norm for you, you should fully understand what a lack of sleep does to your mind and body, which would make researching a remedy to the issue even more pressing.
If you aren’t feeling 100%, and you think it might be related to not getting enough sleep, you might be feeling some of the side effects which occur when you deprive yourself of sleep. Some of these side effects include: headaches, nausea, pain behind your eyes and heaviness of your eyelids, lack of attention and trouble focusing, under-eye bags and darkness under the eyes (which makes you look much older than you are), muscle pains, irritability, and memory loss.
After one night of a bad night of sleep, whether it is related to the fact that you can’t stop thinking about things, because your partner is snoring or the dog next door is up barking all night, you will probably feel immediate effects the next morning. Grogginess and irritability are usually the first side effects, normally followed by fatigue or a headache. Within a few hours (and a few cups of coffee), you might start to feel better, but you probably won’t feel fully refreshed until you get a nice long night of sleep that night. If you continue on a track of insomnia, with night after night of lack of sleep, you are putting yourself in danger, as this can lead to hallucinations, mania, impaired judgment, and even disease.
Sleep is extremely important in cellular renewal – it helps to replace muscle tissue and dead cells. Your body is able to rest, rejuvenate, and repair itself, and the mind is able to process information and memories. Thus sleep is quite important to our well-being.
Although visiting a doctor is not a bad idea for someone with insomnia, there are a few tips you can try to see if they work before resorting to doctors and prescription medicines:
- Try falling asleep to soft music or sounds. There are special CD’s or even television stations that play rhythmic sounds, sounds of nature, or relaxation music.
- Drink warm milk before bed – this is an old trick. Calcium helps calm nerves and relaxes the body.
- Drink herbal tea – chamomile or anise tea (caffeine free!) are known to help induce sleep.
- Even if you have had some sleepless nights and would love a cup of coffee in the morning or during the day, avoid caffeine, in hopes that you will be able to fall right asleep that night, and begin to catch-up on your hours of sleep.
- Take a warm bath before bed – this will help your body relax. Trying adding soothing aromatherapy scents including chamomile and lavender.
Pevonia Botanica’s Mystique Escape Bath Salts are the perfect de-stressing solution to help your body get completely relaxes and ready for bed. These aromatherapy bath salts use essential oils and anti-stress properties including Lavender, Ylang-Ylang, and Tangerine Essential Oil to give your body soothing benefits and a pleasurable experience.
For the best results, combine several of these tips before bed to get your body and mind in the proper mode for sleep.

domain: psychology


Italy's president has called in former central banker Mario Draghi to help resolve the virus-ravaged country's political crisis.
The move came after talks aimed at forming a new government collapsed.
Sergio Mattarella's spokesman said he would meet Mr Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, tomorrow.
He is widely expected to ask him to take over as prime minister.
The coalition government has been in turmoil since a key partner withdrew last month, depriving ex-prime minister Giuseppe Conte of his majority in parliament.
After trying to stay on, Mr Conte last week was forced to resign, but still hoped to return at the head of a revamped government.
Mr Mattarella had given the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party (DP) until today to patch things up with former premier Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva party, which sparked the turmoil by withdrawing.
But talks failed, and the president announced that he would help form a "high-profile government that should not identify itself with any political formula".
Mr Renzi had for months criticised Mr Conte's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has left more than 89,000 people dead and plunged the economy into a deep recession.


The foUrth industrial revolution issues committing challenges to foundries and solution providers. the market more and more often asks for almost customized high-quality products. to grant them, the preliminary condition is an effectiVe integration of heterogeneous and efficient technologies.
Claudio Morbi, founder of Brescia brand Stain, which for over twenty-five years has developed and supplied Mes (Manufacturing execution system) software solutions, has recently taken over the headlines also in virtue of an original interview. The theme of that context was the so-called pizza Margherita paradox. In the third millennium, not only that Italian delight that has conquered the world can be ordered in Internet and delivered on the house door in the wished times. Its quality can also be commented, with a slice still in our hands, with a potentially endless number of other tasters, we daresay live. A similar rapidity – here the paradox – seems to concern industrial processes to a much lower extent and more sporadically, and specifically those of foundry and metallurgy, historical partners of Stain. In this ambit – this is the opinion of Morbi –data are collected with excessive slowness and processed superficially or incorrectly, thus generating hidden costs that finally cause a neat loss of competitiveness. For the good fortune of the made in Italy, and naturally of the software house itself, the outcry stirred by the Industry 4.0 issue and – why not? – also by the shower of incentives and facilitations assured by Calenda Plan has contributed in partially changing this scenario. Manufacturing companies’ awareness of innovation is rising and results are consolidated, too.
Certainly, especially when we refer to a foundry industry that, mainly in induced activities, is extremely variegated and pulverized, generalizing is impossible. However, it is undoubted that something is changing. «What I would like to say – started explaining Claudio Morbi – is that the attention level is notably rising: entrepreneurs and managers are finally understanding the digitalization advantages fully. It is hard to say whether are more numerous those that are proceeding to the upgrading, in the light of a precise strategy, seizing the opportunity of creating higher efficiency, or the others. That is to say, those that at present just take advantage of hyper -amortizations». Nevertheless, one of these two different typologies of entrepreneurial reality is probably facing a rosier future, also because – or mainly because – its will of changing to progress is fruit of a targeted strategy, which is the essential preliminary condition. «Those pursuing a real and long-lasting improvement – added Morbi – choose, buy and implement applicative instruments that guide them in the direction of a real digitalization of workflows and that can support them to reach the most important absolute target, i.e. an optimized information management. Because – and this is a direct corollary of the pizza paradox- the availability of enormous amounts of data is not all. On the contrary. The datum, if it remains an end in itself, is scarcely useful. It must be correctly interpreted and be the base, the certain measure for a constant organizational improvement».
« Those pursuing a real and long-lasting improvement – added Morbi – choose, buy and implement applicative instruments that guide them in the direction of a real digitalization of workflows and that can support them to reach the most important absolute target, i.e. an optimized information management. Because the availability of enormous amounts of data is not all. On the contrary. The datum, if it remains an end in itself, is scarcely useful. It must be correctly interpreted and be the base, the certain measure for a constant organizational improvement». [/su_quote]
Target: zero repetitiveness
Certainly, neither software producers nor market trends are asking foundries to cross Rubicon and to provide for such a metamorphosis. They are customers themselves, especially when they are big international Groups, whose requirements of undisputed quality are becoming increasingly pressing and strict in time. That is not all. «Industry and markets are assuming a new image that was unknown until some years ago – pointed out Morbi – and they privilege refined and customized machining, instead of repetitive and volume manufacturing. This is the core of 4.0 competitiveness. Big batches consisting of millions of pieces, needing relatively easy manufacturing, are no longer the central issue and also services should be customized under certain respects, together with products. Consequently, to maintain margins and competitiveness, processes must be controlled and monitored according to some determinate parameters». It seems that Italian metallurgy is accepting the challenge and duly answering to the call. «They are not unprepared to deal with the game », it is the impression of Stain founder, «and not fortuitously is rising the adoption of technological solutions explicitly oriented to the management of certain data, in real time, to schedule and to optimize machining times and processes». In the long debate on the fourth industrial revolution, some ambiguities have not missed and sometimes the decisive role of software and of intelligences, central in the course towards the finishing line of the process digitalization, has not been sufficiently clarified. Neither all false myths have been discredited. Stain, for its part, intends to assure that customers companies and the so-called prospects can concretely assess criticalities and benefits from such shift.
Training on the field
To do that, simultaneously with important exhibition events, it organized (and the idea is to go on doing that) demo units of integrated foundry processes including the phases that go from the entry of materials until the final metrological inspective test of each piece. The choice of making prospects meet the most fidelized users derives from the belief that only the concrete already implemented experiences of Industry 4.0 can constitute an example to give birth to further as concrete experimentations. To obtain a waste reduction in companies and to improve results, hand in hand with the excellence of manufactured goods, companies’ confidence in innovation is the typical “conditio sine qua non”. Concerning instead false myths, we have often heard debates about the possibility of gaining access to an effective machine data collection for predictive maintenance through sensors, also duly upgrading and equipping old-generation plants. Morbi has partly disagreed: «The predictive maintenance – he specified – optimally matches machines devised to be predictive. On the contrary, the sensors installed on obsolete machines risk of causing damages instead of bringing the hoped benefits. A 15 years old press can certainly be improved but the precision of result longed for by users cannot be taken for granted. Well, some technologies are integrated in native manner but the problem often resides in a superficial management of the ordinary maintenance». In other words, in aspiring to be 4.0 when one has neither succeeded in being fully 3.0; because innovation «is an investment like another and then it must be essentially profitable. Therefore, it must be made with awareness and according to a real vision».
Consolidating the change
Once ascertained difficulties, Industry 4.0 has involved Italian factories in a «beneficial wave, clearly witnessed by the dialogue with more and more aware companies». Just recently, in the opinion of Morbi, software developers were the only ones discussing digitalization and the possible optimization of processes, whereas now we face «a more diffused and shared culture». However, this does not exclude there is still much to do. «In my opinion, the long wave is likely to go on along this year and probably in 2019, too – said Morbi – because a certain turmoil is still perceivable. Certainly, we have undertaken a course we cannot travel back and that requires, first of all, a consolidation of the steps forward taken until now». In this scenario, the focus of Stain has already been traced. «Focusing on Manufacturing execution systems is fundamental –ended Claudio Morbi – because Industry 4.0 requires specificity, to a greater extent from relatively small companies strongly rooted into the territory, like ours. Specialization, focus and verticalization are essential elements. Besides, the system integration must be driven rationally, faced by customers without fears. We explain it with the example of a good mechanic technician’s toolbox, which cannot contain only a wrench or a screwdriver but must be provided with a multiplicity of useful tools. Companies as well need different tools because problems are always different. If we can rely on partners’ and customers’ willingness, the connection, the interconnection of heterogeneous platforms, which is one of the big problems of the made in Italy, is absolutely feasible without shocks and with absolutely certain outcomes. Not fortuitously, we manage to integrate managerial systems of whatever manufacturer with excellent results».
Numbers do not lie
Mathematics is not an opinion, even more when the issue is calculating the success outcomes of the installation, according to 4.0 requirements, of the Mes platform by Stain at the headquarters of a valuable customer like Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta. Due to the implementation, Beretta has achieved the 15% productivity rise of its lines in terms of units-hours; the 70% decrease of the man-hours employed for data processing and management activities; the 50% drop of errors in inventory activities. Stocks have diminished by 19% and man-hours dedicated to inventories have decreased by 63%. A further witness of the validity of Stain solutions was provided by Galba, and collected in the e-book that Stain drew up on the occasion of its 25th anniversary in 2015. To the question regarding the influence exerted by Stain on the positive evolution of the company, protagonist in the sector of machining processes with high technological content for a variety of sectors, the owner Enrico Baiguera answered that the influence had been strong and perceivable. Adding, as confirmation of what said by Claudio Morbi in this article: «We have taken a big quality leap both in the technology used and in the organization. Moreover, we have hugely invested in automation, in control machines and robotics. (…) We have made big investments in the technological part, implementing the robotic work that integrates the manufacturing cycle: from the raw piece collection, in some cases directly from the caisson, without the operator has necessarily to touch the pieces to proceed afterwards to the machining. The target was reducing costs and maximising the company’s activity: precisely avoiding the impact of the “human cost” on the product as much as possible».


text:
Forex is the largest investment market in the world, however, there is great ignorance on the part of investors on how to take advantage of this extraordinary market. Many people ask me if is it difficult to seize the opportunities this market offers for the small forex investors, those investors that do not have large sums of money but are determined to learn how to
Forex is a great investment alternative, but unfortunately it is not an adequate market for everyone. The reader must understand that these markets have high leverage (the use of small amounts of money to try to get greater amounts of money). Leverage is a double-edged sword, it can work for or against you (if market conditions are not favorable).
Forex Morning Trade is a great start for those who really want to succeed in this markets. Imagine working only 10 minutes to set your trades. It is 100% mechanical system with clear rules; it places one trade a day in the morning. It doesn't require you to watch your position, the trade hits the profit or loss automatically.
Just imagine yourself in the morning looking at the charting platform and decide to open a trade, (your trading decisions are based on the rules of Forex Morning Trade System). Then, if the conditions are met, you place your trade and that's it.. You don't need to sit in front of the screen, monitoring your positions. The trade will operate automatically, either hit profit target or the stop loss.
In future posts I will mention other aspects that allow you to make better investment decisions with greater likelihood of success. In the meantime, click on the image and get more information about Forex Morning Trade.

domain: finance


text:
I’ve been afraid of failure my entire life. How can a six-year-old diabetic cope with glucose monitoring, food restrictions, and insulin injections? Glamorize a life of regularity. How can a sixteen-year-old diabetic avoid experimenting with drugs and alcohol? Worship self-discipline. In a desperate effort to insulate myself from the growing need to take risks, I idealized living in a predictable and safe bubble.
Except, in my early twenties, I befriended a man who traveled from the Pacific Ocean to Philadelphia, who believed perseverance is the surest measure of strength. At first, I shamed him for hurling himself into risky situations, but then the angry child living under severe discipline screamed to break free. I destroyed everything familiar, especially the parts about myself most celebrated and rewarded, and began my gutsy journey to freedom.
This is my 3,000 mile pilgrimage from the Pacific Ocean to Philadelphia. It’s about watching fields of sagebrush, massive cloud shadows, and snowy mountain ranges during 15-hour drives. It’s about camping in an empty apartment on a pillow of clothes. It’s about accepting death while swerving across the freeway in a violent hailstorm. It’s about finally reaching Philadelphia to honor the man who inspired me to expand my limits.
Mia and I turn the car toward the Atlantic and drive six hours into the sunrise. I drink coffee and beer on the eastern edge of Oregon with her closest friends, people I met on a whim only a year before. I was attempting mini adventures to fight my fear of failure, so I spontaneously explored my city with a group of strangers. Mia was among them, a young academic whose heart belonged to the land and its wildlife.
Bravery brought me to Mia and her friends, and now we’re here.
I have to be here.
When I was six, I was diagnosed with diabetes and fell victim to strict routine. My mother wouldn’t look at me from across my hospital bed. My father anxiously paced or wasn’t there. He was a child of poverty and became money-mad in order to avoid becoming an adult of poverty. My day-old diagnosis stole five-thousand dollars from his savings. My mom cried whenever she injected me with a syringe, so I paid attention to how she measured the insulin. I watched her stick the needle into my arm or leg.
When I asked if I could give it a try, she said, “Thank you.”
Somehow, it mattered more that she was less scared than I was.
For twelve years, I stepped along a predetermined path. I couldn’t lose control of my routine because failure meant seizure, hospital, or nerve and organ damage, so I glamorized a life of regularity. It insulated me from the curiosity of anything different.
Back on the road, Mia and I drive six more hours to Salt Lake City and stay with a guy with Nick Offerman’s voice. He takes us out to sushi, and we visit The Salt Lake Temple. While headed to the foot of Olympus Peak, we misplace Mia’s car keys at nightfall. We’re 900 miles away from one coast and 2,000 away from the other, stranded.
Instead, she and Offerman drive back to Olympus Peak in his truck, but I stay behind to close my eyes for an hour. After I wake, she and Offerman are back without any luck. The first locksmith Offerman calls is a scammer who heckles us in a language we don’t know. Although we’re exhausted and worried, we insist on refusing his scheme. Eventually, we find the keys on my suggestion (Offerman’s truck, wedged in the middle seat where Mia sat). It’s a bittersweet victory, of course.
We haven’t slept in 24 hours, save for my hour-nap, and we pour an Oregon brewed beer to celebrate before we rest.
When I was fifteen, an atheist convinced me to stop believing in fate and actively engage in shaping my own life. I gave up a predetermined path, but as an idealist and in charge of my own fate, I believed myself responsible for embodying my best possible pathway: you shouldn’t squander anything; you shouldn’t act negligently. I put incredible pressure on myself to never falter from my “good path.” Shaping my own path proved to be just as idealistic as following a predetermined one — the same mindset with a new face.
Then, in my early twenties, committed to a five-year relationship pointed at marriage and children, I befriended a man unafraid; a man named Logan, who said he was free. He talked about sleepwalking through life until he left on a train for New York City at eighteen. For him, strategizing against new odds was the best process for growing stronger, but there was something about his pull to perseverance that nagged at me. I chalked him up as a masochist who was convinced that the mere act of suffering would lead to self-enlightenment. But before Logan left on his second cross-country adventure, this time from Oregon to Philadelphia, he listened to my personal dig on his lifestyle and told me: “I discourage letting fear rule me with every bit of who I am.”
And when he left, something inside of me snapped.
He knew. He saw me.
Logan’s fire for adventure called me to devour anything and everything that might break my idealism. Deep down, I began to realize those parts were fake. I needed to cheat on my long-term boyfriend to explore my sexuality elsewhere; I needed to smoke cigarettes and binge-drink alcohol to experience what I thought all my past high school friends experienced. And I did; on a path of no resistance, I went for it all: everything I’d always wanted to try but couldn’t.
I thought having the intent to self-destruct would offer hope and direction under my perfect mask, but I was very wrong. The bare me was a loud, desperate child turned bitter, nasty, and brutal. I waited for perseverance to become my surest measure of strength, like Logan said would happen from enduring a difficult challenge, but any strength felt futile next to my pain. I completely gave up on climbing out of the shrapnel.
A year after self-destruction and a year before traveling the nation, I walked into a preschool as a temporary teacher’s assistant with a hatred of myself too strong to do more than blindly follow the lead teacher. All of us were strangers in this classroom, so these little people and I needed only to feel that they would survive and so would I. With that as our collective goal, we consistently created an environment we came to understand and trust. With that trust, we grew to care for each other and whichever difficulties we faced that day. And, one day, when my kids discovered something new, I celebrated alongside them; when I broke down crying, they loved me in their silence.
Our personalities were all over the place, mine included, so I stopped missing who I was; I stopped imagining who I might become.
They showed me how to find peace in being here. I still didn’t like the desperate child underneath the perfect mask, but I no longer avoided her. I accepted her, got to know her, and worked alongside her. It was the first time I entered a situation without expectations. It was the first time I accidentally did something new.
Back on the road, Mia and I drive across the border of Wyoming into a hailstorm. It takes a few seconds to realize the car is swerving across the freeway. And when we spin, I do nothing but let Mia take the wheel. I lean back in my seat and keep quiet, focusing only on the flashing storm and giant semi-trucks and Mia downshifting, carefully correcting our spin, reacting on instinct. Only after we straighten out and drive off the freeway do I realize we narrowly escaped death. We sit in silence, looking through a windshield of blinding hail. Mia eventually thanks me, but I don’t know why. It isn’t until we slowly drive to the next town that I realize my embarrassment from being completely at Mia’s mercy, powerless in my submission. I’d never truly given up control, I tell her, until I worked with my kids, until this dangerous situation. I’m embarrassed; I feel useless and uncomfortable. Mia tells me that I never submitted to her. Submission is choice taken away, she says. Rather, we quickly found our roles during a difficult challenge, she took control and I yielded, because I paid attention and reacted to the matter at hand. You could have told me what to do, she says, which would have only distracted me. Instead, she says, you leaned back so I could see our surroundings, and you kept quiet so I could focus. And, she says, you didn’t freak out once we parked off the freeway. Instead, she says, you waited patiently for me to embrace you.
Thank you, she tells me again.
I can’t explain what if feels like to almost be severely hurt or killed. I can only say that in a space void of expectations or desires, I’m the most free.
We slowly drive to the next town, eat Mexican food and drink beer, split the cost of a hotel room, and take long hot showers. After a safe sleep, I quietly watch fields of sagebrush, massive cloud shadows, snowy mountain ranges, and rainstorms. Mia asks me to pump gas while she grabs coffee. I’ve never done that before, so I try. I wash the windshield too. We find a “road family” that travels across states with us. It’s a long drive.
880 miles later, we walk into a flat in Des Moines I only expected to see in a movie. And in a modish city flat, you play hard. We’re here to visit Mia’s extended family, so we drink Kamikazes with kamikaze helmets, sip cocktails out of copper cups, and I have the unexpected privilege of getting my hands on “das boot” at a German pub. Drunk and excited, I film myself naked in their luxury shower and repeatedly jump onto their enormous bed of pillows. We go out for brunch, visit the capitol building, play cards, and look through Mia’s family photos. Spending time with her family is my greatest joy on the road. In a world of uncertainties, their kindness and hospitality reminds me of home.
Back on the road, we drive 17 hours to Pennsylvania. I get Mia lost twice, first of all, and when we finally reach her new town, we don’t know which house is hers. At 2 AM, we peep in on backyards and try opening doors. I keep a timid step back from Mia when she assures me we found her new home, another betrayal of mine that haunts me. The house looks like an old, haunted children’s boarding school. I’m really scared. But then I build a pillow out of my clothes and sleep in a sleeping bag on Mia’s new living room floor.
In the daylight, there is an old beauty to this place. We don’t have heat, so I leave a bucket of water in the sun and take a sponge bath. Being here makes me feel like Logan. This is the kind of place he would be — these are the kind of things he would do — on an adventure. But in the quiet moments of being adrift, I miss my community of the educated and artistic. I miss my bedroom with my art, music, and heartfelt gifts. I miss my children and the peace we discovered.
And I’m scared to visit the great landmarks of the man who inspired me to be brave, the man I’m here to honor. Logan’s fire first brought him to New York City, the hub of superheroes and alter egos. I imagine standing at the crossroads of the world and imagine the young hero he sought to be. I fell in love with that hero when he came home, when he told me of his aversion to fear, when he moved out east again to Philadelphia, driven by that same fire to go, when he returned unsuccessful and took a tumble with my self-destruction.
When Mia and I reach Philadelphia after another 8 hour drive, I think about the idealist who destroyed herself, the desperate little girl underneath a perfect mask who accepted her pain, bore it, carried it, who agreed to travel the nation, who acknowledged potentially swapping secrets with strangers at a travel stop, hitchhiking, car accidents, living off roadside coffee and finger food in bulk. I accepted we were two young women traveling 3,000 miles alone. I acknowledged rape or death. I felt a soul tug, and against my fear, I had to somehow muster the courage to go. I chose to go. So I sip from a Saxbys coffee with the Atlantic on my side and think of the happy times Logan found inside this café. It offered him sanctuary through a difficult time, like the thoughts my community, bedroom, and kids offer me while on the road.
Instead of telling Logan any of these things, I barely navigate Mia to the airport with faulty GPS. Just a few miles away from the end, I see only two highways, both leading away from the airport. I finally choose to go west, and I actually cry in relief when our dot pulses southward toward the airport. But we get there too early to pass security, leaving me stranded at check-in without food or even a chair for seven hours. This is a sure test of endurance, I tell myself.
I buckle under the exhaustion, hunger, and fear of running into a diabetic problem without easy access to emergency supplies.
Mia stills my crying and helps me book a hotel room. It still feels imagined to have gone a week on the road and end my journey in the lap of luxury, eating an expensive boxed sandwich, cutting my knuckle while opening a beer bottle with a house key, watching the sun set over Philadelphia before rising to catch my plane home.
I make it home.
In the beginning, Logan’s devotion to perseverance destroyed the perfectionist in me, but I still didn’t feel free. I think about those who put themselves through physical exertion to reach the peaks of mountains, those who get piercings and tattoos for beauty or message, or those who endure exhaustion and anxiety for a college degree. I think about my friend hurling himself into risky situations for freedom. I think about destroying everything I knew for courage. In the end, I think we often achieve what we set out to do.
Adventure began as a reflection of someone else’s soul tug, but I’m eager to break into what is untamed by my expectations.
There is sincerity in being here.

domain: literature


text:
Scotty McCreery is giving fans a chance to play a role in his next video. The singer has teamed with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store for a new video contest for his new single “Five More Minutes.”
Fans are being encouraged to share a one-to-three minute video clip of people in their lives they want to spend more than five minutes with, and some of them may wind up in the video, which will premiere on Cracker Barrel’s YouTube channel March 15th. Video submissions are being accepted on the store’s website from now until March 5th.
What’s more, Cracker Barrel will sell Scotty’s new album “Seasons Change” beginning March 16th, with $1 from every sale going to Operation Homefront, which builds homes for military families.
Source: Scotty McCreery
The Grand Ole Opry has announced their star-studded lineup hitting the stage as they kick off CMA Music Fest Week with back-to-back shows on June 6. The two evening shows will include acts such as Carrie Underwood, Dustin Lynch, Del McCoury and Bill Anderson, with the kick-off celebration also featuring a free Opry Plaza performance by Parmalee earlier in the afternoon.
· CMA Music Fest Week will also include previously announced performances by Blake Shelton, Steve Wariner, Trace Adkins, Charley Pride, Roy Clark, Oak Ridge Boys, Scotty McCreery, Brandy Clark and Sara Evans.
On this day in 2011, Scotty McCreery won FOX’s “American Idol. He would go on to sing “Live Like You Were Dying” on the episode with Tim McGraw. Runner-up Lauren Alaina dueted with Carrie Underwood on “Before He Cheats”.
On this day in 2011, Scotty McCreery’s Clear as Day was #1 on the charts. Clear as Day was the debut studio album for the American Idol winner, and was the first debut album from an American Idol winner to reach number one.
The album was Certified Platinum by the RIAA with McCreery being the first country act to debut at number one with their first studio album.
The 21-year-old man accused of robbing Scotty McCreery and his friends at gunpoint in 2014 has pleaded guilty to the charges. On Monday (6/27), Mikkail Jamal Shaw entered a guilty plea, but refused to reveal who his co-conspirators in the crime were. Shaw will be sentenced today (6/28) for multiple counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping. According to Raleigh’s News & Observer, Scotty was not at the plea hearing on Monday, but his mother, Judy McCreery, was.
· McCreery described the incident in his recently released book, Go Big or Go Home: The Journey Toward the Dream, saying one of the robbers held a pistol to his head.
On this day in 2014, Darius Rucker, Cassadee Pope, Frankie Ballard, Randy Houser, and Scotty McCreery helped raise $90,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Center in the St. Jude Jam at Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio.
Scotty McCreery and his record label Mercury Nashville have parted ways. McCreery released a statement saying, “I enjoyed being on Mercury Nashville/Interscope and I appreciate all the great people who worked hard on my behalf while I was there. I am excited about what the future holds and the opportunities being presented to me.”
Scotty McCreery will be releasing his debut book Go Big Or Go Home: The Journey Toward The Dream on May 3rd, 2016. The book will be availabe for pre-orders beginning November 15th, with more details to be announced soon.
This month in honor of Scotty McCrerry, his fan club has created a special team to participate in the St. Jude Walk/Run to end childhood cancer in Nashville on September 26 at Edwin Warner Park. The team has been dubbed “The Southern Belles” after Scotty’s new single, “Southern Belle.”

domain: celebrity


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The new album from multi-platinum recording artist DMX, has been re-scheduled for release on September 11, 2012, at the request of a leading North American retailer, through Seven Arts’ distributor Fontana Distribution. DMX‘s single, “I Don’t Dance,” is doing great at radio. The Company expects rotations will expand to over 1,000 spins through the next six weeks. “I Don’t Dance” is in medium rotation at MTV JAMS (more than 50+ plays per week) and debuted at No. 6 on BET’s “New Joint” chart. The single “I Don’t Dance” is available on iTunes, T-Mobile, Music Choice and many other digital services.
DMX will headline Music Fest on August 23, 2012 for J&R Music, a major Eastern retailer. DMX will be featured on the back cover of Smash Magazine, a national college publication, in September. Finally, Target, another leading retailer, has offered Seven Arts participation in its major “Black Friday” nationally advertised price and positioning program throughout the USA. The Company is optimistic for the prospects of “Undisputed,” which the Company believes will return DMX to his well-earned place among the legends of urban music.
Seven Arts Music CEO David Michery stated: “Fontana and we are pleased with the retailer reactions to ‘Undisputed,’ and believe sales will equal or exceed our expectations. DMX’s single, ‘I Don’t Dance,’ is now in rotation at radio stations throughout the United States, and the video of ‘I Don’t Dance’ is performing at or above expectations on MTV JAMS, MTV Mixtape, and MTV2. ‘Undisputed’ also debuted on BET’s New Joint and will be going into regular rotation in the upcoming week. ‘Undisputed’ was added to Music Choice On Demand both for video and audio. Music choice covers, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and Verizon. The Big Dog is back!”
UB First Look: Official Tracklisting:
Intro – Look Without Seein’
I Don’t Dance (feat. Machine Gun Kelly)
Keep Your Head Up
I Got Your Back
I Get Scared
Have You Eva
Sucka For You
Get Ur Money Up
What They Don’t Know
Y’all Don’t Really Know
Fuck You Bitch


text:
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Are you looking for a reliable drop spreader to get your garden ready for the season? Look no further than these top 6 picks of 2023.
Whether you need to fertilize a lawn, weed out pesky plants from your garden bed, or prepare multiple acres of property, each one of these spreaders is built with quality in mind and designed to make sure that every inch gets covered evenly with whatever fertilizer or seed blend you choose.
From Scotts Turf Builder Classic Drop Spreader all the way up to Lesco’s Drop Spreader – we’ll take an in-depth look at what makes each option stand out so that when it comes time for selecting yours, there won’t be any guesswork involved!
Table Of Contents
- Key Takeaways
- 6 Best Drop Spreaders
- What to Look for in a Drop Spreader
- Liquid Vs. Granular Fertilizers – Which is Better for Lawns?
- What to Consider When Choosing the Best Fertilizer Spreader
- How We Selected the Best Fertilizer Spreaders
- Why You Can Trust Us
- What is a Drop Spreader?
- Top 6 Drop Spreaders of 2023
- Factors to Consider When Choosing a Drop Spreader
- Liquid vs. Granular Fertilizers Comparison
- Health Considerations When Fertilizing
6 Best Drop Spreaders
The Scotts Turf Builder Classic, Spyker P70, Earthway Semi-Pneumatic, Hortem Garden, Agri-Fab Tow Spiker Seeder, and Lesco drop spreaders are the top options to perfectly distribute fertilizers, seeds, and treatments across your lawn with precision.
Ranging from affordable models for small yards to heavy-duty spreaders for large properties and commercial use, you’re sure to find a high-quality drop spreader to meet your lawn care needs from this list.
1. Scotts Turf Builder Classic Drop Spreader
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With its lightweight yet sturdy frame, you’ll find this spreader’s 22-inch spread pattern gives your lawn even coverage for under $50. The Scotts Turf Builder Classic Drop Spreader offers a calibrated, metal frame design that provides stability and a smooth, even spread.
The hopper can distribute enough product to cover a 10,000 square foot lawn, so it works for medium to large yards. Despite weighing only 12 pounds, this model feels sturdy while circulating fertilizer or grass seed across the ground.
With easy assembly right out of the box, the Turf Builder spreader enables homeowners to address lawn issues quickly.
- Affordable pricing under $50
- Lightweight but durable metal design
- Wide 22 distribution width
- Calibrated settings for customization
- Smaller hopper capacity
- Can clog with clumpy fertilizer
- Needs added weight for very uneven terrain
2. Spyker P70 Commercial Drop Spreader
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Buddy, until the cows come home, the Spyker P70’s rugged construction withstands commercial use across all seasons. Its sturdy powder-coated steel frame and dual 120 lb hopper capacity make this drop spreader a workhorse ready for heavy spreading tasks.
The generously-sized 36 spread width allows you to efficiently cover more ground in less time. Whether you need to spread ice melt, sand, seed, fertilizer, or top dressing, this spreader can handle the job.
The 13 x 5 pneumatic wheels ensure a smooth ride over various surfaces while the split hopper lets you layer two materials at once.
While this rugged machine veers towards the pricier side, it provides reliable performance year-round for landscapers and groundskeepers managing anything from stadium turf to municipal parks. Some minor rusting around the handle requires keeping an eye out, but the P70 will keep you spreading strong when other consumer-grade models poop out.
- Dual hopper for two materials
- Sturdy powder-coated steel construction
- 36 spread width for efficiency
- 13 x 5 pneumatic wheels for all-terrain use
- Higher price point
- Minor rusting around handle
- Large for small suburban lawns
3. Earthway Semi-Pneumatic Spreader 12 Inch
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You’ll get even coverage across medium yards with this lightweight Earthway drop spreader. The 12-inch broadcast spreader is ideal for distributing grass seed, fertilizer, and ice melt with minimal effort.
This spreader features a loop handle and pneumatic tires for smooth transport across lawns up to 6,000 square feet.
- Lightweight and easy to maneuver
- Pneumatic tires for smooth rolling
- Loop handle for easy transport
- Compact size for convenient storage
- Limited capacity
- Not ideal for large lawns
- Only performs basic spreading functions
4. Hortem Garden Lawn Fertilizer Seed Spreader Set
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Next up, the Hortem spreader set’s adjustable dial lets you control the spread rate. This convenient feature gives you full command over product distribution. Simply turn the dial to one of ten settings to achieve your desired coverage area and amount dispersed.
Whether you need a light dusting or a heavier application, the adjustable spreader accommodates.
The included seed dispenser offers similar customization with its buckle pipe for height adjustment. Spreading lawn products is made easier with these changeable settings to match the needs of your grass and garden beds.
- Large 12L capacity tray allows you to cover more ground efficiently
- Adjustable dial provides customizable spread control
- Drop spreader prevents fertilizer from landing on flower beds
- Seed dispenser filters load on shaft for smooth operation
- Sturdy and smooth running
- Instructions for assembly are not very clear
- Quality issues reported – product may fall apart with use
- Small for larger lawns, better suited to average suburban yards
5. Agri Fab Tow Spiker Seeder Spreader
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For large yards, the Agri Fab Tow Spiker Seeder Spreader lets you aerate soil and spread in one pass. It has a 36-inch working width, an 8-gallon polypropylene hopper, and 8 galvanized steel spiking disks.
This tow-behind unit can penetrate, aerate, and distribute seed and fertilizer across up to 40,000 square feet per fill.
The steel lift handle provides height adjustment, while the 10 pneumatic tires ensure smooth transport across the lawn. This dual-purpose spreader is suitable for spring seeding and summer fertilizing, combining aeration and feeding to save time and labor.
Although assembly can be tricky, with proper maintenance, it gives long-lasting performance.
- Combines aerating and spreading functions
- Large working width and hopper capacity
- Adjustable handle and smooth-rolling tires
- Durable materials and construction
- Assembly can be tricky
- Cumbersome for smaller lawns
- Cannot separate spreader and aerator
6. Lesco Drop Spreader
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If price and storage aren’t concerns for spreading fertilizer on your large spread, the Lesco Drop Spreader’s heavy-duty build’ll provide lasting performance. Its 60-pound weight and non-discontinued status indicate a sturdy construction capable of handling repeated residential use.
While assembly’s required, don’t expect clear directions, so patience and mechanical skills’ll help.
It’s meant for sizable yards, not small suburban plots, given its bulky profile. With proper upkeep, this spreader can serve faithfully for seasons to come. But lacking TLC may lead to quicker deterioration, so staying on top of maintenance is key.
- Heavy-duty and durable
- Good for large lawns
- Long-lasting with proper maintenance
- Requires assembly with unclear instructions
- Too bulky for small suburban yards
- Requires maintenance to avoid deterioration
What to Look for in a Drop Spreader
You’ll find that key factors like durability, capacity, ease of use, and versatility should guide your selection when shopping for a quality drop spreader.
- Look for a durable metal frame that can withstand frequent use and rough terrain.
- Consider the hopper capacity based on your lawn size. Larger yards need a spreader that holds more product.
- Seek out easy calibration features and settings that allow you to customize the spread width and rate.
- Opt for a model with pneumatic tires and a handle design that makes maneuvering smooth and comfortable.
When reviewing options, check customer feedback on assembly, performance consistency, and overall longevity. The right drop spreader suits your lawn care needs while delivering value through reliable service.
Sturdy construction and useful features ensure spreading accuracy for optimal grass health.
Liquid Vs. Granular Fertilizers – Which is Better for Lawns?
When comparing liquid vs. granular fertilizers for your lawn, you’ll find that liquid is absorbed faster while granular provides longer-lasting nutrition.
|Liquid Fertilizer||Granular Fertilizer|
|Application||Sprayed evenly||Spread with a spreader|
|Leaching||Higher potential||Lower potential|
|Duration||Short term||Long term|
Liquid fertilizers offer rapid greening and growth but require more frequent applications. Granular fertilizers provide a slow, steady release of nutrients over a longer period. Consider your lawn’s needs and maintenance preferences when deciding between liquid or granular.
Proper application of either can nourish grass and maintain a healthy, vibrant lawn.
What to Consider When Choosing the Best Fertilizer Spreader
When choosing the best fertilizer spreader for your lawn, consider both the spreader’s capacity and coverage area to ensure you can efficiently treat the entire lawn in one pass. Also, examine the spreader’s distribution width to ensure even coverage, as uneven fertilizer spreading can damage the grass.
Lastly, keep health considerations in mind when using fertilizers, as inappropriate application can lead to runoff into local waterways.
Spreader capacity and coverage.
Choose a model with enough hopper capacity to cover your entire lawn area in 1-2 passes without needing to stop and refill.
Coverage Capacity: Ensure the hopper can hold sufficient fertilizer to treat your lawn without constant refilling.
Spreader Durability: Look for sturdy construction to withstand regular use and outdoor conditions.
Fertilizer Distribution: Check for precision in application rates to promote even growth and lawn health.
Spreader Maintenance: Opt for a model that is easy to clean and maintain for long-lasting performance.
Spreader distribution width.
Consider the spreader’s path, spreading your care evenly across the landscape. The distribution width determines the swath of coverage for each pass. A wider swath reduces passes needed. Compare spreader distribution widths to evaluate capacity and efficiency for your lawn size and shape.
However, a wider spread may compromise application uniformity. Find the ideal width for your lawn.
Here is a comparison of common spreader distribution widths:
|Spreader Type||Typical Distribution Width|
|Tractor mounted||10-20 feet|
Select an appropriate width for efficiency without sacrificing precision. Proper spreader selection and use encourages lawn success.
Health considerations when fertilizing
You’ll reduce health risks when spreading less fertilizer across your lawn and garden. Wear gloves and long sleeves when using fertilizers. Avoid breathing in fertilizer dust by using a mask. Keep children and pets off treated areas until the fertilizer dries. Sweep driveways and sidewalks instead of hosing fertilizer into storm drains.
Limit applications to prevent runoff issues. Rotate products for balanced nutrition. Spot treat weeds rather than broadcasting weed control granules. Always follow label directions for safe and effective lawn care.
How We Selected the Best Fertilizer Spreaders
When selecting a fertilizer spreader for your lawn, it’s important to consider factors like the size of your yard, frequency of fertilizing, and desired precision. Drop spreaders tend to provide more even distribution compared to rotary broadcast models, but require walking at a steady pace.
With proper assembly, calibration, and operation, a quality drop spreader enables efficient fertilizer application without skips or waste.
Factors in choosing spreaders.
When selecting a spreader, choose one with a large hopper capacity and wide distribution width to efficiently cover more area. Pay attention to the quality of the gearbox and agitator, as they affect performance.
Pneumatic tires are ideal for maneuvering across different terrains. Adjustable opening settings allow for customization of application rates. Different feature sets distinguish basic models under $100 from premium commercial-grade spreaders priced over $300, so select one that suits your lawn size and budget.
Look for features that offer efficiency, accuracy, and ease of use to meet your specific needs.
Drop vs. broadcast spreaders.
Drop spreaders give you precise control for small and winding lawns, while broadcast models work better for covering large, open yard areas quickly. Choose drop spreaders to spot-treat problem areas and ensure an even spread of granular fertilizers or pelletized weed control around trees and garden beds.
Match broadcast spreaders to rapidly blanket acres of turf. Evaluate your lawn’s shape, size, and needs when selecting between these two application techniques.
Proper drop spreader use
An even pass across every inch of the lawn ensures you get the most mileage out of each application.
- Double-check spreader assembly and width settings before use.
- Carefully calibrate for your specific product and application rate.
- Walk at a steady, measured pace for uniform coverage.
- Overlap passes slightly to avoid missed strips between.
Proper drop spreader use requires attention to spreader setup, calibration, application technique, and maintenance for optimal results. Performing a few quick checks and adopting a methodical approach helps achieve an even spread.
Why You Can Trust Us
You’re getting unbiased recommendations backed by careful research and testing. Trustworthiness is vital when readers rely on reviews to make purchases. We consider many factors like expert evaluations of performance and durability to guide readers towards the most reliable products.
Our reviews incorporate user feedback and hands-on testing to assess the strengths and shortcomings of various commercial drop spreaders and tow-behind models. By focusing on untainted analysis of each product’s reputation, capabilities, and specs, we provide readers the information they need to feel confident choosing the spreader that will serve their lawn care needs best.
Our goal is for you to trust our decades of combined experience researching and reviewing to point you towards the top performers.
What is a Drop Spreader?
Ya’ll get measured control with a drop spreader. These spreaders directly deposit materials onto the lawn through an opening on the bottom of the hopper.
Unlike broadcast spreaders that scatter product over a wide area, drop spreaders provide precise application and targeted coverage. With a manually operated crank that controls the material flow rate, y’all have full command over the amount dispensed.
Models range from smaller hand-held units for spot treatment to larger models designed for towing behind an ATV or tractor when fertilizing acres of turf.
For homeowners seeking superior accuracy when feeding the lawn, a quality drop spreader brings confidence in the amount applied. To nurture a pristine carpet of green, a drop spreader offers the precision you need.
A drop spreader is a great lawn care tool for ensuring a precise, even application of fertilizer and other lawn products. Whether you’re a professional landscaper or a homeowner looking to maintain a healthy and beautiful lawn, a drop spreader is a must-have.
With its adjustable settings and easy-to-use design, it can help you get the job done quickly and effectively. We’ve rounded up the best drop spreaders of 2023, each offering their own unique features and benefits.
From the lightweight and precalibrated Scotts Turf Builder Classic Drop Spreader to the heavy-duty Spyker P70 Commercial Drop Spreader and the versatile Earthway Semi-Pneumatic Spreader, there’s a drop spreader to suit every need.
For an effortless way to get your lawn looking its best, turn to these top-rated drop spreaders.

domain: agronomy


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Opening of the library corner at the Department of «Microbiology, Virology and Immunology»
About the trip to Baku
CULTIVATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS
STUDENTS OF JSC "SKMA" RECEIVED PRIZES AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE HELD AT ASTANA MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
A great teacher of nation - Akhmet Baitursynuly
DUAL TRAINING OF STUDENTS AT THE BASES "ZERDE-FITO"
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Awards and achievements

domain: library


text:
Is tax amnesty a practical revenue generator or absolution for scofflaws?
The Missouri House recently approved an amnesty period from Aug. 1 through Oct. 31 when delinquent taxpayers may satisfy their debt to the state without penalty.
Amnesty is not without strings. Participants must comply with state tax laws for eight years or incur renewal of penalties and interest that was waived. They also would be ineligible for future amnesty for the same tax.
Bill sponsor, Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage, estimates the amnesty period will provide a one-time, $75 million boost to the state's operating budget. The revenue boost, incidentally, already is anticipated in the budget proposals of the Republican House and Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.
"If you're behind the 8-ball, all we're looking for is payment of the tax," said Flanigan.
Although the bill passed the House on a 153-1 vote, its prospects are dimmer in the Senate.
The amnesty period has been characterized as the "tax-cheat program" by Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles.
"We think they need to pay their taxes on time just like every other taxpayer," Dempsey said.
Amnesty periods are not without precedent in Missouri. One in the 2002 budget year collected $74 million, followed by another in 2003 that generated $42 million.
Similar programs have been debated by lawmakers, but not approved, in subsequent years.
We see the debate largely as one of practical versus principle.
Although collecting money owed to the state is both tempting and practical, we believe amnesty sends the wrong message. It is an injustice to honest taxpayers, and it not only absolves, but encourages, tax cheats.
Where do you, our readers, stand on this issue? You may e-mail comments to firstname.lastname@example.org.


From apple pie à la mode to an Octoberfest of food delight, you don’t want to miss upcoming Monday Munches at the Charlotte Senior Center.
Tales of the religious origins of the pretzel in France, Italy and Germany seem to involve a good deal of culinary myth. But it’s no myth that pretzels were an early item in the American diet, brought to the Colonies by German and Dutch settlers. And pretzels will be on the menu for an Octoberfest-themed lunch at the center.
A 1951 The New York Times article celebrating the 90th anniversary of the pretzel called it “small, intellectual, sophisticated.”
The first commercial pretzel bakery was built in Philadelphia in 1861. There, pretzels are so popular, with street vendors offering them with mustard, that the city acquired the nickname the “Big Pretzel.” Some 80 percent of the nation’s pretzel supply is made in Philadelphia, and people there are reputed to eat 12 times as many pretzels as people anywhere else.
Here’s a bit of pretzel renown: In 1996, pretzels from Philadelphia Soft Pretzels, Inc., were on the Columbia space shuttle.
In 2018, a team of student researchers in the U.S. sent broccoli seeds to the International Space Station to test whether microbes can help the vegetable grow better in the challenging conditions in space.
We don’t know about sauerkraut in space, but here’s the Sauerkraut Polka (in German).
Monday Sept. 26, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., or until the food is gone
Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad and apple pie à la mode.
Thursday, Sept. 29
Grab & Go Meal, Pickup: 10-11 a.m.
Roast pork with gravy, boiled potatoes with butternut squash, wheat bread with butter, apple cake with icing and milk. Registration required by the prior Monday: 802-425-6345. Thursday meals are provided by Age Well at no cost but they appreciate donations.
Monday, Oct. 3, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., or until the food is gone
Octoberfest: Bratwurst with bun, sauerkraut, and mustard, German potato salad, homemade soft pretzels, root beer and German-style dessert
Thursday, Oct. 6
Grab & Go Meal, pick up: 10-11 a.m.
Check the Charlotte Senior Center for the menu on the website. Registration required by the prior Monday.
Please remember that from baking pies to washing dishes to handing out all those Grab & Go meals, a lot of volunteer work goes into providing food at the Charlotte Senior Center. Please share your time and talents with others in a place filled with laughter and good cheer.


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Daniela, Rebecca (owner of this beautiful place) and Marco
Reminds me of Monument Valley but greener here
Sunday 04.12.2016: Petrópolis - Rio de Janeiro Galeão GIG Airport - Salvador - Lençóis (alt 425 m): 65 km 406 ? km - 36ºC hot, rainfall at night
We got up earlier this morning and took off at 8 am to the airport GIG in Rio de Janeiro. In 1h15' we managed to return the car at Localiza. We drove a total of 1482 km with the Jeep.
Our flight to Salvador scheduled for 11h55 left already at 11h45 and we arrived in SSA Salvador at 12H35 (-1 hour). Very hot here! We got a rental car from Localiza, a Ford EcoSport and we drove 5 hours on a brand new road to Lençóis with a stop in Itaberaba at a new petrol station where we had a snack. We arrived at 7 pm -one hour after sunset- at our Hotel de Lençóis and first thing we did was to get into the pool and have a caipirinha. We then ordered some finger food and godó, a typical regional dish with green banana and carne de sol, delicious. (Anfangskilometer Ford: 31.561)
Monday 05.12.2016: Lençóis: 33ºC hot, short rainfall in the evening
Hike to Cachoerinha which was the nicest waterfall today. We bathed and had côco gelado before walking to the next waterfall, Cachoeira da Primavera. Then back to the cachoerinha, then to Poço Halley and to Salão de Areias and finally to Cachoeira do Serrano where the families and young people of the village gather to bathe after school and work. The whole tour took about 3 hours, 280m ascent, 7 km long. Back to our hotel we went directly to the pool, had a caipirinha and talked to the very nice couple Daniela and Marco who recommended us the guide Romilson (+55 75 99 80 81952). He came to our hotel and we scheduled an excursion for tomorrow with him. He went with us into town and showed us where to find all the restaurants (there are so many, almost like the small street in Tavira). We had dinner at Juliana Squipano (R$ 107) after buying a pair of water sandals and shorts for Volker.
Tuesday 06.12.2016: Lençóis - Excursion to Iraquara Cidade das Grutas: 137 km, 33ºC, hot
At 8:30 am we took off to with our guide Romilson (R$ 140 for the whole day, speaks only portuguese , +55 75 99808-1952) Iraquara where there are more than 300 caves. They are all on private land on large fazendas (farms). First we visited the entrance of the Lapa Sol where there are really nice petroglyphs with a guide Raimundo. Entrance fee (R$ 20 pax). Then with a group we entered the Gruta Lapa Doce (R$ 30 pax) which took 1,5 hours. After that we went to Gruta da Pratinha where you can do lots of things like snorkelling, but we just walked down to "Prainha" and had a swim with small fishes who bite you softly. On our way back we climbed the Morro do Pai Inácio (R$ 6 pax) and had fantastic view over the Brazilian "Monument Valley". We decided to call it a day and Julia got a massage at 7 pm with Tony.
Wednesday 07.12.2016: Lençóis: sunny and hot 35ºC
Volker has been unwell during the night and we had to go to the only place in town where there is medical care, at the local tiny Hospital Municipal Sebastião Alves (free of charge, even for turists!). Lunch a peso next to the Dois Irmãos shop and then rest in the hotel room for the whole afternoon. But Rebecca, the owner of our Pousada, insisted on asking a private doctor, so she managed to reach Dr. Inácio on the phone and she was so sweet all the time with us. Dr. Inácio -who was 200 km away from Lençóis- made a phone diagnose and solved everything for us: Rebecca sent someone to get antibiotics at his c and the rest of the medicine at the pharmacy, so Volker could start the treatment right then. And he really got well again. Thank you Rebecca and Dr. Inácio. And Marco got 3 bottles of Gatorade to substitue the traditional caipirinha we all had every afternoon together at the pool ;).
Thursday 08.12.2016: Lençóis: sunny and hot during the day, in the afternoon rain
Volker woke up this morning in much better shape. After breakfast, Rebecca showed our some of the special rooms in the Hotel de Lençóis. Next time we will book room nº 17 with a private heated pool. We had to say goodbye to our friends Daniela and Marco this morning (they live in Minas Gerais). Lunch in our restaurant Roda d'Água (very good). Julia went into town to buy some thing.
Friday 09.12.2016: Lençóis - Excursion to Pantanal de Marimbús: 44,4 km - sunny hot 33ºC
We started at 8 am and drove to Comunidade Quilombola de Remanso. They take you through the swamp area (R$ 65 pax, 1,5 hours one-way) then there is a walk of 20 minutes to the Cachoeira do Roncador where we had a swim (the water is again tinted red from the iron oxid. 200 meters from the waterfall is a very simple restaurant where we had lunch (R$ 50) on a self-service basis directly from the pots. In the evening, when we wanted to make our online check-in for the flight with Avianca, we noticed that they booked us for the next day. After spending an hour trying to find out what happened we learned that Avianca cancelled our flight and put us on the next day without telling us anything. We then booked a flight with GOL as a backup.
Saturday 10.12.2016: Lençóis - Salvador, Flight to Rio de Janeiro: 407 km - in Rio 33ºC very humid
We left at 8:15 am and arrived at 13:25 at the car rental company Localiza. When we arrived at the airport we noticed that we might still get the flight Avianca had suggested us, at 14:22. So, instead of going to GOL, we got the flight that left 2 hours before the one we had booked originally. Taxi to our hotel Palladium Promenade (Rua General Artigas 200, Leblon) for R$ 85 (voucher bought at the airport) In the evening we had dinner at a restaurant near our hotel.
The main road and the main square
The nicest waterfall with pool of the whole hiking was the first one: Cachoerinha -with "bar". Here we are having a côco gelado (ice cold coconut water)
Petroglyphs (12 to 30.000 years old)
Fascinating vegetation on top of the Morro to Pai Inácio, like a garden.
3 hours canoe along the Rio Santo Antonio
Didi was very fast with paddling
The "hospital" road
The market (only active on Fridays)
Sr. Lamargues e Sr. Abelário in the restaurant
Pool with bar and restaurant
Surrounded by beautiful vegetation. We can watch birds and Micu monkeys during our breakfast.
Next time we will book # 17 with the private heated pool...
Cachoeira da Primavera
Cachoeira do Serrano where the people of Lençóis gather in the afternoon
Look at this amazing spider nest. It is so well concealed, with a lid fixed with a hinge!
Brazilian wild bees
Salão das Areias
Our guide Raimundo explained fauna and flora during the tour
This "barriguda" tree is full of water inside
This cat begged for my coconut after I drank the whole water inside. It is very pleasant to eat the soft meat of the green coconut
Prainha at the Gruta da Pratinha
On top of the Morro "Pai Inácio"
Morros dos 3 Irmãos
... and a long thin snake
At the Cachoeira do Roncador - Rio Roncador
Home made lunch at the Fazenda Cachoeira do Roncador - you serve yourself directly from the pans and pots
A salient rock on our way to Salvador de Bahia

domain: travel


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Medical Review by Cynthia Armand, MD
Approximately 1 billion people worldwide experience debilitating Migraine attacks that can come on as quickly as a snap of a finger. This unpredictable “monster” has the ability to take over your entire day if you are not prepared with the right tools for relief. Imitrex is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for stopping a Migraine attack, and it is considered to be the “gold standard” medication.
If you’ve been dealing with Migraine for awhile, it’s likely that you have tried or considered trying Imitrex or the generic version, sumatriptan. You may even have tried it years ago and are considering trying it again. During different stages in your life, different medications can have different efficacy. Just because a medication does not work at one stage, does not mean it may not give you relief in a new stage of your life.
5 Questions to Ask About Imitrex
Most of these medications have different routes of administration, too, so if Imitrex tablets don’t give you relief, another route may just do the trick. It’s important to keep an open mind and ask a few key questions:
Am I ready for a prescription Migraine medication?
Over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers such as ibuprofen (Advil), naproxen (Aleve), acetaminophen (TYLENOL), aspirin (Bayer) and combination analgesics with caffeine (Excedrin) are inexpensive options if they work and provide relief. If over-the-counter pain relievers do not work and your Migraine attacks are moderate to severe, prescription triptans could be for you. Triptans are a good option for those Migraine attacks that disrupt daily activity and can alleviate symptoms that OTC cannot touch. Since their development, triptans are the most common class of drug used to stop Migraine attacks.
Do I need an abortive or a preventative?
Imitrex is the brand name for sumatriptan, the first Migraine-specific medication approved in the 1990’s 1. It is not a preventative, but rather an abortive medication that should be taken at first sign of a Migraine attack. Most patients’ Migraine attacks subside within two hours of taking Imitrex.
Most people with Migraine can benefit from a prescription abortive medication like Imitrex. If you have fewer than 15 headache days a month, or episodic Migraine, an abortive may be the only prescription medication you need to manage your Migraine disease. Preventative medications should be considered along with abortives for those with Chronic Migraine, or 15 or more headache days a month.
What symptoms are my most troublesome and will Imitrex help them?
Triptans can help alleviate many symptoms of an attack including head pain, nausea and vomiting, and sensitivity to light.
Essentially, triptans like Imitrex work by reversing the changes in your brain that lead to a Migraine. Triptans act as agonists for serotonin receptors at blood vessels and nerve endings in the brain. Whether you get a severe morning Migraine, a sickening Migraine with nausea, or a hormonal Migraine, Imitrex in its 3 different dosing treatments is there to provide relief. It is important to note that Imitrex may provide different benefits and side effects for different patients and all of this course, under your doctor’s care.
What is the best delivery method of Imitrex for the type of attacks I get?
The generic sumatriptan is available in several forms: tablets, nasal sprays, injections, pen injections and as a needleless injection that uses a burst of gas to get the drug under the skin. Many people experience nausea and vomiting with their Migraine attacks, making it difficult to keep tablet medication down long enough to work. The injections and nasal sprays bypass the digestive system and get into the bloodstream to start working fast.
Do I need brand name Imitrex or can I get a generic?
Generic drugs including generic Imitrex (sumatriptan) are not exactly the same as the original branded drug in the 90’s, although they are similar and commonly viewed as effective as their branded counterpart. Generic forms of Imitrex are widely used in the United States. Imitrex is a market leader in a class of triptans that are commonly used to treat migraines.
Generic triptans are becoming available every day. For example, Relpax now has its own generic form, Eletriptan. As a Migraine patient, it is wise to vary medication and to be aware of medication overuse. Medication overuse happens when the same medicine you use to treat your headaches or Migraine attacks actually makes things worse. Medication overuse headache is a separate headache diagnosis that is characterized by the use of one medication for 10-15 or more days per month 2. It is a vicious cycle to be caught up in and it happens pretty often.
Don’t miss Dr. Richard Lipton discuss Triptans and Medication Overuse on the Migraine World Summit – Watch here
Be Prepared. Imitrex should not be the only tool in your arsenal. Migraine requires a detailed management plan, including prevention, a balanced lifestyle, pain relief coping mechanisms, and self-care.
You are your own advocate. Be curious. Get involved in online support communities and trusted Migraine websites so you know what questions to ask when you visit your doctor and pharmacist. If you have not tried Imitrex or the generic sumitriptan since the 90’s it may be time to have an open discussion with your doctor about new delivery methods and which one is right for you.
Comments? Does Imitrex help abort your Migraine attacks?

domain: medical


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Burgess, R. and Ahfock, A. (2011) Minimising the risk of cross-country faults in systems using arc suppression coils. IET Generation, Transmission and Distribution, 5 (7). pp. 703-711. ISSN 1751-8687
This is the latest version of this item.
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Arc suppression coil systems are able to improve the high voltage system reliability and safety. One of the reasons why these systems are not more widely used is the occurrence of simultaneous faults caused by the neutral voltage displacement combined with the transient voltages at the time of the initial earth fault. These transient over-voltages are analysed in detail and the capability of system components to withstand the over-voltages is assessed. Simple methods to estimate the transient voltages on overhead power systems are developed. Testing of power system components ability to withstand transient over-voltages and a new method of minimising the transient over-voltages are proposed.
|Item Type:||Article (Commonwealth Reporting Category C)|
|Additional Information:||Accepted Version deposited in accordance with copyright policy of publisher(IET).|
|Uncontrolled Keywords:||arc suppression coil; Petersen coil; transient voltages; power systems|
|Depositing User:||Mr Robert Burgess|
|Date Deposited:||26 Feb 2012 05:56|
|Last Modified:||03 Jul 2013 00:45|
Available Versions of this Item
Minimising the Risk of Cross-Country Faults in Systems using Arc Suppression Coils. (deposited 22 Aug 2011 00:00)
- Minimising the risk of cross-country faults in systems using arc suppression coils. (deposited 26 Feb 2012 05:56) [Currently Displayed]
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"Whoso Pulleth Out This Sword of This Stone and Anvil, is Rightwise King Born of All England."- Inscription on the Sword in the Stone (T.H. White's The Once and Future King, 1958)
Le cercle invisible (The Invisible Circle, 1996) is Paul Halter's eighth detective novel to be translated into English by John Pugmire, a modern-day purveyor of miracles, whose independent publishing house, Locked Room International, introduced a host of non-English speaking authors to a world-wide audience – such as Jean-Paul Török, Yukito Ayatsuji, Noel Vindry and Alice Arisugawa. Pugmire also reissued the shamefully neglected locked room novels by Derek Smith (e.g. Whistle Up the Devil, 1954), but I'll return to this author sooner rather than later. So, for now, let's take a look at one of Halter's most fanciful impossible crime tales.
The Invisible Circle is a short, standalone mystery novel that's best described as a clash between the Legends of the Knights of the Round Table and Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (1939), which made for a fun and amusing detective romp.
The story takes place eight decades ago, in the year 1936, inside "a sort of castle by the sea in Cornwall." A wooden bridge is the only structure tenuously connecting the castle to the mainland and without this reach-across the place is effectively an isolated island. So you can probably make an educated guess about the fate of the bridge. Gerry Pearson is the sole occupant and owner of the castle, rumored to have belonged to Uther Pendragon, "Arthur's father," which he decided to put to good use as the backdrop for "a grotesque comedy" steeped in Arthurian legends – a real-life drama staged for a small group of people.
One of Pearson's specially selected guests is his niece, Madge, who wisely decided to take along her friend, Bill Page, but they're not the only ones who received an invitation from wicked Uncle Gerry.
The guest list Pearson compiled consists of the following characters: a white-bearded historian, named Josiah Hallahan, who's "the acknowledged expert on all things Arthurian" and this earned him the nickname of Merlin the Enchanter. Gail Blake is a Cornish bard and with his black beard "he looked more like a pirate or a smuggler than a poet." So they make for a nice pair of characters, but there are also Frank Dunbar and Ursula Brown: the former is a disillusioned and heavy drinking journalist whose downward slope began when the moment he had met the latter. They're both invited to the party! Finally, Pearson requested the presence of Dr. Charles Jerrold, an imminent psychiatrist, who was asked to attend as "a trustworthy witness."
Upon their arrival, Pearson casts each of them in the role of an Arthurian character and explains they were invited to be "privileged witnesses." The privilege to witness a murder. His own murder. Pearson says he knows who will strike him down and "this person will have constructed a perfect alibi," which proves this person "could not physically have committed the murder" and even pointed out his potential murderer – as well as showing everyone the instrument of his destruction. On a rocky cliff, a sword is embedded in a huge rock. Originally, the rock had been hollow, but has now been filled with mortar that irretrievably trapped the blade.
It seems completely impossible for anyone, except the ghost of King Arthur, to pull the sword from the stone, but Pearson instructs everyone to make a unique mark on the grip of the weapon – so "it can be formally identified." That sets the stage for one part of the murderous melodrama that's about the unfold and the next step is voluntary locking their host inside a tower room: one with a door that can be bolted from the inside and is sealed from the outside with sealing wax, which they're instructed to mark with a personal object like a signet ring or a pendant. The room appears to be simply impenetrable, but a cry pierces the silence of the castle that same evening and when they finally manage to break down the door they find the body of their host: the famous sword of King Arthur planted between his shoulder blades.
So there are two intriguing, closely connected and seemingly impossible situations: one of them is the retrieval of the sword from the stone and the other is the locked room murder of Pearson. I first have to comment on the sword in the stone.
I know of only one other impossible crime novel that toyed with a similar problem: The Stingaree Murders (1932) by W. Shepard Pleasants. The book takes place aboard a luxurious houseboat, floating across the Louisiana marsh country, which becomes the scene of no less than three seemingly impossible situations. Firstly, there's a stabbing on a skiff without anyone being near the victim, but the unusual knife is considered to be an important piece of evidence and is safely driven into the hardwood deck of the boat – sinking it as tightly into the woodwork as the sword in the stone. Only an axe could've relieved the knife from the deck, but the second impossibility from that book is how someone, effortlessly, plucked the knife out of the wood.
As similar as both problems appear, Halter and Pleasants both imagined completely different explanations as to how these feats were pulled off. I rather enjoyed Halter's trickery here, which I foresaw, because (somehow) a childhood memory of The Pirates of Dark Water came bubbling to the surface. One of the iconic weapons from that show made me see how the trick could be accomplished. Anyway, I found the whole sword in the stone aspect of the overall locked room trick to be fairly clever and original.
However, the locked room trick that explains the murder of Pearson, while equally clever and novel, is bugged by some noticeable problems and legitimate objections: one of them is the requirement of a pretty dense accomplice. I won't give away any spoilers, but this is a problem I also recently found in John Dickson Carr's The Ghosts' High Noon (1969). The second objection is the murderer's movements and maneuvering, which not only seems very difficult, but a near physical impossibility and can be counted as one of those physically tasking schemes that makes murder look like an Olympic sport – e.g. Agatha Christie's Towards Zero (1944), John Russell Fearn's The Crimson Rambler (1946) and Norman Berrow's The Footprints of Satan (1950). So the locked room murder might not quite convince every single reader.
Luckily, Halter did not sink all of his creative juices for this novel into the impossible situation, but also tried to write a Christie-style whodunit with a least-likely-suspect revelation towards the end – which is preceded by a story stuffed with false identities, hints of madness, family secrets and several additional murders. Nearly every part of the plot seemed to have been properly clued or foreshadowed. Halter also seemed to have tried his best to provide an answer for some of the weaknesses of the plot and one of them remained rather obvious: one that involves the past relationships of certain characters. A flaw the book shares with Christie's Murder in Mesopotamia (1936).
So, while the plot from The Invisible Circle is far from watertight and the flat characterization did not lend itself to describe the mountain terror and breakdown of civilization, which one has come to expect from such island-bound crime novels as Anthony Berkeley's Panic Party (1934) and Herbert Brean's The Clock Strikes Thirteen (1954), I still found it an immensely enjoyable detective story. Halter delivered the kind of locked room mystery I expected from Richard Forrest's Death at King Arthur's Court (2005), but that one never fully delivered on its premise.
The Invisible Circle is as imperfect as Forrest's mystery novel, but it gave you everything it promised. Not always with the same grace and ingenuity as a top-drawer Carr or Christie, but Halter delivered on the promise of a locked room novel deeply steeped in Arthurian mythology with a dash of the Queen of Crime. So I was left far from dissatisfied.