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2 hrs 15 mins
1 hr 15 mins
I stumbled on to this recipe sometime in the early 1980s, in one of Maida Heatter's incomparable dessert books. This truly is the best lemon cake you'll ever eat. It's not much to look at, but I've had friends actually react by gasping when they take a bite. You MUST use fresh lemon juice and zest; it's really not the same without it.
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Units: US | Metric
- 1/2 cup almonds, blanched
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (double-acting)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, graded large
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 ounce lemon extract
- 3 lemons, sized medium (or 2 large, use grated rind in cake, and 1/3 cup of the juice for the glaze)
- 1Spray an 8-1/2"x5" loaf pan with baking spray.
- 2Grind almonds very fine and set aside.
- 3Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
- 4In a small heavy saucepan, melt butter. Transfer to a large bowl. With electric mixer, add sugar and beat a bit to mix.
- 5On low speed, beat in eggs one at a time, beating only to mix well.
- 6Add dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with milk in two additions, scraping bowl with a spatula and beating until mixed after each addition.
- 7Mix in lemon extract.
- 8Remove from mixer. Stir in grated rind, then stir in ground almonds.
- 9Turn mixture into pan. (It will be thin.) Bake at 350 for 65-75 minutes. (During baking, cake will form a large crack or two on top, and crack(s) will remain light in color.).
- 10A few minutes before cake is finished, prepare glaze: stir sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan over moderate heat, only until sugar is just dissolved. (Don't boil!).
- 11When cake is removed from the oven, let it stand for 2-3 minutes. Then, using brush, brush the hot glaze gradually over the hot cake. Glaze should not be applied quickly; it should take about 5 minutes to apply all the glaze.
- 12Let cake stand until not quite completely cool. Then gently invert onto a rack and turn right side up. When cool, wrap in plastic wrap or foil and let stand 12-24 hours before serving.
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Nutritional Facts for Maida Heatter's Best Darn Lemon Cake Ever
Serving Size: 1 (73 g)
Servings Per Recipe: 16
- Amount Per Serving
- % Daily Value
- Calories 213.5
- Calories from Fat 81
- Total Fat 9.1 g
- Saturated Fat 4.2 g
- Cholesterol 42.7 mg
- Sodium 160.5 mg
- Total Carbohydrate 31.1 g
- Dietary Fiber 1.8 g
- Sugars 18.6 g
- Protein 3.5 g


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Nearly-royal Pippa Middleton attended the Temperley London show and Princess Charlene of Monaco sat front row at Akris. But which royal has attended five shows in Paris alone?
Why Princess Siriwanwaree Nareerat, of course.
The raven-haired princess of Thailand has made a splash at Paris Fashion Week, posing in the front row at Christian Dior, Chanel, Lanvin, Balmain and Hermes.
The princess (whose name is sometimes spelled Sirivannavari Nariratana, or formally Phra Chao Lan Thoe Phra Ong Chao Sirivannavari Nariratan according to Wikipedia) is the daughter of Crown Prince Maha Vajralongkorn of Thailand. She's also quite the fashion fan, having attended the Christian Dior Couture show this summer and several Spring/Summer shows -- Balmain, Louis Vuitton, Dior -- last fall, too.
And when it comes to style, Kate Middleton she is not. Siriwanwaree favors bold shoulders, dark makeup and fashion-forward silhouettes (no nude L.K. Bennett pumps here).
That is, of course, when she's not donning traditional Thai garb as she did at the Monaco Royal Wedding this summer.
Check out Princess Siriwanwaree's Paris Fashion Week looks! What do you think of this royal's style?

domain: news


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Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, quickly growing in popularity as a medical tourism destination. Costa Rica generates over $60 million annually as a major provider of excellent and affordable medical, vision, and dental care. Growing numbers of American and international patients are crossing borders and venturing to Costa Rica for their excellent patient-centered healthcare system, which currently ranks fourth in all of Latin America.
Voted as the happiest country in the world by the New Economics Foundation, the beauty of Costa Rica, its location and its friendly, knowledgeable and highly educated medical health care system are just a few of the benefits travelers visiting to this tiny yet powerful country experience.
PlacidWay, a leader in medical resources and information based in Denver, Colorado is proud to help promote the second Medical Travel International Business Summit, held in San Jose and Guanacaste, Costa Rica on May 2-4, 2011. "Costa Rica has become a favorite for medical travelers from around the world," says Pramod Goel, CEO and founder of PlacidWay. "Over 47 million Americans don't have medical insurance, and over 100 million don't have dental insurance. As of last year, nearly 6 million Americans travel to other countries, including Costa Rica, for the best in excellent services, experience, training and affordable medical, vision, and dental care services."
Costa Rica as a Medical Tourism Destination
Without a doubt, Costa Rica is known as a natural paradise, one of the most beautiful in the world. Bordered on its west by the Pacific Ocean and on the east by the Caribbean, Costa Rica is the home of hundreds of wildlife species, ideally located between North and South America. Costa Rica is a land that takes its responsibility seriously, with nearly one-quarter of its relatively small territory protected, preserving its biodiversity as few countries do. Millions of Americans and international travelers venture to this small country every year to enjoy its wealth of biodiversity, exquisite natural environments, and of course, it's friendly and warmhearted people.
International Business Summit
The second annual Latin American Congress, Medical Travel International Business Summit to be held in early May 2011 has already filled 90% of its exhibiting spaces. Exhibitors from health insurance companies around the world as well as dozens of international and national speakers will be offering information, lectures, and tips regarding medical tourism promotion and marketing opportunities, patient safety and quality, and service certifications.
The Congress offers untold opportunities for Costa Rica health providers, as well as other Latin American facilities, hospitals, hotels and physicians for the development of new business relationships with foreign providers and buyers.
The global event is sponsored by the Council for the International Promotion of Costa Rica Medicine (PROMED) and the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) as well as the Costa Rica Foreign Trade Promoter (PROCOMER).
About the Council for the International Promotion of Costa Rica Medicine
The Council for the International Promotion of Costa Rica Medicine, known as PROMED, is a private nonprofit organization that coordinates quality services offered by Costa Rica," says Massimo Manzi, executive director of PROMED. "We develop regulations and encourage and promote service provider certification, offering combined services for tourism service providers, health professionals, academics, and health service providers in Costa Rica."
PROMED literally acts as a coordinator between private and public health care sectors and offers the first quality guarantee seal developed by the country of Costa Rica. For more information regarding the Medical Travel International Business Summit in early May 2011, contact Massimo Manzi at PROMED (email@example.com), or Pramod Goel, CEO and founder of international medical resource and provider at PlacidWay.com.
Please Click Here to request more information


After a lengthy public comment review period, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a Draft Supplemental Analysis to the Draft Risk Evaluation for 1,4-Dioxane. EPA’s underlying Draft Risk Evaluation for 1,4-Dioxane was released in June 2019. These documents have been prepared as required by the 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act for the 21st Century Act amendments to federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Those amendments direct EPA to conduct risk evaluations of certain chemicals to determine whether the substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, under the conditions of use, without consideration of costs or other nonrisk factors, while using the best available science and ensuring that decisions are based on the weight of scientific evidence. EPA identified 1,4-dioxane in December 2016 as one of the first 10 chemicals to undergo risk evaluations under the TSCA amendments.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended the deadline for submissions due under the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule from November 30, 2020, to January 29, 2021. The CDR report covers chemical manufacturing and processing for the four calendar years of 2016 through 2019. We have covered the scope and application of the CDR rule here.
On September 4, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published scope documents for 20 high-priority chemicals that will undergo risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The scope documents set frameworks for evaluating these 20 chemicals in light of their conditions of use, hazards, exposures, and potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations. TSCA directs EPA to complete risk evaluations for these 20 chemicals over the next three years.
Companies have started reporting their manufacture or imports of newly designated high-priority substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act—and paying EPA costs for evaluating the substances’ risk. Sidley lawyers explain the risk evaluation process and how companies can strategically engage with EPA on the scope of risk evaluations.


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Cape Town - Allegations that South African Airways (SAA) has assisted its low-cost subsidiary Mango by subleasing aircraft at a significantly discounted cost are concerning, Elmar Conradie, CEO of Safair which owns low-cost airline FlySafair, told Fin24 on Monday.
This was after SAA seems to inadvertently have revealed in a statement that it has enabled Mango to offer discounted flights through subleasing aircraft at discounted rates.
"Airline lease agreements can include not only the use of an aircraft, but also certain aspects of the maintenance of that aircraft. This can represent a very significant portion of an airline’s cost structure. Any airline operating with a significant reduction of those costs, would be at a competitive advantage," explained Conradie.

domain: travel


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South West London, East Sheen and Richmond
About / Bio
I started out in traditional shotokan karate over 20 years ago in Ghana on the high school sports circuit. After returning to England in 1999, I found most traditional karate had been watered down and wasn't to my liking, and so floated from Kung-fu to kickboxing, becoming a certified Kettlebell instructor and a adequate boxer along the way. I have been a kickboxing trainer and pt at "martial fitness" in Putney.
I begun my UKM journey under the tutelage of Dave Woodcock in Putney, a very down to earth man. Also a very experienced martial artist who has been a father figure and valued friend!!
I am now available in South West London, East Sheen and Richmond for personal lessons with classes to follow soon in the new year.

domain: geography


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The official app of Southern Ground Music and Food Festival 2016. Happening April 16-17 at MUSC Health Stadium in Charleston, SC. Featuring nightly performances by Zac Brown Band. Also appearing: Thomas Rhett, Marshall Tucker Band, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Hunter Hayes, Kacey Musgraves, Sam Bush, Old Dominion, Cam,
Michael Franti and Spearhead, Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers and more! Download the app to create your schedule, details on Festival food vendors, official map and more.
Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Southern Ground Music and Food Festival is a free software application from the Recreation subcategory, part of the Home & Hobby category.
The app is currently available in English and it was last updated on 2013-09-16. The program can be installed on iOS.
Southern Ground Music and Food Festival (version 4696.522.1) has a file size of 54.53 MB and is available for download from our website.
Just click the green Download button above to start. Until now the program was downloaded 0 times.
We already checked that the download link to be safe, however for your own protection we recommend that you scan the downloaded software with your antivirus.

domain: entertainment


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This fabulous Albert Rug is the product of a thrilling new collaboration between Mineheart and renowned Portuguese artist Joao Figuieredo.
Albert, a gentleman with such a knowing aura but who is he really and what’s his story?
An eclectic mix of contemporary and convention, Joao plays with the whole concept of art and how we perceive it.
This stunning rug will add a beautifully surreal touch to any room, and unlike real cowhides this one is hypo-allergenic, washable, and won’t curl up at the edges.
2-3 weeks Free Delivery
Please email firstname.lastname@example.org and we will inform you of the returns address, then post the item back within 14 days of receipt.
Please note some items are non-refundable, these include:
- Any item made to your specific requirements
- Any personalised item which can't be resold due to a bespoke element
For full Returns info please see our full returns policy

domain: artistic


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California. That California life is so awesome with all that nature and sunshine. What better way to experience it than by doing a California coast road trip? We’re going to start at the northern border, but reverse our plan and you’ll have just as amazing of a time.
So you’ve just crossed the border from Oregon into California. Get ready because your California coast road trip is going to be totally different than what you experienced in Washington and Oregon. You’ll understand what we mean as you start down the coast. The beaches and bluffs are quite different, the lighthouses are fewer and farther between and the trees are much bigger. And the architecture. You’ll see…
What you'll find...
- Iconic Northern California
- Stopping San Francisco: one day plan
- Driving the Central Coast and Big Sur
- Driving the Big Sur Coast
- Exploring the Los Angeles and OC Area
- Breezing through Orange County
- Exploring San Diego County
Iconic Northern California
Northern California has such noticeable/memorable sights to behold. So does SoCal, but they’re totally different. These stops can easily be hit on the drive and don’t require much planning at all.
California Lighthouses not to Miss
There are quite a few lighthouses in Northern California, but your California coast road trip plan doesn’t need to include all of them. The prettiest lighthouse in Northern California is for sure the Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City. You’ll need to get your feet wet to get out to it, but it’s worth it. The view, the lighthouse itself, the wildlife you’ll see… amazing!
If you want a funny lighthouse hunt, be sure to stop into Trinidad, California and find the light…because it’s a hike and is hilariously fun. Oh, and get a mashed potato cone for us when you drive through town. It’s too good to not get and you’ll have to drive past the Lighthouse Grill if you’re in Trinidad.
The Point Arena Lighthouse is another fun stop on your road trip. It’s about 8 miles off the beaten path, but it’s worth it. The Point Arena Lighthouse is very tall and set at the end of a point surrounded by coves and crashing waves. It’s the perfectly iconic lighthouse.
Note: the Point Arena Lighthouse does have an admission fee if you want to check out the little museum and climb up the tower. If you’re into it, totally do it. Also, lots of great space for kids to run around at Point Arena, but keep an eye that they don’t get near the cliffs.
Eureka and the Victorian Mansions
The town of Eureka, California is the gateway to Redwoods National and State Parks, but it’s also the home of a beautiful historic neighborhood. Old Town Eureka is awesome! With more than 150 homes and business buildings from the Victorian era, it’s full of color and worth a stop, if for nothing else, to take pictures. If you love Victorian mansions, Eureka is the town for you!
Stay: we loved spending several days at the Carter House Inn in Old Town Eureka. The accommodations were perfect for a family of four and it had the feel of a genuinely antique hotel. This is a great home base for exploring the coast and Redwoods National Park.
Northern California Redwoods
We say it all of the time. “Find your park!!” Maybe that’ll be my next tattoo. The Redwoods of Northern California are epic and awesome. This is where your California coast road trip heads away from the Pacific Ocean for your activities. You’ll find that the epicness of these huge trees is totally capitalized on, but it’s cool. There are lots of really great conservation efforts at play to counteract the impact tourism may have on the forests. You choose if you’re going to do a drive-thru tree or not.
Tip: the Chandelier Tree in Leggett, California is easy to get to and the opening is large enough for most vehicles. We took our minivan through it just fine.
Redwoods National and State Parks are scattered along the coast of Northern California, so if you miss one entrance, drive another few minutes and find another. We loved hiking in the Lady Bird Johnson Grove within Redwoods National Park. It’s perfect to do with kids.
If you’re unable to make time in the Northern forests, stop into Muir Woods National Monument just north of San Francisco. You’ll have to drive past them anyway and the Park isn’t huge, so it makes for an easy stop and you’ll still get to enjoy the huge redwoods.
Tip: in the summer or on a weekend, watch for the signs for the Muir Woods shuttle from overflow parking. Muir Woods National Monument is very close to San Francisco and the whole Bay Area, so everybody heads there when they can. If you can plan a stop here mid-week, do it!
Stopping San Francisco: one day plan
The City by the Bay, San Francisco, is amazing for more reasons than we can say. You cannot do a California coast road trip without driving through SF, so embrace it and fall in love with the city. If you only have a little time and want a truly unique San Francisco experience, head directly to Telegraph Hill to get a great view, visit Coit Tower and watch for the flock of urban parrots!
Golden Gate Bridge
Do we need to even explain this? You’re going to have to cross the Golden Gate Bridge on your California coast road trip, so be sure that you’ve carved out appropriate time to make a stop at either end of the Bridge. The south end of the Gold Gate Bridge has the Welcome Center and a fair amount of parking, but the north side offers a totally different view and includes the skyline of San Francisco. It’s your call.
Tip: if you want to breeze through the Bay Area, stop on the north side of the Bridge and maybe do lunch down in Sausalito. The town is cute, the view of San Francisco is beautiful and you’ll find amazing food.
Ride a San Francisco Cable Car
This is so easy. So, our recommended line is the Powell-Mason Cable Car because there is parking at the Pier 39 end of it. You get to see the North Beach neighborhood, buzz past Telegraph Hill and through Chinatown and end in Union Square. It’s perfect. The Powell-Hyde line is our second choice simply because parking is a pain. It starts/ends at Ghirardelli Square, takes you up to the top of Lombard Street, across Nob Hill and down to Union Square. Both lines are the coolest and totally worth the wait to do.
Tip: if you’re comfortable with it, try to be on the outside standing up. You’ll love it and it’s just like you’re in a movie. Kids can’t do it, but adults can. Check out the actual cable car site for details.
Stop into the Castro
Some people don’t know the term “the Castro.” Well, if you’re a member of the LGBT community you probably have heard it. The Castro neighborhood of San Francisco is where gay rights on the West Coast got a foothold and where Harvey Milk brought the people together. Today, there are several memorial sites dedicated to the LGBT struggle, to those who have lost their lives in the fight for rights or against AIDS, and to the future of the LGBT community.
We haven’t taken our kids to the Castro yet because we haven’t done a dedicated trip into SF for more than a day recently, but when we do visit, it’ll be a happy day for us. They’ll notice that there are loads of other families like ours and maybe it’ll open a conversation about our lives and how far we’ve come.
Tip: the Castro is also the primary place to “go out” in San Francisco, so know that if you’re looking for beverages and dancing, this is a great spot to start.
Note: if you’re visiting the Castro with kids, be prepared for some interesting questions. Nothing is off limits in this awesome neighborhood and kids might see some sights that they don’t understand, including very sex-positive imagery.
Finding a San Francisco Hotel
San Francisco is a costly city to visit or to live in. Book your SF hotel as soon as you know you’ll be visiting. Unlike most cities, SF books out far in advance at very high room rates. It’s possible to just drive through or stay south of the city, but due to traffic, if you’re on a California Coast road trip, you probably won’t want to head north to the city again if you’ve already passed through.
Driving the Central Coast and Big Sur
From this point in our California coast road trip plan you need to decide what your travel goals are and how much time you want to invest: full coastal experience or just the highlights. Read up, research, decide. Take the 101 or go the coast the whole way?
Santa Cruz and Capitola
When you leave San Francisco, you can head down the Pacific Coast Highway or pop down through San Jose and over the Santa Cruz mountains to the coast. Either way is fine, but the coastal route will take you by the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. There are lots of beaches you can visit and great picnic spots near the lighthouse, so enjoy!
Santa Cruz and Capitola are both adorable towns, and you can have an afternoon out on the vintage Santa Cruz boardwalk (complete with roller coaster) as well as beach time. Even though you could plot a whole trip around lounging on the beach and trying to surf, if you’re on a California coast road trip you’ve got a lot of ground to cover and a few better places to have a home base for a few days.
Monterey and the Bay
We breezed through last time due to a schedule we were on, but our friend Sally from Passports and Plates shared her thoughts on how best to experience the area.
Sally’s says “The first time I visited Monterey was in 2016, despite living in California for 20 years. It was my first solo road trip, and after spending the weekend there, I remember thinking, “why did it take me this long to visit?!” There is so much to do and see in this small and peaceful city, and it was the perfect destination for a relaxing weekend away. The stunning beaches, charming drives, and of course, the enchanting aquarium, make Monterey a true must-visit city in Central California.”
In her own article about the Monterey area Sally recommends the follow sites:
- Pinnacles National Park (#FindYourPark!!) – caves and hiking
- Cannery Row – truly vintage California coast
- Monterey Bay Aquarium – one of the largest and most acclaimed for its conservation efforts
- Beaches – duh. Actually, Asilomar State Beach and Pacific Park both get high marks
Stay: between Monterey and Carmel you’ll find lots of B&Bs for a fun California coast road trip break… but then camping is an option if you want to head south to Big Sur (reserve in advance anywhere!!)
Driving the Big Sur Coast
This is what California coast road trip dreams are made of…
So here’s a big disclaimer: this stretch of land will take you the longest of any we’ve covered, so think about if this is right for your West Coast road trip. It’s INCREDIBLE, but it’s a long winding highway that can be trimmed off by taking the 101 instead of Highway 1. Just a thought.
Fancy-pants in Carmel
If you want to spend some time catching the incredible aquamarine waters and rocks of the Pacific, out of Monterey head to 17 Mile Drive and jaunt down the coast past Pebble Beach to Carmel by the Sea. Fancy-pants, totally. It’s all very beautiful, but not a budget friendly destination on our California coast road trip. Snap your pics and savor the sights. Then go.
Tip: just south of Carmel is a beautiful Carmelite monastery right off the highway. You can easily stop in or pull over to appreciate the beautiful compound. Respect the residents… and then think about taking your vows to get to commune in this amazing place.
The Big Sur Coast
Okay, we’re here now. Hiking in the hills, hiking to the beaches, hiking to waterfalls… That’s Big Sur. From Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to the south, the coast and mountains make for the most striking sights.
Great hikes/photo ops (north to south):
Bixby Bridge – photo op of one of the most iconic bridges on the west coast, pull over in a designated area
Pfeiffer Falls – trailhead on Pfeiffer Big Sur Rd, about 2 miles, forest hiking with waterfalls
Big Sur River Gorge – trailhead on Pfeiffer Big Sur Rd – short, river access
McWay Falls – trailhead is clearly marked off the highway – short, all about the view
Note: the State Parks website says in regards to McWay Falls “There is no beach access here. Any attempt to get down to the beach is a citable and arrestable offense.”
Of course there are more stops, but these are easy to do and worth the time. None of these will put a hitch in your driving day.
Wondering about lighthouses on this rocky coast? Unfortunately the Point Sur Lighthouse suffers from the woes of the coast and may or may not be open for visiting or tours when you’re doing your California coast road trip, but it’s worth a shot. Check their website for updates, as closures vary due to weather, road conditions and operational issues.
Stay: Julie Pfeiffer Burns State Park has camping, so you’ll be able to do more hikes than the small ones we’ve suggested. Check out Reserve America for camping availability.
Visiting Hearst Castle
Need we say more? Plan your time here accordingly as the last tour each day is around 3:30 pm and you don’t want to miss touring Hearst Castle. We recommend either doing the Grand Rooms or the Upstairs Suites tours. You’ll get to see many of the common areas with each tour, but the level of detail with each is different.
Tip: inquire with the visitors center about which is best with kids or for photography (many restrictions)… or for which takes you to the indoor pool (so cool!)
Bonus: if you didn’t get to see the Point Sur Lighthouse, make a stop at Piedras Blanca Light. It’s suffered damage over the years, but it’s really cool and odd with its missing lantern room.
Wine and Beaches: Cambria to Santa Barbara
As you continue south on the California coast road trip, you’ll start to pass through really cool towns. First up is Cambria, which is great for wine, watching elephant seals on the beach or hiking the beaches and bluffs (our favorite beach activity). And there’s wine because you’re in that lovely wine region called the Central Coast. And then there’s Morro Bay, which has our hearts for a funny reason: this is where the original Pete’s Dragon was filmed (not in Maine). The lighthouse from the film is gone, but this was the place with the beautiful coastline and fog.
Next to the south is San Luis Obispo: rather large, so it’s an easy place to find accommodations if you didn’t plan anything. This is where you hit the coast if you opted to take the 101 instead of Highway 1.
Stay: bwah ha ha. You have to try to stay at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. It’s awesomely hilarious and fun. Every room is different, the bar/lounge is exceptionally gaudy, and the men’s restroom has a waterfall. If you want to keep it close to the coast though, Morrow Bay has some camping options and less expensive lodging choices.
Continuing on our California coast road trip we head through the Santa Maria Valley (more wine!), Buellton (small town relaxation) and Las Cruces, which is where we find our next lighthouse at Point Conception. You cannot go in the old lighthouse, but you can trek to some great views of it. We recommend spending at least two days in the Santa Maria Valley region because there is so much to do, including lots of California agritourism, the adorable town of Guadalupe, and unlimited outdoor experiences.
The city of Santa Barbara comes up quickly as you head down the coast. Known for its arts and beautiful landscapes, you can make a stop on your drive for lunch or stay overnight. We recommend a stop as Los Angeles is really close and it’ll be more budget friendly to continue south. Check out this article for the best things to do in Santa Barbara! Also, Santa Barbara is along El Camino Real, which is the California missions route. Mission Santa Barbara is a beautiful place to visit as you pass through.
Exploring the Los Angeles and OC Area
We love to visit Los Angeles and Orange County. Yes, they are two different places and no, Disneyland isn’t in LA. Depending on your time, spending a few days exploring LA and the OC will give you a blast of SoCal culture and fun.
Fun in Santa Monica and Los Angeles
At this point in your epic California coast road trip you’ve seen a lot of small beaches and done some great hiking. How about you take a day to visit the Santa Monica Pier and beach. Enjoy the vintage fun of Pacific Park and do some rides. Bring a towell and lay on the beach and go for a swim. You’re now truly in Southern California and you need to do the SoCal thing. If you want to keep driving south, go for it. You can’t escape the beach though.
It’s always fun to spend a few days in Los Angeles, and you can totally do it on the cheap leveraging all kinds of free activities and touring neighborhoods. Hollywood is, of course, fun to visit because it’s so family, but break away from Hollywood Blvd for some other fun stuff, like the markets, LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits, the Getty… Los Angeles has lots to explore and most for free (except for parking). Oh, and just for the entertainment factor, visit Venice Beach on your way out of town. It’s a barrel of laughs.
Stay: AirBNB or even a standard hotel booking site will do fine for your Los Angeles hotel needs. If you’ve been camping the whole way, you need to head south to Orange County or San Diego County for some State Park options.
Breezing through Orange County
Unfortunately the OC isn’t awesome when you’re away from the beach. True, Disneyland is more fun than anything ever (totally biased on this) but Seal and Huntington Beaches are where you’ll find relaxation, perfect waves for swimming and bodysurfing, and that awesome SoCal culture you’ve done this whole California coast road trip to get to.
Exploring San Diego County
As a bonus stop, get off the freeway between Orange County and San Diego and hit up the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. It’s beautiful from the chapel to the bells to the gardens. And if you’re lucky you’ll get to see some of the famous swallows (birds) in their mud nests. It’s worth the time and will be a nice break from driving.
Oceanside is another town worth spending some time in. With an adorable harbor and great restaurants surrounding the waterfront, this is a great place to spend a night. For a really cool experience, check out moonlight kayaking through the City of Oceanside Parks and Rec!
Visiting San Diego: last stop on the California Coast Road Trip
The city of San Diego is a nice one. It has great neighborhoods, just like Los Angeles or San Francisco. Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Coronado… no matter where you go there’s the beach. Mission Beach is fun for the roller coaster (because why not hit one more on this trip), but Pacific Beach is the best one for having a fun neighborhood to walk through AND plenty of space to play in the sand and surf.
If you need to get swanky, spend some time on Coronado Island and have drinks at the Hotel Del Coronado… because if you packed fancy pants you should get to wear them at least once.
Balboa Park really is the gem of San Diego though. It’s where you’ll find the San Diego Zoo (we’re NOT telling you to go there), you’ll find some really cool museums, and our favorite, the Conservatory. The Balboa Park Conservatory is very different from the one in Seattle or San Francisco. It’s huge and has a very different, nearly open-air construction. It’s a must-visit.
Balboa Park is also where the San Diego Pride Festival happens. Holding their Pride events in July, this celebration is the most family friendly of all Pride festivals and parades we’ve been to. Take a look at our complete guide to the San Diego Pride Festival!
Cabrillo National Monument
We have to finish off the trip by ending at a National Park of some sort. The last place we’re going to make you visit is Cabrillo National Monument. Located at the end of Point Loma (not the naval base), you’ll find bluff for hiking, tide pools for exploring and two lighthouses. Cabrillo National Monument is a great place for a picnic during your San Diego visit.
Note: your National Parks Pass can get you into Cabrillo National Monument, so be sure you have it when you start your California coast road trip.
Stay: northern San Diego county has a few State Park campgrounds that you can enjoy, or seek out cheap lodging in one of the neighborhood. Hillcrest, the gay-borhood, is a fun place to stay with loads of good food choices.
Wow! We made it all of the way down the California coast! Covering nearly 1000 miles of roads, the California coast road trip is amazing. Pair it up with our road trip plan for Washington and Oregon and you’ve got the vacation of a lifetime!
If you’d like to do a more detailed trip, check out our other itineraries for specific travel plans focusing on smaller sections of the West Coast states:
Do you have a favorite route to travel the coast? We are always looking for new stops, new towns and new hiking destinations. Tell us where to go next!


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Medium writer and content producer. Tips and ideas for writing success. Suggestions for you to make more money this year. Ways to get inspired to write more now
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Royal Rumble: Randy Orton Is Still The Face Of The WWE
Even after he captured both the WWE and World Heavyweight titles at last month’s TLC pay-per-view, Randy Orton had to go one-on-one with John Cena. I do not agree with creative on this, but this PPV is called the Royal Rumble after all. Now with […]
TNA Lockdown Was Good But Lacked A Crowd
TNA Lockdown was on this past weekend and it was better than expected. The only thing ruining the atmosphere was the small crowd. Lockdown has always been one of TNA’s best events since their inception in 2002. TNA did the […]
What Is Hulk Hogan’s Big WrestleMania XXX Announcement?
Hulk Hogan has revealed that he is about to make a huge announcement regarding WrestleMania XXX. What will he be revealing? Hogan has already been revealed as the official host for WrestleMania XXX. He’s actually been really good at endorsing […]
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Radio Station Hilariously Uses John Cena’s Music To Prank Call Woman
Fake wrestling isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It’s a niche ‘sport’ and usually something most fans have been watching since childhood. Random people in their 30s don’t typically start watching, just because. It’s with that in mind, that this hilarious […]
Former WCW Wrestler Buff Bagwell is Now a Male Escort
“I’m buff, and I’m the stuff.” If you were a fan of wrestling in the late 1990′s, you definitely remember that catch phrase. It belonged to Buff Bagwell, former member of the NWO. It’s been awhile since Bagwell was in […]
What Is In Store For The Shield At WrestleMania XXX?
Monday Night Raw was a rough one for The Shield. The once dominant threesome has seemingly met their match with The Wyatt Family, who has defeated the Hounds of Justice in consecutive matches. Even worse, infighting seems to have finally […]
Paul Bearer To Be Inducted Into WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE has announced that the late Paul Bearer will be inducted into this year’s Hall of Fame. Bearer (real name William Moody) sadly died last March due to a blood clot. The WWE actually announced that he would be inducted […]
The Case Against CM Punk
First thing is first: CM Punk is fantastic. Ever since his pipe-bomb in July of 2011, Punk has been one of the most overrated superstars in the company, whether he was a face or a heel. This has provided him […]
Still No TV Deal Between WWE and NBCU, TNA Future in Doubt
It’s been more than two weeks since the exclusive negotiating period between WWE and NBCUniversal expired, and no new television deals have been announced. The WWE has been on the open market since the negotiating period ended. USA Network and SyFy, […]
Armchair WWE Creative Members: Stop The Hypotheticals
The internet is such a wonderful way to connect with other pro wrestling fans, but it has proven to be a problem recently. A large portion of the WWE Universe have gone into WWE Creative mode and begun to give […]


The 24th annual Golden Joysticks awards were awarded on Friday. Unlike many other awards, the Golden Joysticks are voted for by the fans. Nintendo DS fans will be comforted to know their handheld took the "Family Game of the Year" and "Girl's Choice" awards with their pet simulator Nintendogs. However, PSP fanboys will be glad to know that we got... well, an award that really matters: the "Handheld Game of the Year." It was awarded to the impressive Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (whose sequel is coming out in just a few days).
The "Game of the Year" award went to a non-PSP game, Oblivion. But wait, we're getting that too. I guess Nintendo fans can just enjoy yet another version of Nintendogs.
[Via DS Fanboy]


|This article, Torque Bow, may require cleanup. Deploy Delta Team to East Barricade Academy and retrieve the data immediately!|
The Torque Bow was a deadly weapon, wielded exclusively by the elite Locust warriors, the Theron Guards, and occasionally by the higher ranking Palace Guards. It is quite distinct among Locust-produced weaponry. Functionally, the Torque Bow is a muzzle-loading coilgun in the shape of an archaic crossbow that fires a bolt that contains Imulsion in the head.
The Torque Bow fires an Imulsion-fueled, explosive-tipped, armor-piercing projectile that resembles a large arrow (or rather, a crossbow bolt). The projectile has a timed fuse which is designed to explode a half-second after penetrating a target, blasting it apart from the inside — almost invariably causing critical injury for the unfortunate target (if not instantaneous death). The weapon's name comes from its unique tandem launch system; in addition to the magnetic coils giving the projectile motive force, the Torque Bow also uses a small motor to apply rotational force to the projectile - ergo increasing kinetic energy transferred to the target. The limbs on the top and bottom of the barrel control the tension of the motor and are what actually launches the bolt through the coil mechanism.
When the trigger on the Torque Bow is pulled, an electric motor inside begins revving up and providing power, while said motor also applies rotational force. Onlookers will see a brightening glow from inside the weapon as the magnetic coils warm up. Whilst the Torque Bow can fire at any time, in order to achieve the desired "lethal" penetration level and long effective range, the user must charge the weapon as appropriate; too little power, and the Torque Bow's bolt will fail to penetrate. It may even kill the shooter if the bolt lands close enough.
In order to protect the coilgun system from explosive overloads, keep the weapon's size down, and keep heat build-up from being an issue, the Torque Bow has a fail-safe system whereby it will automatically fire a bolt at maximum power if it charges too long.
The Torque Bow is a unique weapon, one specifically designed for Locust Elites (such as Therons) - its advanced design shows, as it is far more dangerous and far more utilitarian than many Locust weapons. As a projectile weapon, it is capable of instantly dispatching a humanoid target; even a heavily-armored Gear is no match for the Torque Bow's savagery. Its range and accuracy, provided a bolt is fully charged, is phenomenal, and unlike other explosive weapons, the Torque Bow maintains this accuracy even over extreme ranges. It is also a viciously effective close-combat weapon; the large, scythe-like blades on the Torque Bow's forward limbs enable it to be used in devastating melee attacks, making the Torque Bow second only to the Chainsaw Bayonet in melee strength.
The Torque Bow's primary weakness is its low ammunition capacity - it launches only a single bolt at a time, and is rather slow to reload. A secondary, but far more crippling, weakness is that the motor and magnetic coil take time to charge - an uncharged (or undercharged) Torque Bow bolt will fall short or fail to penetrate the target, resulting in shots that generally fail to kill the intended recipient. When charging, the Torque Bow emits a distinctive whining (from the magnetic coils) and whirring (from the rotational system), giving an audible clue to all nearby that a Torque Bow is being charged. Additionally, a charged Torque Bow emits a bright light from the inside of the barrel as the weapon charges, making an easy target for foes, especially in dark locations.
It is worth noting that the Torque Bow eschews the electric-optical sights used by the Lancer and Hammerburst and has no iron sights, instead using a laser sighting device to target. This device is a mixed blessing; it makes it easy to see how charged the weapon is, allowing one to used undercharged shots to fire around corners or obstacles, and allowing accurate targeting in mid-ranged firefights. However, this targeting system takes time and patience to master, which can generally result in a lot of missed shots if misused. This sighting system necessitates precision aiming for quality shots, which means that the user must expose himself - barrel glowing brightly - to fire a shot off and, furthermore, has a time limit to do this in due to the Torque Bow firing automatically if fully-charged for too long. Because of this, the Torque Bow is a weapon that takes time and practice to make the most of - and a weapon whose users are favored targets for snipers and marksmen using Hammerbursts. At maximum charge, the Torque Bow can easily take off someone's head.
The Torque Bow is a Locust weapon. The elite Theron Guards use it as they consider it a more honorable weapon, it requires skill on the part of the user and yields more "bang for your buck" when used properly. The Torque Bow, though a thoroughly modern weapon, makes numerous nods to archaic weapons throughout human history. The Hollow of the planet was used as a dumping ground for hundreds of years by humanity, and the Locust salvaged much of this. The Torque Bow is cobbled together from spare parts, and it became a favorite for hunting food while in the Hollow.
The design itself is reminiscent of a crossbow, with the large limbs and distinct magnetic acceleration system of the Torque Bow only adding to this. A natural progression of applying a technologically-advanced means to improve an ancient design, the Torque Bow's unique setup truly differentiates it from other weapons, and shows a level of sophistication amongst Locust technology rarely seen, as most Locust equipment is designed for firepower and reliability above all else.
The Torque Bow should be used in any mid to long range fights. It fires a highly explosive bolt. Once the bolt makes contact with a surface, it will explode within seconds. When found, this weapon should be picked up, as it is extremely useful in almost every situation. In the final Act of Gears of War, this weapon is recommended as it can scatter the Kryll that surround General RAAM. A suggested way of firing when fighting RAAM is to hold the right trigger before aiming, so one doesn't have to wait while out of cover to charge. If you hold the fire button long enough, you can make the bolt explode right when the Kryll are going back to RAAM, dealing RAAM damage, and scattering the Kryll at the same time.
In Gears of War 2, a Torque Bow bolt will cause instant decapitation upon hitting the head of an enemy. The bolt will carry away the victim's head and pin it to the next surface it hits before exploding. Headshots with this weapon are extremely powerful and are able to kill many of the larger Locust, such as Boomers, Grinders, and Kantus, with a single shot to the head, which usually takes around 2-3 shots with the Longshot Sniper Rifle, even if you achieve a Perfect Reload. Perfectly aligned (taking into account bolt arc), it is possible to get multiple headshots with one bolt. In Gears of War, the Torque Bow could kill almost any enemy in one shot. This included the Berserker (while it's vulnerable), the Boomer, and a Reaver. It takes more than one bolt to kill each in Gears of War 2 (except the Berserker since there weren't any). In Horde Mode, the Torque Bow should always be aimed at the head of Boomers, Kantus, and much more powerful foes.
In Multiplayer, this weapon is extremely powerful. If used correctly, it can kill any enemy in a single shot. Even if the reload is missed but shot correctly, this weapon can still take out any enemy. However, this weapon should be used with extreme caution, as the targeting system is very confusing at first and can lead to suicides often. A disadvantage to the user of this weapon can be their online position in a match. The host of a match can fire this weapon as they would in local single player, though people connecting to this host will have to deal with latency.
Skilled players with the Torque Bow are capable of firing under-charged bolts around corners, bouncing them off one player and into something behind them, or sticking the bolt on top of thin cover just above a crouched player. This last skill shot is extremely tricky but, if pulled off, can lead the covered player to believe they are safe, since the bolt hit the cover and not them, before killing them. Another technique, which does not require as much skill, but is less likely to succeed, is to shoot the ground next to a player behind cover at piercing velocity. With an active reload shot, this move can sometimes kill the player in one hit.
In the Gears of War 2 Multiplayer Demo, it was shown the Torque Bow had its own execution move. The player puts the weapon's blade on the victim's neck, holding the head in place, and brings their foot down onto the head, decapitating the unfortunate downed player.
In Gears of War 2, if you shoot an enemy in the head, it will count as a headshot. Also, when you shoot an enemy's head, the head is removed from its body with the bolt still attached to it, and when it hits the nearest object, it will explode.
The Torque Bow is a great all-round weapon against Locust enemies in Horde. With its long range and ability to stick to opponents, it can easily down tougher enemies such as Boomers, Grinders, Bloodmounts, and Maulers. It is not recommended you use it against Kantus priests. They will often see it charging and will roll to the side when it is fired at them. Make every shot count; ammo is limited and hard to find until the later levels where Theron Guards and Palace Guards are plentiful. Ammo can be picked up from ammo boxes, however.
Changes in Gears of War 2
In terms of appearance, the Torque Bow looks very similar to the original with an improved, more detailed look from the new graphics engine. One noticeable difference is that a bolt is actually shown loaded in the weapon because a tip is shown sticking out of the end of the chamber.
The sound effects for the Torque Bow are also mostly the same. The weapon's charging, firing, and melee sound effects are all identical, if not slightly enhanced. The bolt piercing and explosion sound effects are also similar. One slight difference is that swinging the Torque Bow will generate the blade-slicing sound effect regardless of whether it actually connected with a surface or target. Also, the melee attack actually does more damage than a regular melee because of its sharp edges, making it the second strongest melee weapon in the game, behind the Lancer's chainsaw.
The firing mechanics are also extremely similar. This time, however, the reticule turned from a small circle to a new, rectangular design. This makes it much easier to see when the Torque Bow is charged with enough force for the bolt to penetrate a surface. The Torque Bow seems to take slightly longer to charge in the sequel, however. One new interesting feature is that the Torque Bow's perfect active reload now gives it the ability to automatically release the bolt as soon as it is charged enough for penetration. This allows for much greater precision, letting the wielder simply track a target while the bow shoots the bolt on its own. The new Torque Bow is also capable of making a 'headshot', piercing and removing the head if it is shot correctly. It should be noted that the bolt will explode even if it does not pierce, making it a makeshift grenade of sorts, and that if it remains fully charged for too long, it will fire on its own, whether you want it to or not, so watch where you aim. If you do shoot a bolt and it pierces the head, the bolt will keep going until it hits something, giving the player a chance for two kills with one bolt. There was a major change in the damage the weapon does: in Gears of War, the bolt could kill anything from a Boomer to a Reaver in one shot, while in Gears of War 2, the damage was lowered and it now takes 2 or 3 shots to kill a Boomer, and 4 to 5 shots to kill a Reaver. The Torque Bow is the most powerful weapon in the game in Gears of War 2 when it comes to headshots, even beating the sniper rifle as it can even kill Boomers and possibly Bloodmounts with a single bolt through the head.
The Torque bow is carried by Theron Guards and is dropped when they are killed and can subsequently be picked up by a Gear along with three bolts. Soldiers carrying a Torque Bow can't access their other weapons, but the bow can be dropped at any time. The bows have two firing modes, a direct shot that can do massive damage if it hits, and an indirect shot functionally similar to the Frag Grenade, but limited the bow's ammo rather than a cooldown.
Behind the scenes
- The Torque Bow was originally going to be given to the Locust Hunter, but was later given to the Theron Guards to make them more deadly. The Hunter was then given a Gnasher Shotgun and would become the Grenadier. It was also going to be wrist-mounted, but this was changed for animation purposes.
- In Gears of War 2, a strange glitch will cause a Torque Bow bolt to get "stuck" in the player's character model. It will not explode, or even smoke, and appears to remain in place until the player dies. It will not appear to other players.
- In Gears of War 3, when aiming the Torque Bow at a Boom Shield, the targeting beam will actually show where the bolt will ricochet off the shield.
- In Gears of War 3, Clayton Carmine uses the Torque Bow as his primary weapon during the campaign.
- In Gears of War 4, a Torque Bow bolt will automatically explode if it hits the shield of a Guardian or Sentinel.
- It was ranked Number 4 on Gears of War's "Top 5 Weapons."
- Torque Bow bolts can close Emergence Holes and Swarm Nests.
- When getting a headshot with the weapon, the bolt drags the head until it hits a wall or object. Upon impact and detonation, the bolt will go straight through, thus causing the enemy's head to burst.
- Sticking an enemy with a Torque Bow bolt does a small amount of damage to that enemy, which can kill them before the subsequent explosion if they are on low health. This is more likely to occur in Campaign or Horde against enemies that can't be downed.
- In real life, applying rotational force to a projectile decreases the amount of kinetic energy transferred to an object, as some energy is expended in rotating the object. This would, however, make the projectile more accurate.
- Torque Bow bolts will ricochet off of allies in Gears of War 4 multiplayer, even if friendly fire is enabled. The trajectory of said ricochet is seen when aiming the weapon at an ally when charging.
- Despite the bolt having an Imulsion tip and the weapon itself having an Imulsion-based mechanism it still appears fully functional in Gears of War 4 despite Imulsion no longer existing. The weapon does, however, have some sparking effects when charged and fired as well as a different sound effect, so it could be that the weapon can still operate without Imulsion or was modified to work without it.
- The Torque Bow is used by the Theron Guard to assist RAAM in killing Sraak.
- Gears of War: Judgment
- Gears Tactics
- RAAM's Shadow
- Gears of War (First appearance)
- Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
- Midnight (Appears in flashback(s))
- Gears of War 2
- Gears of War 3
- Gears of War 4
- Gears 5
- Gears of War - Official Site
- http://gearsforums.epicgames.com/showpost.php?p=7826629&postcount=83-- CliffyB on the Torque Bow, Official Gears forums


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Replica Spanish carpet of the eighteenth century of Alcaraz with a density of the order of 120,000 knots m2. These carpets reproduce designs of the old Spanish carpets that were woven in the provinces of Cuenca and Albacete mainly during centuries XV and XVI, of famous fame throughout Europe at this time and whose origin is very related to the Islamic past of the territories of production of the same. The one that we present is knotted by hand in Egypt with wool of the best quality and great profusion of knots.
* This carpet is knotted / hand-woven and therefore there may be differences in shape, thickness, pattern and size.
** The carpet colors will be perceived differently depending on the viewing angle.
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Plazo de entrega entre 3 - 10 dias habiles.
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*Para mas informacion consulte nuestras condiciones de venta


26. October 2010 17:02
I read in the ENDS Daily yesterday, something that I can’t see happening here. The German government changed its policy on energy taxation in order to “secure jobs”.
Instead of taxing energy intensive sectors, emerging from the worst recession in decades, the coalition government is proposing an increase in tobacco duty.
Plans to introduce a five fold increase of the energy tax were significantly scaled back, along with keeping a reduced rate of the tax to a minimum for the most energy intensive sectors.
Do you think that HM Treasury were thinking about “securing jobs”, when it decided to keep the CRC revenue, rather than recycle it back to businesses and schools, or indeed increase the amount of Climate Change Levy that businesses will pay from April 2012.
When I meet my German, or for that matter, Japanese colleagues, they are astonished how little, compared to their governments, the UK supports industries making primary materials.
Of course, there is a despaired need for global GHG emissions to be cut and cut soon, but governments must acknowledge that in order to achieve this, we need a strong, vibrant and investing manufacturing sector here in the UK.


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If you’re in the business of apparel, you should invest in a Countertop Female Jersey Form! This amazing model made from jersey material will help display blouses, tanks, and other fashion tops. A great investment for seamstresses that create their own fashions. Sturdy maple base helps keep your counter form exactly where you need it. Purchase yours today.
- Maple base
- Jersey Material

domain: design


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BANKING group Royal Bank of Scotland has launched a customer charter for clients of its RBS and NatWest branches.
The group, which has branches under the NatWest and RBS names across Kirklees, said the charter set out “the things that really matter to customers and what they have a right to expect from the bank”.
RBS said the views of more than 30,000 customers were condensed into the 14-point charter. The progress made against each promise will be monitored by customers each year and the results made transparent in an independent audit by Deloitte and published every six months.
Highlights include early morning and late night opening in 200 branches by the end of the year; serving the majority of customers queuing in branches within five minutes; and a pledge to stay open for business if RBS/ NatWest is the last bank in town and consider a range of options to ensure a local banking service is available.
The bank has also shared the charter with consumer organisations including the Citizens Advice Bureau, Consumer Focus and Money Advice Trust.
Brian Hartzer, bank chief executive, said: “We had a searing experience as a business and are thankful we were rescued. We have since taken stock on how we do things. There’s a lot we do well for customers, but we can do more and we want to change. This won’t happen overnight, but the customer charter is our pledge that we are on the case and will be held to account against the progress we make.”

domain: finance


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Avid amateur photographer Achim Mittler from Frankfurt, Germany, has been taking pictures for more than 50 years.
When he's not off on a "camera safari" photographing wildlife he puts a macro lens on his camera and captures beautiful images of flowers in his small backyard garden.
All photos © Achim Mittler/Getty Images
Center of eastern purple coneflower.
Mittler began his love of photography in 1966 with a Kodak Instamatic 25 film camera and worked his way up to a Mamiya ZE-X and Contax 159 mm. After taking a "break" from his hobby (all of his equipment was stolen) in the 90's, he returned to photography with digital cameras.
Busy Lizzie after rain with droplets.
Withered basil with black background.
Blooming griffith's spurge.
Narrow focus on petal edges.
Detail of eastern purple coneflower.
Clematis seeds on dark background.
Dandelion after bloom with curly petals.
Heart of orange dahlia.
Brown and yellow crocus bud with droplets.
Opening blossom of Ground Morning Glory.
Seed of White Wood Aster.
Colorful center of blanketflower.
Petals of flower.
Single purple crocus on black background.
Yellow-red tulip with single leaf.
For more of Achim Mittler's photos, visit his Flickr page.


Auburndale's historic City Hall getting laborious facelift
AUBURNDALE — For 91 years, Auburndale’s stately yellow brick and cast stone City Hall has been at the nucleus of downtown.
But by last summer, the two-story, Italian renaissance revival building was showing symptoms of its advancing age, chiefly on the less-visible back side. Problems on the roof, mostly near the open-arched belfry, were causing unseen structural damage.
“You can see a lot of plaster has melted in the second floor of the rotunda,” Community Development Director Amy Palmer told city commissioners during a July 24, 2017, meeting while she was describing rainwater intrusion issues that had been ongoing since the hurricanes of 2004.
The rotunda, which serves as a foyer on both the first and second floors, features eight 17-inch-wide plastered columns rising to meet five-layer crown molding, also made of plaster.
Commissioners OK’d spending up to $200,000, with half of it coming from a Florida Department of State grant, on exterior repairs. Most of the money would pay to fix the roof, replace flashing and repair what was then unassessed structural damage near the second-floor restrooms. Any money left over would go toward repointing the exterior bricks — a labor-intensive process of digging out the old grout and re-mortaring it.
The city contracted with the low bidder, Peachee Construction of Lakeland, but before work could start, Hurricane Irma pummeled the city. At City Hall, the driving rain infiltrated into the decaying mortar around the bricks, causing even more damage.
“After Irma, our city was a mess,” Mayor Tim Pospichal said. “The first thing (City Manager) Bobby Green did was get the streets cleaned, then Downtown Park. After a disaster, the minute we know we can have normal activities, we know we will make it.
“The evening after the hurricane, my wife and I went downtown to walk our dog — like we do most evenings — and Downtown Park was full of kids, playing. People had gathered there, and it made life seem normal.”
Pospichal, 59, whose family moved to Auburndale in 1972, said, “What has kept our city cohesive is understanding the importance of our downtown area. We are very proud of our downtown.”
City Hall, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2013, sits at an angle on Bobby Green Plaza and across East Park Street from Downtown Park. Only a block away, across the green space of Downtown Park and the adjacent Depot Centennial Park, sits the Civic Center, the Auburndale Senior Center and the Parks and Recreation Department.
“That park has always been there, in one form or another, for well over 100 years,” Pospichal said. “It’s where the first train station was.”
Over the decades, as the city grew to its current 16,000 residents, most departments and services were moved out of City Hall into roomier spaces but all remain downtown, most within easy walking distance.
Keeping services close to City Hall has helped the downtown area stay vibrant, Pospichal said.
The original layout
Beverly Scott, 79, remembers City Hall of the 1940s looking much as it does now on the outside, but with a different array of services inside.
She recalls loving to go to the library, housed in what is now City Manager Bobby Green’sthe city manager's office, and checking out Nancy Drew books before trotting across the rotunda to climb the steep, winding staircase to the third-floor belfry for a lingering look over the town. (Green said he closed off access to the belfry years ago because of safety issues.)
Scott, who has written two books on the history of Auburndale, “Footprints in the Past” and “Images of America Auburndale," recalls the volunteer fire department operating out of the first floor-wing that now houses Palmer’s office and the Community Development Department.
The fire department had one paid employee and since he could not be there around the clock, the city paid her brother, Earnest Mercer, then a teenager, “I believe it was 50 cents a night” to sleep at the fire station.
“There were not many phones in the early 1940s and people would drive or run to the fire station to say there is a fire,” Scott said. “He would set off the alarm and all the volunteer firefighters would rush to City Hall to find out where the fire was. They would get the fire truck and be on their way.”
The fire department moved out of City Hall in 1954 but the French-style doors to the fire bay remained until a renovation in the 1980s, she said.
And, Scott recalls the city commission chambers serving double duty as the municipal courtroom. Before or after court, defendants could find themselves locked up in a tiny jail, a flat-roof room on the back side of City Hall. “I remember we kids would stand outside the window and talk to whoever was in the cell,” she said.
When workers disassembled the walls behind the second-floor restrooms last winter, they discovered water-damaged framing, said Craig Lear, city building inspector. Scuppers had to be replaced to improve the drainage system from the belfry and off the roof. There were also problem areas on some flat-roof sections that needed reflective roof coverings. As work went on, more problems were discovered.
Fortunately, insurance and Irma-related payment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is picking up some of the additional costs, Palmer said.
Total cost for the project, which a year ago was budgeted at $200,000, has risen to $330,000, Palmer said. But the scope of the project has changed.
“We want to do it right so City Hall stands for another 100 years,” she said.
Once the contractor had erected the extensive network of scaffolding, the company came back with an offer to repoint and tuck all the bricks on the building for the price in the original bid, $13.50 per square foot, Palmer said.
“We had to take advantage of that price; we could never get a price like that again,” Palmer said.
Peachee Construction's bid last year was far below the three competing bids — with prices ranging from Peachee's $13.50 up to $35.60 a square foot.
“The scaffolding was a challenge,” Peachee’s site supervisor Mike Feagle said. “There were bushes and landscaping to protect as we erected it. Then, we had to wrap it around the belfry and diagonally brace it on the roof. Everywhere we worked, there was new challenge.”
But, Feagle said, “I love to get creative. It’s a harder job but it’s always fun when you get to the top of the mountain.”
The workers faced other challenges. The most time-consuming part of the work is cleaning out the old mortar around each brick — it can take five to six hours to do a 10-foot by 10-foot section, Feagle said.
There’s cornices and cast stones to work around, seams, and unexpected repairs to woodwork, Feagle said.
Replacing the mortar goes faster, but finding the exact color match and the best mortar for the job was another challenge. The city and contractor settled on a U.S. Heritage Group’s high-lime mortar individually color-matched for historic buildings. Over time, as the mortar is exposed to rain, it gets harder and harder, Feagle said.
After the re-mortaring is done, workers brush a cleaner over the bricks, which removes the haze and “gets rid of the biologicals,” Lear said. “It keeps cleaning for months and does not harm the landscaping.”
Building City Hall
In the mid-to-late 1920s, Auburndale was in the midst of the great Florida land boom. The population had more than doubled since the 1920 U.S. census counted 715 residents. There was scant evidence of the pending 1929 stock market crash and the upcoming years of the Great Depression.
With two rail lines intersecting in Auburndale, the Seaboard Air Line and Atlantic Coast, the town was a transportation center for agriculture, including citrus, strawberry and ornamental fern crops, according to the city’s 2013 application requesting City Hall be added to the National Register of Historic Places. Four packing houses employed 2,000 workers in the September-May seasons, and tourism was growing. Water sports and the Ariana Yacht Club were attracting visitors year-round, the application said.
In 1926, the City Council hired architect Roland C. Buckley of Lakeland to design a city hall building and Paul H. Smith to build it. Work was completed in 1928. The central rotunda-belfry was flanked by two wings, nearly mirror images with tall, narrow windows, arched doorways and architectural details that include elaborate cornices and wide, overhanging eaves with decorative brackets.
When the real estate bubble burst, several land developers who owned citrus property inside the city limits defaulted on loans, the application said. In a creative move that kept the city financially afloat, the city took ownership of the groves and allowed residents to earn hourly credits toward working off their taxes. That, and keeping the profit from selling fruit, enabled the city to keep paying the bonds on its new City Hall and new municipal water system and continue its street-paving program.
The maneuver cushioned Auburndale’s economy from the worst of the Great Depression, the applications said. When conditions were better, the city sold off the groves at a profit.
“The original blueprints include plans to double the size of City Hall,” Lear said. Although the blueprints show a beautiful building, “to do what they had planned, it would cost millions now. It is not doable.”
Over the decades, there have been a few structural changes. At some point, the original barrel tiles on the roof were replaced with asphalt shingles. Probably the most noticeable changes came in 1988 when, according to The Ledger news articles, the doors to what originally was the firetruck bay were removed and the area bricked over, a handicapped-access ramp was built to the front entrance, an elevator was installed in the rotunda and the original windows were replaced.
“In the 1980s, the upstairs was all storage except for the Commission Chambers,” Green said. “This was before all the files had been computerized and the City Clerk had boxes and boxes of files sitting on sturdy tables that looked like they were built just to hold files.”
The files were cleared away and the room was turned into the city manager’s office, Green said.
The exterior renovations have been slowed by spring rains but once completed city officials plan to start interior renovations. Perhaps the most challenging part will be finding a plasterer skilled in historic renovations to repair damages to the second-floor rotunda, Palmer said.
Marilyn Meyer can be reached at email@example.com.


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ORANGE, Carolyn Cavecche, President, CEO, Orange County Taxpayers Association, mayor of Orange: Californians are already taxed to death. Across the board we have some of the highest tax rates in the nation. But that’s still not enough for Sacramento. In a few weeks, voters will go to the polls to face a mountain of tax-increase propositions. At the top of the ballot will be Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Brown’s $50 billion tax increase that is supposed to raise money for education. But, as the California School Board Association has said, Prop. 30 “does not provide new funding for schools.”
Proponents are calling Prop. 30 the “millionaire’s tax,” to try and sway your vote. But Prop. 30 affects everyone, no matter what your tax bracket is. Prop. 30 raises sales taxes by $1 billion per year, making the nation’s highest state sales-tax rate even higher. That tax burden will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. When Californians go shopping, they will feel the sting in their pockets as they pay more money for everyday needs.
Prop. 30 targets small businesses and exempts big corporations. Nearly 4 million small businesses file their taxes as individuals, not as corporations. Small-business owners face up to a 30 percent increase in income taxes if Prop. 30 passes. As a result, owners will have to cut jobs, reduce salaries or, even worse, move their companies to a state where it’s less costly to do business.
Simply put – California cannot afford another tax increase. Prop. 30 guarantees no new money for schools and contains no reforms. Instead of raising taxes, we need to focus on creating jobs, controlling spending and eliminating bureaucracy and waste. Vote “No on Prop. 30.”
Don’t be fooled by Orange’s Measure FF
ORANGE, Hilarie Moore: Measure FF is intended to fool voters into thinking they’re voting to maintain beautiful open space in Orange. The “open spaces” areRidgeline Country Club and the Sully-Miller quarry [“Orange Measure FF: Yes,” Editorial, Sept. 19].
In its heyday, Ridgeline was a funky little family tennis and golf club, with a ramshackle clubhouse and small swimming pool. It was a fun place to take your kids for swimming lessons or to play a quick round of golf. Since its closure in 2007, it’s no more than a deserted dust bowl, with weeds growing in the tennis courts and a golf course stripped of grass.
Do not be fooled by a “No” vote on FF. These are not beautiful open spaces, nor will they ever be. Ridgeline has been available to be restored to its prior splendor for years, and no one has, or will, step up to make that happen. It’s not economically feasible. And who will build a park on the Sully-Miller site? Not Orange. The city uses that site to grind the asphalt from their own projects – cheaper than sending it off to Riverside or Chino where it belongs.
If JMI Real Estate is willing to commit to “20 times the parkland required by the city” as stated in your editorial, then it looks like a win-win situation for all involved.
Vote “Yes” on Measure FF.
Costa Mesa’s Measure V is a city council power play
COSTA MESA, James H. Bridges: Many governments will closely watch skirmishes involved in Costa Mesa’s dreaded proposed charter Measure V. The Costa Mesa council majority has sided against its own citizens and employees. The council’s totalitarian approach was to inform these people that they will be subjected to the consequences of a proposed charter granting themselves even more power.
Since the council has decided they are smarter than everyone else, we should stop insulting their superior intelligence with blather about what many people believe is best for our city. After all, the great and powerful council majority has already decided, and will increasingly decide, what is best for us all so we don’t have to think for ourselves and suffer the consequences of our ignorance.
Even though this unsolicited proposal was forced onto the November ballot (with minimal public or city employee input) it has cost the city considerable embarrassment, time, money, morale, lawsuits, etc. In the council’s minds, voters don’t have to have this “Frankenstein” proposed charter – we get to vote for it.
The council is arrogantly expecting voters to be thankful and smart enough to understand that the council knows what is best.
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A Pre-foreclosure is a situation where a default loan has taken place; hence the lender has begun a judicial or non-judicial proceeding. The property becomes subject to foreclosure. Pre-foreclosures still belong to the owner.
Pre-foreclosure is sometimes known as Lis Pendens (lawsuit pending) in states that conduct judicial proceedings. To avoid losing their homes to foreclosure, and losing their equity and damaging their credit, troubled homeowners would always prefer to sell their homes as quickly as possible, at a very low price. The foreclosure rate is soaring in most areas of the country presenting incredible opportunities for pre-foreclosure real estate investors! There are a number of ways the informed real estate investor can profit from homes facing foreclosure and one of the most lucrative is the pre-foreclosure.
There is less competition in buying pre-foreclosures than there is when buying at foreclosure auctions. Some people do not know how to find pre-foreclosure or probate property opportunities, and some people fear dealing and negotiating with lenders.
Stopping a foreclosure helps to save the owner’s credit rating, help lenders to recover their money and also helps you in getting a profitable deal.
There is no single law or procedure covering all foreclosures in the United States. Each federal and local government agency applies different rules. However, learning this procedure is not difficult, and once you go through buying a pre-foreclosure home, then you are in the game forever!
Find loans in default. You can do this by checking Lis Pendens in your county through: www.realtybargains.com
Get access to pre-foreclosure leads and grab the opportunity while it exists!


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Double Fine Adventure console version to be exclusive to the Ouya
That's right. Double Fine have made a deal to make sure that the Ouya is the only console that their extremely successful Kickstarter project Double Fine Adventure will appear on.
This isn't the only Double Fine title which will be appearing on the Ouya. Ron Gilbert's first Double Fine game The Cave and their upcoming title Reds will also make an appearance on the new Android-based console due out in June.
The Double Fine Adventure managed to raise over 3 million USD on Kickstarter and began an avalanche of developers turning to the crowd sourcing platform to fund projects from Obsidian to Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts and even Frontier for Elite: Dangerous.
It will still appear on Steam for Mac and PC as well as Android and iOS phones and tablets.
- Thomas Was Alone gets a release date for PS4 and Wii U
- New Warframe update adds space-flight to the gameplay with Archwing mode
- New poll indicates that people believe online gaming is “the least welcoming space” for women
- CD Projekt RED releases The Trail, the opening cinematic from The Witcher 3
- New Project CARS trailer pulls up to the starting grid
- Far Cry 4 dev says linear games will suffer in the new world of gameplay video sharing
- Almost 1,100 developers, students and journalists sign the new #gamediversity petition embracing diversity in games
- Felicia Day breaks her silence about #Gamergate, is almost immediately doxxed
- Ubisoft announces PC specs for Assassin's Creed: Unity and they're killer

domain: game


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EDINBURG — A doctor here is poised to be the next president of the Texas Medical Association, an advocacy group that represents more than 53,000 doctors and medical students across the state.
The Texas Medical Association (TMA) board unanimously elected Dr. E. Linda Villarreal, an Edinburg internist, as president-elect. Villarreal will serve in that capacity for a year, as is customary for the organization, before taking over as president next year.
“I am so proud to be recognized as a leader in our organization,” she said in a news release Tuesday.
When Villarreal takes over as president, she will become the third Rio Grande Valley physician elected to serve as president in the organization’s 167-year history.
The late Starr County physician Mario E. Ramirez was the first to serve as president from 1979-80. Then 38 years later, Edinburg gastroenterologist Carlos J. Cardenas was elected to serve from 2017 to 2018.
Villarreal has been a member of the organization for 31 years and has served in various capacities, including chair of the board of trustees and district vice chair of the association’s political action committee, TEXPAC.
But, she’s also held leadership roles closer to home, having served as chief of staff at Edinburg Regional Medical Center, president of the Hidalgo-Starr County Medical Society, and president of the TMA-affiliated Border Health Caucus.
“Texas is changing. Medicine is changing,” she said. “We must adapt to it. We owe this to those who have come before us and for those who will be coming after.”
But despite the changes, a patient’s access to care continues to be a priority for herself and the organization, she said.
“(I) look forward to continuing my work, my passion, and my energy for the continued protection of access to health care for all Texans in the way we have all been taught to practice medicine,” Villarreal said.
The Edinburg native attended Pan American College for one year before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin, where she completed her undergraduate studies. She spent 10 years as a pharmacist before returning to school and earning her medical degree from Universidad de Noreste Medical School in Tampico, Mexico.
She then completed her internal medicine residency at Texas Tech Regional Academic Health Science Center in El Paso, and has been active in a number of charities, including Easter Seals, the Hope Medical Clinic, the Arthritis Foundation, and the Heart Association.

domain: medical


Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias arrived in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa on Sunday afternoon. The minister delivered humanitarian aid to the city’s municipal authorities and visited the Greek Consulate in the city where he met with representatives of the ethnic Greek community. The minister expressed the full support of the Greek government to the Greek community and discussed the challenges created by the Russian invasion.
“Visit to the Filiki Etaireia (Society of Friends) Museum where I laid flowers on the Monument to the Oath of the Filikoi,” said Dendias in a statement uploaded to social media after visiting historic sites that are closely interwoven with Greek history, including the museum of the Filiki Etaireia, the secret society founded in Odessa in 1814 and which played a decisive role in the start of the 1821-29 Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire.
Dendias arrived in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau on Sunday ahead of his visit to the Odessa where he will also establish a permanent mechanism of delivering aid to the region.


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Cloud computing has been a growing trend amongst both enterprises and SMEs for some time now and it's unlikely to be going away any time soon.
To learn more about the current and future trends of cloud in the SME sector, we spoke to Adrian Ah-Chin-Kow, EMEA Director for SMB & Cloud Services Platform at Insight UK.
- What is Insight UK up to at the moment?
Insight is founded on offering choice, value and availability to our customers and we don’t intend to walk away from what has made us successful. Over the last 12 months, we have focused on deploying a range of cloud services as we believe in the long run, many customers will realise the benefits of cloud and move more off premise or to a more hybrid approach.
For a number of years, cloud services have been available, but paid for through traditional licensing agreements. Currently we are in the process of launching a system by which our clients can buy from us on a per user per monthly basis. This means they will only pay for what they consume. We also offer the suites of products, like Office 365, but are providing our own range of Managed Services to give support options to SMEs. By outsourcing the management and support of their IT to ourselves, SMEs can focus more time on their core business values and it’s the day to day running.
- What current trends are you seeing in cloud adoption among SMEs?
What we are seeing is what we have seen all year – but it is accelerating.
People are realising cloud is nothing new, and businesses have been using cloud services for many years. For example using a Hotmail account to receive emails. The technology has always been a hosted cloud solution.
However, cloud adoption has really accelerated in the last year as more mainstream mass-market applications come into play. Organisations are moving away from Microsoft office on premise, to off premise solutions like Microsoft office 365. This rise in off-premise popularity is because it gives all the functionality business are used to from the past decade of technology solutions, but it allows SMEs to move more into the cloud, which can then be accessed anywhere and from a range of devices.
Businesses understand employees don’t need to be tethered to their desk to be productive.
- Of the SMEs that haven't yet made the move to cloud, what are the main issues holding them back?
Nothing is holding them back, other than a lack of understanding of how easy it is to move into the cloud and how low risk it is. There is a responsibility of the IT industry to de-mystify the cloud, as all the cloud is, is the next stage in the evolution of how businesses use IT.
Historically, while you may have been able to move workloads into the cloud, there was still often only traditional ways of buying these solutions via annual upfront payments – which can hinder an organisation’s choice to go off-premise. Now, new economics of how SMEs can pay for what they consume as the cloud can scale up and down according to demand, means increasingly there are less and less barriers to SMEs moving to the cloud.
- Is business continuity an issue when integrating with cloud solutions and, if so, what can companies do to minimise the risks?
Business continuity is generally not an issue when moving into proven public cloud solutions as resilience is already built into the solution. Looking at global powerhouses like Microsoft Azure, they invested billions into fault resilience and developing scalable solutions. And while outages are incredibly rare, businesses offer service credits for downtime so people can be assured in the very unlikely event of an outage, they are covered.
The only area where people should be mindful is if they are investing in a smaller, independent provider who has built their own datacentre. In those circumstances, it is worth asking questions as to the resilience of the platform.
Also, there will always be the question around security, but from this design and resilience perspective, these solutions are built to the highest global standards. Effectively a customer will be subscribing to a quality of service that they couldn’t economically attain if they were looking to install it onto their own premises.
- What are the main benefits that cloud solutions offer to SMEs and larger enterprises?
The predominant benefit from investing in cloud solutions is that they are scalable. If a business is growing – or wants to grow and become more agile – SMEs need to invest well ahead of the growth curve so they don’t max out their data storage capability. Cloud use grows in line with the business and means SMEs don’t have to upgrade their systems ahead of growth and end up maintaining capacity they don’t yet need.
Additionally, investing in cloud solutions means SMEs gain access to enterprise grade, very well invested in architecture - and someone else is responsible keeping it running!
- The UK is currently leading the way in terms of SME cloud adoption. Why do you think this is and what can vendors do to ensure the trend continues?
Britain, for many years, has had a very strong flare for entrepreneurialism and our business-centric society tends to proactively search for smarter ways of doing things. Making businesses smarter and more nimble has long been at the forefront, and embedded within our business culture is looking first and foremost as to what technology can do to accelerate this.
IT is adding the most readily impactful approach to supporting this. Now, as businesses understand and can identify what exactly it is they want, we have seen the radical increase in speed of cloud implementation. This is not only due to the rate of the innovation of applications, but it is also about changing the economic model of the way those services are offered. Pay-as-you-go capabilities have supported SMEs in being more agile and smarter about how they run their businesses.
- What future cloud adoption trends do you expect to see in the next few months?
Clearly we expect to see adoption accelerate along the same core paths, but as customers begin to feel more comfortable with the cloud, and move more applications offsite, more clients will shift focus to solutions such as disaster recovery held in the cloud and Backup-as-a-Service. We can also expect to see the emergence of, not only, more application software delivered via cloud solutions, but increased delivery of the support services that wrap around them.
Now people are accepting and consuming cloud as part of their IT strategy – the “vanilla” part of cloud computing - is complete, businesses like Insight will increasingly add more value by creating the services that surround it.
Photo Credit: RPeshkova/Shutterstock