On Feb 26, 2003, Carlo Urbani, an infectious diseases specialist in WHO\'s country office in Vietnam, was called to the French Hospital in Hanoi to examine a grievously ill Chinese-American businessman. Johnny Chen had been admitted with severe breathing difficulties shortly after stepping off a flight from Hong Kong and was being nursed in intensive care, where x-rays revealed ominous shadows on his lungs. Fearing Chen had a virulent form of avian influenza, Urbani convinced the Vietnamese authorities to quarantine the hospital and made staff wear high-filter masks and double gowns. But the tests for avian influenza were negative and by the end of the week, 14 doctors and nurses were ill with the same respiratory symptoms as Chen. Urbani did not realise it, but he was dealing with a virus that was entirely new to medical science. Within days, the disease had spread to five other countries and WHO had given it a name: severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). A few weeks later, WHO would identify SARS as a new type of coronavirus, but by then both Chen and Urbani were dead and many other health workers across the globe had also been infected.

In 2018, recognising that a "serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease", WHO added a new category to its emergency priority list: Disease X. In the taxonomy of knowledge, Disease X corresponds to what the former US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld infamously termed an "unknown unknown". A classic example is HIV, the virus now known to be the cause of AIDS but which, in 1980, when doctors began treating the first patients with AIDS, had never been seen to cause disease in humans.

However, AIDS was not the first time a previously unknown pathogen had caught scientists unaware. In 1976, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had been baffled by an outbreak of atypical pneumonia at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia, PA, USA. At first, the CDC was convinced the outbreak at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel was caused by a new swine influenza virus and convinced the Ford administration to vaccinate millions of Americans. Then, when swine influenza was ruled out, they wondered whether the Legionnaires had been poisoned with phosgene gas or a toxic metal. In fact, the culprit was a tiny bacterium, *Legionella pneumophila*, that thrives in aquatic environments, including the cooling towers of hotels. In the case of the Bellevue-Stratford, the organism had most likely been aerosolised by the hotel\'s antiquated air conditioning system. Later, it was realised the bacterium had been the cause of earlier outbreaks at other institutions, but because scientists lacked an appropriate stain for the organism, the outbreaks had never been solved.

© 2019 Goran Tomasevic/Reuters2019Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company\'s public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.

Given the history of microbiology and that the past century has been littered with similar missed alarms, the only wonder is that WHO did not think to coin the term Disease X sooner. From the 1918 "Spanish" influenza pandemic---initially blamed on a bacterium rather than a virus---to the 1930 "parrot fever" pandemic, which was initially thought to be typhoid until it was discovered that parrots and parakeets harboured a tiny bacterium, *Chlamydia psittaci*, which when inhaled could cause a deadly pneumonia, to the epidemics of Ebola virus disease and Zika virus infection in the 21st century, medical confidence has been repeatedly rocked by unexpected outbreaks of infectious disease.

This is not simply because, as is sometimes argued, microbes are constantly mutating and evolving, outstripping our ability to keep pace with their shifting genetics and transmission patterns. It is also because of the tendency of medical researchers to become prisoners of particular scientific models and theories of disease causation, blinding them to the threats posed by pathogens both known and unknown. Thus, in the case of SARS, scientists\' delay in realising they were dealing with a new respiratory pathogen was due in no small part to their conviction that the world was on the brink of an epidemic of H5N1 avian influenza---a view that seemed to be confirmed when ducks, geese, and swans suddenly began dying in two Hong Kong parks. In other words, the known threat of H5N1 blinded researchers to the unknown threat of SARS.

But on other occasions, it is incomplete knowledge that can confound health experts and breed false confidence. Take Zika virus infection, the mosquito-borne illness responsible for a major epidemic in Brazil and other Latin American countries in 2015--16. Scientists had known about Zika since 1947, when the virus was first isolated in Uganda. However, because Zika was thought to cause a self-limiting human illness, it was largely overlooked by medical researchers until 2015, when Brazilian women who had been infected with the virus during pregnancy began giving birth to children with microcephaly and other neurological disorders.

Similarly, in the spring of 2014, most infectious disease experts could not envision that Ebola, a virus previously confined to remote forested regions of Central Africa, might spark an epidemic in a major city in Sierra Leone or Liberia, much less across the Atlantic to threaten citizens of Europe and the USA. But that is precisely what happened when Ebola emerged from an unknown animal reservoir to infect a 2-year-old boy in southeastern Guinea, from where the virus travelled by road to Conakry, Freetown, and Monrovia, and by air to Brussels, London, Madrid, New York, and Dallas. In each case, what was known before the outbreak---that Ebola is unlikely to reach a major urban area or that Zika is a disease that causes a mild rash-like illness and is not a threat to unborn babies---was shown to be wrong.

Another lesson of these recent epidemics is that by focusing on specific microbial pathogens---whether Ebola, SARS, or Disease X---we risk missing the bigger ecological picture. Thus, it is only when tropical rain forests are degraded by clear-cutting, dislodging from their roosts the bats in which the Ebola virus is presumed to reside between epidemics, or when people hunt chimpanzees infected with the virus and butcher them for the table, that Ebola risks spilling over into humans. And it is only when the blood-borne infection is amplified by fragile health systems and poor hospital hygiene practices that it is likely to spread to the wider community and have a chance of reaching urban areas. Similarly, the 2014--15 Zika epidemic might have been averted, or its impact reduced, if municipal authorities in Recife and other Brazilian cities had provided regular water services to women living in favelas where the *Aedes* mosquito that transmits the virus breeds in uncovered water containers and other sources of standing water. Such measures would also help reduce the risk of epidemics caused by other viruses transmitted by *Aedes*, such as dengue and yellow fever.

In such circumstances, it is worth keeping in mind the view expressed by George Bernard Shaw in his play *The Doctor\'s Dilemma*, namely, that "the characteristic microbe of a disease might be a symptom instead of a cause". Indeed, updating Shaw\'s axiom for the 21st century, we might say that infectious diseases nearly always have wider environmental and social causes, and unless and until we take account of the ecological, immunological, and behavioural factors that govern the emergence and spread of novel pathogens, our knowledge of such microbes and their connection to disease will always be partial.

In fairness, there have always been medical researchers prepared to take a more nuanced view of our complex interactions with microbes. For instance, writing at the height of the so-called conquest of infectious disease, the Rockefeller researcher René Dubos (1901--82) cautioned against the prevailing medical hubris. "Modern man believes that he has achieved almost complete mastery over the natural forces which molded his evolution in the past and that he can now control his own biological and cultural destiny", Dubos warned in his 1959 book *Mirage of Health*. "But this may be an illusion. Like all other living things, he is part of an immensely complex ecological system and is bound to all its components by innumerable links." Instead, Dubos argued that complete freedom from disease was a "mirage" and that "at some unpredictable time and in some unforeseeable manner nature will strike back". Yet for all that Dubos\'s writings were hugely popular with the American public in the 1960s, his warnings of a coming disease Armageddon were largely ignored by his scientific colleagues. The result was that when, shortly after his death in 1982, the CDC coined the acronym AIDS to describe an unusual autoimmune condition that had suddenly appeared in the gay community in Los Angeles and New York and was now spreading to other segments of the population, it took the medical world by surprise and sparked hysterical media coverage.

Thankfully, the lessons of AIDS were not lost on Dubos\'s colleague Joshua Lederberg (1925--2008), the head of Rockefeller University, who in an influential 1992 report for the US Institute of Medicine called for medical researchers to pay attention to other emerging infectious diseases. Lederberg argued that air travel and the mass movements of goods and people from one part of the globe to another had tilted the balance in favour of microbes, altering what Stephen Morse, another Rockefeller researcher, called "the rules of viral traffic". The insight was taken up by the writer Laurie Garrett, who as a science reporter had witnessed the ravages of AIDS first-hand. Thanks to globalisation, "few habitats on the globe remain truly isolated or untouched", she argued in her 1994 book, *The Coming Plague*. AIDS "does not stand alone", she concluded but was a harbinger of epidemics and pandemics to come. Two decades later, the world has yet to witness a pandemic comparable to AIDS. However, with WHO and governments currently battling outbreaks of Lassa fever in Nigeria, measles in Madagascar, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in Argentina, Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and rising numbers of vaccine-preventable diseases in Europe this is no time for complacency. Instead, medical researchers would do well to cultivate what Dubos termed "an alertness to the unexpected" and keep in mind that too much knowledge can be as much of a trap as too little.

Mark Honigsbaum is a medical historian and the author of *The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria and Hubris* (2019), is published by W W Norton & Company in New York and Hurst in London.


Presentation and outcome of HIV-1 infection in hospitalised infants and other children in north-eastern Nigeria.
There is limited information on HIV infection in children in West Africa. This prospective case series study was done to determine the size of the problem and the feasibility of selective screening for infection based on clinical presentation. It involved infants and other children admitted to the Children's Emergency Ward and Paediatric Medical Ward of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, from the beginning of September 1992 to the end of September 1994. Clinical evaluation followed by serologic tests (ELISA and Western blot techniques) was undertaken. Descriptive study; frequencies were compared using chi 2 test for Fisher's exact test as appropriate. One hundred and ninety nine (10.9%) of 1,822 admissions were screened. One hundred and fifty eight (79.4%) were ELISA negative and 17 (8.6%) ELISA and WB positive; a further 10 (5%) were ELISA positive but WB indeterminate and 14 (7%) were ELISA positive but WB negative in 12 or untested in two. All the infections were HIV-1. Sixteen (39%) patients (nine WB positive, three WB indeterminate and four ELISA positive only) are dead, 14 from HIV-related illnesses, two (4.9]) are alive and 23 (56.1%) lost to follow up; 11 of the HIV-related deaths involved infants. Presence of persistent diarrhoea, prolonged fever, oral thrush, hepatosplenomegaly, diagnosis of tuberculosis and severe malnutrition with gastroentereritis, and multiple (> 3) diagnosis on admission were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with WB confirmed HIV-1 seropositivity and could serve as indicators for selective screening. HIV-1 infection in hospitalised infants and children has become an important problem in Nigeria, presentation in infancy is associated with a high case fatality rate, and the practice of selective screening based on clinical presentation would appear to be feasible.


Q:

Example for geometric realization on semi-simplicial set that doesn't preserve limit

I'm looking for a diagram $D$ (as simple as possible) in the category of semi-simplicial sets (i.e $sSet$ with only monos) such that $R(\text{lim}\,D) \ncong \text{lim}\,R(D)$, where $R$ is the geometric realization on semi-simplicial sets. Moreover, in $sSet$ the equivalence should be true, i.e. I'm looking for an example for the necessarity of degeneracies.

A:

Take the empty diagram.  The terminal semisimplicial set has one simplex in each dimension, so its geometric realization is infinite-dimensional!
More generally, products of semisimplicial sets are rather poorly behaved.  For instance, if $X$ and $Y$ are $n$-dimensional semisimplicial sets  (meaning they have no simplices above dimension $n$), then so is $X\times Y$, so $R(X\times Y)$ is $n$-dimensional while $R(X)\times R(Y)$ is $2n$-dimensional.  For a very concrete example, consider when $X=Y$ is a $1$-simplex.  Then it is a good exercise to work out that $R(X\times Y)$ is a disjoint union of a $1$-simplex and two points.


The Air Force announced Wednesday it had fired the commander of the service’s flight demonstration team following a crash over the summer.

Lt. Col. Jason Heard, commander of the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron known as the “Thunderbirds,” had been in command since January.

The Air Force did not give a reason for his departure but said his boss, Brig. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, 57th Wing Commander, lost confidence in his abilities and believed new leadership was necessary “to ensure the highest levels of pride, precision and professionalism within the team.”

"This was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but one that is ultimately in the best interests of the Thunderbird team. I am personally grateful for Jason's dedication to the 2017 season," Leavitt said.

Two Thunderbirds jets have crashed since the summer of 2016.

The first crash occurred in June of last year during the Air Force Academy’s graduation ceremony and the traditional fly-by from the Thunderbirds F-16 jets, not long after passing over then-President Obama and the graduating cadets and their families. One of the F-16s crashed after the single engine on the jet shut down.

A year later, a Thunderbirds pilot and passenger were hospitalized following a crash while landing at the Dayton International Airport.

The Air Force said the leadership change had nothing to do with the crashes, but was carried out because there was a concern about Heard’s “risk management style.”

“While he led a highly successful 2017 show season featuring 72 demonstrations over 39 show sites, concerns arose that his approach to leading the team was resulting in increased risk within the demonstration, which eroded the team dynamic,” said Maj. Ray Geoffroy, an Air Force spokesman.

“The team dynamic in the Thunderbirds is absolutely unique. We are on the road together more than 200 days per year, executing flying operations with absolutely no margin for error. As a result, absolute trust and teamwork in both our professional and personal dynamics are foundational to our mission.”

Lt. Col. Kevin Walsh, the Thunderbird’s 2016-2017 Operations Officer, has temporarily assumed responsibility of the team until a new commander is selected.


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Deprecated: Assigning the return value of new by reference is deprecated in /www/htdocs/w0081e40/wp-content/plugins/filosofo-comments-preview/filosofo-comments-preview.php on line 410Melantrys’ Page » Blog Archive » Disconnected musings

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Oh. My. God.

Has it been this long since my last post? My few faithful readers will have evaporated.
Anyone else hearing this hollow echoing sound kinda thing? No? Just me then? Hm.

Anyway. I’m back. I guess.

Coffee anyone? Well, I’ll have one. Or two. ‘Scuse me for a sec.

Where was I?
Yes, musings.

Some of you (you know who you are) will be aware of my latest “obsession”.
It’s not my fault! I was just looking for stuff with Marlee Matlin in on Youtube, and somehow I ended up at this teen series, Switched at Birth. To give Youtube credit, the series does have Marlee Matlin in, so there. It’s all good. *coughs frantically*
Look, it’s not my fault that all the stuff allowed to stay up on Youtube seem to be videos edited by lovestruck 13-year-olds. Well, at least the comments were definitely left by…… ok, let’s not go there.
I’m getting old, am I?

So, I have finally managed to watch season 1 of Switched at Birth.
Hm.
Well, it’s for teenagers. So there’s complicated see-sawing relationships and impressive numbers of boyfriends per girl over a rather short period of time. Right. Exactly the kind of thing I never understood about teen series, even way back when I was in the right age bracket. It just seems to be a thing that has to happen in them. God knows why.
I sure don’t.

Let’s get to the thing that gave the series its name. It’s kind of self-explanatory. In a busy hospital an overworked nurse accidentally swapped two baby girls with each other.
Fast-forward several years to the beginning of the series, and young Bay Kennish finds out through her school biology class that her blood type doesn’t match that of her parents. A DNA test confirms she is not their daughter, and the other girl, Daphne Vasquez, and her single mother are found and contacted.
Funnily enough, when someone was talking on tv a while ago about some swapped babies, my dear sister and me agreed that if that fact wasn’t discovered immediately, just swapping them back would be a rather weird solution, as raising a child effectively makes it yours. And that only staying in very close contact with the other family would be something that would work in our opinion.
Well, that’s kind of what happens in the series; when Ms. Vasquez is threatened with eviction from her home the Kennishes suggest that she and Daphne move into their guest house (yeah, the family of one of the girls is stinking rich) and they all more or less try to get to know each other and become one big family.
So there’s an interesting story right there. How do the parents deal with the situation? How do the girls themselves feel about it?
Bay’s brother sure seems to settle pretty quickly into having two sisters instead of just one. Good for him. Well done, that lad! If he’s lucky that’ll make up for the points I subtracted for his dumb behaviour when he first met Emmett. But I am getting ahead of myself.

The other - what shall we call it? - twist to the story is that a severe case of meningitis1 at age 3 left Daphne deaf. Once we get past all the “Would that have happened in our good, rich household?” and “Mom was probably too drunk to take her to the hospital in time” crap we can focus on what Daphne brings to the storyline: Her own deaf yet (orally) speaking self of course, her best friend Emmett, their school and ASL. Lots and lots of American Sign Language. This is definitely something you can’t just watch while doing the dishes cos every so often it will go rather quiet and you’ll have to hurry over to read the subtitles.

I like that in itself because I think whenever somebody does remember that there’s people out there who are not “the norm” or whatever is considered as such that issue then becomes their sole focus. Now, I’m not saying that these kind of movies etc don’t have their time and place as well, but come on, that’s not really how real life is working, is it?
So that’s what I really like about the series. Yeeeees, it does focus on the topic in some way, like showing prejudices and rude/stupid behaviour (*winks at Bay’s brother*) and all that, and it’s hard to judge whether or not they’re overdoing it or not but overall I think that’s unfortunately just the way it is. The series doesn’t feel like focusing on deaf issues though, they just happen to be one part of the story. Am I making sense? Not so sure there right now myself. I hope I am.

Aaaand I really like some of the characters. Definitely Emmett. Daphne too. About Bay I am not so sure; she can be rather stupid at times.

One other thing it does, the series. Make me mad that sign language isn’t generally taught at school. Or at least offered.
I mean, are we just going to go on expecting every deaf person to bother with learning to read our lips and to talk?
Well, no, I was already thinking that before watching the series. But the series - or rather seeing a lot of signing happening - made me realize that while I might have had a chance of learning it at a young age I would probably totally mess it up nowadays due to my stupid lack of being properly able to visualize stuff. And let’s get real, we become less and less flexible when getting older, don’t we?
Sign language does have a certain fascination though, and the ASL sign for “zombie” nearly had me fall off of my chair laughing. I wonder what the German one is…?

Moving to some people’s perception of deaf people…
Today I stumbled across this tweet by the guy who plays Emmett in the series:

One time I met a person and told him I was Deaf. He asked me if I lived in a group home.

Yeah, cos deaf people can’t live on their own or what? I guess chalking that one up to lack of communication/contact doesn’t cut it though. A special kind of stupid might be required for a remark like that as well.

Speaking of stupid.
At work I am seeing quite a lot of deaf people on a regular basis - which is where my vague “wish I knew sign language” thought actually originated - and now that we all know that those poor handicapped little mites have to fend for themselves out there without the loving shelter of group homes I finally understand why they’re out there doing all of their own shopping.

A short time ago this older man came in again, and, yeah, he is really hard to understand, but when he’s saying something sounding like “Daaaag” when coming in I’m assuming it’s a greeting and when he’s saying something sounding the same when I’m handing him his change I’d say it’s a fair bet he means “Danke” (thank you). He wouldn’t have to try and say anything; others don’t.
No big deal, right?
Wrong. The moment the door had closed behind him the boss - who had happened to be around - made fun of him. Both of the “Daaaag” and him having been rather rude/odd and not saying anything else. When I tried to explain that the guy was deaf and that it was mayyyyybe not so easy to learn how to vocalize if you can’t actually hear yourself, his reply merely was: “Well, when I put my hands over my ears I can’t hear myself talk either.”
Errrrr, rrrrrright. Have you ever actually tried…..? Ok, never mind.
*sits down and starts to bang head on desk in remembrance of the moment*

.

Wait, what?! What was up again with all that EEG stuff they did back when I was little…? [back]

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32 Responses to “Disconnected musings”

Mafdet Says:
December 20th, 2012 at 10:49 pmDeprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /www/htdocs/w0081e40/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 75

*enters blog*

*looks around timidly*

*watches a tumbleweed roll by*

Helloooooooo?
Seems like you’re back…?

Yay!

Melantrys Says:
December 20th, 2012 at 10:52 pmDeprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /www/htdocs/w0081e40/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 75

I hope so…

*stares at another tumbleweed*

Yeah, well…..

*half-heartedly swipes at some cobwebs*

Mafdet Says:
December 20th, 2012 at 11:19 pmDeprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /www/htdocs/w0081e40/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 75

C-c-c-obwebs…?

You mean there are spiders here?

Yikes!

Melantrys Says:
December 20th, 2012 at 11:23 pmDeprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /www/htdocs/w0081e40/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 75

Afraid so.

Sorry.

Mafdet Says:
December 21st, 2012 at 12:03 pmDeprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /www/htdocs/w0081e40/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 75

*faints*

Frans Says:
December 22nd, 2012 at 2:45 pmDeprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /www/htdocs/w0081e40/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 75

Wait, how big a spider goes with a web that covers the entire doorway?

Melantrys Says:
December 22nd, 2012 at 3:35 pmDeprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /www/htdocs/w0081e40/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 75

Maybe it was a tiny spider with lots of time on its - for want of a better word - hands…?

*smiles bravely*

Lynnette in Minnesota Says:
December 30th, 2012 at 8:48 pmDeprecated: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is deprecated, use preg_replace_callback instead in /www/htdocs/w0081e40/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 75

*looks around in amazement*

Hi Mel! Oh, dear, it’s been so long I don’t remember all the smiley codes.

Nice to see you are still around. I have periodically checked in to see if you had posted something, but had kind of given up on you. I don’t blog as much as I used to, but still hang out over at Zeyad’s. Sometimes there are some interesting discussions going on.

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them to consider a change in their current content presentation in order to do well.
Unlike TV, radio and other traditional marketing
channels that need big budgets to be effective, SEO can be cost effective.
This mode of advertisement was faster than the earlier ones and reached
more people but it had its own limitations.


Ramblings on libraries and life upon the wicked stage

Ian for a summer

One of my friends has me listed on her mobile phone as ‘Gerald’, as this was the role I played in Me and My Girl, opposite her as Jaquie. The idea was that she knows a great variety of Davids (mark this date in your diary, it may be the first time I’ve mentioned my name on this blog), but Gerald will probably always be me and only me.

A reminder of this fact, combined with being dropped off at Newport Pagnell service station at Christmas by one of the other Davids of the world, caused me to recall my summer of being Ian. It is not unusual to be temporarily called any one of a number of names, Chris and Simon being particular favourites, but this is the only time I’ve gone by a pseudonym in real life for any length of time.

This was during my student days, when a summer job was an absolute necessity and was unlikely to be overly fulfilling. This particular summer I managed to secure employment with Welcome Break at the M1 service station at Newport Pagnell, the town where I grew up. I was employed to clear and clean tables, operate the floor cleaning monster truck and occasionally to do the washing up, a particularly unpleasant task. In addition to duties which were less than stimulating to the mind, I suffered a series of problems with the whole point of my presence there – being paid. Although I was supposed to be paid weekly, it wasn’t until several weeks had elapsed that I received a payslip. Opening it eagerly, I was deeply disappointed to find that it was for a total of zero pounds and zero pence. A crushing blow.

I was eventually paid for my labours, but my summer had more confusion in store than simple cash-flow troubles. When I started, I was issued with my beautiful Welcome Break polo shirt, but they did not have any name badges with my name on. Not a problem, I was told. Apparently I didn’t really need a name badge, and as I would only be there for a couple of months, it wasn’t really worth getting one done for me. Unfortunately, there was one circumstance where name badges were needed: when there was a visit from Head Office.

So, on one fine day, I arrived at the service station, only to be told that there was a visit from Head Office expected today and I should be wearing my name badge. I politely mentioned that I had no name badge because there were no Davidic ones available, and thus caused a minor panic. The shift supervisor soon hit upon a cunning plan – give me a random name badge for the day and hope that it went unnoticed. A quick trip over to the uniform repository and I was ready for work with a name badge proudly stating that I was Ian. The day passed, for me at least, without any further incident of note.

An elegant solution, one might think, to a very temporary problem. Unfortunately, this was not to be. For reasons that were unknown to minions such as myself, the visit from Head Office was extended for quite some time. And so, because I had been Ian on the first day they were there, I was (at least in the realm of name badges) to be Ian until they went away or I went back to university, whichever came sooner. You can probably guess which one came sooner… For several weeks, therefore, my uniform proclaimed me as an Ian, whereas my inmost being knew me to be a David. My fellow minions were confused at first, but most of them soon learned to trust what they knew to be the truth and continue calling me David. I refused to introduce myself as Ian, but my Davidic nature went undiscovered for the remainder of the summer, or perhaps it was deigned to be unimportant compared to the real cause of the extended managerial visit. I suppose I shall never know, but I shall always remember being Ian for a summer. It didn’t really suit me, but at least I know I have the choice. David I am, but Ian I could be if necessary. I was, after all, accustomed to looking round when I heard the name, and could soon get back in to the habit. But would a David by any other name still be the Singing Librarian?


123 total incidents logged at Glen Park

A victim reported the theft of their dark green Specialized Rock Hopper men’s bike, valued at $300.00, while it was cable locked at the station between 0800 and 1930 hours. An officer responded and completed a report.

A female suspect detained by an officer for reportedly disturbing others was found to have an outstanding misdemeanor battery warrant (no bail) and an infraction warrant ($2,500), both held by BART Police, for her arrest. The officer placed the suspect under arrest for the warrants without incident, and then notified the on-duty lieutenant of the arrest. The officer then booked the suspect into the county jail for the warrant only as there were no complainants for the earlier reported disturbance.

A female victim reported that her male friend pushed and punched her while the two were in the free area of the station. A sergeant and an officer responded and detained the suspect on platform level. The victim then positively identified the suspect and placed him under citizen’s arrest for battery, and the officers took custody of the suspect. During the detention/arrest, the officers learned of an active court order which prohibited the suspect from entering BART property, so he was placed under arrest for that violation as well. The sergeant approved the arrest. After being issued a prohibition order, the suspect was booked into the county jail for battery and violating the court order. The victim was no injured and declined medical attention.

A victim reported a male stole his cell phone while he was sleeping on a Dublin bound train. The train held at the Glenn Park Station until the officers arrived. The victim told the officers that he was asleep on the train and other patrons told him the male took his phone but no witnesses came forward. The alleged suspect stated he did not have the victim's phone and allowed officers to search him, with negative results. The detained male was identified and released. The victim did not want to pursue the matter and the train was released after a 14 minute hold.

An officer detained a male subject for fare evasion. During the detention, the subject attempted to walk away from the officer - who then physically restrained him, and a brief struggle ensued between the two. During the struggle, the subject tripped and fell to the ground which enabled the officer to handcuff the subject without using further physical force. A sergeant responded to perform the use of force investigation, and approve the (resisting) arrest. The subject was then booked into the county jail for resisting arrest. No injuries were sustained by the officer or the subject.

A 15 year old female victim reported that while she was on the train, she fell asleep. She was awakened by a male suspect (BM, 40-50, 5'7", medium build, missing teeth, black knit cap, black jacket) was masturbating in front of her. He told her to watch him and made other lewd comments. The male followed her as she exited the train at the Glen Park Station. She left the area and did not immediately report the crime. Once she called (about 1 1/2 hours later) officers interviewed her. Detectives were notified and train/station video has been requested. This case is very similar to the earlier case (1505-0719).

A male and female became involved in a dispute with the station agent because the female had attempted to throw a traffic cone onto the tracks. The agent asked the two to leave the station. When the agent returned to the concourse, the male suspect brandished a knife at the agent and threatened to stab the agent. The two left the station, but were located a short distance away by responding officers. The agent placed the male under citizen's arrest. The agent was not injured. The male suspect was issued a prohibition order and was booked at the San Francisco County Jail for brandishing a knife and making criminal threats. TSOC notified.

While on patrol, an officer contacted a subject who was involved in a fare dispute. A wants check revealed that the subject had a misdemeanor $7,500 warrant charging petty theft with priors issued from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. The subject was arrested and booked into the SF County Jail for her warrant.

The station agent called to report a male who was panhandling at the station and had threatened to hit the agent with his cane when the agent asked him to leave the area. An officer arrived and contacted the male. The male grabbed onto the officer and tried to pull him to the ground. The officer, who was not injured, was able to get the suspect into custody. The station agent placed the suspect under citizen's arrest for the threats. The suspect was treated on scene for a scrape to his arm, which occurred during the struggle with the officer. Once treated, the suspect will be booked into the San Francisco County Jail for criminal threats, battery on an officer and resisting arrest. He will also be issued a prohibition order.

An officer contacted an adult female for fare evasion and discovered that she had a juvenile warrant for her arrest and was listed as a missing person. The female, who recently turned 18 years old, was transported to child protective services for the warrant (at their request).

Patrons reported two males involved in a fight on the Millbrae bound train. Officers and SFPD officers responded and located both parties. The investigation determined that the suspect battered the victim on the train. The victim declined to make a complaint. Officers determined that the suspect qualified for an emergency psychiatric evaluation. He was detained and transported to San Francisco General Hospital for evaluation. He was issued a prohibition order prior to booking. The Millbrae train was delayed about 11 minutes as a result of this incident.

Officers responded to a report of a fight on a train that had arrived at the station. Further investigation revealed the two parties were in a dating relationship. A record check on one of the parties revealed an outstanding no-bail felony warrant out of San Francisco for domestic battery and a restraining order prohibiting her from the other party. The other involved party was deemed the dominant aggressor, placed under arrest for domestic battery, and was issued a 30 day BART prohibition order.

A patron reported by phone that their black 1998 Acura Integra 2 door was burglarized while it was parked and locked in stall #11 between 0915-1845 hours. The method of entry was unknown, and a $100.00 garage door opener was taken from inside the vehicle.

An officer responded to a report of a male aggressively panhandling at the Glen Park Station. The male was contacted and a records/warrant check revealed the male was on probation with a search clause. The male was searched and officers discovered narcotics violations. No one came forward to make a complaint for aggressive panhandeling. The male was placed under arrest for the narcotics violation and was booked at the San Francisco County Jail. A sergeant responded and debriefed the male.

A BART employee reported a vehicle in the lot with a smashed window. An officer responded and noticed that the passenger window was smashed and the interior ransacked. The officer was unable to determine the loss, but the exterior of the vehicle was processed for evidence and a note left for the owner to contact us upon their return.

A patron reported that their purple 1997 Honda Accord was burglarized while parked in the lot between 1310-2210 hours. An unknown suspect used a shaved key to enter the driver's door and stole a blanket, a pair of shoes, $25 in cash and the vehicle registration.

A BART employee called to report that some fiber optic cable had been vandalized. The damaged cable was located in an emergency exit at the south end of the platform. The cable was reportedly cut at 1315 hours on 5/13 and an alarm was triggered. The actual location of the damage was not located until 0900 hours on 5/14. The repairs are estimated to cost $5,000.


Well, here I go again, another BETTNA. But ya know I do this all the time. I find a pattern that is pretty simply and uncomplicated, and I just make it over and over again using different yarns. So, here is my LAST Bettna (is this a lie?)....at least for myself. I have the yarn lined up for a Bettna for my daughter. She's seen enough of these on me that she's fallen in love with it! We're all going camping for a week next week, so I'll work on her Bettna! She can watch her Bettna evolve!

YARN: Wisdom "Poems" (http://www.yarn.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/categoryID/27A00E47-9193-412C-818C-EB6D1D391467/productID/3EFCC7E4-FEE5-4798-A117-C3AF5A979E6D/) 100% wool (color 572)
SKEINS: 13
BOOK: Noro Revisited (http://www.theknittinggarden.com/noro-revisited.htm)
PATTERN: Bettna, model shown in Noro Silk Garden on cover
PLEASE NOTE: the 'finishing' paragraph of the pattern is not complete; it leaves out certain steps that you have to figure out for yourself, and every time I make this Bettna I am struggling through it; it has to do with that unusual back neckline connected to the garter bands in the front; if you are making this sweater, please PM me if you need clarification; the paragraph doesn't walk you through the seaming either, you just gotta 'know'.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2550/3717549755_d462873c06.jpg?v=0

I didn't knit the LOWER BACK in one giant swath. I used two balls of yarn and worked the first 46st of the row with skein A and the last 46 st with skein B. This was to manipulate how the colorway spread out. I wanted the 'striping' of the LOWER BACK to be the same overall width of the 'striping' of the LOWER FRONTS. Wider regions will 'stripe' skinnier. I didn't want teeny stripes on the LOWER BACK side-seamed against wider stripes of the LOWER FRONTS. So, below is the BACK VIEW:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2468/3718369018_7928d2171c.jpg?v=0

The back neckline is connected to the front garter bands in an
unconventional way. It isn't hard to do at all, but it is hard to conceptualize, and since the pattern is very silent about it all, you must be a 'mind reader'.
Y'all know how much fun that is, right? :teehee:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2639/3718362236_22018a51e4.jpg?v=0

Another beautiful Bettna...I can't wait until I can finish mine up. I will certainly pm you when I am ready to put it together. BTW-did you block the pieces before you put them together? It seems like it would be much easier that way.

Thanks again for all the help

Kris:knitting:

ArtLady1981

07-13-2009, 07:13 PM

I always block all the pieces before seaming! It makes such a difference! It makes your sweater very professional looking!
It does make seaming easier, but it also makes the stitches themselves look more even and polished!

TEMA

07-13-2009, 10:15 PM

Hi Artlady,
I love this sweater. I can certainly see why you have become 'addicted to it...:teehee:
The colours are marvelous and the shaping is so beautiful!
Congratulations on having made yet another stunning sweater!
:woot: :woot: :woot:
TEMA:knitting:

wezyus

07-14-2009, 01:00 AM

Superb n gorgeous sweater

Slim

07-14-2009, 08:19 AM

Beautiful sweater. I just got back from New Mexico and the colors remind me of the desert.

margz3

07-14-2009, 10:06 AM

I can think of worse pattern addictions lol!! It looks gorgeous! I like what you did with the striping :thumbsup:

MerigoldinWA

07-14-2009, 10:17 PM

Dear Bettna Queen,

Another beautiful job. :muah: It does look like a really comfortable, wearable sweater, Bettna does. If I ever make one I certainly know who to go to for all the inside information. You did a really nice job in the use of the self striping yarns. Great effect. :thumbsup: I'm sure it is rewarding to have your daughter see the beauty of this sweater and want one for herself. A real compliment for mom.

WandaT

07-16-2009, 09:02 AM

Gorgeous!!!! You may have convinced me to make one ... LOL

krismorales

07-17-2009, 11:45 AM

I finally got started on the sleeves and have a quick question. Is the entire sleeve knitted in SS or does it switch to extended garter stitch? When reading the pattern, it seems to me to be SS, but looking at the picture in the book, it almost looks like it switches stitches (say that 3 times fast!). All your pictures have really helped me adjust the pattern to fit me better. Thanks

Kris

ArtLady1981

07-17-2009, 01:12 PM

I finally got started on the sleeves and have a quick question. Is the entire sleeve knitted in SS or does it switch to extended garter stitch? When reading the pattern, it seems to me to be SS, but looking at the picture in the book, it almost looks like it switches stitches (say that 3 times fast!). All your pictures have really helped me adjust the pattern to fit me better. Thanks

Kris

The sleeve begins with some garter ridges (about 7) for the 'cuff'...then switches to st st. BUT, when your sleeve has reached the required length, you are asked to work about 4 garter ridges to end the sleeve...THEN you are asked to cast on about 20 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows, AND ALSO...you begin the extended garter stitch. The extended garter stitch is the upper body.

The actual sleeve itself is only st st with garter stitch ridges as the cuff and as a 'fenceline' between the upper sleeve and body. See red arrows in photo below. The arrows signify the garter ridges.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3456/3730100548_16cc73f602_b.jpg

krismorales

07-17-2009, 01:37 PM

It just must be the way the yarn is stripping in the bettna pictured in the pattern (cover) It just looks like it changes part way up the sleeve...but I understood the directions the way you described them... Well I'm off and knitting then. Thanks:heart:


But it’s not just that San Jose are 3-2, for their best start since 2003, that's so head-turning. It’s how the Quakes have gotten there, riding the back of unexpected scoring hero Chris Wondolowski, who tallied for the third time in as many matches, and a staunch defense that blunted a Colorado attack which came into this week with an MLS-high eight goals.

Words such as “workmanlike” and “grind it out” were being thrown around a victorious locker room. The only thing keeping it from being a full Springsteen trifecta was a “blue collar” reference.

“To win 1-0, when we don’t play our best game, is the sign of a good team,” right back Chris Leitch said after the match. “I don’t think we would have won that game last year. So that shows growth. Amazing growth.”

The growth of this past week came in the form of San Jose’s new-found ability to give up a majority of possession -- just as the Quakes did in a 3-2 loss to Chivas USA -- but prevent almost any dangerous scoring opportunities.

“They had the ball for a bit, but if they have the ball 50 yards from our goal, we’re not too worried,” center back Jason Hernandez said.

In fact, all three of Joe Cannon’s saves came on shots from outside the penalty box. He was able to push aside Wells Thompson’s 45th-minute blast from the edge of the 18 (scrambling to collect the rebound), scooped up a cross off the right sideline from Kosuke Kimura in the 51st minute and cleanly plucked a 25-yard probe from Danny Earls five minutes after that.

“I think we’re becoming a team that people know for being hard to break down,” said holding midfielder Brandon McDonald. “We’re being a bank of eight, making it harder to get into the midfield, and then even harder to get to the back line. To get back to Joe, it’s going to take a lot of effort.”

For the Quakes, this wasn’t just another game. It was a chance to take three points from a club that snatched two victories away from the Quakes last season, each time with a second-half injury-time penalty kick from Conor Casey.

“Obviously, the two games last year were burned in our memory, and we understood what it would take the get the result,” Hernandez said. “It kind of bugged me, I saw some article [on MLSsoccer.com] that Colorado’s making sure not to look past San Jose because they have the Galaxy next week. To be honest, that was a bit disturbing, knowing that they were lucky to get two ties from us, and we beat them this preseason. We’re not the same San Jose we were last year.”

It looked through the first half-hour as though the Rapids wouldn’t need late heroics. Colorado was dominating the ball, if not generating outright chances, and San Jose hadn’t recorded a shot since Ryan Johnson was knocked off stride by Marvell Wynne, ruining a breakout opportunity in the second minute.

Then Wondolowski struck again, powering a left-footed shot in the 33rd minute from just inside the penalty box past Colorado goalkeeper Matt Pickens, off the crossbar and into the net. He was set up on the play by Ryan Johnson, whose subtle touch on Ramiro Corrales’ lead pass gave Wondolowski just enough room to get free from Drew Moor and strike the ball soundly on the bounce.

It was the first time since the Quakes have had a player score in three consecutive matches since Johnson did it in May 2009. But San Jose lost all three of those matches; during Wondolowski’s scoring string, the Earthquakes are 2-1 and Saturday, they jumped from sixth place in the Western Conference into a tie for fourth, just one point behind Colorado and Houston, who share second place.

“This is the fifth game of the year,” Leitch said. “We’re 3-2. In all my years of being in this league, you’re not going to win the championship after five games. Or six games. Or 10 games. Or 15 games. But you can lose it. You can put yourself in a big hole, a la last year. This year, sometimes we don’t play our best soccer, and we’re still getting results. That gives me inspiration that we’re a different team and a little bit more mentally tough than last year.”

Judging by the number of victories already secured, that’s certainly true.

Geoff Lepper covers the Earthquakes for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached at sanjosequakes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @sjquakes.


Only two weeks left to Double your gift

Sulfoxaflor sucks for pollinators.

It’s a new type of neonicotinoid insecticide that was approved by the EPA in May for use on a long list of crops — despite its toxic effects on honeybees, bumblebees, butterflies, and other pollinators.

Environmentalists, beekeepers, and other groups that were already suing the EPA to try to block the sale of other classes of neonic pesticides have launched a new legal effort to overturn the agency’s recent sulfoxaflor ruling. From legal documents filed Monday:

Scientists have linked the drastic declines in honey bee and other pollinator populations to systemic pesticides, and more specifically, to a category of systemic pesticides known as neonicotinoids. Sulfoxaflor is a systemic pesticide with the same mode of action as neonicotinoids, and one that EPA determined is “very highly toxic” to bees. … Far from being supported by the required substantial evidence, EPA’s decision is contrary to the record evidence, and in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). EPA failed to rigorously examine the uses and impacts of sulfoxaflor, particularly in light of the environmental stressors already faced by pollinator populations. Further, EPA’s decision considers only the alleged benefits of sulfoxaflor, while wholly ignoring the significant costs that registration will have on the agricultural economy, food security, and the environment.

“This case and brief is a critical part of the story for our nation’s beekeepers and their survival,” said Peter Jenkins, attorney for the Center for Food Safety. “Beyond that, sulfoxaflor threatens native bees, other insects, birds and ecosystem health generally. The many groups joining our brief — and we think all Americans — have a huge stake in ensuring EPA does not continue its ‘business as usual’ approach of green-lighting more and more dangerous insecticides.”

See: Center for Food Safety Joins Fight Against Newest Bee-killer, Sulfoxaflor,

Center for Food Safety


THE BRUCE INVASION, 1315-1318

Edward II did not have much cause to celebrate during his reign as King of England. However, his mood in October 1318 must have been singularly improved by the arrival of a package from Ireland containing the head of one of his most notorious enemies. The head belonged to Edward the Bruce, a Scottish warlord who had caused Edward II considerable indigestion when he crowned himself High King of Ireland in 1316. In the ensuing period, Bruce had caused much mayhem for the Anglo-Norman lordship of Ireland.

Not that Edward II expected anything but hardship from the Bruces. After all, Edward the Bruce was the younger brother and heir apparent of Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots, who gave the English such a massive drubbing at the battle of Bannockburn, fought on 24 June 1314.

The House of Bruce came to the fore during the Scottish War of Independence, the early years of which were characterised by the rise and fall of William ‘Braveheart’ Wallace. In 1306, less than a year after Wallace’s execution, Robert slew his arch-rival and was crowned King of the Scots.

King Robert spent much of the next eight years engaged in a form of guerrilla warfare, defending his throne against the English forces of Edward I (‘Longshanks’) and his feeble successor Edward II.

By the summer of 1313, Bruce’s army were in the ascendance across Scotland and all that stood between them and total victory was Stirling Castle. King Robert sent Edward, his brother and his most trusted commander, to negotiate with Sir Philip de Mowbray, the castle’s Governor. A glutton for chivalry, Edward struck a deal that favoured de Mowbray. From Midsummer’s Day, the Governor had one year to secure reinforcements from Edward II. If none arrived, de Mowbray would surrender the castle.

King Robert was understandably livid this arrangement as it not only green-lighted an English invasion of Scotland but gave them an entire year to organize. Moreover, the Bruces may have excelled as guerrilla fighters but they had little experience of pitch battles.

One year later, the two armies met at Bannockburn for a battle that was to become the most seminal victory in Scottish history. During the battle, the Scots ‘schiltroms’ advanced forward ‘like a thick-set hedge’, protected by closely locked shields, bonded by immense courage, carrying sharp axes at their sides and deadly lances in their hands. The English cavalry were simply unable to penetrate. When Robert Clifford, one of the English commanders, lost his cool and charged at a schiltom, he was quickly overcome and slain. By the end of the battle, Edward II had lost two thirds of his men and the English king fled the battlefield. Mowbray duly surrendered Stirling Castle, making the Scots victory absolute.

In the wake of England’s meltdown at Bannockburn, the Scots mounted a series of invasions into northern England. King Robert also decided to open up a second front in Ireland to further deplete England’s resources.

The task fell to his brother Edward who, having commanded one of the schiltroms at Bannockburn, was forgiven for his blunder at Stirling Castle. On 26 May 1315, Edward sailed for Ireland with 6,000 men who duly disembarked along the Antrim coast between Carrickfergus and Larne.

The immediate catalyst for the Bruce invasion of Ireland was an invitation from their cousin Domnall mac Brian Ó Néill, King of Tyrone, who sought an ally against the Anglo-Normans in Ulster. King Robert agreed to assist on condition that the Irish accept Edward as High King of Ireland.

Aside from a short-lived attempt by the Ó Néill’s in 1258, Ireland had not had a High King in 130 years. The Bruce brothers were the sons of Sir Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale, and had a tentative claim to the dormant throne through their paternal grandmother Lady Isabella de Clare, a descendant of Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster.

Edward the Bruce is believed to have spent a good deal of his childhood in Ulster, either as a foster child of the O’Neill’s, kinsmen of his mother, or with the Bissett family, Lords of the Glens of Antrim.

Even as Bruce’s ships powered across the North Channel to Ulster, King Robert’s propaganda chiefs were highlighting the Bruce’s Irish lineage as the key to their ideological vision of a ‘Pan-Gaelic Greater Scotia’ in which the family would rule over Scotland, Ireland and, in due course, Wales. In a letter addressed to the leading Irish kings and chieftains, Robert spoke of the Scots and the Irish as ‘nostra nacio (our nation) … stemming from one seed of birth’, united ‘by a common language and by common custom.’

The Bruce’s had hoped the Irish would arise in their favour, oust the Anglo-Normans and proclaim Edward as High King. The reality was infinitely more complex, not least because so many of the Irish kingdoms were already locked in bitter internecine warfare between rival claimants to the various thrones.

When Edward arrived, he was merely another player in this game of thrones, albeit one of the most powerful. He quickly secured control of much of Ulster, capturing Carrickfergus and defeating an army raised by Richard de Burgh, the Red Earl of Ulster, who was, to further complicate matters, King Robert’s father-in-law.

In early June, 13 of Ulster’s Kings and lords swore fealty to Edward at Carrickfergus. The annals would later claim that ‘all the Gaels of Ireland agreed to grant him lordship’ but many were clearly hedging their bets. Two of the 13 men at Carrickfergus subsequently orchestrated a failed ambush on Edward as he marched south from Newry. Dundalk was to experience the full hell of Scottish vengeance; the town was destroyed and its entire population, Norman and Gael alike, brutally put to the sword.

In early November, Edward convincingly defeated Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, in a pitched battle at Kells, Co. Meath. Kells was a smouldering ruin by the time the Scots moved south and over the ensuing months they similarly pillaged and burned towns across Counties Longford, Westmeath and Kildare. Such anarchy simultaneously prompted the O’Toole, O’Byrne and other clans of the Wicklow Mountains to rise up against the Anglo-Normans.

Pillage was arguably necessary; how else was Bruce to feed the thousands who served under him? However, it came at a serious cost to his reputation and the marauding Scots were soon as despised as the English. The situation was by no means helped by a series of severe winters between 1315 and 1317 which led to widespread famine across Ireland.

Bruce was also consistently let down by Irish leaders whose promise of support frequently failed to materialize. Without their support, Edward was compelled to withdraw to his safehaven in Ulster. On his return trip, he cemented his ambitions on 2 May 1316 when he was crowned High King of Ireland on the Hill of Maledon near Dundalk.

Meanwhile, the English were regaining their composure under the guidance of John de Hothum, the sagacious Governor of Ireland. Under his watch, several of Bruce’s key allies, including the pirate Thomas Dunn, were captured and killed.

In February 1317, the reinforced Scots launched a massive campaign for which King Robert joined his brother upfront. Perhaps they still hoped the Irish would rise up as ‘Gaelic brothers’, although they must have by now realized that most of the Irish were opportunists who could not be relied upon.

As the Bruces advanced on Dublin, Hothum prepared the city’s defences, burning the suburb of St Thomas and dismantling the church at St Mary’s del Dam on Dame Street to strengthen Dublin Castle. Such defences had the desired effect and the Scots instead wheeled west from Castleknock to Leixlip before laying waste to Naas, destroying the Franciscan friary at Castledermot and advancing south through County Kilkenny towards Limerick.

The King of Connaught were supposed to join the Bruces but the kingship was in crisis and, harried by hostile forces, the Scots were once again forced to return to Ulster. Robert abandoned Ireland in May and returned to Scotland.

Edward the Bruce’s morale also took a further blow in 1317 with the failure of a major campaign to convince the Pope to accept him as King of Ireland.

On 14 October 1318, Edward’s army met a superior Hiberno-Norman force at the Hill of Faughart near Dundalk, Co. Louth. Three columns of Scots were defeated in succession and at least 30 Scottish knights were killed, including Philip de Mowbray, the former Governor of Stirling Castle, as well as the Kings of Argyll, the Western Isles.

Edward the Bruce also fell in the battle, slain by John Malpas from Dundalk. The news was greeted with much joy in certain quarters. Perhaps under the watchful eye of the Red Earl of Ulster, the authors of the Annals of Ulster lambasted Edward as ‘the destroyer of Ireland in general, both Foreigners and Gaels’ and applauded his death as the best ‘deed’ since the beginning of the world, because his time in Ireland caused such hunger that ‘people undoubtedly used to eat each other throughout Ireland.’

According to the Lannercost Chronicle, ‘Edward was beheaded after death; his body being divided into four quarters, which were sent to the four chief quarters of Ireland.’ While Edward II almost certainly received his head, his remains are believed to have been buried in the churchyard at Faughart beneath a large flat stone that can still be seen today.

Following his death, the Scots position in Ireland collapsed. The House of Bruce would retain the Scottish throne until 1371 when a new dynasty came to the fore – the House of Stuart whose destiny would also ultimately be dictated on the battlefields of Ireland.


Bruce Almighty

Bruce Nolan is a local Eyewitness News TV reporter in Buffalo, New York, best known for doing human interest stories--which makes everyone happy but him. Bruce would much rather be replacing the soon-to-retire anchorman. Essentially, Bruce is disconnected with everything in his life and rarely misses an opportunity to complain about it. He has a loving girlfriend, Grace, who runs a day care center and adores Bruce in spite of his negativity. Bruce is handed a great opportunity when he''s asked to do the 23rd anniversary of Niagra Falls'' famed Maid of the Mist boat, which will air live during sweeps. But the mist hits the fan when it''s announced on-air--just before Bruce goes live--that the co-anchor position, about to be vacated, is going to Bruce''s superficial rival. In front of millions of viewers, Bruce has an on-camera meltdown, punctuated by a four-letter word not yet cleared for network television. On this worst day of Bruce''s life, he''s fired from the station, beaten up by a gang of toughs, and his car is vandalized. Furious, Bruce rails and rages against the Lord for his rotten luck--which is followed by a curious set of signs, one of which leads him to an old building called Omni Presents, Inc. There, Bruce meets a janitor who reveals himself to be who he really is--God! He''s heard Bruce''s complaints and now has an offer for the choleric newscaster--his job. By endowing Bruce with all his powers, God challenges him to take on the job and see if he can do any better!


Q:

How to create private fields that my functions will return

My class currently looks like:
class WebConfig(config: Config) {

  def this() {
     this(ConfigFactor.load())
  }

  def dbPort = config.getInt("mysql.port")

}

I don't like that when I call dbPort, it has to call and then cast the config each and every time.
So I want to create private fields and set them in the constructor, so then calling dbPort will simply return what a private field has.
How can I do this?
I tried creating a private var but I am getting this error:
 class WebConfig(config: Config) {
      private var _dbPort: Int
      def this() {
         this(ConfigFactor.load())

         _dbPort = config.getInt("mysql.port")
      }

      def dbPort: Int = _dbPort

    }

Error:
abstract member may not have private modifier

A:

Can't you just write this:
class WebConfig(config: Config) {

  def this() {
     this(ConfigFactor.load())
  }

  val dbPort = config.getInt("mysql.port")

}

It will only read the config parameter one time.


Last Action:

Ref to the Com on Health, if favorable, Judiciary, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House on 3/21/2019

Sponsors:

Attributes:

Public

Counties:

No counties specifically cited

Statutes:

105, 106, 90 (Chapters); 105-164.4, 106-121, 90-730, 90-730.1, 90-730.10, 90-730.2, 90-730.3, 90-730.4, 90-730.5, 90-730.6, 90-730.7, 90-730.8, 90-730.9 (Sections)

Keywords:

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE, COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES, CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES, CRIMES, DHHS, DISEASES & HEALTH DISORDERS, DWI, EDUCATION, EMERGENCY SERVICES, HEALTH SERVICES, HIGHER EDUCATION, ID SYSTEMS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, MOTOR VEHICLES, PUBLIC, PUBLIC HEALTH, RESEARCH, UNC, LIABILITY, TRAFFIC OFFENSES, MARIJUANA


Plaster roof of alfresco area fix - Warranty

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 19, 2018

The Metricon warranty team were excellent in organizing the tradesmen to fix my problem. The communication of times that trades would be on site was excellent and the workmanship was excellent. Follow-up communication was also fantastic as I was kept in the loop with all work that had been planned. Even the delivery of the waste bin by another company was followed up by the Metricon person in charge (name removed). It's good to see that these bigger building companies take care of the little people. Thanks for an easy and effortless fix.

Couldn’t have asked for a smoother build

From Victoria in the sales office, to [name removed], our site supervisor handing us our keys the entire staff at Metricon have been amazing.

Although we had some bumps along the way, the team handled it professionally and quickly, everybody went above and beyond their job titles to ensure we were getting exactly what we wanted.

As a young couple building their first home we were super nervous and had no idea what we were doing, but the team at Metricon, especially [name removed], our support co-ordinator who put up with a lot of annoying emails and questions from us.. Everyone was informative and knowledgeable and I would recommend them to anyone looking to build a new home.

Best builder by far

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 18, 2018

So everyone thinks building a house is hard work, but not when you are building with metricon it was so easy from the sales all the way to starting onsite everything was so easy.
I would like to say a big thank you to my site manager he was so professional and nothing was too much trouble to ask and my building support coordinator which she was always easy to talk to always had the right answer i was looking for.
What a happy ending to my first house thank you everyone in the Metricon family.
Thanks Metricon

Smooth building process

4 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 16, 2018

It's so good knowing that we chose the right builder as we were so anxious if we'd have a construction nightmare story.

In fact, we never had any major issue!
Majority of the success is brought by an outstanding Project Manager - [name removed]
We were always given timely updates and any issues we raise are always addressed immediately.

After moving into our house, the customer support was accomodating but sometimes just needs a bit of chasing up.
Having spent a year in our new home. I don't see any issue with the build quality.
We highly recommend Metricon!

Excellent staff, build, cant fault anything A+

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 14, 2018

Build quality was excellent

Build workmanship, quality and management was superb:
[name removed] (Site Supervisor) treated the home like his own and ensured all contractors were following his set schedule, [name removed] (Building Support Team Lead), [name removed]/[name removed] (Accounts Receivable Office) and others in the background I forget to mention, made the experience great.
These people in particular, encompass the ethos of Metricon and a level of excellence I did not expect. They work with you on any challenges you as the customer may have, and make you feel like a valued customer throughout the journey.

Communication throughout the build was excellent, met and exceeded expectations here on all levels.

The entire process within Metricon has met and to my surprise in most cases exceeded my expectations, on build, quality, communication, documentation, rectifications etc. I would recommend Metricon to anyone and if we have another opportunity in the future to build again, we would look towards Metricon as our first choice.

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Khvorostin,
Thank you for your excellent 5 Star Review!
We are proud to read that our whole team ensured that the final product of your home was built to such high quality.
It is a pleasure to r...
read more »

So happy

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 13, 2018

Happy with quality and speed and how smooth the whole process was, [name removed] was great so was everyone we dealt with at metricon, we couldn’t be happier and would definitely recommend Metricon, they were very supportive from start to finish and quite inspirational to see how successful they are and you can totally under stand why after building with them

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi JoelT,
Thank you so much for your great 5 Star Review!
We are thrilled to read that your whole journey with Metricon went smoothly and that our team was a pleasure to deal with.
We appreciate yo...
read more »

Awesome House

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 13, 2018

10/10 for our site manager. He was always helpful with any issues or queries we had. Always rang every week with an update of progress.
Office staff were pretty average but eventually got everything sorted
Our sales consultant was awesome also. She was very accommodating and always happy to help us during the first stages of deciding to purchase our house and the extras we wanted to add on

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Jase,
Thank you for your awesome 5 Star Review!
It is great to read that both your site manager and sales consultant were very helpful and assisting with any queries that you had.
We appreciate ...
read more »

Dishonest and Unapologetic

1 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 13, 2018

Metricon said yes to our requirements to get us to put the deposit in. Once we signed up we were told their commitments were a bunch of 'miscommunication' and would not be fulfilled. Then they told us you either compromise or lose your deposit.
We were lied to repeatedly and Metricon is quite unapologetic about it.
We are building our first home, so maybe we aren't as familiar with the way these things work, but we really thought Metricon was better than this. This was barely the beginning of the journey, and even though we lost our deposit, it is better to have lost a couple of grand then to risk several hundred.

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Mohit,
We understand our Customer Care team have been in close communications with you via Private Message from 6th March to present. We confirm an outcome has been provided to you on behalf of ...
read more »

Metricon
posted on Mar 14, 2018

You are pretending this is not an ethical issue, but a technical one.
Outcome = You won't get back any money even though you were lied into paying it, and we are not sorry for wasting your time, money and energy.
Great work resolutions team.

Overall great experience with Metricon and Best Sales Manager

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 12, 2018

We built with Metricon Homes at North Kellyville.

My husband and I are very young couple, we don't have any experience in building house. We are very happy to choose Metricon Homes and our sales manager [Name Removed] to help us finish the first house in our life.

Our house have settled by the eve of Christmas last year. Now, it has moved to warrantee part.
We’ve done our house inspection with a professional Independent Building inspector recently. He gave 9 out of 10 in regarding to the quality. Our inspector would like to choose Metricon due the cost effective and overall quality and service Metricon could offer.

Special thanks to Metricon Homes Sales Manager [name removed] who has helped us to select our land at North Kellyville in 2016. He and his assistant [name removed] gave us very professional services and advices about our new home in our first language Mandarin Chinese from tender request to contract signing. The construction time of this house is around 1 year, in this period, my sales help me to negotiate with my site manager once we found some issues or defects on the house.
In the last stage, I am looking forward Metricon could fix all defects in the report from third part inspection for us ASAP.
We will recommend Metricon to our friends and probably build with Metricon again in the near future if we could find another block.
Thank you Metricon for a wonderful first home building experience, we hope the warranty fixing period could go smoothly.

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Mimi Zhang,
Congratulations on building your very first home and thank you for your great 5 Star Review!
We are thrilled to read our Sales Manager has provided an outstanding service in assistin...
read more »

Terrible Costumer Service and Sales Representative.

2 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 12, 2018

At first we though we are good to build with Metricon. It sounds promising. We supposed to be signing our contract next week. We been through all the changes we want including color scheme and back and fort correspondence -- confusion back and fort too due to the change of Sales Coordinator. Our base price that supposed to be locked for 12 months was increased because the first Sale Consultant left and didnt submit the document to locked it - even if we paid the money to fixed it. Delays due to Sales Rep giving us options of facade that was not fit to our lot or layout that was not compliant to what we already requested and so many times, credit that we supposed to give us due to changing carpet to timber flooring, reduce size of outdoor/dining etc. The supposed to be "fixed site" cost that we signed during the locked price was increased, due to "Slab upgrade due to the existing fill on site that we not counted for the initial fixed site cost estimate". The Standard slab is M but teh fixed site cost supposed to be increased only if Soil Test result to be E or S and need change slab accordingly. Our soil test is H, which is common to Western Suburb areas.
They don't want to give the credit, blaming us for the confusion and correction of the layout that we already requested that didn't reflected on their layouts and wants to charge extra for the site cost before the contract signing when we already got our finances sorted and the Contract price they want us to sign is above our maximum capacity.

We considering to find other builder now. We dont want further stress.

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi MitzYao,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have located your file and have escalated the concerns to Management for review. We appreciate your patience during this time of invest...
read more »

Metricon
posted on Mar 13, 2018

To avoid further delay and stress to us, we decided not to build with Metricon. I suggest Metricon should look and review your sales and coordination system and Customer service. Seriously, you sho...
read more »

Very happy in our new home

4 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 12, 2018

The build was surprisingly the least stressful part! The build was well managed our building manager was amazing! I give him a 5star rating! He was approachable, kept me up to date and very accommodating. the build went quickly and smoothly which was fantastic. The quality of the finish is good.
Customer service pre build was very stressful!! Very little customer service once we had signed for the build. This part was very disappointing..
Final product I’m very pleased with and very happy :)

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Vickytoria M,
Thank you for your amazing 4 Star Review!
It is great to read that the construction of your home was a quick and smooth process and that your building manager always kept you up to...
read more »

This review is for the Building Supervisor. Not for customer service people

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 09, 2018

workmanship & build quality was good. All minor repair items identified at Customer Presentation were rectified by handover.
[Name Removed] managed the build exceptionally well. Great communication and prompt response to all queries. Everything was delivered as promised and approx. on time. Cannot fault [Name Removed] on any part of the build / handover experience.
Customer service and support was very average. Staff were not interested in seeing things from my point of view or going the extra mile to assist me. One example, when I paid extra for downlights the plans were changed from my original siting of the lights in the kitchen because they would interfere with the cupboards. I patiently explained I had not ordered cupboards. Still the plans were changed to accommodate the person doing the re-drawing. In the end I simply gave up because this issue was holding up the works. I went with the downlights in the position that the person wanted!!! Despite my issues with the customer service team (and I had many), I was grateful that the salesperson, [Name Removed] and the building supervisor, [Name Removed] were excellent at the start of my build and the end. I worked around the very ordinary service from the middle people.

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Tracey,
Thank you for taking the time to write this review for our readers.
We are so pleased that your build experience was managed exceptionally and there was great communication.
We appreciat...
read more »

Excellent '5 Star' Site Supervisor [name removed]

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 09, 2018

We started our process with a really good new home consultant [name removed] who helped and guided us through the first stages of choosing our home and finding the block we wanted. Then we moved onto the next stage of dealing with so many different people in the office which turned out to be an nightmare. By the time we finally made on site we were ready for more drama.
Well we were in for a surprise. We found our site supervisor [name removed] fantastic. Not only is he professional he also knows what he is talking about. Nothing was too much trouble, he sorted out any concerns we may have had and provided regular updates. [name removed] went over and above all expectations we had going into this build and now we are finally in our new home. Well done [name removed] these '5 stars' are for your hard work you put into our build. Thank you.

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Tracey,
Thank you for taking the time to write this excellent review for our readers!
It is great to read that our Sales team were very helpful with choosing both your home and land.
We are prou...
read more »

Great experience with the construction stage

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 08, 2018

The build was very well managed and completed much sooner than expected. The site manager [name removed] has been great. He kept me updated every step of the way, with calls every week and organized multiple visits for me at different stages of the build so that I could see the progress. He also explained everything in great detail to me, things that I would normally know nothing about but the information helped me understand everything better.

There were a few hiccups with the pre-construction stages with Metricon but they have made up for it by organizing the construction to complete ahead of schedule.

So, I would like to thank specifically the site manager [name removed] and the Building Support Coordinator [name removed] for their great service and making me feel that my satisfaction mattered to them and they cared enough that I had a good experience.

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi S A,
Thank you for taking the time to write this great 5 Star Review!
We are so pleased to read that our team was able to build your home ahead of schedule.
It is great to know that you were kep...
read more »

working with the site supervisor [name removed]

4 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 08, 2018

It was painless and excellent experience working with [name removed].
[name removed] is always explaining the process step by step and always up to date with construction schedule.
he is a great site supervisors, always updating me with building progress on a weekly bases.
very well organized and always helpful in suggesting/ and providing solutions and ideas.
it is a pleasure to have [name removed] as your building supervisor.

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Nick,
We are proud to read that your Site Supervisor has made your build journey such an excellent experience!
It is great to know that he has continuously kept you updated and is always providi...
read more »

Simple Design Great Supervisor

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 08, 2018

There was a bit of delay from pre-construction process but as soon as it was handed out to the construction team, they hit the ground running, the house was completed within 18 weeks (including holiday break). [name removed], our site supervisor was really knowledgeable, friendly and helpful, we received a weekly call or text or email (if you prefer) for updates on the progress and attended several site visits. He made the whole building a new home process almost stress-free. Despite some minor (cosmetics issues), we are really happy with the final product. We had really great experience and cannot thank [name removed] enough for looking after the construction stage to completion.

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi RosS,
Thank you for taking the time to write your great 5 Star Review!
We are pleased to read that your home was constructed in a timely manner and it was an almost stress-free experience for yo...
read more »

very poor quality of drive way

1 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 07, 2018

It was the worst decision that we had 2 townhouses built by Metricon! The finish of the building was rough and the drive way has many very deep cracks. We have been requesting them to fix the problem but was told to Waite until their inspector comes in June. After 3 months and the inspector came and checked every thing taking many photos, he agreed it was the concrete problem and he will

would report to Metricon but never getting back until we contacted several times then we were told " it is within the quality tolerance and we can find an independent inspector and provide a report but at our cost, which they know it may be more then we fix it by our self. They are a large company and they know we can't afford to do it so they take the advantage!

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi CHENG,
Thank you for contacting us via Product Review and for bringing this to our attention.
We take our customer's feedback very seriously and hope you will allow us the opportunity to investi...
read more »

Metricon
posted on Mar 08, 2018

Thanks, I have contacted the customer care many times but nobody cares . If you do want to solve the problem let them to contact me . Otherwise we could continue dis visiting on the website.
Regards

Building a home made easy

4 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 07, 2018

Building overall was as planned fairly easy. The final results very happy. There were a few issues with communication and things not explained appropriately. e.g internet connection which created a few headaches and no connection for washing machine. It was great to get phone calls from supervisor advising of stages of building and photos were exciting. It was a bit scary when smoke alarms went off several times but supervisor said faulty and new ones quickly replaced. Thank you Metricon and no doubt good support if needed from here. People love our house and so do we .

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Jan Dainton,
Thank you for sharing your review with our readers!
We appreciate your feedback and will pass it on for future business improvements.
It is great to read that your site supervisor h...
read more »

Exceptional Service

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 06, 2018

Our new home build is finally underway!! I cannot praise [name removed] (Customer Relations Advisor) enough. Nothing was ever any trouble, the communication, her attention to detail and her patience was outstanding, well done Metricon you have a great team member in [Name Removed]. We are looking forward to our beautiful new home, and have been extremely happy with our dealings with Metricon

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Luzette,
Thank you for your great 5 Star Review!
It is great to read that you have had an exceptional experience so far with Metricon.
We are pleased to be assisting in making your dream home a reality!
Kind regards,
Metricon Customer Care

Efficient Supervisor

5 out of 5,
reviewed on Mar 06, 2018

The process with Metricon was very smooth. Always received text massage from our supervisor [Name Removed] about the progress of the build. He has made the whole process easy and worries-free.
The final result of the home building was close to perfect. We engaged an independent building assessor to review the final touch of the house and there are only handful of minor amendments that needed to be made.
We will definitely engage Metricon again for the next job.

Comments

Metricon Official

Hi Cherylnick,
Thank you for this great 5 Star Review!
We are so pleased to read that your site supervisor made your build process worry free and kept you thoroughly up to date.
It is lovely to kno...
read more »

Questions & Answers

We built our house with metricon 2.5yrs ago. My bath has started leaking somewhere under neath. Does this come under metricons warrenty?

Hi customer,
We hope to investigate this matter further in regards to your leaking bath. If you could please contact our Service & Warranty team on 1300 METRICON, our team will review this item in accordance with our Warranty conditions and assist with your enquiry further.
Kindest Regards,
Metricon Customer Care.

Metricon
replied on Mar 20, 2018

A new Metricon house is being built at Lot 5 Caroline Chisholm Drive in Kyneton. Brendon Lummis is listed as the Site Manager for the build and a permit number of 2017088-0 is listed, although whether that is a Metricon permit or the building surveryor, I don’t know. A very large amount of polystyrene waste is being blown along the street from this site. We have it in our front yards, down beside our houses and I’m sick of picking it up, along with coffee cups and energy drink cans. I would really appreciate something being done to remedy this, as polystyrene takes hundreds of years to break down (if ever) and it is going into the drains as well. I am happy to supply photographic evidence should it be required. Kim Bear.

Hi Kim,
Thank you for contacting us via Product Review Q&A and for bringing this to our attention.
Your correspondence has been escalated to our Construction Management team to review your concerns, a member of our team will respond once we have further details on this occurrence.
Kindest Regards,
Metricon Customer Care.

Metricon
replied on Mar 20, 2018

Hello Metricon, may I ask which tile has been used in Metricon Bordeaux Greenvale? Thankyou


In Fighting Form

Main Article Content

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Sloan’s da Vinci® Surgery for Prostate Cancer

A cancer diagnosis can come out of nowhere, even after a lifetime of normal, even excellent, check-ups. Still, healthy habits — from competitive stair climbing to annual screenings — can have a profound impact on your fight.

Sloan started seeing N. Richie Thakur, MD, when he moved to Chicago from New York in 1997. Dr. Thakur was his first steady primary care physician, and over time, Dr. Thakur developed a strong familiarity with Sloan and his health. His vitals were typically better than average, due in large part to his active and healthy lifestyle, but that never distracted Dr. Thakur from one concern: Sloan’s PSA number.

PSA stands for prostate-specific antigen, which is a protein produced by the prostate gland. A PSA of 4.0 ng/mL or lower is generally considered normal. Although a high PSA may be an indicator of benign conditions such as inflammation (prostatitis) or enlargement (benign prostatic hyperplasia) of the prostate, it can also be an indicator of prostate cancer.

Sloan’s PSA had always been a little high relative to his age and level of fitness, but not quite high enough to be concerned. Eventually, when he was 49, his PSA rose to a level of concern, and Dr. Thakur recommended additional tests with Kent T. Perry, MD, a urologist at Northwestern Medicine and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. Dr. Perry diagnosed Sloan with prostate cancer, and to this day, Sloan attributes the early detection to yearly check-ups and Dr. Thakur’s diligence with the data he documented.

Sloan was bewildered upon learning he had prostate cancer. So much of his life revolved around nutrition, exercise and health that to hear he was sick was a shock. Soon though, that surprise evolved into enlightenment.

“When this happened, I know it’s going to sound counterintuitive, but it kind of liberated me,” said Sloan. “Because it was at that point that I thought to myself, ‘You did everything you could to protect your body. You were getting the proper sleep and eating right and these other things.’” He was comforted knowing that the ultimate diagnosis was out of his hands.

Sloan’s healthy habits were about to pay off. While most people face a certain degree of risk with surgery, particularly with regard to anesthesiology, being in shape significantly reduces that risk. Furthermore, as Dr. Perry began explaining Sloan’s treatment options, he told Sloan that, due to his good health, he was a strong candidate for treatment with the da Vinci® surgical system.

da Vinci® surgery is a minimally invasive robotic surgery system that provides surgeons with increased precision for a number of complex treatments in oncology, urology, gynecology and general surgery. While it works much like a traditional laparoscopic procedure, instead of manually controlling the instruments, the surgeons use a console that allows them to move with far more precision, stability and dexterity.

Sloan recalled Dr. Perry saying, “I want you to be able to make an informed decision, and when you’re recovering from the surgery, if you’re feeling a little discomfort, I don’t want you to sit there thinking, ‘Man, maybe I should have tried another option.’ I just want you to know it all, so if you do choose this route and you do go through some discomfort, at least you can say you knew all your options.”

“It was at that point that I realized that Northwestern Medicine doesn’t only provide phenomenal care, but they also work for my best interest. I imagine Dr. Kalapurakal had a case to make for radiation treatment, but he basically said, ‘Look, you’re still young. You’re in tip-top shape. I would highly recommend the da Vinci® procedure,’” Sloan continued. “I knew, man, for the last X amount of years, I’ve been in the right place.”

Surgery went off without a hitch. Afterwards, Sloan spent only one day in the hospital, and he went for his first walk the evening after his surgery. In a month’s time, he was feeling well. He started to work out again. With his PSA hovering around zero, it wasn’t long until he could resume one of his favorite fitness hobbies — tower racing, an activity that can be competitive or philanthropic, and involves climbing the stairs of some of the tallest buildings in the country.

And while Sloan summits skyscrapers, his prostate levels stay grounded.

Interested in hearing more from Northwestern Medicine? Sign up for the Healthy Tips E‑Newsletter for everything from health and wellness ideas to patient breakthroughs to academic and medical advancements.