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dawnasiler · 5 years ago

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How to Do Cate Blanchett’s Skincare Routine

If there's one celeb who inspires skin envy, it's Cate Blanchett.

At 50 years old, the Australian actress is as well-known for her flawless, luminous complexion as she is for her Oscar-winning film roles.

So it's no surprise that she was the global ambassador for the revered Japanese skincare line SK-II for 15 years, and now holds the same position for Giorgio Armani Beauty.

"Initially, when I signed on with SK-II, some people would ask me, 'But you don't use it, do you?' and I would honestly respond, 'Yes, I do actually,'" Cate told Gritty Pretty. "I understand that cynicism, but it's been a very organic relationship because the brand was only interested in talking to me because they knew I already used it."

It was her makeup artist, Mary Greenwell, who first introduced her to the range back in 2001, when Cate was pregnant with her first child and had developed melasma. "After that... I was completely stunned by the results. I don't know how to describe it, but SK-II sort of turns a light on in your skin. It illuminates it. I noticed a decrease in my skin's pigmentation probably after a month. I really started to notice the difference when I would have close-ups on film. Using SK-II made me feel more confident at work. And, as soon as I felt more confident at work and I didn't have to worry about breakouts, I was addicted.”

All these years later, the line's products—plus plenty of SPF—have kept Cate's skin looking like this:

"My skin is in pretty good condition and has been stable, because I found something that really works for me, and I’ve stuck with it," she explained to The Cut. "I think my skin is a lot more resilient. I have fewer breakouts than I did in my 20s, which you can say is partially hormonal, but also because I'm not changing it up."

Here's what's involved in Cate's skincare routine:

Cate’s Morning Skincare Routine

1. Cleanser:

"I just tend to cleanse at night. [But] if I've had a particularly late night and gone to bed with my makeup on, I wash my face in the morning."

2. Essence:

SK-II Facial Treatment Essence

SK-II Facial Treatment Essence: "I have been using the SK-II Essence for about 15 years now. It has so many purposes. I use it over makeup and under makeup. It's a moisturizer, but the key ingredient, Pitera, also works on the clarity and the radiance and hydration of my skin. When I can only pack one thing, it'll be that. If I had the choice between spending a lot of money on a foundation or buying a bottle of essence, I'd get the essence because if you use it over time you need less foundation anyway."

3. Serum:

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Serum

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Serum: "In terms of my regime every morning, it's so simple I don't even have to think about it. It's literally the essence [and] the serum.... I was quite freckly as a child from being out in the sun, but then I used the SK-II whitening products and all those freckles went away. It's not necessarily about bleaching the skin which is a long, ancient tradition in Japan. It's more about evenness of tone and that's what I find the range does. It just works on the luminescence of the skin."

4. Moisturizers:

Giorgio Armani Crema Nera Supreme Reviving Cream

Giorgio Armani Crema Nera Supreme Reviving Cream: "[My skincare] depends on the season. I always use good quality products and products that have a natural base. What I've been using recently because of the weather is Giorgio Armani Crema Nera. I use a cream moisturizer... every day."

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Cream

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Cream: "What I love about the moisturizer is that it's really hydrating. You can put your makeup over it and it's not shiny. You feel it penetrates immediately. You don't feel like it cakes onto your skin."

5. Face Oil:

Giorgio Armani Crema Nera Supreme Recovery Oil

Giorgio Armani Crema Nera Supreme Recovery Oil: "I use... a recovery oil every day to give my skin an extra barrier from the weather."

6. Sunscreens:

Daylong Extreme SPF 50+

Daylong Extreme SPF 50+: "I'm eternally grateful that my mother always encouraged me to stay out of the sun and wear sunscreen [when I was growing up]. With very pale skin, it was especially important not to become a bronzed sun bunny. I think 90 percent of people who have issues with their skin—health-wise and also in terms of satisfaction with their complexion—are actually talking about sun damage. I use a very strong sunscreen. Even on [winter] days... I put on something with an SPF.... I think it's just a process I've inherited from growing up. There's a sunscreen called Daylong and I use that."

Neutrogena Age Shield Face Oil-Free Lotion SPF 110

Neutrogena Sunscreen: "The best piece of advice is to wear sunscreen and not go out in the harsh Australian sun. I was out for 15 minutes yesterday in the sun and it's just so intense. You really do have to put on 50 SPF and you have to walk in the shade. I use a good one by Neutrogena."

7. Lip Balm:

Lucas' Papaw Ointment

Lucas' Papaw Ointment: "I use it on my lips, elbows and heels. During allergy season, it helps reduce redness around my nose and eyes."

Cate’s Nighttime Skincare Routine

1. Makeup Remover:

SK-II Facial Treatment Cleansing Oil

SK-II Facial Treatment Cleansing Oil: "When I'm on stage or on a film set, I'll use the oil-based cleanser, which is really like an eye makeup remover as well—it's a lazy girl's cleanser. [It] really takes everything off. I am removing makeup three times a night, eight times a week. My eye area takes a bit of beating, but the oil cleanser is really gentle."

2. Cleansing Brush:

Clarisonic Mia Smart Anti-Aging and Cleansing Skincare Device

Clarisonic Device: "I have a Clarisonic brush, and it's great."

3. Exfoliators:

Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant

Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant: "I never used to exfoliate, but now that I do, I think it's a good thing to do regularly. You can't treat a problem unless you get the top layer of dead skin off, and we're constantly covered in dead skin. So it's important to get it off. Look at men in their 40s and then look at women in their 40s—for men, their skin looks really good because they shave every day. I would exfoliate every day if I'm filming, because you spend the entire day in makeup. I just need to do it psychologically, as well, to end the day. SK-II doesn't do an exfoliator, so I use one from Dermalogica...."

Intraceuticals Rejuvenate Enzyme Exfoliant

Intraceuticals Rejuvenate Enzyme Exfoliant: "Or this Australian company called Intraceuticals."

4. Essence:

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Essence

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Essence: "Pitera is the essential core so in the end, my desert island treatment would be the Facial Treatment Essence. Recently they rebooted it with extra Pitera to make the LXP version, which is what I use. It has become my number one product, not only because the packaging is gorgeous but the quality is so remarkable that a little goes a long way."

5. Serum:

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Serum

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Serum: "[My skincare routine before bed] really is the essence and the LXP Serum and the LXP Moisturizer."

6. Moisturizer:

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Cream

SK-II LXP Ultimate Revival Cream: "Then I put the LXP Ultimate Revival Cream on, every morning and night. You've got to really massage it into your skin and it stimulates your skin to receive the product; I've learned that from working with [makeup artist] Mary Greenwell."

7. Eye Cream:

SK-II R.N.A. Power Eye Cream

SK-II R.N.A. Power Eye Cream: "I finish with eye cream."

Cate’s Skincare Treatments

Facials:

Georgia Louise: "Cate is a natural beauty so she's all about natural-looking skin. I've been creating lots of custom facial treatments for her using micro-currents and radio-frequency, mostly non-invasive modalities to tighten and stimulate collagen. We keep her skin looking like glass, with lots of vitamin C to help brighten and a big emphasis on detoxing and de-puffing." — Georgia Louise, Cate's facialist

Oxygen Facials:

"I occasionally have an oxygen facial—they're great."

Massage:

"Always make time for a face and body massage. It's the best beauty tip I've learnt over the years and the one I continually tell my friends. It relieves the day-to-day stress we carry in our faces and bodies. Anything that increases the blood circulation to relax your face [is good], because we carry so much stress in our face."

Light Therapy:

GLOLite LED Mask

GLOLite LED Mask: "For on-the-go, I recommend devices, like my LED mask. There's no reason you can't do a treatment at home when you can't make it to an esthetician. Cate's really thankful for the devices because they can maintain a glow on the go." — Georgia Louise

Face Masks:

SK-II Brightening Derm Revival Mask

SK-II Brightening Derm Revival Mask: "I love to do a brightening mask [before appearances], because it evens out your skin tone and it helps to luminize it. It gives your skin more radiance."

SK-II Facial Treatment Mask

SK-II Facial Treatment Mask: "For a big event like a red carpet, I might do a treatment mask [to moisturize] the day before and then do a brightening mask while getting ready. And when I'm travelling, I'll do a facial treatment mask because it's really hydrating."

Cold Spoons:

"The biggest thing I took from [my mum] is putting spoons in the freezer for your eyes. If you haven't done that, you've got to try it! I flew into London and I was up with the children at 2am, so I got the hotel staff to put teaspoons in their freezer. I put them on before The Hobbit premiere; it's so brutal, you totally wake up!"

Cate’s Diet, Exercise and Lifestyle

Diet:

"There's no grand diet plan but I try to stay away from wheat, even though I love bread as much as the next person, and I avoid additives. Then again, you also need to live your life and there'll be evenings when I drink five glasses of champagne!"

Water:

"Even though it's very boring, just try to drink water."

Caffeine:

"I know when I don't have coffee my skin is much better."

Supplements:

Aethern Advanced Skin Beauty Program

Aethern Advanced Skin Beauty Program: "I just started taking these really great skin vitamins. It's called Aethern. I've never heard of it before, but someone recommended it to me. It's a liquid vitamin. I do think it's what you ingest. I've always been very big on my kids taking vitamins, but I often forget myself."

RMS Beauty Within Probiotic + Prebiotic Dietary Supplement

Probiotics: "The health of your gut is really, really important. To help your gut, take a probiotic—that's a thing I take. What I would say is good for everybody is taking a probiotic; if your gut is healthy, then you're more likely to have healthier skin."

Sakara Detox Water Drops

Chlorophyll: "My son's digestive system has been quite challenged so I've been doing quite a lot of investigation and have started to take chlorophyll in the morning. The only way that I can get him to drink it is if I do, too. I put a couple of tablespoons into water and I also have it at night. That's been fantastic. My son quite likes it because they must drink some potion in the Harry Potter films that looks similar! It doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't look great!"

Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar: "A teaspoon of that. It just makes you feel clean—it's good for your gut. [It] makes me feel healthier from the inside. You do get used to it. It's just to make your system more alkaline. Stress makes it so acidic."

Exercise:

"I really like Pilates. I feel like it's made for actors' bodies. For me, I need to do it one-on-one. I find that when you go into a big class, you actually need a guiding hand. At home we have an elliptical trainer, which is good because that's often the only exercise I get. But my job is very active—I end up stretching each day before I go on, so I feel very taken care of in that way."

Sleep:

"You can't turn back time but you can try and sleep longer."

Lymphatic Cleansing:

Dr. Bo Wagner: "I've done a lymphatic cleanse a few times for liver, kidneys and gallbladder—there's a guy in Los Angles called Dr. Bo Wagner. It's not to lose weight, it's more of a detox but I felt fabulous after it. It's hardcore; it's a month long and all herbal and you detox, cleanse and then renew everything. You don't eat for a week but it really made me feel incredible."

Colonics:

"I think it's good every now and then to have a colonic. Yeah, not every day, but every now and again, because it's super hydrating."

Stress Reduction:

"You know when someone has a migraine or a headache and they haven't done anything to their face, but their whole face constricts? I think that anything you can do to remove stress will give you a better glow. Stress ain't good for nothing. So you've got to find those little moments where you can literally just stop and take a breath."

"We often talk about quick beauty fixes, but sometimes you just need to sit down and turn your phone off for 20 minutes, and that's all you need to make your face relax. People think you look so much better, and it's just because you've gotten rid of the stress. Give up social media. That'll take 10 years off you."

Attitude:

"There's a big difference between altering your appearance and trying to work with what you got. My philosophy is to work with what you got. It's about feeling comfortable in your own skin. But it's easy to form judgment on other people. For me, I've just grown up that way. My mother is not someone who has surgically enhanced herself. It doesn't seem natural to me. But that's just me—ultimately, I believe women have judged other women too long."

Thanks to InStyle, Town & Country, Allure, Elle, Byrdie, Glamour, Yahoo! Beauty, Well+Good, The Telegraph, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, British Vogue, E! News, Get the Gloss, Refinery29, The Cut, PopSugar, Gritty Pretty and SK-II.

Shop Cate’s Skincare Routine

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How to Do Cate Blanchett’s Skincare Routine syndicated from The Skincare Edit

#skincare #beauty #makeup

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38-planes · 7 years ago

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Meet the Canadians who opened their doors to stranded travelers after 9/11

Bonnie Harris, Gander SPCA Beulah Cooper, Retired/Befriended Hannah Derm Flynn, Appleton Mayor Oz Fudge, Gander Police Officer Diane Davis, Teacher at Gander Academy Brian Mosher, Camera Man

On Sept. 11, 2001, with the United States reeling over the World Trade Center terrorist attacks and forced to close its air space, 38 America-bound flights were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland. The town — population 9,651 — dropped everything to host and comfort 6,579 airplane passengers and crew members from all over the world.

Residents invited perfect strangers to sleep in their homes for several days. Previously striking school-bus drivers chauffeured stranded travelers. Pharmacies provided diapers and medication to the passengers, who were allowed to take only their carry-on luggage from the planes.

Their stories are being celebrated in a new Broadway musical, “Come From Away,” opening March 12 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Here, locals tell the story of the tiny town with a big heart.

The Animal Aide

Bonnie Earle-Harris spent the days following 9/11 with a special group of international visitors: nine cats, 11 dogs and a pair of endangered apes. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) employee crawled into the darkened cargo holds of about a dozen planes, comforting and caring for the terrified pets.

The bonobo apes, on their way from Belgium to a zoo in the US, had their own handler. But several of the animals were alone.

“They [seemed] very stressed and frightened,” said Harris, 51. “They were thirsty — they had been on the planes for at least 18 hours.”

At first, authorities were loath to allow the animals off the planes, but by the second day, Earle-Harris and a local vet prevailed, transforming an empty hangar into an ad-hoc menagerie where the animals could stretch and run.

She shrugs off the acclaim, however: “It needed to be done. If it happened tomorrow, we’d do it again.”

The Retiree

Beulah Cooper opened her home — and made true friends.

The retired government worker, now 76, let anyone who needed to shower do so at her home. She made a particular connection with Long Islanders Hannah and Dennis O’Rourke, who awaited news of their son Kevin. A New York City firefighter at Rescue Co. 2 in Crown Heights, Kevin hadn’t been heard from since his company responded to the call at the World Trade Center.

Cooper, whose own son is a firefighter, did her best to lighten the O’Rourkes’ suffering. “I spent a lot of time with them,” she recalled. “We drove around and talked. We talked about the dangers [for our sons], but how it’s what they want to do and you hope for the best.”

Two weeks after the O’Rourkes returned home, Kevin’s body was found in the stairwell rubble of Tower One.

Since then, the families have visited each other several times and speak frequently on the phone. “Hannah never hangs up the phone without saying ‘I love you,’ ” Cooper said. “I do the same with her.”

The Constable

“I remember realizing we might have as many as 10,000 people arriving,” said Constable Oswald “Oz” Fudge, 62. “We were only a population of 9,000, but I knew that we’d take care of everyone.”

When the police officer learned that several passengers were terminally ill children flying from London to Disney World for their birthdays, he got his daughter and several local teens to create an ersatz Orlando at St. Paul’s Intermediate School.

“My daughter dressed up as [local mascot] Commander Gander [inset]. Three girls from my daughter’s class dressed as fairies. A bakery made a cake for 350 people, and we had balloons and stuffed animals,” Fudge said.

“One of the fathers said, ‘My daughter’s wish was to go to Disney World, but even if we don’t get there, it’s OK. We’ve had such a good time here, she’s not sad.’ ”

The Teacher

Upon finding out that 770 stranded travelers would be camping out at Gander Academy, third-grade teacher Diane Davis, her coworkers and students sprang into action, setting up computers and organizing volunteers to bring food.

As the airlines’ accounting for travelers took much of the day, the first guests didn’t arrive at the school until midnight.

“Our vice principal said, ‘These people have been traumatized and are exhausted.’ So we waited [for them],” said Davis, who didn’t sleep for 72 hours.

“After a few days, one passenger asked, ‘Where is your military? Everything’s working, and I wonder why we don’t see uniforms.’

“And I said, ‘It’s our community,’ ” Davis, 53, explained. “We just jumped in and made it run.”

The Reporter

Brian Mosher, a journalist and a teacher at Gander Collegiate high school, was playing music videos for the lunch hour when he first saw images of the Twin Towers. He reached out to colleagues at the local radio and TV station to appeal to the town for help. The response was immediate.

He became the town crier on TV, making public service announcements. “By the second day, I was announcing free concerts,” he said. “By the third day, I had to ask people to stop [donating] toilet paper. I was announcing, ‘There are fish dishes at Gander Academy, but there’s a passenger at Gander Collegiate wanting to try moose, so someone brought moose there.’ ”

On the fourth day, Mosher, now 57, played the Canadian and American national anthems over the PA system of the school, which hosted hundreds of travelers. “First there wasn’t a sound,” he recalled. “And then there were sobs.”

#come from away #cfa #broadway #tonys #musicals #musical theatre #tony awards #38 planes #article #images #link #queue smith

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lukecmurray · 8 years ago

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2016 Review

Last year I spent several days (and well over a dozen hours) reviewing 2015. This is a drastic improvement from 2006, when I spent several months reviewing the previous year. But still, the process could be improved. So, I spent about a half-dozen hours going over my process (see my previous post for lessons learned from that) and am going to hopefully finish reviewing 2016 in just a couple of hours. This will be a beast of a post, but should only be a single post. Here’s the structure I’ll use.

Why am I doing this?

Already did this last year, will just revisit and revise it for this year.

What did i do?

The highlights of what happened in each month, plus how many total checkins I had that month and lessons learned.

Best and worst things that happened.

Will likely be pulled from the above list.

Habits analysis

How much progress did I make with each habit?

Is it still a good habit? (keep/toss/change?)

What are the biggest barriers to crushing it and ideas to overcome those barriers?

Themes analysis

Love

Unplug

Core values

How well did I live them?

Expected vs. Actual

What things did I want to get done, vs. what did I actually get done?

WHY AM I DOING THIS

Last year, I clarified the reasons I spend several hours (and even days) at the beginning of each year going over the previous year in nauseating detail:

Make new/different mistakes

Get more accurate w/goals vs. reality. Get my expectations closer to reality, without lowering my standards or ambitions.

Increase my ability to accomplish goals

To record things, so that I have a sense of having lived, of having “done things”, of having moved forward in my life.

I would still consider these to be accurate, but I would summarize the first three by saying this:

"I do these yearly reviews to tighten my 'wisdom feedback loop'."

I wrote about what the 'unlived life within us' means to me: Decreased clutter and increased clarity. This, I think, is the essence of what wisdom in action looks like. So if I'm a) always making new and mistakes instead of old ones b) shrinking the gap between my expectations/plans and my reality, while c) increasing the difficulty of tasks to which I aspire, then I'm increasing my velocity towards becoming my definition of 'wisdom in action'. Or, tightening the wisdom feedback loop.

I also want to add another reason for doing this: To help others accomplish the same things.

I don't mean that they will have the same goals, but if they have the same reasons, I can help them. I've done this process in increasingly less wrong ways every year since I was 18. And each 'less wrong' process makes me that much more valuable to people that are trying to do the same.

Also, I mean this in both a virtual and physical capacity. Nobody reads this blog, so I don't expect that I'll be able to help lots of folks virtually in January 2017, but perhaps months or years from now people may discover it and use it to improve their own process for self improvement. I'm sitting next to my good friend Mike (pictured above) and he interrupts me every few minutes to ask about how I do x, y, or z and my advice to him is always based in personal experience...based on a lot of wrong ways that I've done these reviews over the years. Hopefully I can help facilitate more of these in-person sessions and be valuable because of the work I've put in for the past 15 years.

WHAT DID I DO IN 2016?

tried to get into car flipping

got ATLS certified

almost got a job in Owenton ER

broke up a fight in the middle of the street

BL summit

failed to get an in-person personal assistant onboarded

lived in Vegas: iora, boosted board adventures, time w/cousin’s fam

INSIGHTS - this was one of my best months ever and i didn’t bring my cell phone to vegas at all and I stopped at 7pm sharp every day.

clinic, then chief on service

INSIGHTS

I wrote about being worried to hit a burnout wall after my great January month, and this is what I wrote in the second week of feb "I did hit that wall (screwed around for 2 hrs on thursday PM)...but then recovered and have done okay since, and in the grand scheme of things, that's AMAZING for me (only screwing around for 2 hrs)." That's how in the zone I was - I complained about 2 hrs.

i turned down a lot of things to stay in the zone - ski weekends, a wedding in Oregon

After one of my best weeks ever in the history of recording checkins: "Why?It wasn't trying harder. It was saying no, keeping my head clear, and getting up really early to knock out all the stuff that I'd usually put off until the end of the day. It feels like a miracle, like I'm a new person. It gives me an insane amount of confidence...So remarkable that the true answer to how to make such dramatic change is basically: do less, say no, cut out the BS...if you do that, all you should be left with is your own voice, and it's plenty wise enough."

chief on service, then clinic

called friends in the evening for awhile

Michelle got sick

Annabelle was born

AMSA speech: Med Students & Adversity

Fancy Nick engagement party #1

INSIGHTS - was getting up at 5am in feb, this got thrown off by a couple days worth of surprises and never recovered.

Derm rotation, became great friends with Dr. Tobin

last night with Nick as roomate

Nick bachelor party

Nick getting married

took FM boards

delivered baby

South Africa...which included

time in the hospital

going to mosque, buying Quran, time with Uncle

cape point sunset

getting lost on table mountain

run through newlands forrest

robben island/nelson mandela jail cell

rondebosch garden

hiked lionshead

bungee jumped world’s highest

ostrich farm

snowboarded (indoors)

met some cool girls & camped at storms river

INSIGHTS

last year i spent a month abroad and totally fell off the wagon...did incredible by comparison this time. learned from last time.

recording what i did each day really added significantly to the richness of that experience it, because i get to re-experience those memories

Geriatrics, then clinic

Meacham

double date with Dr. Tobin

passed boards

did graduation roast speech, and tried to get drunk

started working out consistently b/c elevated BF % s/p Africa

got UK job

Florida trip to negotiate with landlord

Dale Hollow houseboat trip with Amy’s family

moved into RV, LOTS of time working on it & hosting friends in it

Samuel helped work on the RV, became my friend

family trip down in GA

marriages: Emily Wehrley. Stu Brenner.

INSIGHTS

friends went on a surfing trip to charleston and i turned it down, hard to do, glad i did

“#1 HAVING A MORNING ROUTINE THAT KNOCKS OUT A BIG CHUNK OF THESE <habits> GUARANTEED....I'M JUST TOO ANXIOUS TO INVEST THIS TIME IN THE AM...BUT THAT'S WHAT I SAID IN MEDICAL SCHOOL THAT KEPT ME OUT OF THE GYM FOR YEARS. Wow, i really need to work on controlling anxiety/pressure in the moment.”

went low carb

worked on RV, RV expo

trip to Charleston b/c friend got sick, surfed

started my autobiography

scanned all family photo albums

visited all my old friends

GA visit b/c Melissa back from deployment

Pa visit x 1 wk

INSIGHTS

While in Charleston “it's REALLY hard to steer when you feel pulled all over the place by circumstances. but the consequences of ignoring those circumstances and plowing through are mostly illusory...i could only stop by <the hospital> for one hour 3 times per day and that would be PLENTY of visiting time. i could then spend the rest of the day working by myself”

While scanning photos “why do i feel behind? b/c I am compared to the schedule i made for myself at the beginning of the year. pretty silly to be operating off of a plan you made 6 months ago.”

time with family/grandparents in OR + coast...SUPER quality time

surfing in OR

writing autobio

Spout Springs visit

credentialing for job

pendelton roundup, deck with dad, Bethany visit

garrett NYC proposal trip + Adeel + Chris Salotta visit

INSIGHT

time with gparents was some of the best & most important things I did all year

best month of checkins in ever (4 yrs!!)...not sure why

freaked out about every friend i have getting married/engaged. changed my priority to emotionally fulfilling hangouts instead of caring about ‘romantic relationships’

installed solar panels

autoB progress

started talking/helping Aalap with SignalHealth - DC conference

Such family camping trip

started Curt book

first shift at UK as employee

surf trip to SC with Raney’s

job apps

moved into jenna’s

comedy club with dr tobin

long weekend with DP & friends

ehof - board meeting, event

accomplished my NY resolution!

G life transition meetings

job apps

started Murray Medical, LLC

hurt myself w/flag football

confirmed BIAB project/EHOF book

global entrep week

alejandra x 1 wk, visited everywhere + beaufort

such appreciation dinner

started work at KDMC

INSIGHT

after an 80 checkin week “best week i've ever had in my life. a LOT of it was about saying no to the camping trip this weekend. that was hard, but i'm proud of myself for doing it. also got to practice not feeling sorry for myself by wishing i was somewhere else.”

worked every day at KDMC

Freeda adventures/challenges

brought back 2 people from codes

ski trip with friends at PNS

INSIGHT

Working 34 days in a row was awesome because it created a routine that allowed me to consistently do lots of things (besides work) and improve at a much faster pace in my medical skills & knowledge.

BEST AND WORST OF 2016

BEST

finishing residency & passing boards

not getting a job - was scary, but this provided me the freedom to do lots of other 'life list' important things

having one metric that mattered and tracking that only - doubled down on using coach.me and accomplished my NY resolution for the first time in my life

also...

gave med student adversity speech

Annabelle was born

nick marriage/end of a great roomate run

south africa month

RV - doing what i said

quality time - vegas, grandparents, parents, friends, surfing

WORST

I didn't grow in my romantic relationships as much as i did in 2015 - In 2015 i grew a lot by having the goal to be "terrifyingly honest" in relationships. I didn't push myself to that standard this year and stagnated as a result.

also...

things took longer than I thought - but that was good lesson to learn because it forced me to accept and live by realistic timelines, and because i didn't have a job I could follow all the way through on my plans

RV was more work than expected (example of above) - i first was glad that i spent time getting to know the RV and how to fix things, but i got to the point where i don't care to 'learn' more, i'd rather spend that time being a doctor and use the money made to pay a professional.

i got broke - i coasted on credit cards in the interim between residency and starting a job and got pretty close to 100% broke - but this was also a lesson that was important. things cost more money than you expect and if they are really priorities, then you've got to pay the price, in both time and money.

HABITS ANALYSIS

In my recent post “My Goals for 2017″ I said:

“Last year my goal was to check in to more daily habits on coach.me. And I crushed it. And it had the ripple effect of me crushing a bunch of other areas of my life...when using the 'total number of checkins metric’ I improved 107% since last year and 60% over my best year ever (2013).”

This was the only metric that I tracked week over week. And because of that, for the first time ever, I consistently did week reviews where I knew how far ahead or behind I was from my overall goal (eg on July 1, I should have 1,000 checkins for the year, if I had 1,100 at that point, I would note that I was 10% ahead of schedule). Making this the only metric that I tracked had a positive affect on lots of the parts of my life - most obviously, on each of the areas the specific habit addressed.

So, now I’m going to take each goal and ask:

How much progress did I make?

Is it still a good habit? (keep/toss/change?)

What are the biggest barriers to crushing it and ideas to overcome those barriers?

progress vs 2015: 272 checkins vs 117 checkins. 132% improvement.

I didn't feel like i was growing in this in 2015. I was doing it but didn't feel more calm/mindful throughout the day, which is the whole point. Late this year I downloaded several meditation apps and HeadSpace stood out as far and away the best one. I've spent at least $100 total at this point and I really am growing in this super important area. I catch myself (the most important part) getting anxious, frustrated, distracted, etc. and then use the techniques I've learned from this app to get back to calm. Probably the best money I spent all year in terms of its return on my health.

keep/toss/change: definitely keep, continue progress with headspace app

barriers: just making the time, but i'm at a point where i like this enough that it doesn't take discipline. sometimes i do it when i'm tired and don't get much out of it. On those days I should consider doing it twice - the second time when I'm not exhausted.

progress vs 2015: 233 checkins vs 111 checkins. 110% improvement

In 2015 wrote about wanting to feel clear-headed after walking away from a session of reviewing goals & 'visioncasting' and i didn't have a good process for it at the time. Surprising to see that this was still an issue as of the end of 2016. i came up with a system just a couple days ago that will hopefully help with this and i think the reason this will work is because of my improved mental condition/focusing of the mind that came from meditating. Glad to see how long this problem has existed. Should motivate me to solve it this year.

keep/toss/change: keep it as a goal, but changed it as noted above to have some structure

barriers: lack of clarity - which I have now

progress vs 2015: 138 checkins vs 77 checkins. 78% improvement

Posted 60+ things this year, (< 30 last year), did much better, big realization is that this was streaky. Another great example of being able to keep consistent tabs on something because you kept all your data collection in one place (I kept track of all my writing progress on coach.me, including using the notes section to keep track of when I posted stuff).

keep/toss/change: I would like to actually start sharing my content somehow. This probably means fiddling with marketing, setting some goals about viewership, but I feel like this might do two negative things: 1. scare me off from writing and 2. change what/how I write. So will probably at least track viewership or something.

barriers: none for posting on this blog. Barriers to working on larger projects (book, etc.) are the same that used to (and sometimes still do) keep me from publishing on this blog. Namely: fear. I think the answer for that is writing with friends. Going to try to schedule writing hangouts, even if only brief ones.

progress vs 2015: 210 checkins vs 80 checkins. 163 % improvement

Goal last year was 200, actual was 80. this year i didn't have a goal but hit 210. Hell. Yes! Big realization here was starting with one small thing at a time. I went on a streak from august where I added one new thing to my physical health regimen each month, and kept it going consistently until late november, when I got injured playing football, then had a friend visit from out of town for a week, then went on a 34-day straight work assignment away from home. I took January off (though I still had 4 checkins that month + 8 days of skiing, vs my monthly average of 6.7 in 2015) and have been on track 100% thus far this month.

keep/toss/change: change to one small thing I'm doing that month to improve my health. Keep track of it in the notes of exercise.

barriers: injury (don't play football!). Simplicity/low bar - adding one small thing per month put me on course to have the best 4 months of physical health progress in years...maybe ever.

progress vs 2015: 153 checkins vs 56 checkins. 173% improvement.

This is a keystone habit. If I do this then everything else goes better. I realized this last year and wrote about how important it was. This year I had the second highest amount of improvement of all my habits (except for eat the frog, which was 193% improvement). I’m super proud of myself for making such amazing progress on this...but it still is the 9th most checked into habit out of 12. As one of the most important habits it should be one of the most checked into.

keep/toss/change: keep - and double down on it! again!

barriers: Make sure to identify it when planning the day and checking it off when you do it, even if it’s not a specific action (e.g. if you stayed calm all day).

progress vs 2015: 51 checkins vs 82 checkins. -38 % decrease

I don't have this anymore....but the bigger lesson here is 'what's the thing that causes the background static/stress in your life and what's your process for getting rid of it or ignoring it?'

keep/toss/change: already tossed it, but getting out of my email inbox is my #1 goal for Q1 of 2017 and I'm well on my way. Also, to get rid of the static - my visioncasting format really is helpful in clearing my head to do this.

barriers: I'm addicted to my email inbox. Need to CREATE barriers (and an alternative outlet) to keep me out of it.

progress vs 2015: 113 checkins vs 83 checkins. 36% improvement

i crushed the boards, studying 37 days before taking it (about 83 times the year before total). Totally didn’t deserve that. So no clue what happened there. Then i got a bit lost on what 'studying' made sense. i started with reading a book summary every day, which felt like i was accomplishing something, but none of the content really stuck, even when i reviewed my highlights on the weekends. then changed to tax books, which was awesome bc i wanted to learn that stuff. i still need to nail down what this means and then pick a bite-sized way to chip at it. I also expect this to change often. I kept track of actual studying vs expected for awhile, which was motivational, as was just hearing that another resident friend of mine was working her ass off. Just hearing her say that she studied 2 hrs per day in addition to her residency duties lit a fire under me.

keep/toss/change: change continually, should be part of planning my day

barriers: lack of clarity on what this means, get rid of it by deciding what it means when i plan my day

progress vs 2015: 348 checkins vs 183 checkins. 90% improvement

Went OFF on this. not sure why other than that it's something you can get away with skipping a day here and there and still check in later. also stopped rating the days - not sure why i did this, other than i couldn't put a number when i tried to think of it. hopefully this is a reflection of an improved attitude and a better acceptance of my life, along with less judgement, which I wrote about on my birthday.

keep/toss/change: keep, might revitalize the 'today' project, because when I read through my summaries of each day they spark certain memories...but a photo does that so much better.

barriers: none...but might be if I start expecting myself to take a picture.

progress vs 2015: 252 checkins vs 145 checkins. 74% improvement

i've ended up doing this during my 'think about goals' time, which is not when it's supposed to happen. but everything i wrote about this goal last year, applies to this year

“I’m afraid to do this sometimes, especially if i’m not in bed on time & am tired….because i have to come to terms with all the things i will not get to do tomorrow. But then i end up just feeling sad and like “damn, tomorrow’s going to really suck because i won’t be able to get everything done that i want, and i’m bummed that i didn’t get what i wanted to get done today, too.” Wow, writing that. What a crummy/unintelligent strategy for ending your day. I HAVE to stop with energy/motivation in the tank so I’ll have the willpower left to accept what has happened that day & decide what i’m going to do the next day…because when I do do this, it really does feel mentally freeing & motivating for getting up in the morning…i literally don’t want to wake up in the morning when I haven’t done this because I just have this ball of vague stress to great me that I feel: “Well, not sure what all this stuff is that i need to do but i know that i’m not going to be able to get as much of it done as i want to and even what i decide to work on i probably won’t get finished which is going to give me a feeling of being even more 'behind’…so yeah - not pumped about this day”. What a terrible cycle of not-awesome! Glad I articulated the concept of paying the opportunity cost of planning up front.”

This even happened during my 6 months off, or on days i was truly supposed to be 'on vacation'. the idea of 'i don't want to wake up tomorrow'. That was a big surprise because i thought it was because of my job. It turns out it was totally because of my attitude - which was affected by my expectations (pay opportunity cost up front) and my energy. I need to manage both of those.

keep/toss/change: keep, but try not to do it until AFTER you've meditated and taken a high level view of your life (visioncasting/reviewing goals) so that you have the right mindset when planning the day.

barriers: my attitude at the end of the day. not wanting to wake up, addressed above.

progress vs 2015: 126 checkins vs 43 checkins. 193% improvement

This was one of the top two most important things on my list to improve from last year...and I did it! This was the most improvement of any of my goals. However, I still have lots of room to get better at this, as it was only the 9th most checked into goal I had.

keep/toss/change: keep. duh.

barriers: just having the courage to identify it when planning the day, and then checking it off at the end of the day.

progress vs 2015: 45 checkins vs 18 checkins. 150% improvement

These were too long and I didn’t have a central place to put them. I changed it and put EVERYTHING in my notes instead of on a spreadsheet or somewhere else and that 100% solved the problem. It kept me keeping track of my progress throughout the year. This little checkin session helped recalibrate me and actually fed my feedback loop.

keep/toss/change: change to track my 4 goals for the year.

barriers: none. just keep the time expectation down at 10min.

progress vs 2015: 130 checkins vs 68 checkins. 91% improvement

This is a goal that sneaks up on you because the problem is pretty much never solved (my back hurts every day and every night). In retrospect I had an amazing year with it. I was able to sleep on my back for a couple nights in South Africa, was able to stand for significant amounts of time without significant pain, and even let myself be active (i.e. sprinting) to push the boundaries of what’s possible for my back.

keep/toss/change: change by continuing to try new methods and seeing what works

barriers: this is all about minimal time commitment (5-10 min) and building from there, because some of the stretches feel SO GOOD that once I do a few of them I get more into it.

THEMES ANALYSIS

Love

I didn't set the standard of being “terrifyingling honest” so I didn’t get out of (or into situations) fast enough, or at all.

I also had a breakdown when a bunch of friends got married on the same weekend (felt like I was ‘alone’ or doing something wrong) & redefined what this meant. Ultimately, I’m not worried or ‘empty’ because I’m missing out on physical intimacy, what I’m missing is emotional connection, or interactions that fill my emotional tank. So now that’s what I’m doing - focusing on those kinds of interactions, and turning down ones that are anything less than 8/10 in this respect.

Also, part of this is giving/being selfless and it motivated my goal for this year.

Unplug

I spent time at the cabin and other time just alone, and it was good. Read Deep Work twice. Probably could have said 'no' a little bit more often, especially near the end of the year. Am realizing more and more that this is the ‘answer’ in so many ways.

CORE VALUES

This is the third year I’ve tried to systematically focus on one core value per week. I didn't do this consistently. I want to give up on it...but so did Ben Franklin. I now have it in my daily visioncasting so I think I'm okay with that.

EXPECTED VS ACTUAL

At the beginning of the year I listed out what I wanted to happen week to week all year long. It stressed me out once I fell behind this, and I wanted to somehow keep an updated sense of how many iterations happened and what changes were made. I quickly found that keeping track of the iterations was a huge hassle. So this year I’m just trying to book out my calendar really far in advance and chunk it at a high level (i.e. this week I had off and just blocked off “finances/admin” for the week).

I’ll publish my ‘takeaways’ from this review, as well as things to do differently in 2017 in a later post.

First Draft: 1/21/17

Published: 3/21/17

Time: 20+ hrs

Image Credit: me, and my buddy Mike Leek

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cheerstocrazy · 5 years ago

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Austin 7/4-7/7 Messy stories

I love Rainey Street!!! I’m so glad I got to go back and experience it fully. We went to Unbarlievable, and while the drinks and people sucked, the bar was playing BANGERS from all my fave artists: Daft Punk, Maggie Rogers, Kaytranada, Washed Out, and so many others! It’s so laid-back and open, which is how I like my bars. We bar hopped a lot and the drinks were so cheap, and each space had its own vibe and white people who couldn’t dance. I’ll move to the highlight of this trip. Jas and I went to Rainey St at night again bc we wanted to see how poppin’ it would be. We went to The Container Bar first, and I really loved the concept and layout. It’s so novel and cool! I didn’t like the music, so we went to Unbarlievable where the line was 2nd longest and the music was poppin’ again. Went inside, got our drinks, spiked the shit out of it. 2 lame dudes approached us to talk, but they had no social skills, weren’t cute, and were generally killing our vibes. I’m glad they realized we weren’t interested and left. Soon after, this really tall dude asks us, “Hey girls, do you want some drinks? I’ll buy them for you.” To which I screamed, “yes! LONG ISLANDS PLEASE.” They were weak as shit, but they were free. We got our drinks, and he didn’t even talk to us. What a nice lad! I think Jas talked to him bc she was nice, but I was like eh, Idc. He’s not cute, he’s wearing khaki pants with CHANCLAS. At this point, the cute Spaniards I had seen earlier approached Jas and started to talk to her/ dance with her. He was short, but his friends were fun, and it was nice to have lively people who could at least dance to the rhythm. We were all talking in Spanish, and Mark was still here, WGW as shit. He was all alone which was really weird, and I asked him where his friends were. He replied, “Idk, lost em. *Shrugs*” I let him take some sips of my long island, and at one point, he took the long island and didn’t give it back. He took the straw. And I was like you have to buy me more!! You took my drink. So he did, and we got 2 more long islands :D He was so drunk and was taking pretty long to register/do simple tasks, but IDC, THE DRINKS WERE FREE. I think his friend came by at this point, and I yelled omg it’s your friend. Hey, what does Mark do?? His friend: he’s a doctor. I wasn’t interested at all thus far, until I heard that word. And I yelled, “A DOCTOR????!?!??!?!!! WHAT’S YOUR SPECIALTY??” And he replied MD. Who the fuck replies MD when they’re asked what they are. Usually, people would reply internal medicine, derm, etcetc. I didn’t believe him, but Idc too much either. He was really drunk at this point and somehow, it had become my responsibility to look after him. I took a foto with him bc I thought it was sooOOooOOoo funny how tall he was, and I wanted to remember this memory of a dumb guy whom I milked for drinks. He stayed with me and would put his pinky finger out to dance with me. So fucking weird, god white people. I played along whatever. I was drunk and having fun. And I always have more fun when i have a guy with me. I know it’s horrible, but nights without guys to mess around with are LAME. I don’t want to go to the bars if that’s not gonna happen. Anyway, one thing lead to another, and I’m not entirely sure of the event orders...but wait, I remember telling Jasmine: DON’T LET ME KISS HIM. Which usually means, I’m stupid and I’m gonna kiss him in 5 seconds. Back to the story, he turned me around (probably) and I ended up kissing him. He wasn’t a bad kisser, I’d give him a 6 or 7/10. It wasn’t wet; it wasn’t sloppy; he removed his lips from mine. It was nice--I liked it. I know I also screamed at him to move his hips, and he was incapable of it. We would dance with each other, and I know his hands were grazing my boob, and Jas told me too. It was fine, whatever. I wasn’t even paying attn to anyone else at this point, and I couldn’t have cared less. We kept on kissing, and soon the bar closed. We all left, and he came with me. I asked him where his friends were, and he didn’t care to find them. I walked his drunk ass out, and Jas was hungry, so I said we should all go to the food trucks and grab something. He was stumbling and couldn’t walk straight, so I held his hand and pulled him with me. I was hungrier in theory...and wanted everything, but had absolutely no appetite. We ordered so much food, and he paid for everything. He didn’t even care at this point. It was wonderful. In line, there was this incredibly cute Iranian who was dressed SO nicely with the most beautiful pearly whites. Wow undeserving. His name was Coby, something like that. Mark was so drunk, he put ketchup on the outside of his burger bun, probably thinking there was space to dip his fries. We sat across from these 2 really young college kids 21 and 22. Omg, I felt so old sitting near them. Somehow, the white kid mentioned politics, and I said I’m your standard California liberal...and Idk how or why, but Mark mentioned something abt AOC (maybe in defense of her?) I was so shocked a Southern boy knew about her and was praising her? Acknowledging her? Maybe I was drunk. All of the above. Mark gave the kids some life advice, and I was like do you really want advice from a 30 year old man who’s WGW??? They replied, yeah he’s older and he’s a doctor, we’ll take it. Smh. Anyway, we ended up leaving and we didn’t touch our food so Jas and I were forcing these black guys to take it, but they didn’t want us bc they probably thought we did shit to it. LAME, THIS IS EXPENSIVE FOOD YOU’RE GONNA BUY ANYWAY. We walked out toward the street, and Mark was like I’ll do anything you want or go anywhere you want. Something like that. Idr the exact words, and I thought, “Guess he’s coming home with me and staying on the couch ugh. He was a good enough kisser, this should be fine” Jas called the Lyft. We got in and we were probably still holding hands. Idr what was going on, but he would pull my face over to kiss him, and I felt so embarrassed bc Jas was sitting right next to me!! And he kept doing it to me ugh. Then we got inside the house, and she ran up, and I went to the living room to grab my shit to change. I had my clothes downstairs, so I went to that rr to change. I think he got some water??? And I got into the couch tired as shit, and he had already undressed himself and CLIMBED ON TOP OF ME!!! Omggggg, I’M TOO YOUNG AND SMALL FOR THIS SHIT. lmao. Anyway don’t really remember much of the details besides he fingered me, and he was really slow with the process, which I guess is better than shoving it in there and DJing. Could be worse. I gave him a hand job, and his dick was smaller than I expected. Damn. And he went down on me!! And it felt so GOOD. But I was also thinking holy fuck, I haven’t showered. I’ve sweat 10 buckets today. Poor dude. And then I asked him if he had a condom, and he said yes he did. So he searched, couldn’t find anything, then I searched and couldn’t find anything. I was so pissed. Ugh, i WANTED TO HAVE SEX!!!!!!! So he took his dick and was a tease abt it, and dicked it around my vagina, which was SO SHITTY. I felt like a teenager who had to restrain herself, and ugh I’m a grown ass woman, JUST PUT IT INSIDE ME. Unfair. It was nice nonetheless. Was he the best? No. He was good enough and he made me go on top too, which #feminism #equality--I’m all about that. And he would hold/hug me sometimes, and it felt so nice to be held by a significantly bigger man. It was after the first round at 3-4am, and I googled on my phone the closest Walgreens and told him to go buy condoms. He asked “you really want to fuck??” YES I DO!!!! bITCH!! Sometimes he would get thirsty and get up to drink straight from the sink when I had a glass of water on the table. It made me laugh. I saw his pale ass small butt there. I’m not a big butt person sorry...esp not his heh. When we “fell asleep,” he would hold me completely in his right arm, and I was really surprised. Generally, guys cant sleep like this and also their arm goes numb. But he fell asleep holding me the whole time. It was nice, but I was so fucking exhausted, and I couldn’t sleep with him snoring. Then he woke up and get second wind and we did it all over again, this time in the light…..He asked me if I could go down on him, and I did it no questions asked bc dammit I guess you eat me out, I have to return the favor. I honestly have no idea what I’m doing ever. And he kept making me give him a hand job, and all I could think about was Julian’s tweet. I’m not even good at this!! My right arm is tired!! He took so long to come, I was feeling unsuccessful, aND I WAS THIRSTY AND TIRED AND SWEATING. MY GOD. I kept blowing him and I wasn’t even switching up the pace. I tried to go around the head. I was getting so thirsty, at one point I even felt so baby barf. So I quit and said I’m thirsty. I was so sweaty. I lay on top of him for a little bit to not make it so awkward….Then I drank water and came back, “we fell asleep.” I gave up after and slept on the couch next to him or lay down on it. Idk I was losing my mind at this point. I was so tired. I slept for an hr finally and went up to chat with the girls. I was asking them what protocol was for kicking someone out bc I really wanted the couch and to be able to sleep. Oh ya, he was sleeping completely naked on the couch, and I was so worried about my friends coming down to see him naked!!! He did look so peaceful and cute sleeping though. It warmed my heart a bit and softened him to me. I digress. They said to come upstairs to sleep and let him go home alone. I thought that was weird, and I thought what if he stole shit. Also if I were in his position, I’d feel super fucking weird to be left alone. Anyway, came back down to lie down on the couch, and he awoke. He looked over sleepily at me, and asked me if I wanted the couch, to which I replied, Yes, MOVE. Oh ya he had asked me earlier twice if I was alright, or is this okay? He moved afterward. It felt so weird bc I didn’t know anything about him. Also during hooking up, I was like, Omg Im so tired, I just want to sleep, and it felt so impersonal bc it was and I was with a stranger!!! He moved to the couch and then he went back to sleep. Then he made up some BS excuse abt his back being sunburnt and wanting to lie on the floor. But I knew it was an excuse to lie down next to me. AND IT WORKED UGH. My hand was dangling off the side, so he grabbed it, held it, and kissed it. And I was like ugh my cold, dead heart. He held it close, then put his foot up to play with mine. Finally, he asked me if I wanted to come lie down with him, to which I replied yeah :\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ He asked me questions about what I did for fun in California. So weird. I asked him bare minimum questions bc I didn’t believe he was a doctor, and I didn’t really care to get to know him. We talked a bit more about nothing. Then Martin and Jenny also came down at this point. I think we started to kiss again, and he started to finger me. Jenny was being so fucking loud, I honestly wanted to slap her!!!! She’s so annoying!! I yelled shut the fuck up jenny!!! She was ruining it. It felt so nice to be held by him. I felt so safe and secure ): He fell asleep. I moved up to the couch and I had such a bad headache by this point bc I had only slept 1.5 hours max, and I wanted to die. I was being so negative to him lmao. Jas and Jenny finally left after I asked them one billion times when they were leaving. As soon as they left, he tapped me and said something, but I didn’t hear. I immediately said out loud, “Ok, let’s go upstairs to get some rest.” I wanted a fucking bed!!!!! We both went upstairs and he complimented the house. Backtracking to our convo downstairs earlier. It was so weird bc he asked me so many questions, and I get it, this was him trying to figure out who I even was. He assumed I lived in Austin, and that this was actually my house, when I was visiting and this was an AirBNB. Anyway, we went to the bedroom, and I lay to the side bc I really wanted to rest (knowing full well I wasn't). He was there with his phone texting and Idr when he told me, but he said he friends left without him. I had asked him earlier when he was leaving and he said today actually. I was kind of sad bc I was hoping he was staying until the day after so I could spend more time with him. After he finished texting, he cuddled me from the back, and we started fucking around. Then he proceeds to tell me has a condom, and I'm like what don't you get? You are actually stupid. You don't have one!!! His breath also tasted like milk at this point. Not that it was a bad thing but he hadn't brushed his teeth in a while. He went down on me again which was gr9. He asked me if I wanted to have sex without a condom, to which I replied “no, idk you.” He laughed it off. I took off my shirt and it got stuck on my big head, and I was so mortified haha. We kept doing the thing where he'd tease me with his dick outside and he’s dry hump me. And I rolled my eyes, I was tired and too sober for this. He kept making me give him a hand job and my right arm was so tired, I wanted to die. He ended up finishing himself off, and he came all over my stomach while grabbing my boob. Oh ya before that he would let me lie down on top of him, and he would hold/hug/squeeze me. It was so nice and comforting. He also had a habit of tapping his fingers on me, which I felt endearing. I asked him for a towel to wipe myself off. He said he hoped his friends were still there and that his checkout time wasn't until 4pm. I can't believe he chose to stay with me knowing full well he had to leave. He couldn't find his briefs, but I found them in the sheets. I walked him down, grabbed his sunglasses and watch for him, and he pulled me in to kiss me a few last times. He squeezed me tight and it was so sweet. I enjoyed it. We said goodbye at the door, and he did the lingering hand, and I'm sure if I gave in to kiss him, he would've pulled me in again. I've never met or been with anyone who’s so obsessed with kissing.

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longisland-derm · 5 months ago

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Dermatologist Garden City

One of the newest and most innovative treatments at Long Island Dermatology, the Exion® Skin Treatment, is a revolutionary aesthetic solution created by Body By BTL. This highly effective treatment uses the power of advanced radiofrequency (RF) technology, and is completely non-invasive and innovative in addressing various skin concerns, while promoting a more youthful and rejuvenated appearance.

#Dermatologist Manhasset #Dermatology Manhasset #Manhasset Dermatologist #Best Dermatologist Manhasset #Best Dermatology Manhasset #Top Dermatologist Manhasset #Derm Manhasset #Dermatologist 11030 #Dermatology 11030 #Long Island Derm

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longislanddermmanhasset · 1 year ago

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Dermatologist Garden City

Being in the middle of winter the last thing on your mind is hitting the beach, and showing off your legs. But time can fly by these days, and when it comes to your aesthetics regimen its always important to look to the future and plan or the season ahead. With the spring fast approaching, there are a number of cosmetic treatments women across NYC are planning. From dermal fillers and Botox injectables, to facials, peels, and of course, your favorite laser hair removal! According to Dr. Carol Huang of Long Island Dermatology, considered the best dermatologist Nassau County has in practice, laser hair removal is more popular than it’s ever been. With women, and even some men, preferring it to far more painful and difficult procedures such as waxing and electrolysis, and the advent of new and innovative laser technology, when looking for the best laser hair removal Long Island patients have a number of different options to choose from. however, one of the biggest mistakes patients can make is to just go for the deals, and risk visiting a practice or spa, that simply doesn’t have the knowledge, experience or medical background that can help patients to ensure they not only have an effective session, but one thats free from unwanted side effects, risks and other issues. One of the most important things you can do when looking for the best laser hair removal Nassau County has to offer, is to ask questions, anything that comes to mind, any concerns you might have, an explanation of the procedure, the type of lasers they use – its all fair game, and any reputable practitioner should be able to educate you on the subject and keep you informed on how things go. As the best dermatologist Long Island has to offer, Dr. Huang and her team are always willing to answer as much as possible before the procedure, and this is a major reason why patients tend to stick to a trusted dermatology practice like Long Island Dermatology for their laser hair removal needs. In this article, we will be going over some of the most important questions to ask about laser hair removal.

#Dermatologist Long Island #Best Dermatologist Long Island #Top Dermatologist Long Island #Dermatologist 11030 #Dermatology 11030 #Long Island Derm #Cosmetic Dermatology Manhasset #Dermatologist Great Neck #Dermatologist 11021 #Dermatologist 11024

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solardesignstudio · 7 years ago

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Looking Forward: Microgrid & Distributed Generation Trends in 2018

We recently explored the many ways in which solar-plus-storage systems are poised to make great advancements in 2018. Through newer, more efficient and cost-effective technologies, increased competition, and a renewed focus on and conversation about energy security, the market for solar-plus-storage systems continues to heat up. But what’s the next step?

As solar-plus-storage technology grows in popularity and implementation, many solar industry experts are turning their attention towards innovative models for individual and community power generation and distribution. Distributed generation systems and microgrids are a logical outgrowth of proliferating solar-plus-storage opportunities. Let’s take a look at the trend forecasts for the upcoming year and what they indicate about the future of microgrids and distributed generation.

Microgrids & Distributed Generation

Industry news source Solar Novus Today identified microgrids as their number one trend to watch going into 2018. The differentiating factor between ”regular” (grid-connected) solar installations and microgrids, they explain, is that “in the event of a power outage, a microgrid will still supply power to the homes or businesses to which it is connected.” Microgrids provide greater energy security and independence for the communities that they serve, whether grid-connected or not.

Currently, power consumers (that is, all of us) must go through utility companies to access the energy that we need. It’s an outdated system that encourages dependence on traditional, centralized sources of power such as coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants. This model also requires a large, complex infrastructure to support the transmission of power across long distances, removing consumers even further from the source of their power and introducing the potential for large-scale power outages.

Distributed generation, a model that decentralizes power production and eliminates much of the need for elaborate distribution infrastructure, is a radical-seeming concept that has been demonstrated to positively affect the communities in which it is implemented. For example, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina benefitted from its microgrid in the summer of 2017 when the power lines running to the island were severed by accident. As GreenBiz reports, “While the transmission line was out of commission for seven days, the microgrid helped provide power for island residents.”

Spurred by events such as this, as well as the massive storms that knocked out power for both island and mainland residents in 2017, the conversation around microgrids and distributed generation continues to gain steam. Forecasts for 2018 indicate that increasing the energy security and resilience of homes and businesses through microgrid adoption will become more common, providing further evidence that it is the innovative power generation and distribution model of the future.

Trends Impacting Microgrid Development

An insightful series of articles from HOMER Energy explores the trends that will impact microgrid development in 2018, providing a fascinating look into the emerging technologies that are facilitating its rise. The first of these trends is the falling price of solar-plus-storage systems, which empowers more consumers to move away from utility and grid dependence. This shift in the way energy systems are being used indicates a future in which new models of power production and distribution can more easily take hold among forward-thinking consumers.

In addition, HOMER brings attention to the development and testing of Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS), which provide better integration between solar (or wind) power generators and the grids they are connected to. “Software, electronics, and microelectronics developers are stepping up to the challenge with a myriad of new products,” HOMER notes, “And they’re doing it faster than anyone expected… making grids smarter, while also making it possible to add more solar and wind resources to the mix without destabilizing the grid.” Continued innovation and greater competition for these technologies will speed the development and adoption of distributed generation and microgrids.

Another major trend with exciting applications for distributed generation and microgrids is the interest in using blockchain technology to create new energy markets. Blockchain, the “distributed ledger” technology that was developed to facilitate the exchange of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, offers a platform for trading, sharing, and monitoring potentially any commodity. Applications in the energy sector include “managing small-scale energy trading in networks of microgrids,” which “could promote the growth of distributed energy systems,” HOMER explains.

Microgrids As a Service

All of these trends, HOMER says, point toward the emerging phenomenon of “microgrids-as-a-service,” in which solar companies provide consumers with a package of technology designed to make microgrids easy to implement and manage. While this trend remains on the horizon, it could enable new financing arrangements that further incentivize consumer adoption of microgrids and distributed generation.

At Solar Design Studio, we’re excited to see the conversation around microgrids and distributed generation continue to expand. As new technologies further enable microgrid adoption and bring the possibilities offered by microgrids into the mainstream, we look forward to serving more clients who are ready to embrace greater energy independence and security.

If you’d like to learn more about microgrids and distributed generation, or start a conversation about your energy future, contact us today!

from Learn From the Solar Expert http://www.solardesignstudio.com/RSSRetrieve.aspx?ID=13199&A=Link&ObjectID=712198&ObjectType=56&O=http%253a%252f%252fwww.solardesignstudio.com%252flearn-from-the-solar-expert-blog%252flooking-forward-microgrid-distributed-generation-trends-in-2018

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allcitypermits-blog · 7 years ago

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We know how the system works, let us make it work for you." We specialize in working with Homeowners, Contractors, Developers, Architects and Engineers All City Permits is a full service permit expediter / permit runner with many years of experience expediting permits and code violation repair in South Florida, Miami Dade and Broward. We help ease the permit approval process and save time and money for Homeowners, Contractors, Developers, Architects, and Engineers. We are an expert permit expeditor and service all building departments in South Florida such as City of Aventura, Bal Harbour Village, Bay Harbor Islands, Biscayne Park, Coconut Creek, Cooper City, Coral Gables, Coral Springs, Dania Beach, Davie, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Golden Beach, Hallandale Beach, Hialeah, Hillsboro Beach, Hollywood, Key Biscayne Village, Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderdale by the Sea, Lighthouse Point, Margate, Miami, Miami Beach, Miami Gardens, Miami Shores Village, Miami Springs, Miramar, North Lauderdale, North Miami, North Miami Beach, Oakland Park, Opa-Locka, Parkland, Pembroke Park, Pembroke Pines, Plantation, Pompano Beach, South Miami, Sunny Isles Beach, Sunrise, Surfside, Tamarac, West Park and Weston. Valuable time is wasted in traffic, waiting in line, and dealing with the government's bureaucratic process at the city's planning department and other agencies such as DERM, WASA, Impact Fees and Fire departments. All City Permits exists to help ease the permit approval process and save time and money for Homeowners, Contractors, Developers, Architects, and Engineers. All City Permits offers a range of reliable services at a low cost to assist you with the process of pulling permits. We offer complete management of the permit process from start to finish and our goal is to become a cost effective and trusted resource for your company. We perform these services with the same sense of urgency, professionalism and attention to detail that you would deliver yourself or expect from your internal staff. If you have ever tried pulling a permit at the city then you know how frustrating it can be. It seems like it would be an easy and simple task, however You go into the process thinking it's going to be easy, but you quickly learn that it's a very involved process. Common permit submission mistakes include: - Not having the correct paperwork with you - Missing signatures on application - Forgetting to have signatures notarized - Not having supporting documents - Incomplete jobsite plans. The list of requirements seem a mile long. After submitting plans, you still have to go through a plans review process. Next you receive comments and send them to the Architect and/or Engineer to address. Then, once comments have been addressed, there is the resubmission process with supporting documents. Many times during the permit process, certain aspects of the intended work will go through changes because the owner or developer made changes and then revisions need to be submitted and approved. There might be holds on the property that stop the permit process such as violations or other issues that need to be cleared up. When applicable, plans will have to go through reviews and be approved from other agencies such as DERM, WASA, Impact Fees and Fire. There are many other obstacles that come up during permit process that need to be navigated through to get a final permit issued. It sometimes seems that like the permit process takes longer then the actual work being performed. Just like you would not attempt to prepare and file your own taxes, you should hire an expert in the industry to expedite your jobsite permits. You will save valuable time and money by outsourcing this aspect of your construction projects. All City Permits is an expert in the permit field with many years of experience in South Florida. We have established working relationships with many building department's officials and supervisors. Call us today 305-300-0364 for a FREE Consultation Please also like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/allcitypermits

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ozsaill · 7 years ago

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Facing up to health care

Keeping up with routine health care needs isn’t a problem when cruising. It’s rare to be in a place where quality care cannot be found, or reached quickly should an emergency arise. In Puerto Rico we played catch up with dentist and dermatology checkups.

We arrived in Puerto Rico expecting to hop-skip-jump across the south coast, continuing (we hoped) to blast our way east to the BVIs, then make southbound tracks to Grenada. In the landfall of Puerto Real, Marina Pescadería’s owner/manager, Jose Mendez, welcomed us like old friends. He had already arranged service from an outboard mechanic we asked after via email, and walked us through extensive recommendations to make the most of a short stay: beaches, restaurants, shops, services. Goodbyes with the Akira crew (their kids with our girls, above) was the only down side of our stop. Everything was easy with Jose’s help, and any concern we had about muddling through a few tasks with our lapsed Spanish evaporated.

Dental checkups

But even just a few days is enough to work in a dental checkup, and the whole crew was overdue; Jose booked us an appointment with a recommended dentist in nearby Mayaguez. Dental care has been particularly easy to meet while cruising: Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, is the latest on our Dentist Around the World tour (Mexico…Australia…Malaysia…Seychelles…St. Martin…Puerto Rico).

All five Totem crew had teeth cleaned by a hygienist and checked by the dentist; two earned bonus sealant treatment, and xrays confirmed Niall’s wisdom teeth have to go…that comes later. Excellent care, nice facility, US board certified dentist…total bill, $300. A bargain, yet at the higher end of what we’ve paid along the way for routine dental care (the exception was Australia, which had prices similar to the US mainland).

Eastbound along Puerto Rico’s south coast, Totem’s engine overheated: the first sign that plans for a speedy trip to the Virgin Islands would be thwarted. Diverting to the port of Ponce, we called Jose for a recommendation. No problem! Despite the fact it was late afternoon on Friday, a couple of hours later Jose’s preferred diesel mechanic, Cesar, was sitting in Totem’s cockpit at 5:30pm sharing his ideas for troubleshooting.

Dermatology checkups

Anticipating a week to deal with what we presumed to be a failing heat exchanger meant enough time to tick another health care item off the list – Jamie and I were due to see a derm, something we try to do annually. A few days later what we hoped to be a routine pass through a highly recommended clinic in Ponce…wasn’t so routine after all.

Jamie’s had a couple of troublesome spots on his face (treated by derms in Malaysia and South Africa); Drs. Villa and Sanchez didn’t like them a bit. My galaxy of freckles and moles turned up a few more suspect spots. Five biopsies, dozens of stitches, and a skin graft later: we are fine, but Jamie had both basal cell and squamous carcinomas on his face (my dysplastic nevi were just that: misbehaving cells, nipped before becoming problematic).

Dr Santaliz sutures Jamie while Dr Villa looks on

Most were done in Dr Villa’s clinic, but he felt the carcinoma on Jamie’s nose was best handled by Mohs surgery. With a phone call to his friend in San Juan, we were fit in for 10:00 the following morning—the doctor’s last day in the office before a family vacation (to go sailing in the BVIs, as it happened!).

All told, we had four office appointments; these appointments ran as long as Jamie’s three-hour adventure in the Mohs clinic, which required three passes (and an olive-sized divot) at tissue on his nose before the cell margins were pronounced clean. And then, there was a “house call” when Dr Villa came see us in Salinas (we moved to this sweet little anchorage, more cruiser-friendly and affordable than Ponce) and removed his stitches en plein air…and bring us mangoes from the tree in his garden. When was the last time you heard of a doctor doing house calls?

Healing well, one week after the skin graft

All told, the dermatology adventure took a few weeks and cost a freckle under $4,000. It’s a chunk but we can deal (hey, anybody need a quote for a new sail from Jamie?). If you’d like to know more, this post details how we approach medical costs and insurance (cliff notes: catastrophic coverage to avoid financial devastation from a major event, and all routine care paid out of pocket).

Kids, wear your sunscreen!

The sun exposure we get from cruising clearly doesn’t help our situation here, but everyday exposure now isn’t the primary problem. The reality is that Jamie and I are experiencing this not so much because of cruising, but because of a combination of genetic factors and childhood sun exposure. OUR kids benefit from sunscreen; we spent our childhood summers outside before SPF was an acronym anyone knew. A dermatologist checking me, years ago, said we should give up on plans to take off on a sailboat. Well, no. But we can be careful and thoughtful about protecting ourselves from the sun. I’ve written about sun protection while cruising, and the advice is unchanged.

If you take away one point

If there is a single takeaway from our health care adventures in Puerto Rico, it’s this: that quality care is available away from the comfortable range of home. If I can press a second point, it’s that care is generally quite affordable. It may not always be cheap, but along our travels–and a working annual budget that puts us below the poverty line in the USA–it is manageable, and strengthened a sidelong view on the insanity of insurance rates and medical costs in the US.

Meanwhile, our quick pass through Puerto Rico easily became a month. That’s fine. Sure, it’s added some stress as the hurricane season heats up, and a progressively growing series of “waves” off Africa trying to spin up into Caribbean hurricanes. That, too, has slowed progress as we take the prudent steps to remain near hurricane holes instead of pressing forward regardless. But taking care of health was the priority, and along the way it enabled myriad experiences by spending more time in Puerto Rico…

…like enjoying beautiful vistas from the mountains to the sea while driving to the dermatologist outside San Juan.

A rental car to get to doctor’s appointments provided easier day tripping to explore the history in Old San Juan…

Niall offers scale for the fort’s walls

…to visit the breathtaking, and imminently approachable, Ponce museum…

Shoes required

…to find out of the way cafés, and indulge in a survey of pressed sandwiches (the best: at El Balcon del Coliseo in Ponce…WOW); recommendations from the doctors for the best roast pork, and a detour through the central ridge to find the perfect place to enjoy it.

Meanwhile, here we are about a month later, and you have to look up close to know Jamie’s had a hunk taken out of his nose.

Come meet up at the Annapolis Boat Show!

Want to learn more about health care or other hot topics for cruising? In October, I’ll be at the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis—talking formally and informally to anyone with interest and time about their cruising questions! One of my six seminars at Cruisers U is specifically about health care, and will dive into much more detail than this post can cover.

October 5-8: staffing the booth at L&L Pardey Books, signing copies of Voyaging With Kids and telling anyone who will listen how inspiring Lin’s books are.

October 6: Cruising World Workshop: Prepare to Cast Off (register here)

October 9-10: Cruising Women seminar (part of Cruisers U): two full days, including a morning spent aboard a boat.

October 11-12: Cruisers U: delivering seminars on a half dozen topics –including health care! Also: on-board communication tools (satellite and radio), passagemaking, common new cruiser errors, dollars & sense (cruise budgeting), and more.

Fee for show entry; additional fees/registration for seminars. For more information see the Annapolis Boat Show website. Let me know if I’ll see you there!

from Sailing Totem http://ift.tt/2wfap2M via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Sailing Totem

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inerginc · 8 years ago

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GTM Smart Grid http://ift.tt/2eJlQnQ

This year’s DistribuTech conference in San Diego has been its usual whirlwind of press releases and presentations on the latest grid edge developments. Here’s what we’ve been learning on the ground so far.

First, we’ve got the annual iteration of expanded distributed intelligence and “internet of things” offerings from the vendors of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). Over the past few years, companies such as Itron, Silver Spring Networks, Landis+Gyr, Sensus and recent Honeywell acquisition Elster have been adding more computing power and networking capability to their smart meters, and using the same technology as springboards to smart streetlights, grid sensors, behind-the-meter energy assets and other devices.

Itron’s contributions to this year’s progress report included a new AMI contract with the Public Service Company of New Mexico, and a new “smart energy community” project in Ithaca, New York with Avangrid, involving some 12,400 electric and 7,300 gas meters. It’s part of the utility’s work to get up to speed as a distributed system platform (DSP) provider under the state’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative, and will deliver “real-time analysis of data and peer-to-peer communication among intelligent devices at the edge of the network.”

Itron has also launched its first AMI analytics software platform that’s built to run on meters besides its own. Last week, Itron’s Idea Labs, an incubator of sorts within the company, announced its Dynamic Grid Connectivity Modeling Service, designed to tap smart meter data to determine where meters have been connected to the wrong transformers, or reconnected in ways that disrupt phase balancing across distribution circuits.

Finding these problems today is a very labor-intensive effort, and combing out the problems from the data is much more cost-effective, said Roberto Aiello, managing director of Itron’s Idea Labs, in a Tuesday interview at DistribuTech. But it's still a process.

“Last year, we had several pilots with several utilities, and got enough data to get better and better -- and now we’re good enough to ship it as a product. And the more we ship it, the better it works, because the more data we have to train it,” he said.

And because the new modeling service is built to work with standardized formats for key energy data, Itron can also offer it to utilities that don’t use its meters, including one it’s already working with, said Aiello. “The input to our algorithm is the voltage data -- as long as the voltage is collected, it doesn’t have to be collected from our systems.” By the end of 2017, Itron’s goal is “to have utilities that are our customers, and not our customers, that can benefit from this product.”

The expanding AMI platform

Itron is also expanding its roster of applications partners for its OpenWay Riva edge-of-grid intelligence platform, which we’ve written about extensively. The latest update is a new Itron apps webpage -- although no third-party apps are on it yet -- and a new partnership with BSquare to manage licensing and revenue sharing for third-party apps once they make their way onto utility-owned Itron networks.

Competitor Silver Spring’s latest contributions on this front include a big smart streetlight rollout with existing utility partner Oklahoma Gas & Electric, updates on its smart campus development with IOT partner Ameresco, and progress on citywide IOT networks in U.K. cities, such as Bristol and Glasgow.

“We see utilities really getting into the transition to becoming service providers,” Brandon De Vito, Silver Spring’s vice president of smart cities and smart lighting, said in an interview. “Then, Ameresco, which is the biggest independent energy services company in North America, helps us work with more cities and regional entities in smart city activities. Ameresco has a lot of experience in water and is interested in the whole cycle of streetlighting and water and waste.”

Silver Spring also announced new statistics from distribution automation (DA) deployments with utility customers, such as Baltimore Gas & Electric, Commonwealth Edison, Florida Power & Light, and Brazil’s CPFL Energia. The company also named new DA partners including sensor and communications module makers Incon and V2Com, distribution grid power electronics from Varentec and “bird on a wire” sensors from long-time partner Sentient Energy.

Sentient Energy fills the gap in grid data

Landis+Gyr also announced this week it is working with Sentient to extend the edge computing capabilities of its grid sensors, by inserting L+G IPv6-enabled network nodes inside Sentient’s power line monitors. Burlingame, Calif.-based Sentient has been on a bit of a tear lately, with about 35,000 sensor units shipped as of the end of this quarter, Michael Bauer, the company’s founder and president, said Tuesday at DistribuTech.

That success has been mostly with four or five large marquee customers, including Florida Power & Light, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric. Two of the three utilities listed are with Sentient's long-time partner Silver Spring -- and a few more as-yet-unnamed top-tier U.S. utilities, Bauer said. At the same time, new partner Landis+Gyr is introducing Sentient's sensors in Europe, even though it bought its own line sensoring company, PowerSense, back in 2014.

That may be because Sentient’s products have proven themselves in field trials to be not only accurate, but also reliable, Bauer said. The company’s MM3 units -- boxes that clip onto power feeders and use the current to run their sensors and communications -- have survived real-world fault events that have fried competitors’ devices, or blown them completely off the wire, he said.

This week saw Sentient unveil a new set of devices, including a Zero-Amp Monitor unit for feeder laterals. It’s not really zero power, but requires a lot less amperage to keep its circuits and radios humming, Bauer explained, while providing the same 130 samples-per-cycle data collection capabilities as its existing devices.

It’s also releasing a voltage-sensing-capable device, and others specifically built for vaults and switch cabinets, where Sentient’s boxes have to keep running even if they’re submerged during a flood, he said. And not to be left out of the software-as-a-service game, it’s also releasing a disturbance analytics package to help find signals that indicate when a line or transformer is about to fail, not just when it has failed, he said.

“We believe that we are like the grid information company, and we believe that’s the critical new ingredient in the grid transformation we’re all going through,” he said. While smart meters can deliver reliable endpoint grid data, and substations are well-monitored already, there’s a wide swath of the grid that’s largely uncovered, which represents "6 million miles in North America alone," according to Bauer.

Survalent and Spirae: DERMS for the rest of us

On the distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) front, we’ve been covering the action from DistribuTech this week from grid giants like ABB, Siemens and General Electric. On Tuesday, mid-size SCADA player Survalent added its own DERMS partnership to the list with Fort Collins, Colo.-based Spirae.

The two companies announced Tuesday that they’ll merge Survalent’s ADMS platform with Spirae’s Wave DERMS solution “to enable utilities to efficiently and reliably leverage DERs within their networks.” "DERs" stands for distributed energy resources, which can mean anything from out-of-control inputs like rooftop solar or customer load, or in-control assets like energy storage or demand response.

Survalent tends to have smaller utility customers than its big competitors such as Siemens and GE, but it has a lot of them -- more than 500 in 30 countries over its 50-year history -- and a good share of municipal utilities and electric cooperatives. That could put it in a position to offer a DERMS platform at a lower price point than those being set in big DERMS RFPs in states like California, Hawaii and New York.

Spirae, for its part, has been doing this kind of integration work for a diverse set of customers since its 2002 founding, including utility pilot projects in Colorado and Denmark, microgrids for the U.S. Navy, billionaire Richard Branson’s Caribbean island, its hometown municipal utility, and more recently, larger utilities such as San Diego Gas & Electric.

A merger of distributed energy and grid edge advocates

Finally, all of this grid edge technology will have to have its own advocacy and research arm. On Tuesday, two such groups -- SEPA and SGIP -- have formed that combined entity.

SEPA, which changed its name from the Solar Electric Power Alliance to the Smart Electric Power Alliance last year, to underscore its commitment to broader distributed energy issues, has the policy and advocacy heft that befits one of the country’s two key solar industry groups.

The Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP), meanwhile, was formed in 2007 to manage federal oversight of standards development for the smart grid, and played a key role in designing the terms of the Department of Energy’s $5 billion in smart grid stimulus grants. In 2013, it transitioned to nonprofit status, and has since led the development of everything from Green Button and Orange Button data standards to Open Field Message Bus.

#Micro-grids #GTM Smart Grid

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