#chose the mix setting that takes 1 hour and 20 minutes as compared to the 35 minute setting i used last time that almost dried everything

[strawberriedlover]

nothing is as scary a beast as the dryer

[chayacat]

Devil’s Sweet Star (20)

Fandom: Dead by Daylight

Ghostface x Female Reader  

Rated M for Violence, Language and Smut  

***

All artists have a muse. An inspiration. Motivation, unwavering will. A signature of their own. It’s impossible to copy the work of an artist, because he always leaves a part of himself, a small detail, whether in the choice of shapes, lines, colors, etc., which allows us, little observers to recognize his work. We could take the example of Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo, Andy Warhol and finally Salvador Dali. All these artists had a particular signature, a little something that made their works unique, inimitable. Yet many have tried to reproduce them in order to make money. And even if some of them succeeded, they quickly found themselves behind bars.

But Danny is an... Particular artist. His works are particularly... Bloody. Certainly, he’s an assassin, but an assassin who wants to leave behind a trace of his passage, a piece of him in this vast world. Something that will remind everyone that he existed. At least Ghostface existed. But if every artist has a muse... What's Danny's muse? To tell the truth... He's got two. The first is simply envy. His insatiable urge for blood, to hear the gentle howls of his victims and to see the authorities tearing their hair out in the face of the lack of clues, is the reason he does this. As for his second muse...

Well, his second muse is you. For him, you are a precious jewel that he must protect at any price. No one should approach you and he won't let anyone near you. Of course, you will have the right to have friends, but don't plan to spend too much time without him. Besides, he feels frustrated that you prefer Jed to him. His alter ego is so boring compared to him! And yet how many times did he tell you? How many times did he tell you to think carefully?

And yet you chose Jed. But what happened that night ... He will remember it forever. Those little chills he felt on your skin when his tongue ran through your belly, your chest. And your little moans...A twisted smile appeared on his face just thinking about it. He's going to make you languish, but he's going to enjoy himself. And if you change your mind... it is beyond the seventh heaven that he will take you.

But for now, he has a more urgent matter to deal with. Because tonight is the big night. Everything was ready. Hoggins had brought charges to McKellan, who of course had retaliated strongly. How does Danny know? It's a journalist don't forget it. During one of his nightly visits, he had spied on a conversation between the two men and judging by McKellan's tone, the exchange was muscular.

“it's been so long that I've been waiting for this moment ... You dared to attack my angel in front of me. It's time for you to pay. I'm going to make you the best masterpiece ever created." He said, looking at McKellan house.

He had checked everything. He knew everything by heart. The round of the guards, the presence of the camera, McKellan's habits... absolutely everything. No surveillance camera.... humph, he thinks he's so untouchable that he doesn't feel the need to have security cameras. Poor fool. You're going to bitterly regret your arrogance. And Hoggins is going to pay the price.

It does not enchant Danny to attribute this murder to another, but if it is to see Wilhelm go round in circles, the game is worth it. He had parked his van in a place well out of sight. McKellan's villa is a staple, isolated from the city. No neighbourhood, no one to see or hear anything except the guards. Danny will never understand the rich and their desire to get away from people. Even if in a way, it feels good to have nothing around you, except the birdsong and the rustling of the leaves. But for these people, it's mostly a way not to mix with the "plebe".

He put on his mask and proceeded to the villa discreetly. It's time for the show. It's time for the massacre. From the bushes of the rear terrace, he watched the guards stationed. He knows that in a few minutes they will move to the sides and go around up to him. He must therefore move forward without being spotted to the building. And indeed after a few minutes, the guards moved. They always start at the inside of the terrace before returning from the outer sides. It was therefore cautiously but without concern that Danny advanced, not without paying attention to the flashlight that often came in his direction. Once near the walls, he glanced inside.  

As expected, it was impossible to get in from the back as the number of guards was too large. But he knows where McKellan's office is, and he knows that in exactly 20 minutes, he's going to go to his office and lock himself in and listen to music. He always puts the volume to the fullest, a significant advantage since so no one will hear him scream. He will be the only one who has the privilege of hearing it. Perfect. Once he's dead, Danny will have exactly 1 hour to make his masterpiece and leave because the guards will start suspecting a problem because of the music. Obviously, their boss listens to it every day for the same time. So, if it goes beyond the usual time slot, it's not normal.

Danny passed on the right side of the villa, on the side of which McKellan's office should be. And indeed, the second window of the office is open, surely to ventilate the room. He climbed to the gutter and clung to the balcony to enter the room. And the least we can say, is that this was to be the richest room in the house. He had something in common with Hoggins.

The walls were white marble making the room brighter. The many decorations in gold and red, as well as carpet flooring of the same color, recalled the time of ancient Rome. The few sculptures also for that matter.

“A passionate man of Ancient Rome... that will make my pleasure even more... Living. He will not only be my best masterpiece... but also the masterpiece of this room. It would almost bother me to soil this place of his filthy carcass and pig's blood. But he has to pay for touching and insulting my little angel...my precious love.” He said looking all around the room.  

He saw multiple objects that could be used for him, including multiples knife that look much sharper than his own. He could steal them but Ghostface is not a thief. He had taken a rope that he had found in the garden shed a few nights earlier. Like all the strings he took... this one will help him keep his "work" still.

He had the diagram of his artistic project in mind, with every little detail, of what he was going to cut to what he was going to leave whole ... Nothing much. He looked where he could hide and wait to strike. The cabinet in front of the desk will be the ideal hiding place. As soon as he will be close enough... he will catch him. Suddenly he heard footsteps. McKellan is on his way. Danny hides in the cupboard and waited. McKellan entered, furious as ever.

“Hoggins asshole... after all the services I have rendered to you to enrich yourself like a fat pig, you dare to accuse me?? I should cut your balls off... And this little whore and her damn coffee... not only has it not closed but it also gains in reputation! I'm surrounded by fools.” He said heading to the CD player. “Maybe I should kidnap her and torture her...or sell her as a prostitute...I’m sure that she can make a lot of money...”

Danny's blood was boiling. How dare he imagine for a second making you a toy for filthy fat pigs???  For a bonus profit??? He wanted to jump on him now, he wanted to slit his throat, butcher him, tear him to pieces... But if he goes out now, the guards will hear him and his whole plan will fall apart. He's got to stay calm. He's got to stick to the plan. As soon as he's at the cabinet level... he can attack. McKellan set the music on and turned the sound loud enough for the guards outside the room to hear it. Either he's deaf or he's crazy. Or both.

He stood for a few minutes in front of the reader before starting to "waltz" with his eyes closed. He reached the level of the cabinet and once in his line of sight, Danny went out to knock him out with a blow. He used the rope to tie him to the chair. He knows that from now on, he has 1 hour to do what he has to do. And he intends to take advantage of it. McKellan awoke after five minutes, trying to get away. The music was too loud for anyone to hear, so he looked at the knives but was quickly attract by a sinister sneer.

“Well, well... You finally woke up. You have a beautiful office. In fact, you have a very nice house, I would almost be jealous if it were not yours. Such a beautiful home for a rotten man like you... It's a shame.” said Danny, playing with his knife.

“You...I should be honoured by your presence... but unfortunately, I'm not very friendly with psycho like you. Hoggins sent you, didn't he? he's just a bastard.” Said McKellan with disgust.

“Sorry to tell you, but I'm not a man you can hire... I am acting and I will always act on my own. See if I'm here... it's because you and I have to settle.” Replied Danny before sticking his knife in McKellan's leg, making him scream.  

“YOU LITTLE SHIT!!! I’M GONNA CUT YOU HEAD OUT!!!!

“You see... You attacked someone very precious to me... and if there is one thing, I hate more than anything in this world... is that a rotten man like you, touch on what belongs to me. I'm sure you're wondering who I'm talking about. The "whore" as you like to call her, the boss of the Nebula... No luck for you... She's mine. And I'm going to make you regret every word you say. I hope you enjoyed your last musical moments... But don't worry... I intend to make you the masterpiece of your collection. And my best signing. Let the show begin.  

He cut off the leg where he had planted the knife, with a dry blow, recovering it before it fell to the ground. He did the same with the second and put it all on the desk. He stopped for a few seconds to listen to McKellan's delicious screams about the "tragic" loss of both legs. What sweet music to his ears... But unfortunately, he can't enjoy it very long, he has a countdown to respect.

“Oh... It hurts? I'm really sorry... I should have gone more slowly to lengthen the pleasure. But don't worry... I still have material. And limbs to cut you up. It's too bad you can't see that.”

“Please please ! I... I will give much more If you kill Hoggins for me!  I can make you the richest and the happiest man in this pathetic city! All the women will fall at your feet! You don't need that little slut! She's good for nothing! Just a little whore who thinks she's going to make a career!”

" I don't think you understood. I'm going to tell you one last time. One...” Danny started, planting his knife in one of McKellan’s arms. “I don't work for ANYBODY. If you think I'm just a puppet, I want you to know that I'm just for myself. I'm only doing this for my one and only pleasure. Never, and I say NEVER, would I work for anyone, even less for a rotten man of your kind. But if it makes you feel any better, Hoggins is going to come and keep you company in hell. Two...”

He thrust his knife deep into MacKellan’s arm to keep him awake until he finished talking to him. He drew his face closer to his.

“I only need one woman and that's her. I won't let anyone.... ANYONE, treat her like a good-for-nothing. You threatened her, assaulted her, you even sent someone several times to kill her. She is mine and only MINE and I will not let anyone near my angel, you fat pig!”

Danny pulled his knife out of Mackellan’s arm before repeatedly stabbing McKellan's skull. He recoiled inwardly at the sight of this bloodied, lifeless skull. He cut off his arms, then cut off his tongue and cut off his belly like a pig. He took out all these innards, cut them to a certain length and used them to tie his victim once again, one end ending deep in the throat, like a snake coming out of his mouth. He made sure to hold his arms and legs on the top of the skull, like deer antlers. How can he do that? A magician never reveals his secrets. Once his work was finished, Danny took out his camera.

“Look at you, you’re a masterpiece....MY masterpiece! You get exactly what you deserve you Motherf*cker. Now my little angel is safe...Almost if we count me in the lot. Well! Smile for the camera!”  Danny said before taking a picture. “Oh, I almost forgot the message! It’s necessary to give a lead to this dear Wilhelm ... even a fake one. Hoggins... You might not like the next few days.”

He wrote a bloody message on one of the walls of the office, leaving the policeman and the guard thinking that Hoggins was the author. One way or another. Then he quickly but discreetly left the premises before the guards were alerted by the unusual extension of the music. He returned to his van, changed, put his Ghostface outfit and mask back in the bag before heading home. On the road, he couldn't help but stop and burst out laughing, a laugh as he thought about what he had just done. The adrenaline was still running through his veins, he could not calm down.

He took a few minutes to calm down, then take the road again and went home. He parked and looked at your window. Everything was off and given the time, it was normal. Everyone was asleep, no one to testify anything to the police. Everything is always perfect. He went up to his apartment, entered, closed the door and walked to his office with his bag in his hand. He put it all down on the couch and looked at his hunting board, a satisfied smile on his lips.

He took his red felt, which was still working despite the rage of the last time, and bared McKellan's face with a long cross. That's it. He's finally dead. And there's more to kill. Hoggins is next on the list. But Danny will let time pass before attacking him. For now, he's going to focus on you. His sweet little star, his precious love, his angel. He looked at his bag, perhaps a little visit is necessary? Anyway, you sleep then ... you're not likely to say much.

A light cool wind entered your room, but it didn't seem to bother you. You were warm in your duvet with a radiant smile on your lip. Danny, or rather Ghostface was above you, a big smile behind his mask. He stayed for a few minutes without moving before lifting his mask slightly to kiss your cheek delicately.

“You can finally sleep easy, my angel. That fat pig won't do anything to you anymore. But never forget that you belong to me. Sleep well my love, hoping I'll be in your dreams.” he whispered so you don't wake up.

He put a small piece of paper on your nightstand to warn you of McKellan's death. The word is simple: "He's dead." He knows you will understand who it is. He left as discreetly as he had come, to go to bed as well, despite the little adrenaline he had left. It's going to be a long night.

But Damn it was so delicious.

***

(I'm practically about to pass my code exam! I'm so happy! hoping we won't be confined to the date where I'll pass it. I want to thank you all as much as you are, you are almost 40 to follow the poor little French potato that I am! In the meantime, I hope you will love this chapter as much as the others! they all deserve to be appreciated so much! Have a great weekend to you all! See ya!)

[adeelsed]

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[happypench]

The sweet, cold embrace of Mt. Pulag

On Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, I was able to tick Mt. Pulag off my bucket list and conquered the majestic mountain together with my friends Weng and Mayette and nine others who were a mix of beginners and experienced mountaineers.

Basic facts

Mt. Pulag via Ambangeg trail

Bokod, Benguet

Major jump-off: Ambangeg Ranger Station, Bokod, Benguet

LLA: 16°34’58″N 120°53’15″E, 2922 MASL (#3)

Days required/hours to summit: 1 to 2 days/4 to 5 hours

Specifications: Major climb, difficulty 3/9, trail class 1 to 2

Trail system: Grand Cordillera Trail, Section 3

Features: Sea of clouds, dwarf bamboo slopes, pine forest, mossy forest

Mt. Pulag is popular among hikers and trekkers not only because of its fabled views and breathtaking sea of clouds but also of its elevation, being the highest peak in Luzon and the third highest peak in the Philippines next to Mt. Apo and Mt. Dulang-Dulang, both in Mindanao.

The mountain stands high up at 2926 meters above sea level and near the heavens that the tribes who live in and around it believe they can commune with the gods, and for them, climbing is a sacred activity. Dubbed “playground of the gods” with its summit reaching the sky and jutting through the clouds, it’s the closest thing to heaven.

There are several trails that lead to Mt. Pulag: the easy Ambangeg in Bokod, the challenging Akiki in Kabayan, the arduous Ambaguio in Nueva Vizcaya, and the alternative trails Eddet and the Tawangan, both in Kabayan, Benguet. We chose to trek the Ambangeg trail, the shortest and the relatively easy trails compared with the others.

Going to Benguet

We hired a tour organizer for this Mt. Pulag adventure. Mayette, Weng, and I were joined by nine other trekkers in this tour. Our tour organizer made the arrangements for a van from Greenfields City that took us to our homestay in Benguet where stayed overnight to rest before the climb the next day.

We left Greenfields City around 11:30 pm on Friday, Dec. 6, and arrived in Benguet around 6 a.m., Dec. 7, where we had breakfast in the local eateries there, and then waited for the time the DENR office to open for the registration and mandatory pre-climb orientation. The orientation was done in batches of at least 80-90 people at a time. We were the fourth batch, so we took the spare time taking pictures, goofing around, checking out souvenir items, and eating strawberry taho! The orientation was short yet very comprehensive and informative.

Once the orientation was done, we were taken to the Ranger Station, the jump-off point, to register yet again and then have our lunch in one of the eateries there before we were taken to our cozy though chilly homestay facing a vegetable farm at Baban’s. We checked in around 2:00 p.m. at Baban’s, took a few hours’ rest in our respective rooms, and then explored the vegetable farm through thick fog and biting cold.

I had been to Benguet once going to Sagada a few summers ago. It was cold back then, but I didn’t expect it to be so cold, maybe 5 degrees, at this time of the year! I had to wear layers of clothing, thick socks, a bonnet, and mittens just to keep myself warm or else I’ll turn into a human prune. It was so cold the tap water was even ice-cold! You may need a heater if you can’t tolerate bathing in ice-cold water.

We had socials with the other guests/trekkers the afternoon we arrived at Baban’s and then had pork sinigang sa sampalok, noodles with vegetables, and red rice for dinner at around 7:00 p.m. Lights off was 8:00 p.m.

Wake up time was set at 12:00 midnight. We had a hot noodle soup at around 1:45 a.m. before we headed to the Ranger Station to meet up with our guide at 2:00 a.m. The hike/trek to Mt. Pulag is also scheduled as follows: 12:00, 12:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, and 2:30. Our jump-off time from the Ranger Station was 2:30 a.m. There were also assigned viewing points for each group to avoid overcrowding at the peaks to watch the sea of clouds and to ensure that everyone gets to see it.

Way up to the sea of clouds and summit of Mt. Pulag via the Ambangeg trail

I’ll be describing the trail here as I saw it at daylight on our way back to the Ranger Station.

From the Ranger Station to the summit is around 8 km, so the whole trail is total is about 16 km. Depending on the pace, the summit can be reached in about 3 to 5 hours.

With only our headlamps to light our way, we started our trek in the biting cold and darkness as the half-moon hid its face behind the clouds, the sky blanketed with stars. We first went through wide trails surrounded by pine trees and picturesque landscape, a place they call “pine forest.”

After a few minutes’ to an hour’s hike, we entered the “mossy forest,” enchanting us with its grand spectrum of flora—pink flowers known locally as ayusep, red-leaf shrubs, ferns, and mossy trees. There are cold springs along the way where you could refill your water bottle should you need to. The water is ice-cold though.

About an hour or so of hiking, we arrived at Camp 1, marked by a hut, where we rested for a while and relieved ourselves in the latrines before hiking back up. Yes, there’s a latrine, but there’s only one for the male and one for the female so expect a long queue when you have to go.

After about 20 minutes at Camp 1, we started our trek to Camp 2. It took us about 2 hours to reach the camp where we again rested for a while. Once rehydrated and rested, we began our trek to our assigned peak to wait for the sunrise and for the sea of clouds to appear.

We hiked through the “dwarf bamboo forest” and grassland going to our assigned peak. It was amazing to see bamboos just knee to thigh high along a stony path. We arrived at our viewing point as the sun was just rising at the horizon. It was a marvelous and stunning view of the sun above a sea of clouds! I couldn’t help but gasp in awe at God’s creation as I watched the sunrise breaking the horizon and the sea of clouds around me. It was spectacular to see distant peaks surging like islets in an ocean of cotton clouds. From our viewing point, we could see the golden brown peak of the majestic mountain. The locals called it Mt. Pulag for “pul-ag” which means bald.

The summit views of Mt. Pulag are fabled and legendary. On a blessed time, sea of clouds form beneath, covering everything but the highest points in the Cordilleras. Truly, we were blessed because we did not only reach the summit but also witnessed the elusive sea of clouds!

Though the Ambangeg trail was the easiest relative to the other trails, I was catching my breath as the air gets thinner and the temperature plummeted to near-freezing level as we went higher. It was warmer near the summit as the sun started to shine, so I took off one shirt to make me feel comfortable.

The entirety of the trek to the summit was grassland, although there’s only one moderately steep part. Then, at around 7:00 a.m., more than 4 hours of walking from the Ranger Station (with rest and picture-taking), we reached the summit of Mt. Pulag. Finally, we were standing on top of the highest peak in Luzon at 2926 meters above sea level!

We trekked down around 8:00 a.m. after countless photos taken at the summit and reached the Ranger Station just around lunchtime.

I grope for words to describe how I felt when I felt the sweet, cold embrace of Mt. Pulag. How beautiful is the sea of clouds exactly? How majestic is Mt. Pulag? It’s hard to put them into words. One has to go to Mt. Pulag in order to find out.

NOTES:

Mt. Pulag via Ambangeg itinerary

*We hired a tour organizer for this hike to arrange our transportation, homestay, meals, and registration.

Day 0, Dec. 6

2200 Meetup at McDo Greenfields

2300 EDT Take van to Bokod, Benguet

Day 1, Dec. 7

0600 ETA Bokod, Benguet. Breakfast and rest.

0800 ETA DENR Center for registration and orientation.

1130 Set out for Ranger Station.

1200 ETA and lunch at Ranger Station.

1330 Check in at Baban’s Homestay. Rest. Socials.

1900 Dinner.

2000 Lights off.

Day 2, Dec. 8

1200 Wake up call.

0130 Breakfast.

0200 Meetup with guide at Ranger Station.

0230 Start trek from Ranger Station.

0530 ETA Sea of clouds viewing spot.

0730 ETA Summit.

0800 Start descent to Ranger Station.

1200 Back to Ranger Station. Buy souvenirs.

1230 Lunch at Baban’s. Washup. Prepare for check out.

1400 Check out at Baban’s.

1430 Log out at DENR Visitor Center. Head for Baguio City

1600 ETA Baguio City. Buy pasalubong.

1630 Head back to Manila.

1930 ETA Pangasinan. Dinner.

1200 Back in Manila.

Estimated budget for organized tour: 2800 to 3300, usually with inclusions of 3 meals (dinner, breakfast, and lunch), homestay, transportation fee (van), guide fee, and other fees. Organized tour package inclusions vary as well as price range.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

  Scheduling. Mt. Pulag is accessible throughout the year, but it is advisable to climb it during the early months of the year, December to early May, during the non-rainy months. The rainy season, especially during bad weather, may not allow transportation to reach the Ranger Station. It could also get very cold and camping may not be suitable. It is also best to hire a tour organizer for convenience (transportation and other arrangements). For DIYs, it is advisable to contact the DENR office for scheduling and assignment of trek guide because no one is allowed to climb Mt. Pulag unscheduled and without a guide.

Facilities. There are latrines in the camps and shower in the Ranger Station. Water sources can be found in the mossy forest should you need a water refill during the trek. Cellphone signal exists in many parts of the trail, including the Ranger Station, the campsite, and the summit. Tents (limited availability) and trekking poles may be rented or bought from the park. Gloves, bonnet, hiking pants and shirts, or jacket may be bought at some stalls in the park.

    Mt. Pulag, playground of the gods The sweet, cold embrace of Mt. Pulag On Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, I was able to tick Mt.

[passhotdumps]

The Experience Of The CCIE R&S Exam certcollection ccie written

I arrived at Cisco at 7:40 in the morning. I’m on the outside the door of the System building. At the beginning of October, Western Europe was already in the cold winter. The weather was gloomy and the temperature was very low. The other six foreign candidates who accompanied me and I had a long time at the door. I waited for 20 minutes until 8 o'clock, the front desk opened to welcome us and then simply registered after the examiner. Now, a 40-year-old man with half-white hair took us directly to the 4th floor examination room. In the hallway of the examination room, a bunch of new Cisco routers and switches were placed at random, not feeling the money. After arriving at the entrance of the examination room, the examiner briefly introduced the precautions: the mobile electronic watch could not be brought into the examination room. In the process, you can go to the toilet. Coffee. Then he gave each person a test seat that I am the 7th seat.

After sitting down and looking at the questions, I got TS1/D2+/LAB3 and the stone in my heart immediately landed. Because these days. The forum is saying that R&S has changed and a new set of TS and What's broken and there aren't any recent battle reports. Eighty percent are no one dare to test. Honestly speaking before the exam is a panic but it maybe that I am more fortunate that I have not drawn these new questions or the reason why the examination room is not Beijing Hong Kong. Let's just talk about it. Some of them may not be clear today.

TS1

1. SW2's E0/0 port does not release VLAN12, switchport trunk allow vl add 12. After the knocking, the phenomenon will not be immediately released, wait for about 1 minute to appear the correct phenomenon.

2. The ppp chap hostname of R17 is incorrectly configured. After the correction, the phenomenon will appear.

3. R2 OSPF process passive e0/0, no passive phenomenon.

4. The EIGRP question is a bit forgotten, but it should be remembered that it is 2 wrong points. The first one is to have metric weight 0 1 1 1 1 on each device. 1, the second forgot to be equipped with an offset-list on one of the R11-R14 devices. I deleted the offset list directly, and the phenomenon requested by the topic came out.

5. BGP, I remember to check that the first three pictures actually meet the requirements of the title by default. The routing of the fourth picture is a bit problematic and the metric phenomenon of R6 is changed.

6. The IPv6 question is that R25 declares an E0/0 network segment error, deletes the wrong configuration, and the correct announcement appears.

7. The wrong point of DMVPN is the NHRP configuration error of R18. The second requirement is wrong. The S4/0 ACL of R19 does not release esp and the phenomenon after the permit esp any any is released.

8. The fault of MPLS VPN is that R7 and R8 do not deliver default routes. At the same time, E2/0 of R6 is not passive under OSPF process and E0/0.125 of R8 is not doing ip nat. Outside. This problem should be noted that the R7 port shutdown must be verified whether the R8 can implement the bakcup function.

9. This problem is not too much to remember, it may be an ACL configuration problem.

10. NAT configuration error, missing one inside. After the change, the phenomenon will appear.

Overall, the TS test is really simple, and the PASSHOT teacher's solution is all covered, without any problems, very good!

DIAG

Compared with TS and Congfiguration, this part is my most uncertain part because I didn’t sleep well the night before, and the sets of diagnoses are a bit mixed. Fortunately, there is no big problem in the examination room. . But remind everyone that you really want to distinguish between that Set of diagnosis and back cooked.

first question

1. In the 114th message, I saw that there were 114 in the capture package and I chose it directly.

2. I am not sure about this, maybe it is wrong.

3. Select the two packets to be analyzed for further analysis. The answer is SW3-SW1. It’s good to point the circle between the two devices but then I found that when I turned the page and answered the second question, the selected circle was gone, until the last second of the exam, I was still staring at this. See if he will disappear.

Second question

1. 8 choose 4, according to the solution is

2. e sudo poweroff

3.telnet 10.1.1.1 1337 | tclsh this option

CFG

This part is really nothing to say, according to the solution of the PASSHOT teacher, the phenomenon is second out, 4.2 hop limit maximum 2 and R60 no ip The two test sites of proxy-arp are not new, and many of the previous battle reports have been mentioned. And the machine in this examination room is really not at all, it is much more cool than knocking on the simulator, and there will be no ip. Cef bug. Just putty paste to the right and then click on the paste is not very comfortable, but did not care about research, almost it can be.

After the version and diagnosis are finished, you must go back and check the requirements one by one, to prevent subsequent configurations from affecting the previous requirements, and then Every time you complete a requirement, you must write, write, and write each time you complete an instruction. It doesn't matter if you don't write it! After checking the time at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, I went back to Germany after taking the train on the end section. The next day (that is, today) at 5 am and 15 hours after the end of the exam, I received a notification from Cisco.

Thank you very much for the guidance of PASSHOT teacher and ccie lab exam teacher's answer my questions patiently. Next year Huawei's IE still have to ask for help! At the same time, I wish you all the best and you will continue to fight. The brothers on the IE battlefield must stick to the end. There are many colleagues and friends around me who are busy with work, or have more things. When they go home, they want to rest and play. Halfway through the way. In fact, CCIE itself is not how difficult it is to have more new exams. I think that most of the tests are your determination and willpower. The test is whether you can endure loneliness and calm down in this complicated world. The goal set at the beginning. You will feel this after the exam is passed. The effort is worth it! Thank you all! Good luck to everyone!

[researching01]

How to Cure Sleep Apnea: 4 Non-CPAP Remedies

New Post has been published on https://headacheshelp.com/awesome/how-to-cure-sleep-apnea-4-non-cpap-remedies/

How to Cure Sleep Apnea: 4 Non-CPAP Remedies

Untreated or poorly treated sleep apnea leaves you tired all the time and suffering from excessive daytime sleepiness and other sleep apnea symptoms. Use of the continuous positive airway pressure device or CPAP mask has been the gold standard of remedies for sleep apnea over the past 25 years. But because of the inconvenience of wearing the device, 20 to 50 percent of those who try it cannot tolerate this sleep apnea cure. Fortunately there are alternative ways for how to cure sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder, affecting 3 percent to 7 percent of the population. In obstructive sleep apnea, the airway narrows and/ or collapses, and individuals stop breathing for brief, recurred periods throughout the night. This causes reductions in the body’s oxygen levels and interrupts normal sleep cycles. People with sleep apnea usually snore loudly and partners may witness “apnea” episodes which often interrupt the snoring and end with a snort. Get Your Nutrition Guide

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Sleep Apnea Symptoms

Excessive daytime sleepiness is not as significant as the sleep apnea symptoms of low energy and fatigue. The constant sleep interruptions and absence of oxygen throughout the night are what cause such daytime sleep apnea symptoms as feeling tired all the time.

While “excessive daytime sleepiness” is the most common of the sleep apnea symptoms studied by researchers, it is not necessarily as significant as the general lack of energy and fatigue. When sleep apnea patients were asked to choose their most significant symptom in one study, 40 percent of patients chose lack of energy, compared with 22 percentage for sleepiness .[ 1] So this entails one of the best ways you can detect if you have true sleep apnea is to assess your level of energy during waking hours.

Other daytime sleep apnea symptoms include :P TAGEND

Morning headaches Dry or sore throat Decreased short term memory Decreased concentration Morning embarrassment, personality and mood alterations Depression, anxiety, and irritability Inability to make decisions Impotence Decreased libido Falling asleep while driving

These problems, combined with lack of daytime energy, sets sleep apnea sufferers at a significantly higher risk of having difficulties at work or school and of having a motor vehicle accident .[ 2]

Sleep Apnea Can Increase the Risk for Serious Diseases

Being tired would be bad enough, but sadly there is a strong association between obstructive sleep apnea and diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Sleep apnea immediately increases your risk for having high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmias, and stroke. Untreated sleep apnea is also associated with increases in insulin resistance, GERD, cognitive difficulties, and overall danger of death.

An overnight sleep apnea test, called polysomnography, is required to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea. This recording of sleep and breathing usually involves in-laboratory measurement of brain waves and arousals, eye movements, chin movements, airflow, respiratory endeavor, oxygen levels, electrocardiographic( ECG) tracings, body stance, snoring, and leg movements.

CPAP: Answer or Problem?

The most common and effective conventional treatment for obstructive sleep apnea symptoms is continuous positive airway pressure( CPAP ), which provides a steady river of air through a mask that is worn during sleep. This airflow keeps the airway open to prevent intermissions in breathing and restore normal oxygen levels. Patients will often report feeling dramatically better after beginning treatment.

Studies is demonstrating that therapy with CPAP reduces excessive daytime fatigue, and increases energy. A randomized controlled trial in 2011 specifically looked at fatigue and found that three weeks of CPAP therapy significantly reduced fatigue scores to the point that participants were no longer suffering from clinically significant levels of fatigue after the three-week intervention period. Self-reported energy levels also increased significantly .[ 3]

Some someones simply cannot tolerate CPAP as a sleep apnea therapy alternative because of nasal congestion and the pressure felt because of the high flowing of air created by the device. Other conventional sleep apnea answers include surgery or a sleep apnea mouth guard, known as “mandibular advancement devices” or splints.

Oral gadgets, which hold the mandible in a protruded position during sleep, are increasingly used for mild to moderate sleep apnea symptoms, as well as in more severe patients who are unable to tolerate or refuse CPAP. Although oral devices generally do not work as well as CPAP in reducing the actual number of episodes and increasing oxygen, they do help with sleep apnea symptoms and increase energy in sleep apnea patients. Surveys have found that overall improvements and outcomes seem comparable with both types of treatment .[ 4,5]

How to Cure Sleep Apnea for Those Who Cannot Tolerate the CPAP

If you think you might have sleep apnea, it is imperative that you get diagnosed and treated, given the severe health risks associated with this disorder. If you’re already being treated for your sleep apnea but are still fatigued, you’re not alone. Additional sleep apnea redress are available. Here are four sleep apnea remedies without CPAP :P TAGEND 1. Healthy Diet and Exercise

Natural redress for sleep apnea symptoms center on healthy foods, exert, and weight loss( if needed ). Survey show individuals with sleep apnea who have obesity may no longer require CPAP when they lose weight, and may even experience a total remedy of their sleep apnea and tirednes .[ 6,7] In one examine, for example, a 12 -week weight-loss program based on diet and exercise was shown to significantly decrease daytime sleepiness and fatigue in patients with obstructive sleep apnea .[ 8]( Read about green tea for weight loss here .)

Exercising four times a week by doing something reasonably aerobic for about 40 minutes, following by some weight train two days a week, also has been shown to significantly improve sleep apnea and the feeling of being tired all the time, even though they are you do not lose weight .[ 9]

2. Antioxidant Supplements

Aside from diet and exercise, natural redress for sleep apnea should focus on increasing antioxidant capability. Why? Sleep apnea is associated with oxidative stress, the excessive build-up of free radicals. It is also associated with decreased antioxidant capability( ability of the body to counter oxidative stress) and lessened blood levels of various antioxidants, such as vitamin E and carotenoids( such as beta-carotene ).[ 11]

The excessive oxidative stress associated with sleep apnea then leads to what is known as “endothelial dysfunction, ” in which the blood vessels do not properly relax and contract. Endothelial dysfunction is the primary mechanism induce atherosclerosis, heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes. Various types of antioxidant supplements have been researched as treatments and found to be beneficial as natural redress for sleep apnea.

The three most researched antioxidants are vitamins C and E, and the compound n-acetyl-cysteine( NAC ).[ 12,13] Taking an antioxidant formula containing these compounds along with mixed carotenoids may be beneficial.

3. DHA

Another supplement that may be helpful for those with sleep apnea symptoms is an omega-3, such as fish oil especially one which has been formulated to by highly concentrated in the omega-3 fatty acid DHA.

Low omega-three levels, especially DHA levels, are related to more severe sleep apnea( higher apnea-hypopnea indices ). Omega-3 fats are one of the top natural redress for sleep apnea because they protect cells against stress; sleep apnea causes long-term oxidative stress and puts severe demands on the body which is thought to deplete the omega-three levels .[ 10]

Taking an omega-3 fish oil with concentrated levels of DHA may improve sleep apnea symptoms while improving your cardiovascular health.

4. Vitamin D

One last vitamin is worth mentioning when it comes to natural remedies for sleep apnea symptoms. Vitamin D levels have been found to be lower in patients with sleep apnea compared to those without the disorder .[ 14]

Vitamin D deficiency has been found to be particularly prevalent in those sleep apnea patients who also have issues with blood sugar and insulin regulation, including those with diabetes, prediabetes, metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance .[ 14,15] The more severe the sleep apnea symptoms and blood sugar dysregulation, the lower the vitamin D levels.

Treatment with vitamin D may help ameliorate the blood sugar disorders and inflammation associated with insulin resistance in sleep apnea patients. Even if you do not have poor blood sugar metabolism, it is strongly recommended that you make sure your vitamin D levels are optimal by taking at least 2000 IU of vitamin D daily and having your blood levels checked yearly. This is because vitamin D deficiency is so common and linked to so many sleep apnea symptoms, including mood disorders and muscle pain. Many patients report relief from feeling so tired all the time when their vitamin D levels are optimally treated.

Sleep apnea is one of many possible underlying causes of fatigue. To learn more natural remedies for beating fatigue, view our resources on the topic.

Share Your Experience on How to Cure Sleep Apnea

If you’ve managed to stop sleep apnea, what has worked for you? Give us your experience with sleep apnea answers, especially if you’re one of those who cannot tolerate the CPAP machine. Are there any natural sleep apnea home redress that you currently use? What natural sleep apnea remedies have worked for you? Is there some device that helps prevent or reduce your symptoms? Share with others in the “Comments” section below so they can begin to cure sleep apnea and start “re feeling better” too.

For related reading, visit these posts :P TAGEND

What Causes Sleep Apnea ? 11 Surprising Sleep Apnea Symptoms 2 Very Surprising Sleep Apnea Side Effects: Bone Loss and Osteoporosis Should You Have Sleep Apnea Surgery ?

This article was originally published in 2013 and is regularly updated.

[ 1] Chest. 2000 Aug; 118( 2 ): 372 -9 . [2] Prog Brain Res. 2011; 190:53 -6 8. [3] Sleep. 2011 January 1; 34( 1 ): 121-126. [4] Sleep Breath. 2007 March; 11( 1 ): 1-22. [5] Chest. 2011 Dec; 140( 6 ): 1511 -6 . [6] BMJ 2011; 342 :d 3017. [7] Endocrine. 2012 Jun; 41( 3 ): 518 -2 5.

The post How to Cure Sleep Apnea: 4 Non-CPAP Remedies seemed first on University Health News.

Read more: universityhealthnews.com

[zenovyap]

Flew to Subang last weekend for C’s wedding, which was held in The Saujana Resort. The plan was to take the chance to unwind by having an extended weekend.

Firefly In…

We flew in to Subang via Firefly FY3125, which was flown on a 72-seater propeller plane. It was the 2nd time I flew on a turbo-prop, though nothing compared to my virgin turbo-prop experience from Kathmandu to Pokhara!

Since the plane was small, we flew rather close to the ground (the pilot said 25,000 feet), so the landscape could be viewed for the whole journey, only if the sun wasn’t that glaring! And due to aircraft limitations, the trip took about half an hour longer than if we were to fly on a jet plane, at 1h20m.

As a budget shuttle, we didn’t expect much from the service, which was why it was a surprise when we were offered a choice of peanuts or Curry Puff F.O.C. Curry Puff! In contrast, SQ only serves drinks for Economy passengers and MH served peanuts only.

Subang Airport (it has a longer name, in honour of some royal, that I could not remember) was an airport so small, we cleared immigration about 10 minutes after touching down. If one has no check-in luggage, he could have been out of the airport in 15!

The Saujana Resort

The Saujana Resort is a sprawling complex just next to Subang Airport. 4 accommodation blocks lined one side of a lake, overlooking the golf course on the other side.

Each 4-storey block houses a category of rooms which were arranges around a square courtyard. We stayed in an Executive Deluxe room, which was far from the main reception, but was quieter in comparison.

      The whole place felt more like a student hostel/chalet than a resort/hotel, so I was rather glad that our room was more towards the latter. Yes, we only had a tree view, the walls looked tired with its stains and cracks and the staff refused to give us more than 2 bottles of mineral water, but we had a couch, spacious room and bathroom. Not bad for a chalet-standard.

  Breakfast was at its restaurant called Charcoal, which served decent food. My favourite was its Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf, which had more ingredients than what we would usually find in Singapore, with a little bit more greens! The best thing of course was that the place was never really full and crowded, even though it looked small and the resort was almost full over the weekend.

Another favourite item available was their Chicken Curry, which reminded me of my childhood haha! The Curry Chicken scene in Singapore has evolved to 2 types of Chicken Curry: one type is super sweet and coconut-y, and the other where the chef spams chilli till there’s no other layer of taste to the dish.

The Chicken Curry at Charcoal harked back to the old days where you could still taste the spices while enjoying the kick from the chilli. It was so nice I mixed it with the Japanese rice and Roti Prata just to savour the curry!

      Service wise, the staff embodied the stereotype of “Malaysian service staff”. Waiting time to check in was long; the reception staff could not answer queries about their cake-store which was literally just steps away from the reception. Our classic encounter came from returning to our room after an afternoon out of the resort to find an extra bed in our room.

And we already turned on the “Do Not Disturb” sign!

Guess our parents’ advice to lock all our valuables when we’re not in our rooms rang real true in this instance!

We had one of our dinners at the in-house Italian restaurant, Senja.

The atmosphere and setting felt like a top-grade establishment, minus the heart-stopping price found in Singapore! I had Oven Baked Chicken Breast, while N had Grilled Chicken and the others shared at 1kg T-Bone Steak.

My chicken was great initially, as I liked how the skin was baked to a fragrant, even crisp. But as I dug on, I found that the chicken was too dry and tough and I gave up near the end. N said the same for his grilled chicken.

The others were raving about their steak, though and promptly cleaned up their plates even though I thought the serving was darn huge!

The joke of it all? Only 1 person ordered Rissoto, the only Italian food ordered for the night!

And so there was a little celebration for 3 of us November babies, though I it suddenly dawned on me I was The OLDEST among them…

  The Wedding

The wedding dinner itself was held at one of the function rooms. It was a small, intimate affair, with about 20 tables for guests. Having eaten dozens of Singaporean wedding dinners, C’s wedding was both familiar and novel.

Familiar, because it was still a Straits Chinese wedding, so the 10-course meal featured regulars like steamed fish, cold platter and Asian desserts (like Tang Yuan (rice dumplings) in Soya Bean Milk and Salted Egg Buns). Novel, because of the slight twists in the food.

For example, their Salted Egg Buns were like Chilli Crab Buns with the filling of Tau Sar Pau (Green Bean Paste Bun), which was my first taste of such a fusion food! They also had Curry Chicken, Hong Kong style, meaning the chicken was pan fried to have crispy skin before being served in a bed of curry.

Even the cold platter was slightly different. Other than the familiar Salad Prawn and Ngor Hiang, there was this item that was a fusion of 活佛飘香Huo Fo Piao Xiang (Yam Ring) with 宫保鸡丁Gong Bao Ji Ding (Kong Pau Chicken Cubes). It was quite a good dish, though it was darn sinful! One of the items was also Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf (remember that dish I praised earlier this post on the breakfast experience?). This version was actually different from that served during breakfast! Yes, they didn’t just simply “copy and paste” their food items from breakfast to wedding dinner!

  Malaysian wedding dinners are also more interactive; Singapore wedding dinners tend to be a one-way communication event, with the organisers pushing videos, march-in, cake cutting ceremony one after another. At C’s wedding, there were games and the emcee didn’t read from scripts that were shared and passed down from wedding dinners that took place 20 years ago.

Yes, it was less structured and at times lost me (but ermmm… I surfed IG even at Singapore wedding dinners), but the casual, DnD like atmosphere made up for a great time to catch up with folks.

  Around Subang

The Saujana Resort is unlike Downtown East, the latter being a self-sufficient resort. We ended up Grabbing our ways to nearby shopping malls to shop and eat during our free times.

For example, we spent a lot of time at Centrepoint in Bandar Utama.

Alright, to be frank, we were there for massage at Healthland, which was just beside Centrepoint, but we roamed the shopping mall in between waits for the massage.

The non-airconditioned mall was like a typical Singaporean heartland mall, low-rise and had mostly offices and tuition centres. It also housed White Elephant, which some of us went to because Healthland was full.

The F&B options were a mix of franchise and local brands, but being the typical Singaporeans, we chose to have our first meal at Pappa Rich.

We were not disappointed, though. My Fried Rice came with Chicken Satay that was well-caramelised and tender to the bite. The rice was yummy, though it was a tad too oily at the end as the oil all settled at the bottom of the pile. My drink, Cendol with Red Beans was the most gratifying, albeit sinful, item I had! It was like the Southeast Asian milkshake, with the milkshake replaced with blended coconut drink and the bubbles of bubble tea replaced with red beans and cendol. Sedap!

What made the others happy was how cheap the meal was… Each of us only paid like SGD10 for what we would have paid SGD20 for in Singapore. Can we not be laughing at the end of our lunch??

N and I also spent a morning at Citta Mall, which was deceivingly 2 roads away from The Saujana Resort. Like Centrepoint, it was also a low-rise commercial development, but with bigger brands like Harvey Norman and Village Grocer. Needless to say, we shopped at those 2 places and went back with ermmm… At least 3 bags of stuff. Hurhur…

We wanted to sing KTV at Citta Mall, but the KTV was only open after 12, which conflicted with our schedules. We also had our lunch Marrybrown (my virgin experience!).

To be continued…

My weekend in Subang when I attended a friend's wedding. Flew to Subang last weekend for C's wedding, which was held in The Saujana Resort. The plan was to take the chance to unwind by having an extended weekend.

[technicalinnovator]

The amazing story of Jignesh Shah and MCX

The meeting with Jignesh Shah, managing director, Multi Commodity Exchange of India, is scheduled for 4 p.m., and begins at five past. The man is not just prompt, he makes spending 90 minutes with a journalist seem like no effort at all. (He is extremely media friendly and projects an impeccable corporate image.)

This, despite him telling me later that he works a 15-hour day, and I suspect they are often longer. There's enough hyperactivity in the commodity markets to justify it.

Trading volumes in commodity futures surpassed capital market futures in August for the first time in the history of domestic derivatives, and average daily trading volumes have crossed the Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) mark. MCX is in the thick of it.

Indications of the nature of the business are up for all to see. The walls of the swanky front office are covered in photographs of commodities like sunflower, rice, sugar and -- as he emphatically points out -- gold. Bullion is its blue-eyed commodity and, along with energy, forms the largest chunk (70-80 per cent) of its trade volumes.

"Let me tell you," he starts off, "when Financial Technologies (FTIL, the financial product company that promotes MCX) applied for a commodity exchange licence in 2002, we were up against biggies like the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The media decided I, neither a trader nor a banker, was least likely to get government approval; besides what did a technology company have to offer?  Not only did we get the in-principle approval, we went live in a record nine months on November 10, 2003. That was my first show of might."

Jignesh Shah was always a go-getter, even when he was just eight. "My mind was made up when I was in second grade. I knew I wanted to do engineering, go abroad, set up my own business," he explains. Incidentally, Shah also met his wife when he was in the second grade. Prodigious times in the life of an eight-year-old.

So engineering it was, although the conventional options of mechanical and electrical engineering gave way to electronic and telecommunications. Shah says, "Normally, the route would have been either the United States for MS or to join a branded technology company like TCS."

But Shah, as is evident, was not one for taking the road well travelled. "I chose, instead, to join the BSE on Project BOLT (Bombay Online Trading System), an ambitious Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) project to automate the exchange.

However, the project was transferred mid-process to CMC (an IT solutions company), but not before Shah, and his eventual partner and executive director at FTIL, Dewang Neralla, had a chance to witness how technology has revolutionised capital markets from stints at the Hong Kong and Tokyo stock exchanges, and NASDAQ.

"The technology we had developed for BSE lay with us, unutilised, so the obvious move was to put it to good use elsewhere," explains Shah. Again he saw beyond the immediate horizon, and turned down an offer to work on the Merrill Lynch New York Foreign Exchange trading platform.

In 1995, with Shah as the dreamer and Neralla as the architect, they set about starting a financial product company that would not just restrict itself to trading systems for equity, but create products that "would attack all high transaction density markets, whether commodity, equity, currency or bond."

"Until then, technology in India was predominantly a skilled manpower supply story but we were going to create products that were a means to an end, not an end in itself. Our sights were set on transaction markets," explains Shah.

From a starting capital of Rs 500,000, self-funded by Shah mortgaging his home, FTIL grew from five work terminals to a 5,000 strong workforce and covered 80 per cent of the domestic base, powering practically every major Indian Internet site during the Internet boom.

It is hard to ignore the fact that Shah is very proud of his management team. He names them in rapid succession, rattling off their credentials; he knows it like the back of his hand. (In fact, names, numbers, dates are all at the tip of his tongue -- the man's memory almost seems technology driven itself).

When asked what luxury he can afford today that he couldn't 10 years ago, luxury watches and prized art find no mention.

Instead, he replies, "I always had dreams of hiring the best, and being able to afford pay scales that outmatched all others. Today I can afford to not compromise on salaries when it comes to hiring and retaining the best."

Back to 2002, and not one to be content with one success story, FTIL was making its next big move. It decided that currency markets were the place to be, so it applied to the Reserve Bank of India, demonstrated its capabilities and got the licence for an inter bank foreign exchange trading platform, IBS-Forex.

Today, Financial Technologies controls 30 per cent of the market. "Of course, the currency market is at a nascent stage; when it opens up, there will be huge opportunities for us to convert," he says, with a glint in his eye.

It was around the same time, in 2002, that after a 33-year long hiatus, commodity trading was finally back in sight. "Starting up a commodities exchange was a cherished dream," says Shah.

That is not surprising; before retiring to spiritualism, his father was a conventional iron and steel trader in the '50s and '60s. "We were the only listed company promoted exchange at the time. My aim was clear -- to make India the finest commodity trading hub between Tokyo and New York."

"We were reinforced in our faith when SBI took strategic equity partnership with an 18 per cent equity stake along with seven subsidiary banks, which led the way for other nationalised banks like HDFC and NABARD." Shah is particularly proud that Reliance took preferential equity; he is seemingly a great fan of Mukesh Ambani's acumen and perspicacity.

"We have a global appetite for global commodities", he says, "Today, MCX is the second largest exchange in silver in the world, the third largest in gold and the only one to trade Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) of crude a day. We have consciously chosen our basket of commodities, commodities that had enough depth for us to dig our heels into, and allowed trading to the daily volumes of Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion)".

Now's the time to talk competition; currently MCX is second to NCDEX (National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange) in trade volumes.

Shah appears somewhere between being a little defensive and a little unruffled, stating, "We made profits in the first year, declared a 10 per cent dividend, had a Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) top-line, paid Rs 4.5 crore (Rs 45 million) in tax and registered a Rs 11.5 crore (Rs 115 million) net profit. Our 2004-05 balance sheets couldn't look stronger; our financial ratios are comparable to the National Stock Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange."

"Look, there are 140 agri-commodities and 1,400 industrial commodities; there is enough space for more than one exchange," he continues. Shah dismisses benchmarking success against daily volumes as hyperbole; he talks innovation.

"Every step we have taken has been copied by a competitor in 3-6 months. There should be a regulated cooling period, which protects someone investing in innovation. Otherwise there is no incentive to be innovative because the second player always has the advantage," he adds with a touch of bitterness.

Shah rattles off a list of "firsts" that MCX has achieved; he is keen to promote his laurels but not one to rest easy on them. Last November, MCX announced a strategic collaboration with the London Baltic exchange to launch freight futures contracts.

In September, MCX and the Chicago Climate Exchange signed a licensing agreement to offer the first environmental products to be traded in the subcontinent. Next month, trading will begin at DGCX (Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange) in a joint venture between the Dubai government and MCX, with MCX becoming the first commodities exchange to co-own a foreign exchange.

MCX also has to its credit the setting up of the first national spot exchange, NSEAP, which interlinks all-India APMC (agriculture produce market committee) markets electronically. The network established by NSEAP and MCX will be used by producers for spot trading in commodities.

Shah says, "Finally the farmer will benefit. I am not an economist but I understand this much that if I am able to double farmers' incomes, not only will the quality of their lives improve, money will come back into the economy."

In a few months time, there could be a large swell of capital in MCX's favour. In September it announced its decision to float an initial public offer, to raise approximately Rs 330 crore (Rs 3.3 billion) to fund infrastructure expansion, making it only the third commodities exchange in the world to do so.

It's ironic that a man who is so bullish when it comes to his work turns reticent when the topic turns to his personal life. It is clear he is a family man, but it is unclear how much they get to see of him. "For 10 years I didn't take a holiday. When FTIL turned 10 this year, I took my family to Switzerland," he says.

At other times they have to be content with short weekend breaks at their family home in Khandala. Does he have the time for trivial personal pursuits? "I love Hindi movies," laughs Shah.

He does own a Mercedes Benz because he believes it projects the right image for the company, adding, "I am very particular about the clothes my senior management wear out of the office; I have insisted they all get suits stitched with the finest fabric from Gabbana (not to be confused with Dolce & Gabbana, this one is the uncontested premier aspirational clothing store for Mumbai's business community).

Jignesh Shah is a curious mix of genuine prudence and Gatsby-esque aspiration. For a man whose personal fortune is in the region of Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion), some might find it surprising that he lives in the same flat he bought on an HDFC home loan 20 years ago in the middle class Mumbai suburb of Kandivili. His idea of a treat is still the Gujarati thali at the very affordable Chetna restaurant.

"We're a company that believes in optimal utilisation of resources. We work towards the greatest good of our shareholders so we operate with high financial prudence." That's him as a socialist, but the capitalist is never too far: "But the world likes to see capitalism, so a king must behave like a king."

And his image will continue to have to grow in stature to match the potential escalation of FTIL's achievements. Says Shah, "We are getting into mobile-based digital transactions for micro credit; it is a trillion dollar market. It will capture all low-end transactions, mobilising small money at a quarter of the cost. When media turns completely digital, we will be there too. I have a library with 5,000 books on various complex market opportunities that FTIL can get into when the time is right. We will create billion dollar stories out of million dollar ones. We are players in a high-speed, high-stakes game, we can't stop now."

For a man whose biggest luxury is spending time with his 12-year-old daughter, time is scarce enough without imposing on it, so I took my cue to leave but not before he quotes from, what else, a Hindi movie, Tezaab. "The hero's friend asks him, Tumhe itna time kaise hota hain? to which he replies, Time hota nahin hai, nikalna padta hain. The only difference is that he was talking about having time for his girlfriends," he laughs.

For the next nine days Shah will have to somehow find the time… to pick up the pace and dance to the tune of not the markets but the garba beat. With Navratri here, Shah is celebrating it, as he does every year. In style.

Shah on Shah

My mind was made up when I was in second grade. I knew I wanted to do engineering, go abroad, set up my own business

I always had dreams of hiring the best. Today I can afford to not compromise on salaries when it comes to hiring and retaining the best

Every step we have taken has been copied by a competitor in 3-6 months

Of course, the currency market is at a nascent stage; when it opens up, there will be huge opportunities for us to convert

The world likes to see capitalism, so a king must behave like a king

Voices

He is a great strategist and driven by results. MCX is going to take commodity futures a long way with its path-breaking work. I have known him since 1995, and he is someone who really believes in nurturing long-lasting relationships. Anand Rathi, former BSE president

I have known Jignesh since 1998, when he first sought my advice on starting a commodities exchange. In 2003, when his application was approved, I was invited on board as an advising economist. I made several suggestions that they paid heed to, like starting off big with gold bullion; no other exchange was trading in it at the time. I also laid stressed building strategic partnerships with single commodity exchanges, which again they did. I did advise them to go slow, but Jignesh believes in exponential growth.  He dreams, thinks, speaks and does BIG. Dr Madhoo Pavaskar, consulting economist and government appointed director on MCX

Working at National Stock Exchange for over eight years, I'd been hearing of Jignesh Shah and his success with FTIL. He was the emerging entrepreneur everybody in the capital markets was talking about. I had decided by 2003 that he was the leader I wanted to grow with. Having worked under him for two and a half years, I truly believe he will not only emerge a national leader, but a globally benchmarked leader. He really sets the precedence in the organisation for transparency, team building and innovation. Girish Raipuria, vice president-trading, MCX

We started working together on project BOLT. He was the visionary who thought 10 years ahead of time. His tremendous qualities are his ability to be customer and quality focussed, down to the last detail. He can make anything a commercial success because he drives growth with a missionary zeal. Dewang Neralla, executive director and chief technology architect, FTIL

[olwog]

June 2015 – This walk is not in Yorkshire but is very beautiful and less than a couple of hours away. Enjoy…x

Chris is the culprit for this walk. He’s been talking this up for weeks. Well, OK, this is not Yorkshire so there’s a bit of a run in the car but it’s two hours well spent and if you chose your route carefully it can be through Wensleydale, Swaledale or even if you take the route that we settled on for speed, the A66 cuts across some fabulous moor and dale.

We set off in drizzly rain and the sky progressively breaks up and reveals heavenly pools that are as deep a shade of blue as I’ve ever seen complete with scattered clouds that gradually dissolve and reveal even more of the glorious sky.

This is the planned Catbells Summit Route

So here we are in Keswick sitting at a cafe in beautiful sunshine discussing the finer points of having this fabulous scenery on our doorstep.

The plan is to take the ferry from the Keswick pier to Hawes End and the decision is to take the slow ferry to spend some time appreciating the scenery. For those of you who want a quick route, there is a direct ferry in the morning which take less than 10 minutes, ours is a 40 minute trip and it is well worth it.

We’re seated two rows apart and have to talk across a lady who is kind enough to allow us our childish quips whilst joining in the conversation especially regarding the beauty that surrounds us. The lady in question is from Yorkshire too but now resides in Central London and is here for just a few days to relax and unwind. Certainly the right place to do both of those things.

There are no facilities at Hawes End which makes it even more endearing. The track is clean and clear through the trees and certainly gets the heart rate up ready for the real ascent which is a walk of about 1 kilometre and above the trees. Once out of their shadow the track divides straight-on or to the right. We take the right fork which is purported to be a zig zag route and less steep. Now then dear reader, ‘less steep’ is without doubt relative. The other route is very, very steep and this one is only very steep. My intention is to walk with the team until my heart rate reaches 120 at which point I shall return to the lower route and walk that. Whilst I don’t normally share with strangers my medical history it is important to understand why sometimes, I need to take a route that is less challenging. I have what the doctors refer to as a AAA, an abdominal aortic aneurysm, it is currently being monitored and it is important to stay fit but not do anything stupidly extreme so I monitor my heart rate to give me an indication of the stress on my body. I’ll not bore you with more but suffice to say, I shall be taking the lower route but not before I go a little way up the standard one to get a bit of a glimpse of what I’m going to miss!

This is the alternative (easier) route

So, for the time being, we take the right fork. The steps are well maintained but very irregular and the first zig treats us to some magnificent views looking across the valley with a house as a landmark of relativity for scale. The house seems tiny and the valley and surrounding mountains are vast and beautiful. We know how big a house is so the size of its valley cradle is astonishing. The next is a zag and we’re now looking over Derwentwater with tiny ferries, even tinier rowing boats with beautiful woody islands breaking the monotony of the flat calm water with inverted reflections of the surrounding mountains.

We conduct a few more zigs with a couple of zags and we reach a point at which it is time to take a break and for me to make the decision to return to the lower track. With a sob and a waving hanky we part and the team make their way to the first ‘scramble’.

Peter choses this one to fall on his camera. Now everyone knows that when we fall, the certainty of excruciating pain is an irrelevance compared to the embarrassment that accompanies being seen. However, for a photographer, falling on your camera is akin to an author deliberately throwing books on the fire. Peter looks around for an audience but the other ramblers are preoccupied with their own agenda and their objective is the top of this scramble.

As they reach this first summit the ridge beyond is surprisingly broad and the top is rounded so the grim thoughts of Striding Edge are far from the reality of this gentle path between the first mini-peak and Catbells summit. There is another scramble at the other end but even that doesn’t look as intimidating from this new angle. . The walk between summits is such that taking in the surrounding peaks, valleys and lakes is a pleasure. There are some beautiful clumps of tiny blue, yellow and white flowers which are assumed to be alpines of some sort, they contrast nicely with the green and the rocks. . The final scramble is not intimidating when viewed from the far end of the far end of the track but now, immediately under it, it looks challenging.

Earlier, Mac and Chris had broken cover and began their final push along the wide ridge between the two summits. They were holding hands and with the occasional skip heading towards Catbells proper. There was no sign of Heidi but there were plenty of other folks up there. Our intrepid pair were approaching the second scramble. It wasn’t billed as being anything challenging yet as it moved from being ‘just a steep bit in the distance’ to something ‘that would need a little bit of planning’ there was an anxious expectation building up inside and a degree of trepidation as the reality got close enough to touch. Indeed the reality was that our breakaways were now scrambling up this final challenge using hands and feet and on arrival at the summit, joined hands and punched the air in celebration. They were both a little moist which is probably the result of the strain of the scramble, the deep affection developed over the final push and the climax at the summit. They hug and the confused group of people who had reached the summit a little earlier cheered their achievement. Tears were shed and another hug before the realisation of such abandon was followed by a self-consciousness formal handshake and a nod, they are British dammit!

The rest of the team arrive 20 minutes later and find the 360 degree vista that hugs this beautiful county is enough to silence the garrulous teenagers that are gathered on this small peak of rock. It’s so stunning it isolates the sounds of the birds and wind and suppresses all other senses leaving just one; the view is everything…

Onwards and this time downward. The track is rather less severe now but leads to a craggy and uneven but otherwise well made and maintained stepway that ensures Derwentwater and her surrounding trees, bracken and ferns remain the natural backdrop to the descent.

Towards the bottom a surge of adrenalin, relief and natural excitement ensures an upbeat return along the banks of the lake following the well signposted and scenic Cumbrian Way.

As the team have traversed Catbells from above let’s return the commentary to me.

I return via the lower track by turning right at the final zag at about 300 feet above the lake and walk rather more sedately along the slopes of Catbells occasionally looking up to see if there’s any sight of the intrepid team. There are occasional glimpses of the more daring traveler above who take the opportunity to walk to the edge of the ridge and look down. They look very small and I’m reminded of Father Ted trying to explain to Dougal when he says, “The cows are not really that size, it’s just that they are a long way away!”

The track gently descends to a point which crosses the road and continues down some steps towards an intersection with the Cumbrian Way and at this point I’m walking the same path as the team but separated by about half an hour.

There are numerous places to stop and look across Derwentwater through the branches of the overhanging trees. They create a beautifully ornate frame for the perfection beyond and I stop numerous times to admire the lake and islands; however, the most stunning view and the one that I spend some time in sublime admiration is the view of lake with mountains so perfectly reflected as to create a natural symmetry that would be almost impossible to replicate even with precision instruments.

I pass several carvings, one is an open hand and another is a seat carved out of a huge tree trunk. The mix of natural and artistic beauty enhances the walk to new levels.

I arrive back at the Hawes End jetty in time to see two groups of school children swamp one of the ferries in excited but good humoured enthusiasm. I’ve met several groups today and they’ve been, without exception, polite and well behaved. Well done to the educators for a) setting these trips up and b) getting the mix of freedom and discipline right, it’s never easy but you’ve certainly got it right today.

The team are about 20 minutes away and have discovered the seat carved out of the tree trunk. George is trying to cajole them into a last push but they revolt and break out the sandwiches. I’m concerned that the ferry will be over subscribed and we’ll be here another hour waiting for the next one. After a little persuasion George has them moving again and we are quorate by the time the ferry arrives. Just in time as it turns out as at least 10 people are left behind for the next boat.

Dave, Mac and Chris opt to walk the extra 4 or 5 kilometres to Keswick and will meet us at the pub.

Back in Keswick George buys us an ice-cream for being good! Another pleasure that I would recommend if you’re passing the Hope Cafe or the Italian gelato cafe.

There are two routes for the reasons expressed in the blog. One over Catbells and the other around it at about 300 feet, the latter is easier if you have health issues. You would need to take more detailed advice if you are disabled. You’re looking at 8km if you do the higher route from and to Hawes End. If you prefer to walk back to Keswick you’ll add another 4km. If you choose the route I took around the lower tracks then the distance is about the same at 8km depending on any detours that take your fancy and I would encourage you to explore, it’s beautiful…G..x

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Peter Hymer for his photos. All photos are copyright of the person that made them.

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Written permission is required for commercial use.

June 2015 - This walk is not in Yorkshire but is very beautiful and less than a couple of hours away.

[jobmbaileytait-blog]

Nadav Kander

Nadav Kander began assisting at the age of 13. He fell in love with the mechanics of the camera. This statement I thought was very interesting and was so different to that I had heard of before. Growing up in South Africa, Kander was 18/19 when he began learning how to use the darkroom and worked for a guy in Johannesburg. At the age of 21 Nadav Kander moved and was scouted by an agent. Here he stated “Photography was seen as a craft, not exhibited as art”. This quote got me thinking about all the possibilities within photography, and really gave me a passion to start thinking what exactly it is I want to do with my career. Kander had a huge passion to prove himself.

 Kander had started making portraits around 1997, the first image Daniel saw was Nadav’s earliest photograph ‘Eve Salvail’, a Canadian model. He says how “everything is a reaction and that is one of the nice reasons, that’s one of the great things about digital, you can react immediately”. Hearing Kander say this made me realise exactly why I was so in to digital photography, rather than film and how I thought about it and realised I worked well with digital.  After a while, Nadav decided to go in from advertising in to portraiture.

 Daniel asked Nadav Kander about lighting, and how he works with it. Nadav lights most of his work as he is not a fan of natural light. He likes to put ‘atmosphere’ in to the photograph and will study the person and see if he can figure out the lighting, but this does not always work and the right lighting isn’t always found. Talking about his photograph of David Beckham, he explained that Francis Baker, a painter, was his inspiration to the Beckham photograph. Kander likes to create a ‘feeling’. Going back to atmosphere, Kander explains it is something interesting when it comes to photography and talking about the Beckham portrait he states he is “far more interested in a turned away head, than showing something plainly”. Something which I found inspiring as I am not so in to portraiture photography myself, but began to think about what I would normally think of as a ‘portraiture photograph’, head on, looking at the camera, and either smiling or showing no expression at all.

 When it comes to Nadav working on his shoots, he told us about how the shortest time he has had to photograph someone was just two minutes! I couldn’t believe this, I was so shocked and amazed at how little time you can get with someone whilst on a job. However, Kander is very happy with an average time of spending around 40 minutes with someone, or if he wants to go that little bit deeper he will spend around 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours with someone. This is a good amount of time for things to be improved in case something goes wrong somewhere. This did not include them getting dressed. I was glad to hear this, because when he first said he had only spent 2 minutes with someone, I had all these questions going around in my head. What if something went wrong? What would he do if the photograph did not turn out how it should have been? How would he explain this to the client?

 Kander then goes on about what working with an actor is like. He says how “working with an actor, they have a much better understand about atmosphere”. He compares this to working with politicians who do not understand about atmosphere. Kander explains he softly directs people to a place where they are themselves. He is not too interested in being ‘relaxed’ and believes the relaxed look can sometimes be overrated and that sometimes it is more interesting to see someone who is terrified, nervous, envious or even vulnerable. Kander relates this to us going to movies and how we do not go to smiley, feel good movies but instead go to theatrical, atmospheric movies which look at human condition. Kander has no idea what this whole “smile thing” is about. I thought this was a wonderful thing to be told, because after hearing this and looking at Nadav’s portraits, you can really tell the people are being themselves and that he is getting the best out of them. Carrying on with the theory of a portrait. He goes on to say it is an automatic response to always be seen happy and that we are not always happy, so why are we always to look happy in portraits?  

 Looking at the photographs of Michael Fossbender, I, 2011 and Brad Pitt VII, 2011. Daniel asked Nadav about post production and how much does he work on his photographs. Kander believes in a dark room there is a lot less control and that it is quite varied and that you can do broad moves, which he also uses Photo Shop in quite a similar way. Comparing this to mixing painting and putting it up to the canvas. I had never thought of editing this way before and didn’t quite understand what he meant by it, but thought it was a great thing to know and to figure out for myself one day. The reason Kander loves digital is because it doesn’t just stop when he makes the photograph as it can be heightened again and again. Using photo shop might not be old fashioned and might not have nostalgia but there is more of himself in his photographs because of the control he has over it. Something which I thought was amazing because it really is your photograph, no one else’s and I had never really realised this until Nadav said it himself. Jeff Wall also believes this and it gives Nadav great happiness. Kander will always choose digital over film. With film you never really know what you are getting, however with digital something good happens.

 When Kander was at school he said he was always taught that when printing photographs, you had to always have the black line of the negative, that you used all in the negative. Nadav claims this is bullshit.

 Daniel goes to say how he has chosen portraits Nadav Kander has made of people from different walks of life. Moving on to HRH Prince Charles I, 2013 and HRH Prince Charles IV, 2013, who Kander liked very much, he goes on to say how he asked Prince Charles to wear a grey suit, in which he chose King Edwards suit from 1902-1920’s. I was amazed when I found out Kander had photographed a royal, when doing a degree in photography, you never really think that you will get the chance to meet someone who has had the privilege to photograph such important people. It made me realise that if I did want to be a photographer, if I worked hard enough that one day that could be me. Going on to explain that he thought Prince Charles was a very generous, soft soul and that they both had plenty to talk about. Prince Charles came across quite naïve and Kander found it weird how he had never just been able to walk out on to the street, or able to make decisions alone which made him think Prince Charles was quite childlike in some ways. Someone like Prince Charles has to be treated completely different to someone like Brad Pitt purely from a manners point of view although Kander does not generally see people differently. Again, something I would never have really thought about until I was in that position, photographing someone so important. Being able to hear Kander speak about this was eye opening.

 Kander goes on to talk about communication, how we all connect in many things, we all know what energy is, we all think we are incredibly individual. We read the human body, we read the human face and not just with our brains. Communication comes from the mouth but we already know a lot about a person. Once people have seen his work, its really in his hands.

 Talking about David Bailey I, 2016, who he describes as a fantastic man, saying how as soon as he started photographing him you could tell he wasn’t happy as he is used to being the one calling the shots. So he picked up his own camera and began photographing Nadav. I can imagine this to be quite entertaining and I would have loved to have seen the results of David Bailey’s photographs of Nadav.

 Carrying on with the talk and moving on to talk about working with Grids. Rather than single portraits, Nadav goes on to talk about Georgia O’Keffe, who was married to a man who in the 30’s made a set of portraits which were never to be shown separately and that they were to be a volume. Kander bought the book about this project, being all different pictures of his wife when he was in his 20’s from a guy at the Tate, this is an idea he really liked. Being able to relate to the fact I also like to see photographs in grids, really got me interested in this part of the talk with Nadav Kander. “If you photograph the same thing in the same lighting over and over again you start to very distinctly and very clearly see the differences between us”. This was not Kander’s quote but a quote he had known of and I thought this was a great thing to know. Allowing us as young photographers to really understand there is a difference between every single photograph you take, and none are never exactly the same. Back to Beckham, but as a series, Kander questioned himself asking “How can I do something interesting, but still uncomfortable?” making us realise he is still keeping his photography original and how he wants the photographs to portray this certain person. I believe this is something which is needed throughout every piece of work a photographer makes and is so important to not just the photographer but also the client. He likes to make people feel mildly uncomfortable.

 Daniel moves on to ask about Kander’s thoughts on how work should be hung or presented in an exhibition. When a project becomes a book it allows you to ‘read’ on. Kander wants things to try and be kept ‘real’ for him when presenting work, how he responds to it. If your work doesn’t hold together you begin to worry what other people say. I believe in this completely, because as a photographer, especially myself, I have to have it exactly perfect and how I want it to be.

 Kander was lucky enough to also photograph Obama and his people. He was rung up by Kathy Ryan who is the director of photography and asked how Obama’s people would be photographed. It took a few weeks of thinking but Nadav ended up with the idea of photographing just them with a background - a lot harder than you would think! Using objects to show their personalities and their interaction with Obama. However, it took Nadav Kander by surprise as they were not as smart-casual as he thought. This proved to be a difficult shoot and when hearing about this I felt I had already learnt a lot about how to interact with different types of people. Photographing Obama himself was different however, in the second photograph he was able to get to know Obama more, and then spent more time with him in the third photograph. Obama is looking down in this one and Kander claims it was correct for the present time as three days after the shoot the Sandy Hook shooting happened. I was so inspired to hear how being able to photograph someone more than once allowed you to get to know the person and I think it allows them to relax more in front of the camera. “Being nervous is a good thing, without perseverance you cannot get where you need to go”. As well as Obama, Nadav has also photographed Boris Johnson, he claims you should “always photograph people you don’t like” and believes at the time in 2014 when he photographed Boris Johnson that he was a great mayor.

 Finally, we looked at Nadav Kander’s commissioned work. Advertising can be exciting. Powerade was just one of Kander’s works, you should always try and keep your style in the work. Kander also did some work for Samaritans, because it was for charity they were only allowed to show the back of the heads of people, it took three hours and they wanted a different background colour.

 I was overwhelmed by Nadav Kander’s talk and couldn’t believe all the things I learnt and was so inspired by. I feel I am able to reflect on my own work and have gained an understanding of how portraiture photography works and that it is the photographer who makes the portrait as well as the person. How as the photographer you are able to put in as many ideas as you like and make it your own original piece of work.

[rodrigohyde]

13 ways to fire up your cardio workouts

Cardio work may not always be the most fun training to do, but the benefits, like improved endurance, can help you big time down the line.

The importance of aerobic exercise on health and weight management has been found numerous times in academic studies. But sometimes, spending 60 minutes on the elliptical can be worse than going to the in-laws' for dinner.

[RELATED1]

Long Slow Distance (LSD) training, otherwise known as low-intensity aerobic exercise, is important to include into your workout regimen, but sometimes our time is cut short and we want the most bang for our buck when it comes to calories burned. This is where interval training steps in…and forget about the “fat-burning” zone—that was like, so 1980's.

Other studies have found that shorter, high-intensity workouts can have similar physiological changes compared to longer low-intense workouts. This serves great for you because your workouts can be shorter and less boring. But we'll warn you now—they’re not going to be easier!

1. Go the distance

We all know that some training days can feel like a million bucks, while others can feel like a slog. Instead of timing your intervals, go by how much distance you cover. This will accommodate for daily fluctuations in energy levels and will give you something different to focus on.

The workout: Set your treadmill to distance mode. Choose a set distance to cover per interval, say ¼ mile, ½ mile or mile. Run that distance as fast as you can. Follow that with an active rest (easy jog) running the same distance as the “hard” interval.

For example, run a ¼ mile and jog a ¼ mile. Repeat for 20 minutes. Boom. Now pick yourself up off the floor and hit the showers.

2. Do the time

Timing your intervals is one of the most common methods of interval training. The “Tabata Protocol” has exploded since its inception in 1996. This form of high-intensity interval training is only 4 minutes long and is broken up into 20- and 10-second intervals. Basically, hammer as much as possible for 20 seconds and rest for 10. Repeat until the 4 minutes is up. There’s one stipulation, though: the hard is meant to be at 170% max VO2, basically meaning 100x harder than all-out. This is obviously extraordinarily intense and is quite difficult even for the fittest beast out there. Here’s a protocol to help you get to beast mode in 6-weeks.

The workout: On a spin bike, set the resistance to all-out. (In the academic study where the 20-10 protocol was tested, the subjects were seated for the entire protocol. You can either sit or stand or use a treadmill. It doesn’t matter, as long as the effort is maxed.)

Perform each workout twice each week. Begin and end each session with 5-minutes at an easy pace.

Week 1-2: Start with the opposite – 10-seconds hard and 20-seconds easy. Repeat for 4-minutes.

Week 3: Progress to 15-seconds hard and 15-seconds easy. Repeat for 4-minutes.

Week 4: Progress to 20-seconds hard and 20-seconds easy. Repeat for 8-rounds. This will be slightly greater than the usual 4-minutes.

Week 5: Drop the break to 15-seconds and stick with the 20-seconds hard. Perform 8-rounds.

Week 6: Here we go! 20-seconds hard and 10-seconds-easy. Perform 8-rounds for four minutes of fat-loss hell.

[RELATED2]

3. Go to the beat

It wouldn’t be a “cardio article” without mentioning your heart rate. Your heart rate responds to the intensity of exercise and has been shown to be related to your subjective perception of how intense or “hard” an exercise bout is. The higher your perception of difficulty, the higher your heart rate. Duh!

Many professional athletes use heart rate monitoring in specific workouts to focus on different physiological acclimations—what’s referred to as Energy System Development. Just sets of 5 reps have a different effect on the body compared to sets of 12, running at 90% max heart rate (MHR) has different physiological effects compared to running at 65% MHR.

Let me break this up into 3 categories:

 1. 60-70% MHR – Cardio workouts in this category focus on improving your aerobic capacity and build the foundation for faster workouts. At this intensity, you should be able to carry a conversation. This is the intensity most trainees use when they step onto a treadmill.

 2. 70-80% MHR – Workouts in this category focus on improving your body’s ability to manage high concentrations of lactate and other metabolic by-products. The body produces high levels of lactate at this intensity but learns how to utilize and remove it from the muscles, allowing them to sustain a high power output for a greater duration.

 3. 80-90% MHR – Workouts at this intensity focus on improving your VO2-Max, basically, how much oxygen you body can utilize for a given activity (running, cycling, ellipticling, etc.) based on your body weight, age and sex.

The workout: Choose category 2 or 3 and put on your heart rate monitor. Use the 220 minus your age equation to get a rough estimate of your MHR. Perform a 10-minute warm-up at 60% MHR and bang out 5 x 3-minutes intervals with 2-minutes recovery. Keep the recovery active by jogging/cycling at 50% MHR. This will help get the metabolites out of your legs and prepare you for the next interval. Follow up with a 5-10-minute cool down at 60% MHR.

4. Run unstructured

Fartlek (färtlik) is a Swedish term that translates to speedplay or unstructured interval training. This is a common method of training for elite runners and triathletes. Essentially, this type of training incorporates fast and slow efforts, similar to interval training, but differs in that its unstructured and there is no stopping until you’ve completed the total running time.

The workout: Chose a trail and a time period to run—say, 30 total minutes. Choose landmarks to sprint to and landmarks to jog to. Change the distance between landmarks and go by feel, but don’t cut yourself short and jog most of the way. Make it challenging and put in a good effort. Don’t worry about time and make sure not to stop until the 30 minutes is up.

5. Climb a hill

Hill repeats are crazy cardio-boosters that can improve strength and explosive power. The high-knee lift, pumping arms and powerful toe-off, can spark new levels of aerobic power and some crazy fat loss. Hills are a bit easier on the body compared to sprinting on a flat surface. They force a forefoot landing and require a constant fight.

The workout: Find a semi-steep hill, gravel preferably, and sprint up! It’s that easy. Sprint for roughly 15-seconds. Stop. Find your breath and walk down. Walking down will be easier on your legs compared to running because of the reduced eccentric stress. Repeat 8-12 times and call it a day.

[RELATED3]

6. Create flow

Don’t go all-out. “It’s one thing to push yourself to extremes, but you can actually get a better workout by tuning into what’s happening to your body during the day,” says Jenny Hadfield, running coach and author of Running for Mortals: A Commonsense Plan for Changing Your Life with Running. If you’re following up a hard day on the trails with a treadmill run, pushing through another hilly workout will cause further fatigue and detriment. Instead, break up high intensity workouts, and ebb and flow between hard and easy to avoid hitting a point of diminishing returns. Follow a hill workout with a cross training day or easy day of flat terrain.

7. Re-work your warmup

Counteract a workday’s worth of sitting with a slow-speed, backwards-walk warmup to open up the hips. Then, integrate a slow side shuffle into the routine. “A slow lateral walk at a 3%-5% incline is a great strengthening warmup or cool-down exercise that targets the adductors,” says Hadfield. Here’s how to weave it into your warmup: follow 30-60 seconds of forward walk with 30-60 seconds of walking backwards at 1.5 miles per hour. “The slower the better,” says Hadfield. “If you’re just shuffling along, you’re not going to get the muscle activation you would if you’re deliberately contracting.” Next, laterally walk for 30-45 seconds until your hip is fatigued, then switch. Repeat 4-5 times.

8. Don't hang on

Fatigue might tempt you to grab onto the handrails for support, but you’re better off coming to a full stop before taking a breather. For safety reasons, always step off. The caveat to the rule: if you’re learning how to use a treadmill or you’re working on balance issues.

9. Work it out

Full schedule? Work out while working with a little intentional movement. Make your treadmill your workstation and complete simple tasks like answering phone calls or replying to emails while keeping a one mile per hour pace, says Hadfield.  

[RELATED4]

10. Mimic the race

“Track repeats, tempo runs, and a long run can all be done on the treadmill,” says Bill Pierce, Professor and Chair of the Health Sciences department and lead author of Run Less, Run Faster. Whether you’re seeking a change of pace or using the treadmill to simulate a race’s environmental conditions, take advantage of the treadmill’s automatic elevation options. If you live where there’s flat terrain but you’re planning to tackle Boston, you can simulate the racecourse by adding hills to your training run.

11. Ditch the programmed “fat burn” setting

Don’t be fooled by any fat-burn button. The lower intensity just means that a higher percentage of your caloric expenditure is from fat. You’re still always going to burn more fat running faster than you are running slower. For example: Pierce says if you run 10mph and 60% of your energy comes from fat calories, you might burn 100 calories per mile. But if you run 6 mph and 40% of your energy comes from fat, you may burn 300 calories per mile. Basically: ramp up your speed, and your fat burn doubles.

12. Skip the weights

Adding in weights might put on muscle; but it could also put you off balance. “Weights can change your biomechanics and the point of impact, which leads to injury,” says Pierce. Save your strength training for a later workout.  

13. Mix it up

Take advantage of the stationary benefit: Running on a treadmill puts heart rate and pace stats at your fingertips, giving you ultimate control over effort and speed. Try an anything-goes workout: increase your incline for the first interval, then activate the quads, calves, and hamstrings with a decline descent. Close with a challenging incline run that picks up the pace. “If someone runs at 1% incline and another person mixes it up—and runs on a 1%-3% incline on hilly terrain—the person who’s running hills is probably going to have more fun and get in a better workout,” says Hadfield. Don’t feel like overthinking? Use the treadmill’s constant momentum as motivation to run a low-level hill program or an interval workout.

[RELATED5]

Training tips

from Men's Fitness http://www.mensfitness.com/training/cardio/13-ways-fire-your-cardio-workouts

[sherlocklexa]

Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post

When I first moved into the UDH, one of the very first projects my dad and I ever tackled was adding a small fence and gate to close off the back yard. In fact, it was the second blog post that I ever wrote — it was that early!

Since then, quite a lot of things have changed, including other improvements to the fence: replacing part of the chain link on the other side of the house, adding better gate hardware, planting garden beds next to it for added foliage (and to hide my neighbor’s fence that’s falling apart, which you can see more of in the pics below), and more. I’d like to think I’ve actually learned quite a bit about fences during that time. But last fall, there was a bit of an accident to this little section:

It happened during that awesome, sweaty week last summer when I rented a backhoe, ordered truckloads of dirt, and filled in the sink hole in a brutally humid August. My friends stopped by one night to help (truthfully, they really just wanted to play with the backhoe for a bit)…

…but as usual, it was my dad who helped out the most. Look at him go!

Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which allows me to make a small commission from your purchase (but your purchase price stays the same). Thank you for helping support the blog! I appreciate it! 

Even though we got a huge amount done in that week, there’s was just one little step in the wrong direction: during one of the return passes through the gate to get more dirt…

…Dad turned the wheel and crashed directly into my fence. It wasn’t enough of a collision to take out the fence as a whole or for him to be injured in any way (and it was kind of funny since all bets would have been on me to be the one with a runaway backhoe), but it did just enough damage to loosen the concrete and make the whole thing unstable. The post had been bent to an angle that could not be repaired, so I would have to replace it in order for the gate hardware (actually, the newly-installed gate hardware) to close properly.

I took the fence panel off and came up with a game plan to fix it, but I wasn’t in a huge hurry since I was busy working on lots of other projects all winter. Typically, you just buy a new pre-treated 4×4 and a bag of quick-dry concrete, reattach the hardware, and done (you actually don’t even need to separately mix the concrete… you literally pour the bag into the hole and water it down, poke it a few times to make sure the water mixes well enough, and stabilize the post so that it’s level — not a difficult DIY at all, just heavy). But as I made one of my usual supply runs to my local Orange, I spotted this little display:

According to the product’s advertising:

This new product could fix my fence without the inconvenience of carrying around 50 pound bags of concrete through the store — “effectively replaces two 50 lb. bags of concrete mix.” Since I don’t like carrying heavy stuff unless it’s part of an obstacle course race, this was a selling point for me.

The two components that are separated in the bag, once popped and mixed for about 20 seconds, form an expanding polyurethane resin that you pour it into the hole; in just 3 minutes, the product expands around the post and stabilizes it.

Basically, magic.

Given that I also love trying out new DIY products and being the guinea pig to see if something *really* works or not, I figured it would make for a really cool experiment. For around 3x the price (online it says it’s now cheaper, but I remember spending more), it was more expensive than the bag of concrete I’d initially planned to use, but I liked the idea of trying it out and picked it up anyway. Could it really work?

The short answer: no. Nope, nope, nope. But hey, I have cool pictures!

With the weather warming back up (and dry), the temperature was right to finally give it a try. I started by cleaning out the existing hole that contained the original post (any softer dirt, debris and such — Georgia’s red clay is pretty hard to begin with, but spring rain had caused some mud at the bottom of the hole). It may not look it from this photo, but the hole I started with was deep enough for the usual concrete that I would have poured otherwise (probably two-ish bags). It doesn’t really say it on the bag, but an online video that I found for this product says the hole should be 8 inches in diameter and one third of the length of the post should be in the ground.

I popped the bag and did a quick shimmy to get the two components to mix (note: there’s a very short window of time for this, about 20-30 seconds), then snipped a corner with some scissors and started pouring it into the post hole. The goop almost instantly started foaming up before I could snap a few pictures with my phone, which was pretty cool to watch. Over the next few minutes, I monitored the expansion and made sure the post stayed level (a post level would have been even better to use, but since I didn’t feel like making another trip to the store, two levels measuring both directions worked in a pinch).

I stood around for another ten minutes, watching the foam expand even further and even above ground (according to package directions, you can just trim off excess after it’s hardened). You’re supposed to let things cure additionally for another two hours before attaching anything to the post, but I had other things to tackle the rest of the afternoon, so I let it be for the rest of the day.

I gave it a few test wiggles that evening (well after the 2-hour “fully hardened” window on the packaging), which proved disappointing. The product wasn’t super stable around the post, and as you can see in the photo above, had even pulled away from the post while it expanded. I was still outside working on a few other things, and I could clearly see the post swaying slightly in the wind. I chose to leave it overnight and decide whether or not to re-attach the fence panel the next day.

The next afternoon, I pushed on the post. While it didn’t fall over, it still wiggled at the slightest nudge — nothing like the secure stability of setting the post in concrete. I guess one could argue not to expect they’d be exactly similar, except that the video I watched about the product literally had a guy climbing onto and hanging off the post as a demonstration of its strength. In my case, it took just a few more strong nudges, and the whole thing came right up out of the ground. Womp, womp.

Perhaps the hole I dug was still not deep enough (the foam only came up out of the ground a little, similar to what I’d seen in the video, so it looked plenty deep enough for the equivalent in concrete that it’s supposed to replace). Perhaps the ground around the hole wasn’t dry enough (the product didn’t really say much about water except to remove any standing water in the hole, and any loose soil had already been cleared out). So, while I’m sure that a lengthy investigation with the manufacturer would point out what step I must have not done perfectly in perfect conditions (because that hardly ever exists in real life, duh), I’d had enough of my experiment. I certainly think it’s cool when new products come out, and I’m willing to try them, but if the original way is both pretty much fool-proof and cheaper, I consider this a product flop.

The foam is easy to remove — I just hacked at it with a reciprocating saw and dumped the pieces. I noticed while removing it that the lack of expanding around the post was actually worse than I thought; somehow, air pockets had gotten into the resin, which probably contributed to its lack of stability.

With the junky foam shorn off, I grabbed an ol’ reliable bag of concrete and reset the post. Even though it took about fifteen minutes longer (well, a day of the other product and then fifteen minutes) to set enough to feel comfortable walking away, for me, concrete is the way to go from now on.

This post has gone on long enough, but there’s more that needed to still be done to get my fence and gate fixed up, so I’ll save that for part 2. And if you saw on Instagram, even more was accomplished elsewhere over the same weekend (remember this project?). More of that is coming as quickly as I can edit the photos!

P.S. In case you’re wondering, this wasn’t a sponsored post or anything, merely something I saw in store and wanted to try out. I know how it is when you see a new product and wonder if it’s worth the extra cost compared to the alternative — which is often cheaper, but more labor intensive — so from time to time, I let my house test things out. In years past, manufacturers have even reached out later to let me know these posts have helped them improve products that don’t work out, so I hope you found this helpful too!

The post Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from car2 http://ift.tt/2owkCln via as shown a lot

[chocdono]

Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post

When I first moved into the UDH, one of the very first projects my dad and I ever tackled was adding a small fence and gate to close off the back yard. In fact, it was the second blog post that I ever wrote — it was that early!

Since then, quite a lot of things have changed, including other improvements to the fence: replacing part of the chain link on the other side of the house, adding better gate hardware, planting garden beds next to it for added foliage (and to hide my neighbor’s fence that’s falling apart, which you can see more of in the pics below), and more. I’d like to think I’ve actually learned quite a bit about fences during that time. But last fall, there was a bit of an accident to this little section:

It happened during that awesome, sweaty week last summer when I rented a backhoe, ordered truckloads of dirt, and filled in the sink hole in a brutally humid August. My friends stopped by one night to help (truthfully, they really just wanted to play with the backhoe for a bit)…

…but as usual, it was my dad who helped out the most. Look at him go!

Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which allows me to make a small commission from your purchase (but your purchase price stays the same). Thank you for helping support the blog! I appreciate it! 

Even though we got a huge amount done in that week, there’s was just one little step in the wrong direction: during one of the return passes through the gate to get more dirt…

…Dad turned the wheel and crashed directly into my fence. It wasn’t enough of a collision to take out the fence as a whole or for him to be injured in any way (and it was kind of funny since all bets would have been on me to be the one with a runaway backhoe), but it did just enough damage to loosen the concrete and make the whole thing unstable. The post had been bent to an angle that could not be repaired, so I would have to replace it in order for the gate hardware (actually, the newly-installed gate hardware) to close properly.

I took the fence panel off and came up with a game plan to fix it, but I wasn’t in a huge hurry since I was busy working on lots of other projects all winter. Typically, you just buy a new pre-treated 4×4 and a bag of quick-dry concrete, reattach the hardware, and done (you actually don’t even need to separately mix the concrete… you literally pour the bag into the hole and water it down, poke it a few times to make sure the water mixes well enough, and stabilize the post so that it’s level — not a difficult DIY at all, just heavy). But as I made one of my usual supply runs to my local Orange, I spotted this little display:

According to the product’s advertising:

This new product could fix my fence without the inconvenience of carrying around 50 pound bags of concrete through the store — “effectively replaces two 50 lb. bags of concrete mix.” Since I don’t like carrying heavy stuff unless it’s part of an obstacle course race, this was a selling point for me.

The two components that are separated in the bag, once popped and mixed for about 20 seconds, form an expanding polyurethane resin that you pour it into the hole; in just 3 minutes, the product expands around the post and stabilizes it.

Basically, magic.

Given that I also love trying out new DIY products and being the guinea pig to see if something *really* works or not, I figured it would make for a really cool experiment. For around 3x the price (online it says it’s now cheaper, but I remember spending more), it was more expensive than the bag of concrete I’d initially planned to use, but I liked the idea of trying it out and picked it up anyway. Could it really work?

The short answer: no. Nope, nope, nope. But hey, I have cool pictures!

With the weather warming back up (and dry), the temperature was right to finally give it a try. I started by cleaning out the existing hole that contained the original post (any softer dirt, debris and such — Georgia’s red clay is pretty hard to begin with, but spring rain had caused some mud at the bottom of the hole). It may not look it from this photo, but the hole I started with was deep enough for the usual concrete that I would have poured otherwise (probably two-ish bags). It doesn’t really say it on the bag, but an online video that I found for this product says the hole should be 8 inches in diameter and one third of the length of the post should be in the ground.

I popped the bag and did a quick shimmy to get the two components to mix (note: there’s a very short window of time for this, about 20-30 seconds), then snipped a corner with some scissors and started pouring it into the post hole. The goop almost instantly started foaming up before I could snap a few pictures with my phone, which was pretty cool to watch. Over the next few minutes, I monitored the expansion and made sure the post stayed level (a post level would have been even better to use, but since I didn’t feel like making another trip to the store, two levels measuring both directions worked in a pinch).

I stood around for another ten minutes, watching the foam expand even further and even above ground (according to package directions, you can just trim off excess after it’s hardened). You’re supposed to let things cure additionally for another two hours before attaching anything to the post, but I had other things to tackle the rest of the afternoon, so I let it be for the rest of the day.

I gave it a few test wiggles that evening (well after the 2-hour “fully hardened” window on the packaging), which proved disappointing. The product wasn’t super stable around the post, and as you can see in the photo above, had even pulled away from the post while it expanded. I was still outside working on a few other things, and I could clearly see the post swaying slightly in the wind. I chose to leave it overnight and decide whether or not to re-attach the fence panel the next day.

The next afternoon, I pushed on the post. While it didn’t fall over, it still wiggled at the slightest nudge — nothing like the secure stability of setting the post in concrete. I guess one could argue not to expect they’d be exactly similar, except that the video I watched about the product literally had a guy climbing onto and hanging off the post as a demonstration of its strength. In my case, it took just a few more strong nudges, and the whole thing came right up out of the ground. Womp, womp.

Perhaps the hole I dug was still not deep enough (the foam only came up out of the ground a little, similar to what I’d seen in the video, so it looked plenty deep enough for the equivalent in concrete that it’s supposed to replace). Perhaps the ground around the hole wasn’t dry enough (the product didn’t really say much about water except to remove any standing water in the hole, and any loose soil had already been cleared out). So, while I’m sure that a lengthy investigation with the manufacturer would point out what step I must have not done perfectly in perfect conditions (because that hardly ever exists in real life, duh), I’d had enough of my experiment. I certainly think it’s cool when new products come out, and I’m willing to try them, but if the original way is both pretty much fool-proof and cheaper, I consider this a product flop.

The foam is easy to remove — I just hacked at it with a reciprocating saw and dumped the pieces. I noticed while removing it that the lack of expanding around the post was actually worse than I thought; somehow, air pockets had gotten into the resin, which probably contributed to its lack of stability.

With the junky foam shorn off, I grabbed an ol’ reliable bag of concrete and reset the post. Even though it took about fifteen minutes longer (well, a day of the other product and then fifteen minutes) to set enough to feel comfortable walking away, for me, concrete is the way to go from now on.

This post has gone on long enough, but there’s more that needed to still be done to get my fence and gate fixed up, so I’ll save that for part 2. And if you saw on Instagram, even more was accomplished elsewhere over the same weekend (remember this project?). More of that is coming as quickly as I can edit the photos!

P.S. In case you’re wondering, this wasn’t a sponsored post or anything, merely something I saw in store and wanted to try out. I know how it is when you see a new product and wonder if it’s worth the extra cost compared to the alternative — which is often cheaper, but more labor intensive — so from time to time, I let my house test things out. In years past, manufacturers have even reached out later to let me know these posts have helped them improve products that don’t work out, so I hope you found this helpful too!

The post Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from mix1 http://ift.tt/2owkCln via with this info

[petraself]

Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post

When I first moved into the UDH, one of the very first projects my dad and I ever tackled was adding a small fence and gate to close off the back yard. In fact, it was the second blog post that I ever wrote — it was that early!

Since then, quite a lot of things have changed, including other improvements to the fence: replacing part of the chain link on the other side of the house, adding better gate hardware, planting garden beds next to it for added foliage (and to hide my neighbor’s fence that’s falling apart, which you can see more of in the pics below), and more. I’d like to think I’ve actually learned quite a bit about fences during that time. But last fall, there was a bit of an accident to this little section:

It happened during that awesome, sweaty week last summer when I rented a backhoe, ordered truckloads of dirt, and filled in the sink hole in a brutally humid August. My friends stopped by one night to help (truthfully, they really just wanted to play with the backhoe for a bit)…

…but as usual, it was my dad who helped out the most. Look at him go!

Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which allows me to make a small commission from your purchase (but your purchase price stays the same). Thank you for helping support the blog! I appreciate it! 

Even though we got a huge amount done in that week, there’s was just one little step in the wrong direction: during one of the return passes through the gate to get more dirt…

…Dad turned the wheel and crashed directly into my fence. It wasn’t enough of a collision to take out the fence as a whole or for him to be injured in any way (and it was kind of funny since all bets would have been on me to be the one with a runaway backhoe), but it did just enough damage to loosen the concrete and make the whole thing unstable. The post had been bent to an angle that could not be repaired, so I would have to replace it in order for the gate hardware (actually, the newly-installed gate hardware) to close properly.

I took the fence panel off and came up with a game plan to fix it, but I wasn’t in a huge hurry since I was busy working on lots of other projects all winter. Typically, you just buy a new pre-treated 4×4 and a bag of quick-dry concrete, reattach the hardware, and done (you actually don’t even need to separately mix the concrete… you literally pour the bag into the hole and water it down, poke it a few times to make sure the water mixes well enough, and stabilize the post so that it’s level — not a difficult DIY at all, just heavy). But as I made one of my usual supply runs to my local Orange, I spotted this little display:

According to the product’s advertising:

This new product could fix my fence without the inconvenience of carrying around 50 pound bags of concrete through the store — “effectively replaces two 50 lb. bags of concrete mix.” Since I don’t like carrying heavy stuff unless it’s part of an obstacle course race, this was a selling point for me.

The two components that are separated in the bag, once popped and mixed for about 20 seconds, form an expanding polyurethane resin that you pour it into the hole; in just 3 minutes, the product expands around the post and stabilizes it.

Basically, magic.

Given that I also love trying out new DIY products and being the guinea pig to see if something *really* works or not, I figured it would make for a really cool experiment. For around 3x the price (online it says it’s now cheaper, but I remember spending more), it was more expensive than the bag of concrete I’d initially planned to use, but I liked the idea of trying it out and picked it up anyway. Could it really work?

The short answer: no. Nope, nope, nope. But hey, I have cool pictures!

With the weather warming back up (and dry), the temperature was right to finally give it a try. I started by cleaning out the existing hole that contained the original post (any softer dirt, debris and such — Georgia’s red clay is pretty hard to begin with, but spring rain had caused some mud at the bottom of the hole). It may not look it from this photo, but the hole I started with was deep enough for the usual concrete that I would have poured otherwise (probably two-ish bags). It doesn’t really say it on the bag, but an online video that I found for this product says the hole should be 8 inches in diameter and one third of the length of the post should be in the ground.

I popped the bag and did a quick shimmy to get the two components to mix (note: there’s a very short window of time for this, about 20-30 seconds), then snipped a corner with some scissors and started pouring it into the post hole. The goop almost instantly started foaming up before I could snap a few pictures with my phone, which was pretty cool to watch. Over the next few minutes, I monitored the expansion and made sure the post stayed level (a post level would have been even better to use, but since I didn’t feel like making another trip to the store, two levels measuring both directions worked in a pinch).

I stood around for another ten minutes, watching the foam expand even further and even above ground (according to package directions, you can just trim off excess after it’s hardened). You’re supposed to let things cure additionally for another two hours before attaching anything to the post, but I had other things to tackle the rest of the afternoon, so I let it be for the rest of the day.

I gave it a few test wiggles that evening (well after the 2-hour “fully hardened” window on the packaging), which proved disappointing. The product wasn’t super stable around the post, and as you can see in the photo above, had even pulled away from the post while it expanded. I was still outside working on a few other things, and I could clearly see the post swaying slightly in the wind. I chose to leave it overnight and decide whether or not to re-attach the fence panel the next day.

The next afternoon, I pushed on the post. While it didn’t fall over, it still wiggled at the slightest nudge — nothing like the secure stability of setting the post in concrete. I guess one could argue not to expect they’d be exactly similar, except that the video I watched about the product literally had a guy climbing onto and hanging off the post as a demonstration of its strength. In my case, it took just a few more strong nudges, and the whole thing came right up out of the ground. Womp, womp.

Perhaps the hole I dug was still not deep enough (the foam only came up out of the ground a little, similar to what I’d seen in the video, so it looked plenty deep enough for the equivalent in concrete that it’s supposed to replace). Perhaps the ground around the hole wasn’t dry enough (the product didn’t really say much about water except to remove any standing water in the hole, and any loose soil had already been cleared out). So, while I’m sure that a lengthy investigation with the manufacturer would point out what step I must have not done perfectly in perfect conditions (because that hardly ever exists in real life, duh), I’d had enough of my experiment. I certainly think it’s cool when new products come out, and I’m willing to try them, but if the original way is both pretty much fool-proof and cheaper, I consider this a product flop.

The foam is easy to remove — I just hacked at it with a reciprocating saw and dumped the pieces. I noticed while removing it that the lack of expanding around the post was actually worse than I thought; somehow, air pockets had gotten into the resin, which probably contributed to its lack of stability.

With the junky foam shorn off, I grabbed an ol’ reliable bag of concrete and reset the post. Even though it took about fifteen minutes longer (well, a day of the other product and then fifteen minutes) to set enough to feel comfortable walking away, for me, this is the way to go from now on.

This post has gone on long enough, but there’s more that needed to still be done to get my fence and gate fixed up, so I’ll save that for part 2. And if you saw on Instagram, even more was accomplished elsewhere over the same weekend (remember this project?). More of that is coming as quickly as I can edit the photos!

P.S. In case you’re wondering, this wasn’t a sponsored post or anything, merely something I saw in store and wanted to try out. I know how it is when you see a new product and wonder if it’s worth the extra cost compared to the alternative — which is often cheaper, but more labor intensive — so from time to time, I let my house test things out. In years past, manufacturers have even reached out later to let me know these posts have helped them improve products that don’t work out, so I hope you found this helpful too!

The post Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post published first on http://ift.tt/1kI9W8s