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tinkabelle24 · 9 months ago

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To Build a Home

Chapter 3: Conflicted

TW! No trigger warnings.

Masterlist / Chapter 2

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(One month later...)

"I wish you'd have let us take you out for your birthday," Molly whined as she poured each of her and Val another glass of rosé. "That way you can just sit there, eat food, get drunk, and not have to worry about clean-up afterward."

Val snatched her glass away to suck up the rogue bubbles before they spilt out. "But I like cooking," she countered. "And I promised to treat you guys once I got settled in, remember?"

"She did say that." Molly's boyfriend, Andrew, called from the bathroom. Val shot her friend a triumphant smirk as she took a proper sip.

"Not on her birthday, though," Molly argued. "And for God's sake, don't stink up her new apartment!"

Molly had the typical ‘goth girl’ look: dark clothes, dark hair, dark makeup, dark everything. Contrary to her ‘intimidating’ appearance, she was an incredibly bubbly and outspoken person, with a penchant for risqué jokes; a trait she and Val shared.

She's also an amazing artist – she'd have to be, considering she tattoos for a living. She proudly exhibits her intricately detailed watercolour art all over her body, head to toe.

She and Molly met when the former moved to Brooklyn from Philadelphia and started attending the latter’s high school.

Growing up the way she did, Val did – and unfortunately still does – agonise over what others genuinely think of her. She kept to herself the first few weeks of school, until Molly caught her leaving the counsellor's office in tears one day.

Molly's the most honest person Val's ever met. Molly tells it the way she sees it, while also being considerate of other’s feelings. Val's never needed to worry about what her best friend thought of her, which was a breath of fresh air for her.

Meanwhile, she'd been lying to her face.

"Mol," Val insisted, reaching over the counter to give her hand a gentle squeeze. "Chill, alright? It's all good. I wanted to show you what I've done to the place, anyway."

They had time; they were just waiting on the curry that was still simmering away on the stove. Val proceeded directing her friend's attention to the now crisp, white, tobacco- stain-free walls.

She'd dedicated almost an entire day scraping off the excess tobacco, then scrubbing away whatever was left with sugar soap and water, and a shit-tonne of elbow grease. Her body ached for days afterwards.

The apartment clearly hadn't been thoroughly cleaned in a long time. There was dust, mould and grime everywhere. She realised she could've compelled her landlord to fulfil their obligations, but she ultimately decided it'd be a good distraction for her. So, she did it all herself.

Molly gave her an earfull about being a pushover, but she simply didn't have the headspace at the time to deal with more drama.

"It looks awesome, Val," Molly complimented. "And it smells so much better, too!"

"Just so you know, Val, I noticed the difference as soon as I walked through the door." The women turned to find Andrew had finally finished up in the bathroom; he was courteous enough to have shut the door.

Molly scoffed, playfully rolling her eyes. "Brown-noser."

Molly and Andrew met at the former's workplace; he wanted a sleeve done in memory of his late grandfather, so they had plenty of time to develop a good rapport. For months, she would not shut up about her cute client with the adorable accent. When the job was finally complete, she asked him out. They've been going strong for nearly four years now.

Andrew was a tall, scruffy-looking man with a kind face, dark eyes, and dark hair. He didn't have nearly as many tattoos as his girlfriend, but he boasted a few on his arms and chest. Andrew works as an electrician – sorry, a ‘sparky’ (he relocated here from Sydney, Australia) - and works long hours, but he always appeared to have something to smile about.

He may be a little oblivious at times, curses like a sailor, and regularly blurts out lingo that makes zero sense (like ‘grouse’, ‘hoon’, and ‘dole-bludger’), but he treats Molly well and she him, so Val was happy for them.

“We’ll bring over some WD-40 next time,” Andrew declared, jabbing a thumb behind him toward the bathroom door. “Your hinges are squeaky as fuck.”

Val shot him a mischievous grin, “like your bed?”

Molly spat her drink.

The trio spent the last few minutes chatting about the layout of the apartment. Andrew kept going on about how he could help ‘maximise the space’ with hooks and shelves; Val had to remind him that she was merely a tenant, unlike them. Lucky bastards...

“You can just use some of those Command Hooks,” Andrew countered. “Or one of those thingies that hang over the door.”

“She’ll figure it out, babe,” Molly assured him with a nudge.

Dinner was finally ready. Val served the curry with rice and the rest of the sad storebought cilantro she failed to regrow in her rooftop planter box. She'd devoted quite a bit of time up there recently, trying to replace the negative memories with positive ones...

...And to keep an eye out for any sign of the mysterious turtle men.

She had reservations about utilising the business card Mikey gave her; she didn't want to just insert herself into their lives without their consent.

Mikey was keen, but that didn't change the fact that the others seemed less than enthused by her involvement. She could be wrong, but she didn't want to assume otherwise and inadvertently make things worse.

When she could finally read said card, she found it was to a local antique dealership called Second Time Around, run by April O'neil – the woman Mikey mentioned. She did some sleuthing and discovered the shop was about a ten-minute detour from the café to her apartment. So, like a creepy stalker, she stopped by on her way home from her shift one day.

Val was warmly greeted by a ginger-haired, green-eyed woman she later identified as April (by her name tag). They didn't converse much, as she needed to process payment for another customer, but Val often found her glancing her way.

Could she have known who I was?

“Val?” Molly’s voice snapped Val out of her thoughts. She looked up from her plate. “I said – how’s your hand?”

“Oh, yeah, much better,” the brunette answered quickly, straightening up in her seat. She showed her best friend her now uninjured hand, finally free of the Godawful splint.

She kept the true cause of her broken fingers a secret, instead blaming it on a misadventure in the kitchen.

Her story was that while she was using a chair to reach the highest shelf, she lost her balance and erroneously used her hands to break her fall. Molly did not seem entirely convinced but didn't question it. Val could not blame her, considering every other sketchy thing she'd been up to.

As promised, Val also didn't disclose to anyone about her encounters with the turtles. If they indeed had enemies, she wanted to avoid drawing attention to them or herself.

She did think of them often, though, especially of Raph, and how he was doing. It had been a month. Hopefully, he'd recovered by now. Did he remember anything from that night? Did he remember her?

“And your mom?”

“She sent me a happy birthday, darling text earlier today, along with a quote about blood being thicker than water...” Val scoffed softy as she took another sip from her glass. “But other than that, nothing. Liv says she has a new boyfriend.”

Her best friend grimaced. “Really?” She groaned. Val simply shrugged; she was used to men floating in and out of her and her sibling’s lives.

Speaking of her siblings...

“Liv got suspended from school the other day.”

“What for??”

“Noah told me she punched a boy in the face.”

Molly's eyes darn near burst from their sockets. “What the fuck?!”

Val nodded. What the fuck, indeed.

“Did she tell you why?”

“She said he’d been giving her grief about her weight for weeks, calling her all sorts of names. The school knows, apparently, but won’t do anything.”

Val has always been more concerned about her sister over her brother. Olivia was old enough to remember her dad - Val’s ex(?) stepfather (she wasn't sure what title to give him; he and mom weren't together, but never divorced) - before he was no longer in her life, but Noah was only little – two, maybe? Val couldn't remember; he was absent for most of her brother’s short life.

Despite this guy's many, many (to put it politely) misgivings, Olivia still thought the sun shone out of his ass. She truly was a daddy’s girl, and she was heartbroken when mom abruptly packed them up and left town.

Olivia always had a difficult time with her temper, like her dad. No matter the severity, any and every inconvenience or slight would bring forth an eruption of emotions that would often take hours to fizzle out. Her paediatrician suspects she's neurodivergent, but nothing's been formalized as of yet.

It's exhausting for her little sister. She often resorts to emotional eating to cope with everything, which has only compounded the problem. Now, she's being bullied for both her short-fuse and her weight. She is only thirteen, for God’s sake...

“Shit’s fucked,” Andrew mused, shaking his head.

“I’m gonna call the school and see what I can do from my end,” Val sighed. “This needed to be nipped in the bud, like, yesterday.”

The trio finished their dinner and a few more drinks, then Molly and Andrew helped with the dishes while Val cleared the table. She lit the new candle the couple gifted her, chuckling at the quote plastered on the front of it:

'My Last Fuck: Oh, Look! It’s on Fire'.

She carefully placed it in the centre of the table.

“You like it, then?” Molly asked as she shut the refrigerator door.

“It’s awesome. I love it, thank you.”

Her friends left shortly after, leaving nothing left for Val to do than shower, drink the leftover wine, then go to bed. Sleep was recommended as she had to work early in the morning, but she didn't want to sleep - she wanted to drag her fold-out chair up onto the roof and wait. For him.

No, Valerie. Stop it.

It’s time for bed. Go.

As Val opened the refrigerator to refill her glass, she discovered an unopened block of her favourite dark chocolate on the top shelf. No way, this can’t be. She sent a quick text to Molly.

[I love you.]

[Enjoy! Xx]

The brunette emptied the bottle into her glass, snapped off a row (or two, or three...) of chocolate, then headed for the shower.

Dressed in her mismatched chequered pink pyjama pants and oversized black Metallica shirt, Val finally exited the bathroom to wash and put away her glass. However, something caught her eye, and she stopped dead in her tracks, almost dropping her glass.

A yellow post-it note had been stuck to her window, from the outside.

Setting her glass aside, she rushed toward the window. The scribbled note read: Look down. Her gaze snapped toward the floor of her fire escape and, sure enough, there was something there. A parcel. A red parcel. She pushed the window open, reached out and snatched it.

The parcel felt soft, like wool. As she unravelled it, she quickly realised she was holding a scarf. A brand-new, handmade scarf. She gently traced the braided detail with her fingertips. It was beautiful.

As she unravelled it, a hard thud caused her to yelp in surprise. She looked down – a pocketknife? Then she realised: all the items she'd lost that night had been returned to her.

Holy shit.

---

Raph and Mikey cased the building earlier that night, at the beginning of patrol, to ensure they had the correct window.

They finally located Val’s apartment on the top floor, high enough for them to sit and observe from the building across the street. She was not alone at that moment; she had friends over, and they were laughing over drinks.

It took Raph longer than anticipated to identify her, as she looked and behaved differently to when they last met.

Good different.

Her hair was longer, long enough now to be twisted into a loose updo. Every item of clothing, save for the slightly loose floral blouse, was form-hugging, accentuating the curves that were previously hidden beneath oversized clothing, or obscured by darkness. Moreover, she carried herself less like a scared child and more like a confident young woman. She seemed happier and healthier this time around. It was nice to see.

When they circled back, it appeared she was now alone. Her hair had been let down, and she'd changed into something a little more familiar. They watched as she carefully inspected the scarf, at which point Mikey attempted teasing his older brother for having such a ‘dainty' skill. But the red-banded terrapin was too anxious to respond.

His gaze was fixed on her reaction to his handiwork. He'd spent the better part of a month on it whilst bedridden. The project provided him a much-needed challenge for his insanely bored brain, and gentle exercise for his underutilized muscles. He hoped she liked it, because he couldn't bring himself to return her old one, which had been stained and stretched to buggery.

"Oof," Mikey winced when she dropped the pocketknife, that had been hidden inside the scarf. "I hope that wasn't her foot."

"She's alright, I think..." Raph replied distractedly, assuming she'd simply kneel and pick it up. But she didn't. She just stared down. Then, after what felt like forever, her head snapped toward the window, and he had to remind himself that she couldn't see them.

He felt sick.

"You should go say hi-"

"No."

"No??" Mikey spluttered. "Why not?"

"Cos I can't."

"I didn't realise that word was in your vocabulary."

The red-banded terrapin stared at him incredulously. "Don't act like we haven't literally just come outta lockdown."

It was all over the news:

'slain store owner discovered by employee; second man found dead in nearby alleyway. Local gang involvement considered.'

As Raph managed to let that other Purple Motherfucker get away, the pests were out for blood. To avoid drawing any more attention to themselves, the Turtles were forced to lay low for a while, until the excitement wore off.

Whenever any of them complained about feeling stir-crazy, or expressed concern for April, Casey, and their son, Leo was more than happy to remind them of who was responsible for their situation.

“Ask Raph,” he'd sneer. “I’m also curious to know what his thought process was.”

Aside from these snarky remarks, the eldest brothers barely acknowledged or spoke to one another.

"I'm not," Mikey argued. "I'm just saying that you guys obviously need to talk, and you're throwing away this golden opportunity."

Raph let out an exasperated sigh. He understood what his younger brother was saying but, unfortunately, this situation was more complicated than that.

Yes, he wanted to see her, but he also felt she'd been through enough already. He didn't know what led her to that rooftop that night but, whatever it was, she absolutely didn't need any more of his own drama mixed in with it.

"Wait!" Mikey exclaimed, with an elbow to the plastron so sharp it just about knocked the wind out of his brother. "She's leaving-"

"Will ya stop!" Raph shoved him away. "I ain't blind. I can see what you're seein'."

Val had indeed left her apartment, leaving her door wide open in the process. The brothers watched as she burst onto the roof, eyes darting in every direction to find them. Raph steeled himself.

"Dude, she clearly wants to see you," Mikey argued. Raph kept his eyes forward, silent. After a minute of being ignored, the youngest brother finally snapped. "What are you afraid of?"

That struck a nerve. Raph finally turned on his brother. "I ain't afraid," he protested, but the delivery was so pathetic even he couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"Bullshit." The youngest brother drew closer, baby blues narrowed in suspicion. "You're hiding something," he accused. "What is it? ... Have you met her before?"

Silence.

"What happened?"

"I can't tell ya."

"Can't, or won't?"

"Both."

"Why?"

"Not my business."

"That makes no sense."

"Look, Mikey," Raph sighed. "All ya need to know is that she doesn't need us in her life. My only goal here is to return her stuff, then leave. I don't wanna see her. I don't wanna get to know her. Alright?"

Mikey scoffed softly, shaking his head. "Be like that, then." The orange-banded terrapin stole one last glance across the street before, to Raph's surprise, getting up and leaving.

"What the hell, Mikey?! ... Mikey!"

"I'm not about to sit here and watch that. Let me know when you're done." With that, Mikey disappeared over the ledge, leaving Raph alone.

---

C'mon...

Val had scoured the skyline what seemed like a hundred times now and... nothing. Not a single fucking soul.

She hoped she was wrong, but she couldn't help but wonder whether this was his way of saying he wanted nothing else to do with her. It hurt something fierce, but she was going to have to be okay with it. She had no other choice.

The brunette sighed, disheartened. She could't stay out here much longer. Stupidly, she left without any warm gear. No jacket, no socks, no shoes...

The icy wind had been whipping at her damp skin and hair for several minutes now, and she could no longer feel her face. She'd wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to retain what body heat she had left, but it was no use. She was freezing.

Forced to admit defeat, Val trudged back downstairs to her apartment.

Little did she know there was someone waiting for her...

---

Masterlist / Chapter 4

#teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt #tmnt raph #tmnt raphael #tmnt raph x oc #oc val scott #tmnt 2007 #raph x oc #raphael x oc #tmnt mikey #tmnt michelangelo #to build a home #tmnt fanfic #tmnt fanfiction

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leatherjacketmixtapes · 2 years ago

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little things: 31 may

started a new job yesterday! as part of my electrician apprenticeship that I began in April, I’m working on the job with journeymen in addition to going to school once a week.

I really like our little crew and I’m so excited to be doing this.

we’re working on the 7th floor of this building and it affords a perfect view of the Philadelphia skyline

I’ve been learning to look for little things to appreciate every day and it’s been amazing for my mental health honestly

that being said, in addition to all these big life changes lately… the white chocolate macadamia cold brew at Starbucks is really yummy 😎

#personal #gratitude list tag #apprenticeship adventures

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scotianostra · 3 years ago

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Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell died on August 2nd 1922.

Bell was born in Edinburgh, on March 3rd, 1847. The second son of Alexander Melville Bell and Eliza Grace Symonds Bell, he was named for his paternal grandfather. The middle name “Graham” was added when he was 10 years old, at his own insistence!

He had two brothers, Melville James Bell and Edward Charles Bell, both of whom died from tuberculosis.

His grandfather and father were experts on the mechanics of voice and elocution. And Bell's mother, Eliza, became an accomplished pianist despite being deaf, inspiring him to undertake big challenges.

Eliza home-schooled her son and instilled an infinite curiosity of the world around him. He received one year of formal education in a private school and two years at Edinburgh’s acclaimed Royal High School.

Though a mediocre student, Bell displayed an uncommon ability to solve problems. At age 12, while playing with a friend in a grain mill, he noticed the slow process of husking the wheat grain. He went home and built a device with rotating paddles and nail brushes that easily removed the husks from the grain.

Young Alexander was groomed from a young age to carry on in the family business, but his headstrong nature conflicted with his father’s overbearing manner. Seeking a way out, Alexander volunteered to care for his grandfather when he fell ill in 1862.

The elder Bell encouraged young Alexander and instilled an appreciation for learning and intellectual pursuits. By age 16, Alexander had joined his father in his work with the deaf and soon assumed full charge of his father’s London operations.

On one of his trips to North America, Alexander’s father decided it was a healthier environment and decided to move the family there. At first, Alexander resisted, for he was establishing himself in London. He eventually relented after both the death of both his brothers.

In 1870, the family settled in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. There, Alexander set up a workshop to continue his study of the human voice.

On July 11th, 1877, Bell married Mable Hubbard, a former student and the daughter of Gardiner Hubbard, one of his early financial backers. Mable had been deaf since her early childhood years.

On March 10th, 1876, after years of work, Bell perfected his most well-known invention, the telephone, and made his first telephone call.

Before then, Bell in 1871 started working on a device known as the multiple or harmonic telegraph (a telegraph transmission of several messages set to different frequencies) upon moving to Boston. He found financial backing through local investors Thomas Sanders and Gardiner Hubbard.

Between 1873 and 1874, Bell spent long days and nights trying to perfect the harmonic telegraph. But during his experiments, he became interested in another idea, transmitting the human voice over wires.

Bell’s diversion frustrated his benefactors, and Thomas Watson, a skilled electrician, was hired to refocus Bell on the harmonic telegraph. But Watson soon became enamoured with Bell’s idea of voice transmission and the two created a great partnership with Bell being the idea man and Watson having the expertise to bring Bell’s ideas to reality.

Through 1874 and 1875, Bell and Watson laboured on both the harmonic telegraph and a voice transmitting device. Though at first frustrated by the diversion, Bell’s investors soon saw the value of voice transmission and filed a patent on the idea.

For now the concept was protected, but the device still had to be developed. In 1876, Bell and Watson were finally successful.

Legend has it that Bell knocked over a container of transmitting fluid and shouted, “Mr. Watson, come here – I want to see you.” The more likely explanation was Bell heard a noise over the wire and called to Watson. In any case, Watson heard Bell’s voice through the wire and thus, he received the first telephone call.

With this success, Bell began to promote the telephone in a series of public demonstrations. At the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Bell demonstrated the telephone to the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro, who exclaimed, “My God, it talks!” Other demonstrations followed, each at a greater distance than the last.

The Bell Telephone Company was organized on July 9th, 1877. In January 1915, Bell was invited to make the first transcontinental phone call. From New York, he spoke with his former associate Watson in San Francisco.

I’m always on the look out for changing the posts that come in year in year out like this so looked for postage stamps that commemorate Bell in some way, I was surprised to find so many from around the world, I stopped looking after the first dozen or so, some countries issuing more than one. The countries include Malawi, Bulgaria and Burundi!

#Scotland #scottish #inventor #the telephone #history

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silent-era-of-cinema · 4 years ago

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Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American film, stage and television actress and painter.

Gaynor began her career as an extra in shorts and silent films. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century-Fox) in 1926, she rose to fame and became one of the biggest box office draws of the era. In 1929, she was the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: 7th Heaven (1927), Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), and Street Angel (1928). This was the only occasion on which an actress has won one Oscar for multiple film roles. Gaynor's career success continued into the sound film era, and she achieved a notable success in the original version of A Star Is Born (1937), for which she received a second Best Actress Academy Award nomination.

After retiring from acting in 1939, Gaynor married film costume designer Adrian with whom she had a son. She briefly returned to acting in films and television in the 1950s and later became an accomplished oil painter. In 1980, Gaynor made her Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of the 1971 film Harold and Maude and appeared in the touring theatrical production of On Golden Pond in February 1982. In September 1982, she sustained multiple injuries when the taxicab in which she and others were passengers was struck by a drunken driver. These injuries eventually caused her death in September 1984.

Gaynor was born Laura Augusta Gainor (some sources stated Gainer) in Germantown, Philadelphia. Nicknamed "Lolly" as a child, she was the younger of two daughters born to Laura (Buhl) and Frank De Witt Gainor. Frank Gainor worked as a theatrical painter and paperhanger. When Gaynor was a toddler, her father began teaching her how to sing, dance, and perform acrobatics. As a child in Philadelphia, she began acting in school plays. After her parents divorced in 1914, Gaynor, her sister, and her mother moved to Chicago. Shortly thereafter, her mother married electrician Harry C. Jones. The family later moved west to San Francisco.

After graduating from San Francisco Polytechnic High School in 1923, Gaynor spent the winter vacationing in Melbourne, Florida, where she did stage work. Upon returning to San Francisco, Gaynor, her mother, and stepfather moved to Los Angeles, where she could pursue an acting career. She was initially hesitant to do so, and enrolled at Hollywood Secretarial School. She supported herself by working in a shoe store and later as a theatre usher. Her mother and stepfather continued to encourage her to become an actress and she began making the rounds to the studios (accompanied by her stepfather) to find film work.

Gaynor won her first professional acting job on December 26, 1924, as an extra in a Hal Roach comedy short. This led to more extra work in feature films and shorts for Film Booking Offices of America and Universal. Universal eventually hired her as a stock player for $50 a week. Six weeks after being hired by Universal, an executive at Fox Film Corporation offered her a screen test for a supporting role in the film The Johnstown Flood (1926). Her performance in the film caught the attention of Fox executives, who signed her to a five-year contract and began to cast her in leading roles. Later that year, Gaynor was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars (along with Joan Crawford, Dolores del Río, Mary Astor, and others).

By 1927, Gaynor was one of Hollywood's leading ladies. Her image was that of a sweet, wholesome, and pure young woman who was notable for playing her roles with depth and sensitivity. Her performances in 7th Heaven, the first of 12 films she would make with actor Charles Farrell; Sunrise, directed by F. W. Murnau; and Street Angel, also with Charles Farrell, earned her the first Academy Award for Best Actress in 1929, when for the first and only time the award was granted for multiple roles, on the basis of total recent work rather than for one particular performance. This practice was prohibited three years later by a new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rule. Gaynor was not only the first actress to win the award, but at 22, was also the youngest until 1986, when actress Marlee Matlin, 21, won for her role in Children of a Lesser God.

Gaynor was one of only a handful of established lead actresses who made a successful transition to sound films. In 1929, she was reteamed with Charles Farrell (the pair was known as "America's favorite love birds") for the musical film Sunny Side Up. During the early 1930s, Gaynor was one of Fox's most popular actresses and one of Hollywood's biggest box office draws. In 1931 and 1932, she and Marie Dressler were tied as the number-one box office draws. After Dressler's death in 1934, Gaynor held the top spot alone.[9] She was often cited as a successor to Mary Pickford, and was cast in remakes of two Pickford films, Daddy Long Legs (1931) and Tess of the Storm Country (1932). Gaynor drew the line at a proposed remake of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, which she considered "too juvenile".

Gaynor continued to garner top billing for roles in State Fair (1933) with Will Rogers and The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935), which introduced Henry Fonda to the screen as Gaynor's leading man. However, when Darryl F. Zanuck merged his fledgling studio, Twentieth Century Pictures, with Fox Film Corporation to form 20th Century-Fox, her status became precarious and even tertiary to those of burgeoning actresses Loretta Young and Shirley Temple. According to press reports at the time, Gaynor held out on signing with the new 20th Century-Fox until her salary was raised from $1,000 a week to $3,000. The studio quickly issued a statement denying that Gaynor was holding out for more money. She quietly signed a new contract, the terms of which were never made public.

Gaynor received top billing above Constance Bennett, Loretta Young, and Tyrone Power in Ladies in Love (1937) but her box office appeal had already begun to wane: once ranked number one, she had dropped to number 24. She considered retiring due to her frustration with studio executives, who continued to cast her in the same type of role that brought her fame while audiences' tastes were changing. After 20th Century-Fox executives proposed that her contract be renegotiated and she be demoted to featured player status, Gaynor left the studio, but her retirement plans were quashed when David O. Selznick offered her the leading role in a new film to be produced by his company, Selznick International Pictures. Selznick, who was friendly with Gaynor off-screen, was convinced that audiences would enjoy seeing her portray a character closer to her true personality. He believed that she possessed the perfect combination of humor, charm, vulnerability, and innocence for the role of aspiring actress Esther Blodgett (later "Vicki Lester") in A Star Is Born. Gaynor accepted the role. The romantic drama was filmed in Technicolor and co-starred Fredric March. Released in 1937, it was an enormous hit and earned Gaynor her second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress; she lost to Luise Rainer for The Good Earth.

A Star Is Born revitalized Gaynor's career, and she was cast in the screwball comedy The Young in Heart (1938) with Paulette Goddard. That film was a modest hit, but by then Gaynor had definitely decided to retire. She later explained, "I had been working steadily for 17 long years, making movies was really all I knew of life. I just wanted to have time to know other things. Most of all I wanted to fall in love. I wanted to get married. I wanted a child. And I knew that in order to have these things one had to make time for them. So I simply stopped making movies. Then as if by a miracle, everything I really wanted happened." At the top of the industry, she retired at age 33.

In August 1939, Gaynor married Hollywood costume designer Adrian with whom she had a son in 1940. The couple divided their time between their 250-acre cattle ranch in Anápolis, Brazil, and their homes in New York and California. Both were also heavily involved in the fashion and arts community. Gaynor returned to acting in the early 1950s with appearances in live television anthology series including Medallion Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, and General Electric Theater.[8] In 1957, she appeared in her final film role as Dick Sargent's mother in the musical comedy Bernardine, starring Pat Boone and Terry Moore. In November 1959, she made her stage debut in the play The Midnight Sun, in New Haven, Connecticut. The play, which Gaynor later called "a disaster", was not well received and closed shortly after its debut.

Gaynor also became an accomplished oil painter of vegetable and flower still lifes. She sold over 200 paintings and had four showings under the Wally Findlay Galleries banner in New York, Chicago, and Palm Beach from 1975 to February 1982.

In 1980, Gaynor made her Broadway debut as "Maude" in the stage adaptation of the 1971 film Harold and Maude. She received good reviews for her performance, but the play was panned by critics and closed after 21 performances. Later that year, she reunited with her Servants' Entrance co-star Lew Ayres to film an episode of the anthology series The Love Boat. It was the first television appearance Gaynor had made since the 1950s and was her last screen role. In February 1982, she starred in the touring production of On Golden Pond. This was her final acting role.

Gaynor was romantically involved with her friend and frequent co-star, Charles Farrell, during the time of their work together in silent film, until she married her first husband. Choosing to keep their relationship out of the public eye, Gaynor and Farrell were often assisted by mutual friend Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in maintaining the ruse. Looking back, Fairbanks would later recall, "We three were so chummy that I became their 'beard,' the cover-up for their secret romance. I would drive them out to a little rundown, wooden house well south of Los Angeles, near the sea. I'd leave them there and go sailing or swimming until [it was] time to collect them and then we'd all have a bit of dinner."

According to Gaynor's biographer Sarah Baker, Farrell proposed marriage during the filming of Lucky Star, but the two never followed through with it. In her later years, Gaynor would hold their different personalities accountable for their eventual separation.

Gaynor was married three times and had one child. Her first marriage was to lawyer Jesse Lydell Peck, whom she married on September 11, 1929. Gaynor's attorney announced the couple's separation in late December 1932.

She was granted a divorce on April 7, 1933. On August 14, 1939, she married MGM costume designer Adrian in Yuma, Arizona. This relationship has been called a lavender marriage, since Adrian was openly gay within the film community while Gaynor was rumored to be gay or bisexual. The couple had one son, Robin Gaynor Adrian, born in 1940. Those rumors were never hinted at in newspapers or magazines. Gaynor and Adrian remained married until Adrian's death from a stroke on September 13, 1959.

On December 24, 1964, Gaynor married her longtime friend, stage producer Paul Gregory, to whom she remained married until her death. The two maintained a home in Desert Hot Springs, California and also owned 3,000 acres of land near Brasília.

Gaynor and her husband traveled frequently with her close friend Mary Martin and her husband. A Brazilian press report noted that Gaynor and Martin briefly lived with their respective husbands in Anapolis, state of Goiás at a ranch (fazenda in Portuguese) in the 1950s and 1960s – both houses are still there nowadays. There is a project by the Jan Magalinski Institute to restore their houses to create a Cinema Museum of Goiás.

On the evening of September 5, 1982, Gaynor, her husband Paul Gregory, actress Mary Martin, and Martin's manager Ben Washer were involved in a serious car accident in San Francisco. A van ran a red light at the corner of California and Franklin Streets and crashed into the Luxor taxicab in which the group was riding, knocking it into a tree. Ben Washer was killed, Mary Martin sustained two broken ribs and a broken pelvis, and Gaynor's husband suffered two broken legs. Gaynor sustained several serious injuries, including 11 broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, pelvic fractures, a punctured lung, and injuries to her bladder and kidney. The driver of the van, Robert Cato, was arrested on two counts of felony drunk driving, reckless driving, speeding, running a red light, and vehicular homicide. Cato pleaded not guilty and was later released on $10,000 bail. On March 15, 1983, he was found guilty of drunk driving and vehicular homicide and was sentenced to three years in prison.

As a result of her injuries, Gaynor was hospitalized for four months and underwent two surgeries to repair a perforated bladder and internal bleeding. She recovered sufficiently to return to her home in Desert Hot Springs, but continued to experience health issues due to the injuries and required frequent hospitalizations. Shortly before her death, she was hospitalized for pneumonia and other ailments. On September 14, 1984, Gaynor died at Desert Hospital in Palm Springs at the age of 77. Her doctor, Bart Apfelbaum, attributed her death to the 1982 car accident and stated that Gaynor "...never recovered" from her injuries.

Gaynor is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery next to her second husband, Adrian. Her headstone reads "Janet Gaynor Gregory", her legal name after her marriage to her third husband, producer and director Paul Gregory.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Janet Gaynor has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6284 Hollywood Blvd.

On March 1, 1978, Howard W. Koch, then the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, presented Gaynor with a citation for her "truly immeasurable contribution to the art of motion pictures".

In 1979, Gaynor was awarded the Order of the Southern Cross for her cultural contributions to Brazil.

#janet gaynor #silent era #silent movie stars #silent hollywood #golden age of hollywood #classic movie stars #classic hollywood #1920s hollywood #1930s hollywood

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timeless-hollywood-classics · 4 years ago

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Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American film, stage and television actress and painter.

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Janet Gaynor has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6284 Hollywood Blvd.

In 1979, Gaynor was awarded the Order of the Southern Cross for her cultural contributions to Brazil.

#janet gaynor #golden age of hollywood #classic hollywood #classic movie stars #old hollywood #classic cinema #classic movies #silent era #silent stars #silent cinema #silent hollywood #1920s hollywood #1930s hollywood

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electricalskul · 3 years ago

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The 3 Best Electrician Programs in Philadelphia

The 3 Best Electrician Programs in Philadelphia Are you considering a career as an electrician in Philadelphia? The good news is that you’re entering into a field that’s always in demand. An electrician school in Philadelphia will give you the tools you need to work on electrical systems throughout your entire career. You have plenty of options in Philadelphia, and it’s easy to apply. Here are…

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navigatethestream · 7 years ago

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In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that life sentences without parole should only be given to juveniles in the rarest of circumstances. Last year, it ruled that those individuals currently serving life sentences without parole should have their cases reviewed. Currently, more than 2,100 people who were sentenced as children are eligible to have their sentences reviewed and earn a second chance. Approximately 300 of these people are from the city of Philadelphia alone. In its decision, the Supreme Court said that juvenile life without parole, where kids are sentenced to literally die in prison, should only be given to teens found to be “irreparably corrupt.” But in reality, according to the Fair Punishment Project, the “irreparably corrupt” child is a myth. We have to stop locking up kids and throwing away the key. According to human rights groups, America is the only country that sentences kids to life without parole. Take, for example, the case of Stacey Torrance, an individual identified by the Fair Punishment Project (a joint initiative of Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice and its Criminal Justice Institute, The Accountable Justice Collaborative at The Advocacy Fund and The Bronx Defender). Stacey was only 14 years old when he was involved in his cousin and another man’s plans to commit a burglary. He did not know the crime would end in a homicide. And yet, despite his youth and the fact that he was not present for the killing, Torrance was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life without parole. Since then, however, Stacey found his passion working as an electrician. He made 42 cents an hour doing this work for the prison and dreamt of continuing this work on the outside. After the Supreme Court's decision, Torrance got his second chance at life. He can now, at over 40 years old, do things he’s never done before: get a job, pay a bill, drive a car. Robert "Saleem" Holbrook just wants the same chance. He was 16 years old when he served as a lookout for what he was told would be a drug deal. The incident ended with a killing that he did not participate in or anticipate, yet he was convicted of second-degree murder. Since then, Saleem has written articles for newspapers, joined the Human Rights Coalition and written a survivor's manual to assist juveniles and their families in navigating juvenile life without parole.

America is the only country in the world still sentencing our kids to die in prison by Malcolm Jenkins

#prison abolition #juvenile offenders #PIC

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pttedu · 2 years ago

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Electricity is a fundamental component of modern life. It powers almost everything we use, from lighting and heating to our gadgets and appliances. However, with its widespread usage, electrical safety has become increasingly important.

#electrician trade school in North east Philadelphia #automation certification training Institute in Lansdowne PA #electrician school philadelphia #electrician trade school philadelphia

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pttiedu · 1 year ago

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Electrician Job: Learning The Importance Of Tool Maintenance

Electrician job requires electricians to perform several duties. Tool maintenance and repair is one among one of the most important duties. Learn more.

electrician schools in philadelphia pa, electrician night school in philadelphia, electrical training in philadelphia, electric certification in philadelphia, electrical courses in philadelphia, electrician certification training Institute in South West Philadelphia, electricians license in philadelphia, electrician certification pa, electronics school in philadelphia, electrician training philadelphia, electrician certification training Institute in north philadelphia east,

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jobsearchtips02 · 4 years ago

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Trading Sportsbooks for Brokerages, Bored Bettors Wager on Stocks

When Russian table tennis or Korean baseball won’t scratch the itch, some are trying their hand at trading equities. It’s enough to move the market, analysts say.

When the pandemic shuttered sports, Steven Young switched from online sports betting to online stock trading. He’s invested about $2,500.Credit…Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times

June 14, 2020, 12: 06 p.m. ET

When he wasn’t coaching sports, he was playing them or watching them. And if he was watching — well, a little skin in the game always made it more interesting for Steven Young, a teacher outside Philadelphia. Just small-dollar bets, mixed in with shuffling the rosters of his fantasy teams.

But when the coronavirus pandemic hit, all the games he cared about sputtered to a stop. So he turned to one of the last places in town for reliable action: the stock market.

Mr. Young withdrew all the money from his sportsbook accounts and deposited it into Robinhood, the free stock-trading platform. When his federal stimulus check arrived, he put money from that in, too.

Forced into online lessons when his school district shut its doors, the health and physical education teacher had everything he needed to get into the market. “Having the time and the flexibility and the opportunity — it being as low as it was — I just kind of felt it was a good time,” he said.

Mr. Young, 30, has only about $2,500 invested, making him a guppy among whales. But some Wall Street analysts see people who used to bet on sports as playing a big role in the market’s recent surge, which has largely erased its losses for the year.

“There’s zero doubt in my mind that it is a factor,” said Julian Emanuel, chief equity and derivatives strategist at the brokerage firm BTIG. “Zero doubt.”

Millions of small-time investors have opened trading accounts in recent months, a flood of new buyers unlike anything the market had seen in years, just as lockdown orders halted entire sectors of the economy and sent unemployment soaring.

It’s not clear how many of the new arrivals are sports bettors, but some are behaving like aggressive gamblers. There has been a jump in small bets in the stock options market, where wagers on the direction of share prices can produce thrilling scores and gut-wrenching losses. And transactions that make little economic sense, like buying up the nearly valueless shares of bankrupt companies, are off the charts.

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Mr. Young, a teacher outside Philadelphia, wearing socks with the Eagles logo.Credit…Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times

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The Eagles fan emptied his sportsbook accounts and deposited the money into Robinhood.Credit…Michelle Gustafson for The New York Times

Even with modest investments, these newcomers can move stock prices, which are typically set by just a sliver of shareholders. On most days, the overwhelming majority of stock investors do nothing, while the buyers and sellers establish the prices. So even a small influx of hyperactive speculators can have a significant effect.

“Investors are increasingly asking us about the participation of individual investors in the shares and options market,” analysts from Goldman Sachs wrote in a note published late last month. “Our data suggests that individual investors are indeed a significant proportion of daily volume.”

Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research, a financial market research firm, said gamblers were a small but important segment of those new arrivals, along with video game aficionados.

“Is it as big as what would we refer to as the institutional community?” Mr. Bianco asked, referring to mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and professional investors. “Probably not.”

But, he added, “it is big enough to matter.”

Stymied sports bettors are sitting on a substantial amount of money. Gamblers legally wagered more than $13 billion on sports last year, according to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, a research and consulting firm, and estimates suggest illegal wagering is 10 times that figure. But betting has collapsed since the outbreak shut down the major sports leagues. Sports betting revenues in March dropped some 60 percent from February, the firm said. They may have fallen as much as 80 percent more in April.

“Basically, I needed something to try to gamble on or to try to make some money on,” said Sean Moore, a 23-year-old aircraft electrician living in Suisun City, Calif. With an initial investment of about $1,000, he has experienced all the highs and lows of playing the market in just a few weeks.

Mr. Moore’s bets on airlines and casino companies surged roughly 60 percent in about a week. “I was telling everybody: ‘You got to do stocks. Sign up — it’s easy money right now,” he said.

But then a bet he made on the casino company MGM — premised on the reopening of Las Vegas after coronavirus restrictions were lifted — went south.

“It did not go positive like I thought it would,” he said. “I thought that was going to be huge with them reopening.”

Mr. Moore got into stock trading after watching Dave Portnoy, the president of the raunchy, irreverently juvenile — and wildly popular — sports and gambling website Barstool Sports.

When the coronavirus shuttered Barstool’s Manhattan offices, Mr. Portnoy — who had almost no stock trading experience — reinvented himself as “Davey Day Trader.” With an initial outlay of $3 million, he started buying and selling from his apartment and streaming the results to his loyal readers.

“I have a pretty good feel for when something is entertaining content for them,” said Mr. Portnoy, whose streaming sessions mix confident pronouncements with colorful profanity.

It didn’t start out so well: Mr. Portnoy lost more than $1.5 million on repeated bets that the market would fall. He put in more than $2 million more and turned into a raging stock market bull, clawing his way back to positive territory.

The short-term swings make betting on stocks no different from betting on a game: “Same rush,” he said.

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In this in-camera double exposure, a scene at the New York Stock Exchange can be seen around opening bell time around the start of the global coronavirus pandemic.Credit…Mark Abramson for The New York Times

While Mr. Portnoy has been a considerable influence on Mr. Moore, Seth Serrano was tipped off by someone close to him: his brother. Stocks have replaced sports as their main topic of conversation. They keep one eye on market movements, and fire text messages back and forth.

“It’s funny — we talk about it like we talk about the betting,” said Mr. Serrano, 39, who lives in Edison, N.J.

Updated June 12, 2020

What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?

So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

How does blood type influence coronavirus?

A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

How do we start exercising again without hurting ourselves after months of lockdown?

Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

How can I protect myself while flying?

If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

How do I take my temperature?

Taking one’s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “normal” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’t have a thermometer (they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications.

Should I wear a mask?

The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

What should I do if I feel sick?

If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

How do I get tested?

If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested.

A modest bettor — only a dollar or two on a game — he keeps a portfolio worth only about $200. He freely admits he started out with little idea of what he was doing, but he naturally gravitated to a classic stock-market strategy: Purchase stocks that have fallen and hope to sell them on the rebound — “buying the dip” in trader parlance.

“I don’t know what half this stuff is,” Mr. Serrano said as he scrolled through his portfolio, reviewing holdings that included Ford Motor, some pharmaceutical shares and a somewhat obscure E.T.F. that tracks the price of the fertilizer potash.

He also has a stake in a business he knows well: DraftKings, the gambling service he formerly used. The company went public in April, and Mr. Serrano figured its shares would spike once games restarted. He didn’t have to wait that long: DraftKings is up some 245 percent this year, even without games to wager on.

“Basically I’m, like, gambling on my gambling,” Mr. Serrano said.

The last time Americans showed any serious appetite for stock-market speculation was the tech-stock frenzy of the late 1990s. Since then, investors have embraced safer options, like set-it-and-forget-it index funds based on the premise that trying to beat the market is a waste of time.

That started to change in earnest last year when a brokerage price war kicked into high gear. Robinhood, fueled by hundreds of millions of dollars in venture capital, had long been offering commission-free online trades. Its established competitors were forced to lower their prices until finally, in October, the giant brokerages — Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, E-Trade, Fidelity and Vanguard — started eliminating fees, too.

When share prices plummeted in the pandemic, would-be investors rushed in.

TD Ameritrade reported a record 608,000 new funded accounts during the first quarter, more than triple last year’s pace. Schwab set a record, too, with 609,000 — including 280,000 in March alone. E-Trade had 363,000 new accounts, more than double the same period last year and another record. And in early May, Robinhood said it had added more than three million accounts this year.

There has been a surge in small investors using option trades to make pure win-or-lose bets on where stock prices will be at a specific time, said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak, an asset management firm.

“That’s another sign that it’s these gamblers,” he said.

Jonny Tran, a lawyer in Fort Collins, Colo., has embraced options and scored some wins, including a $400 put option — a bet that a share price will fall — that ballooned into $7,000 after shares of the chip-maker Broadcom plunged.

“It was just a hunch,” said Mr. Tran, 31, who had tried to scratch his gambling itch with games overseas, putting money on South Korean baseball and Russian table tennis.

During Thursday’s brutal sell-off, which sent the S&P 500 down 5.9 percent, Mr. Tran made out just fine, thanks to put options on Snapchat and the overall index.

“I made like 600 bucks yesterday, which is kind of cool,” he said Friday. But the sharp pullback got his attention, and he thinks he might cool it with the bets for a while.

As of Friday he was out of the market. “I’m going to sit this out for a little bit,” Mr. Tran said.

The bettors stress that they play the market as entertainment. Many have 401(k) plans filled with the plain-vanilla index funds that are the bedrock of retirement planning, and they put down only what they’re willing to lose.

“They’re not expecting to retire off of trading stocks,” said Josh Brown, chief executive of Ritholtz Wealth Management, who has been following the growth of retail activity this year. “They’re having fun and they’re learning the market, and I think it’s great.”

Mr. Young started out buying index funds, but he has grown more adventurous as he has picked up more knowledge. He’s subscribing to investing channels on YouTube, and finds himself reading financial news in Barron’s and The Wall Street Journal.

“It’ll be interesting,” he said, “when sports come back, how invested I am in sports.”

from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/trading-sportsbooks-for-brokerages-bored-bettors-wager-on-stocks/

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toothtub05-blog · 5 years ago

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An audio production studio has opened on Kensington Avenue, thanks to grant funding

Community development takes investment — money, time, local buy-in — to be done right.

Case in point: Only one of the nine finalists in Shift Capital’s Kensington Avenue Storefront Challenge (KASC) met the goal of opening its business by Summer 2018.

Last year, Shift Capital, a social impact-focused developer, put a call out for businesses that could revamp Kensington Avenue’s commercial corridor. They’d all find homes in empty spaces on the avenue, which is the “backbone of the neighborhood,” said VP of Development Maria Sourbeer.

Each of the nine winners, which were announced in December, were promised a free year’s worth of rent, business advice and funds to support renovations. The prizes would be jointly provided by KASC’s founding sponsors: Shift Capital, the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce, Impact Services and New Kensington Community Development Corporation.

Seven of those businesses are still working toward opening, and one dropped out of the challenge. Below are descriptions of each business and an update on their progress:

AC // Sounds — Boutique audio design and production studio. This is the first winner that’s officially up and running on Kensington Avenue.

Cà Phê — Specialty Vietnamese coffee roaster and retailer that has signed a lease on the avenue, where construction is currently underway. In the meantime, Thu Pham, one of the coffee roaster’s founding partners, said she expects the coffee roastery to open late this fall in MaKen Studios. Shift Capital is also headquartered there.

Drummond’s Kiddie Kollege — 24-hour daycare center. The owner submitted architecture plans for a space to the Department of Licenses and Inspections in September. When approved, she’ll be able to officially sign a lease and kickstart renovations.

Juggernaut Glasshaus — Artist incubator space, glass studio and gallery. A lease was signed, and the owner has initiated conversations with a contractor and electrician.

Naturally Sweet Desserts & Insomnia Vegan — Vegan bakery and late-night delivery service specializing in desserts made from locally sourced produce and herbs. A space is currently being prepared for the business’s use, as the owner continues to work on permit drawings.

Philly Pretzel Factory — A second location from a franchisee who’s been in business for more than 10 years. After finding a contractor and floor plan, this business’s next step is signing a lease and starting construction.

Pound Cake Heaven — Local, family-owned and operated business specializing in homemade sweets. The owner has found a space and is working on finalizing a lease.

Soil to Soul and Juice Jawn — Restaurant focusing on healthy soul food and fresh juices. This business is evaluating how compatible their space on Kensington Avenue is with its business model, and exploring further financing options.

Riposo Café — Traditional Italian restaurant also serving coffee and homemade baked goods. This business withdrew because of financial reasons, but is welcome back whenever ready, Sourbeer said.

Sourbeer said the original Summer 2018 deadline was ambitious, considering each finalist has different structures and missions. For example, one business must focus on finding the best play equipment while others need to build kitchens.

“You can’t underestimate the difficulty of opening a new business, and our winners had beautiful ideas,” she said, but bringing them to fruition is not easy. We spent a lot of the last year bringing in capital and figuring out how to finance what they need.”

(Read more about Shift Capital’s philosophy of social impact real estate development here.)

Pham said Shift Capital has been instrumental to Cà Phê’s development. A Shift Capital representative even connected the coffee roaster with creative agency Little Giant Creative — which led to Cà Phê running a pop-up cafe alongside the 2017 Knight Cities Challenge winner’s “A Dream Deferred: Redlining, Past, Present, Future” exhibit through November.

“Since the very beginning, [Shift Capital] has been so supportive every step of the way,” Pham said. “From the day that we won the competition, they have stayed connected with us.”

Pham heard about the KASC during her second year as a college and career adviser at the Kensington Health Sciences Academy for college prep nonprofit 12+. Raymond John, the nonprofit’s CEO and cofounder, is also a founding partner of Cà Phê.

Cà Phê’s neighborhood focus is the type of revitalization Sourbeer said Shift Capital was hoping for: Portions of the shop’s proceeds will support 12+ and its work at Kensington schools, and the roastery will employ members of the Kensington community.

In conjunction with the challenge, the developer also co-organized a street clean-up effort on the avenue with Impact Services. The two organizations employ people to pick up trash four days a week.

“Our goal and focus is to create positive energy on the avenue,” Sourbeer said. “Finding a way to fund and support and accelerate businesses is important to us.”

“The award was just the first step, and now,” she said, Shift Capital is “continuing to brainstorm on how to keep Kensington driving. The challenge is part of a bigger picture.”

-30- Source: https://generocity.org/philly/2018/10/09/a-year-later-kensington-avenue-storefront-challenge-winners-are-slowly-moving-in-shift-capital-ca-phe-roasters/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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nox-lathiaen · 6 years ago

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Electrical Craftsman - Marine - 891

Job Title: Electrical Craftsman - Marine Security Clearance Required: Base Access Work Week: Monday to Friday Work Location: Chesapeake, VA 23320 Position Overview: Electrical and electronic craftsman assist with testing, manufacture and repair of electrical and electronic equipment generally under the supervision of a 1st or 2nd Class Electrician. Electrical Craftsmen perform a wide-variety of tasks depending on the needs of the company and may perform minor preventive/corrective maintenance, repair installation and alteration shipboard independently. Important Information: Must be able to obtain and maintain Base Access; Candidates currently possessing an Active Secret Clearance are preferred. Special Instructions: >This position is for continuous active recruitment – Candidates will be contacted as positions become available. >Please provide salary expectations when applying. Amee Bay, LLC, a subsidiary of Three Saints Bay, LLC, is an 8(a) Program certified, Alaska Native Corporation (ANC)-owned, Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Minority Business Enterprise (MBE). We are a subsidiary of Three Saints Bay, LLC, which is owned by Old Harbor Native Corporation. We have offices in Charleston, SC; Anchorage, AK; Norfolk, VA; Wasilla, AK; Jacksonville, FL; San Diego, CA; and Philadelphia, PA. POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES: Basic knowledge of Navy AC (60 and 400 Hz) and DC electrical systems; Knowledge of Navy tag-out and WAF programs and procedures; Basic understanding of Company QMS/QA; Knowledge of OSHA safety practices; General knowledge of Navy electrical and electronic systems; Practical knowledge of electrical equipment and fixtures; Able to use various types of electrical measuring instruments, and of various electronic measuring devices, such as voltmeters, ammeters, ohmmeters, power analyzers and megohmmeters; Ability to interpret circuit diagrams for internal and external connections of electrical equipment such as controllers, circuit breakers, transformers and alarms on multi-phase circuits; Demonstrate ability to properly use basic electrical hand tools; Practical knowledge of testing new and existing line circuits, systems and fixtures. POSITION REQUIREMENTS: US Citizenship. Must be able to obtain & maintain Base Access. Candidates currently possessing an Active Secret Clearance are preferred. High School Diploma or equivalent. Minimum one (1) year experience. Navy ‘A’ / ‘C’ school(s) or completion of a vocational, maritime, or journeyman training program. Must have a valid U.S. Driver’s License. Must pass drug screening. VEVRAA Federal Contractor Three Saints Bay, LLC and its subsidiaries offer a diverse, team-oriented working environment and the opportunity to work with exceptional dedicated industry professionals. We offer our employees a comprehensive benefits package and the opportunity to take part in exciting projects with government and commercial clients, both domestic and international. We are an EEO/AA employer. We invite resumes from all interested parties without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, genetic information, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law. Reference : Electrical Craftsman - Marine - 891 jobs Source: http://jobrealtime.com/jobs/technology/electrical-craftsman-marine-891_i5234

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heartvalue2-blog · 6 years ago

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Justin DiBerardinis runs for Philadelphia City Council on a good government platform

Justin DiBerardinis wants to change Philadelphia’s government, and not just by winning a seat on City Council.

At this early stage in the 2019 municipal elections, DiBerardinis is one of the few candidates who has made a big impression.

That’s partly because of who he is — his father Michael DiBerardinis was the city’s managing director until recently — and partly because he’s raised more money than any non-incumbent at-large City Council candidate.

DiBerardinis ended 2018 with almost $145,000, only outstripped by Councilmembers Helen Gym and Allan Domb. All three are Democrats and will compete with each other, and a couple dozen other candidates.

“His fundraising is impressive and your ability to raise money is a clear indicator of how someone should view your candidacy,” said Mustafa Rashed, a prominent Philadelphia lobbyist and political consultant. “If you have a lot of different donors and people willing to support you that speaks to a coalition and it looks like out of the gate he’s assembled a large coalition.”

Even beyond his family’s substantial legacy, DiBerardinis isn’t a political neophyte. He served for six years in Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez’s office, where he focused on tax policy, and then served for six years at Bartram’s Garden, the beloved park in Southwest Philadelphia.

A new deal for Philadelphia?

DiBerardinis’ policy platform calls for both government reform and progressive economic policies, packaged in what he describes as “a New Deal for Philadelphia.” But his website doesn’t include many details, so PlanPhilly asked him to expand on some of the policy proposals.

In the wake of a series of scandals, DiBerardinis says one of his priorities would be reforming City Council by trying to change the way the body functions.

His website calls for some changes that are fairly basic, such as placing strict limits on outside employment for City Councilmembers. (A practice that recently got a lot of bad press after the indictment of Councilman Bobby Henon, who drew dual salaries from the electricians’ union and his council job.) There are other reforms that would be substantially more ambitious, like a fundamental restructuring of the city’s charter.

“Council has surrendered a huge amount of power to the executive,” said DiBerardinis. “In exchange, they were given parochial and local power in their districts. I don’t think that’s a good deal for council. I don’t think it’s a good deal for the city of Philadelphia.”

Under Philadelphia’s current political norms and laws, district council members are given near total power over public land sales, zoning, and streets regulations in their territory. The practice, known as councilmanic prerogative, creates a system where ten mini-mayors have a lot of discretion over their little corners of the city.

Critics argue that this both incentivizes narrow policy making, where politicians craft legislation with citywide implications — like zoning — with the interests of a small sliver of their constituency in mind. It also facilitates a pay-to-play culture, and actual corruption. As a 2015 Pew study noted, council’s control over land use is related to all six of the council members convicted of wrongdoing since 1981.

“When you have a lot of unilateral power in a government system that doesn’t lend itself to collaboration, it lends itself to corruption,” said DiBerardinis.

Much of the conversation around councilmanic prerogative ends with a denunciation of City Council, but DiBerardinis says he doesn’t want to make a narrow case against the mini-mayor system. Instead, he wants to see council play a more active role in crafting the city’s $4 billion budget.

Currently, the chief powers council enjoys over the budget are oversight hearings held every spring and the ability to set spending caps for each city department. After that, the mayor can do whatever he wants (with a few exceptions like the relatively new Office of Property Assessments, where council gave itself veto power over the agency’s top leadership position).

“I’d like to see a more normal balance of powers between executive and legislative branches,” DiBerardinis said. “We need a new era of governmental reform. Let’s take a look at our charter, let’s have a convention to look at how we are structuring government.”

Without seeing the details of such a policy, Rashed said it could be hard to sell district council members on reforms that would lessen their ability to micromanage their territory. That will be particularly true if most of the changes after this election are in the ranks of the seven at-large council members, who run in citywide races, as opposed to the district members who often remain in power for decades.

“If … most of the changes at the at-large level, and the districts remain the same, then they will be inclined towards incremental rather than whole-scale change,” said Rashed, “because they have been so invested in getting their districts where they want them to go.”

Higher taxes for commercial real estate, more city jobs

Government reform isn’t the only ambitious item on DiBerardinis’ agenda. Following the work he performed in Quiñones-Sánchez’s office, he wants to reform Philadelphia’s tax structure to be both more business- and worker-friendly.

DiBerardinis says he likes the proposal floated by Paul Levy and Gerard Sweeney, which is championed by some business leaders and would shift taxes toward commercial real estate and away from wage and business taxes. But the potential council member says he wants to see the idea shifted toward wage tax relief for the poor and working class.

“If we are just looking at the business community, I don’t think that’s a win,” Diberardinis said. “I would like to see those reductions in wage taxes be focused on making a progressive wage tax for working-class Philadelphians. That’s where the real ability for a big coalition resides.”

DiBerardinis’ New Deal for Philadelphia also focuses on a renewed commitment to public sector employment, shifting city resources to hiring teachers aides, school nurses, and street cleaning crews.

“When America had a poverty rate as high as Philadelphia, we did something called the New Deal,” said DiBerardinis. “A massive employment program that drove living wage to communities that needed it the most. You don’t build a program like this overnight. It will take years, maybe a generation. But I want us to start now.”

Like many current councilmembers, he also criticized the ten-year property tax abatement. Unlike most other councilmembers, DiBerardinis ties that critique to a plank about historic preservation in his policy platform. Like his rhetoric around wage tax reform, DiBerardinis says he would like to see the abatement bent toward home repair in rowhome communities rather than chiefly incentivizing new construction.

While historic preservation is rarely debated in the legislative body, demolition and neighborhood character are increasingly foregrounded in community groups as new waves of new construction wash over once-stagnant areas like Fishtown, Francisville, and Point Breeze.

“I would love to see us incentivize preservation, I would love to see us abating people, the homeowners keeping up their old Philadelphia rowhouses,” DiBerardinis said. “This advances ownership and it will do more than any other policy I’ve heard to advance the preservation of Philadelphia neighborhoods.”

DiBerardinis launched his campaign Monday afternoon, at Johnny Brenda’s in Fishtown, the neighborhood where he grew up. There are less than three months until the May primary, which often determines who actually wins power in this overwhelmingly Democratic city.

Source: http://planphilly.com/articles/2019/02/18/justin-diberardinis-runs-for-philadelphia-city-council-on-a-good-government-platform

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veiltray63-blog · 5 years ago

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‘Red-striped’: How Johnny Doc played Philly’s building inspectors

It pays to know a guy when you want to build in Philadelphia. Especially if that guy is a sitting council member with the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspection on speed-dial.

Tapped conversations included in a simmering indictment unsealed Wednesday against the leadership of the politically powerful Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers exposed an allegedly corrupt link between politicians, political donors and city building inspectors.

“Henon used his position to threaten Dougherty’s opponents from other unions because Dougherty told him to,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams, in a press conference outlining the charges.

Federal authorities assert that Local 98 boss John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty influenced Philadelphia Councilman Bobby Henon to use L&I as a weapon against non-union laborers. Both allegedly acted to “hide the true nature of their illegal relationship,” the indictment charges.

“At defendant John Dougherty’s direction, defendant Henon caused L&I to inspect and in some instances shut down, operations or construction work at locations outside of his district, where non-union laborers were involved in electrical work,” the indictment states, citing incidents that occurred between 2010 and 2016.

These allegations are just one small piece of a sprawling 116-count indictment, but they have deep implications for a department that has historically been criticized as a patronage den beholden to the politically-connected.

Henon, who represents parts of Northeast Philadelphia, continued to hold a staff position at Local 98, during his time as an elected official. He earned an annual salary of more than $70,000 atop his government salary. Federal authorities now assert that this role and other gifts –– like $11,000 in tickets to sporting events paid for by Local 98 –– were solely designed by Dougherty to influence Henon’s activities as an elected official.

“Dougherty gave these things of value to defendant [Henon] to influence Henon in [his] capacity as a member of [City Council] and Chair of the Committee on Public Property and Public Works,” the indictment reads.

Federal authorities say that Dougherty compelled Henon in 2015 to use the city’s Department of Licenses & Inspections to pressure the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia over a decision to use a non-union contractor to install a “kid-friendly” GE Adventure Series MRI machine.

“It is also an L&I violation,” Dougherty allegedly warned a CHOP official. “You don’t want a city thing shutting it down. We have had other hospitals shut down because of that.”

The hospital proceeded with the machine’s installation, using employees from the company that manufactured the MRI machine. According to the indictment, an alleged complaint from Henon triggered an inspection by L&I and a preliminary “stop work” order. Dougherty refers to this action to in one captured exchange as being “red-striped” –– a reference to the distinctive red-and-white striping featured on L&I stoppage notices.

After a L&I staffer reverses the questionable stop work order, Dougherty complained to Henon, the indictment asserts. The councilman appears to agree to fix the problem.

“Oh really?” Henon said, according to the indictment. “I’ll walk over personally.”

When Local 98 learns of another MRI machine being installed at CHOP, a captured conversation shows Henon asking for the “exact location” of the job. L&I eventually issued a second stop-work order, denying CHOP a certificate of occupancy for a new wing.

Dougherty later assures other union colleagues that he is “on top” of the situation at CHOP.

Both men are depicted instructing associates to keep the effort under wraps. Henon directing a union business agent to “delete your email,” referring to possible messages reflective of the intervention at CHOP.

Deana Gamble, a spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Kenney, said the administration is taking the allegations seriously.

"We cannot get into the specifics of this allegation that occurred in 2015 before the start of this administration, because we are still reviewing the indictment and court proceedings are ongoing," Gamble said in an email. "That said, L&I fields complaints from all of our city residents, not just the well-connected or powerful. L&I staff are expected to do their job without view of how the result will or will not benefit some people."

Patrick Christmas, policy director for Committee of Seventy, a watchdog nonprofit, pointed to 2015 incidents as examples of an unethical political culture.

"The allegations of a city department being wielded as a political weapon are appalling," Christmas said. "If true, this would be among the worst examples of Philly's old school political machinery in recent memory."

Criminal Conspiracy

The indictment covers another controversial aspect of Philadelphia development – namely, unions gaming city building codes for their own benefit. Conversations revealed in the indictment include a debate between Henon and Dougherty about using 2015 legislation tweaking the city’s building code in favor of the Philadelphia plumbers union as political “leverage.”

The men schemed to use the legislation to help Doughtery win his post as the head of the city ’s building trades, according to the indictment.

Dougherty believed the head of the plumbers union would vote against him in an internal labor election. He allegedly sought to use Henon to delay the introduction of a plumbing code bill as punishment so not to affect the election. Henon then directed his staff to delay the legislation. Dougherty was eventually elected Business Manager of the Building Trades.

The indictment also alleges deeper coordination: that Dougherty allegedly compelled Henon to support Mayor Jim Kenney’s soda tax proposal as a way of carrying out revenge on the rival Teamsters union, oppose a 2016 audit of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, modify a 2015 Comcast franchise deal to benefit a friend and union contractor, and even use a Council committee in an effort to punish a company that had attempted to tow Dougherty’s car that same year,

Prosecutors say, taken together, the individual acts add up to criminal conspiracy.

“Union officials and elected officials are held to similar standards, both are required to act in the best interest of others” prosecutor Williams said. “When they violate that duty in order to enrich themselves, it’s a federal crime.”

Editors Note: This article has been updated with comments from Mayor Jim Kenney's administration and the Committee of Seventy.

Disclosure: The Electricians Union Local 98 represents engineers at WHYY.

Source: http://planphilly.com/articles/2019/01/30/red-striped-how-johnny-doc-played-philly-s-building-inspectors

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