What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to summaries of five or fewer words. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Using my stimulus check 2. Gas prices and hybrid cars 3. Worried about returning to work 4. Wedding planning suggestions? 5. Safely storing cash at home 6. CSA and safety 7. Financial success and self-worth 8. Figuring out break-even point 9. What’s the plan after unemployment? 10. Castile […]

The post Questions About Weddings, Windfalls, Castile Soap, Hybrid Cars, CSAs and More appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

Something old, something new, something gifted, and a couple things green. READ MORE...

Ride like the wind! This song reminds me of taking a long trip on a big V4 motorcycle, V-Max, it stands up on it’s center stand chrome sparkling in the street lights, it has a physical presence almost deadly, it radiates power, four chromed exhausts a huge 1800cc V4 just waiting for you to climb...

Sarah Mitchell Programme Director for the Active and Independent Living Improvement Programme and Susan Kelso AHP Lead for Early Intervention (Scottish Government) spoke to Iriss.fm about the programme and the LifeCurve Survey.

The Active and Independent Living Improvement Programme (AILIP) was officially launched on April 26th by Shona Robison MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport. The vision for Scotland as outlined in the Health and Social care Delivery Plan is to have a Scotland with high quality services that have a focus on prevention, early intervention and supported self management.

The AILIP will be a key contributor to delivering that vision.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Something Elated by Broke For Free

The launch of PAssport to Independent Living (PDF), a published collection of stories written by Personal Assistants (PA) about their experiences of what it's like to work as a Personal Assistant in Scotland took place on 31 October 2017 in Glasgow.

The project was supported by Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living (GCIL), the Workers Education Association (WEA) and Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).

Before hearing from the Personal Assistants, Mandy, Lizzie and Susan, we spoke to Lilian Smith, SDS Development Coordinator at Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living; and Sharon Ledger, Education Co-ordinator at Worker's Educational Association, who give us some background on the project, information about the PA Network Scotland and the intentions of the publication.

The SSSC offered support through Open Badges. We heard from Yvonne and Alison who told us about the work of the SSSC, and what Open Badges are and how they can be acquired.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Something Elated by Broke For Free

Michelle Drumm interviews Kathryn Lindsay, who is the Director of Children, Families and Justice / Chief Social Work Officer for Angus Council. She is also the President of Social Work Scotland.

Since qualifying as a social worker in 2000, Kathryn worked as a practitioner across Angus and Dundee City Council justice services and in residential services at Rossie Young People’s Trust. She held senior posts in Dundee City and Angus Council in both Children’s and Justice Services before becoming Chief Social Work Officer in 2016. Kathryn has experience leading services that serve more than one local authority area and has an interest in collaborative service design.

She has a longstanding commitment to post qualifying learning, most recently achieving the Chief Social Work Officer Post Graduate Diploma at Glasgow Caledonian University. She has Masters in both practice and leadership based subjects and a particular interest in developing the workforce, promoting relationship-based practice and public protection.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.

Indepen-dance creates opportunities for disabled and non-disabled people to enjoy, express and fulfil their potential through dance.

Michael McEwan interviews one of the founding members, Karen Anderson, as well as Adam, a dancer involved in the project.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.

This evaluation report is based on feedback from people living with dementia and carers who received an Individual Award from the Life Changes Trust. The Individual Awards Pilot Scheme was run in Argyll & Bute and Edinburgh in 2014-15 and aimed to provide a small amount of additional financial empowerment to a number of individuals whose lives have been affected by dementia, to help improve their well-being and quality of life. A secondary aim of the pilot scheme was to find out what people would spend the Award on when given relatively broad choice, and what benefit that might bring in the short and medium terms.

We recorded this conversation BEFORE J.K. Rowling's recent comments on this issue; we'll discuss that in our next episode, but didn't want this to get lost in the meantime.

We discuss Johnny Depp's casting and the issues around it, as well as director David Yates's recent comments on the matter. Please be warned there may be triggering content for those suffering the effects of abuse.

During this difficult time, as the world witnesses the relentless spread of COVID-19, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has released several new resources to help stakeholders with life safety efforts. Two documents, in particular, an

By Leo Babauta In the middle of the chaos of the world right now, what can we do to take care of ourselves? Let’s talk about a handful of simple mindfulness practices that can be helpful. Breathe deeply into the belly. This is one to start with, no matter where you are or what you’re […]

  Who let the dogs out????? To kick off #NationalPetMonth, we want to remind everyone about pet fire safety. With stay-at-home orders in place in many jurisdictions, we have been made aware of many fire departments responding to fires, then

Support this Podcast by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page   Charles Hugh Smith founded his blog, Of Two Minds, in 2005 after 17 years of free-lance journalism in the San Francisco Bay Area. Of Two Minds has grown to thousands of posts that have logged tens of millions of page views on his site and many others more »

The post KunstlerCast 328 — Chatting with Charles Hugh Smith from the OfTwoMinds Blog appeared first on Kunstler.

The post Queer Clicks: May 09 | Why the Porn Industry has a lot to Teach us About Safety in the Covid-19 era, Tom of Finland at 100, and Other Clicks appeared first on QueerClick.

Because everything is currently terrible, I binge-watched Love is Blind. In case you are planning to do the same, this is a spoiler-free post. You probably know the premise: contestants in this romantic reality romp go on speed dates in little pods. They can’t see their conversation partners, and at the end of the dates […]

Here's a look at the number of coronavirus cases in Indiana and the latest news about the COVID-19 outbreak.

Product Info: Developer: Arcade Distillery Publisher: Arcade Distillery Website: Mecho Wars: Desert Ashes Twitter: @ArcadeDistiller

Product Info: Developer: Sebastian Nigro, Christ Anselmo Publisher: HItcents Website: Duke Of Defense Twitter: @tophtacular / @Seabass_N / @Hitcents

This week for Case Mod Friday we have what might be the ultimate bench build! It is from KillR_MODZ and he calls it the IndominAORUS Bench featuring all new Z490 hardware and some awesome watercooling!

The post Case Mod Friday: IndominAORUS Bench appeared first on ThinkComputers.org.

The sun offers plenty of brainteasers: Right now, for instance, it's sporting magnetic knots formed by two different cycles — simultaneously.

  The ongoing push toward sustainability of refrigeration systems requires the adoption of low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants to meet the shift in environmental regulations. In 2016, nearly 200 countries signed the Kigali Agreement, a

The 2020 Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic has created a new normal for much of the population — a daily routine that now means moving from the bedroom to the living room instead of battling a commute and logging hours in an office building. With the kids tackling remote learning and you working from home, the carbon dioxide to oxygen ratio under your roof is likely different than it was just a few months ago. After all, there’s no doubt that an increase in the number of people at home affects the overall indoor air quality (IAQ) within the space. With that in[...]

In Northwest Portland, two former industrial structures have been given a new lease on life as Redfox Commons, a light-filled campus for creative, tech and retail workspaces. Local design practice LEVER Architecture led the adaptive reuse project that spans 60,000 square feet and is split between a west wing and a larger east wing across two floors. The architects reclaimed over 6,500 linear feet of timber and combined the salvaged material with new industrial-inspired elements — such as weathering steel cladding and ribbon windows — to pay homage to the building’s history. [...]

Washington-based architect and designer Michael Mannhard has unveiled designs for BladeYARD, a proposal for a Burning Man 2021 installation built from recycled wind turbine blades. Created as a visual warning of the effects of climate change and shortsighted solutions, the installation mimics a large-scale ruin with parts of the blades submerged in the sands of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.[...]

In the Indonesian city of Semarang, international architecture firm SHAU has completed Microlibrary Warak Kayu, an inspiring new public space that raises the bar for community design and sustainable architecture. Prefabricated with only FSC-certified timber, the new neighborhood icon is the fifth built project in the Microlibrary series, an initiative to encourage reading in low-income areas by creating "socially performative multifunctional community spaces with environmentally conscious designs and materials." In addition to the exclusive use of sustainably grown and logged timbers, the project is the first library in Indonesia made entirely of FSC-certified wood. The Microlibrary Warak Kayu is also[...]

A constant connection to nature pervades the Home by the Park, a newly completed single-family residence that faces a park in the South Indian city of Hubballi. Bangalore-based practice 4site architects designed the house to engage views of the adjacent park from multiple floors and vantage points, while bringing the lush greenery indoors with the creation of a rain courtyard and landscaped terraces. The abundant plantings not only give the house a sense of tranquility but also create a cooling microclimate to counteract the region’s tropical climate.[...]

From climbing walls to a roaming music studio, we've seen a lot of ingenious tiny house features over the years. But this tiny home on wheels from Movable Roots has a distinct feature we never thought was possible — a walk-in hot tub! The Culp is a 500-square-foot home that, in addition to its accessible, spa-like bathroom, boasts unique cork flooring and an incinerating toilet.[...]

They That Sow The Wind…

…Reap the Whirlwind

…Reap the Whirlwind part Two

…Reap the Whirlwind part Three

…Reap the Whirlwind part Four

This video is well-enhanced by the title. Bird Guy lives up to his name as he waits for his Evening Grosbeaks to come visit. Seems like a great life, but that hoodie will need laundering often. Worth it. -via Metafilter

The post The Wayfinder: YA Fantasy appeared first on Fiction Notes.

READ A FREE HEARTLAND TALES SHORT STORY: CLICK HERE The Wayfinder was my first published novel, 2000 Greenwillow/Harpercollins. I remember where I was when I heard the news that someone wanted to publish this manuscript. I was with my oldest daughter, Sara, at a local mall. I had to use a pay phone to call Continue Reading

The post The Wayfinder: YA Fantasy appeared first on Fiction Notes.

The post Indie Means Indie appeared first on Fiction Notes.

Smashwords’ Mark Coker is sounding the alarm about indie publishers (those who write and publish their own works—let’s get the terminology right–it’s INDIE publishers, not the deprecating “self-published”) relying too much on Amazon. I agree with Coker. Two and half years ago, I started advertising on Amazon’s AMS platform. It doubled my sales. But then, Continue Reading

The post Indie Means Indie appeared first on Fiction Notes.

Here's a look at the number of coronavirus cases in Indiana and the latest news about the COVID-19 outbreak.

Show notes for Episode #2: Subscribe to the Internet Musician Podcast with iTunes: In this episode, I present “Music Tools for the Indie Artist”, a topic that I recently presented to a local songwriting group.  Specifically, I present the tools and process I use to capture and preserve those moments of musical inspiration–no matter whether they strike […]

Show notes for Episode #3: Subscribe to the Internet Musician Podcast with iTunes: Also in this episode, I discuss the five things you must believe cultivate your DIY music attitude, including: 1. The business has been lying to you. Major label artists are not getting rich off of record sales. Radio is fake. Don’t belive […]

Show Notes for Episode 6: Following my recent appearance on the Film and TV Music Licensing Panel at the MidAtlantic Music Conference here in Charlotte, NC, I definitely have music licensing on my mind.  It’s always been a passion of mind…one of those areas of music marketing that I’ve researched exhaustively for years.  It’s also […]

Have you heard of Jonathan Budd? This Article documents the detail about Jonathan Budd (MLM mentor) what he does and what his business provides to its clients. It also tackles the controversial question, should you do business with him?

Evolv Independent Distributors, I am going to show you how to get free MLM leads. The great thing is you can generate hundreds of them with only 30 minutes effort per day.

The key to success in freelancing is realizing how to find the right clients - the people who are not only great to work with, but actually have money to pay you. 

Alison Knott is a web consultant who mentors creatives, and she knows all the mistakes that freelancers make: targeting the wrong clients, the wrong platforms, the wrong rewards. In this episode, she shares the decisions you have to make right now to start making money! 

Today’s links: 

• https://eraserheader.com/
• https://twitter.com/Eraserheader
• https://e3chalifax.ca/
• https://easel.ly/infographicdesign
• Theme song by topmen.bandcamp.com!

Want to support the show?

Order a custom infographic from Easel.ly! Use this link (https://www.easel.ly/infographicdesign/) for a great price! 

Think you’d be a great fit for the show? Let me know at twitter.com/KCarCFH

Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or recommend us to a friend. It helps immensely.

Download here!

I’m back, and with some free time let’s try a translation I started last year; brands that the Japanese were surprised to learn were actually Japan-born. Samantha Thavasa television advertisements have an extremely American feel with supermodels frolicing around New York in fancy frocks, so I too was surprised to find they were actually Japanese. […]

The best way to get young people to invest their time in reading is being willing to invest time in it ourselves.

At the beginning of every year, I reevaluate my reading habits. I love to read but sometimes I find that reading gets put on the back burner more often while other activities take priority. Sometimes these activities, especially family-related and work-related, NEED to take priority, but I find there are still ways to find more time to read. How do YOU make more time to read? Answer my survey here. I'll post results in this blog.

This year, I've signed up for Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge. I'm starting out with a goal of 100 books. This includes picture books, so I'm actually aiming for MORE than 100. In addition to being realistic, however, I also don't want to be tempted to speed-read. With picture books, for example, I want to start going through new and not-so-new picture books and read them more thoughtfully, both for enjoyment but also more analytically (how the text and illustrations interact, etc).

Anyway....I've updated my post below in case one or more tips might help others. You might also want to check out what parents suggested in my "Finding Time To Write (Even If You Have Kids)" survey.

1. I have multiple print books on the go, and keep them around the house. I usually have print books that I'm in the midst of reading in our bedroom, my office, living room, dining room, etc. Print books have the advantage over ebooks here in that just SEEING them reminds me to read them.

2. I read books on my iPhone. Yes, the screen is small but I enlarge the text to make reading comfortable. This is super-handy for reading when I may only have a few minutes, like when I'm in a line-up or waiting for someone. Or when I'm in a super-crowded subway train and am holding onto a support pole with one hand....but I can easily reach into my purse, pull out my iPhone and flip through pages with my other hand.

3. I read books on my iPad. I have an iPad Pro and find it a bit too heavy to hold for reading unless it's propped up somehow, but I find that using a pillow or my knees works fine. I prefer print books for the esthetic experience (turning print pages, feel of of a physical book etc.) but I do find that the backlit screen on my iPad enables me to read even in places with dim lighting. Some are ebooks I've bought, some are borrowed from the Toronto Public Library.

4. I read books on my Kindle. Because the Kindle is lightweight and loaded up with a lot of my ebooks, I can avoid angsting over what book to take on out-of-town trips ("I'm 3/4 of way through this book so if I finish it on the plane, what do I read next? Should I bring an extra just in case? But I'm trying to travel with just carry-on augh" etc.), I just take my Kindle and I have access to many books-on-the-go.

5. I listen to audiobooks. I remember avoiding audiobooks in the beginning because I never considered it REAL reading, plus I didn't think I could really enjoy a book by just listening to it. Then my husband played an audiobook (I can't remember the title...something about divers and scavenging in deep waters) on a long car trip and I was surprised to find it an immersive reading experience. The narration is important, though -- a bad narrator will totally turn me off a book, so I make it a habit of always listening to a sample first. I have an Audible subscription but I also borrow audiobooks from the Toronto Public Library. Whenever I'm at certain stages in book illustration, I listening to audiobooks as I draw.

SUMMARY:

As long as the story is good, I am willing to read it in any format. I do make a point of buying books from indie bookstores but I have found that my appetite for reading makes it impractical (from a budget standpoint) to buy all my reading material. The Toronto Public Library is a wonderful resource, with print and ebook and audiobooks available.

Also, I squeeze in reading whenever I can. While I'd love to save my reading stints for when I have an entire afternoon to curl up on the couch with a good book, reality is that if I always waited for The Perfect Reading Day, I wouldn't be reading nearly as many books as I do now. Before my recent eye surgery, I also found it a challenge to read a regular print book.

And as summer approaches, consider participating in Donalyn Miller's #BookADay Challenge!

SURVEY:

How do YOU make time to read? Answer my 3-question poll here.

OTHER RESOURCES ON HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR READING TIME:

11 Ways Busy People Make Time To Read - by Eva Lantsoght on Lifehack.org

The Best Way To Find More TIme To Read - on FS Farnam Street's blog

How To Read Even More In 2019 by Strand bookstore

5 Ways To Find More Time To Read - by Kristin Wong on Mentalfloss.com

25 Expert Tips To Reading WAY More Books This Year - by John Rampton on Inc.com