Taking your Zoom calls in your pajamas? So am I. Opening the fridge 10 times a day to see if anything has changed? Me too.

You know who doesnt care, and will love you no matter what you look, dress and smell like? Your pets.

While I might be sick and tired of being surrounded by family all day, my new co-worker (an 80-pound yellow labrador retriever named Bvlgari) is thriving. I have spent more time with him in the past two months than I have since we got him eight years ago. My new co-worker also ate my Apple pencil, a block of cheese and a bag of tortillas all in one week ... but thats beside the point.

Everyone in my household eats dinner together, but for lunch and breakfast, we are all on our own schedule. For Bvlgari, that means he gets to vacuum food scraps off the kitchen floor five times a day. Lucky for him, all the quarantine weight that he gains from eating, he loses each time someone in my house decides they need alone time and takes him on a walk. Cant say the same for myself.

As we adapt to a new strange and rather stagnant lifestyle, our pets are changing their routines as well. So we asked our online readers what their pets have been up to during this pandemic because the only thing better than writing about pets is reading about them. We received scores of entertaining anecdotes. From a camping cat to a cooing crow, here are some of our favorite responses (edited for length and clarity). Youre welcome!

One of our cats, Luna Puff, has gotten sick of us and has learned how to make a tent out of a towel draped over our patio furniture. I swear she was camping for two weeks straight. We barely saw her.

Danielle Farinacci, Lower Haight, San Francisco

We bought my golden retriever, Clara, an expensive collar that tracks her location and counts her steps. We just wanted to keep her safe, but it turned into something else. The app associated with the collar allows you to compete with other dog owners for daily steps and miles. Because Im unemployed (thanks, COVID-19), she made it to No. 1 of all golden retrievers in the world for daily steps. She averages about 10 miles a day of needless walking with her jobless mother. But really, this is not the New Years resolution I had in mind. Ironically, she gained 10 pounds, along with us, and we arent sure why.

Rena Silverman, Russian Hill, San Franciscio

My partner and I are watching more TV than ever before and often leave it on all day, albeit muted, as we work from home. Our dog, Otto, a 12-pound Maltese-poodle mix, has memorized all the commercials with animal characters. At the first glimpse of a familiar opening scene or initial notes of a jingle, he immediately lunges at the TV and barks at the intruders. It was funny at first but now it has become maddening.

James Pincow, Kite Hill, San Francisco

Ive been learning a lot about my 12-year-old indoor cat, Iggy Obama Pop Dailey. Her hopes, dreams and fears. Shes the only other animal Im quarantining with here in San Francisco (suffice it to say, her litter work proves every day that I have not lost my sense of smell and might be virus-free). Shes always hated guests and would scratch or bite their outstretched hands. Over the years, she got chubby and I was embarrassed about how that reflected upon me. Cue the pandemic. Ive learned that Iggy prefers a dollop of wet food at noon. Shes thrilled that visitors arent allowed to bring their germy hands near her. Wherever I am in the apartment, she follows, clambering into my lap for Zoom calls, newspaper reads, TV viewing. Shes slimmed down and become vibrant in that middle-aged California kind of way. And when I put my ear to her tummy, I can hear this reassuring, low-frequency thrumming. She still startles at any strange sound, fearing that the world has gone back to normal and my guests have arrived. Its OK Iggy, I say, and bring my face close to hers until our noses touch.

Keli Dailey, Fillmore, San Francisco

When Im working from home, my 10-year-old rescue dog, Bailey, will sleep pretty much all day. At 5 oclock, however, he goes into a tizzy! Hell toss his toy towards me wanting to play fetch and will playfully bark, growl, run in circles and go into his play stance until I give him attention. It would bother me if he did it all day, but the fact that he waits until 5 p.m. when Im off work is quite cute, I think.

Allison Maxie, San Bruno

Ive always had great respect for crows. Researchers have documented how they remember faces, hold grudges and leave shiny objects for a few well-chosen friends. I have had a dog since 2000, and I always walk with cookies in my pocket. The local crows always caw and cackle when they see us walking. Theyve gathered on utility poles and wires over my driveway, teaching me to throw them a few cookies at the end of our walk. Until the pandemic. ... First, we began to notice a really big crow swoop in over my shoulder and land on a tree limb as we rounded the corner. She did this until we reached the driveway and I tossed her some cookies. I have an office in the backyard. I leave the door open to hear all the bird songs. We have fruit trees right outside. One day, I heard this really weird electronic sound. A couple notes. Is my wife in the patio experimenting with AutoTune? A few days later, I heard it again. I go out this time and I see the big sleek crow on a branch. She doesnt even open her beak. She makes the sound deep in her throat. It sounds like shes saying maw eee maw. Its a soft and shockingly sweet sound. And shes using it to literally call me out of my writing studio. And, of course, I come right out and put some dog cookies on a lower branch for her. We have gotten into a routine. She sees me walk my dog and accompanies us home. She gets hungry in the afternoon and alights on the peach tree and calls: Maw eee maw. Quiet. Like a cooing sound. I love her. Her name, obviously, is Maw E. Maw. And shes my crow.

Barbara Tannenbaum, San Rafael

Excerpt from:
Chronicle readers weigh in on how pets are adapting with their humans at home - San Francisco Chronicle

This is it, this is my Hotel California moment. Turns out the cramped little terrace I'm currently set up in is now my forever home, because thanks to the Lian Li DK-04F gaming desk I'm never going to be able to move anywhere else. At least not without some serious dismantling, a probable hernia, and potentially one of those mechanic's cranes they use to lift engine blocks out of cars.

But it is arguably the best gaming desk, and one that has given my home office environment the ultimate upgrade having used it over the last few weeks exclusively as both my place of work and point of play. The Lian Li DK-04F is a delicious bit of engineering, at once a gaming desk but also an industrially beautiful chassis that can either show off your glorious PC components, or else hide the mess you've made of cable tidying beneath a frosted RGB glow.

The Lian Li chassis/desk has become more than that to me too. It's now part of my component photo studio, it's responsible for making my valuable PC parts ultra-secure, and has actually performed the miracle of healing on me too. It's like the messiah desk or something. But, I mean, for $1,500 (1,300) you'd kinda hope it would give you something more than just a place to rest your keyboard, mouse, and monitors.

But at first all it gave me was a little panic.

"Can I just check what the access is like to your business address," says the nice lady from the distribution company. "We need to make sure there's enough space for the lorry to park up so we can unload the pallet."

Business address? Pallet?!

I live in suburban Bath, a quaint rolling vista of Victorian terraces, sub-alcoholic students, and narrow, winding streets. It's a UNESCO world heritage site and not the sort of place that offers easy access for large scale articulated vehicles. And we've all played enough Euro Truck Sim 2 to know how that goes.

"Okay, we'll make sure to send an 18 Tonne truck with the pallet instead," she says finally, noting the rising panic in my responses.

Desktop size - 1000 x 740mmHeight - 1175 - 689mmDrive bays - 6x 3.5-inch, 3x 2.5-inchFans - 7x 120mmDesktop - switchable 8mm tempered glassExterior - aluminiumInterior and legs - ironMotherboard compatibility - Mini-ITX, mATX, ATX, E-ATXExpansion slots - 8I/O - 1x USB 3.1 Type-C, 4x USB 3.0, AudioLED strips - 3Price - $1,500 | 1,300

Jacob suggests maybe it's like those people who mistakenly get sent a box of RTX 2080s instead of just the one and that I'm actually getting a pallet full of massive gaming desks. That doesn't help the fraying nerves. Thankfully while it does arrive on a pallet, and with a nightmarish mass of cardboard packaging, it's just a single unit. And doubly thankfully Lian Li has shipped me the DK-04F and not the frankly unwieldy DK-05F which can house two liquid-cooled PCs inside its capacious innards.

Essentially there are only four parts to assemble with this gaming desk. The main chassis itself, the two telescopic legs, and the tempered glass desktop. Telescopic? Oh yes, this is a motorised sitting/standing desk, but I'll come back to that li'l nugget of joy in a minute. On the whole the DK-04F is relatively easy to assemble, the only issue being how you suspend the very heavy aluminium body while you struggle to get the ultra-heavy iron legs into place.

From there it's classic Lian Li. I've built systems into enough Lian Li chassis in my time to know what I'm getting myself into. That's sliced fingers, scraped knuckles, and machined screw holes that don't quite match up. Luckily the few screw holes that don't aren't a huge issue because there are a vast number of screws holding the thing together. It's nothing if not robust.

Pro-tip: get yourself an electric screwdriver. You might strip a couple screws here and there, but it'll take at least half the time.

But once the legs are in place, connected to the desk's own power supply, and the desktop lid is in place, you're good to go. And by that I mean you're good to build your PC inside it and that way lies more pleasure and pain. More cut digits, more screwdriving, but at the end of it all a gaming PC that will always have you smiling beatifically as you follow its whirrs up and down.

Sure, I had issues getting my rig inside. Mostly because the old Corsair H100i liquid chip-chiller I have attached to the 7900X CPU has tubing that's just a little too short to be screwed into place over the chassis' air vents. That means it's essentially just free-roaming inside.

It still works but is rather unsightly, though is going to soon be replaced by something a little more fitted. But that's not the only thing that looks a little less than ideal. I'm no pro-builder, I just want to get things inside, get them running, and not spend an age making it super tidy. But because of all the myriad chassis fans and RGB LED strips that come as part of the DK-04F package, and the extensive front panel controls, there is a lot of cabling inside the case.

And it doesn't look great in there right now.

Which is why the switchable tempered glass desktop is such a wonderful thing. At the touch of a button it can go from crystal clear to perfectly opaque. It means I can shut out the disgusting mess of wiring I've let loose inside until I get around to sorting out the cooler, and am just left with a soothing RGB underglow slowly fluttering around beneath my keyboard and mouse.

And if I shift my peripherals to the side it becomes the perfect background for a little product shoot, to which my Core i9 10900K review can attest. Lovely stuff.

Having the DK-04F being height adjustable from the off, thanks to those motorised legs, means you can get it to a comfortable height to work in. No more building PCs cross legged on the floor for me, which is good because this portly frame, descending disgracefully into middle age, is not dealing brilliantly with such limb contortions right now.

It's precisely that adjustability of the Lian Li DK-04F which has made it become some sort of miracle cure. Since the birth of my son the home office has been designated for a completely antithetical use, and I've been relegated to a dark corner of the dining room. Until now my PC was encased in the wonderful Corsair Crystal 280Xone of the best mini-ITX chassis aroundand jammed under a jury-rigged desktop where I couldn't squeeze my legs beneath.

With the perpetual working from home situation now foisted upon us that means I've spent most of my recent life pushed up against a set of draws, bending my legs, neck, spine out of place to bash at a keyboard for many hours a day. As a result I've been waking up in agony (generally between 5am and 6am, thanks Charlie) with little respite throughout the day.

Now, I love codeine as much as the next inveterate pill-popper, but the mix of being able to stand at my desk comfortably, as well as get my legs directly under the desktop when I want to sit down, has rendered its regular use unnecessary. My posture has infinitely improved, and so has my sleep. Ten month-old baby notwithstanding.

There are up and down buttons to adjust the height of the desk on the fly, but also quickly and easily stored and activated presets too. The four buttons allow you to save different working heights at will and mean you can go from standing to sitting, and back, at just the press of a button. And the action is sublime too. Sometimes I'll just press the button to watch it go up and down, with an all-too satisfying whirrrrrrr.

Apparently it's eminently distracting during video meetings, but I'm cool with that.

As well as correcting my spine, the DK-04F has also ensured my pricey PC components are ultra-secure. As much as I love that micro-ATX Corsair 280X chassis, its compact design makes it easily portable. Anyone jimmying the front door could have wandered off with my expensive gaming rig in a second. As referenced earlier, now they're going to need a crane to get the damned thing out of my home.

Seriously the security aspects of this gaming desk have been completely ignored in Lian Li's marketing material about it. I'd definitely have it as at least a bullet point on the product page - "Secure your gaming rig against would-be thieves with the DK-04F." You can have that one for free, guys.

Well, so long as you don't make me extricate my components from the chassis and try and figure out how to package this bad boy back up again. Though maybe you'd be doing me a favour one day I will want to move house.

Read the original post:
I made the ultimate gaming desk upgrade... and can never move home again - PC Gamer

Mathematician, inventor, and friend of Marie Curie, Hertha Ayrton was an outspoken advocate for women's rights in science and in the voting booth. Her Ayrton fan dispelled toxic fumes from WWI trenches, and her research on London's lamp functioning landed her the first Hughes Medal awarded to a woman. Although her inventions impressed her peers and saved the lives of soldiers, few of her colleagues supported her efforts for women's equality during her lifetime.

The daughter of a Polish watchmaker, Hertha was born in 1854 as Phoebe Sarah Marks. She had a natural gift for tinkering, which won her the family nickname Beautiful Genius. When she was just seven, her father died and left her mother in poverty with eight young children. Still, her mother recognized Herthas intellectual talents and so, when an opportunity arose for Hertha to go to London and live with her aunt who ran a school, her mother allowed her to go. She studied mathematics, Latin, French and music until, when she was 16, she was obliged to start working as a live-in governess to send money home to her family in Portsea.

A sphygmograph

It was during this time at a womens suffrage meeting that Hertha met Madame Barbara Bodichon, a prominent educationalist, artist and the founder of the Girton College for women at Cambridge.Bodichon helped Hertha enter Girton to study mathematics. It was alsoaround this time that she acquired the nickname "Hertha" from an Algernon Swinburne poem.While a student at the college, and with Bodichons help, Hertha filed patents for several inventions, including a line divider that could be used by artists and designers to divide lines in equal parts or scale up drawings, and a sphygmograph that could record a person'spulse. Hertha would file 26 different patents in her life, striving to carve out a record of womens accomplishments that others could follow.

More lives than a cat

After finishing college,Hertha took a job teaching mathematics. Shealsoenrolled in night classes at Finsbury Technical College and, the following year, married her electrical engineering professor, William Ayrton. Hewould become her collaborator and a champion of her scientific pursuits.

Portrait of Hertha Ayrton by her cousin Hlna Arsne Darmesteter

Via Wikimedia

William admired his wifes talents, remarking to a friend that you and I are able people, but Hertha is a genius. In defiance of the conventions of the time and to some of his colleagues disapproval, William supported his wifes scientific pursuits, even setting up a laboratory for her in the top floor of their house. Though the couple shared many intellectual interests, William was careful not to collaborate with Hertha on some of her projects to ensure that she was not robbed of the credit for her work.

Nevertheless, Hertha struggled throughout her life to receive recognition for her own achievements, once stating that errors are notoriously hard to kill, but an error that ascribes to a man what was actually the work of a woman has more lives than a cat.

The electric arc

In 1893, Hertha took over a project from William investigating the cause of an irritating hissing noise coming from the electric arc, which powered lamps in London at the time. The lamps consisted of two carbon rods with a charge running between them that produced an arc of light in the space between the rods. Hertha was the first to figure out that this loud hissing was due to the oxidation of the carbon electrodes. If you simply enclosed the whole contraption in a bulb so that it was not exposed to open air, the hissing stopped.

An electric arc forms between these two wires when a current jumps between them, creating light that used to be used in lamps in London during Hertha Ayrton's time. She figured out how to reduce the hissing noise caused by oxidation of the carbon rods

Khimich Alex via Wikimedia

Herthas remarkable work on the electric arc won the attention and admiration of contemporary scientists. She was thefirst woman invited to give a paper at the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1899 and became the first woman elected to membership of that Institution. She spoke about her findings at the International Congress of Women in London and at the Electrical Congress in Paris. Her appearances convinced the British Association for the Advancement of Science to include women on scientific committees.

But even with all this success, she still faced barriers. In 1901, her paper on the electric arc was presented to the Royal Society by a man standing in for her, since women were not allowed admission. In 1902, her name was put forth for admission to the RoyalSociety but was rejected by a majority of votes because, simply, they were of the opinion that married women are not eligible as fellows of the Royal Society.

This decision held even after, in 1906, Hertha became the first woman and only the second woman to date to be awarded the Hughes Medal for outstanding research in the field of energy.

A friendship forged in rejection

Being refused admission to a prestigiousscientific societyput Hertha in good company. During the same time period, Marie Curie was refused admission to the Academie des Sciences, even though she had already won a Nobel Prize in Physics and was about to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. When Curie was nominated for membership in the Academie in Nature, Hertha wrote a letter to the members on Marie Curies behalf requesting equality of treatment of intellectual work without regard to the sex of the workers.

Bonded byrejection and by being physicists who were also widows of physicists (William Ayrton died in 1908), the two women formed a fast friendship and spent summers together with their children on the Hampshire coast. Hertha reportedly even got Marie Curie to join the womens suffrage movement and sign the international petition to free British suffragists imprisoned and on hunger strike in 1912.

Making waves

These trips to the Hampshire coast inspired Herthas next major project, on ripple movements in sand and water. She became interested in the dynamics ofthe rippled appearances of sand on the beach. Her 1910 paper on the subject, The Origin and Growth of Ripple-Mark, was published by the Royal Society, though they still did not accept her as a member. The paper, while credited to her, is listed as having been Communicated by the late Prof. W. E. Ayrton. Even after death, men were given credit for womens work.

A figure from Hertha Ayrton's published paper "The Origin and Growth of Ripple-Mark" shows how waves create ripples in the sand. She later used this research to design a handheld fan that would expel poisonous gas from war trenches

Via Wikimedia

Hertha later developed this line of work into her invention of the Ayrton fan, which used the principles of wave motion to expel poisonous gas from war trenches. The use of chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas as weapons was becoming common in warfare during the early days of WWI. Herthas fan was dismissed at first but, after proving useful, the war effort finally manufactured 104,000 Ayrton fans and distributed them to the men fighting in the trenches. Hertha spent the rest of her days building upon this wave theory to devise strategies of clearing noxious gasses out of mines and sewers.

The fight for women

At the same time that Herthas house served as an active laboratory, it was also a centre for suffragist endeavor. She joined the Womens Social and Political Union in 1906 and participated in marches and demonstrations with her daughter, Barbara. She was attacked by a police officer while marching to Downing Street with suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst. In 1913, Hertha took in women who had been on hunger strike in prison and nursed them back to health.

In 1914, Hertha doubled down on her support of the suffrage movement. She donated part of an inheritance from mentor Barbara Bodichon, 100 pounds,the equivalent of 11,625 in 2019, to form the United Suffragists, which included both men and women. Hertha became the vice president and her daughter, Barbara, the secretary of the organization.

Herthas support of women was not limited to the suffrage movement. In addition to supporting the scientific endeavors of her friend, Marie Curie, Hertha was also an outspoken voice for the rights of women in science. According to her 1923 obituary, It was her opinion that women were naturally inventive and original, and that these qualities, joined to the capacity for patient work that is universally allowed to be theirs, especially fitted them for scientific work. She fought for this principle every day of her life.

And as her obituary writer also noted, she was a good woman, despite of her being tinged with the scientific afflatus.

More:
Meet Hertha Ayrton, the mathematician who cleared WW1 trenches of poisonous gas - Massive Science

Eyebrow-raising finds are a constant for Shuswap home inspector Brad Campbell in old homes and new.

Born and raised in Salmon Arm, the certified master home inspector and owner of Where the Heart Is Home Inspection has been rooting through crawlspaces and scrutinizing attics since 2010. Over that time, hes come across a variety of things that have puzzled or perturbed himself and homeowners.

Theres a lot of things that are found, and when I point it out we scratch our heads. We cant figure out why somebody did something, said Campbell, who has been gathering photos of these finds that hell be assembling for a gallery on his Facebook page. Among them are numerous images of improper venting, wood rot due to leaks, insects and other causes, dangerous wiring and more.

One of the photos, taken in the attic of a 20-year-old home, shows a dark, mouldy roof, caused by 20 years of improperly vented septic gas.

The attic was full of black and white mould and rot, said Campbell.

With the inspection of 1960s home, recent renovations of the living space didnt address more serious concerns along the homes foundation.

I drove up and I saw this garden built in along the outside wall on the side of the house It was one of these red brick gardens up against a red brick wall, and I thought OK, Im going to have to have a look at this when I go under the house, said Campbell who, once in the crawlspace, discovered alarming dry rot.

Read more: Building inspector urges renovators to get permits

Read more: Despite COVID-19, construction of single family homes in Salmon Arm outdoing 2019 numbers

The structure underneath the floor holding the walls up on the foundation was all dry rot, said Campbell. And I know the homeowners knew this because they had pulled up the old rotten plywood in the kitchen and dining room and put in new plywood

New homes can also come with their share of surprises.

Campbell said he inspected a new double-wide modular home on a permanent foundation and found numerous head-scratchers. Among them: an installed but not yet assembled furnace, windows in need of wells beneath a deck that wasnt where it should have been, an unprotected gas meter on a wall in the driveway (a safety concern for the whole neighbourhood, said Campbell), and bathroom, dryer and kitchen exhaust being vented into the garage.

These finds had Campbell concerned for the neighbouring homes of similar build.

I learned that none of the 30 homes except for this one had a home inspection on it before people moved in, said Campbell, noting people often buy new homes and assume theyll be just fine.

Dead animals and living insects are also common finds during home inspections.

Squirrels, birds Ive found a wasp nest the size of like an exercise ball in an attic, said Campbell, who has also come across his share of dead cats in crawlspaces.

When people advertise theyve lost their cat, they dont know where their cat has gone, the first thing that comes to mind for me to recommend to people is check your crawl space and ask your neighbours to check their crawl space, especially if its a mobile home park, said Campbell.

B.C. and Alberta are the only provinces in Canada in which home inspection is regulated. In B.C., home inspectors are licensed by Consumer Protection BC.

Still, when choosing a home inspector, Campbell said its important to do some research. He advised checking an home inspectors online reviews.

Like hiring a tradesman, there are some good ones and some not so good ones, said Campbell. You kind of have to do your due diligence.

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From mouldy attics to giant wasp nests, Shuswap home inspector shares surprising finds - Pentiction Western News

Negative test results for COVID-19 led to a bizarre incident at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital earlier this week, with the family of a deceased patient informed by hospital authorities that he was alive just hours after they had performed his cremation.

Devrambhai Bhisikar had been admitted to the COVID-19 isolation ward of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on May 28 with fever, cough and breathlessness, all symptoms of COVID-19.

Also read: Coronavirus | Model State Gujarat under great strain

He died the following day before the results of his samples came from the laboratory and hence, as per protocol for suspected COVID-19 cases, his body was wrapped in PPE and handed over to the family. They cremated soon after as per instructions of the hospital authorities, with only two persons allowed in the ambulance carrying the body.

He died on May 29 and the hospital handed over his body, which was completely wrapped and out of fear of the infection, we did not open the cover to see his face also, said Nilesh Nikte, son-in-law of the deceased.

Just two of us myself and my wifes cousin cremated the body and we reached home walking all the way from Vadaj crematorium to Viratnagar and in the morning we were informed that he was alive, a distraught Mr. Nikte told The Hindu.

When we returned home, we received multiple phone calls from the hospital in the early morning on May 30 that the corona report of Devrambhai had tested negative and he could be shifted to the general ward. We were shocked and speechless, he recalled.

When we rushed to the hospital, the doctor informed us that it was a mistake of the control room person, who informed us that Devrambhai was alive based on his negative test results, he said, narrating the horrific experience the family went through.

After the incident was widely reported in the local media, the hospital issued a clarification.

It was mistake of the [control room] person, who informed the relative without checking patients status and asked them to facilitate shifting of patient on basis of negative report for COVID-19 test, the hospital said in a statement.

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A customer looks at the menu of the citys newest food truck, Vital Seen, started by former Brasserie du Soleil and Circa 1922 chef Tripp Engel. (Port City Daily photo/Mark Darrough)

WILMINGTON Long gone are the weeks when Tripp Engel was working overtime in Wilmingtons upscale restaurant scene. Now hes doing his own thing, serving Rastafarian vegan food from the citys newest food truck, Vital Seen.

Inspired by the food diet known as Ital, which uses purely natural ingredients to enhance ones livity, or life energy, Engels menu reflects a Rastafarian philosophy influenced by Jamaican, Ethiopian, Egyptian, and Indian food cultures.

I wanted it to be healthy and tasty, and I didnt want it to be a vegan truck thats trying to create meat substitutes. I didnt want to have fishless fish tacos or meatless meatloaf, he said.

RELATED: Leland local favorite Bridgewater Wines announce second location in Porters Neck

Engel, an executive chef for Brasserie du Soleil for 12 years, got his first kitchen job in the late eighties when he was 14 years old illegally, he noted for a sandwich shop on Long Beach in Oak Island.

I got paid under the table, four bucks an hour, cash, he recalled.

After years spent moving up the ladder in the restaurant world, Engel became a line cook at downtown Wilmingtons Circa 1922 restaurant in the spring of 2005. He then began spearheading the creation of Brasserie, and after opening the new restaurant within the year, he led the kitchen there for over a decade.

In 2016 he became the executive chef at Circa 1922 at the time, both were owned by the Circa Restaurant Group then called it quits in the summer of 2019.

I just got to the point in my life where, number one, I was ready to get out of the restaurant environment, Engel said. I didnt like the stress.

Although he had learned a great deal during his career, and had loved it for a time, he said it was time to cook the food he actually wanted to cook for less privileged customers. And he wanted to take better care of himself with the arrival of a baby; many colleagues over the years had developed health issues due to the demanding nature and fast-paced culture of the restaurant world, he said.

When Engel decided to start his own food truck business, he researched different truck options for months, even traveling to a food truck manufacturer in Virginia before he heard about a retired truck sitting in a repair shop in Castle Hayne. It took a year, he said, to install the electrical wiring, plumbing, walls, and kitchen equipment all with the counsel of Catch the Food Truck Chef Keith Rhodes before getting it up to code for the county food inspections department.

Tim Armstrong, on his way to the beach from New Jersey, orders what he would later say is the best drink hes ever tasted. Called agua de Jamaica throughout South America, and sorrel in Jamaica itself, its made from dried hibiscus flowers. (Port City Daily photos/Mark Darrough)

His menu is simple, just like his newfound goal with the food he serves no longer to tables covered in white cloth but from a window to guys like Tim Armstrong, in town from New Jersey.

Alkaline is the objective. No acid. Starch brings acid, Engel told Armstrong, who said he was lured in by the trucks logo next to the order window: a circle outlined in red, yellow and green, resembling the flag of Ethiopia, with the words, Roots, Garden, Food above a cluster of palm trees.

[The food philosophy] comes from the word Ital, which means pure and natural from the earth. Thats what the Rastafarian diet is. If it doesnt come from Mother Earth, you dont eat it, Engel explained.

The alkaline diet, he said, originates from a belief that acidic foods can affect the overall acidity of the body proponents of the diet say that lower pH levels help and treat and prevent diseases which is why he tries to avoid starches like sweet potatoes and French fries.

The menu includes Okra Chaat (Indian influence), Falafel Bowl (Egyptian), Quinoa Tabbouleh (Lebanon and Syria), and Mujaddara (an old Arab dish consisting of lentils and rice covered in sauted onions). While developing his food concept, he said he was particularly intrigued by a theory that the Egyptians began making falafels hundreds of years before other Arab nations began cooking their own versions of the deep-fried balls of chickpeas and fava beans.

Armstrong, who was heading to Wrightsville Beach when he pulled over at the parking lot of the Triangle Lounge to try the food, was particularly excited about a drink known throughout South America as agua de Jamaica. A dark purple, it is made from infusing dried hibiscus flowers.

It has a sweet flavor to it but isnt so overpowering, Armstrong said, reggae music playing overhead. Its got a little bit of a bitter taste to it as well, and they complement each other. Honestly its like nothing Ive ever had before. Its a little hard to describe: Its so refreshing and I want another one.

Five minutes later, Armstrong returned to the window and ordered another drink before heading to the beach.

Catch the truck this weekend. On Friday (11 a.m. 1:20 p.m.) it will be parked at the Eagle Island Seafood shop off U.S. 421 just over a mile north of the Isabel Holmes Bridge (2500 US 421). On Saturday (1 6 p.m.), it will be again parked in front of the Triangle Lounge (5920 Wrightsville Avenue).

Send tips and comments about Wilmingtons food and beer scene to the reporter at Mark@Localvoicemedia.com, @markdarrough on Twitter, and (970) 413-3815

Read more here:
Wilmington chef hits the road with new 'Rasta-vegan' food truck, Vital Seen - Port City Daily

Express News Service

DODDAMANNINA GUDDE (RAMANAGARA): For 14 long years, over 1,400 applicants under an affordable housing scheme, have hung on to hope that one day, a house will finally be theirs. But just like their dreams, the houses too now seem to be crumbling.

In 2006, the then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had launched a project to construct affordable houses for the poor in his Assembly constituency Ramanagara. As many as 240 flats were constructed and 1,430 people, who were identified as beneficiaries, even paid up the initial amount of Rs 5,100. The cost of each unit was fixed at Rs 1.35 lakh. While SC and ST beneficiaries were required to pay Rs 13,500, the General category allottees had to pay Rs 15,000.

The eight-acre project site at Doddamannina Gudde in Ramanagara, is about 1 km from the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, close to Janapada Loka, where 240 one-BHK flats have been constructed. There are 30 blocks with each having eight houses (ground plus two floors). The 20x20 sq ft flats/houses have a living room, bedroom, kitchen and toilet-cum-bathroom. The connecting road too is well-asphalted and has streetlights.

The vacant houses now have broken windows, doors and commodes, with cracks in the walls, peeling roofs, electric wires cut and are filled with dust. The sumps for storing water do not have lids as they were stolen by miscreants. Locals also say that the project site has become a den for anti-socialactivities.

Allottees to be picked through lottery

Manyanti-social activities take place here now. Its scary to come here, specially during night. Many people come here to drink and heaps of bottles can be seen inside the rooms, Manjunath, who hails from a nearby village, told TNIE. When Kumaraswamy was CM, the then government directed the Revenue Department to construct the houses, which, in turn, entrusted the work to the Karnataka Slum Development Board.

The Board constructed the houses and thats when the Forest Department came up and said the land belongs to them. Since then, any further construction has been halted. Only a few months ago, the Revenue Department decided to provide alternate land nearby to the Forest Department, said a official source. Slum Development Board officials said that since there are more than 1,400 applicants and only 240 houses, the final allottees will be picked through lottery.

This has to be done under the chairmanship of local MLA Anitha Kumaraswamy. When asked if the initial deposit will be returned to those who are not picked in the lottery, official sources said that houses are being constructed under other schemes and those left out will be allotted houses elsewhere.

Read more from the original source:
14 years on, crushed dreams, cracked houses - The New Indian Express

Issued on: 05/06/2020 - 22:54

Washington (AFP)

US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to slash the number of troops it maintains in Germany by more than a quarter in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The newspaper said the Defense Department would cut the number of military personnel by 9,500 from the current 34,500 permanently assigned to Germany postings.

The Journal also said a cap of 25,000 would be set on how many US troops could be inside German at any one time, whether in permanent postings or temporary rotations, half of the current allowance.

The move would significantly reduce the US commitment to European defense under the NATO umbrella, though it could also impact Pentagon operations related to Africa and the Middle East.

White House and Pentagon officials declined to confirm or deny the story, which comes amid tensions between the Trump administration and European allies over longstanding cooperation agreements.

Washington in particular does not think Germany spends enough for its own defense.

John Ullyot, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement that as commander in chief, Trump is always reassessing the presence of US forces overseas.

"The United States remains committed to working with our strong ally Germany to ensure our mutual defense, as well as on many other important issues," Ullyot said.

2020 AFP

Read more:
US planning to slash troops in Germany: report - RFI

Our worst-case scenario for a 20% decline in prices and those of others seeing 30% plus falls are unlikely thanks to support measures and the earlier reopening of the economy. To get these worst-case scenarios would require a second wave of coronavirus cases & so a renewed shutdown or another down leg in the economy in response to a surge in bankruptcies.

However, further falls in prices are still likely, as true unemployment (to become clear after September) remains high for several years, government support measures and the bank payment holiday end after September, immigration falls and likely government measures boost housing construction. Our base case is for national average prices to fall around 5-10% into next year. Sydney & Melbourne are likely to see 10% falls as they are more exposed to immigration and have higher debt levels whereas Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth & Hobart are only likely to see small falls and Canberra prices are likely to be flat.

This may be seen as a reasonable outcome in terms of making housing more affordable but without posing a big threat to the economy (via a downwards spiral of falling prices and negative wealth effects on consumer spending) at the same time.

Stay up to date with my content by hitting the 'follow' button below and you'll be notified every time I post a wire. Not already a Livewire member? Sign up today to get free access to investment ideas and strategies from Australia's leading investors.

Excerpt from:
Australian house prices starting to fall - collapse likely averted but expect more weakness ahead - Livewire Markets

Kottayam: The Kerala Police suspect the role of a quotation gang in the murder of a 55-year-old woman, Sheeba Salih, at Thazhathangady in Kottayam district.

Sheeba, 55, was found dead at her house, Shani Manzil, at Parappadath in Thazhathangadi on Monday morning, while her husband, Mohammad Salih, was found unconscious nearby with assault wounds.

The police have found that Sheeba and her husband had financial dealings with several people. It is suspected that a dispute over the financial deal had led to the murder.

The investigation points fingers at a gang, based out of Thazhathangady, and involved in financial dealings.

It was also suspected that the assailants had not plotted the murder. Instead their objective was to extort money from the couple.

The cops reached this conclusion as the assailants had not used lethal weapons to attack the couple. However, when the dispute escalated, the assailants were provoked to attack the couple using the tea table in the room. Though electric wires were tied around the victims' bodies, there was no proof of them being electrocuted.

Attacked & tied up

The assailants had first hit Sheeba and then attacked Salih. Both of them were tied up using electric wires and the assailants ransacked the house. They then left the gas cylinder open. They exited the house through the back door and fled the house in the couple's car. Sheeba's relatives said that the gold bangles, chain and earrings worn by her, and the ornaments stored in the cupboard were missing.

As the victims had suffered grievous injuries, the police suspect that the assailants have a criminal background, or have a history of substance abuse or mental illness.

It is also suspected that the car and gold ornaments were stolen to make it appear as a case of burglary and mislead the investigation.

Meanwhile, the police have found CCTV images of a person, suspected to be the culprit, fleeing in a car from the crime scene. Though images of the car as it passed through Kumarakom and Vechoor were found, the car is yet to be traced. The police have also received information that their car was taken to Kochi, based on CCTV visuals. The probe team hopes to the nab the culprits within two days.

The police, however, suspect the involvement of more than one person as it is unlikely that a lone individual can attack two people in the house and tie them up.

The police are probing the three possible angles of personal enmity, dispute over financial dealings and burglary in the blood-chilling incident.

The heinous manner in which the couple were attacked prompted the police to suspect that the culprits harboured enmity against them. The police team is also checking whether the assailants planned to set the house on fire, by leaving the gas cylinder open.

The police also found blood-stained gloves from the house. Following the scent of the blood-stained glove, the police sniffer dog had run up to near the Arupuzha bridge on Kottayam Road, which is 1km away.

The police recorded the statements of some people who frequently interacted with the couple on Tuesday.

The case is probed by a 13-member team led by DySP R Sreekumar. DIG Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar and district police chief G Jayadev are also following-up on the investigation.

Autopsy findings

The post-mortem report has said that Sheeba had died of head injuries. Her skull was fractured in the impact of the attack, leading to haemorrhage. Several wounds were also found on the body. The autopsy also found signs of assault.

Though live electric wires were found on the bodies, the post-mortem report does not say that Sheeba was electrocuted. However, the body parts will be sent to the forensic lab in Thiruvananthapuram for more tests.

Police surgeon Dr Ranju Raveendran, who is also the Kottayam Medical College forensic department chief, carried out the post-mortem.

Sheebas husband continues to be in a critical condition at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital. The 65-year-old had undergone a surgery at the hospital.

Sheeba's funeral was held at the Taj Juma Masjid in Kottayam on Tuesday evening. Her daughter Shani and her husband, who are in Muscat, watched the funeral proceedings through a video call.

See original here:
Quotation gang behind Kottayam womans murder? - Onmanorama