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It was the first time in my life I'd been pick-pocketed, and, as annoyed as I was, I couldn't help but admire the artistry behind it.
There wasn't anything to do but try to minimize the damage, so we went back to the hotel. Instead of enjoying the fireworks over Ho Cho Minh City, I was on the phone, cancelling credit cards and trying to get replacements sent to me in Vietnam.
In the end, I lost a million dong, which sounds like a lot but it's only about $50 U.S., a credit card (that was replaced in four days), and debit card (that took three months to get replaced, which made traveling through the next few countries somewhat difficult). I also lost my driver's license. I still don't know why I was carrying that — I hadn't driven a car in three months.
The greatest loss was the wallet itself, a cuben fiber number that is the best wallet I've ever owned. Fortunately, I'd picked up another one when I met my friend Jason in Hong Kong (he makes these wallets and other cool gear at his Picharpak Workshop), so I started 2015 with a new (but empty) wallet.
All in all, it was an embarrassing and inconvenient experience, but it could have been a lot worse. So far, there have been no serious repercussions (although I'm still watching my credit closely), and I haven't had my life stolen like Jasmina Tesanovic, who had her handbag swiped in Turin, an act that "crippled her life for the next two months." That sort of damage would have definitely put a strain on the rest of our trip.
I read somewhere that crime rises in the time leading up to Tết, the Vietnamese New Year, when people need cash to buy gifts for their families and friends. I don't know how true that is, but as it so happens, Tết was only a month away. So I hope that someone had a nice Tết with my million dong.
I want to say that I was able to overcome the experience and enjoy the rest of our stay in Vietnam, but I couldn't, not fully anyway. I really liked the time we spent in Hanoi, but Saigon left me with bitter memories.
Except for that ice cream fondue platter, that is.
In the Student Services Finance Committee’s first meeting of the year Thursday, the eligibility hearing for the Wunk Sheek student organization was the most important item on the agenda.
Wunk Sheek student representatives Michael Gilpin, Collin Ludwig, Autumn Chevalier and Michael Williams presented on their eligibility to the Committee.
Wunk Sheek, according to the organization’s website and student presenters, gives students of indigenous identity and members of the University of Wisconsin community interested in indigeneity an outlet for socializing, connecting with other student organizations, learning about other indigenous communities and representing indigenous groups to the broader community.
“This is a year-round organization that focuses on students’ needs, indigenous and non-indigenous,” Williams said.
The Wunk Sheek student representatives stressed the importance of the organization, as UW falls on indigenous Ho-Chunk land. The decision on Wunk Sheek’s eligibility, which would determine whether the group can receive funding from the committee, will be decided at the next SSFC meeting on Monday, Sept. 10.
Members of SSFC also discussed and voted on the Adoption of the 25th Session Policies and Procedures. According to chair Jeremy Swanson, the documents are updated every year by the new committee, though few edits were needed this year.
Much of the changes voted on were edits to language use, though an amendment was voted on and unanimously passed under SSFC’s Wage Policy. According to the policy, “wage exemptions must be approved by the committee with a 2/3rds vote prior to the end of the pay period in which the exemption occurs,” with failure to do so resulting in wage violation.
Swanson concluded the meeting with excitement for the upcoming year and new board. Swanson said SSFC is still without a funding advisor, but the committee is hoping to move along with the process of finding one by the end of October.
SOMETIMES, a piece of news socks you in the gut. It may not be momentous, like Mitt Romney winning his home state by a whopping three-point margin, and it might not be entirely unexpected, like the death of Amy Winehouse. But when it happens, you stop whatever you are doing, lean back in your chair and take a deep breath. It's worth a moment of reflection.
That's what happened when I heard that Davy Jones had died of a heart attack at age 66.
I hadn't thought about the ex-Monkee in a very long time until, last month, when I caught that old Brady Bunch episode in which he croons to a flaxen-haired Marcia, "Gehl, look whut yeuve dun too mee." Watching a very young Davy train those liquid brown eyes on an undeserving Marcia made me sigh, despite my 50-year-old self.
And seeing him then made me think of my true love, Bobby Sherman, and his sweetly innocent (and somewhat marsupial) smile. I don't know if Julie loved him, but I sure did.
And then of course there was David Cassidy, the "dangerous" member of the teeny-bopper crowd who just dared you to rip that puka-shell necklace from his Adam's apple. The first time I actually came close to lusting in my heart was with Keith Partridge, although I'm not sure I realized it at the age of 8. I did know that from the looks that Susan Dey was giving him, she was definitely not his sister, unless they were living somewhere in Appalachia.
I say these things because the death of someone like an early '70s teen idol reminds me of happier times, when falling in love meant nothing more than getting someone's designer lunch box or plastering his posters all over your wall, or even cajoling your favorite aunt to take you to the Spectrum to rub shoulders with the other swooning 10-year-olds as they listened to "Easy Come, Easy Go," "Daydream Believer" and "I Think I Love You." There was no thought of adolescents' getting pregnant, anti-drug campaigns or anti-bullying messages.
And, true again, there were probably some teens trying to navigate their way through strange feelings that "dared not speak their names," but we neither bullied them nor really wanted to hear about their inner struggles.
In those days, things were a lot less Sturm und Drang and a lot more Sonny and Cher. Children might have been a bit more sheltered than they are today, even naive, but I can't help but think that we were better off back then. Given a bit of breathing space from the encroaching reality of an omnipresent adult world, we could dream about dreamy young men who were boyish enough to pass muster with our parents, but had enough testosterone to give us a promise of spicier things to come.
Today, when I watch the young girls passing on the sidewalk below my office window in South Philly, I have to remind myself that the "Jersey Shore" look, with heavy eyeliner, melanoma tans and cigarettes dangling from fingers that months ago held jump ropes is par for the course. And when I see young men strutting their stuff in front of the "Snook-alikes," with pants that barely cover their buttocks and attitudes right out of Rahway prison (apparently "Scared Straight" is no longer available on Netflix), I understand that I have gotten, finally, old.
And yet, there are moments of reflection in this sea of reality when I can reach back to happier times, remember when boys crooned silly songs to silly girls, and when "hooking up" meant tuning in to "Here Come the Brides."
Or daydreaming about a wonderful guy named Davy.
Regional publisher Local World has confirmed it is closing one title and merging two others in one of its Midlands divisions.
The Burton Advertiser, a free sister title to LW-owned daily the Burton Mail, published its final edition on Wednesday.
In addition from 7 January, the Uttoxeter Advertiser and Uttoxeter Post and Times, both paid-for titles, will merge to become a single paid-for title, the Uttoxeter Advertiser.
Local World has confirmed that no redundancies will be made as a result of either announcement but has declined to comment further.
However as a result of the changes the National Union of Journalists has stepped up its calls for local communities to be allowed the chance to save closure-threatened local newspapers.
Chris Morley, Northern and Midlands organiser, said: “The loss of any title, particularly those that contain unique content and that fight for sales to readers in their community, is to be regretted.
“It is a relief that these closures do not come with staff losing their jobs, but I think it is important that companies looking to end publications justify their decision to the communities they were happy to take circulation and advertising revenue from for years.
The new Uttoxeter title will continue to be based at the current offices of the Advertiser and Post & Times in the town.
Or sell the paper you no longer want to someone else……….
Don’t worry. All will be well. We’ve just been told so in an end of year message to the troops from Monty the Mysteron which has so much jargon and doublespeak it needs a sub-editor. Ah, we don’t want them, do we…..? Funny that.
There are myriad reasons why getting from Earth to Mars is hard, but chief among them are two 1) the massive amount of fuel needed and 2) a launch window that is limited to every 26 months, when the two planets are in optimal alignment. A couple of mathematicians have calculated a new path to Mars that solves both—and it's far from a straight line.
Mapping a route to Mars, of course, is more complicated than mapping any Earth-bound route. The distance between the two planets is constantly growing or shrinking, depending on their orbits around the sun. (That's why the optimal launch window only opens every 26 months.) And you have to take into account how gravity from the Earth, Mars, and sun will pull a spacecraft off its course.
Instead of shooting for the location Mars will be in its orbit where the spacecraft will meet it, as is conventionally done with Hohmann transfers, a spacecraft is casually lobbed into a Mars-like orbit so that it flies ahead of the planet. Although launch and cruise costs remain the same, the big burn to slow down and hit the Martian bull's-eye—as in the Hohmann scenario—is done away with. For ballistic capture, the spacecraft cruises a bit slower than Mars itself as the planet runs its orbital lap around the sun. Mars eventually creeps up on the spacecraft, gravitationally snagging it into a planetary orbit.
A crucial detail is that the spacecraft will no longer need hundreds of pounds of extra fuel to brake as it approaches Mars. Twenty-five percent fuel means less weight, which means a smaller and cheaper rocket to boost the whole thing into space. Or, alternatively, more stuff in the payload.
Ballistic capture also erases the need to wait for when Mars and Earth are in optimal orbital alignment, making it a lot easier to schedule the multiple missions to drop supplies necessary for humans to survive on Mars.
But it also has a downside. The journey will take longer, adding several months to the already six-month haul. For human space travelers, that would take a toll that is both physical (radiation exposure) and mental (cabin fever).
Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Supply Management Inspectors begin the physical inventory part of the inspection of Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group during a Supply Management Inspection.
Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG) Supply department wrapped up its biennial Supply Management Inspection (SMI) Oct. 9, setting the standard for Expeditionary Reserve Component Forces.
A team of inspectors from Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) arrived Oct. 5 to conduct the SMI, assessing NAVELSG’s Supply department’s capability to support her active and reserve regiments and battalions.
Scoring approximately 95 percent overall, NAVELSG’s Supply department proved they are fully capable and mission ready.
According to NAVELSG’s Supply department personnel, the SMI undergoes a thorough inspection every 24 months in order to make sure they meet Navy standards in all areas of responsibility.
The inspection evaluates the commands readiness which is determined by evaluating NAVELSG’s stock control, hazardous material inventory and control, and supply storage division.
Chief Logistics Specialist Daniel Hamar from Navy Expeditionary Combat Command verifies inventory paperwork with Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group Logistics Specialist Second Class Darius Threat during a Supply Management Inspection.
Preparations for SMI have been underway for the past year when NECC inspectors first conducted their pre inspections. Since April, NAVELSG’s Supply department has been preparing daily for this week’s final SMI.
SMI inspectors require four days to complete and noted NAVELSG’s readiness and dedication to being prepared.
NAVELSG is the first unit of NECC to begin the SMI as part of an every two year cycle.
The American oil rush is starting to feel the heat.
With oil prices in free fall, the fear is that hunting for new shale in the U.S. may just not be that profitable.
ConocoPhillips (COP) became the first major U.S. oil company on Monday to reveal that it is slashing spending for 2015. There are expectations that more energy companies will follow.
Oil prices have dropped 40% since June. And OPEC's bombshell decision in November not to scale back on production has sent prices even lower. It was also widely seen as an attempt by the oil cartel to choke off the U.S. shale boom.
Lower oil prices is great news for consumers globally, but it's causing immense turmoil in the energy industry. Some countries like Iran and Venezuela as well as higher-cost producers in North America need higher prices to generate a profit.
"I think you will see cuts across the board to U.S. (capital spending)," said Allen Good, an analyst who covers energy companies at Morningstar.
ConocoPhillips is one of the bigger shale players. And its decision to slash its budget for next year by 20% is raising eyebrows. The company said the new target reflects lower spending on major projects as well as "unconventional plays." Despite the expectation that others will follow, it doesn't mean U.S. shale oil production is dead. Just don't expect a surge in spending like in recent years.
Spooked investors: ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said in a statement that its conservative spending plan is "prudent given the current environment."
The steep decline in spending shows Conoco expects low oil prices to persist for the next year or so, which has made investors nervous. Conoco's stock fell 3% on Monday to levels unseen since late February.
Next stop $40? Conoco isn't alone in betting that oil prices might not recover for some time. Morgan Stanley (MS) issued a report on Monday warning that crude oil is facing its "greatest threat" since the 2008 financial crisis and could briefly dive to $35 or $40 next year before possibly rebounding.
Other oil companies to follow: Good, the Morningstar analyst, expects Chevron (CVX), ExxonMobil (XOM) and other major U.S. oil producers to announce "some marginal spending cuts" in the coming months, though not as deep as Conoco.
That's because Chevron and Exxon are bigger players with more financial flexibility. Last week, Exxon signaled it could survive oil as low as $40 per barrel, at least for some time.
All of this is alarming news to the oilfield servicing companies that rely on heavy investment from big oil companies. Shares of Schlumberger (SLB) and Halliburton (HAL) declined 2% on Monday.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Y-12 National Security Complex has completed a major milestone in efforts to refurbish components for a strategic nuclear weapons system described in a press release as vital to the U.S. nuclear deterrent.
The first production unit for the B61-12 was certified at Y-12 a little over a month ago on Dec. 6, 2018.
This work is part of the B61 Life Extension Program (LEP), according to the news release from Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC (CNS), which operates Y-12 and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. The B61 is a nuclear bomb that can be carried on several types of military aircraft. The B61 LEP will extend the life of this strategic weapon for 20 years.
Y-12’s role involves the manufacture of the canned subassembly or secondary — the second stage of modern thermonuclear weapons. The canned subassembly is shipped from Y-12 to the Pantex Plant for final assembly.
Bill Tindal, CNS vice president and site manager, praised the teamwork that facilitated the early production of the unit.
“It took all parts of the factory working together to achieve this milestone ahead of schedule. By doing so, Y-12 has worked to ensure the success of this vitally important program,” he stated.
The next milestone for the program is shipment of eight nuclear pilot production units to the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, by March 2019. The recently certified unit is one of those eight. The first complete B61-12 weapon is on schedule for production by March 2020.
BEL AIR, Md. (AP) - A man accused of fatally shooting three co-workers and wounding three other people has been indicted in Maryland.
The Harford County State's Attorney's office says in a statement that 38-year-old Radee Prince was indicted Tuesday on three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and firearm offenses.
Prosecutors say Prince fatally shot five co-workers at Advanced Granite Solutions in Harford County in Maryland on Oct. 18. Two co-workers were shot but survived. Authorities say he then drove to a used car lot in Wilmington, Delaware, and shot an acquaintance in the head. The acquaintance survived.
Prince remains in custody in Delaware awaiting trial for attempted murder there.
Online court records don't list a lawyer for Prince.
350 new houses off Marton Road have been given the green light - and developers say it will only add seconds to travel times.
Middlesbrough Council's own regeneration department made the application to build on the 'Brackenhoe site' at Prissick Base, very close to James Cook University Hospital.
But councillors have raised concerns about its impact on the notorious 'Marton Crawl'.
The application, which was considered by the council's Planning and Development committee on Friday, would see the homes built behind the Scholars Rise estate.
However approval only came after a local councillor clashed with officers about what he described as a "serious impact" on traffic down Marton Road.
Planning officers told committee members that, in the worst case scenario after development was built, traffic on Marton Road would be slowed down by a maximum of 60 seconds.
Explaining the forecast they use to work out the amount of extra traffic, the planning officer continued: "It's difficult to present what is quite a complex strategic model.
"But in summary, what you tend to see is a decrease in journey speed over the area of the model of about 1km per hour should this development proceed."
The officer said vehicles would be delayed by "about 12 seconds per km" - meaning that every kilometre travelled would take 12 seconds longer, if the houses were built.
The council's forecasts takes into account the stretch of Marton Road between Marton Burn Road and Guisborough Road.
"If you're heading northbound it would take you during the peak periods, 37 seconds longer and about 18 longer in the pm peak," he continued.
"Southbound is about a minute longer in the am and 42 seconds longer in the pm.
"To travel east to west, between Marton Avenue and Slip Inn Bank, it will take about 20 seconds longer."
But Cllr Tom Mawston, independent councillor for Marton East, questioned the council's predictions.
He said: "I've just listened with great interest to the traffic model timing descriptions of seconds being added to journeys and everything else.
"It bears no comparison to reality."
Remember when the Marton Crawl was all just fields?
He said the scheme would have "a serious impact on traffic".
"We haven't been able to solve the problems created by the development in South Middlesbrough, in Nunthorpe," he continued.
"The proposals to redevelop Dixons Bank haven't gone ahead yet - even that plan depends on the good will of the motorists."
He concluded: "Our objection to this site is not the site itself, but it being built before adequate road infrastructure is there to deal with it.
"If this site is built before, traffic will become a nightmare."

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