Security?

Howell Pad Site in West Central Grand Prairie, TX (Near Abrams and Great Southwest Parkway)

Chesapeake

FRAC Pond Gate (Below) Open and Falling Over

It's Clearly Broken and in Violation of the Ordinance.

Sunday Late Afternoon, June 26, 2011

20 Wells Permitted from this (Urban) Pad Site  A Few Hundred Feet from Homes, Businesses, People and Pets.We pray people there will call the TCEQ if they smell strange odors from any of the drilling and fracking. (1-888-777-3186) 

What is a Classical Conversations Community?

Those of you who are new to Classical Conversations (and even those who are not!) will enjoy this "What is a CC community?" video.

Upcoming Event in Big D!!

Special Screening of the Academy-Award Nominated Documentary ~ GASLAND

Wednesday, June 29, 2011, 7:30 PM (Come Early)

The Texas Theatre

231 West Jefferson Blvd., Dallas, TX 75208

Music and Food Before (Doors Open at 7:00 PM)

Discussion Following

Led by Robert Wilonsky of The Dallas Observer

For More Information, click here to go to The Texas Theatre's Web site.

Sponsored by The Dallas Observer and Old Oak Cliff Conservation League  

Special guest co-hosts will be:

Dallas District 1 Councilperson Delia Jasso and 

new District 3 Councilperson Scott Griggs.

Even if you've already seen it before, come and view the award-winning documentary, again. It explores shale gas drilling all across America ~ including Dallas and Fort Worth.



Josh Fox is expected to make an appearance via Skype.

All proceeds go to the Historic Texas Theatre. 



$8.50/$7.50 (seniors) at the door

Click Here for Directions.



Where to Park

FREE Parking is available along Jefferson Blvd after 4 pm.  FREE Parking is at the Bank of Texas lot at 12th & Centre.

See y'all there! Yee Haw!!

Leadership

OK friends this post has nothing to do with technology. This "talk" which can be found on TED discusses leadership. This was passed onto me by a colleague at Chester County. Very entertaining and thoughtful discussion on what makes a good leader using some great historical references to prove his point. His comments on Tivo, which is one of my favorite products of all time is sadly very accurate.

how to take your kid out on a bike

Forget those child trailers, forget the tandem, forget dragging your kid behind your bike. You may feel good. You say to yourself, "hey I am saving the planet, I am a green parent teaching my kid how to be green, I feel great and really cool as I bike to my errands dragging little Johnny behind me in his trailer " or whatever gadget you have hooked up.

Today I had posted a ride to my bike club. Imagine my surprise when a dad showed up with his 11 yo son who was on a road bike and with clip pedals, helment and club jersery (man size small and still too big). At first I was annoyed to see the dad and his son. Dad said son has been on club rides before. OK I say. Come along. I am thinking, we will lose this pair within the first 5 miles.

Well this little kid not only stayed in front, he smoked the ride and left his dad eating his wake. We did 32 miles at a good pace, not race pace but decent enough for most of us who are 55+ adults. When we got back, only person still fresh as a daisy was the kid. His dad looked terrible, we lost a guy on the ride as well.

So for all you dummies out there dragging your kids in strollers, trailers, back packs or whatever. Put them down on the ground, get them walking and using their tricycles.

If you kid is past age 2, you do not NEED a stroller. Get the kiddo walking. Once my kids were past 18 months, we never put them in strollers, We went to Disney World with a 6 yo and a 3 yo and we had NO stroller. We walked and we walked. No child was carried.

The dad of the little guy above said when he picked up the children's bikes in Walmart he was shocked at how heavy they were. Instead he went straight to a large chain bike store and bought a decent road bike for his son. Kid was not big, rather small for an 11 yo but he could bike and never tired. I credit this dad for getting his kid into exercise in a fun way.

Hats off to this dad, keeping his son active in a fun way. No health club camps for this kid, just real actitivity.

Welcome to your Classical Connection

Welcome to your online connection for our Classical Conversations Community. This site will serve as a place to keep everyone up to date on information and will be a point of connection with tutors. Wondering if classes will be canceled for a snow day? Check the blog. Need to double check class assignments? Just a click away.

Click on the links to the left and they will take you to your program's page. Tutors will post weekly updates, letting you know what went on in class, any assignments, etc.

If you are concerned that you will forget to check during the week just subscribe to applicable pages. All you have to do is go to the page you want to subscribe to and enter your email address. When you do this, every time there is a new post it will be sent to your email inbox. You have to subscribe to each page that you want to receive. I would suggest subscribing to this page and to any class page that correlates to classes that your children are in.

A Few Guidelines:
1. When you leave comments, please do not assume that the tutor or director will get the comment in a timely manner. Though most check email often, they may or may not see your comment before the next class. If it's important please email or call your tutor.
2. All comments should be directed to tutors. Students should not use this platform as a chatboard.
3. Please protect our families by not posting sensitive information like phone numbers, home addresses, or email addresses.

Cool jobs just over the CT/NY border

Please welcome a new client located just over the border in South Wilton, CT.

Melissa & Doug, LLC is an award-winning toy company located in a beautiful headquarters on Route 7 in south Wilton, conveniently reached from New York City, Norwalk, Stamford, Westport, Danbury and all of Fairfield County, CT, as well as Westchester County, NY.

Check out their current job openings.

For hundreds more CT jobs just over the border click here.

Move out of the 19th century, LADIES

Today I was out biking by myself enjoying the sounds of birds chirping and the warm sunshine. Lo and behold, stranded on the side of the road is a fellow female cyclist with a flat tire. She had her husband on the phone and he was giving her directions on how to change a tire. Needless to say, this was futile and her tire and tube were tangled and a mess.

I stopped and pulled out my supplies and changed her tire and inflated it with my handy dandy CO2. She had a hand pump but I have yet to find any female who can manually inflate a tire past about 45lbs. Took me all of 10 seconds to inflate her tire.

She kept apologizing that she usually bikes with her husband and he changes the tires. I asked her when was the last time she updated her tubes. She did not know. Her bike chain was covered in grim and her cassette as well. Most times when these ladies tell me their boyfriends or husbands are maintaining and cleaning their bikes, I find dirty bikes with tons of issues.

My advice to you chicks of the 19th century, learn to take care of your bike and do not rely on your husband or boyfriend. There are some husbands or boyfriends who do a great job taking care of the chick's bike but most times, they do a piss poor job.

The lady above was very grateful. I hope she goes home and learns how to change a tire and cleans her bike HERSELF. I bike with ladies of all ages, rarely do I run across a woman who regularly cleans her bike and maintains her tires and tubes. COME ON LADIES, move out of the 19th century and take care of your bike.

ON A SIDE NOTE and very funny.......................

This lady kept her husband on the phone the entire time I was changing her tire. She still figured he had the best help available to her and I was probably not going to be able to change her tire.

3rd rant on Child Bike Trailers

The other day, I was driving on Airport Road in West Chester, PA and saw a dad with a child trailer. The road is very very busy and has a narrow shoulder. Google the road. Several industrial parks line the road. It is the main access road for a large UPS site and the only way to get to the West Chester Airport. Why in the world a dad would choose this road to take his two kids for a ride in a bike trailer is beyond my comprehension? Two kids were jammed in the trailer with no helmets or any safety features. Cars do 50 mph or more on this road.

If you feel this child bike trailer above provides safety for your precious cargo from a large UPS truck barreling by at 50 mph, you must need to have your head examined.

Adults are free to bike on any roads they choose. I support biking by adults as commuters or pleasure biking. But your child does not have this choice when you put him or her into a trailer and then bike on roads that are dangerous even for adults on bikes.

Roads that house large industrial parks tend to attract drivers rushing to and from work in their cars. Airport Road is a cut through road to access a large highway - RT 202.

It is not a safe biking road and if used by adults on bikes requires much diligence to remain safe.

Dads and Moms, please use your bike trailers on roads that are safe for pedestrians and cyclists. Choose roads with bike lanes or large wide shoulders. DO NOT choose roads where cars go over 50 pmh and have companies that use large delivery trucks.

hats off to Centerville, Delaware

Philadelphia

It's Just Chalk, But Oh What Chalk - 13th Street Bike Lane Chalked Today

(Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia)

We see lots of bike lanes being promoted in our cities. Philadelphia is quietly adding many bike lanes as you can see above. New York City and other cities are adding bike lanes and making city biking much easier for commuters.

But the suburbs lag way behind. I know of no suburban communities in Eastern PA with bike lanes on their major roads. My county of Chester is finally building a bike trail that has been almost 25 yrs in the making. The roads of Chester County have no bike lanes and many have no shoulders. When shoulders are available they are often littered with tree debris.

Imagine my surprise when biking on rt 52 in Centerville, Delaware. This town has spent the last year making a major highway into a bike and pedestrian friendly road. From Center Meeting Road to Burnt Mill Road is now an oasis for cyclists and walkers. This town has put beautiful sidewalks and bike lanes through its entire town. This town sits on a highway but now it is a friendly road with places for cars, bikes and joggers and walkers.

HATS OFF TO DELAWARE. This state is making its roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians. I wish my state of Pennsylvania had similar plans.

Business Development job in White Plains

SUMMARY: Manage, coach and grow sales staff, conduct direct sales, identify and assist in the development of new business opportunities. READ THE REST AND APPLY

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Sales / Business Development

Identify and develop new business opportunities within our industry; source leads and generate new client relationships, conduct sales presentations, prepare and present educational seminars to various market segments, and assist with the preparation of proposals
Make regular sales calls to develop and maintain industry contacts that lead to sales, and follow up on leads
Coaching / Supervision

Coach and manage sales staff including professional development, planning, assigning, and directing work; performance management; and review and approval of sales commissions
Ensure that the sales force meets or surpasses sales quotas and revenue goals
Sales Management

With the assistance of accounting and management, set sales quotas and revenue goals. Establish sales goals, means, and methods for all business development personnel and the various departments in need of sales
Develop annual sales plan in support of organizational strategy and objectives
Assist with coordinating marketing/sales campaigns, planning of events, and providing Marketing with information from the sales force with respect to changes in the marketplace, competitive intelligence, etc.
Monitor and evaluate the activities of the competition and prepare reports for senior management
Prepares monthly sales report showing sales volume, potential sales, and areas of proposed client base expansion

READ THE REST AND APPLY

July Training Poll

I am looking for help in preparing our July Technology class. Please take a minute to vote for a topic you are interested in. Choice 4 would cover the new email service as well as touching on Sharepoint.

July Class Topic Poll (Vote Today)

More Cloud Computing In The Borough's Future?

Ok now that the Borough of West Chester is safely in Microsoft's "cloud" for email services we can't possibly stop there (can we). Next in line is Microsoft's "Sharepoint" service which will allow employee's to safely, securly and easily access their files from anywhere with an internet connection.

This new service could play a large part in retiring yet another server (Citrix). There are some challenges here because applications do not run through Sharepoint. However many of us only need access to our files (documents) so there is alot of advantages to this type of cloud service.

Another strong advantage to this type of cloud service is the storing and availability of HR (human resoource) documents and other shared files everyone needs access to. Even public files can be stored here for our residents!

Yet another intriguing advantage regarding Microsoft's "Sharepoint" service is that not only does it allow users to access their files from anywhere but it also has the ability to intigrate the files within your Microsoft Outlook client!

During the next couple of months a few employees will be selected to help me beta test this service and evaluate it's potential.

The Borough's "Sharepoint" portal is already up and running so stand-by for more information. If you are interested in helping to beta test this new service please contact me at wmann@west-chester.com.

If you want to learn more about Microsoft's "Sharepoint" go here to learn more.

Gates Wide Open on June 6, 2011

Barnes Assembly A and West Carpo on 

Matthew Road (Chesapeake)

A secured entrance gate shall be required. All gates are to be kept locked when the operator or his employees are not within the pad site boundary enclosure. (Grand Prairie, TX Gas Drilling Ordinance,  Section 13-516, Page 54)**

**Link to GP Gas Drilling Ordinance, Scroll down to Page 54.

Sales Rep - Yorktown NY

Paychex is always looking for individuals who want to work for a company that allows for growth and development. With your desire to succeed and our training and resources, opportunities at Paychex are more than just jobs. They are your chance to build a solid career with a company named to FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list seven times since 2002. We provide an atmosphere that fosters a healthy work life balance, and our comprehensive benefits package provides health care, retirement planning, education assistance, and much more.

APPLY & LEARN MORE

Summer camp jobs NY

The Summer Institute for the Gifted provides academically advanced students with an interesting and challenging three-week experience by creating a community of student learners who share common interests, abilities, and goals. The program combines remarkable academic courses with cultural, social, and recreational opportunities.

We are seeking energetic, experienced instructors for our 6-14 year old day program hosted at Sarah Lawrence College July 18 - August 5. Opportunities exist to teach mat and science to academically gifted students.

LEARN MORE HERE

Draining the FRAC Pond Without Testing the Water = Really BAD Neighbor

Chesapeake's Monster FRAC Pond

10 Feet From the Back Yards of Westchester Neighbors 

Who Have Not Signed Leases

It Became a GUSHER in December after Chesapeake Finally Moved it 150 Feet South Because They Try So Hard to Be Good Neighbors

And Now It's Being Drained Because 

It Sprang a Leak (After the January Frac Job)

So, Chesapeake is draining the FRAC Pond 500 feet from Westchester Homeowners on Donnie Lane and on the Property of the LessorWestchester Community Church

aka "The Crossing" (We've been told that church services will be conducted near this very spot this summer.)

It's a FRAC Pond Gullywasher

Corn Valley Pad Site Emergency Signage

And Some Nicely Packaged Bags of Stuff for 

Shoring Up the Leaking FRAC Pond

We're sure this guy will be back, too. 

He's responsible for more human deaths than any other living creature.

He's BIG. He absolutely adores his FRAC Pond.

He's bitten everybody twice.

He Just Wants to be Our Neighbor.