#again mason will be the number one blog but its nice to have

[bravegroupie]

like   this   for   a   short   starter   to   be   posted   this   week   !

#˗ˏˋ ᶠᶤᵍ ᶤ· ﹙ out of character ﹚ ﹕ back to the lab again. #tbd. #just a lil something to break the ice #again mason will be the number one blog but its nice to have #newt back as another character to write uwu

[oldshrewsburyian]

if u ever wanna dump an essay about edward fairfax rochester to me...I’m here!

Ahh, you must know how dangerous such an invitation is to an enthusiast! It’s a rainy Sunday evening, I’ve poured myself a glass of wine, and I’m ready to do this. I think Charlotte Brontë is doing and exploring some really interesting things in the character of Rochester, which sometimes get flattened/left out in adaptations. To be fair to the adaptations: he’s still compelling as a Brooding Gothic Protagonist.™

Prolegomenon I: I haven’t read the scholarship on Jane Eyre since undergrad, and I haven’t read The Wide Sargasso Sea since graduate school. I make no claims to particular originality here. And of course, literature can and does hold multiple meanings, etc. etc.; this is my take on Edward Fairfax “Self-Delusion” Rochester. The subfields of Jane Eyre criticism I’m most familiar with/informed by are “Jane Eyre + feminist theory” and “Jane Eyre + ‘early 19th-century debates within Anglicanism, pretty wild, right?’” This should surprise exactly no one who follows this blog.

Prolegomenon II: when I get caught up in my Rochester Feelings in conversation, there is inevitably a point where one of my English-major or -professor friends will shout me down and say “He kept a WIFE in the ATTIC” and I know. I know. It’s inexcusable and I’m not trying to excuse it, and everyone should read Jean Rhys. What I am really interested in doing, though, is exploring Rochester as three-dimensional character, not “man whose bad behavior gets hand-waved aside because reasons.”

First off: Rochester is a man of contradictions. He is a man who is generous to his retainers and his tenants. He is a man who shoulders even social responsibilities that are not strictly his, as we see in the education of Adèle (who might otherwise have died in an uncharitable charitable institution, or become a laundress, or become a courtesan.) True, we meet him as an extremely awkward and fumbling and sometimes resentful figure in loco parentis. But he is trying. I think this is perhaps the key thing about Rochester: what we see him doing for most of the novel, almost always badly, is trying to achieve better (more just, more humane, more equitable) results within a system (patriarchal, economic, colonial) that is rotten at its core. It is not everyone who has the moral fiber of a Jane Eyre, to say “this system is rotten at its core and it is better to starve on the moors or live forever unhappy than to be complicit in it.” The second thing we see Rochester doing, almost always badly, and this is where the contradiction comes in, is trying to avoid his own pain. I’ve intentionally said pain rather than guilt. I think that gets closer to the heart of the matter.

I’m going to get back to my essay in a minute, but an interjection of sorts, before I put the rest of it under a cut: I think it is vital to the novel that Rochester genuinely changes. Justification of this argument and More Emotions below.

For contemporary readers, the concept of repentance as a process may feel unfamiliar, trite, irreversibly sullied by hypocrites. But even if we take it out of Brontë’s extremely Anglican framework, I read Rochester’s profound, unconditional acceptance of his own sin (wrong, if you prefer) against Bertha and the losses which he sees as divine punishment for it as absolutely key to his having a chance at a future with Jane. The concept of divine retribution is surely stranger to us even than that of repentance, but having Thornfield, Rochester’s inheritance, sign and symbol and engine of his patriarchal wealth, built on colonial exploitation, literally go up in flames like the wicked cities of the Old Testament, is Not Exactly Subtle. And, of course, he loses his sight: “If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.” His sight has been, in the most fundamental spiritual sense, diseased. He has been incapable of accurately seeing his own guilt (which is to say, seeing it in proportion to all other things, the other facts of Bertha’s madness, the duplicity of his family and that of the Masons, etc. etc.) So he loses his sight. And then he gains a much richer understanding of, well, everything. Gradually. Not all at once. I have Feelings about the psychological realism of those final chapters, but let me rewind, as it were. [N.B. I’m not arguing that Charlotte Brontë presents all this as a straightforward Divine Smiting. It matters that Bertha gets the freedom to bring all this crashing down (literally), and that she chooses her own end. But I do think that Rochester reads it as Smiting; I think we need to take that final assertion of his seriously. It’s entirely possible to read the Elm Tree Incident, and indeed that bizarre wedding morning, as Rochester waiting, waiting with pounding heart, for the bolt of lightning.]

I believe passionately in Rochester and Jane as a couple for a number of reasons (so many reasons, all the reasons), but perhaps chief among them is that they are both, bless them, raging romantics who have had very little outlet for their rich emotional life or for their unconventional, erudite, intelligent, exploratory spiritualities. OR (sorry, I forgot one) for their intellectual life, come to that! Rochester with his library full of science and his feelings about moths and Jane who becomes a teacher and genuinely loves nurturing young minds. *sobs* I love them so much. But Rochester is far too ready to manipulate others as he has been manipulated, and as others seek to manipulate him. His treatment of Blanche Ingram, for instance, I read as being several things, in shifting proportion 1) an effort to distract himself from Jane; he has few if any scruples about involving the unscrupulous and mercenary Miss Ingram in bigamy 2) an effort to distract the neighborhood and its gossip from Jane; why, after all, has he been at Thornfield so long without entertaining anyone?? very suspicious 3) an effort to find out what Jane’s feelings for him are. We see her ready to sting him into jealousy at the end too, a nice little bit of symmetry. Rochester is, yes, high-handed in the extreme. But I read the conversation under the elm tree not as a cynical test, but a genuine and painfully awkward attempt to figure out what Jane’s feelings for him really are. Yes, they’ve been having High Spiritual Communion and intellectual discussions and mutual teasing and borderline flirting for however many weeks it’s been. But also: he’s her employer. He’s at least 15 years older than she is (I forget the details on this. 15? 20? anyway, point stands.) He is not and never has been handsome, and he knows exactly how little his wealth counts for with Jane. He’s deeply weird and his house is weird and he comes with a French ward and a mysterious attic and a wife. But does she love him anyway? She does! *cries about it* 

Of course, none of this excuses the inexcusable. The proposal-to-wedding sequence shows us Rochester at his moral nadir, in relation to both Bertha and Jane. It also shows him on the knife edge of losing control over his integrity in other ways, now that he has violated this one. (Remember when Jane comes back to Thornfield and says “Reader, I had feared worse; I had feared he was mad”? Yeah, there’s a reason for that.) Anyway, allow me to present excerpts from Chapter 27, which lives in paraphrase in my head at all times:

[W]hile he spoke my very conscience and reason turned traitors against me, and charged me with crime in resisting him. They spoke almost as loud as Feeling: and that clamoured wildly. "Oh, comply!" it said. "Think of his misery; think of his danger—look at his state when left alone; remember his headlong nature; consider the recklessness following on despair—soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him and will be his. 

Whew! Anyway, she decides not to despite the fact that she and Rochester feel exactly the same way in this moment:

I am insane—quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot.

*sobs harder* I think it is vitally important to point out that Jane is not cold or even, in this moment, convinced by her own arguments. She and Rochester are, moments after this, in each other’s arms, the language of fire and flame used for them both, and Rochester releases her first because he wants her influenced by nothing but her own will; not their shared passion, and certainly not his own force.

...Where was I before I got caught up with the unbearable sexual and emotional tension? Oh yes, Rochester after Jane leaves. He embraces an extremely thorough program of self-punishment. The most obvious course of action for him -- the one that Jane, the person who knows him best in all the world, assumes he has taken -- is to run away from his pain again, to leave England. He does not do that. He does the opposite of that. He refuses to so much as leave Thornfield itself except to roam the grounds at night. I love this book so much.  Then, after the fire, which happens only 2 months after Jane leaves, he goes to Ferndean. Now! The only thing we have learned about Ferndean previously is that Rochester refused to have Bertha live there because its bad climate would have (or at least might have) killed her. We learn from Jane-as-narrator that literally no one will rent it, again, because of its “ineligible and insalubrious site.” Rochester has, with heartbreaking obviousness, given up on life. He has, by his own account, been “doing nothing, expecting nothing,” in “ceaseless sorrow... [and] delirium of desire.”

 ...Edward Fairfax Rochester has never heard of chill. Also, as we learn, though he is worried about his disabilities because he is worried that Jane will mind, and because they make him a less eligible potential husband in his own estimation (*sniffle*), what he has been chiefly preoccupied with for the last year is worrying about where Jane is and if she’s all right. Again: the man has never heard of chill. But his impulses are generous. He is the heir to a rotten and a poisoned inheritance, and he begins by blaming this inheritance -- his external circumstances, both his privilege and the choices that he is pushed into by his father and brother -- for his own injuries and the ways in which he has injured others. But I (obviously) vigorously cling to the belief that he genuinely turns away from this, that he confronts his own sins and repents and accepts that he will not, cannot, be reunited with Jane in this life. But then he is. *cries about it* Moreover, in a key reorientation from his earlier avoidance-and-denial coping strategy, he accepts Jane’s services “without painful shame or damping humiliation.” He un-hermits himself! He and Jane travel to see friends and family! They receive visitors! These romantic-hearted science nerds proceed to be shockingly normal... for their own given value of that. I’m also convinced that they have the kinkiest sex in nineteenth-century English literature, and I support them. And part of their happiness is the happiness of others; it’s the opposite of Rochester’s globe-trotting, radically individualistic conduct in the first part of the novel. Of course it’s more than he deserves; he knows that, and he needs to know it. But it’s narratively elegant, and (I think) deeply satisfying. And I love it. And, obviously, him... again, more than he deserves.

#jane eyre #edward fairfax rochester #was recently reminded of how hard i ship jane/rochester #is a tag that i have #asks and answers #emilydickinsonapologist

[thehollowprince]

Sterek, Thiam, & Queerbaiting, Oh My!

(Or how racism and homophobia suppressed the actual representation of gay men in the show that fandom so desperately claimed they wanted.)

So, I'm just going to come out and say it right off the bat: neither of these ships were actually queerbaiting. As a matter of fact, I'd say that those ships just by themselves (and the fandoms that rose around them) were low-key homophobic. The reason I say this isn't just because of the large number of women in this fandom that fetishize mlm sexuality, nor is it about those who attack anyone who has any critique of those ships, its just about the ships themselves.

Now, one could argue that those ships arose from the fandom, and that is true, forever linking canon and fanon in the worst possible way, but this is more to do with the fact that the production of this show cowtowed to the vocal fans on Twitter and put moments in there that, while not explicitly canon, was a not-so-subtle nod to those "fans" that harassed people over crack ships.

Of course, I've been over this before, the pedophilic nature of Sterek and the outright abusive elements to Thiam, but those very real complaints (from an actual gay man like myself) always fall on deaf ears or is usually met with the whole "fiction doesn't affect reality" spiel. And this is incredibly frustrating (or even downright infuriating) to those of us who have had to live with these stereotypes because of our sexuality. To this day there are people out there who equate gay men with pedophiles. That's one of the major talking points for these anti-LGBT religious groups and there's an entire group of people on the internet who are dedicated to promoting a predatory style relationship (Sterek).

What makes the popularity of Sterek so infuriating, is the fact that we had Danny right there. Danny was present in the second episode of the series. We were introduced to him before there was any kind of interaction between Stiles and Derek, and yet he is continually slept on by the fandom, and then by the production as a result of the fandom, which eventually led to Danny just disappearing from the show entirely. To add insult to injury, Danny was practically everything Fandom was crying for when it came to gay representation. He was handsome with a nice body, smart and funny, and everyone liked him, and yet there's usually cricket chirps whenever he's mentioned. Something similar happened to Scott - a character that who stuck fast to his morals and was just an all around good person, and yet so many people violently hated him. Now what could Danny and Scott have in common that made so many people look past them? Gee, I wonder?

Moving forward, once Sterek was no longer a possibility, rather than focus on, I don't know, Mason, a character that was tailor-made for the fandom, they once again make up a crack ship to flock around (Thiam) rather than focus on the actual, consensual relationship that was made up of actual gay characters.

But you may be saying to yourself, "at least these two (Theo and Liam) were around the same age", and you would be right in that regards. But what makes this ship bad, is that it's rooted entirely in first deceit and then later in physical violence. I remember very vividly seeing someone say that Liam and Theo punching each other was how they expressed their affection and I was horrified by that. How many times a day on this app do we see posts floating around that domestic violence is wrong? And then how many times do you see a ship (usually a crack ship) that a fandom loves rooted in physical violence? The disconnect is terrifying.

All of this while Mason and Corey were right there, being cute and in love and everything that fandom claims they want when it comes to representation, yet they're totally ignored in favor of the two straight characters beating the shit out of one another. This is why so many franchises revolving around these "macho men" are able to thrive, even though so many people (mostly women) in fandom claim they want softer men. And yet, whenever a softer man is presented, particularly if they're a man of color, they're brushed aside.

And that's just mlm representation! You hear almost nothing when it comes to wlw representation, unless its to get the women "out of the way".

This all comes down to the racism that permeates every level of fandom. I'm not saying this is intentional, because we've all done it. Hell, I did it. When I joined the Teen Wolf fandom, I followed pro-Sterek blogs and reblogged Sterek posts, because I wanted to be accepted in the fandom, and I bought into the propaganda that was fanon!Sterek. I read the metas and the fics and decided to believe in those instead of what I saw on the screen with my own two eyes. Thankfully, I snapped out of it, but that's why Sterek (and later Thiam) dominated fandom spaces, even making their way to polls for "Best Couple" on many websites.

And then, when these ships don't become canon, fandom screams QUEERBAITING!!! Even though those ships were something made up entirely by the fandom and never something that production considered being canon.

Another big part of how the situation gets as bad as it does is that fandom misunderstands (either accidentally or deliberately) what racism actually means. It's not just the throwing of slurs, it's the preference of the white character over the character of color, even though the latter has everything they said they wanted. Racism is reducing characters of color to stereotypes, such as a brown or brown person being violent (Tamora and Kali) or the sexually obsessed Latino (Scott) or the untrustworthy negro (Deaton and Morrell). Hell, even Boyd was thrust into the silent negro stereotype for some reason.

Now this part, this is as much the production's fault as it is the fandoms, because while the former introduced those concepts (or even if fandom thinks they introduced those concepts) fandom then takes them and blows them out of proportion. How many times have I gotten an ask from that one anon telling me that Scott was "obsessed" with Allison? How many times have I seen metas about how Deaton was "untrustworthy" because he didn't share his every waking thought? How many times did we see particular blogs slut-shame Braeden because she engaged in a consensual relationship with Derek?

And the thing about those is, yes, the original idea was introduced in the show, such as Scott's relationship with Allison or Deaton only offering advice when asked or Derek and Braeden flirting, but fandom took them and cranked them up to eleven in an effort to make these characters look horrible. This is something we don't see at all when it comes to their white counterparts. Stiles is never described as "obsessed" by the fandom despite his fixation on Lydia. Peter is almost never described as "untrustworthy" by the fans despite lying and decieving people all the time. Neither Lydia or Malia are called sluts for being sexually active despite not being in relationships.

When Derek repeatedly assaults Stiles (or Scott, not that fandom cared), it's seen as quirky or romantic (same with Thiam), but when Scott hits Isaac or Jackson, in scenes that were very specifically shown to be comedic, its seen as abusive and violent. Stiles asking Danny if he's "attractive to gay guys" or pausing after Caitlin asked him if he liked guys is deemed proof that he's bisexual, but Scott's interactions with Isaac and Danny (or even Stiles himself), where had they been a guy and a girl, it would have clearly been an intimate moment, is still considered absolutely straight by fandom.

So what's the difference?

It's the racism.

The real kicker at the end of the day here is that fans cry queerbaiting, all the while they're actively sleeping on the actual gay representation that's there. It doesn't fit their aesthetic, so they ignore it, and then wonder why mlm relationships are going down in television. I'm not saying we shouldn't want or demand more representation in media, but people can't be so ignorant as to outright ignore the representation they're given and then wonder why they're not getting more.

Well, this got way longer than I originally intended and I hope I'm not just screaming into the void, but this is an issue that's still relevant, all these years after Teen Wolf ended.

#teen wolf meta #teen wolf fandom problems #teen wolf racism #scott mccall defense squad #anti sterek #anti thiam

[bikeforlife]

Bike Tour Blog

I honestly can’t believe I made it from the Pacific to Atlantic.   This morning I woke up in my own bed for the first time since early February.  Oh my god it felt so good.  If a mattress maker wanted a testimonial, today would definitely be the day to get one from me.   After 45 days straight of being on a bike it feels really good to be home. 

On the first week we made from San Diego to Tucson Arizona.  This section had some significant climbs through places like Alpine CA  and  Pine Valley CA and lots of desert riding in eastern tip of California and the state of Arizona.  We camped in San Dunes CA where ATV’s are very popular and in places like desert view towers that had insane views of the Ko-Pah mountains.   We also slept in a town park in small town in Arizona called Welton.  I did snap my chain in Pine Valley but Tone was right there to help out.  It was also the first time I rode my bike on the interstate and the first time I ever had rode a bike 10 miles straight downhill from the Ko Pah Mountains to Ocatillo California. 

The next few week would take us through New Mexico and the beginning of Texas.  The highlight of this section was the climb through the Gila National Forest on our way to Emory Pass.  This section had absolutely breathtaking views and an abundance of nature.  We climbed to over 8200 feet of elevation at the peak and went through awesome towns like Silver City NM and Hillsboro, NM.  A couple days later we crossed the border into Texas at El Paso. This mammoth state would be approximately 1/3rd of the total miles we would cover.  Many parts of the Us but especially Texas  had recently experience significant weather event with snow, freezing conditions, and a failure of the local power grid.  Fortunately we got to the state about a week after the weather had passed.   

In Eastern Texas a significant portion of our miles would be on US highway 90.  This would feature some awesome small towns like Marathon and Sierra Blanca Texas. The route also had remote areas  of riding where there wouldn’t even be a gas station for 80+ miles.  I found myself having more to think and unwind than at any part of my adult life.   It was also during this stretch that we stayed at some great state parks.  Seminole Canyon State Park and Lost Maples State Park in particular stood out to me.    There is something magical about looking at the stars on a clear night without light pollution.  

Eventually we went through Austin, Texas and I got to reconnect with my friends Jason and Max. After so much time pedaling through remote areas it feels really good to see friends and be in a city.   Austin as a city has grown so much since I was there last.  I ate great food during our off day and found an amazing bike mechanic that help me resolve a derailleur issue that had been lingering since San Diego.  

We would hit a few more state parks on the eastern half of Texas and eventually crossed into Louisiana.  After being in a very dry part of Texas the swamps of Louisiana offered a very different riding experience.  For the most part the terrain was flat and the roads were in good condition.  This part of the tour was special to me because of the amazing friends we made.  During one week we stayed with Mandy in Deritter, LA and Perry in Jackson, LA.  These amazing people took us into their homes and did everything they could to be helpful and make us feel at home.  We were able to take a day off in New Orleans which was awesome.  My friend Chris and his friend Bobby came down from from Jackson Miss and we all got a chance to hang.   It was great to see Chris again after almost a decade of not seeing him.  Hopefully I’ll make it to Mississippi at some point 

The final stretch would have us riding through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.   During this time we met even more incredible hosts.   Kellie/Mason in Bay Saint Louis and Dave/Stacy in Bagdad, Fl were both incredibly kind and generous.  Thank you for everything.  The ride took us through places like Dalphin Island, Alabama.  I never knew there were islands in Alabama . They are absolutely gorgeous.  

We stayed in a couple more awesome state parks in this stretch.   In Bainbridge Georgia we stayed in the east bank campground operated by the army core of engineers.  They gave us a site right by the water and it was a pretty magical experience.  The final section of the tour featured a massive uptick in the number of bugs in these parks.   I found that during camping were almost always under attack from mosquitoes or being visited by either argentine ants, caterpillars , or bees.  Bug spray can help but sometimes you just have to cover every single bit of skin on your body. 

During the final day push to the ocean Tone and I split up.  The original route that we were using had us going through Jacksonville to Saint Augustine Florida. He wanted to stick to the route while  I made a decision to go directly to Jacksonville which was more direct to the Atlantic Ocean.  For me the final day was filled with a range of emotions and thoughts.  Admittedly even 10 years later I still have some anxiety of my past medical condition.  As i’m riding i’m feeling a huge sense of accomplishment and simultaneous release of anxiety/stress. To be able to survive a full coast to coast tour of the United States on a bike is the kind of proof that the only limitations are the ones I place on myself.  I think about my life with Riana over the past 10 years and how fortunate we’ve been to be able to experience living in larger cities, traveling abroad, and getting to start our own business.  

I think about how grateful I am to Tony for doing this tour with me.  I’ve known him for 15 years and he’s always pushed me to do things outside my comfort zone.  From helping me get first passport stamp, to hosting great events, to now riding through the US on a bike.  Particularly on this tour he went above and beyond.  He help me with mechanical issues which i’m not particularly good at, he lead our route navigation almost every day, he found places for us to stay, and helped lead us through all kinds of unique day to day challenges.  

My tour came to a strange end.  I was on my way to stay at my friends Stephanie’s house in jacksonville when I stopped at a convenience store.  When I came out my bike and all of my gear was stolen.  This included my passport, clothes, tent, sleeping bag, paneers, bike tools, food, journal, and more.  I tried my best to look through the neighborhood and called the police but no luck in recovering any of it.  As unfortunate as this situation is, I'm grateful it happened on the final day of the tour just a couple of miles from my friends house.  I won’t let that person take away my memories and diminish the experience.   They are worth infinitely more than the material value of the bike and my belongings.  

As i’ve had a couple of days to relax before going back to work  i’ve been reflecting on the experience more.  I absolutely would recommend doing something like this to anyone I know for a few reasons.   It’s a great way to decompress.  You have time to actively think and it helps your focus significantly.  The riding is tough but manageable.  I only rode my bike on a couple training rides beforehand.  I was also asked a ton of questions from people about my experience. So I wanted to answer them one by one below.  

What did you eat?  

Being a vegan on a bike tour has its challenges.  I ate a lot of clif bars, peanut butter banana burritos, trail mix, , Fritos chips, subway Veggie Delights without cheese and Impossible burgers from Burger Kings.   Honestly a lot of days on tour it was challenging to find vegan friendly dishes.  Thankfully our hosts made some really nice home cooked vegan meals and every large city we visited had great vegan options.  

Where did you sleep?  

It was a mix of hotels, backyards , rv parks, state parks, town parks , and then random wild camping.   On nights where it was too cold to camp we opted for hotel most of the time.  

What gear did you have?    This was my packing list before the bike was stolen. 

Tools Bag

Park tool Allen key Hand pump Kevlar spoke Back up derailleur  Baby wipes Chain scrubber Degreaser Spare tube x2 3 tire lever adjustable wrench Poncho Hand warmer Head lamp

Food Bag Varies but generally 3 portable camp meals  Clif bars 

Back paneer 1

Extra water plastic jug - Nalgene Sleeping bag (40 degrees) Sleeping bag liner. (10-15 degree etc) Micro fiber Towel Waterproof socks Large winter gloves Small gloves Zip ties

Back paneer 2 Short tech shirts (red and green) Socks (long wool, short cotton Medium wool Blue t shirt

-Toiletries bag

Deodorant dr Bonner liquid and bar soap, bug spray toothbrush toothpaste back up Masks Hand sanitizer

Electronics bag Solar charger Headphone and charger Cell charger Extra water container - 3 liter emergency

Duffle Sleeping pad Wind pants Under armour Long sleeve shirts (grey , black , blue yellow winter Jacket

What was the hardest part?    I suspect every single rider will have a different answer to this .  For me there were two things that probably equally as challenging.  First and foremost there are large portions where people are not wearing masks.  It was very demoralizing to be in situations constantly where people have made a conscious decision to disregard the health of others.  Since the services were so spread out I found myself having to get food from places that have anti mask propaganda on their front door.  

Secondly this tour really taught me that I am more comfortable in cities and around people.  It was charming to spend  days riding our bikes through  farm country in remote roads but eventually it began to wear on me and I found myself crave cities.  Also in cities the percentage of people wearing masks shot up significantly.  

What was your favorite small town?  

I really enjoyed Silver City New Mexico.   It was a quirky mountain with good architecture and really nice people.  There was also a very helpful bike shop, great co-op,  nice motel, and the town was filled with cool art.    

What was the weather like?  

For the most part we had good weather.   I would say were typically 50-60’s during the day on the first half but colder at night.   We were able to avoid some of the extreme weather that hit Texas but still found ourselves that was a little too cold to camp in.    Most of the biggest issue that would we would face would be consistent headwinds.  After a first week full of tailwinds the rest of the tour would almost always deal us 10-25 mph headwinds.   

How many issues did you have with your bike?  

There are always some day to day issues but the most common were flat tires ( I think i had 5 throughout the trip), My front derailleur was a consistent issue.   The fenders on the bike were kind of a pain.   However for an old 80’s bike with an older drive train it held up pretty well.   I would recommend to anyone thinking about touring to consider customizing their bike to their own needs as opposed to buying a brand new touring bike.   There will always be maintenance.    

 How did your body hold up?   

For the most part I wasn’t in a lot of pain on this tour.   Everyone’s body is different.  I found that if I got a majority of my miles during the morning I would do much better.   However on days where we were riding until close to sun down i found myself in a lot of pain near the end of the day.   Most commonly knees, butt, lower back, quads.   Occasionally my hands would be numb on long riding days.   

How long did it take?  

45 days coast to coast.   During that period we took 3 full days off and had a number of short days (30-40 miles).    I’m told that this was a very quick trip as many folks take between 60-70 days to complete this route.  

What would you recommend to someone doing this?  

There are a million things but i’ll try to summarize here.  

If you’re touring with other people try to have honest conversations in advance about things like how many miles you want to shoot for a day.   How early in the morning do you want to start pedaling.   Where you are you comfortable staying.  What kind of timeline you’re under with work?    What food you’re comfortable sharing.   If you’re comfortable deviating off the route to save miles/time.       Ultimately the more you and your riding partners discuss this in advance the less confusion you’ll have day to day.  

With your work I would communicate to co-workers honestly how involved you want to be while away.   Some have traditional jobs that allow them to totally leave work and decompress.  In my case as an entrepreneur I found myself involved on almost daily basis with work.   For me that was comfortable but for others it might take away from their experience.   

I would also make sure that you have a good instinct for eating food even when you’re not hungry.  I had to learn this throughout the tour as my food options were limited with a vegan diet.  

I would recommend that you try to do some level of training in advance.  On my first bike tour I did almost no training and I was in pain almost right away.  On this one I did some cross training and some scheduled rides.  It made all of the difference in the world as far as my day pain levels.   

Would you do it again? 

I don’t personally know if I would do a tour of this length again.   While I enjoyed the experience and the bucket list aspect of it I found myself going through the motions on a lot of days.    I think I would enjoy much more doing a tour of a 7-14 days.   Possibly if I’m ever retired I may feel differently but the looming pressure of my career was a bit hard to get through mentally.   

[ayonde]

My journey beyond MBA into Canada (Blog#10)

After graduation we went to Orlando to see Disney/Universal. That trip burned a hole in my pocket. Washington DC was the last leg and luckily the museums in DC are free to public unlike New York. We survived on McDonald's for couple of days as I simply ran out of money.

Signing bonus was a new concept. I had assumed that I would get that money the moment I accept the offer letter. Only to realize that I would actually get it 45 days after joining. I was running dangerously low on cash so I requested Cartesian to give me 50% of my signing bonus upfront which they trustingly did.

Location: Cartesian also gave me options for my location. Boston was too far up north and cold. Philadelphia was tough. New York was costly. Washington DC has nice summer and I was familiar with Northern Virginia due to its proximity to Williamsburg. So I selected DC.

My friend Vipul helped me get a lease at his apartment complex in Herndon, VA. My wife joined me in US to join me while rest of my family left for India. Doing grocery was a problem. Walking to the store and carrying big bags was too laborious. Ever since I drove Chris’s car I wanted to buy a Subaru Forester but as I had no credit history and my income hasn’t come yet no one was ready to give me auto loan. I approached Bank of America but they declined – even though I showed my offer letter with salary information they wouldn’t lend me a single cent unless I agree for 20% APR.

Once again, Vipul introduced me to Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU). DCU gave me the full $20,000 at competitive 2.29% APR. I searched online to shortlist few cars. Hilariously changed 3 buses and a Metro with my wife and traveled to Manassas, VA to buy my Forester. Now I could reach places within minutes – such a big relief!

2015: Luckily my first project was with Time Warner Cable and their office was a mile away from my apartment. I would come back home to have lunch or walk to office. 

Life was good. 

It became better as I got news from Larry that USCIS cleared my RFE and my H1-B was approved. Huge sigh of relief! The H1-B came into effect in October. I noticed that my take home pay decreased as now I had to pay into Social Security and Medicare.

I felt that this system was unfair. As foreign national working in US I was a non-resident alien but for tax purposes I was a resident alien. I could not benefit from SSN or Medicare but I had to contribute into those programs. Additionally, every time I exit US, I had to get my passport stamped and answer lot of questions at port of entry. Cartesian also had to file paperwork to USCIS whenever I changed apartments as my address of residence was listed in my petition.

2016: Having money felt great but my wife couldn’t work in US. We thought of starting a family but I wanted her to earn and be financially independent. I thought “If I can come to US and get work after US education, my wife and sister can do that as well”. We put our family plans on hold. Raising kids would mean a gap of 5+ years for my wife which could prove insurmountable in rejoining workforce.

She liked William & Mary’s Masters of Accounting. She enrolled in Northern Virginia Community College to get prerequisite credits. My wife and sister took the GMAT/TOEFL and applied to schools.

My wife got admits from George Mason, American University and W&M. My sister got admits from CUNY Baruch, Fordham, Johns Hopkins, American and Bentley for Masters in Marketing Analytics. Even though CUNY was 1/3rd the cost of Fordham and Johns Hopkins is a huge brand name, I advised my sister to enroll in Fordham as it is STEM certified. STEM allows international students to be eligible for 2 years of extended OPT in addition to the initial 1. This provides 3 years to find an employer who would file for H-1B.

For obvious reasons, my wife selected W&M. Since I could work from home, I decided to move back to Williamsburg to lower our living cost and be together. I did not have sufficient money for my wife’s education. Luckily I learned about Mpower Finance. They provided $25,000 without collateral at 11.99% APR both to my wife and my sister. This was a game changer. I took a personal loan from DCU for the remainder amount. I paid my sister’s monthly rent in NYC. By fall both enrolled in their respective schools. I asked Cartesian to apply for my Green Card (GC) but they asked to revisit in 2017

2017: I visited India in Oct and that’s when my mother fell and broke her shoulder. It became clear to me that I need to live together with my parents. I asked Cartesian again for GC but they refused to apply. To be fair I still had another year on my H-1B and could renew it for 3 more years. Usually companies exhaust 6 years of H-1B before sponsoring for GC. The problem is that USCIS puts a cap on number of GC applications per country. Which means that India with a population of 1.3 Billion gets the same number of GC slots as Lithuania – a country of 3 million. This cap puts a wait time of 10 to 15 years for Indians and Chinese to get GC in best case estimate. Worst case puts the waiting period at 45 years!

Even if I received GC, I still couldn’t stay with my parents. I started exploring other options and learned about Canadian Permanent Residency. My wife and I applied to Canada’s point based PR. During application I got to know another Indian applicant. He was 38 years old, had two kids. Worked in US on H-1B for 7 years. (2 renewals + 1 extended year) His company exploited him and gave him $138,000 while his American coworkers made $200,000+ He couldn’t leave his job as his company was filing for his GC, because of his age he scored less points in the Canadian PR process. He was in a pickle.

I decided I didn’t want to be in his shoes after 5 years. By mid-2017, my wife faced rejections at interviews due to companies unwilling to sponsor H-1B. Luckily she contacted Tim who owns La Tienda at Toano, VA and is a W&M Alumni. They hired her for a yearlong internship during the course of her OPT. My sister also found a job at NYC but the hours were killing her. Rampant racism existed in her company. English Hons fresh out of school American citizens are fast tracked into Managers while  Indian employees who had considerable experience in SPSS, SAS etc. and had a MS in Marketing / Analytics were made to work at grassroots. I decided to leave US when my wife’s internship and her OPT would conclude in July 2018. By December we had received our Canadian PR.

I owed my parents $80,000 for my MBA. I had little money saved. So I decided to buy a property in India. I would pay the mortgage on it and my parents would rent it out. The rent would provide them additional income to support cost of living.

2018: I was bleeding money from all ends – rent, auto loan, mortgage, education loan and taxes. Additionally, I couldn’t plan for retirement or invest in a property while in US.

Since both of us were earning and our cost of living was low. I decided to use snowball effect. First, paid off my wife’s education loan by making lump sum payments every month. That freed up the money going towards that loan. We used that additional money and attacked the next – auto loan was now repaid. Only mortgage remained as we moved to Canada in July 2018.

In September my H-1B expired. I resigned from Cartesian as a full-time employee and rejoined as independent contractor. This worked in my favour as I was able to get a 20% hike. I was promoted to Manager. I did not miss forgoing benefits like medical etc. as those are provided in Canada under universal healthcare.

We setup base in Toronto and my wife landed a job soon. We used the snowball effect once more to pay off my mortgage in India. After 4 years or so I recouped my Return on Investment on my MBA.

2019/2020: I was debt free and started saving money. Paying rent in the Greater Toronto Area was expensive and paying the same amount in mortgage made more sense. We bought a house and started a family. My sister also applied for her PR and joined us. I applied for my parent’s Super Visa – which allowed them to stay up to 2 years in Canada at each entry. After 6 long years we all were together again.

In conclusion, I feel lucky that I was able to successfully use my MBA to transition into consulting, change geography and attain higher purchasing power.

#find-mba #mpower #dcu #digital credit union #h-1b visa #canada #h-1b #beyond mba

[quicksilverlightning]

The Interview, Ch. 3

It was a few days before he looked up the web address she had given him, caught up as he was with work at the school. It was a lazy Saturday morning when Toshinori popped open his laptop and typed into the search bar.

He found her blog easily enough and clicked on the link where he was greeted by a familiar photo; himself, grinning, one arm around her shoulders as she lifted the camera with a shyly happy expression. Below, a short caption:

We aren't strangers anymore

along with a post recapping the day:

My first meeting with All Might was something of a disaster; thankfully, I managed to keep myself together for the second time! Having met the man twice now, I feel comfortable saying that he really is as nice as he's always seemed on television.

He clicks on the link in the first paragraph, curious about her take on the day they met. Most of the post is a simple recap for her readers, but the writing is interspersed with thoughts and diversions that offer surprising insights into her personality. It's easy to see why she has something of a following.

He was so kind; just being near him was giving me flashbacks to Kamino - something I still don't feel ready to write about - but he sat with me, letting me work it out of my system. He made me tea. I think it was chamomile.

Huh. So she was in Kamino Ward that night. It does explain a few things about the meeting. Obviously, it wasn't just nerves causing her to act so jumpy. He files the knowledge away for another time.

His hero form is something of a persona he puts on, but it's not exactly a mask - more like an exaggeration. The person is kind and brave and strong, while the hero is all those things taken to the extreme. It's a matter of intensity, not honesty.

That catches his eye, and leaves him a little breathless; he's seen the thinkpieces floating around, comparing his dual identities, but this is the first time someone has so clearly understood.

"Intensity, not honesty," he murmurs the phrase to himself.

I know a lot of the reactions have centered on things like "scarecrow" and "skeleton," but I was put more in mind of a sunflower.

Toshinori guffawed at that - skeleton he was used to, and scarecrow was understandable, but sunflower?

Tall, lanky, yellow hair, sunny disposition - I mean, it fits, right?

Sunflower. The descriptor wasn't one he would have ever thought of, but it did bring a glow to his chest. Yes, he could work with sunflower.

_______________________________________________

Direct message from: Sunflower220 It occurred to me after posting a few comments on your posts that I might need to send you a direct message. I suppose a sudden influx of comments from an anonymous stranger would look rather odd, yes? I don't want my behavior to be interpreted poorly, but your ordinary adventures are every bit as fascinating to me as my hero career must be to you.

It's been a long time since I was a civilian - even now, I occupy a unique place in society. My power is gone, but the fame remains. Seeing the world from the perspective of the people I protected through your posts was an absolute joy. I will, of course, back away if you wish it - I understand that the attention may be overbearing, even unnerving, and I don't wish to cause you any discomfort. Thank you for giving me this glimpse into your world.

Regards,

All Might

P.S. - I was absolutely tickled to be compared to a sunflower! I made it my username - do you like it?

Direct message to: Sunflower220 Thank you for the heads-up, but I don't mind at all! I'm glad you enjoy my ramblings. You've fought to protect us all for such a long time - if I can do anything in return, even this small joy, then that's enough heroism for me.

And I love your screen name! The 220 is for your height, right? It suits you!

Direct message from: Sunflower220 Ah, so you are a fan, to know my height so easily.

Direct message to: Sunflower220 Well, yes. Everyone's a fan of All Might, especially now.

Direct message from: Sunflower220 I must admit, I find myself bemused to still be so highly regarded by the world. I'm flattered that so many people still see me as a hero.

Direct message to: Sunflower220 Why? You are.

_______________________________________________ 

She cleaned my room while I was gone. Picked up the floor, vacuumed the rug, made the bed. The mess makes her grouchy, twitchy. But my mess and her mess are different creatures; hers are monsters to be conquered; mine are companions to be loved. A perfectly smooth river stone; ticket scraps to each concert; a woven basket crafted in Mexico. My bookshelves overflow and my floor is scuffed and my desk is covered in paint stains and each flaw is a memory and each mess is an experience. My rumpled bedsheets know the curve of my body; my shoes are always ready to walk  out the door; the bottom left drawer of my desk gets stuck, and I’m okay with that.  It’s fine. It’s secondhand, worn and loved, and does its job faithfully. And when it gets stuck, I only need to pull a little harder.

Comment from Sunflower220 You are so very gifted at capturing the magic in the ordinary; I'm honestly jealous! My desk only gets covered in paperwork.

Ah, thank you! I do have a proper desk for all kinds of paperwork, but this one was for my little art-stuff desk.

_______________________________________________

I had lost count of the stations. Was it seven, or eight coming up? There were no numbers on the platforms. I could feel the train beginning to slow down as the iron girders outside became less of a blur. The train stopped.

 I saw him then – that shock of white hair, shining between the shadows of people boarding the train. I stood up, making my way through, trying not to bump into anyone, or their luggage. The newcomers seated themselves quickly, like they knew exactly where they were meant to be. Like they had always been on this car.

 The whistle blew suddenly and I jumped, jerking my head to the window. Only Dios was left at the station, and the doors were still at the other end of the car. My stomach lurched – I had to get off, now. I pushed my way past, no longer mindful of tact; it was blocking my way. I jumped over a travel case; I think I may have elbowed someone. Something caught my foot and I fell, grabbing at a train pole to steady myself – my hands slid right down and I landed on my face. My stomach lurched again and I scrambled up, trying to kick off the handbag loop my shoe was caught in. The lady in her seat didn’t even look up from her hands.

 I heard the train hissing as the steam began to build. I looked up – Dios had rushed up the platform, right to the door.

 “Get off the train!” Another hiss as the pneumatic doors began to close. I kicked off my shoe, tripping again, trying to reach the end of the car, too late. My hands slammed against the window. Dios looked at me briefly from the other side, and disappeared suddenly as the train lurched. I fell for the third time in as many minutes, just catching a glimpse of white hair running to the engine car.

 Comment from Sunflower220

Well?! PLEASE tell me there's more to this story. What happens next?!

I don't know! That's as far as my dream got before I woke up!

  _______________________________________________

I'm not suggesting that Endeavor can reproduce asexually, but has anyone ever actually seen his wife?

Comment from Sunflower220

I wish I could simply laugh this off, but, unfortunately, I have not.

_______________________________________________

Bit of bronchitis. That's what I get for waiting so long to go to the doctor I guess. Thankfully, it wasn't very advanced and I'm largely out of the woods after two weeks of illness, even if I did cough so hard I made myself vomit today. That was a new experience, let me tell you. I didn't go to bed until 7am this morning, so my sleep schedule is once again shot to hell. I went to eat breakfast, then went to bed. I've got a few days of antibiotics left, and I'm on a steroid I have to take very 12 hours. Still a bit sensitive to light, but I think my headaches are gone.

 Comment from Sunflower220

I feel a little silly commenting on a post that's years old now, but this is so relatable to me. Late nights, out-of-sync circadian rhythm, the coughing - believe me, you can vomit up much worse from coughing like that.

You don't have to feel awkward about commenting - I like it! It's like getting a little reminder every now and then. I actually haven't had bronchitis since his post, so that's something to be grateful for ^^ I'll take your word for it about the coughing though.

_______________________________________________

The poetry professor doesn’t look like she’s from Kentucky; she doesn’t look like anyone from below the Mason-Dixon Line with her high heels, patterned stockings and lion’s mane of blonde corkscrews. But sometimes she talks about Momma, chicken wire fences, and bare feet summers and maybe I could see her in scraped-knee jeans instead of pencil skirts.

Throat cancer took his hair, but not his brain, nor his chipper attitude. He strides long, like a black-necked stilt of his native Louisiana, and whistles like a fox sparrow underneath his fedora. His classes lay cuckoo eggs in our ears that hatch into vague feelers of ideas, burrowed somewhere in the unconscious until we collage it with the other wreckages of forgotten memory patterns that sleep in nests made of mirror shards and Christmas lights.

The education professor is a whirlwind of high energy and charisma on his best days. Lately though, his blue, Pilot ballpoint pens are running empty, ink pooling in messy splotches on ungraded essays. The strain of two positions, teacher and administrator, gets to him. His exhaustion makes me tired; to see the vitality being siphoned out of his slender frame by the routine wear and tear that has faded his two-button jackets, frayed his loose shoelaces, and settled, like those last drops of ink, into the hollows under his eyes, until a good night’s sleep bleeds the lakebed dry.

Comment from Sunflower220 Were these were all teachers of yours? The descriptions are so real.

Yes! I butted heads with the poetry professor all the time; I hated her classes, but I had to take them for my degree.

I sympathize with the education professor - I too find myself exhausted after a day of dealing with students.

He's one of my best friends - we're still close, years after I graduated.

That's wonderful! I hope I can say the same thing about my students in the future!

_______________________________________________

What kind of tree is Kamui Woods supposed to be anyway? Oak? Willow? Ash? Cedar? THE WORLD NEEDS ANSWERS!

Comment from Sunflower220

I'm partial to cedar trees myself! That said, I have no idea.

I love cedar trees! They smell divine. But my favorites are willow trees and cypress trees - I love cypress roots.

Is there something special about the roots?

Yes! Cypress trees that grow in swampy areas have these "knee" roots. It's probably easier to look it up than to explain.

I see! It does look rather strange, all the roots poking up through the water.

It's neat though, right? There's a mountain trail I used to hike as a kid that went past loads of cypress trees. We used to balance walking on them, and played in the hollow trunks. Once, I saw a wild snapping turtle on the other side of the bank, so that was pretty cool.

_______________________________________________

There's this thing I do when I stay up late; I get more and more tired the later I stay up, but, if I make it past a certain point, usually about 4AM, I can stay up indefinitely. I say indefinitely because I don't actually know how far I could go - I've never been brave enough to really press it. Anyway, I couldn't sleep Sunday night/Monday morning. Could. Not. Sleep. Around 4:30AM, I realize it's not happening and get up. My legs were bothering me for some reason, so I hit the gym for 20, 30 minutes. Still not tired. Hop in the car for a drive. Still not tired. Keep driving and somehow end up some thirty miles away watching the sun rise at 7AM over the river.

 It's about 8AM by the time I leave and not only am I not tired, I'm actually feeling kinda invigorated and excited about life. I suspect I was high on the lucidity of no sleep, but nevertheless. I'm still not tired, so I go to a local cafe for a buttermilk spice muffin and a hot chocolate.

 Finally got home around 9 or so and went back to bed because I didn't know what else to do with myself.

 Comment from Sunflower220

I've had many a night like this, though it usually had more to do with adrenaline than anything else. I can honestly say that not having to deal with that anymore is one good thing about retiring.

At least you had a reason to be awake; just being up for no good reason sucks. Usually I can manage to get down eventually, but something like this seems to happen to me at least once a year.

It could be worse; there could be nightmares instead.

I've become familiar with that in the last few months.

_______________________________________________

A conversation with my former professor:

"I don't even remember what it was like being 29. I think it was miserable." "It is. Just gonna be miserable for the rest of my days." "It gets better when you're 30. And it gets better again when you're 40. By the time you're 50 - " "Is that what you tell yourself to comfort the blows of old age?" "Yes. I'm comforting myself right now."

Comment from Sunflower220

Is this the same teacher from that one post I commented on?

Yes! The education professor. We try to chat on the phone at least once a week.

You're making me excited about teaching! I want to have a relationship like this with my students one day. They're going to be great heroes.

They have a great hero to learn from.

_______________________________________________

The universe hates me. I sincerely believed it in that moment. It hates me.  Only a hateful universe gives you a perfect moment when you’re that miserable.

But maybe it made it up to me later. Halfway home, past Conway, I start getting close to the rain I’ve been expecting and up ahead it’s all stormclouds. The sky is this dark blue grey color and the lightning is this creamy off white shade – you could see it lighting up between the clouds and behind them, undulating back and forth and then bolting in a sudden release of energy like birds startled by a gunshot. The bigger flashes were a purer white with a soft blue tinge. They were the ones that lit up the whole sky.

So I’m home free, crossing the river and halfway across the bridge the rain just stops. It picks up again when I get across, but in that halfway point I’ve got lightning on one side and the last smoky traces of dusk on the other stretching out like a painted desert and I’m the only person on the bridge, watching the world split in two.

Comment from Sunflower220

Have you ever considered writing screenplays? I can see this image in my head like a film reel. It's beautiful and dramatic.

I've always loved finding the place where the rain stops; it's like the world is a little bit thinner there. It's a strange, almost unnerving feeling, but one I've chased in the past.

I think what you may looking for is called liminality, or a liminal space. Places like airports, crossroads, rest stops, hallways - they're bridges to other places, but don't really serve a purpose in and of themselves. Places of transition from one thing to the next.

Historically, the concept of liminality has been used to describe rites of passage, especially the passage from childhood to adulthood. Many cultures have some sort of ceremony the child has to go through before coming out the other side as an adult. But, in the time between starting and finishing the ritual, the person is considered neither child nor adult - they exist in a liminal state until the ritual is complete.

Now that I think about it, you're probably pretty familiar with liminality, aren't you?

_______________________________________________

Direct message from: Sunflower220

Sorry for the radio silence - I didn't mean to drop off so suddenly, and then it turned into a few days.

I've been thinking a lot about what you said. About liminality. You're right - I am very familiar with the concept, though I never had a name for it until now. You wrote once that the difference between my forms was "a matter of intensity, not honesty;" in six words, you captured something I've never been able to explain. You do did it so succinctly, so effortlessly, that it left me a little bit stunned.

I have been All Might for so long; in many ways, I'm re-learning how to live without that intensity. I understand liminality because I've been in a liminal state for going on six years now. To finally have a name for it feels like a relief. More than that though, it's immensely gratifying to feel understood, by what you captured so easily in half a phrase. I'm grateful to you. Thank you.

The day we met, you told me that you didn't want to be someone else that took something from me. But I'd like to give you something all the same:

My name is Toshinori.

#yagi toshinori #All Might #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #fanfic #mha #bnha #the interview #still salty about the lack of line breaks #oc is not an oc

[racingtoaredlight]

RTARL’s 2020 NFL Season Week 17 Extravapalooza

Well, here we are at the end of the most unique NFL season in memory. Was it the smartest idea in the world to stage an entire professional football season in the midst of a rampaging viral pandemic? No, it really wasn’t. But, somehow, the NFL managed to make it through the year without any outright disasters (sorry Broncos, having to start a practice squad WR at QB doesn’t really count), and they did it through the tried and true combination of blind luck and pure willful ignorance. Yay, I guess? I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t appreciate having games to watch, but the whole enterprise was downright impressive in its blatant disregard for common sense and social responsibility. That’s why it’s America’s game!

There’s still a fair amount of playoff-positioning to hash out this week, which always lends a nice bit of urgency to some of the proceedings. I’m far too lazy to go into those particular weeds myself, so I’ll just link you to someone else’s work if you want to study up on the various scenarios in play.

My picks are in BOLD, and the lines come to us courtesy of our friends at Vegas Insider. I use the “VI Consensus” line, which is the line that occurs most frequently across Vegas Insider’s list of sportsbooks. Your sportsbook of choice may offer a different number, and if you’d like my opinion on said number A) you are insane, and B) leave a comment below and I’ll try to answer at some point before things kickoff today.

EARLY GAMES

Baltimore Ravens (-14) at Cincinnati Bengals

If the Ravens win, they’re in the playoffs. The Bengals don’t have the horses to offer much resistance against a supremely motivated Ravens team. I will say that the most entertaining turn of events for someone with no dog in the fight would be for Baltimore to somehow lose this game, for the Browns to win, and for Ravens fans to have to sweat the result of the Colts/Jags game to see if they make the playoffs. Friend of the blog Fryan Turd would likely suffer a half-dozen heart attacks in this scenario.

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills (-2)

I have no idea how important clinching the #2 seed in the AFC is to Buffalo, and if it’s not a big deal to them they may rest some guys for all or some of this game. The Dolphins will remain feisty to the very end, of that I’m certain.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns (-9)

The Steelers are sitting a whole bunch of guys and the Browns are in the playoffs with a win. I will say that losing this game to Mason Rudolph and subsequently missing the postseason would be an incredibly Brownsy thing to do. 

Minnesota Vikings (-4) at Detroit Lions

Despite having nothing to play for and no reason to risk further punishment, Matthew Stafford is suiting up for this one. Dare I say that Stafford is...A GAMER? I do dare say it. I hope he whips ass and the Lions win in what could be his last home game in Detroit. I would sacrifice one of my siblings to get Stafford onto the Patriots this offseason, and also to get a larger share of my family estate.

New York Jets at New England Patriots (-3)

Oh man, this is not going to be a fun game to watch AT ALL. Sullen Bill Belichick, Broken Down Cam Newton, Traumatized Sam Darnold, Dead Man Walking Adam Gase--this game has way too many depressing ingredients, to say nothing of the very-likely-to-be atrocious quality of play. Let’s just move on.

Dallas Cowboys (-1.5) at New York Giants

This is essentially a playoff game, as each of these teams needs to win (and for Washington to lose) in order to clinch the shittiest division of all time. I’m taking Dallas here because they’ve been rolling in recent weeks and Daniel Jones isn’t close to 100% healthy, but what I want most is for the Giants to win, the Football Team to lose, and for us to get the hilarious spectacle of a 6-10 playoff team.

Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-7)

I’ve ridden with the Falcons all season, why stop now? 

[looks at season record] 

Okay, that might be a good reason to stop. BUT I AIN’T GONNA!

Hey, do you think Matt Ryan could end up on New England? He went to Boston College, right? What have I become, coveting other teams’ used goods? This is no way to live.

LATE GAMES

Green Bay Packers (-4) at Chicago Bears

I’m greatly enjoying the Trubiskaissance. The Bears making the playoffs would make for some tremendous restlessness and conflicting emotions among Bears fans, as a strong showing would likely mean that Mitchell and Matt Nagy will run it back next season. This would entertain me as a man who isn’t a Bears fan. 

Las Vegas Raiders (-2.5) at Denver Broncos

I truly have no opinions or thoughts on this particular contest. Oh wait, here’s one: fuck the Raiders for ruining so many of my picks. Here’s another: Do you think New England could trade for Derek Carr? HELP.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts (-14)

The Jags are quite possibly the most ready-to-start-their-vacation team in the league, and the Colts need to win this game to make the postseason. I’m bummed about how things turned out for my man Gardner Minshew this season in Jacksonville. I hope he’s able to continue his career with a franchise who appreciates his comedic potential more fully. You know who would love him? Famous mirth-merchant William Belichick.

Los Angeles Chargers (-4.5) at Kansas City Chiefs

Tremendous opportunity for Justin Herbert to pad his already fantastic rookie-year numbers against the K.C. JV team. The thing that makes me the most nervous about this pick is the possibility that Chargers Head Coach Anthony Lynn knows that this is his last game, and as a result will make sure to unveil his most breathtaking piece of clock-mismanagement performance art yet.

Arizona Cardinals (-3) at Los Angeles Rams

I can’t in good conscience get behind a team that intends to start John Wolford at QB, no matter how awesome their defense is. Then again, maybe if Sean McVay basically controls his movements Ratatouille-style the way he does with Jared Goff, he’ll be okay. If Arizona loses and misses the playoffs, Coach Handsome might experience the quickest progression of “This Guy Has No Idea What He’s Doing” to “This Guy Is A Genius Who Is Changing the Way Football Is Played” and back to “This Guy Is a Dipshit” of any coach I can remember.

Seattle Seahawks (-6.5) at San Francisco 49ers

The Seahawks continued there whole “now the defense is good, but the offense is kind of blah” thing last week in a 20-9 win over the Rams, and I see no reason to think things will change. The Niners finally got All-Pro TE George Kittle back from injury, but then immediately lost studly rookie WR Brandon Aiyuk. The injury gods have really had it in for them this season. Despite the brutal injury luck, San Fran has remained competitive all season, and I say they keep this one within a TD.

New Orleans Saints (-6) at Carolina Panthers

The Saints won’t have RBs Alvin Kamara, Latavius Murray, Dwayne Washington, or their fullback Michael Burton. They’ll also be without WR Michael Thomas once again. If I were Saints Head Coach Sean Payton, I’d start Taysom Hill at QB for this game so that he can use his legs to augment the severely diminished run-game, and also to give Drew Brees’ ribs more time to heal. I’d also be an insufferable dickhead. Well, more of one. Okay, I’d be the same, I’d just be addicted to pain pills. More addicted, I mean. I’m Sean Payton.

Tennessee Titans (-7) at Houston Texans

DeShaun Watson has been absurdly good this season, despite the total shitshow around him. He leads the league in Yards Per Attempt while also being third in the league in Completion Percentage at 70.1%. He’s not dinking and dunking his way to his eye-popping numbers. You’d think having a franchise QB in place would make this a primo job opening for potential head coaching candidates, but between the lack of high-end future draft picks and general ownership/executive ineptitude, it’s gotta give a desirable candidate pause. Yikes. Clearly, Houston should trade DeShaun Watson to New England. 

SNF: Washington Football Team (-3.5) at Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles have nothing to play for and a bunch of key players are skipping tonight’s game. Among them are TE Dallas Goedert and RB Miles Sanders, which is going to make things extra tough for QB Jalen Hurts against Washington’s exceptionally nasty defense. The Football Team also has major injury questions, as QB Alex Smith, RB Antonio Gibson, and WR Terry McLaurin are all listed as Questionable. As of this writing, it looks like all three of them are going to play, but I have no clue how effective they’ll be. All of this uncertainty does not make for confident betting, imo.

Last Week’s Record: 4-7-1

Season Record: 99-112-8

#Sports! #Football #NFL #Gambling

[edgewaterfarmcsa]

CSA WEEK 15

- P I C K L I S T -

Sweet Peppers (all of them i promise: CARMEN, LUNCHBOX, HABANADA) - Arugula/Mizuna - Parsley - 

Gold Potatoes - Kol Rabi - Garlic - Green Tomatoes - Plum Tomatoes

Written on the morning of the Fall Equinox- bundled in wool, sitting next to the wood stove as she hosts the first fire of the season, and me with my one millionth cup of coffee of the season.  Today I begrudgingly welcome the Fall.  Summer is glorious around here and everyday is packed with light and abundance.  The food floods the plants, the kiddos need only shoes, underwear, sun hat (pants always optional), and we (the big farmers) run on coffee, water and a truck load of bushel baskets.  Everyday is filled with purpose and movement and snacks in every field.  Hot damn Summer is my season.  But as we are reminded by too many songs and poems- the seasons change yatta yatta yatta.  

In past years this movement into Fall occurred way more gradually.  It was a real easing in.  But this past Friday frost hit, three nights in a row, and it hard.  To prep, we stress picked bins of peppers, bushels of eggplants and crates upon crates of tomatoes.  We covered the green beans with remay, scooped up all of the winter squash, and Anne ran irrigation on her prized zinnias.  We did what we could, and held on tight to the hopes of a thick Connecticut River fog to cover the fields (this prevents frost).  But there is little moisture in the air.  Friday night the temps dipped, and all that was not covered and all that is not cold hardy got hit by the inevitable change of seasons.  And I cried multiple times.*

It’s hard to watch a field of food that you and the earth (mostly the earth) worked so damn hard to grow, get beaten up so badly in one night.  There could have been so much more to reap and feed.     

Pooh- my father in law/story-teller/tractor driver/plant propagator/knowledge base for all things soil and farm mentioned this was the earliest frost he’d seen in literal decades.  The last time he saw a kill frost come this early, Ray was toddling around playing a gourd like a guitar about 34 years ago.   

So here we are, moving right into Fall, with a lot still growing- but those Summer Gems (eggplant, peppers, corn) are gone.  I mean we still have bins of them stored in a cooler but they will be empty in one week’s time.  You (CSAer) will get the last of the peppers, and I somehow need to find a minute to freeze the last of the corn.    

ALSO CSA friends!  There is still room in the FALL CSA!! Sign on so we can continue to hang out over crops and recipes from now until Thanksgiving.  

*also the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg did a number on my heart strings. 

 May have added to the frost tears.  RBG may your memory be a blessing.  

HOT TIPS:

The following recipe (romesco) is a RAY SPRAGUE FAVORITE, and this guy hates the taste of peppers.  We typically make a huge batch and freeze into pint containers to smear on pasta, toast, etc all winter long

 SUNFLOWER ROMESCO (from the blog: thefirstmess)

½ cup toasted sunflower seeds

2 roasted red peppers (homemade or from a jar)

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon aleppo pepper, or a pinch of cayenne

2 tablespoons sherry OR apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

small handful flat parsley leaves

sea salt and ground black pepper

scant ½ cup virgin olive oil

Make the sunflower romesco: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the sunflower seeds, roasted red peppers, garlic, paprika, aleppo pepper, vinegar, tomato paste, parsley, salt, and pepper. Pulse the mixture until all ingredients are finely chopped and lightly pasty. Scrape the bowl down. Then, with the motor on low, drizzle the olive oil in through the feed tube until fully incorporated. Check the sauce for seasoning. Transfer sauce to a sealable jar, and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

THE FOLLOWING IS A GREAT GUIDE

 If making a large batch and storing in the freezer:

parchment paper

air tight containers that are freezer safe

For storing in jars

vinegar (plain, balsamic, white/red wine, or apple cider)

mineral salt

olive oil

clean pint sized mason jars

PREPPING PEPPERS:  There are two ways to prepare your peppers for roasting.

The first is to simply roast the whole pepper, seeds, stem and all. (This will work with all roasting methods.)

The second is to slice the peppers in half lengthwise, remove the stem and seeds, and place on the baking sheet cut side down. (Use this method for the oven method and/or when using a baking sheet. These peppers require no flipping, only rotating of the baking sheet. This is my favorite way of roasting peppers.)

ROASTING METHODS:  Oven: Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Place peppers on baking sheet. Bake 4 – 5 inches from the flame. If using an electric oven or there is no flame, place baking sheet on the middle rack. Roast peppers for 40 minutes, turning at least once during cooking using sturdy tongs (if peppers are sliced in half no need to turn, just rotate the baking sheet 180 degrees). They are ready when charred/blackened and blistered. Whole peppers will still be full of air and puffy once removed from the oven. As the peppers cool they will deflate and become wrinkly looking. 

Broiler: I used to have an oven where the broiler was underneath the oven, now mine is in the oven. Either way, turn broiler to medium – high (or 500 degrees if yours is by numbers) and char peppers turning every so often until browned and blackened. If you’ve prepped your peppers by slicing in half, no need turn the peppers, simply adjust the baking sheet turning it to get all the peppers charred. This may take anywhere from 15 – 25 minutes.

 Open Grill: Place whole peppers on their sides over an open flame on the grill, turning every now and then until nicely charred all over. Depending on how big your grill is will determine how many you can do at one time.

Stove Top: If roasting just 1 or 2 peppers, you can roast it over the gas burner of your stove (I suppose you could do 4 peppers utilizing each burner). Place pepper on its side and adjust the flame so it ‘licks’ the peppers. Keep an eye on it and turn it as needed to blacken and char, about 15 – 20. This tends to be a more time consuming method since you have to be so watchful.

From here use right away to make hummus, romesco, soups, layer on sandwiches and toss in salads, etc.

STORING:  

Refrigerator: Great for short term storage.

Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 – 6 days.

If you coat them with a little oil they will for a couple of weeks. You can even add some of the pepper juices to the container.  To always be safe, at the first sign of mold or spoilage, throw away immediately.  If storing for longer, you have a couple simple options:

Freezing: This is my favorite method of long term storing, as it is not blended with any other flavors, it’s super easy to do, and they thaw out amazingly well.  Freeze your peppers in a tightly sealed container. They thaw out pretty fast once removed from the freezer making this a nice way of preserving your precious peppers.

Vinegar Method: This method will leave your peppers with a little bit of tang from the vinegar, in some cases it may overpower them, but it’s a great way to store them. Use these peppers for sauces, dips, and soups.

Place peppers in a jar with a little salt, vinegar and pepper juices.  To do this you’ll want to sprinkle your peppers with a generous pinch of mineral salt and mix well.  Place 1/2 inch of vinegar at the bottom of your pint sized mason jar, add peppers leaving about 1 1/2 inches headspace.  Using the handle of a spoon or fork, poke along the inside edges of the jar to release air bubbles (this is important), pour reserved pepper juices over top so peppers are completely covered, leaving 3/4 inch room.  Add about 1/8 inch of olive oil over top to keep air out, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Seal and place towards the back of the refrigerator. Will be good for up to 2 months, maybe even a little longer.  If you see any sign of mold or spoilage, throw away immediately!

GREEN TOMATOES:  

I am in love with the below recipe- reminds me of my georgia roots- this was a favorite recipe eaten at our favorite restaurant, The Flying Biscuit

For the cashew relish:

1 1/2 cups cashews

2 red jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and roughly chopped

1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

3/4 cup honey

1/3 cup white vinegar

For the tomatoes:

2 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon celery salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

4 medium green tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick

6 cups canola oil

1/2 cup goat cheese

Prepare the relish: In a food processor, add cashews, jalapenos and cilantro and pulse just until combined. Transfer to a bowl. Add honey and vinegar and mix thoroughly.

Prepare tomatoes: In a bowl, combine milk and eggs. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, salt, celery salt, black and cayenne peppers, onion powder and paprika.

One at a time, dredge tomato slices in flour mixture, then in the egg mixture, then in the flour mixture again.

Heat the oil to 375 degrees. Fry tomatoes, a few at a time, until golden brown. Drain briefly on paper towels. While still hot, place three to four tomatoes per plate. Top with goat cheese and cashew relish.

Makes 4 servings

GREEN TOMATO CAKE

This recipe was shared by Becca Webb of Two Potters on her instagram page. She and her husband Nathan craft beautiful and resilient pieces of kitchenware (mugs, bowls, plates, vases, etc…) I can testify to their resilience as I take my car mug (though I call it my field mug) on all morning harvests. It has been left in fields overnight, and fallen off many a kubota buggy. Bottomline, though I have not taste tested this recipe, I trust their craftsmen ship and therefor am eager to bake this cake come weekend. You in?

[compendiumofsleepers]

Why should you use your talents?

Hey Sleeping Beauty, welcome to the first page of the Compendium of Sleepers, full of information meant to wake you up. Today I will write something about talents.

Talents are so ingrained in you that they are one of the fundamental building blocks of yourself. In this article I'm going to tell you about it. What are talents? Why should you use and develop your talents? Why is a lot of talent not used and what are the dangers of this?

What are talents?

Everyone has talents. These can be skills, but also personality traits. They were given to you for free at birth and throughout your life you should use them to achieve success and make life itself easier. Talents are present from childhood. It is not the case that you only acquire talents later in life. However, talents can be discovered at a later age.

Some examples of talents are:

One is stronger than the other

One is smarter than the other

One is funnier than the other

One can burp louder than the other

One can run faster than the other

One is more confident than the other

One is more patient than the other

One can cook better than the other

One is more eager to learn than the other

One can organize better than the other

As you can see, talents are those skills and personality traits that someone is naturally better at than another, or others. Most talents can be used in life. Some may not, like burping or farting. Although… there are quite a few videos on youtube of burp and fart competitions, just for fun. Even apparently useless or "forbidden" talents are still good for something.

Why should talents be used?

It is not for nothing that you have been given talents right from birth. You should do something with them. I'll tell you about two reasons why you should use your talents.

1. A creation is only as strong as its weakest link

2. People get energy from things they like

1. A creation is only as strong as its weakest link

People like to create. Not only artists, but also masons, dentists and scientists create something new every day. Whether it's paintings, buildings, beautiful teeth or solutions, they all transform the initial situation into something else. This process is called creation.

Let me talk about hairdressers. There are of course a lot of hairdressers, but we still prefer to go to that one hairdresser and not to the other. Why? Surely every hairdresser can cut hair after following a hairdressing education? True, but because there is so much on offer, and we can choose, we opt for that one hairdresser who can do it just that little bit better. Who has a slightly better view of which haircut I want, who can already say from his/her imagination that the haircut will not suit me, or who can cut it into a slightly better model. You understand that I want to indicate that we want to be cut by a talented hairdresser. A hairdresser who has, what all those other hairdressers have less or not. The funny thing is that people are willing to pay a bit more for this talent.

This also applies to buildings. The best building is built by the most talented masons, architects and contractors. They also earn the most. There is a relationship between talent and income. Nice to know, but I won't go into this in my blog.

"Talents are so ingrained in you that they are one of the fundamental building blocks of yourself."

2. People get energy from things they like

What I will go into more deeply is point number 2. People get energy from things they like. And what do people like? Those things they are good at! I can't draw at all. Sometimes I try to and end up grumpy. It's frustrating to have something stuck in your head that doesn't come out in the form of a drawing. I don't like sports either. I'm not good at it and it already takes a lot of energy to get myself to go to a gym. Writing an article like this takes no effort at all for me. I even enjoy doing it so much that I often write several articles in a row. Although it takes energy to write, it gives me more energy.

Again, talents are those skills and personality traits that you were better at than others from the start. You're good at it. And you get energy from doing things you're good at. So I highly recommend doing something with your talents, no matter how worthless they may seem. It is not at all true that only talents in commerce lead to happiness. If you can do what you are good at, you will automatically be happy.

Why are talents not used?

If the use of talents leads to happiness, then why is there so much unhappiness in the world? My answer: because most people don't use their talents at all. I will cover three reasons for this.

1. Fear of individuality

2. The will of the world

3. Unknown talents

1. Fear of individuality

The first reason talents go untapped is the fear of individuality. Everyone has a unique package of talents and flaws. This makes everyone unique, an individual. Misunderstanding of the term leads many people to believe that individuality makes lonely. After all, there is only one of you. This makes people pretend that they are not unique. As if they are the same as the people within the group they would like to belong to and their talents will not be expressed.

2. The will of the world

The second reason talents go untapped is to listen to the will of others. If it is discovered at a young age that you can fart loud, for example, there is a good chance that this talent is suppressed during your upbringing. After all, it is not appropriate to be able to fart loud. The people around you determine which talents you should have and which you should not. Hopefully you will find out later in life that many learned things are nonsense, and that you should mainly do what you like by using your real talents.

3. Unknown talents

The third reason why talents go untapped is the simplest. Your talents have not (yet) been discovered. There are people who think they have no talent at all, but this is not true (Maybe you know some of these people. Don't you think they often have a negative outlook on life?) Everyone has talents. It may be that the talents have not yet been discovered.

Discovering talents is not easy. Because you carry your talents with you from birth, they are not always visible to you. You think it's so normal that you can do it, that you don't realize that it could as well be a talent. By chance you have to find out what you are naturally better at than someone else. Never think that because you happen to be good at it, everyone will be able to do it. Often that is not the case at all, or not at the level where you can do it. It is also possible that someone else recognizes a talent of yours. Believe this person and start developing that talent.

Exercise 1. What are your talents? Write down 10 skills and/or personality traits that are naturally better in you than in someone else. Arrange them from most present to least present.

What are the dangers of neglecting talents?

Leaving talents untapped is not without danger. There are so many unhappy people in the world for a reason. More and more people suffer from burnout or become depressed. I will delve deeper into three dangers of neglecting talents.

1. Too high energy consumption

2. Continuous failure

3. Personality issues

1. Too high energy consumption

Developing a talent takes much less time and effort than developing a skill in which you are not talented. This is primarily because you enjoy working with your talent. You get energy from this. Second, the skill in question is already present at a high level, making it easy to develop further. If you want to develop skills that are not talents, development has to start from zero or less. In addition, you will have to put in a lot more effort to develop. If you want to develop many skills that are not talents, this costs so much energy that the energy will eventually run out.

"Most people don't use their talents at all"

2. Continuous failure

I can take singing lessons as much as I want, but I will never become a Celine Dion. I don't have a singing talent, no matter how much I'd like to. Suppose I didn't have this insight, and would give myself up for singing competitions and talent shows, I would continuously lose to people who do have a talent for singing. I would then continuously have the feeling that I am not good enough and eventually end up in a depression. This applies to all the skills that we would like to have at a high level, but have no talent for it.

3. Personality issues

Because talents are a big part of your person, suppressing talents causes a change of person. You present yourself to others as someone you are not, but your talents do not go away. They're there, but you don't show them. Because you continue to know who you really are and what you really want, you will become unhappy. Not to mention the jealousy that comes when someone else has accomplished what you actually wanted to achieve.

Exercise 2. Look again at the 10 talents you wrote down in the previous exercise. Are all 10 reflected in your daily life? If not, why not? Do you recognize the dangers of not using your talents?

Exercise 3. Do you use your 10 talents separately? Or can you also make them work together to achieve something bigger?

Finally, I want to press the following on your heart: find your talents and use them. Life is tough enough without you working against yourself.

#personalgrowth #motivation #mindset #selflove #inspiration #improvement #talents #sleepersinthesun

[lovelyfantasticfart]

How Tech Is going To Disrupt The Canadian Real Property Trade

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Canada is overvalued by 10 -25% comes from an article in the Economist again in the Fall. The lack of stock, up to now this yr, has actually started the market off to a report breaking start. Whereas the affordability of the resale market was a hot matter throughout the year, maybe probably the most scathing commentary was reserved for Canada鈥檚 rental markets which have develop into increasingly much less inexpensive. 鈥淎s the federal, provincial and local levels of authorities discuss housing policy in the approaching months, points affecting the lack of provide within the GTA should be of paramount importance. The Fair Housing Plan, having amended many taxes including for international consumers, is starting to make tangible impact. Who do you think is probably the most well-known YouTuber of all time? Assume you鈥檙e prepared to place in an offer? Enjoying a sport will keep prized possessions safe or simply nursing a morning. I like 224 King West due to its minimalist interior design with exposed concrete ceilings and excessive-finish finishes. It helps the staff to maintain a superb stability between their personal and personal life which is important for the nicely being of an employee. Once more. Public Consultation 101: Identify the key milestones within the undertaking and arrange the conferences around them.

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#Blogger

[zipgrowth]

When Colleges Consider Outsourcing Online Programs, Calculations Can Get Complicated

A growing number of colleges are turning to for-profit companies to help them run their online programs, and to help finance them. These companies are known as online program managers, or OPMs.

The relationships can mean a clash of cultures. One college official recalled a meeting where the head of a popular OPM showed up wearing a gold chain and talking about the “cost of acquisition” of students. That focus on sales can be uncomfortable for traditional colleges, who prefer to talk about their nonprofit missions of preparing students to be good citizens.

Yet many colleges are in desperate need of attracting students to their online programs. At the University of Virginia, for instance, officials recently announced layoffs of 38 staff members due to low enrollments in online courses offered by its School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

“We are a giant, wonderful university with a large endowment. I love everybody I work with … but we’re not skilled in management techniques, just in general,” said Kristin Palmer, director of online learning for UVA.

So expect to see more colleges turn to these providers, said Michael Feldstein, a consultant and co-publisher of the popular e-Literate blog, who has long followed the OPM market. A survey released last week by The Chronicle of Higher Education and P3-EDU, a conference on public-private partnerships to be hosted by George Mason University, found that 42 percent of provosts, chief financial officers and presidents surveyed said that expanding online programs was the area they most considered turning to a private company to help with.

Last week EdSurge hosted an EdSurge Live online town hall with Palmer, of UVA, and Feldstein, to talk about when it makes sense to turn to OPMs, and when building your own programs may be the better solution. The session follows on a pair of articles in EdSurge last month, one co-written by an OPM leader making the case for the model, and another by Feldstein noting that while OPMs can be attractive, they may not be appropriate for every college.

Below are highlights of that conversation, which have been edited and condensed for clarity. Or listen in on the discussion here.

EdSurge: Where did these outsourcing companies known as OPMs come from?

Michael Feldstein: Going back, even to the 1970s, even pre-dating online, there’s always been two challenges to launching new programs: money and expertise at execution. It costs money to start up a new program, and it takes a lot of expertise. Some of that is getting students in the door, and some of it is just having the people who have the expertise and who aren’t busy doing other things. [Or your people running the program] have 16 other jobs, and this would be a 17th full time job. And there are a lot of things that are fairly technical in a running program that’s fully online.

Another way I heard somebody frame online program managers recently is as investors [since many front money to build the programs in exchange for a cut of tuition for the next decade or so.] That’s another way to think about them.

The University of Virginia does some work with OPMs and does some programs on its own, right?

Kristin Palmer: We’re currently partnered with Noodle Partners in our Data Science Institute. We partnered with them because it wasn’t officially a school when we decided to move their degree program online. They have no faculty, they don’t have any instructional designers. It was that outsourcing model of, “We need help, and we want a partner to provide and then help.”

We have had other experiences with partnerships that have totally gone south. Our undergraduate Commerce School was in a partnership with an OPM provider that we have terminated prematurely because of a communication guffaw. I don’t think we’ll ever work with that OPM provider again. I won’t say who it was, but that was a disaster.

Then we have other programs that are self-made. Some are successful, some are not. We just announced we’re laying off half of the individuals in our school for Continuing and Professional Studies by mid-May. It’s because enrollments down 68 percent. They have 13 different online programs in cybersecurity and project management, and a lot of fantastic programs, but they’re hosted locally. They don’t have marketing.

Can you say more about what went wrong with the OPM arrangement that failed, so others can learn from that lesson?

Palmer: Yeah, if you do go down the OPM route, you really have to make sure that there’s a cultural DNA match with your partner. We’ve seen in the conversations coming off of the article that Michael has written, and the other article, that we don’t really look at universities as a business, and OPMs are very much a business.

There can be some cultural clashing there, because they do marketing and they look at return on investment and cost per student acquisition. I think those are all valuable numbers to look at, but I think having that clear, open communication of what our expectations early on [is key]. What does success look like? What kind of numbers are we going to track? Where are we comfortable or uncomfortable?

Ours was a communication issue, where they reached out to people that they should not have reached out to, and it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

But you say for another program, the OPM model is working. Is that because for the latest one you’re doing you didn’t have the staff to do it without a partner?

Palmer: I think we didn’t have a lot of options on that program. It was a priority for the provost’s office to move it online. We had the program existing, but to Michael’s point, the faculty that are helping out with that program, it’s job number 17. They’re already fully committed, they’re the faculty that everybody wants to have in their classes. Balancing how to pay that faculty, and our timelines, and having the structure of working with an OPM provider really helped on, “Okay, we’ve got a project manager, we’ve got instructional designers.” It was extremely helpful.

What questions should colleges ask as they consider partnering with an outside company to run online programs?

Feldstein: Outsourcing is associated in this country with outsourcing manufacturing jobs to Southeast Asia. In higher ed, the better analogy would be, “We outsource our LMS hosting to LMS companies.” [In that case, there are times when a college will say,] “Gee, there’s a third party that I would feel strongly, we’d be better off if someone else did that on a permanent basis and I’m okay if they make money on it.”

Second, when I look at the difference between paying someone a fee and paying someone a revenue share, are my concerns related to an emotional reaction? A reaction to the differences in how those affect the incentive structures to the way we develop and price our programs or a mix of those two?

More specifically, it feels icky to take student tuition and give a percentage of it to a for-profit company, even if the net result is something that’s good for the student. You have to get past that, if you’re someone who works at a university or somebody who feels committed to the mission.

That’s a different issue than saying, “You know, if we give a percentage of our revenue to a corporation for the long-term, that might affect how we think about providing tuition discounts to students, or which programs we decide to develop in the first place for online programs, because we’re only getting 50 percent rather than 100 percent.” There are complex financial calculations. You have to put on your green eye shades and figure out how those impact your decisions.

Palmer: We love discussing stuff. We are in the business of talking about ideas and bumping ideas off of each other, and coming up with ideas that other people don’t necessarily agree with and talking through them. We have these cultural conversations about what the university is even about. Is it job prep, or is it a well-rounded individual or is it creating new knowledge?

All of that’s totally legit, but 36 people in one of our schools found out on Friday that they’re going to have a job change that’s not anticipated, and that’s the reality. We are a giant, wonderful university with a large endowment. There are certainly challenging people, but I just love where I work and who I work with. But we’re not skilled in management techniques, just in general.

[Audience question from Kelvin Bentley, assistant vice president for digital learning innovation at University of West Florida]: I just wonder if OPMs’ time in the sun is limited, given that schools need to change from within to be more flexible and affordable, [as] online ed is such a saturated market already. Most schools that use a decent model for online, how will they be able to maintain quality over time of their courses and programs?

Palmer: We’re in a phase where we’re trying to adjust to our business and figure out how to serve lifelong learners. That framework for learning through your lifetime doesn’t exist right now. It is an evolving market, but it’s certainly nice to have the flexibility of working with a partner. We’ve been talking about revenue sharing, [but] there are also fee-based providers [that don’t require] a 10 year commitment with a 50 percent revenue share.

Feldstein: [The standard OPM model] was really engineered to solve a pretty well-defined problem. My impression is that, for those who have that problem, it solves that problem pretty well. I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon. In fact, I think the opposite is true. I think it has a long life, a long runway. [To succeed online,] you have to get much better at marketing, you have to get much better at differentiating, and quality is going to be one of those differentiators. Those are all things that OPMs sell on the ability to do.

Now, do they all deliver on those promises equally? Well, no. But that is something that some of them do quite well. Let’s also not forget that the United States is not the entire global market, either for students or for university clients.

When Colleges Consider Outsourcing Online Programs, Calculations Can Get Complicated published first on https://medium.com/@GetNewDLBusiness

[ronaldmrashid]

Who Makes A Million Dollars A Year? Exploring The Top 0.1% Income Earners

If you want to get rich, you might as well focus on joining industries that pay very well. But there’s more to just joining a well-paying industry to get you to a million dollar income. You’ve also got to perform at a high level, survive cutthroat competition, and receive lots of luck along the way.

Corporate politics can be brutal on your climb to the top of the pyramid. Oftentimes, it’s those who’ve been able to successfully sell themselves internally who achieve the greatest rewards.

During my career in investment banking, I was too defiant. Despite getting promoted quickly in my 20s, I stalled in my 30s because I didn’t want to relocate to grind cities like New York or Hong Kong. Nor could I pretend to like enough people who could push me forward. In the end, I decided to see what I could do entirely with my own fingers.

We know that an American top 1% income starts at around $450,000 today. We also know that a top 1% income varies by age as well. For those interested in making a top 0.1% income, let’s take a look at some career profiles. 

The People Who Make $1 Million A Year Or More

Managing Director, Investment Banking – Achieving the title of Managing Director has always meant that you’d finally break seven figures a year, at least when I worked in the industry between 1999 – 2012. The typical MD base is around $400,000 – $500,000, and they would often earn a bonus of $500,000 or more.

But the bonus is often paid in deferred stock and cash. For example, out of the $500,000 bonus, only $200,000 might be paid in upfront cash. The remaining $300,000 is deferred over four years. If you quit before the four years is up, you lose your deferred compensation, which is why negotiating a severance is huge in any industry with deferred compensation.

General Partner, Private Equity – Private equity is one of the most coveted next step careers for investment bankers. The hours are much better, while the pay also tends to be higher as well. These folks earn salary, bonuses, and carried interest, which can often lead to huge bucks.

Some of the top private equity firms include: Blackstone Group, KKR, Warburg Pincus, TPG, and various sovereign wealth funds like Temasek, GIC, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Another chart by efinancialcareers.com.

Portfolio Manager, Hedge Fund – Again, your compensation is based on performance, size of assets under management, and the number of employees. First-year associates out of business school can make $250,000 – $500,000 at the largest shops. By the time you become a general partner or portfolio manager, you should be making at least $1 million a year if your fund is over $500 million. Here are some great charts by efinancialcareers.com.

Portfolio Manager, Actively Managed Long Only Fund – Fund manager pay is based on tenure, performance, and assets under management. In order to earn $1 million a year, you will probably need to manage over $1 billion in assets under management and have a solid 5-year or longer track record of performance. A 1% fee on $1 billion generates $10 million a year in revenue to pay the portfolio manager, analysts, office rent, marketing, other operating expenses, and the overall company.

But most of these actively run funds are charging less now (~0.5%) due to the proliferation of index funds. Companies such as BlackRock, Fidelity, Wellington, T.Rowe. Price, Capital, PIMCO, Prudential, Nuveen, Invesco, Janus, AXA, Legg Mason, TIAA-CREF and many more all have portfolio managers and some analysts who earn over $1 million a year.

Principal/ General Partner, Venture Capital – Just like all the other money management industries, there are good venture capital firms and there are bucket shops. The largest VC firms like Benchmark, Sequoia, and Kleiner Perkins pay their General Partners multi-million dollars a year, especially if one of their investments has a huge exit such as when Whatsapp sold to Facebook for $19 billion in stock and cash.

I consider being a VC one of the best vacation jobs in the world because you don’t have to build anything, you get to earn a nice salary with carry, and you don’t have to prove your investment returns for years given the normal 5-10 year lockup periods for funds. By the time your limited partners discover you’ve made terrible investments, you’ll have earned a lot of money and moved on to a new VC or started a new fund within the firm.

Analyst $ 80K – $ 150K

Associate $ 130K – $ 250K

Vice Presidents $ 200K – $ 250K + $ 0-1MM carry bonus

Principal/Junior MD $ 500K – $ 700K + $ 1-2 MM carry bonus

Managing Directors/Partners $ 1MM + $ 3-10MM carry bonus

Partner, Big Law – The starting salary for first-year associates is around $190,000. By their 8th year (34-35 years old), their salaries will have risen to around $330,000. The funny thing about big law is that everybody up to the 8th year all get paid pretty much the same across all firms.

Bonuses are nothing to write home about, often ranging between 0% – 20% of salary. Therefore, in order to make the big bucks in law, you need to become a partner where you’re bringing in business and earning a percentage of profits.

Starting in 2018 from law.com

* Strategy Consulting, Partner – Firms like McKinsey, Bain, and BCG are some of the top strategy/management consulting firms. But to get to partner and $1,000,000+ generally takes about 10 years after business school, and only a few make it that far. Here’s the salary progression from the website: managementconsulted.com.

First-year out of undergrad:

Base: ~$80k

Signing Bonus: ~$5k

Performance Bonus: up to ~$12k

First year out of MBA:

Base: ~$150k

Signing Bonus: ~$25k

Performance Bonus: up to ~$44k

Manager/Project Leader (2-3 years out of MBA):

Base: $190-210k

Bonus: $80-120k

Associate Principal/Senior Project Leader (4-5 years out of MBA): 

Base: $230-300k

Bonus: $110-200k

Junior Partner/Principal (6-8 years out of MBA): 

Base: $320-400k

Bonus: $300-500k

Senior Partner/Director (10+ years out of MBA): 

Base: $400-600k

Bonus: $500k+ (all-in, senior partners at top firms usually make $1M+; top partners can make $4-5M while ultra-performers can make more)

* Division I Football Coaches – The average salary of a Division I football coach is roughly $1.8 million. It is the football coach that is often the highest paid state employee. For example, Nick Saban took down $11,132,000 at Alabama in 2017. Not bad! Even Urban Meyer, a head coach full of controversy for covering things up makes over $6 million a year.

Source: USA Today

* Public Company C-Level Executive – Don’t let $1 salaries fool you. C-level executives are often paid mostly in stock compensation. The theory is to tie compensation to performance. They simply end up getting way more stock than anybody at the firm. For example, Dara Khosrowshahi reportedly got a $200+ million package to join Uber and pretend that the firm cares about its minimum wage earning drivers. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has a base salary of around $650,000, but got a stock grant worth $199 million in 2016. The median CEO pay for the top 100 largest companies reached a record $15.7 million in 2017.

Source: Equilar

* Self Help Gurus – The self-help industry is estimated to be worth more than $11 billion dollars and growing because we’re all jockeying to make more money and gain more prestige. The self-help industry is also considered recession-proof since even more people are looking to get out of the muck during downturns.

Folks like Tony Robbins make millions selling $10,000 self-help seminar tickets. His net worth is estimated at $500 million. TV personality Dr. Phil wrote a bestseller on how to lose weight and eat right, despite he himself being overweight. Then there are guys like James Altucher whose company generated over $11 million in sales selling himself as a cryptocurrency genius in order to sell his courses online.

Whether you succeed or fail, these people will always succeed because people are always feeling bad about themselves in this ultra-competitive world.

Anything is possible!

* Professional Athletes – They make great money, but their longevity isn’t very long. One estimate says that if you are able to finish every professional golf tournament at par, you will average $1 million a year in earnings. Did you know the NBA veteran’s minimum salary is $2.4 million if you’ve been in the league for 10+ years? Pretty good if you can survive that long.

The average NBA player will make ~$25 million during his career. This is based on an average annual salary of $5.2 million and a career length of 4.8 years. In comparison, the average NFL player will make only $6.5 million due to a lower average salary of around $2 million a year and a shorter average career length of just 3.3 years. Elsewhere, the average MLB player earns about $3.3 million annually, while the average NHL player earns about $2.5 million.

NBA Minimum Salary Chart

* Bloggers – Blogging is my favorite business in the world because you can simply write whatever is on your mind and advertisers will pay you, not your readers. Since you give away your product for free, there are no returns, no customer support, and no obligations to your customers, only freedom baby!

One of my favorite responses to an unhappy reader is, “I’ll gladly refund any money you’ve paid to read my work.” For some reason, they never respond. Whoo hoo! I’m telling ya, if you’re irreverent and don’t want to worry about your product spoiling or having a defect, blogging is the best.

Once you build a brand and can generate organic traffic of over one million pageviews a month, there’s a decent chance you could make $1 million in revenue a year. Here’s a sample income report from a personal finance blogger.

The Million Dollar A Year Dream

The easiest way to make $1 million a year or more is as a public company non-founding CEO. The compensation is outrageously high for what they do. CEOs have huge teams who do most of the work for them. A CEO is really just an ambassador of the firm who tries to drum up positive PR. They sign off on decisions that have already been carefully vetted. They neither invent new ideas or get in the weeds.

It’s good to be CEO vs. the common worker +997.2% vs. +10.9% since 1978

The hardest way to make $1 million a year or more is a profession that relies mostly on performance. As a fund manager, you’re either outperforming your respective index or you aren’t. As a professional tennis player, nobody is going to win a match for you. As a blogger, you’re either going to come up with interesting content that gets indexed and shared, or suffer in purgatory. The upside is professions that rely mostly on performance provide the most satisfaction.

I don’t have to tell you that earning $1 million a year is difficult. Even if you do get to such a milestone, it’s even harder to stay there over the long-term due to competitive forces that will eat away at your product or services.

Never assume you’ll make $1 million again the next year. Instead, save as much of it as you can. If possible, figure out a way to build a brand around yourself or your business to expand your earning power. Always work on improving your craft because eventually, you will become irrelevant. When that time comes, however, you already will have saved up a lovely nest egg to support you for the rest of your life in peace.

Remember, you only need to get rich once!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Related:

The Top 1% Net Worth Levels By Age Group

The Top 1% Income Levels By Age

How High Net Worth Individuals Invest Their Riches

Reader, do you believe you have the ability to earn $1 million a year? How long do you think you can earn $1 million a year if you do? Did your happiness change at all once you hit the $1 million mark? What other types of people earn $1 million a year?

The post Who Makes A Million Dollars A Year? Exploring The Top 0.1% Income Earners appeared first on Financial Samurai.

from https://www.financialsamurai.com/who-makes-a-million-dollars-a-year-exploring-the-top-0-1-income-earners/

#Financial Samurai

[commonsensewizard]

I Have To....

The below is from Anne de Visser, a Hollander. The title of her response to me was “To the Chubby American”. My notes are in all caps, not to look like yelling, but to differentiate between her text and mine. I had fun with this. As a side note, the post was aimed at people in America, not anywhere else. Europe has already drunk the whole pitcher of liberalistic Kool-Aid. And it is coming back to haunt them.

You’ve been to about half a dozen 3rd world countries and now you think you’re some kind of Veteran? (YES, I DO.) My name is Anne, 55 from The Netherlands (I FORGOT TO MENTION HOLLAND. IT WAS MY FIRST OVERSEAS TRIP. I SUPPOSE BECAUSE IT’S SO TINY, I OVERLOOKED IT), I’ve worked Sales and Procurement for the better part of the last 30 years. I’ve been to every country in Europe and the Americas. I’ve also clocked the majority of Africa and Asia. You have no idea what the world has to offer, you’ve never experienced anything (DID SHE NOT READ MY BLOG POST?). You just went there and walked around as a chubby scared little foreigner. (MADAME, MY LAST NAME IS COWARD. I FOUGHT ALL THE WAY THROUGH SCHOOL SO THAT NAME WOULD NOT BECOME MY CHARACTER. I DO NOT SCARE. I AM ALSO NOT THAT LITTLE. CHUBBY...PERHAPS. LOL) Probably visited a pub or two maybe had a little flame with the local professional girl but that’s about it. (THIS STATEMENT IS INTERESTING TO ME. SHE BERATES ME FOR MAKING GENERALISTIC COMMENTS, BUT THEN DOES THE SAME HERSELF.) I’ve had to work with people like you, never able to enjoy themselves, never able to meet with the locals. A job is all they allowed the opportunity of a lifetime to be. I can’t recount how often I’ve been invited to dinner by complete strangers, must be at least a 100 of them by now. People from Indonesia, to Morocco to Cuba and everything in between, to be allowed inside their home to share their food, every single culture has its own distinct taste. Nothing is the same not even a fucking omelete. To meet their families, to be allowed to be part of that family even if it’s for a single day or night. (AGAIN, ASSUMPTIONS. I HAVE DINED IN THE HOMES OF LOCALS. ONE OF MY GREATEST HONORS WAS TO BE ALLOWED IN THE HOME OF A CHINESE FAMILY FOR NEW YEAR DINNER. I HAVE THOROUGHLY ENJOYED MY TRAVELS, AND MET MANY WONDERFUL PEOPLE. I HAVE MADE MANY FRIENDS AND GOOD ACQUAINTANCES. MY POST WAS AIMED AT PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO CLUE ABOUT WHAT IT IS LIKE TO LIVE IN SOME OF THESE OTHER COUNTRIES AND HOW GOOD WE HAVE IT HERE IN AMERICA. IT WAS ABOUT COMPARISONS, AND HOW EVEN WITH ALL HER FAULTS, I BELIEVE AMERICA IS THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO LIVE. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD ALL STRIVE TO MAKE HER BETTER. STAGNATION IS THE BEGINNING OF RUIN.) It’s not just the food, there is so much more. Their art, every culture has its own dances its own great monuments, its historical celebrations. Its distinct way clothing themselves. Every culture is a dancing star. There sounds, images, tastes I will never able to get out of my mind for as long as I live. A strong Arabian coffee in Yemen, A three-day wedding celebration in Morocco, the beautiful smell of the Kroatian flower fields, the Japanese blossom trees releasing hundreds of leaves at once creating an explosion of color and there is so much more, I wish I could relieve everything again. (YES, I TOO HAVE DONE THINGS TO TAKE IN THE AMBIENCE OF THE COUNTRIES I HAVE VISITED. I HAVE STOOD IN AWE AT STONEHENGE. I HAVE WALKED ANCIENT CASTLES AND CATHEDRALS. I HAVE LOOKED OUT OVER PARIS FROM THE TOP OF THE EIFFEL TOWER. I HAVE BEEN IN THE SEIGE TUNNELS OF GIBRALTAR. I HAVE TOURED THE JERUSALEM CHURCH IN BRUGES, BELGIUM. I HAVE STOOD ON HADRIANS WALL. HINDU TEMPLES IN MALAYSIA, TAOIST TEMPLES IN CHINA, BEEN TO MUSEUMS, HISTORICAL PALACES, AND GENERALLY HAD A GREAT TIME IN ALL THOSE PLACES. I HAVE LIVED, LADY. AND GLAD TO HAVE DONE IT ALL.) I was paid generously but not generously enough to afford private security. I had to rely on the locals. I had to eat local food and when there wasn’t any sanitation I had to squat with the locals. Our experiences are so different, a chubby and scared little American (THERE SHE GOES AGAIN. IT WAS COMPANY POLICY TO HAVE THE GUARDS IN NIGERIA. PLEASE GO THERE AND MINGLE WITH THEM, ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTH, WITH NO PROTECTION AND WRITE TO ME HOW THAT WORKED OUT FOR YOU.) hiding behind his guards at all times, because the outside world is so mean. (IT IS IN NIGERIA. TRY IT SOME TIME.) You haven’t seen anything of the world. You never reached out to the world. The sad part about you is, you’ve physically been to so many places, yet you’ve never been able to expand your horizon to escape from your own mind (PLEASE REFER TO THE ABOVE. ASSUMPTIONS ABOUND IN THIS WOMANS BRAIN.), to experience new things, meet people. It hurts me to just think about it, after going to so many places your biggest takeaway is not the people you’ve met, it’s not food, it’s the history or culture, it none of that. Instead it’s… how dumb the liberals are and how good big ol’ ‘merica is. (UH...YEAH. AND IT IS SPELLED MUHRICA.)  Sad. (UH...NO.) I’ve only been robbed twice in the entire tenure. You’ll never guess where that happened. I’ll give you a hint. It’s a falling Empire with a third world infrastructure a barely functioning democracy where the popular vote, the actual number of people voting for a candidate doesn’t. matter. (I AM FROM TEXAS. IF THIS HAPPENED IN NEW YORK, WHICH IS A BIG EUROPEAN DESTINATION, YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER. THERE IS NO GOD ABOVE THE MASON DIXON LINE. LOL)  I was also robbed in South Africa to be fair. What strikes me the most is how arrogant you sound. (IT IS TO PROVOKE RESPONSES LIKE YOURS. YOU WERE SO EASY. LOL.) I’ve had to travel with people like you, miserable self-absorbed pricks (HAVE WE MET?) whose biggest mission in life is to tell others about how great they are. (I ONLY PLAY A GREAT PERSON ON THIS BLOG. FELL FOR THAT ONE, TOO.)They like the sound of their own voice so much they want to spread it to every corner of the entire globe. (NOT EVERY CORNER. BUT, GLOBES DO NOT HAVE CORNERS, DO THEY? But it down in writing, record in audio and video, the entire world must know what they think think. (THINK THINK? MAN, SHE WAS ANGRY WHEN SHE WROTE THIS.) Big fat Yankees who think the entire world turns around them. (NOW I HAVE GONE FROM CHUBBY TO ‘BIG FAT’. AND BE CAREFUL WITH THAT YANKEE CRAP. AGAIN, YANKEES ARE ABOVE THE MASON DIXON LINE. I AM A PROUD SOUTHERNER.) Truth is, I made a throwaway account just to tell you, you missed out on life, if that hateful little post is your view of the entire world. (MY POST WAS HATEFUL. SHE BELIEVES HERS IS NOT.) You did inspire me though. (OF THAT I AM PROUD.)The kids have all finished their university degrees thanks to affordable European educational system. (BECAUSE OF HIGHER TAXES.) I am in top health, thanks to the European healthcare system. (BECAUSE OF EXORBITANT TAXES.) My ex is still in jail, thanks to the solid European justice system. (BITTER, SHE IS.) All the travelling saved me a fortune, besides I never bothered to buy a house. Your shitpost (MY POST WAS HATEFUL. SHE BELIEVES HERS IS NOT.) inspired me to plan my move to Indonesia. First I’ll visit some friends in Australia and some family in New Zealand. Don’t bother to reply. I am excited! Thank you chubby American! (THERE SHE GOES AGAIN!!! LOL.) I am serious, you made me recollect some of the greatest memories in my life. (I AM GLAD I COULD HELP.) Hopefully we’ll never meet. (THAT WOULD BE A SHAME. I AM NOW IN LOVE WITH YOU, YOU VIXEN!!!!!)  Kind Regards, from Amsterdam, (KIND? THERE WAS NOTHING KIND ABOUT THIS. LOL) -          Anne de Visser (NICE TO MEET YOU, ANNIE. HAVE A GREAT LIFE AND COME BACK ANY TIME.

#politics #us politics #u.s. politics #world politics #global politics #ann de visser #holland #netherlands #travel #international travel #united states #america #liberal #librerals #liberalism #conservative #conservatives #free speech #opinion

[masonrytuckpointing]

Albany Park – EDMAR Corporation Masonry Tuckpointing Service Area

{The {following}{post|article|blog post|info|information}} Albany Park – EDMAR Corporation Masonry Tuckpointing Service Area {was {first|originally|initially} {seen on|published on|published to|posted on|made available on}|is {courtesy of|available on|republished from}}: {https://masonrytuckpointing.com/|https://masonrytuckpointing.com|https://www.masonrytuckpointing.com/|https://www.masonrytuckpointing.com|www.masonrytuckpointing.com|EDMAR Corporation|EDMAR CORPORATION MASONRY|masonrytuckpointing.com|EDMAR Corp|EDMAR Corpp. Masonry|EDMAR's Corporation Masonry website|EDMAR Corporation Blog|masonrytuckpointing.com website|EDMAR CCORPORATION Service Blog|masonrytuckpointing.com blog}

Albany Park Chicago –  EDMAR Corporation Masonry Tuckpointing Service Area

Albany Park (includes North Mayfair, Kimball, and Ravenswood Manor) was settled in 1893 and it’s located on the Northwest Side of Chicago with the North Branch of the Chicago River creating its east and north border. The ethnically diverse Albany Park neighborhood has one of the highest percentages of foreign-born residents of any Chicago neighborhood. It also has large number of masonry building that require tuckpointing services.

By 1930, the population of the neighborhood reached 55,000, and many schools, religious institutions, and parks opened. After World War II, Albany Park residents began moving to northern suburbs and the population declined quickly, leaving many stores uninhabited and properties empty.

It wasn’t until the 1970s, when a new immigration wave from Asia (mainly Korea) and Central America began to increase the population again.

Today, Albany Park is the most diverse neighborhood in the city, and one of the most diverse in the entire country. 

Not sure if you need masonry, tuckpointing, concrete, or porch service in Albany Park?

Call 1-847-724-5600

All Estimates are Always FREE for Home Owners

Our office is located on the border of Albany Park so you can basically walk there from your home, if you’d like to talk to us and schedule masonry evaluation and / or tuckpointing service of your property. Check the map below and give us a call if you need some more information.

Tuckpointing & Masonry Contractor Chicago Reviews from Our Customers

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EDMAR Corporation

4.5 Stars - Based on 28 User Reviews

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EDMAR Corporation

4.5 Stars - Based on 36 User Reviews

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EDMAR Corporation

5 Stars - Based on 7 User Reviews

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Nice concrete work and the grading helped to move water away from the walk. Very professional and worked with us to address water issues.

April B.

Excellent work. Work was done in 2 days. Walkway was re pitched to align better with stoop (which showed large cracks at base where walkway... read moreExcellent work. Work was done in 2 days. Walkway was re pitched to align better with stoop (which showed large cracks at base where walkway previously met). Because of walkway dipped over time, stoop was really high. Now it aligns to correct height. read less

Paul P.

By far the most professional and highly skilled company I've worked with. I had a chimney taken down and rebuilt from the roof line up. ... read moreBy far the most professional and highly skilled company I've worked with. I had a chimney taken down and rebuilt from the roof line up. The most difficult part of the job was the pitch of the roof and how close my neighbors homes are next to mine, The crew skillfully put up scaffolding and took down a the damaged chimney and built a new chimney in the same day. My neighbors didn't even know they were there. Crews cleaned up afterwards and it also a pleasure working with Ed the owner in the contractual process. Top Notch Company! I will definitely use them again.. read less

A G.

Edmar Corporation did a great job fixing several problems with my 100 plus year old beautiful greystone. Edmar and his partner help me resolve difficult... read moreEdmar Corporation did a great job fixing several problems with my 100 plus year old beautiful greystone. Edmar and his partner help me resolve difficult issues, and went above beyond to resolve the problems. Their price may not be the lowest, it was on par with many other quotes I received and in the end it was well worth the money spend. Ed's years of experience, integrity and diligence made working with him a pleasure. read less

Margaret B.

We have a small house. Sometimes it feels like tradesmen are not very interested in taking our business. However, Ed made me feel... read moreWe have a small house. Sometimes it feels like tradesmen are not very interested in taking our business. However, Ed made me feel like a valued customer. Because we wanted to do some foundation planting before it got too cold, Ed scheduled us only about 10 days after we signed the deal. They did a terrific job for a better price than the other quotes I got. They even did some extra work at no charge to remove some paint off the brick where a gutter used to hang. A couple of neighbors stopped to complement us on how great the house looked. Then, my customer satisfaction got even better. We had a storm a couple days after the tuckpointing was done. The front gate post is bolted onto the front of the house and that cedar fence post snapped off. Of course they had not tuckpointed behind the fence post, so now that much lighter mortar color was exposed. So they came back at no charge within a week and tuckpointed that spot. I have never written a Yelp review before, but I want to express how pleased I am. This small house got treated like a big deal (which it is to me). read less

Elizabeth E.

I haven’t been so excited in my live, the work is finally done! For the past five days I had a crew of 5 working... read moreI haven’t been so excited in my live, the work is finally done! For the past five days I had a crew of 5 working on my 3 story building in Chicago. I have to admit it was neglected and in a very bad shape since no work has been done on it for decades… it’s probably close to 100 years old. It’s a brick structure, with 3 chimneys that had holes in it and every time it rained my basement was flooding. There are 14 windows with steel beams that needed replacement due to heavy rust, this also involved partial rebuilding of walls above those beams. My last problem was the wall section that sticks above flat roof surface, I think they call it “parapet wall” or something, which has disintegrated almost completely and basically required full rebuilding. I just wanted to say “Thank you” for all the work that was done on my house and recommend Ed (the owner of EDMAR) to everyone looking for a good mason. read less

Peter J.

This company and its owner were a pleasure to work with. We needed some masonry repairs on our single family home in Lincoln Park and... read moreThis company and its owner were a pleasure to work with. We needed some masonry repairs on our single family home in Lincoln Park and I called Edmar to give us a quote. Our chimney was in pretty bad shape—missing bricks and apparently a cracked concrete cap. Ed stopped by to check it out and told us that the chimney had to be rebuilt above the roofline. He counted the number of bricks needed, in addition to a new cap and replacement clay tiles. We got a great price and hired Edmar for the job. The crew that came out was very skilled and hardworking. They even tuckpointed a few areas around the house where the mortar was cracked and loose (without an extra charge). After a couple days, we had a brand new chimney and some fresh tuckpointing. I got more than my money’s worth working with Edmar and have recommended them to my neighbors. Thanks Edmar! read less

Karolina

I just have to say the work, the crew, and Ed were wonderful. Their quality of work and maintaining the job site in an... read moreI just have to say the work, the crew, and Ed were wonderful. Their quality of work and maintaining the job site in an orderly and clean matter were second to none. They not only rebuilt my chimney but also tuck pointed the front face of my dad's house. read less

Jargren S.

Edmar is the best in the business. I’ve owned buildings in the city for a while now and I’m telling you there’s no one more... read moreEdmar is the best in the business. I’ve owned buildings in the city for a while now and I’m telling you there’s no one more professional and detailed than these guys. I’ve had them rebuild firewalls, fix decorative stones, repair damaged bricks and I’ve always been 100% satisfied. Most recently I hired them to powerwash and tuckpoint one of my condos and I couldn’t be happier with the results. It actually looks like a brand new building even though it’s over 80 years old. The owner of the company Ed Marciszewski is a really straight forward guy and won’t waste your time. He’s been in the business for a long time and knows everything there is to know about masonry and building repair in the Chicagoland area. I trust Edmar with all my repairs and will definitely continue to use them in the future. read less

Matt M.

We had some cracks in the masonry on our building, it wasn't a big job but Ed came by to take a look anyway. Compared... read moreWe had some cracks in the masonry on our building, it wasn't a big job but Ed came by to take a look anyway. Compared to all the other contractors that stopped by, Ed gave the most information about why we have the issue and how it would be repaired. He also gave us the estimate right away. The price was great, but we had to wait a couple weeks since it was busy season and our project was small. Ed's team finally came by a week ago, and the job was done thoroughly. Everything looks great and they cleaned up afterwards. The price and quality was great, we'll definitely work with Edmar Corp in the future. Thanks Ed! read less

Gene P.

These guys came thru. After some problems getting the work completed they came back out and finished the work as well as some additional brick... read moreThese guys came thru. After some problems getting the work completed they came back out and finished the work as well as some additional brick replacements. Based on their good faith effort to make things right I would recommend. read less

Andy W.

Without question the best experience I have ever had with any contractor, Ed is direct and honest; no surprises. I rarely write reviews unless I... read moreWithout question the best experience I have ever had with any contractor, Ed is direct and honest; no surprises. I rarely write reviews unless I am really impressed. City inspectors came and identified issues with the tuck-pointing and window lintels so I did some calling around to get some estimates. Ed showed up right on time for the appointment which was much appreciated. Also I made a point of not saying anything about what the inspectors had said to see what he would see. Ed pointed our word for word what the inspectors had seen. He took the time to explain to me exactly why one lintel would need to be replace and not another. He also showed me where bricks would need to be replaced, and where not. Finally he showed me where the tuck-pointing would need to be completely done and where it could be touched up. Most importantly, my building is red brick, and need a special mixture strength, Ed was on point. The windows which are the most difficult part on the work were completed in two days, and a third day to finish the tuck-pointing. The guys work like a well-oiled machine, the work fast and the building looks brand new. I cannot express how happy I am with the experience and the completed work. I will be calling them in the future for other jobs and will gladly refer them to my friends, family, and neighbors. read less

David D.

It's always frightening to undertake a project that requires dismantling the infrastructure of your home. Thus, it was no different with me when I asked... read moreIt's always frightening to undertake a project that requires dismantling the infrastructure of your home. Thus, it was no different with me when I asked Edmar to stop a leak that had ruined a bedroom. To do so, they had to remove the capstones of a parapet in the corner of my 4-floor townhouse. It require their building a scaffold to access the area and elevating all the materials needed for the repairs. When they were done, they had installed a waterproof seal, flashing, wicking -- all that had not been there before. With new mortar and properly sloped capstones (another improvement), they were done by 4pm. It was a one-day job! I'm very pleased with the work, the results, and the price. Give Edmar a try! read less

Jeff G.

Our condo association requested evaluation of our building’s masonry structure from EDMAR CORPORATION so we can plan our 2019 budget. We didn’t make our decision... read moreOur condo association requested evaluation of our building’s masonry structure from EDMAR CORPORATION so we can plan our 2019 budget. We didn’t make our decision yet, so I can’t comment on work quality, but their expertise and professionalism by far exceeds what we experienced when dealing with 3 other Chicago masonry contractors. read less

Jessie R.

Edmar Corp replaced the front brick of our property this summer. Not only did Ed provide us a reasonable estimate but he was patient while... read moreEdmar Corp replaced the front brick of our property this summer. Not only did Ed provide us a reasonable estimate but he was patient while we found the perfect brick. Ed met with my husband a number of times throughout the project and addressed any concerns we had. We are beyond pleased not only with the end result but with the professionalism of his employees. The area was kept clean and organized. The project took longer than expected but it was so worth it! read less

Tania M.

Our condo association will definitely be hiring Edward and his company again this year. They completed two projects for us, some tuckpointing and brickwork on... read moreOur condo association will definitely be hiring Edward and his company again this year. They completed two projects for us, some tuckpointing and brickwork on one of our garages as well as replacing our front sidewalk. Edward came out with a quote quickly, arranged for the work efficiently and under budget. I have complete confidence in his expertise and work ethic. read less

Bri C.

Greta People to do Business with ! Quality and fair price for Top Quality. I did Parapet wall fix and new concrete steps. They also... read moreGreta People to do Business with ! Quality and fair price for Top Quality. I did Parapet wall fix and new concrete steps. They also do Tuck pointing and more. That's how i met them working on my neighbor house. read less

Maciek G.

I had Edmar rebuild a portion of my parapet wall. I had gotten quite a few recommendations and estimates from different local companies. ... read moreI had Edmar rebuild a portion of my parapet wall. I had gotten quite a few recommendations and estimates from different local companies. Ed and Peter with Edmar came out and gave some great improvement suggestions that other companies did not, in addition to providing a reasonable estimate on the spot. I felt comfortable and trusting in Ed and my wife and I decided to use Edmar. Ed was easy to get ahold of and didn't make you feel like he rushing to get you off the phone. Scheduling was clear with Jennifer in the office, who is very nice and professional, and the on-site foreman quickly took care of the neighbor's concerns about their fence without hesitation. The crew performed quality brick work and I look forward to using Ed and Edmar again in the near future to handle our other parapet issues, as budget allows. It is very nice to have an owner give a written warranty with their estimate and stand behind their work, be so easy to get ahold of and so knowledgeable as well. You don't come across this often enough it seems. We look forward to using Edmar again! read less

Dan P.

Highly recommend. Ed came out, gave us a quote and started our project all very quickly. His crew kept the area very clean and did... read moreHighly recommend. Ed came out, gave us a quote and started our project all very quickly. His crew kept the area very clean and did high quality work. Will only use them for future masonry projects. read less

Emily R.

Top Notch Masonry Contractor. Had a new Chimney rebuilt from the roof up. The Crews were professional and we're highly skilled tradesmen. ... read moreTop Notch Masonry Contractor. Had a new Chimney rebuilt from the roof up. The Crews were professional and we're highly skilled tradesmen. Reasonable price especially for the difficulty of getting onto the roof. Ed the owner was also great to work with in the contractual process. Top Notch Company! I will definitely use them again for future projects. read less

Antonio R.

Thank you for the great service. We had some tuck pointing work that needed to be done on the chimney and foundation of our... read moreThank you for the great service. We had some tuck pointing work that needed to be done on the chimney and foundation of our home. They responded quickly to my call, fit us into their schedule and completed the work very quickly. Nice crew of workers. Clean work. Great job. read less

Michael P.

Edmar is the most professional construction with many skilled workers in Chicago area, as long as I know. If your priority is choosing a... read moreEdmar is the most professional construction with many skilled workers in Chicago area, as long as I know. If your priority is choosing a company you can trust, expecting the job done well without doubt, you should hire Edmar. If your priority is having done with least money, I don't think you need to call this company. There are many bad companies out there who know how to talk to you, but don't know how to work done. Especially, if you look for mason or concrete repair/rebuild, Edmar is the right place to call. My comment was from two times experiences in major repairs. read less

A G.

Our condo association hired Edmar Corporation to do some much needed repairs on our building. It came to our attention that there were leaks on... read moreOur condo association hired Edmar Corporation to do some much needed repairs on our building. It came to our attention that there were leaks on the ceilings of the top floor apartments, and we called a number of contractors to come check out the situation. Ed fit us in for an emergency quote the next day. This was a rare find as most of the other contractors we called didn’t even bother getting back to us. After taking a look at our roof, Ed explained to us how serious the job was and how the damage came about. The firewall and the parapet wall were both in really bad shape and needed to be rebuilt. The firewall and parapet wall were both crooked and the bricks were loose. To stop the ceilings from leaking, we needed to have the roofing redone as well. Ed was very thorough with explaining how the repairs were going to be done and after comparing a few more bids, we decided that Edmar Corp was best suited to handle our repair needs. They were able to schedule a start date pretty quickly and were flexible about working on Saturday. The workers were very professional and took great caution about ensuring the safety of the surrounding buildings and set up tarps to prevent debris from getting around. They got the firewall and parapet wall up in a few days, and were even able to match the bricks of the parapet wall to the rest of the building. Ed called and checked in with us every couple days and let us know where they were in the process. Our condo association was very happy with the work and highly recommends Edmar. read less

Aida A.

Very professional and great work on rebuilding my chimney. Recommend

Don M.

I got several quotes, Edmar was honest and priced very well. Their efficiency and neatness were most impressive, thanks for a great result!

Daisy M.

By far the most professional and highly skilled company I've worked with. I had a chimney taken down and rebuilt from the roof line up. ... read moreBy far the most professional and highly skilled company I've worked with. I had a chimney taken down and rebuilt from the roof line up. The most difficult part of the job was the pitch of the roof and how close my neighbors homes are next to mine, The crew skillfully put up scaffolding and took down a the damaged chimney and built a new chimney in the same day. My neighbors didn't even know they were there. Crews cleaned up afterwards and it also a pleasure working with Ed the owner in the contractual process. Top Notch Company! I will definitely use them again.. read less

Tony R.

The team did a fantastic job repairing water damaged block and metal I-Beam above the outside of my garage. Good communication through the project and... read moreThe team did a fantastic job repairing water damaged block and metal I-Beam above the outside of my garage. Good communication through the project and very high attention to detail. I would highly recommend them! read less

Todd B.

  I own 3 story rental in Chicago and got building violation ticket for the rear porch… this was last summer. The porch was old and... read moreI own 3 story rental in Chicago and got building violation ticket for the rear porch… this was last summer. The porch was old and I should have it fixed long time ago… so now I was facing complete demolition and rebuilding from scratch. I called Ed and we met at the building, followed by his architect in the next few days. Once we got the plans, EDMAR took care of the permits, and I had my brand new porch built within the next few days. They also met with the building inspector for the final, and a few days after that my violation was gone. Thanks Ed! Great work! read less

Lara M.

They replaced lintels on my 6 flat. They were fast, professional and a pleasure to work with.

Elizabeth P.

  EDMAR came to replace 35 feet of sidewalk by my house. They busted old concrete one day and poured new sidewalk next. NICE JOB.

Allison W.

Excellent experience from Edmar from start to finish! From the first estimate, I enjoyed the experience of working with Ed and his team. They rebuilt... read moreExcellent experience from Edmar from start to finish! From the first estimate, I enjoyed the experience of working with Ed and his team. They rebuilt a brick wall on our property and did it within budget, on time, and with great skill. Highly recommend! read less

Emily R.

I am a case manager who works with people with disabilities and one of my clients needed her roof repaired due to a big hole... read moreI am a case manager who works with people with disabilities and one of my clients needed her roof repaired due to a big hole and her ceiling was starting to cave in. My client and her siblings, also with impairments, were so happy with John from Edmar and selected him right off the bat, even though his estimate was higher than the other estimate they received. Edmar wound up giving them a discount, which made the cost come down a bit, which made the client happy. Not only did John and his crew offer to fix the roof, they were able to fix other things in the home, such as putting in drywall and painting the ceiling to seal the crack, installing two new light fixtures and two smoke detectors, installing a new screen door and fixing an old garage door that would not close properly and covering some holes in the wall. We asked John if he could select/purchase the light fixture/smoke detector and factor the cost into the contract, which he was able to accommodate, which made it so much more convenient for the client, who would have needed help to do such. While the work was being done, the client kept asking John for other things that they wanted fixed, which he did even though they were not in the contract. The other things were paid for separately, but this goes to show the company's ability to accommodate people with disabilities who do not understand how these things usually work. As her case manager, I am grateful for his patience, sense of humor and treatment of them as any other individual and for not taking advantage of them, as others might have done in this situation (and have done in the past). In my opinion, he and his crew went above and beyond and the client is very happy with the work and plan to use him again in the future, as I would. read less

A G.

Edmar Corporation Masonry was contracted for three projects on an industrial building in the City. The first project was to rebrick part of a doorway... read moreEdmar Corporation Masonry was contracted for three projects on an industrial building in the City. The first project was to rebrick part of a doorway that had been damaged by a forklift. His price was reasonable and the work was done properly. The second was tuck pointing and water sealing an exterior wall. The price was reasonable and the work was done just as I had requested. The third project was a difficult one, it required scaffolding and high up work that was quite difficult to get to. It required rebricking. Again his price was reasonable and the work was done properly. All work was completed quickly. I had other quotes for much more money and some contractors trying to upsell me for more work that they promoted as necessary. I was satisfied with Edmar and have just given this company another project. When I find a worthy contractor I stick with him/her. Edmar is worthy. John F read less

John F.

I usually do a lot of research before I let someone touch my home. After talking to a few tuck pointing companies it was obvious... read moreI usually do a lot of research before I let someone touch my home. After talking to a few tuck pointing companies it was obvious that Edmar Corporation was the one. Ed came to our home and I knew by his body language and his confidence that my project was going to go smooth. I am 59 years old and have been around the block a few times and can usually tell if something isn't right about a person and their company. I gladly signed the contract and a couple of weeks later his crew came out and did an excellent job on my home. They were all business when they came. Got right down to working immediately. No Smoking , No Bullshitting, No goofing around . Just very professional and extremely hard working. All the areas were spotless when they left. They respected my home. Can't ask for much more than that. I never take the time to write this kind of stuff. But I am so happy with their work that i want to tell the world. read less

Ross U.

Peter and crew were very professional and did an excellent job installing a new sliding glass door for us. The install included fixing some siding... read morePeter and crew were very professional and did an excellent job installing a new sliding glass door for us. The install included fixing some siding and adding new insulation and drywall. Throughout the entire process I felt I could trust this company to do what they say. They did not let me down. Would hire them again. read less

Cassie M.

We had a wonderful experience with Edmar. We needed a level of brick and capstone removed from our rooftop - the job was completed in... read moreWe had a wonderful experience with Edmar. We needed a level of brick and capstone removed from our rooftop - the job was completed in less than a day with a team of 3. They were prompt, professional and did an excellent job. We'd absolutely recommend them for your next project. read less

Elizabeth S.

Great work, great price.

Irena S.

I needed some tuckpointing done on a condo I manage in Chicago and called Edmar for a quote through a mutual friend that had used... read moreI needed some tuckpointing done on a condo I manage in Chicago and called Edmar for a quote through a mutual friend that had used Edmar and spoke very highly of him. He was VERY professional and you could tell he has years of experience under his tool belt, and knew exactly what I wanted. He got back to me within the same day and scheduled an appointment for the next day. *Considering that some companies and contractors didn't have the professinalism or decency to call me back or wouldn't show up to our meeting, we were already off to a great start. Then here comes the best part - compared to the other estimates/bids I got, Edmar's was the most straight forward and cost efficient as opposed to the competition. Not only that, but I felt at ease choosing them given how long they've been in the business. And even at a decent price, they did some 5-star quality work, I was very impressed. The guys who did the work were all professional and they left the work site spotless each day. Very satisfied with their work. I'll certainly be using them again when I need more repairs on my building, and would highly recommend to friends, family, and fellow Yelpers. read less

Cecil S.

If it were possible to give more than 5 stars, I would! We had to reconstruct our brick and wrought iron fence after the... read moreIf it were possible to give more than 5 stars, I would! We had to reconstruct our brick and wrought iron fence after the garbage truck relocated it to the ground. It wasn't a huge project and many of the masonry companies we called wouldn't even come and give an estimate because "it wasn't worth it". We found Edmar on yelp and the experience was awesome from start to finish. When I called to schedule an estimate, Ed came to my house within 48 hours and arrived at exactly the time he said he would arrive. He thoroughly inspected the damage and found other damage that other masons had completely missed. We were provided a written estimate on the spot. When I called Ed to give the go ahead a few days later, he was able to get our job done that week. Once again, he arrived with his crew at exactly the time he had provided. The job was done perfectly within one day. Unfortunately, it is hard to find honest and trustworthy companies in construction. Edmar Corp. breaks every stereotype. Quality work and excellent service!! If you need masonry work, don't even both to call around - Just call Edmar. read less

S K.

I had Edmar Corporation do work on my house in Glenview in the summer of 2012, and I was very satisfied with their services. ... read moreI had Edmar Corporation do work on my house in Glenview in the summer of 2012, and I was very satisfied with their services. Ed came out to give me an estimate and was very detailed about what needed to be done. I had some lintel replaced and they rebuilt the chimney which looked like it was about to collapse. The new brick matched the old one perfectly, which I was pleased with. Great job from start to finish, I would definitely recommend them. read less

Clara S.

A bunch of scammers and crooks. I got a letter from them indicating building violations. The letter makes it seem they are working on behalf... read moreA bunch of scammers and crooks. I got a letter from them indicating building violations. The letter makes it seem they are working on behalf of the City of Chicago. No letter from the City was ever sent.My advice, do not use their services if this is how they decide to treat future customers. read less

Ted T.

Edmar did some work for our condo building. He gave us an honest quote for the work that needed to be done, and did... read moreEdmar did some work for our condo building. He gave us an honest quote for the work that needed to be done, and did not add unnecessary upcharges that other masonry contractors said we needed. The owner of the firm came out himself multiple times to ensure that the work was done correctly. He personally guaranteed his work, and when we had an issue some time later he came out and fixed it at no cost. He is a man of his word and I highly recommend using Edmar. read less

O A.

These guys did a great job on my chimney. Punctual and fast. Would hire them again in a heartbeat!

Brett S.

This company is really excellent. I hired them to come and redo the siding, soffits, gutters, and downspouts on the addition of my 1927 Mediterranean-inspired... read moreThis company is really excellent. I hired them to come and redo the siding, soffits, gutters, and downspouts on the addition of my 1927 Mediterranean-inspired brick Tudor in Highland Park. The workers were incredibly polite and cleaned up after themselves every day. They greeted me in the morning and said goodbye at the end of the day (with confirmation of next step/part of work plan). The work as far as we can tell is impeccable. The calking around the vertical seams and lengths of hardi board were very well done and even. I’m in the midst of a backyard renovation. Edmar Corp. made sure to check with the deck guys about some questions they had that might impact their job. The people in the office were really quick to respond to my emails and any questions. I’m also a good communicator, so I don’t usually have issues with this. Who knows if the good communication requires a good client. The work ended up better than I expected. It was one of the few times wit my very old, brick home where I felt like the work actually was worth maybe more than what I paid. Every single thing didn’t go 100% there’s always room for improvement, but in terms of these types of companies I give them an A+ See some before during after photos. Really happy! read less

Sarah V.

Greta People to do Business with ! Quality and fair price for Top Quality. I did Parapet wall fix and new concrete steps. They also... read moreGreta People to do Business with ! Quality and fair price for Top Quality. I did Parapet wall fix and new concrete steps. They also do Tuck pointing and more. That's how i met them working on my neighbor house. read less

Maciek G.

They rebuilt my parapet wall quickly for a reasonable price! The wall looks great. I'm very satisfied with their work and customer service!!

A G.

My job wasn't large, but Edmar treated me like I was their most important customer. The concrete work they did is just about perfect. I... read moreMy job wasn't large, but Edmar treated me like I was their most important customer. The concrete work they did is just about perfect. I dealt with three people there, including the owner, and everyone was pleasant, professional and responsive. I recommend them without reservation, and would definitely work with them again. Thank you for the excellent service. read less

Dan W.

Truly one of the most honest men I have ever met. Me and my family will be using and recommending Ed for all our... read moreTruly one of the most honest men I have ever met. Me and my family will be using and recommending Ed for all our masonry needs. I don't write many reviews unless I am truly impressed or truly disappointed and luckily I wasn't disappointed. read less

Roberto G.

I couldn't be happier with Edmar corporation. He gave me a quote on the extensive brick work my 2 flat needed. It was a... read moreI couldn't be happier with Edmar corporation. He gave me a quote on the extensive brick work my 2 flat needed. It was a fair price and the work was done professionally and promptly. read less

Bill C.

We had several issues to address, including retaining walls, parging, tuckpointing and replacing old lintels. Ed came out to review and estimate, was very... read moreWe had several issues to address, including retaining walls, parging, tuckpointing and replacing old lintels. Ed came out to review and estimate, was very thorough and explained everything in language I could understand. He was price competitive. The crew was very focused and did an outstanding job. Finished product looks great. We have reached out to Edmar with additional work. Being a repeat customer shows our confidence and satisfaction in Edmar. read less

Rick B.

We had Edmar complete 3 separate projects at our home. Replacing garage siding/windows, entire front and rear porch. In any home project we have had... read moreWe had Edmar complete 3 separate projects at our home. Replacing garage siding/windows, entire front and rear porch. In any home project we have had done over the years, their work by far is the best quality we have experienced. Perfection. Plus great to work with. read less

Cyndy O.

I called Ed and he came within the same day and after careful examining the the chimney he gave his estimate which was very straight... read moreI called Ed and he came within the same day and after careful examining the the chimney he gave his estimate which was very straight forward, less expensive then the others and his attitude made me feel we were already off to a great start. He even asked me if I would like to go with him to choose the brick type, color which I did. The guys who did the work were all professional and Ed himself stopped by every day to check the work. If you want the work done correctly and with a reasonable price, you cannot go wrong with him. All my neighbors, even people just passing by make compliments and asked me who did the work. Again, Ed thank you. read less

Tom O.

My husband and I bought a foreclosure on Newcastle and needed to do some work. In order to attain inside look of the kitchen we... read moreMy husband and I bought a foreclosure on Newcastle and needed to do some work. In order to attain inside look of the kitchen we wanted, we needed to brick some windows in and maybe move the door and also repair the chimney. I called a few companies on yelp and in discussing quote and scope of work, Edmar came out ahead, the owner met with my husband, he showed up very prepared with his ladder and binoculos to take a close look at the chimey and he had very great ideas as to which windows he will suggest we brick in and what to do with the door, he gave us a lot to think about in a good way, he also gave us the quote on site, who does that, it was fabulous, since we had previously talked to other companies, we felt good enough to sign the contract and have them start work immediately. He suggested replacing more than just the first few layers of the chimney and pointed out that the old ones will crumble soon underneath the new one. He moved our back door from off the kitchen to off the family room which we like so much better because we have more cabinet space now and he used some of the brick from the new opening to patch the old opening. He also tried his best to match the old brick, he did a pretty good job, so much that you wouldnt really know it from the outside unless it was pointed out. His guys were in and out in a jiffy. point is, although he wasn't the cheapest, he was the most thoughtful and we felt his job was quality without a doubt. He also did some crack repairs on the outside of our property, he removed the bricks and relayed them with morter, patching everything. The only thing was that there are some morter stains on a few bricks in that one area where they repaired the cracks that my husband is not happy about, and he point it out every day now. Eitherway, I will still give them 5 stars. read less

Linda Q.

I used Edmar Corporation a few years ago to fix up my home in the north suburbs and was very pleased with their work. I... read moreI used Edmar Corporation a few years ago to fix up my home in the north suburbs and was very pleased with their work. I reviewed a number of companies and eventually settled on Edmar as they were clearly the most knowledgeable and the most experienced. I've found out the hard way that it's not always best to go with the cheapest proposal...had some contractors rebuild my chimney a while back only to have the mortar crack 5 years later (!!!) Edmar was not the cheapest, but you definitely get what you pay for, and when it comes to home repair, you want the job done right. I called to set up an appointment and Ed stopped by the next day to give me an estimate. I had some cracked bricks above my first story window and turns out the lintels needed to be replaced. Ed outlined how the job would be done and gave me an approximate amount of time it would take to complete (Turns out, he was right on target!) They replaced the lintels and rebuilt part of the wall using the same face brick as the rest of the house so it looked perfect. I cannot praise his workers enough--they were very competent, super respectful, and took the time to answer all of my questions. I will definitely be using Edmar again in the future. If you want the job done right the first time around, Edmar is your go to! read less

Jakub P.

Greta People to do Business with ! Quality and fair price for Top Quality.

Maciek G.

This company fixed some stairs for a customer of mine. They were quick to contact customer as it was a closing issue contigent on... read moreThis company fixed some stairs for a customer of mine. They were quick to contact customer as it was a closing issue contigent on this getting fixed. Price was reasonable and completed within a reasonable time frame. Customer was satisfied and so were we. Thank you! Melissa Hollander Storage and Moving read less

Melissa H.

I asked for a proposal to tuckpoint our commercial building and Peter came out and inspected it with me and answered all my questions. ... read moreI asked for a proposal to tuckpoint our commercial building and Peter came out and inspected it with me and answered all my questions. He advised me that the building really didn't require tuckpointing and explained what we should do and referred me to a painter who could address those issues. He was very knowledgeable and didn't try to sell me something that wouldn't resolve our issues. I really appreciated his honesty and he even contacted the painter for me who followed-up the very next day. Great service! read less

Mark U.

My building hired Edmar to do a tuck pointing project and we couldn’t be more impressed. Peter the project manager came out to our building... read moreMy building hired Edmar to do a tuck pointing project and we couldn’t be more impressed. Peter the project manager came out to our building to give an estimate, and answer all follow up questions before signing the detailed contract. Every person at Edmar responds to all calls, questions, and appointments quickly and are always on time. Once Peter walked us through the scope of work and came in with reasonable and fair pricing we signed with Edmar over four other companies we had gotten estimates from. When the work began, Edmar promptly got us the building permit, certificates of insurance and showed up on time every day. They replaced almost 500 bricks in our back stairwell, did extensive tuck pointing around the building, and major work on our chimney. The building is safer and in much better shape now! The work was done quickly, they always cleaned up after every work day, and were professional and polite. Any questions we had were answered immediately. They even came back to make sure we didn’t have any more concern areas, and did some touch ups in areas that had not been on the original scope of work. Edmar goes above and beyond to make sure their clients are happy, the work is done right, and that their pricing is fair. We will hire them again for other projects and highly recommend this company to anyone who appreciates communication, good craftsmanship, and honest pricing! read less

Azar K.

The owner, Ed, was awesome to work with. Genuinely nice guy, honest and a true professional in his craft. We had some extensive masonry work... read moreThe owner, Ed, was awesome to work with. Genuinely nice guy, honest and a true professional in his craft. We had some extensive masonry work done on our condo building and Ed's crew was on time, safe and took pride in their work. The results were amazing, some of the best masonry work I've seen. Ed and his crew are real experts in masonry. read less

Kevin K.

I decided to hire Edmar based on excellent Yelp reviews and I was not disappointed. The work I hired him for was to repair my... read moreI decided to hire Edmar based on excellent Yelp reviews and I was not disappointed. The work I hired him for was to repair my chimney on our house in Northbrook. Ed came out to give me an estimate and, like other yelpers have mentioned, it was clear that Edmar was very experienced in this line of work. Compared to other bids, the estimate was less expensive and did not tag on any additional charges. Ultimately, I decided to rebuild the chimney which took about 2 days. The masons were respectful of our property and cleaned up afterwards. They did a great job and I've already recommended them to my neighbors! read less

Dema D.

Edmar Corporation did an outstanding masonry job on our Condominium BLDG!!!! We are very satisfied with the work!!!! Mr. ED came for the estimate and... read moreEdmar Corporation did an outstanding masonry job on our Condominium BLDG!!!! We are very satisfied with the work!!!! Mr. ED came for the estimate and was very professional and knowledgeable as for what needed to be done to permanently address our water damage issues. We did received great proposal detailing the work scope and very fair price for what needed to be done. Mr. Ed, Dana from the office staff and Chris the job site Foreman were great in communicating the progress on our project. They were quick, professional and detailed. We will definitely recommend EDMAR for any Tuckpointing and Masonry projects you may have, especially difficult once that require true Masonry expertise. Great Company!!!! read less

Jolanta J.

So happy. These guys were fast and friendly and clean. I collected many quotes. Edmar Corporation was the lowest $ with the highest rating in... read moreSo happy. These guys were fast and friendly and clean. I collected many quotes. Edmar Corporation was the lowest $ with the highest rating in work... A+ by the BBB. Fair price. Great work. What more could I ask? Having been given the run around by many contractors over the years, it's such a wonderful thing to have this kind of experience and have that good "homeowner feeling" when a job is done right. They even decided to start taking credit cards, which made it possible to get this job done now. My brick foundation looks great and I have peace of mind. read less

thomas g.

I am a case manager who works with people with disabilities and one of my clients needed her roof repaired due to a big hole... read moreI am a case manager who works with people with disabilities and one of my clients needed her roof repaired due to a big hole and her ceiling was starting to cave in. My client and her siblings, also with impairments, were so happy with John from Edmar and selected him right off the bat, even though his estimate was higher than the other estimate they received. Edmar wound up giving them a discount, which made the cost come down a bit, which made the client happy. Not only did John and his crew offer to fix the roof, they were able to fix other things in the home, such as putting in drywall and painting the ceiling to seal the crack, installing two new light fixtures and two smoke detectors, installing a new screen door and fixing an old garage door that would not close properly and covering some holes in the wall. We asked John if he could select/purchase the light fixture/smoke detector and factor the cost into the contract, which he was able to accommodate, which made it so much more convenient for the client, who would have needed help to do such. While the work was being done, the client kept asking John for other things that they wanted fixed, which he did even though they were not in the contract. The other things were paid for separately, but this goes to show the company's ability to accommodate people with disabilities who do not understand how these things usually work. As her case manager, I am grateful for his patience, sense of humor and treatment of them as any other individual and for not taking advantage of them, as others might have done in this situation (and have done in the past). In my opinion, he and his crew went above and beyond and the client is very happy with the work and plan to use him again in the future, as I would. read less

Ellen P.

  I had EDMAR repair my brick chimney a little while ago. The crew took apart everything above the roof, fixed the brown clay tube inside... read moreI had EDMAR repair my brick chimney a little while ago. The crew took apart everything above the roof, fixed the brown clay tube inside and rebuilt chimney with new bricks and concrete top. Looks gorgeous! Very clean and fast. Highly recommend! read less

Karen D.

I would give closer to 3 1/2 stars if I could. I was pleased with the work that was completed. I had 4... read moreI would give closer to 3 1/2 stars if I could. I was pleased with the work that was completed. I had 4 other companies come to give me quotes on tuckpointing my house on all sides and they were the most competitive and in line with what I was looking for. My complaint is more with the communication aspect of things. Everything was good up until I sent the contract in. I had asked when they might be able to start when first sending the contract in and was told probably the next week. I heard nothing for the next week. I sent an email and asked again, being told they would let me know asap. I heard nothing for the next week and a half. I sent another email saying that if I could not find out when they would be able to come out, I would start looking for another contractor. I then heard back that it would likely be in 2-3 weeks. The next morning, people showed up outside my door. Fortunately, that ended up working out fine but there appears to be a lack of communication between people in the front office. I was called twice by people after the project was finished to find out how I wanted to pay my balance as well. So long story short, service good, communication needs some improvement. read less

Brian K.

We just had work completed on our 7 unit building and the team did a fantastic job. Quick efficient, and effective. They had to... read moreWe just had work completed on our 7 unit building and the team did a fantastic job. Quick efficient, and effective. They had to rebuild a parapet and completed it before the weather struck. Also, the office was very accommodating to our situation and setup for payment arrangements. We have a few more projects that we'd be foolish to use with anyone else. read less

Jonathan M.

Great service.

Peter L.

  Last December we experienced some serious problems at our condo building. Many widows from 3rd floor units were leaking water along their top frames. We... read moreLast December we experienced some serious problems at our condo building. Many widows from 3rd floor units were leaking water along their top frames. We asked 3 contractors to give us some idea about the extent of our problem and two of them just called with prices without even explaining what’s covered. Edward form EDMAR Corporation met with one of our board members, checked interior and exterior, and explained all our options in detail. The next day we received his written quote with everything itemized, so we can present it at the board meeting. It’s an extensive project but we are hoping to have it completed in two phases by the end of this year. Very knowledgeable people! read less

Adrian F.

Ed along with his crew did a fantastic job on a few of our commercial building. I always recommend Edmar for all thing masonry to.... read moreEd along with his crew did a fantastic job on a few of our commercial building. I always recommend Edmar for all thing masonry to. They have worked around a number of difficult locations. if your in the market for a brick or mason contractor you really can't go wrong read less

Alex F.

Edmar cooporation build a new porch for our condo association. They were very professional, kept their promises. Very quick great work friendly and professional service.... read moreEdmar cooporation build a new porch for our condo association. They were very professional, kept their promises. Very quick great work friendly and professional service. We recommend to anyone is consedering building a new porch. They were reasonably priced as well. We passed the city inspection with flying colors. What a relief . read less

Meltem A.

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