Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/142881
by CHUCK SHEPPARD The executive in charge of the electronic infrastructure of Facebook confirmed to London's information-technology website The Register in June that when the company inaugurated its first cloud datastorage facility in Prineville, Ore., in 2011, the equipment was drenched when an actual cloud formed inside the building. (Facebook had only hinted previously at a Prineville humidity event, according to The Register.) The tall, huge building's cooling units use an electricity-saving system that takes air from the outside (rather than re-circulated indoor air) and subjects it to various humidity levels to cool the heat coming from the aisles of computer servers. Apparently, engineers had not accurately anticipated the vapor condensation profile of the new system, and rain guards were promptly installed. [The Register (London), 6-8-2013] Can't Possibly Be True In May, only two states away from last year's mass shooting at an Aurora, Colo., movieplex, management at the Goodrich Capital 8 Theaters in Jefferson City, Mo., hired a man dressed in full tactical gear and carrying guns resembling M-4 rifles and 9mm pistols (as "S.H.I.E.L.D." Chuck Sheppard operatives) to greet patrons for the opening of the new Iron Man movie. Police were not pleased by the barrage of frightened 911 callers who were fearful that Aurora was happening all over again. Capital 8 manager Bob Wilkins said that "hundreds" of customers were entertained by the publicity stunt and that "only a few" were upset. [KMIZ-TV (Columbia, Mo.), 5-9-2013] Since Rozie, a pregnant Asian elephant at Albuquerque's ABQ BioPark Zoo, stands a better chance of a healthy birth if she is strong, the elephant manager and staff have been putting her through twice-a-day, Pilates-type exercises (featuring leg lifts, squats and other calisthenics). (Rozie is due sometime between August and November.) Lest anyone worry that Rozie is being mistreated, the elephant manager noted in a May press release that her participation "is completely voluntary." [City of Albuquerque press release, 5-22-2013] The founder of the Beauty Park Medical Spa in Santa Monica, Calif., has introduced a 45-minute procedure called the Male Laser Lift, which is also known colloquially as tackle tightening, involving the removal of hair and wrinkles on the scrotum, along with laser treatment to remove discoloration. Co-owner Jamie Sherrill ("Nurse Jamie") told London's Daily Mail that sales are up this year, and some might attribute that to a joke comment made by actor George Clooney that the latest Hollywood craze was "ballironing." [Daily Mail, 6-10-2013] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD 22 UCW JULY 10-16, 2013 WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of July 14, 2013 ARIES (March 21-April 19) Don't assume that the people in power are put there because they have a talent beyond yours. Your ideas are valid, if not superior, and will help the group — but only if you dare to pipe up and say what's on your mind. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Desire is your soul's way of telling you what it needs to stay joyful. When you want something (and you will this week), look at the core of what it is. The specific package might change, but the core need will remain the same until it is met. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You know where you want to end up, but unless you have a map, it's unlikely to happen. Your destination isn't a location — you'll be exactly where you are now, only you'll be a different person. Your destination is a state of mind. CANCER (June 22-July 22) The issue of forgiveness comes up time and again. There's a point in the near future at which it will no longer be an issue.You'll simply accept that things are what they are and deal with life from there. At that point, you are free. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You'll reframe things in a way that helps others be productive. Something that is not working in its original capacity is actually quite functional as something else entirely. You're the one who will see this and explain it to the others. You promote a feeling of well-being. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Sensible dreams that are within your reach will bring a happy feeling when you finally wrap your grasp around them. And yet, you may not be able to bring yourself to go for such easy pickins. You'll do something extraordinary. It will take time. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) As soon as you feel at one with the scene you're in, it will change. That feeling of being in flow is extremely attractive to others, and they won't be able to resist joining you. "Students achieving Oneness will move on to Twoness." -- Woody Allen CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You don't have to prepare much for a casual conversation with your friend, but a meeting with a VIP requires attention and decisions about what to include and leave out. Prepare for such a meeting — it will focus you for all you do this week. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You might be surprised by how your friends and neighbors regard you. But your kindness and neighborly gestures will catch up with you. The habits of being a conscientious, community-minded person will create good will that extends beyond your block. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You think everyone is on the same page as you. But when you put the theory to the test this week, you'll be surprised at all of the different chapters — and even different books — from which people are operating. So assume nothing. Make your vision and expectations clearly known. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) The brotherhood of man sometimes feels like a strong bond, a safe place and a precious treasure of humanity. Your connection to your fellow humans will be a mixed bag this week, but you'll continue to represent the higher instincts of our species. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) When a stranger speaks to you early in the week, note the moment of apprehension and expectancy that happens before you know what this person wants. Later, you'll be the stranger, and you can use your heightened awareness of the moment to make a stellar first impression. By Holiday Mathis WE'RE ALL EARS Questions? Comments? Story Ideas? Let us know how we're doing. Your opinion is something we always want to hear. Call or email us your feedback. 208 Rowan St. Fayetteville, NC 28301 910.484.6200 www.upandcomingweekly.com NEWS OF THE WEIRD ADVICE GODDESS Cleanup in Aisle Home I've been seeing my boyfriend for 10 months and living with him and his 12-year-old daughter for half that time. He broke up with his daughter's mother after she became addicted to coke and then meth. She has been in and out of jail and has a massive number of possessions, loads of which are still here: furniture, little picture frames, small decorative pieces, jewelry boxes full of random junk (earrings, magazine clippings, makeup, little figurines, candy wrappers). When I moved in, I spent days boxing up many of her possessions, but she claims to live in a tiny apartment, won't divulge where, and refuses to take a single box. She even freaks out at the mention of getting rid of her dumb garden gnomes (which she stole from someone's yard while high). If my boyfriend tried to make her take her things, she'd have a huge meltdown, putting their daughter in the middle, and he's submissive to her because of that. I'd put everything in storage, but we don't have the extra money. My boyfriend's getting exasperated about this, and I'm thinking I should just drop it. I hate living among all of her things, but I love him so much that I don't seem to have a choice. — Amy Alkon Smothered Use this as your training ground for developing healthier conflict resolution. To bring up how you're feeling, open with the good stuff — how much you appreciate him and your life together — and then tell him that you're unhappy living in a house that constantly reminds you of his ex. Let him know that you understand his concern for protecting his daughter but that the solution isn't submitting to emotional blackmail; it's talking to his daughter in advance about what you're doing and why and maybe scheduling a sleepaway for her on the day the trash hits the fan (or, more prudently, the storage unit). University of Chicago law professor Lior Strahilevitz said that the law typically regards a situation like you've described as "gratuitous bailment," legalese for a person's temporarily holding someone else's property without benefit or compensation. He suggests that your boyfriend send several emails and texts and leave phone messages telling the ex that she needs to pick up her possessions from the storage facility "within a reasonable amount of time." (What that would be varies by jurisdiction.) I suggest that you also photograph her stuff and document all the steps you take. According to Strahilevitz, your boyfriend would be wise to hang on to small valuables, like photos and fine jewelry, which aren't a menace to store. But, he says, "donating or disposing of the furniture and junk after a few months in which emails and calls … asking her to remove the property were ignored probably would not constitute gross negligence," a scary legal term that merely describes being really careless with someone's property. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM