#29th GS Final

[28in2024]

I know I have a lot to catch myself up on: the breakup, buying a house, getting my GS-14 promotion, and adjusting to this new normal of being on my own. But that’s a later post because there is SO MUCH HAPPENING ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Need to brain dump this!

Monday, July 22nd - [WORK] Farewell with the team, PMA-209.

Wednesday, July 24th - [VOLLEYBALL] Played first Volo beach volleyball game at National Mall as captain. Carpooled with Charlie, first time talking talking to him and clicking fast.

Friday, July 26th - [BOYS]

1. Zach Fowler (Ohio) texted me at 4am seeing if I was down to come to Cincinnati after not talking to me for 1+ months

2. Charlie from volleyball asked me on a date via IG DM after literally 1 time hanging out. Turned him down and explained that I just got out of a long relationship and also we just met. Down to get to know each other more.

3. Had a “hangout” but pretty much a date with Cam that very expectedly lasted overnight and into the morning. Haven’t seen Cam in 3 months but had a very successful and intimate yet very wholesome date. Had KBBQ, walked around a very romantic old town at night, then I invited him over (stated not to be sus upfront) while he waits for his friend to pick him up. Watched cowboy bebop and samurai champloo then played some board games. Ended up laying next to each other on the couch at 2am and cuddled then kissed. Around 4am we both moved upstairs to my bed bc I had to get some rest before auditions!! He asked to be shirtless bc it’s hot and I told him I was too excited to sleep. He gave me a massage and we kissed some more before eventually drifting off to sleep. Made him filipino breakfast the next day and left him at the spot to Uber while I head to auditions.

Saturday, July 27th - [DANCE] Had Comeback Crew Auditions

Felt confident I did well in this 5 hour long process. Made friends along the way. Definitely got Korean fried chicken then showered and knocked out early after.

Sunday, July 28th - [FRIEND]

Went to church in the morning, ran errands, and finally visited nearby Ed’s plant world. Sean came over for the first time for homemade pasta dinner, Olympics, and good conversation.

Monday, July 29th - [VACCINE]

Got the COVID vaccine booster because I wanted to completely screw myself over for my first week at PMA-290. So sick and on Motrin around the clock the whole next day.

Wednesday, July 31st pt. 1- [WORK]

Laid out management style and team expectations to entire PMA-290 ROK P-8 team as new NH-4 case manager.

Wednesday, July 31st pt. 2- [BOYS/VOLLEYBALL/DANCE]

Carpooled with Charlie again and played second volo game. Had Zoom interview for Comeback Crew in the car on the way home.

Got McDonald’s and had good deep conversations with Charlie at my house until 11:30. I never imagined hearing “but they’re not my person” so sweet as his words. He seems like a very genuine, good guy that’s ready for something serious and aspires for marriage. Definitely interested in me and mentioned asking to hang out after volleyball season. He found out my ex boyfriend is khrystian, and I stated having khrystian and my friends on the same team is too messy to start anything with Charlie. He has a nice smile but he’s too short IM SORRY my tastes changed

Thursday, August 1st - [BOYS]

Celebrated Cam’s birthday showing him birria tacos at Mexican. Had ice cream at old town. Did advanced day one class. He texted me at the end of the night that he likes me a lot. I personally don’t feel the same. Not sure if it’s bc my social battery is crapped out or I am attracted to his appearance and not so much his personality. I need to sleep on it.

Angela also got engaged! She FaceTimed me during dinner!

Friday, August 2nd - [WORK]

Interview for FMS job at US Embassy in Rome

- we’ll see how this interview goes. I can’t help but think that if I get it, I really have a huge decision to make.

Friday-Sunday, Aug 2-4 - [FRIENDS]

Kyra and mharc coming over!

[rfederer2]

Roger Federer defeats Tomas Berdych 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 6-4 (Semi-Final) at The Championships Wimbledon, 2017.

Wim8ledon - Bel19ve

[camp-counselor-life]

We are finally starting the program planning process for next member year and I only have until the 29th to

- pick all of my programs for the 2021-22 GS year (Oct 1 - Sept 30) - pick dates and locations for said events, making sure estimated enrollment lines up with my goal number, which was assigned - create a detail budget for programs and other needs for 3 sub-departments

I sense some unpaid overtime in my future.

[missmaclay]

I could make this post about my entire 1,5 week trip through the UK, but I’m sure y’all only want to hear about the last day in Liverpool ;).

Quick recap of where I’ve been and what I’ve seen though; Telford (met Jeremy Jordan, David Harewood, Brit Morgan, Rahul Kohli and more), London (met Mehcad Brooks, Stephen Amell and much more), went to the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Ripley’s, Wembley, Bath, Stonehenge, Windsor castle, Big Ben, Leicester square, Piccadilly and spend a lot of time in the Underground. Also saw the new Alien film AND Beauty and the Beast.

Anyway, that’s not what y’all wanna hear. Here’s my recap of May 29th;

I woke up in London after 2 days of HVFF. Went downstairs for my lovely UK brekkie (HASH BROWNS!) and then jumped in the shower and off I went. To Euston station to catch a train to Liverpool. Apparently, it was the first train to go straight to Liverpool from London that day, earlier ones were cancelled. Thank God I’d splurged on a first class ticket. I heard people had been standing the entire trip (2 hours!). Anyway, the train ride is beautiful. Would have been better if it hadn’t been raining, lol. 

Got to Liverpool a bit delayed due to a signal failure (uh-huh..) and the taxi stand at Liverpool Lime Street is insane. So many folks needed one. BUT I got to my hotel for around 4, thankfully. Since I was around the corner from the venue, I saw the Cavern already when the taxi dropped me off. Queue the nerves. The hotel was beautiful too. Beatles song playing as you walked in, lol. 

I hadn’t eaten since 9 am that morning so I Googled mapped the area and saw that there was a Gregg’s nearby. Perfect, sausage roll it is. I was there half an hour before closing time, but apparently they don’t care in Liverpool, because the door was locked. Oh well, a bag of crisps and an apple it is. Met up with @amyroot near the venue and we walked around a bit, the area is pretty cool!

Anyway we waited outside like we thought we had to when we were informed that the line had already started inside. We rushed downstairs and joined the queue. This was at 6pmish. 

The earlier concert started at 4pm and our gig was supposed to start at 8pm, but they were still doing M&Gs so everything ran a little late. No problem, everyone should get to do their M&G but my damn legs were killing me, lol. 

Pleasantly surprised there was some seating in the venue when we finally got in. Not near the front, but it’s OK, we could sit. I’ll upload some actual videos from the concert so I won’t talk about that, but them singing “Imagine” and then bringing Anni on stage were awesome.

Before the M&Gs started, they had an auction for St. Vincent’s school, all DC stuff. I have to admit that the two guys doing the auction were hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. They auctioned some stuff in the venue and said the rest would go online (haven’t seen it yet anywhere?)

Onto our M&Gs. I have no idea how many people were there but it seemed like a never ending line, lol. I think they started around 10/11ishpm with the first people. I think they first said you would get a photo, 1 minute to talk and 2 things to sign, but of course all of that went out the window pretty soon. They managed to have a pretty good system. First person you saw was Nathan (who gives amazing hugs), Gemma or Angelo would take your photo with Nathan, then when the person in front of you had finished talking with Chyler, you’d move onto her and get hugs, photos and autographs, etc. Pretty good system.

Nathan ended up walking/running around the hall and thanking people in line for their patience as it was taking soooo long. Folks who had to catch a bus/train/whatever were pushed to the front, that was a good idea. 

I was eating tic tacs by that time (it was nearing 1am and we were still in line) because I hadn’t had dinner, but they hadn’t either. Nathan was having a discussion with someone in line, leaning over the barrier when Chyler tried to get his attention for something. He was too focused on whoever he was talking to though, so he didn’t hear Chyler calling for him. Her calls for “babe. love. honey. love of my life.” were completely ignored until the guy (Neil?) from the Canvern lovingly shouted “Nathan darling!” very loudly, lol. THAT’s when he turned around. 

Around 2am we were finally at the front of the line. The security who ticked your name off of the VIP list was hilarious, too. All the staff were. Pronouncing my name for him the way it’s supposed to be didn’t help the poor guy. To be fair, I couldn’t understand him either. Damn accent, lol. 

Aaaaanyway, it was finally our turn and Nathan straight off the bat asked about my necklace and we proceeded to geek out for several minutes over PS4 games. We apparently took so long I looked passed him to see Chyler on her own, the person in front of me already left. Oops. I hugged Nathan (and in my haste forgot to take a photo with him) and rushed over to Chyler. Now. As I’m sure you can imagine, I cannot explain or descibe how that was. To see Chyler up close, giving her a hug, talking to her. No words. She asked what I was talking to Nathan about as we both looked so passionate about the subject, lol. She’s absolutely amazing. Gave her a massive bag of gummi bears and she loved it, lol. I printed off a photo from the I love you scene which she signed with “I <3 you” which... asdfghjkl. We chatted for a bit (fun fact; the dibs gun is NOT the gun her son drew, which she talked about at SDCC I think?) and I thanked her for coming over and doing these things, and she thanked ME for coming over. Can you believe that? Like, duh. Nathan was off to bathroom at that point so I moved to the side to give Amy some time with Chyler while I waited to Nathan to come back to get a double photo (him and Chyler) which we then did in turns. It was great.

We walked off to the side to collect everything and put photos etc. away when I realised I hadn’t had my photo with Nathan. I didn’t want to interrupt their whole thing they had going so we waiting until the very last person had gone (4 am people!) for us to go back and get the last photos. Nathan was very happy to oblige and we even snagged another one with Chyler as the lighting was pretty awful where we first were. I had to pull poor Chyler away from her McNuggets, that was probably the first food she’d seen since 3pm, lol. 

Managed to actually say what I wanted to say to Chyler at that time (I was so nervous before) and thanked her for everything she’s doing for us as a community and even though we have Twitter it’s impossible for her to see every reaction so I wanted to personally say we all appreciate how she fights for us. 

We got caught talking a bit to the people from Charity Pulse and St. Vincent’s too, lovely people. Ended up nearly cleaning out the venue as we were the last people there (those big boxes aren’t even that heavy). Nathan AGAIN thanked us for coming said we were ‘amazing’ and then we finally walked out of there.

It was 5am when I finally calmed down enough to goto sleep and I looked out my window and it was daylight already. 

When I woke up, everything hurt from so little sleep, of course. Went downstairs for my last day of UK brekkie (HASH BROWNS!). I walked over to the corner of the room as I didn’t want to take up a 4 person table by myself but I was shoo’d away to another side of the room as they’d already made up these tables for lunch. Well, okay, whatever. I plopped down at a 4 person table and as I look up I see Nathan and their 3 kids also enjoying a UK brekkie, they were staying at the same hotel as me, lol. 

As they left he recognized me and said hi and we wished eachother a good day and that was that. Spent some time shopping and then went to the airport (The driver was an Everton supporter, which isn’t good for me as a Liverpool supporter) and went home.

I’m a little flu-y now but I’m enjoying going through the videos and photos. It was an amazing day and they were very positive about doing a gig in Amsterdam so I hope to see them again very soon.

[ntrending]

Michael Farr: My top 10 stocks for 2018

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/michael-farr-my-top-10-stocks-for-2018/

Michael Farr: My top 10 stocks for 2018

Farr, Miller & Washington is a “buy-to-hold” investment manager, which means we make each investment with the intent to hold the position for a period of 3-5 years. Nevertheless, in each of the past twelve Decembers I have selected and invested personally in ten of the stocks we follow with the intention of holding for just one year. These are companies that I find especially attractive in light of their valuations or their potential to benefit from economic developments. I hold an equal dollar amount in each of the positions for the following year, and then I reinvest in the new list.

The following is my Top 10 for 2018, listed in alphabetical order. Prices are as of the December 19 close. This year’s Top Ten represent a nice combination of growth and defensiveness. Seven of the 11 S&P 500 industry sectors are represented, and their average long-term estimated growth rate (in earnings per share) is well in excess of the overall market. On average, these companies are much larger than the average S&P 500 company while carrying an average dividend yield of about 2.1 percent.

Results have been good in some years and not as good in others. I will sell my 2017 names on Friday, December 29th and buy the following names that afternoon.

Top Ten for 2018

Prices as of Close on December 19, 2017

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)

Bristol-Myers is a global biopharmaceutical company and a juggernaut in the area of immunotherapy. The company should benefit from continued growth of its primary drugs, Opdivo and Eliquis, as each have several years remaining on their respective patents. The company also has a promising pipeline of new drugs. Furthermore, an aging populating and increased spending on healthcare should act as tailwinds well into the future for the company. BMY has a strong ‘A’ rated balance sheet which gives the company the flexibility to make acquisitions to expand its revenue base over time.

We expect sustained double-digit earnings growth over the next 5 years, and this growth should not be particularly economically sensitive. The stock trades at 19 times the consensus for calendar year 2018 earnings per share, which represents a slight premium to the S&P 500. In addition, the stock offers a 2.6 percent dividend which should also grow over time.

ExxonMobil (XOM)

ExxonMobil is an integrated oil company. Its business starts with the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas and then moves to the production of petroleum products, and finally to the transportation and sale of crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products.

The stock performance has lagged the broader S&P 500 by a significant percentage despite improving commodity prices. The company has historically generated strong returns on average capital employed through its relatively low exploration and development costs and superior project management. This point is often lost on investors chasing shale companies. Many that claim to be profitably drilling for oil in the US are only counting the cost to produce oil and exclude the cost of acquiring and developing the land.

The reset in commodity prices has forced companies to find ways to live within their cash flow, and ExxonMobil reached free cash flow neutrality (cash from operations covers capital expenditures, dividends, and any share repurchases) in 2017. Additionally, the company may benefit from policy changes that open more drilling areas or improve relations with Russia. The stock trades at 20 times estimated calendar year 2018 earnings per share. The stock also offers a 3.7 percent dividend yield.

FedEx (FDX)

FedEx has made great strikes in restructuring its Express unit to reflect changing customer preference away from expensive overnight air deliveries and toward more economical Ground deliveries. At the same time, the company has been investing aggressively in its Ground network, enabling it to grow that business at very rapid rates in recent years. Meanwhile, the company is in the process of integrating its largest-ever acquisition – a $4.8 billion deal to acquire TNT Express, which will vastly expand the company’s presense and scale in Europe and create big opportunities for expense and revenue synergies.

Within its three major business segments – Express, Ground and Freight – the company has proven extremely adept at managing package volumes and yields to optimize profits and returns rather than focusing simply on yield, package volume or revenue maximization. This expertise, along with a vast delivery network that has taken 40 years to establish, ensures that FedEx can grow profitability even in the event that an aggressive new competitor (Amazon.com) seeks to participate in the massive growth potential of e-commerce. The stock trades at just 17 times the consensus estimate for calendar year 2018 earnings per share, which is a significant discount to both UPS and the S&P 500. The yield is 0.8 percent.

Goldman Sachs (GS)

Goldman Sachs is arguably the premier global investment bank, with consistently high revenue share in equity offerings and mergers & acquisitions, as well as a growing presence in fixed income. However, the company’s trading arm, which typically accounts for an outsized 40 percent-50 percent of total company revenue, has been beset by low market volatility and heightened regulatory scrutiny following the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010. As a consequence of these pressures, the company’s returns on equity have struggled to cover its cost of capital in recent years.

Looking forward, we expect the environment to improve. The Trump administration is actively working to reduce the regulatory burden on financial institutions, to include possible liberalization in the Volcker Rule (which restricts covered institutions from making proprietary investments) as well as liberalization in the capital and liquidity requirements that have resulted in depressed returns on equity.

At the same time, we believe that the recent lack of market volatility reflects a complacency that could be long in the tooth. Finally, the company is working to aggressively diversify its revenue base away from trading operations. At current levels, the stock is trading at just 1.3x book value, which would suggest that the low current ROE’s will persist. As such, we think there is solid upside in the event that ROE’s improve.

Medtronic (MDT)

Medtronic is a diversified global medical-technology company that operates through four segments: Cardiac and Vascular Group, Minimally Invasive Technologies Group, Restorative Therapies Group, and Diabetes Group. With sales in over 120 countries, the company has geographical scale that is hard to duplicate.

MDT has faced a variety of headwinds in 2017, including natural disasters and IT disruptions, but we expect its new product cycle to drive top-line growth in 2018. Moreover, management has cost-saving initiatives in place that will help boost the bottom line.

The stock trades at just 16 times calendar year 2018 earnings per share, which represents a discount to both its peer group and the S&P 500. We view this stock as an attractive holding for long-term investors, especially given that we believe earnings should continue to grow in a down market. The company also offers a 2.2 percent dividend.

Microsoft (MSFT)

Microsoft is one of the largest technology companies in the world. It has successfully pivoted from a Windows PC-first world to the cloud where its focus on productivity and business processes is paying dividends.

As part of this change in focus, the company has moved from one-time licensing fees (the customer owns the software) to subscription-based sales which, for a monthly fee, allows customers to always have the latest version of the software. This transition negatively impacted revenues and cash flow over the last couple of years.

However, cash flows reached an inflection point in 2017, and the subscription base is now large enough to more than make up for the lost up-front cash generated under the one-time licensing model. We believe the company can grow free cash flow by double digits over the next few years which should support its valuation. The stock trades at 24 times the calendar year 2018 earnings per share estimate with a free cash flow yield north of 5 percent.

Ross Stores (ROST)

Ross Stores operates in the off-price channel, which has been one of the few bright spots in the retail sector over the past couple of years. As many department stores have struggled and closed stores, ROST is expanding its 1,627 store base at 6 percent per year, and management sees potential for 2,500 stores over the long-term.

Unlike most specialty retailers and department stores, ROST does not require fashion or product innovation to drive profits. Instead, access to inventory and quick turnover of merchandise drives traffic, which grows sales and allows the company to leverage operating costs. They are able to purchase inventory at a 20 percent-60 percent discount with the vast majority coming from manufacturers that have over-produced or had orders cancelled.

All of this leads to a “treasure-hunt” experience for customers that is difficult to replicate in an online setting, and this drives loyalty and repeat visits. ROST has only failed to grow earnings per share in 3 years since 1988 and their ability to grow earnings during the last 2 recessions shows that the company has historically been less susceptible to a market downturn.

ROST trades at 22 times on a calendar year 2018 basis which represents a premium to both peers and the S&P 500. Having said this, we think this stock deserves the higher valuation given its strong cash flow generation, resilient balance sheet, and ability to generate double digit earnings per share growth. The dividend is 0.8 percent.

Schlumberger (SLB)

Schlumberger is the world’s premier oil services company providing the broadest range of services to companies in the oil and gas exploration and production business. We believe the company is ideally positioned to benefit from higher energy prices and increasing service intensity in the exploration and production of oil and gas.

This company has less exposure than peers to the more volatile North American market and more exposure to international markets, which tend to have longer and steadier cycles. International activity levels are near a bottom. Additionally, the company has spent the past couple of years streamlining its operations to improve efficiency.

If management’s claims are correct that pricing improvements can drive 65 percent incremental margins ($0.65 of operating earnings on each $1 increase in revenue), we estimate that the company could reach its peak profit level by recovering just half of the revenue decline witnessed since oil prices reached a top in the summer of 2014. The shares trade at 29 times the consensus estimate for calendar year 2018 earnings per share with tremendous earnings recovery potential should energy prices remain stable or move higher.

Starbucks (SBUX)

Starbucks is the premier roaster, marketer and retailer of specialty coffees in the world, with over 27,339 stores in 75 countries. Following several years of very strong earnings growth, the stock has been flat over the past 2+ years due mostly to a deceleration in same-store sales growth to the low-single digits from the mid- to high-single digits it had been reporting for years. Management has attributed the deceleration to both a difficult consumer/retail backdrop as well strong customer acceptance of the company’s new mobile order & pay solution, which has caused a bottleneck in filling customer orders in a timely fashion.

We think this is a high-class problem, and that this temporary setback creates an opportunity for growth-oriented investors willing to be patient. The company’s recently revised long-term growth algorithm calls for 12 percent+ annual earnings per share growth driven by high single-digit revenue growth, 3-5 percent global same-store sales growth, and annual returns on invested capital of at least 25 percent.

We also anticipate that the company can continue growing its global store base by 7 percent-8 percent annually, driven by outsized growth from relatively under penetrated China. Recent sizeable investments in new platforms, products, people and technologies should help enable success in hitting these targets. The stock trades at a 24 times the consensus for calendar year 2018 earnings per share, which is a discount to similar companies. The dividend is 2.1 percent.

United Technologies (UTX)

United Technologies is a diversified industrial company that provides products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. The company’s aerospace segments target both commercial and government (including both defense and space) customers.

The company has an enviable long-term track record of financial performance, with strong double-digit earnings per share growth, outstanding cash generation, and a rock-solid balance sheet. However, recent performance has been held back by development costs for the company’s ground-breaking new geared turbofan (GTF) jet engine as well as increasing competition and pricing pressure in Europe and China for Otis elevators (both equipment and service).

We think the company is taking the appropriate action to improve performance in these two areas. Once through the current investment phase, we think the company can ultimately return to sustainable double-digit earnings per share growth. Based on those expectations, we continue to believe the company offers strong value for long-term investors, trading at less than 19 times estimated calendar year 2018 earnings per share – roughly in line with the overall market. In addition, the current dividend yield is an attractive 2.2 percent.

Commentary by Michael K. Farr, president of Farr, Miller & Washington and a CNBC contributor. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_K_Farr.

The reader should not assume that an investment in the securities identified was or will be profitable. These are not recommendations to buy or sell securities. There is risk of losing principal. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Share & Written By CNBC

[takenews-blog1]

Homeland Security is Looking to Hire a Photographer for Up to $104K a Year

New Post has been published on https://takenews.net/homeland-security-is-looking-to-hire-a-photographer-for-up-to-104k-a-year/

Homeland Security is Looking to Hire a Photographer for Up to $104K a Year

Miss out on that $100,000 a 12 months job working for the federal government in the identical position Ansel Adams had? One other profitable US authorities images job opening has opened up: the Division of Homeland Safety is now searching for a photographer for its Secretary.

The job itemizing was simply posted to USAJOBS, the governments official employment web site. The complete-time “Photographer” job has a pay scale and grade of GS 12, comes with good authorities advantages, and has a wage vary of $79,720 to $103,639 per 12 months.

By comparability, the Ansel Adams place had a high-end wage of $99,296 and a latest Supreme Courtroom images opening listed a max wage of $86,460.

The Homeland Safety photographer will probably be based mostly in Washington D.C. and will probably be accountable for creating DSLR pictures and movies for standalone utilization, social media, and articles.

Work tasks embrace issues like documenting the Division’s actions/folks/mission, protecting updated with images traits, managing picture tools, and representing the Division to the world.

You might be anticipated to journey within the place (together with on army plane), nevertheless it’s estimated to be 50% or much less. You might also be required to be on name 24 hours a day. Candidates should be capable to acquire a Prime Secret Safety Clearance.

“Identical to the Nationwide Parks Service place, jobs like this don’t come open fairly often…” a Homeland Safety spokesperson tells PetaPixel. “The final time this place got here open was 2004.”

In case you’re a U.S. Citizen, you may apply for this job by means of USAJOBS by means of December 29th, 2017. To see whether or not you’d be a candidate, take a look at this questionnaire that you simply’ll reply as a part of the appliance.

[jaspergeek]

Jasper in January Sunday 29

Jasper in January Sunday 29

The final day of Jasper in January, still some more events for Sunday! Tonight Shred Kelly raised the bar for the #ATCOstreetparty National Masters World Cup – Marmot Basin Cost: $20 Jan. 29, 2017, 8 a.m. Race the Masters World Cup this January 28th & 29th at Marmot. GS, Slalom, or both! $20 per race, Register online or from 8:00 – 9:30AM at Marmot’s Group Sales on the day of the race. Marmot…