Last Minute Gifts
A client came by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension office last week with a great gift idea for her father. She said, “my dad loves to garden, but has had a few bad years of luck with getting anything to grow.” She’s been telling her dad for years he needed to get his soil tested and, of course, he never got around to it. So she decided to sneak into his garden and collect a soil sample to have it tested for him. I had visions of Santa’s elves sneaking into people’s gardens with little soil sample bags and hand trowels! I told the client that this was definitely the right place to start. However, I quickly pointed out that the results of the soil test may or may not answer her question about why the garden had failed. There are many reasons why a garden could have a bad year. Extreme weather events, such as too much rain or not enough rain, have been recurring themes in recent years. Certain insects and plant diseases could also be involved. So I suggested that her father call the Extension office if he had any questions about the soil test report and offered a consultation to troubleshoot other potential problems. She added my business card to her last-minute gift idea. The gift of knowledge is one that any farmer or gardener can truly appreciate. Working with plants and animals is both an art and a science — a lifelong learning process. Research is continually finding new and better ways for farmers and gardeners to deal with the many challenges that nature throws at us. I suspect there are many local farmers, hunters with wildlife food plots, and backyard enthusiasts who would appreciate the value of a soil test and the resulting gift of knowledge. Even if you have a professional landscaper who provides yard maintenance, a soil test could help you make an informed choice about lawn or garden fertility needs. It might even save you money on the amount of fertilizer you buy.There are literally hundreds of UGA Extension publications online that can be accessed for free at extension.uga.edu/publications. Another gift idea could be to download and print all the Extension bulletins and circulars we have on a specific topic — such as gardening, lawn care or pasture management — and compile them into a reference binder. You might use an entire ink cartridge, but it’s definitely worth the cost if it makes the information more accessible to the farmer or gardener in your life.UGA Extension also has several reference books on the publications website at ugaextensionstore.com that can be purchased as a gift. Some of the more popular books for sale include the Georgia Pest Management Handbook Home and Garden Edition, Georgia Master Gardener Handbook, Insect Identification Guide for Southeastern Landscapes, Management of Insect Pests in and Around the Home, Native Plants of North Georgia, Troubleshooting Vegetable Production Problems in the Southeast, and Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses. Each of these books and field guides can be purchased for $20 or less at ugaextensionstore.com. If you waited until the last minute to come up with a holiday gift, you can place your order online for any of the reference books and include a copy of the purchase confirmation inside a card. These items can be shipped directly to your gift recipient. Or you can order a soil test kit online at soiltest123.com.These may seem like simple gift ideas, but the gift of knowledge is priceless — truly the gift that keeps on giving.
It may be possible to go too far in accommodating religious requests. Organizations wary of legal difficulties have occasionally eliminated long-standing events and even dampened their cultures when presented with requests that could have likely been addressed with far less extreme measures.One activity that speaks to the culture at $1.3 billion/150,000-member South Carolina Federal Credit Union, North Charleston, is the paid shopping time—four hours of it—offered to employees at Christmas. “I had an employee tell me they don’t celebrate Christmas,” recalls Leslie Norris, SVP/human resources and development. “They asked if they shouldn’t participate in the hours.”A knee-jerk reaction could have been to do away with the holiday shopping perk to avoid creating an appearance of inequality, but Norris’s team used a different approach. “I said, ‘You celebrate what’s important in your life and we would still like to give you the four hours.’” The requestor was satisfied with that accommodation and the other workers were able to continue enjoying a much-appreciated tradition. “If we had stopped giving those Christmas hours to the rest of the organization, that would have totally changed our culture and our warm, friendly workplace,” Norris says. continue reading » 11SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr
Comments CLEMSON, S.C.— After Syracuse’s 27-23 loss at Clemson, head coach Dino Babers didn’t say his team earned respect. He didn’t say that losing by four points to a team oddsmakers had favored by 25 proved anything. They don’t want superficial accolades. They want to win.“If we want to be winners, we can’t stay on this track,” Babers said. “2016, 2017, (if) we want 2018 to be different, then we need to act differently.”Babers may be right. In the grand scheme of Syracuse’s record, Saturday goes down as a loss. Syracuse is 4-1. There is no asterisk next to the loss for a valiant effort. But that doesn’t mean the Orange didn’t prove something.In 2018, Syracuse has bucked the trend of its first two years under Babers. The Orange started 4-0 for the first time since 1991. They beat Florida State for the second time in program history. The defense has forced more turnovers than it did in all of 2017. Syracuse received AP votes. And on Saturday in Death Valley, where Syracuse was less than a quarter away from defeating a top three team on the road, for the first time ever, SU once again didn’t appear like past teams.“Just looking around the locker room,” said four-year starting quarterback Eric Dungey, “It’s different.”AdvertisementThis is placeholder textEarly in the fourth quarter, Dungey swung his arms at the screaming Syracuse fans in one corner of Memorial Stadium. The rest of the more than 80,000 onlookers stood silent, pondering how Syracuse, a team which had won four games each of the last two seasons, could be leading by 10 in the game’s final frame.Moments earlier Dungey capped off a four-play, 10-yard drive with a rushing touchdown in which he leapt for the goal line, came down unsuccessfully and then burst through on a second effort for one of his two rushing touchdowns.The last time Syracuse played Clemson in Death Valley in 2016, the Orange lost 54-0, and Dungey didn’t finish the first half.“At the end of the day we should have some confidence moving forward,” Dungey said. “Especially if we can come down here to Death Valley, one of the toughest places to play in the nation, against one of the toughest teams, and you know we were right there with them today.”More than 80,000 fans were at Memorial Stadium on Saturday to see Clemson sneak by Syracuse. Paul Schlesinger | Staff PhotographerAgainst Clemson in 2016, the Orange didn’t cause a turnover. On Saturday, the Orange, which has turned the ball over on opponents at an unprecedented pace this season, forced three. One came just before Dungey’s second touchdown — a muffed punt from Amari Rodgers. Another came from a Trill Williams interception, and the third happened early in the game off a bobbled read option, which led to an SU field goal.Syracuse had more sacks against Clemson (4) than it averaged per game (3.25) through the first four games of the year. First it was Chris Slayton, who used a simple power push at his opposition’s shoulder to create the separation needed to drop Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.Later the pressure led Lawrence to scramble out of the pocket, where he was tripped by defensive linemen Josh Black and finished off by safety Evan Foster. Lawrence wouldn’t return from that hit. Instead, Chase Brice came in and on his second pass, felt the same pressure Lawrence had. On Brice’s second drop back, Kendall Coleman faked inside, before beating the left tackle outside and getting to the redshirt freshman quarterback.The last time Syracuse played at Death Valley, it didn’t record a sack.“This is just a better group than we had when we came down here the last time, when it comes to a mental standpoint and a physical standpoint,” Coleman said. “Probably a major part of that is the fact that we’ve playing together for so long, and we have that trust built into each other now.”Talia Trackim | Senior Design EditorWilliams’ interception, along with six solo tackles — more than one of which came along the line of scrimmage — from safety Andre Cisco, showed growth for the young secondary. On offense, Taj Harris caught three balls for 66 yards, including a 51-yard bomb where the freshman receiver bobbled the ball and nearly dropped it, before reeling it in.“Yeah, I feel like our freshman class is very ready to play,” Harris said. “You can see it since camp, all through summer we grinded and grinded and grinded, and we’re just waiting for our numbers to get called, really.”Syracuse entered the game averaging 1.75 sacks allowed per game. Against a Tiger group which features four potential first-round draft picks and averages four sacks per game, the Orange allowed one. And that sack didn’t come until Syracuse’s final drive with under a minute remaining.While none of the Tigers’ four preseason All-ACC defensive linemen registered a sack — leading to 250 yards passing on 26-41 throwing for Dungey — all but one of the linemen was in on a tackle for a loss as the Orange rushed for 68 yards. Clemson rushed for 293.And that’s what seemed to stick with SU’s players after the game. Redshirt senior offensive tackle Koda Martin acknowledged the offensive line had good moments. But the times they couldn’t stay on blocks bothered him more. Like his father-in-law, Martin preached focusing on Syracuse’s next game and having a “1-0 mentality.”And that’s fair. Syracuse, as a team, doesn’t have to celebrate a loss. It shouldn’t. In a narrow lens, this game is just another demerit to the season’s record.But take a step back. For the first time since 1991, SU’s first loss of the year came more than a third of the way into its season. Babers admitted after the game that his team is “moving in the right direction.” And even though Syracuse lost, season-long trends continued.That’s promising.Josh Schafer is the sports editor for The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at 
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The couple shared the delightful news with an Instagram post showing Messi and their sons touching Antonella’s belly with the caption “Family of five”. The gender of the child was not revealed. When the child will be born is also unknown for now.Congratulations to Lionel Messi and his growing family!RelatedLionel Messi Faces Two Year Ban For “Corruption” CommentsJuly 9, 2019In “Americas”Allegri Tips Neymar, Dybala To Succeed Messi And Ronaldo As World’s Best PlayersJanuary 9, 2018In “Europe”Luka Modrič Attacks Ronaldo and Messi for Missing Ballon d’Or CeremonyDecember 15, 2018In “Europe” Lionel Messi grabbed his 44th career hat-trick last Tuesday, leading Argentina to a 3-0 win over Ecuador and booking the country’s spot at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Interestingly, the five-time World Player of the Year is scoring trebles off the pitch as well as he is expecting a third child with wife, Antonella Roccuzzo. The childhood sweethearts who already have two sons, Thiago (4) and Mateo (2) got married on June 30 in a lavish ceremony held in their home town, Rosario, with over 250 guests.
There’s no shortage of esports action this weekend. Dota 2’s Starladder i-League and League of Legend’s MSI will finish this weekend. Add to that Vainglory’s Unified Spring Championship and there’s already a plethora of choice. Enter the FIFA 17 Ultimate Team Championship Series Final, where the best 32 in the world will battle it out for their share of a staggering $400,000 (£307,000) in prize money. Credit: EAOver six million players competed in the FIFA FUT Champions Weekend League since the launch of FIFA 17, and 192 secured live qualifications across Season 1 and Season 2’s Regional Finals.After six regional events, just 32 players remain and will compete in Berlin. Every goal will be broadcasted across a multitude of platforms. EA will be broadcasting the event on traditional esports platform Twitch, as well as YouTube Gaming and also Facebook. The final match is being touted as the most watched event in the tournament’s somewhat brief history. It will be broadcast across top sports networks around the world. This includes the likes of ESPN, BT Sprt, Movistar, MTG and Sport1 thus bringing competitive FIFA to screens in more than 70 countries and millions of living rooms across the world. The prize pool is extremely top heavy, with $300,000 (£230,000) of the $400,000 being distributed to the top four players. It’s safe to say that for the bulk of these youngsters there’s never been more on the line. The winner will not only be crowned the world’s best FIFA player but they will also take home a mammoth $160,000. The broadcast of the finals will be delayed on ESPN in Brazil and South America and also tape-delayed on Movistar in Spain whilst broadcasts to the U.S., Australia, Canada, Mexico and Central America, UK, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Australia and Switzerland will all show (at least) the finals live. Esports Insider says: EA have really gone all out with this. It’s set to be an epic tournament and watched by a huge amount of people. Prepare yourself as social media experiences the inevitable meltdown. “Why am I watching people play a video game on my TV?” will be the inevitable cries. We can’t wait to see the reaction when they see a $160,000 cheque being handed to the winner.