Had to remember how to get record counts of all tables in all databases in Sql 2005 using nested queries with out using sp_MSforeachworker.
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. All our hearts go out to the developers, whose brilliant actions we see with our own eyes day after day…
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
There Were Other Historic Horse Rides
Correspondent: There Were Other Historic Horse Rides
By Staff Reports
Published: May 18, 2010
Editor, Times-Dispatch: Regarding the "Today in History" column: On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere began his famous ride to warn colonists that the British were coming. While Revere's ride was indeed historic, one would think it was the only act of its kind.
The town of Fredericksburgh, N.Y., faced a similar threat from invading British troops on April 26, 1777. The commander of the local militia, Col. Henry Ludington, had been notified that 25 miles away, Danbury, Conn., was being burned by invading British troops. The local militiamen had to be notified, but Ludington could not undertake the task himself. He had to stay at his home and organize the militiamen when they arrived.
Hearing of the colonel's plight, a patriot jumped on a horse and rode out to warn the people and tell the militia to muster at Ludington's. This heroic act lasted all night and covered an area of some 40 miles. By dawn of the next day, some 400 militiamen had gathered at Ludington's, ready to confront the British. The British assault was subsequently halted and in the ensuing Battle of Ridgefield, they were forced back to their boats where they retreated.
The hero who made this daring ride was none other than Col. Ludington's 16-year-old daughter, Sybil. After hearing of the impending situation, Sybil jumped on her horse named Star and set out on a trip that covered an area twice the size of Revere's.
Gen. George Washington personally congratulated the young lady for her heroism. To honor her, the town of Fredericksburgh was later changed to Ludingtonville. In 1975, with the nation's bicentennial approaching, the U.S. Postal service honored Sybil Ludington with a stamp.
While Revere's ride is one of the most famous events in our nation's history, Ludington's ride doesn't even rate a mention in history books. I wonder why.
Alan McCoy.
Richmond.
"There Were Other Historic Horse Rides", Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/letters/article/ED-MCCOY18_20100517-180603/345093/ (May 18, 2010)
Monday, May 17, 2010
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2008
By Jane Duckwall - Special Correspondent to the Charlotte Observer
In dark time, mom of Mint Hill teen sees light of hope.
When Chelsea Banton was born five weeks prematurely, doctors predicted she had 36 hours to live.
Proving them wrong was the first miracle for Chelsea, now an Independence High School freshman.
“She spent the first four months in a neonatal intensive care unit,” recalls her mother, Colleen Banton of Mint Hill.
Before Chelsea was 2, she was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia, the first of several dangerous run-ins with the illness that have made her a familiar face in Presbyterian's pediatric intensive care unit.
Among other health problems in her medical history: hydrocephalus, requiring a shunt in her skull and, later, several shunt revisions; life-threatening viruses; and, this past July, fluid retention that required more than a week's hospitalization and three liters of liquid to be drawn from her body.
Prayer has helped sustain the whole family.
“We had been praying every day, my oldest daughter and I and Chelsea,” Colleen Banton said. “…Praying for a miracle.”
That miracle, Colleen believes, came Nov. 5 – seven weeks after Chelsea was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia.
What originally seemed like a bad cold nearly killed her.
“She was on life-support from the moment she got there,” her mother said.
That was Sept. 21. Over the next six weeks in the hospital, Chelsea faced one threat after another: pneumonia in her left lung, then her right lung, then sepsis, blood clots, staph infections, E. coli, a collapsed lung and feeding problems.
In late October, doctors met with the family to discuss “a plan of action,” Colleen said. One of the decisions she had to make was whether she would take Chelsea off the ventilator. Earlier, doctors had removed Chelsea from the ventilator several times, but had replaced it when the struggle to breathe became too difficult for the teen.
But a family meeting Oct. 31 was a turning point.
“At that point, the family… agreed that when she did come off the ventilator again, (they) weren't putting it back in,” Colleen said. “Whatever happened, would happen.”
On Saturday, Nov. 1, “they took her off the ventilator and she did good,” her mother said. “She was breathing on her own.”
The next day, “her stats went down,” and doctors put her in an oxygen mask.
But over the next few days, Colleen noticed her daughter “wasn't getting better. Things were kind of lingering.”
And Chelsea, who had been having anxiety attacks and crying throughout her hospital stay, was having more of them.
“I said, ‘She's been through enough,'” Colleen remembers. “I said, ‘Can we just take her mask off? She's been through enough.'
“I wanted to do what the Lord wanted me to do. And I really felt like I've had her for 14 years, and if it's time for her to go to heaven, then I know she'll be healed.”
The mask didn't come off immediately, though. They waited until family members had a chance to come to see Chelsea – perhaps for the last time.
On the afternoon of Nov. 5, as family and friends prayed about the decision, a nurse practitioner called Colleen's attention to a monitor showing the door to the pediatric intensive care unit.
“On the monitor, there was this bright light,” Colleen recalls. “And I looked at it and I said, ‘Oh my goodness! It looks like an angel!”
Colleen pointed her digital camera at the monitor to take a photo of the image, but the “first picture wouldn't take.”
She tried again and succeeded. The image gave her a peace that stayed with her when hospital staff removed Chelsea's oxygen mask.
And then, “when they took the mask off of her, her stats went as high as they've ever been.
“Her color was good, and the doctors and nurses were amazed,” Colleen said. “The nurse practitioner who saw the image in the monitor said, ‘I've worked here 15 years, and I've never seen anything like it.'”
Chelsea was removed from intensive care on Nov. 14 and went home three days later.
Her mother believes it was a miracle – attended by a very real angel bathed in light at the door to the pediatric intensive care unit.
“What was so ironic… is it was a rainy day,” Colleen said. “It had been overcast all day. And the sun only came out at that point.”
To those who doubt her story and photograph, Colleen Banton says: “If they doubt it, that's fine. … But I know what I saw, and the picture's untouched. I didn't make it up. That's just something that I believe.
“I believe that more people have changed since this happened. I know I have. I look at things differently than I used to – because I know God is in control.”
On Christmas Day, Chelsea will turn 15 – another miracle considering all of the medical trials she's faced, according to her mother.
“I'm learning,” Colleen Banton said, “that every day she's alive is a miracle.”
By Jane Duckwall - Special Correspondent to the Charlotte Observer
In dark time, mom of Mint Hill teen sees light of hope.
When Chelsea Banton was born five weeks prematurely, doctors predicted she had 36 hours to live.
Proving them wrong was the first miracle for Chelsea, now an Independence High School freshman.
“She spent the first four months in a neonatal intensive care unit,” recalls her mother, Colleen Banton of Mint Hill.
Before Chelsea was 2, she was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia, the first of several dangerous run-ins with the illness that have made her a familiar face in Presbyterian's pediatric intensive care unit.
Among other health problems in her medical history: hydrocephalus, requiring a shunt in her skull and, later, several shunt revisions; life-threatening viruses; and, this past July, fluid retention that required more than a week's hospitalization and three liters of liquid to be drawn from her body.
Prayer has helped sustain the whole family.
“We had been praying every day, my oldest daughter and I and Chelsea,” Colleen Banton said. “…Praying for a miracle.”
That miracle, Colleen believes, came Nov. 5 – seven weeks after Chelsea was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia.
What originally seemed like a bad cold nearly killed her.
“She was on life-support from the moment she got there,” her mother said.
That was Sept. 21. Over the next six weeks in the hospital, Chelsea faced one threat after another: pneumonia in her left lung, then her right lung, then sepsis, blood clots, staph infections, E. coli, a collapsed lung and feeding problems.
In late October, doctors met with the family to discuss “a plan of action,” Colleen said. One of the decisions she had to make was whether she would take Chelsea off the ventilator. Earlier, doctors had removed Chelsea from the ventilator several times, but had replaced it when the struggle to breathe became too difficult for the teen.
But a family meeting Oct. 31 was a turning point.
“At that point, the family… agreed that when she did come off the ventilator again, (they) weren't putting it back in,” Colleen said. “Whatever happened, would happen.”
On Saturday, Nov. 1, “they took her off the ventilator and she did good,” her mother said. “She was breathing on her own.”
The next day, “her stats went down,” and doctors put her in an oxygen mask.
But over the next few days, Colleen noticed her daughter “wasn't getting better. Things were kind of lingering.”
And Chelsea, who had been having anxiety attacks and crying throughout her hospital stay, was having more of them.
“I said, ‘She's been through enough,'” Colleen remembers. “I said, ‘Can we just take her mask off? She's been through enough.'
“I wanted to do what the Lord wanted me to do. And I really felt like I've had her for 14 years, and if it's time for her to go to heaven, then I know she'll be healed.”
The mask didn't come off immediately, though. They waited until family members had a chance to come to see Chelsea – perhaps for the last time.
On the afternoon of Nov. 5, as family and friends prayed about the decision, a nurse practitioner called Colleen's attention to a monitor showing the door to the pediatric intensive care unit.
“On the monitor, there was this bright light,” Colleen recalls. “And I looked at it and I said, ‘Oh my goodness! It looks like an angel!”
Colleen pointed her digital camera at the monitor to take a photo of the image, but the “first picture wouldn't take.”
She tried again and succeeded. The image gave her a peace that stayed with her when hospital staff removed Chelsea's oxygen mask.
And then, “when they took the mask off of her, her stats went as high as they've ever been.
“Her color was good, and the doctors and nurses were amazed,” Colleen said. “The nurse practitioner who saw the image in the monitor said, ‘I've worked here 15 years, and I've never seen anything like it.'”
Chelsea was removed from intensive care on Nov. 14 and went home three days later.
Her mother believes it was a miracle – attended by a very real angel bathed in light at the door to the pediatric intensive care unit.
“What was so ironic… is it was a rainy day,” Colleen said. “It had been overcast all day. And the sun only came out at that point.”
To those who doubt her story and photograph, Colleen Banton says: “If they doubt it, that's fine. … But I know what I saw, and the picture's untouched. I didn't make it up. That's just something that I believe.
“I believe that more people have changed since this happened. I know I have. I look at things differently than I used to – because I know God is in control.”
On Christmas Day, Chelsea will turn 15 – another miracle considering all of the medical trials she's faced, according to her mother.
“I'm learning,” Colleen Banton said, “that every day she's alive is a miracle.”