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"This Just In..."
We made it! March is here and how happy are you that a bit of Spring is on the way. Sure, we could get a nor'easter but c'mon - opening day is 26 days away!
We need your help, though. We need a bit of feedback about what you like - and maybe, ya know, don't like about our newsletter. It's been with us for about five years now and we want to keep it relevant and fun and something that you actually look forward to getting.
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An Edinburgh startup called Gravi
tricity is hoping to create a "virtual battery" by hoisting and dropping weights in disused mine shafts. If the weights are hoisted when renewable energy is plentiful, and dropped when it's expensive, then they can help to balance the energy grid with an efficient source of "gravity energy."
Managing director Charlie Blair said, "The beauty of this is that this can be done multiple times a day for many years, without any loss of performance. This makes it very competitive against other forms of energy storage - including lithium-ion batteries."
Dropping 12,000 tonnes to a depth of 800 meters would produce enough electricity to power 63,000 homes for more than an hour.
Oliver Schmidt of Imperial College London said,
"I don't expect Gravitricity to displace all lithium batteries on grids, but it certainly looks like a compelling proposition."
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Be Cool!
Daniels Energy's
Mitsubishi BOGO is Back!
Buy One
Mitsubishi Split AC Unit to Cool One Room
Get The Second Room FREE*
Cool Two Rooms
Only Pay For One!
Cool your family room, living room,
play room or basement.
Cool a second room - Free.
We'll install two new Mitsubishi Ductless Split Head Units
(that's the one that mounts on the wall)
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but you'll only pay for one
! More than 300 homeowners took advantage of this program in the last two years. So call - now!
Plus:
Choose 0% - 18 month
or
0.99% - 10 year financing*
Plus:
Up to $500 EnergizeCT* Rebate!!!
For a limited time - Daniels Energy is offering the perfect cooling solution for two rooms
when breaking down walls to install ducts is not an option
! Mitsubishi Ductless systems are flexible, improve indoor air quality, save you money and can often be installed in one day!
Mitsubishi Electric Ductless Cooling can keep you cool all summer long!
Call Now
860.813.9122
Save up to $750*
Plus
Up to $500 EnergizeCT Rebate*
Plus
Your Choice of 0% or 0.99% Financing.*
Plus
12-Year Mitsubishi Elite
Contractor Warranty
Let Daniels Do It.
*Offer is for one standard compressor unit and two standard Mitsubishi Ductless Split head units. Discount depends on size of overall cooling solution. Daniels will deduct the cost of one AC head unit when installation of both units is done at the same time. **Anticipated value of head unit is up to $750. EnergizeCT offers the finance rate of 0.99% for 10 years and an immediate consumer rebate of up to $500 depending on equipment selected. Minimum size restriction and SEER ratings apply. 0%% for 18-mos. available through Synchrony Bank. Not available on previous sales. See Daniels Energy representative for complete details. Primary Mitsubishi offer ends: July 1, 2020
Daniels Energy: CT License S1-385517 HOD#19 / Daniels Propane. LLC: #846 CT License S1-30285
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The Cookies Are Coming!
The Girl Scouts are back and Daniels is delighted to be supporting them again in 2020. John Daniels will, again, be greeting new scouts in March when he takes delivery of hundreds of cookies - which will be making their way - to your home.
This spring, while supplies last, Daniels technicians will be bringing along a box of cookies when they arrive to do your heating or cooling tune-ups. It's our way to support the Scouts and to say "thank you," to our valued customers.
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March Art #1
Henry Ossawa Tanner -
In 1893 Tanner painted his most famous work,
The Banjo Lesson
,
while in Philadelphia. The painting shows an elderly black man
teaching a boy, assumed to be his grandson, how to play the banjo. This deceptively simple-looking work explores several important themes. Blacks had long been stereotyped as entertainers in American culture, and the image of a black man playing the banjo appears throughout American art of the late 19th century.
Tanner was an American artist and the first
African-American painter
to gain international acclaim.
Tanner moved to
Paris
, in 1891 to study, and continued to live there after being accepted in French artistic circles.
His painting entitled
Daniel in the Lions' Den
was accepted into the 1896
Salon
,
the official
art exhibition
of the
Although painting became a therapeutic source of release for Tanner, the lack of acceptance in society was painful. In his autobiography "The Story of an Artist's Life," Tanner describes the burden of racism:
"I was extremely timid and to be made to feel that I was not wanted, although in a place where I had every right to be, even months afterwards caused me sometimes weeks of pain. Every time any one of these disagreeable incidents came into my mind, my heart sank, and I was anew tortured by the thought of what I had endured, almost as much as the incident itself."
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Needle Working!
London-based embroidery artist
Laura Baverstock
crafts stunningly intricate animals using colored and metallic thread. From copper bees to gold lions, Baverstock renders the unique textures of each creature.
The artist studied at the
Royal School of Needlework,
where she received a degree in Hand Embroidery, and now works in the film and fashion industries.
If you watched last year's
Mary Queen of Scots
, you saw Baverstock's embroidery work on the actors' outfits, which earned an Oscar nomination for costume designer
Alexandra Byrne
.
"
Embroidery has such a rich history, and I've found the specialized nature of the craft and the variety of traditional techniques to be hugely inspiring," said Baverstock.
"Needlework has such versatility and universal appeal; within my own practice I particularly strive to push the boundaries of three-dimensional hand embroidery and precious metal goldwork, with a focus on natural themes and realism."
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Dirty Ducts? Leaky Ducts?
Let Daniels UnDo It!
Let's talk filth.
Let's talk efficiency.
Let's act - clean and seal your leaking ducts.
Have you any idea the kind of dirt, dust, pet hair, mold, mildew, dandruff or old Cheetos may be clogging up your ducts?
Did you realize how much heat - or cool air - you may be losing into your attic with leaky ducts?
How about 10-25%*of the heating and cooling your system is cranking out! Amazing and true. Seal those ducts!
If you haven't cleaned your ducts in 3-5 years - or more - let Daniels do a complete cleaning and sealing program this spring.
According to the EPA, levels of air pollution inside homes can be two to five times higher than outdoor levels.
The cleaning process:
* We remove all your register covers, clean them thoroughly.
* With a hose and rotating brush head we scrub the ducts clean.
* Then we fog them with an EPA-registered antimicrobial mist that leaves a pleasant scent behind.**
It's a full-day job that will increase the efficiency of your system, reduce pollutants that you are breathing daily and increase the comfort of your home - immeasurably.
Call us today and schedule a complete cleaning and duct sealing - you'll breath easier (and healthier) all year long.
Call:
John Daniels
860 813 9114
*Individual homes may differ. **An additional fee may apply.
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Quiz #1
He was an American jazz pianist and composer with a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "'Round Midnight", "Straight, No Chaser", "Ruby, My Dear."
WHO is he?
Tell us here
and you may win a nice new Visa gift card.
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Could This Have Been A Tempest?
Or Is The Earl In Hot Water?
A curious excerpt from
"
The Pursuit of the Heiress," a history of aristocratic marriage in Ireland by A.P.W. Malcolmson. Another strange tale, which ended less happily for the heir presumptive, is that of the 3rd Earl of
Darnley, an eccentric bachelor who suffered from the delusion that he was a teapot.
In 1766, when he was nearly fifty and had held the family title and estates for almost twenty years, Lord Darnley suddenly and unexpectedly married; and between 1766 and his death in 1781, he fathered at least seven children, in spite of his initial alarm that his spout would come off in the night.
Couldn't possibly be true? Malcolmson gives two sources, a letter from the Rev. George Chinnery to Viscountess Midleton, Aug. 18, 1762, kept at the Surrey History Centre in Woking, and a typescript family history by Rear Admiral W.G.S. Tighe.
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Chimera? Or What Exactly Did The Doctor Say, Again?
A Chimera is a fire-breathing she-monster in Greek mythology having a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail
In biology, it's an individual, organ, or part consisting of tissues of diverse genetic constitution.
So, one day...
Three months after his bone marrow transplant, Chris Long of Reno, Nev., learned that the DNA in his blood had changed. It had all been replaced by the DNA of his donor
, a German man he had exchanged just a handful of messages with.
But four years after his lifesaving procedure,
it was not only Mr. Long's blood that was affected. Swabs of his lips and cheeks contained his DNA - but also that of his donor
. Even more surprising to Mr. Long and other colleagues at the crime lab,
all of the DNA
in his semen belonged to his donor
. "I thought that it was pretty incredible that I can d
isappear and someone else can appear,"
he said.
Mr. Long had become a chimera, the technical term for the rare person with two sets of DNA.
Doctors and forensic scientists have long known that certain medical procedures turn people into chimeras, but where exactly a donor's DNA shows up - beyond blood - has rarely been studied with criminal applications in mind.
The assumption among criminal investigators as they
gather DNA evidence from a crime scene is that each victim and each perpetrator leaves behind a single identifying code - not two. However, in 2004, investigators in Alaska uploaded a DNA profile extracted from semen to a criminal DNA database. It matched a potential suspect.
But there was a problem: The man had been in prison at the time of the assault. It turned out that he had received a bone marrow transplant. The donor, his brother, was eventually convicted.
And,
in 2008, a man was killed in a traffic accident. In order to identify him, his DNA was analyzed. Results revealed that the DNA of his blood, along with some of his organs, appeared to show that he was female. It was later determined that he had received a bone marrow transplant from his daughter.
(The multi-colored Rose is an example of Chimera happening in nature)
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Marge.
She answers 700 calls a week.
Happy calls.
Irate calls.
Calls for help.
Calls for information.
Calls for service.
Calls for oil or propane.
Calls for Chinese food.
(She gets wrong numbers, too.)
All important.
To you.
To her.
She does it all with grace.
Charm.
Respect.
Dignity.
700 calls a week.
She's off half day on Saturday.
Our customer service representatives
We think the world of them.
Daniels Energy.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.
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Cheap Romans!
The inscriptions on these writing utensils, from 70 AD, have been painstakingly examined and translated by classicist and epigrapher Dr Roger Tomlin. They read as:
'
ab urbe v[e]n[i] munus tibi gratum adf(e)ro acul[eat]um ut habe[a]s memor[ia]m nostra(m) rogo si fortuna dar[e]t quo possem largius ut longa via ceu sacculus est (v)acuus'
'
I have come from the City. I bring you a welcome gift with a sharp point that you may remember me. I ask, if fortune allowed, that I might be able (to give) as generously as the way is long (and) as my purse is empty.' (That's exactly as we read it.)
In other words: the stylus is a gift to remind the recipient of its sender; the sender acknowledges that it is a cheap gift and wishes that they could have given more.
Its tongue-in-cheek sentiment is reminiscent of the kinds of novelty souvenirs we still give today. It is the Roman equivalent of '
I went to Rome and all I got you was this pen',
providing a touching personal insight into the humor of someone who lived nearly 2000 years ago.
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10 Best Sentences Ever Written.
American Scholar Magazine chose what they consider to be the ten best sentences ever written. Do you agree?
Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder
.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.
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James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
This private estate was far enough away from the explosion so that its bamboos, pines, laurel, and maples were still alive, and the green place invited refugees-partly because they believed that if the Americans came back, they would bomb only buildings; partly because the foliage seemed a center of coolness and life, and the estate's exquisitely precise rock gardens, with their quiet pools and arching bridges, were very Japanese, normal, secure; and also partly (according to some who were there) because of an irresistible, atavistic urge to hide under leaves.
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John Hersey, Hiroshima
It was a fine cry-loud and long-but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.
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Toni Morrison, Sula
For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?
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Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
It was the United States of America in the cold late spring of 1967, and the market was steady and the G.N.P. high and a great many articulate people seemed to have a sense of high social purpose and it might have been a spring of brave hopes and national promise, but it was not, and more and more people had the uneasy apprehension that it was not.
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Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Anger was washed away in the river along with any obligation.
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Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
There are many pleasant fictions of the law in constant operation, but there is not one so pleasant or practically humorous as that which supposes every man to be of equal value in its impartial eye, and the benefits of all laws to be equally attainable by all men, without the smallest reference to the furniture of their pockets.
- Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby
In many ways he was like America itself, big and strong, full of good intentions, a roll of fat jiggling at his belly, slow of foot but always plodding along, always there when you needed him, a believer in the virtues of simplicity and directness and hard labor
.
-Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
There is nothing more atrociously cruel than an adored child.
-Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
And a bonus:
Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there.
-Truman Capote, In Cold Blood
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Quiz #2
OK - apologies. Last month we bragged on how we had fooled you all in January. Well, we fooled many of you - but certainly not all.
In February we made it soooo easy that more than 117 of you sent in correct answers. Tom L and John Z correctly identified Slope Point in the furthermost southern point in New Zealand. And Joan W and Denise C were among 99 of you who correctly identified Annie Potts from Ghostbusters! Well done all of you.
Today we're doing a throwback to the 90's. Some of us were working and have NO idea who these people are. Identify only one and you may be a winner of a new Visa gift card.
Tell us here
who you think these folks might be.
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Thought of the Month
There are seven things that will destroy us:
Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Religion without sacrifice
Politics without principle
Science without humanity
Business without ethics.
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Check The Snow.
(If it ever snows again)
In case you are wondering if you had a bear or a weasel visit.
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Down Load Our App? What???
Daniels has a mobile app. True!
It will take you directly to your personalized MyDaniels account page on the Daniels server. It allows you to order oil or propane, pay your bill, check on appointments, sign up for budget plans and so much more.
Who knew? Click on either of the logos to download yours today.
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Surprise Link of the Month
Got five-minutes ?
This is how they built the Brooklyn Bridge
Amazing!
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Daniels Energy, 8 High Street, Portland CT 06480
Daniels Energy: CT License S1-385517 HOD#19 /
Daniels Propane. LLC: #846 CT License S1-302857
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